10 Steps for Dealing with Sugar Addiction

With all of the food available to us, sugar is one of the leading culprits of many health issues that is prevalent at this time in our history. Too much sugar in the blood can lead to complications of diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association website, as of January 26, 2011, there are 25.8 million children and adults in the US or 8.3% of the population with diabetes. This is an increase from 23.6 million or 7.8% of the population in 2007. The numerous health complications and costs associated with diabetes has escalated, as a result.

High fructose corn syrup is one of the leading ingredients in many processed foods and should be avoided. Start reading the ingredients of the foods you buy. When you see it, look for other options. Once you start reducing sweets from your diet, your body will respond positively. You will lose inches and weight and your sweet tooth will be put to rest. You have to have a strong mind to address any addiction and sugar is no different. Here are 10 steps sourced from Get the Sugar Out: 501 Simple Ways to Cut the Sugar Out of Any Diet by Ann Louise Gittleman.

1. Reduce or eliminate caffeine. The ups and downs of caffeine include dehydration and blood sugar swings, causing sugar cravings to be more frequent.

2. Drink water. Sometimes sweet cravings are a sign of dehydration. Before you go for the sugar, have a glass of water and then wait a few minutes to see what happens. Caution: soft drinks are now America’s number one source of added sugar.

3. Eat sweet vegetables and fruit. They are sweet, healthy and delicious. The more you eat, the less you’ll crave sugar.

4. Use gentle sweets. Avoid chemicalized, artificial sweeteners and foods with added sugar. Use gentle sweeteners like maple syrup, brown rice syrup, dried fruit, stevia, barley malt and agave nectar.

5. Get physically active. Start with simple activities, like walking or yoga. Start with 10 minutes a day and gradually increase. It will help balance your blood sugar levels, boost your energy, and reduce tension without medicating yourself with sugar!

6. Get more sleep, rest and relaxation. When you are tired or stressed, your body will crave energy—in the form of sugar. These cravings are often a result of being sleep-deprived, going to bed late or waking up early, sometimes for months and years on end.

7. Evaluate the amount of animal food you eat. Eating too much can lead to cravings for sweets. So can eating too little! A good health coach will help you sort this out. Experiment. Respect your body’s individuality.

8. Eliminate fat-free or low-fat packaged snack-foods. These foods contain high quantities of sugar to compensate for lack of flavor and fat, which will send you on the roller-coaster ride of sugar highs and lows.

9. Experiment with spices. Coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom will naturally sweeten your foods and reduce cravings.

10. Slow down and find sweetness in non-food ways! You body does not biologically need sugar, but it does long for hugs, time with friends, outside time, workouts, massages, etc. When life becomes sweet enough itself, no additives are needed!

Have your blood sugar checked, exercise, kick your sugar addiction and maintain a healthy weight to prevent possible onset of diabetes. Be well!

8 Foods You Need to Stay Fit and Healthy

The right diet for women's health isn't complicated. For starters, these eight foods will help prevent cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis, a significant threat after menopause. This post is focused on women's health, even though the foods listed are excellent for both men and women.

According to researchers who recently reviewed the risks associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) in women, a poor diet was linked to 20 percent of all cases of heart disease. Factor in diet’s effect on other chronic diseases like diabetes and osteoporosis, and it’s obvious that good nutrition has huge women's health benefits. One way to immediately turn your health situation around is through the foods you choose to eat. Here are eight foods that you'll want to make part of your daily diet.

Berries, and a lot of fruits, are an excellent source of antioxidants and water-soluble vitamins. They are important for the prevention of cancer and to maintain your weight. They may also lower your risk of coronary heart disease. One of the many studies done on the benefits of berries looked at blueberries, a known powerhouse. Researchers found that all their benefits remained even after cooking. I personally like frozen blueberries and strawberries in my smoothies when they are not in season. They won't spoil like the semi-fresh ones that have been transported from a non-local area.

Green leafy veggies, like turnip, collard and mustard greens, kale, Chinese cabbage, and spinach, all rich sources of vitamins and minerals, are a great place to start. Many are also a good source of iron, important for women’s health, especially after menopause. The more colorful the vegetables and fruits, the more nutrients you receive in your diet.

Fatty fish is good for you because they deliver omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), fats with cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory benefits. While fish oil capsules will help you meet your PUFA needs, studies have found that fish itself offers even more nutritional benefits, including vitamin D, selenium, and antioxidants. Among the best choices are salmon, albacore tuna, herring, and trout.

Whole grains help with digestion and are excellent for your heart, regularity (because of the fiber content), and maintaining a steady level of blood sugar. They are also a great source of energy to power you throughout the day. Whole grains, such as oats, also help improve cholesterol levels. While food manufacturers are adding fiber to all sorts of products, whole grains, like whole wheat, rye, and bran, need to be the first ingredient on the food label of packaged foods.

