The Healthy Bride

The thermometer outside my kitchen window says 90 degrees today.  This morning during our 6am workout, it was so hot we swam for a full half of the workout – just to beat the 6am heat!  We are not used to this heat, and working out in it is a challenge.  The best option is working out early in the morning or later in the evening or going inside to an air conditioned space for your workout.  If you are outdoors and are doing a land activity, below is some helpful information on hyddration and electrolytes.

How do you stay hydrated during hot weather workouts?  Is water enough?  How much water is too much? Do you need electrolytes too?

The latest research may surprise you.  Studies are now (again?) saying that you should drink when your body signals it’s thirsty.  (IMMDA 2006).  Everyone will reach this point at a different time, and everyone will need a different amount.  Basically, when thirsty, drink and if you are not feeling thirsty you are probably just fine. You need to be sure you have water TO drink when you reach your thirst point, so carrying water with you while exercising is a great idea.

Too much can be worse than not enough.

There are cases when athletes are so concerned about not getting enough water, that they end up drinking too much – this is called hyopnutremia.  Basically, all of the water washes away your electrolytes leaving you in an imbalanced state that is dangerous and can even lead to heart failure.  Women tend to overdrink more, and do not sweat as much.

Electrolytes

Most people can have and maintain a normal electrolyte balance with their normal diet.  The daily requirements are pretty small, and are easily obtained by any diet that includes the following foods:

-          whole grain breads and cereals
-          dark green leafy vegetables
-          nuts, beans and legumes
-          low fat dairy
-          a variety of fruits
-          an occasional dash of table salt
-          adequate daily fluids

You do lose electrolytes in sweat, but in small amounts.  Unless you are deconditioned and not used to the climate, electrolyte supplementation is probably not necessary.

Now, get outside and enjoy the summer!

Tonight at class one of the brides said that she was feeling bad because her plan to eat healthy for the week was falling apart.  She started out with meals cooked, a full refrigerator of healthy foods, and a healthy food stocked pantry. “The week started out so well” she declared.

When I asked her to describe what was derailing her, she said that olives were the only food left in her refrigerator and her pantry had “cream of wheat” and nothing else.  She then went on to say that her week had been crazy and she had not returned home earlier than 9pm once time this week.  That did not leave any  time to get to the grocery store and cream of wheat for dinner was terrible, even disgusting.

We all have these weeks, and ordering a pizza starts to look really good.  What to do?  I asked her if she had heard of Amazon Fresh? She had not, and when I described the service she was psyched!  A cure for the mid-week empty pantry!

I discovered Amazon Fresh on a Saturday evening at 10pm.  We had no groceries and we were going climbing early Sunday morning.  We needed lunch for our climbing trip and I just could not get myself to go to the store (and was willing to do anything to avoid it) so I went to the Amazon site and discovered that if I ordered before midnight I could get my groceries by 6am Sunday morning!  It worked!!  They have a very good selection of quality foods, great produce and delivery only costs $5.  The best part is that you can get good, healthy food with the click of a mouse.  I was additionally excited to learn that Amazon Fresh offers a “low packaging” option, so you don’t feel like you are littering the planet with ridiculous packaging.

Another option for those of you looking to maintain healthy eating habits with a hectic, busy schedule might want to try out Delicious Planet.  Their gourmet home delivery service offers healthy wholesome food to your doorstep.  You order online (the selection is broad and the menus sound delicious), by 4pm for delivery the next day.  I have heard rave reviews about them and they deliver in most neighborhoods in Seattle.

Now, before you fall completely off the wagon of healthy eating, get online and rescue your week!

It has been a warm, beautiful, dry summer here in Seattle and we deserve it!  Sometimes when it’s warm, I have a hard time finding good things to eat that are not either really sweet (ice cream???) or really salty (chips???).  I decided to go on a quest for a list of the top 10 Healthy Snacks for Hot Weather which follow in no particular order.

1. Fresh Fruit Breakfast Smoothie  In summer there is so much fresh fruit that goes with a perfect start to the day.

2. Edamame & Fresh pineapple chunks. I love pineapple!

3. Baked pita chips with raspberry vinegar hummus (recipe follows)

4. Low Fat Cottage Cheese with Fresh Blueberries and/or Raspberries

5. Chilled Hard Boiled Egg with a fresh nectarine

6. Large, tall glass of Herbal Iced Tea (Hibiscus Ginger preferred) with 10 whole grain crackers

7. Fresh Pear Slices with Almond Butter

8. Julies Organic Fudge Bar (100 calories and worth it!)

9.  Whole wheat wrap with lettuce, avocado, basil and low fat feta cheese.

10.  Bake your own potato, beet, or sweet potato chips. (Slice vegetables thinly, pour 1T olive oil into a zip lock and shake, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake in oven at 350°F (177°C) until crispy.)

Hummus with Raspberry Vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 cups diced onion
2 Tblspoon Raspberry Vinegar
1 (15-1/2 oz) can chickpeas/garbanzo beans drained
1 Tblespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

1. heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion, and saute 5 minutes or until ionion begins to brown.  Add vinegar, and bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes or until vinegar evaporates.  Cool to reoom temperature.

