How to Battle Sugar Cravings: Top Tips to Use Every Day

If you're craving sugar, here are some ways to beat those constant cravings:

Give in a little. Eat a bit of what you're craving, maybe a small cookie or a fun-size candy bar. Enjoying a little of what you love can help you steer clear of feeling denied. Try to stick to a 150-calorie threshold, max.

Combine foods. If the idea of stopping at a cookie or a baby candy bar seems impossible, you can still fill yourself up and satisfy a sugar craving, too. Try combining the craving food with a healthful one such as dipping a banana in chocolate sauce, or mix some almonds with chocolate chips.

Go cold turkey. Cutting out all simple sugars works for some people, but the initial 48 to 72 hours are tough! Some people find that going cold turkey helps their cravings diminish after a few days; others find they may still crave sugar but over time are able to train their taste buds to be satisfied with less.

Grab some gum or brush your teeth! If you want to avoid giving in to a sugar craving completely, try chewing a stick of gum, or brushing your teeth prior to reaching for the sweets! Research has shown that chewing gum can reduce food cravings significantly.

Reach for fruit. Keep fruit handy for when sugar cravings hit. You'll get fiber and nutrients along with some sweetness. And stock up on foods like nuts, seeds, and dried fruits, and have them handy so you reach for them instead of reaching for the sugary something.

Get up and go. When a sugar craving hits, just walk away. Take a walk around the block or do something to change the scenery, to take your mind off the food you're craving.

Choose quality over quantity. Choose a perfect dark chocolate truffle instead of a king-sized candy bar, then "savor every bite - slowly. Don't swear off favorites - you'll only come back for greater portions.

Eat regularly. Waiting too long between meals may set you up to choose sugary, fatty foods that cut your hunger. Instead, eating every 3-5 hours can help keep blood sugar stable and help you "avoid irrational eating" behavior. Choose protein, fiber-rich foods like whole grains and produce.

But won't eating more often mean overeating? Not if you follow good advice given by many nutritionists to "break up your meals" i.e. have part of your breakfast - a slice of toast with peanut butter, perhaps and save some yogurt for a mid-morning snack. You can do the same at lunch to help avoid a mid-afternoon slump.

The Facts About Flab

The Facts About Flab by Pamela Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP

Your abdomen actually has two compartments where fat can be stored. I first wrote about this in Fight Fat after Forty when I described the unique fat deposits above and below the ab muscle. The fat that lies on top of the ab muscle is called subcutaneous fat. Unless you’re obese (at least 50 pounds over ideal body weight), it is not significantly associated with an increased risk of heart disease or diabetes. Too much subcutaneous fat is, however, associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The fat below the ab muscle is located deep inside your belly. Everyone has some level of intra-abdominal or visceral fat. It’s an important fuel source, as well as contributing to the regulation of core body temperature and cushioning your organs. However, if you start depositing too many fat pounds deep inside your belly, that fat becomes what I have called “toxic”. Why? That’s because too much visceral fat significantly increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.

Genetics and age both play key roles in where you tend to deposit body fat. Look at your immediate family’s body shapes. Who do you look like at your current age? There are a variety of shapes for women, including hour glass, pear, apple or straight up and down. As I’ve noted in my research, prior to the age of 40, excess weight tends to be deposited in the subcutaneous fat layer and is easier to shed. After 40, due to declining sex hormones, both men and women experience an increased amount of fat in both the subcutaneous and intra-abdominal regions.

Here’s the great news. Regardless of your age, you can definitely reduce the belly fat in both compartments. So, armed with this information, and using your Power Mind filled with determination and the desire to achieve your goal, let’s move onto what you need to eat and how to move that belly fat off your body.

Mouth: Get Out From Underneath that Blanket of Belly Fat!

Listen up when I tell you that you can never drop your belly fat with just exercise alone. You’ve got to be mindful of every mouthful. So even if it’s healthy food, don’t overeat your calories. Try to spread your calories out over the day, eating a small meal or snack every 3-4 hours from breakfast through dinner. Don’t forget to log onto WebMD’s wonderful Food and Fitness Planner to help organize your eating and exercise.

To flatten your tummy, stick to:

·         Lean protein: You’ll fill up and feel satisfied longer throughout the day when you include lean protein at every meal and snack: poultry, lean meat, fish, low fat dairy, legumes, eggs, and nuts.

·         Fiber: The combination of protein and fiber will yield the greatest sense of satiety and satisfaction. All kinds of vegetables, fruits and whole grains can get you there. Low fat string cheese and an apple, carrots and hummus, peanut butter on a multigrain cracker or grilled chicken or salmon on a bed of greens are all belly fat fighting examples.

·         Healthy Fats: Healthy fat is also very satisfying and good for you. The best are the monounsaturated fats, including olive oil, olives, avocados, nuts and grape seed oil.