Nuts are a great source of protein and monounsaturated fatty acids, as well as vitamin E. Examples of great choices include walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts. Nuts are also very calorie-dense, so you need only a handful for good nutrition and to feel satisfied. I suggest extending the volume in a serving of nuts by adding in raisins or dried cranberries. My favorite homemade trail mix is a handful of almonds, a handful of walnuts with dried cranberries.

Beans are another nutrient powerhouse, providing you with a reliable protein alternative to meat as well as the fiber needed for good digestion and prevention of chronic diseases. Beans, including navy, kidney, black, white, lima, and pinto are part of the legume family that also includes split peas, lentils, chickpeas, and soybeans. Many are good sources of calcium, important to prevent osteoporosis, especially after menopause.

Choosing a rainbow of fruits and vegetables is recommended because each one provides a unique blend of nutrients. Within the color spectrum, yellow or orange veggies are great sources of vitamin A for skin and eye health and better immunity against infection. At the top of the list are carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and the many types of squash.

Calcium is extremely important after menopause when your osteoporosis risk increases. But it’s actually vital to women’s health at every age, particularly while the body is still making bone. For optimal bone health, you need three daily servings of dairy products (for example, eight ounces of milk or yogurt, or one and a half ounces of cheese per serving), which also provide other nutrients, like protein, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. If you can tolerate dairy, low-fat sources are extremely important. Besides low-fat or skim milk, try calcium-rich Greek-style yogurt, which supplies twice the protein with less or none of the sugar of traditional yogurt varieties.

Eating Healthy When Out and About

One thing I hear from my clients is there is always a challenge with, “What can I eat that is healthy when I am out?” I suggest to be prepared by having your own food and snacks ready, but I am well aware that life happens and that does not always occur. So what do you do? If you are on the road for your job, need to get lunch while in the office or just out running errands, here are some options:

Boston Market: They have entire meals under 550 calories. Now this may be too much at one sitting depending on the individual and what their goals are, but remember to always add more vegetables and remove potatoes, stuffing, white bread and cornbread from a meal to lower your caloric intake if you need to.

Chipotle: This is my personal favorite. It is a Mexican grill that offers quality food that is committed to providing hormone and antibiotic free meats and produce sourced from local suppliers. They are not around the corner like McDonald’s, but maybe one day they will, while maintaining the integrity of their brand. What I love about this restaurant is that you control what goes into your burrito, taco, and salad or fajita bowl. They offer rice, beans, chicken, beef, fajita vegetables, romaine lettuce, corn, cheese, sour cream, salsa and guacamole. This can either be a really healthy meal or it can turn into a disaster with the cheese and sour cream. I personally stay away from the cheese, sour cream and corn, limit my rice and ask for more vegetables.

Whole Foods, Wegman’s or any other supermarket food bar: Most people forget that there are healthy options at the supermarkets to pick up and take out. There are always great tasting salads with veggies, beans and legumes that you may have never tried before. This is a great way to try some healthy choices and then maybe you will add the ingredients on your next shopping list so that you can make it yourself!

It Gives Me Joy

I recently was asked the question, "Where do you get the passion to do what you do?" I don't think about it often, however, recently I sat down and wondered why after over 10 years of being in the fitness industry, my passion has grown and continues to grow.

Let me explain how I got into the industry in the first place. I worked in the financial industry for fourteen years where I thought I would never leave. That is what you think when you start your career, right? Well, many years prior to my departure, I started exercising in a fitness facility and noticed that as my body was changing, I would receive questions from random folks on what to do. At that point, I considered working as a personal trainer as a hobby. Again, I did not have intentions to leave my finance job, but wanted to help people with their fitness goals. As things changed within the company and my displeasure grew, my desire to help others and see their results was more gratifying than sitting at a terminal screen all day. After a year of contemplation and consternation, I made the leap from the corporate world and started my own personal training proprietorship.

When it comes to why I wanted fitness to be my next career, I noticed how society's health was changing for the worse. Direction and guidance was sorely needed in the field. Being a role model for good health was my goal and there is a piece of this that stems from my own family. Having good health is a gift and should not be taken for granted. I think we start to realize this as we get older, especially if we have not had exposure to an ill family member or friend early in life. In my family, both of my parents and both siblings have hypertension. My father has heart disease and arthritis and my mother has non-insulin dependent diabetes. In my extended family, I have two cousins that are survivors of breast cancer and an aunt who passed away of the disease. In addition, I have many first cousins that are overweight and obese. I would say good health is not in my genes, however, I choose to stay out of that population by consistent exercise and good food choices. This is MY testimony on why physical activity and optimal nutrition are important and should not be taken for granted. Just because your family members or prior generations are or were candidates for various diseases, does not mean you are destined to be as well. It can be a choice.

The smile on my face in the above photo represents the joy I feel when I work with my clients and know that I am helping them to reach their fitness and health goals. Consequently, when my clients work hard, follow my guidance and see results, we achieved their goal together. It gives my joy to inspire, motivate and to keep all of my clients and class members healthy, educated and fit.

Here is to your good health and prosperity in 2011! Cheers!

Is Your Life in Balance?