2.  Drain chickpeas through a sieve over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup liquid.  Place chickpeas and chopped cilantro in a food processor, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add onion mixture, 1/4 cup reserved liquid, cumin, pepper and salt, and process until smooth.  Garnish with cilantro sprigs if desired.  yield 2 cups (serving size 2 Tablespoons)

Calories 44 (27% from fat), Fat 1.3g, Protein 1.9 g, Carb 6.6gm, Fiber 1g, Chol 0mg, Iron .6mg, Sodium 75mg, Calc 14mg

This article is reprinted from Sherri McMillian – with several of my own edits for clarification.

Have you ever read or heard that lower intensity activity will maximize fat loss?  Many fit people have lowered the intensity of their workouts fearful that they were not burning fat. Unfortunately, they were misled and many people still believe that low intensity activity is the best way to maximize fat loss. In fact, I continue to hear this (very incomplete) advice and it makes me crazy! Let’s clarify this issue for you.

The reality is that the activity that expends the most amount of calories will lead to the most amount of fat burned.

Yes, during lower intensity activity you will burn a higher percentage of fat and during higher intensity activity you will burn a higher percentage of carbohydrates or sugars. But the important point to note is that during low intensity activity you are burning fat at a higher percentage of a lower amount of calories. When you exercise at a lower intensity you are definitely expending less calories. The selective use of fat as a fuel, specifically at lower intensities, does not translate into greater fat loss, regardless of how tempting it is to draw this conclusion. The more important focus with regard to calories expended, is not the percentage of energy coming from fat, but rather the total volume of fat used and the total number of calories
expended. Let’s look at the math using the example of a 150 pound woman:

At 60% max heart rate (easier intensity)
• Approximately 50% of calories come from fat (50% from sugars)
• Approximately 8 kcal/min are expended
• 60 minutes x 8 kcal/min = 480 total calories
• 50% x 480 kcal = 240 fat calories

At 80% max heart rate (more vigorous intensity)
• Approximately 40% of calories come from fat (60% from sugars)
• Approximately 11 kcal/min are expended
• 60 minutes x 11 kcal/min = 640 total calories
• 40% x 640 kcal = 264 fat calories

From these figures you can see how we could have been misled. If you were to examine only the first line, the percentage of fat being burned as fuel, you would definitely believe lower intensity activity burns more fat. However, if you examine the whole picture, it is clear that higher intensity activity expends more calories and also more fat. Here are some more statistics to convince you.

It takes approximately 3,500 calories to burn one pound of fat. Compare the following exercise programs.

Program A – Easier intensity (approximately 5kcal/min) – For example, easy walking
• 30 minutes of activity 3x/week
• 150kcal/session x 3x/week
• 450kcal/week
• It would take 8 weeks to burn 1 pound of fat

Program B – Same intensity as above but for a longer duration
• 60 minutes of activity 3x/week
• 300kcal/session x 3x/week
• 900 kcal expended per week
• It would take 4 weeks to burn 1 pound of fat

Program C – More vigorous intensity (approximately 10 kcal/min) – For example, jogging or power walking up and down hills
• 60 minutes of activity 3x/week
• 600kcal/session x 3x/week
• 1800 kcal expended per week
• It would take 2 weeks to burn 1 pound of fat

If you followed Program A, it would take you eight weeks to burn one pound of fat! Most people would give up by then. If you could easily handle the higher intensity of Program C, wouldn’t you prefer to just wait 2 weeks to burn off that pound of fat deposited around your waist, hips or thighs?
Remember though, if you can’t handle the higher intensity of Program C, follow Program B which means you can maintain the easier intensity but you just have to go longer.

Time is definitely an issue for a lot of exercisers and most don’t want to spend hours in the gym if they can get the same results in a shorter period of time. Consider this. At 60% of your max heart rate, it would take you approximately 40 minutes to burn off 300 kcal. If you could handle a higher intensity and were able to exercise at 80% of your max heart rate, it would only take you approximately 27 minutes to burn the same 300 kcal. If time is a factor and you do not have a lot of time to waste, would you rather exercise for 40 or 27 minutes and still burn the same amount of calories?

If I have not convinced you yet, consider this. Did you know that the highest percentage of fat that you burn during any activity is during rest! At rest, you are using approximately 50% fat as your fuel – that is the highest % of fat you can burn – you are never burning 100% fat. That’s right, just sitting here reading this blog, you are burning the highest percentage of fat you could possibly burn. That is because your body can only store a limited supply of carbohydrates (sugars) and so during rest, the demand on your body is low and your body wants to spare your precious sugar stores. Since you have an unlimited supply of fat stores, your body would rather burn fat during rest.

But remember that although you are burning a higher percentage of fat at rest, you are expending very few calories (approximately 1kcal/min) so overall you are not burning a lot of fat. If type of fuel utilized was the critical factor for fat loss, then we would be prescribing more rest because this is when we burn the highest percentage of fat as fuel. But it is a higher percentage of a lower number of calories. So, of course, we know it is ridiculous to even consider rest or sleep as a high fat burning activity.