Muscle: Blast Your Belly Fat!

Alright, it’s time to sweat off those fat rolls. For optimal results, plan on doing some of these exercises every other day. Remember, if you have any medical condition and/or physical disability, please check with your medical team before attempting any kind of physical exercise. As an added resource, check out WebMD’s wonderful exercise videos (scroll down to “Exercise) to help guide your fitness plan.

The Cure for the Common Crunch: Your “six-pack” muscle is the rectus abdominis. This muscle tends to get most of the attention because it’s the one you can actually see (once you’ve shed the belly fat). The rectus helps you bend forward and so it’s the crunching muscle. Go to my blog for Week 2 where I describe one of my favorite crunch exercises, “the bicycle”.

·         This week how about practicing a new kind of ab exercise, the Crunch with a Heel Push. You’ll do a traditional crunch but this time you’ll push your heels into the floor engaging your rectus much more than the regular crunch. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your hands behind your head gently supporting your head and neck. Flex your feet and keep them up as your engage your abs while lifting your shoulder blades off the floor. As you reach the top of your crunch, press your heels into the floor while pushing your back against the floor and slightly raising your butt off the floor. Gently lower and repeat for 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

·         I’m also a fan of the Pike and Extend: Lie face up on the floor with your legs together, arms extended towards the ceiling. Lift both legs up over your hips, crunch up while reaching your hands toward your feet. Keeping your legs straight, lower your arms behind your head as you lower your upper back and left leg toward the floor. Now, crunch up and lift your left leg over your hips and reach your hands to your toes. Switch legs and repeat to complete one repetition. Try to do 10 repetitions.

Optimize Your Obliques: In addition to your rectus, you’ve got a nice set of internal and external obliques just crying out for attention. These powerhouse muscles help you in rotating and twisting movements. So, let’s do some!

·         The Standing Side Crunch goes like this: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent and arms by your sides. Contract your abs lifting your right leg and bending your knee 90 degrees out to your side such that your thigh is parallel to the floor. Put your right hand behind your head, elbow out to the side and extend your left arm out to the side at shoulder level. Now, crunch your right elbow toward your right knee. Gently lower your leg and bring your arm back to starting position and repeat 10-15 repetitions. Switch legs and so the same.

·         The Side Wall Crunch is another terrific exercise to target your obliques. Grab an ab ball and place it about 2 feet from a wall. Position yourself lying face-up on the ball with your hips on its center, feet on the floor about 3 feet apart, toes pointed to the left and soles pressing against the bottom of the wall. Place your hands behind your head gently supporting it, elbows are out to the side, and now rotate your torso so that the upper body faces left. While making sure your lower body is still, crunch up while rotating your torso to the center, and hold for a count of 2. Then rotate back to the left as you lower to your start position. Do 10-15 repetitions and switch sides to repeat.

Perfect Your Planks: The final big ab muscle you need to honor and respect is the transverse abdominis. It functions like a corset helping to stabilize your trunk and core.

·         A terrific way to strengthen both your transverse ab as well as your back is to do a Plank: Lie face down on a floor mat, resting on your forearms, palms flat on the floor. Push off the floor, raising up onto your toes and resting your upper body on your elbows. Keep your back flat, in a straight line from head to heels. Engage your ab muscles while tilting your pelvis slightly to avoid sticking your rear end up while preventing your belly from sagging. Hold for 30-60 seconds, gently lower to start position and repeat 3-6 times.

Fitness Studio Testimonial

"When I was approached by Karen Sydenham to teach Zumba at Just 4 You Wellness I had no idea what a life changing decision I was making. It wasn't just another job offer I was accepting, I was being welcomed into a new family - the Just for You family.

As I began to teach there I began to feel that my opinion, my viewpoint, my well-being mattered. It was a place I began to feel safe, where I began to want to spend my time, even when I wasn't working there. I slowly grew the confidence to branch out and be a participant in other classes at the studio, and came to know the other instructors and participants. I started challenging my body in ways I never thought possible, like taking bootcamp and training for a triathlon. The icing on the cake is the people that I have come to be good friends with through Just 4 You Wellness They are an amazing, motivating, encouraging and welcoming group of people that make it worth getting up at 5:30 in the morning!

Thanks to Karen and Just 4 You Wellness Studio I have become a person I don't recognise - and I don't mean just physically. I have found a place where I can grow, laugh, cry, sweat, dance and be joyful, a place where my daughter is welcome, and will likely grow, laugh, cry, sweat, dance and be joyful. That's what Just 4 You Wellness is - a place that is really just for you, whoever you want to become." – Daniela Endersby, Zumba instructor Just 4 You dance participant and friend!