Many times if there is a struggle to lose weight or change the body composition, some people will look in the wrong areas for a reason. For example, one may think that the problem with following a diet is lack of discipline or the person may not want it bad enough. Optimal change is not necessarily from a specific diet but a decision to change your whole nutrition lifestyle. Your nutrition lifestyle is not a three or six month regiment but a plan to reduce non-healthy items and replace them with better options for the rest of your life. Remember, diets do not work. Outside of that, there are many factors that influence your decision to change that you probably did not consider.

Balance and happiness in various areas of your life can play a factor when it comes to your food choices. Areas such as career, relationships, finances, your health, confidence and spirituality along with physical activity are all important toward your well-being. If any of those areas are off balance, that may be one of the underlying reasons for the struggle and poor food choices.

If there has been on ongoing struggle, take a look at your life and think about those areas. It could be something that is going on now or something in the past, for example an unresolved issue with a loved one that weighs heavily on your mind, an unfulfilling job that you dread getting up for or there is a lack of peace or solitude that you connect with, whether is it a higher being or nature. All or any of these areas can be improved with small steps over time. This is just one thought as to why a change in your nutrition lifestyle seems tough. Look outside the box. Is your life in balance?

Cook For Them & Me? How?

Here is an issue that I commonly hear that you may relate to, “How can I change what I eat by prepping and cooking my meals and then cook differently for my significant other and/or the kids? I do not have that much time.” So I ask, why does it have to be any different?

When you are on a path to a healthier body and and well being, you need support from those around you, family, friends, and anyone that will uplift you during your transition. I suggest bringing the family along for the journey. There are so many types of food to eat that are tasty and healthy. If you are eating fried and processed foods or items that are full of fat, salt and sugar you may consider weaning everyone from those choices. Usually when there are cravings for those foods, the body is missing key nutrients and when you feed the body healthier choices, the cravings go away.

Remember, diets do not work. You should view new choices of food as a change in your lifestyle that continues with no end. That being said, it should be easier on you to make the lifestyle change for your family. Many of the issues of children being overweight and obese in this country start in the home. The children usually do not do the grocery shopping or the cooking, so if there is a need to change habits, it has to start with you. Your significant other may be a different issue as s/he has the ability to buy whatever they want but when there is subtle change, there is a hope that it will catch on.

Some of the subtlest changes are to start incorporating more whole grains into your diet. This could be as simple as infusing whole wheat and whole grain products into the menu and reducing white pasta, white rice and white breads. If there are sugar cravings in your house, add more fruits and sweet vegetables such as carrots, corn, winter squashes, yams, red and yellow peppers. For salt cravings, there are healthy foods that are naturally high in sodium such as beets, celery, celeriac, artichokes and seafood. The main way to substitute flavor is with seasonings and herbs, this could be fresh or dry, but getting flavor in your foods from this natural route is better then relying on the processed foods and other choices full of fat, salt and sugar.

You may be surprised of the positive response you get from your family with new and healthy choices. You have to make a choice to make the change. Your health and your family’s health starts with what you put in your body. Take charge of it!

Patience is a Virtue

When you give suggestions to friends, family, or even co-workers, usually the ones closest to you may listen to what you suggest, but may not really “hear” what you are saying. That means it goes in one ear and out the other or the information bounces off of them right back to you without being absorbed. Have you ever experienced this? You may think, let them hear it from someone else and they will get it.

My sister is one of those folks who was not ready to hear what I had been suggesting, with love, for years. The situation was that her weight was not in a healthy range and she had high blood pressure. Since health and fitness are my areas of expertise, I would always provide tips on exercise and nutrition. I even created a sample menu plan to give her ideas on the types of food she should eat, in addition to how often she should eat. For all of those years, she did not get it. I understood that she was not ready to make a change in her life; I accepted it and left her alone. I know that when it comes to change, the individual has to make a decision for them to commit to change and until then, it will not happen.

Today, I get a phone call and guess what? She got it, with the help of another source. She came across a book that informed her of the same information I was telling her. Now she was ready to hear and absorb it. She reduced her soda intake and is eating 5 small meals consisting of more fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and chicken. She used to stop by Wawa and pick up a bag of Doritos or some other chip and a soda. Now, she can go to Wawa and walk by that section without a need to fulfill a salt and sugar craving. The reason is because she is now providing her body the nutrients it needs with healthier options and her cravings are diminishing. She has exercised on and off for years, and that component will be more consistent. As a result, she feels better and is dropping weight.

For so many people like my sister, the idea of planning was not in the forefront of her mind. Her occupation made her transient and as a result, she was always eating on the go. In addition, she rarely ate breakfast. Now, she realizes that she has to eat breakfast daily, plan her meals for the day and even for the week. She cooks in advance and freezes her meals. She states it is work, but for her health it is worth it. I know it seems hard at first, but with anything when you commit to it, it becomes easier. I am proud of you big sis. All of the seeds I planted and patience I maintained has paid off.

If you can influence someone in your life to better his or her health, it is so worth it!