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All about Zumba... Surrey, BC

Zumba: Fun Is Secret Ingredient of Latin Dance Workout

In Zumba exercise classes, it's all about feeling the music.

By Barbara Russi Sarnataro
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Latin rhythms pulse from Pittsburgh's Club One aerobics studio, where Maria McCalister leads a Zumba class packed with the glistening bodies of nearly 50 people seeking to swivel, pivot, and shake their way to fitness.

McCalister coaches her students to feel the music, be it salsa, meringue, or flamenco. "I don't talk much," she says. "I let the music move them and inspire them."

Zumba, an aerobic dance class set to South American beats, is hot in health clubs and exercise studios from Miami to Los Angeles and everywhere in between.

"Latin music just tends to make you feel happy and good," says McCalister, 53. "I can have the bluest day, be depressed, hormones ranging, whatever, and get in front of that class, turn on the music and I recharge my life, my soul."

Adds McCalister: "When I put on Traigo Una Pena, a cha cha, my class just screams. They're somewhere else; they're not in Pittsburgh when they take a Zumba class."

That's exactly what creators were aiming for when they released Zumba (Spanish slang for buzz like a bee or move fast) to the world.

"We say ditch the workout; join the party," says Zumba co-founder and CEO, Alberto Perlman of Hollywood, Fla.

The Growth of Zumba

Zumba was born from an accident. Colombia-born Alberto "Beto" Perez was teaching an aerobics class in his native Cali in 1986 and discovered he had forgotten his usual music. So he dug through his bag of tapes and grabbed a mix of salsa and meringue music he personally liked to dance to.

"I just said, 'Class today is different,'" says Perez, 37, who was also a dance instructor. "Everybody loved it."

Zumba's success grew steadily after Perez moved first to Bogota, Colombia and later to Miami. In 1999, Perlman and entrepreneur Alberto Aghion approached Perez about taking Zumba to the mass market. The three began selling DVDs via infomercial in 2002 and were very successful, but enthusiasts demanded more.

"The crazy thing was we were getting all these people from all around the country who bought these videos and wanted to teach it," says Perlman.

In 2005, Perez, Perlman, and Aghion developed an educational division, wrote a training manual, and began offering Zumba workshops to those interested in teaching.

Today, there are an estimated 4 million Zumba enthusiasts and 25,000 instructors in 40 countries, according to Perlman. And Zumba executives continue to feed the frenzy. The brand also offers music and choreography; a clothing line; Zumba Gold classes, geared to seniors; Zumba Toning, a sculpting class using weighted sticks that sound like maracas; and ZumbAtomic, a program for kids aged 5 to 12.

No Complex Choreography

Barring any doctor's limitations, says Perlman, Zumba is safe for a range of ages and fitness levels because the steps can be modified so that it's very low-impact. And all you need are a good pair of dance shoes or cross-trainers.

Part of Zumba's appeal is its simplicity, says Perlman. Teachers are encouraged to forego complex cueing, and just let the students feel the music, he says.

"Other classes do complicated choreography. ... You need to pay attention," he says. "Zumba uses four or five steps in one given song and you keep repeating."

Sometimes, says Perez, people even forget they're in a fitness class.

"It's incredibly upbeat," says 39-year-old Jennifer Brooks, of Pittsburgh. "It's like going out with the girls dancing."

"I've never smiled more in an exercise class," says Pittsburgh's Deb Bogan, 59. "I laugh out loud, I sing."

And, Bogan says, she's not alone in feeling that way: "When I look around at the faces of these middle-aged to older adults, their faces are like the faces of children on the playground."

Benefits of Zumba Exercise

Zumba lovers credit the dance craze with freer inhibitions, sharper minds -- and tighter abs.

"It changes your body better than body sculpting," says McCalister. "Since I've started teaching Zumba, I've lost inches. My body has slimmed down. I've had to replace all my fitness clothes."

Though Bogan says she's always been a "gym rat," she admits to being uncoordinated. "I never had great balance," but since practicing Zumba, she says, "I can stand on one foot as long as I need to."

Bogan says learning the new dances is great mental exercise, as well: "I'd rather do this than Suduko."

Exercise physiologist Nicole Gunning invites a Zumba instructor monthly to teach her Adventure Boot Camp students in Morris County, N.J.

As with any cardiovascular workout, says Gunning, the benefits of Zumba can include calorie burn, increased aerobic threshold, more stamina, increased bone density, improved balance and muscle tone, less body fat, and lower blood pressure.

"It's a decent cardio workout as long as you're OK with letting yourself go," says Gunning. "You have to be uninhibited to get the most benefit out of the workout."

Perez says Zumba fanatics come for more than the calorie burn, however.

"Zumba is more of a philosophy," says Perez. "Sometimes people go for therapy, sometimes they go for social connections, sometimes they love to dance and there's no time. Zumba is the perfect excuse."