One last note. Examine elite level athletes like sprinters. The majority of their training sessions involve high intensity, sugar-burning activity. But have you ever seen a fat sprinter? Of course not. Although, they are burning a lot of carbohydrates or sugars during their training sessions, they are also expending a lot of calories and a lot of fat. In fact, some sprinters eat over 5000-6000kcal/day without gaining any fat!

The benefits of higher intensity exercise are as follows:
• Expends more calories per minute
• More efficient – burns more calories in less time
• Most effective method for improving fitness conditioning
• Most effective method for raising anaerobic threshold. Your anaerobic threshold is the stage of exercise where you feel very tired and feel the need to either stop or slow down. You may feel dizzy or nauseous if you stay at this level too long. By incorporating higher intensity activity into your exercise workouts, you raise your anaerobic threshold. This means that you can exercise at a higher intensity before you start to experience those uncomfortable sensations.

• Most effective method for inducing training adaptations. Incorporating this type of training into your program will enable your body to handle the higher intensities more easily. You will find that intensities that used to leave you breathless and fatigued, no longer challenge you anymore. Soon, you will be able to expend more calories per minute compared to when you first started exercise. When people first initiate an exercise program, a comfortable calorie burning level is approximately 5cal/min. Elite athletes can expend more than 20cal/min and sustain it for over 2 hours! As a result, it takes them a lot less time to burn one pound of fat.

• Most effective method for increasing fat mobilization. This means that as you get fitter, you actually get better at burning fat. Inside of your fat cells, you have enzymes called hormone sensitive lipase and lipoprotein lipase. Hormone sensitive lipase, the “good guys”, are responsible for releasing fat from a fall cell to be used for energy. Lipoprotein lipase, the “bad guys”, are responsible for the uptake of fat from the blood stream into fat cells to be stored. Lipoprotein lipase functions to develop our unwanted bulges. If you have lived a sedentary lifestyle and have eaten a poor diet all your life, you will have a lot of the “bad guys” and they will be very good at their job. You will have fewer “good guys” and they will not be so competent with their responsibilities. The goal is to get more good guys doing their job. But changing the internal chemistry inside of your fat cells may take years. So in the beginning you may not be experiencing results as quickly as you want because you body is actually working against you. But with consistency in your training program, your body will soon start to work for you. Soon you will have increased your ability to mobilize and use fat as a fuel. Training in a high intensity zone will make you fit quick and enable you to enjoy this wonderful training benefit. Soon you will be burning more fat during and after exercise. You will become a fat burning machine!

• Experience a higher EPOC (excess post oxygen consumption). Have you ever wondered why you continue to breathe heavy and sweat after your workout is done? Why doesn’t your breathing and body temperature go back to normal immediately? After exercise you consume a greater amount of oxygen to assist your body in recovering from the stress of the workout and the demands it placed on your body. It is important to know that EPOC uses fat as its fuel. At higher intensities, your EPOC is greater translating into a greater caloric and fat expenditure post activity. Although the effects of EPOC are small, if you expended an additional 100 calories post exercise as a result of a high intensity exercise session, within 100 workouts (5 months), you would have burned an extra 10,000 calories or 3 pounds of fat!
• Intervals are the best way to add intensity to a workout by adding brief, high-energy outputs followed by active recovery phases which will avoid fatigue and injury.

So, the bottom line is that everyone can benefit from incorporating high intensity training into their program once they have completed about 2 months of initial level base conditioning. Please note however, that every workout should not be a high-intensity workout. Doing so could result in burn-out, over-training and injury. The recommended fitness prescription is one that includes all intensity training zones. That is, sometimes you go easy and long and other times you go hard and fast. This will ensure you train all of your energy systems and minimize overtraining. Reminder – Don’t start a new fitness program with high intensity exercise. Complete a couple months of easier, base conditioning first and then slowly start to add your intervals.

This is a subject that comes up again and again in our Bridal Bootcamps.  Every bride wants every inch of her body feeling great as she walks up the aisle, and brides who are planning to wear a strapless dress are particularly sensitive to how they see their backs.

Nature, as it turns out, decides when, where, and how much fat we carry on each of our bodies. Gender also plays a large role. Males tend to store their fat in their midsections; while females carry their around their hips and thighs, but some women also get pockets of upper back fat.

Too much food and too little physical exercise are what usually leads to those unsightly pounds, but where those pounds are added is largely a case of genetics.

Back fat is not popular with women, especially brides. Even women who are okay with bits of fat in strategic places intensely dislike the back fat that forms ridges around their bras and would like to get rid it. I have heard this described as “boob fat” and “back fat” and every bride I have met so far wants it to go away before the wedding photos begin.

You may have heard in the popular press (or from ads on TV) that you can concentrate on reducing flab from
any specific part of your body.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is just not true.  Spot reducing is a well supported Myth.  Everyone has areas of the body which favor fat formation more than others and exercising muscles underlying those particular areas of fat will not make the fat go away.

The only way to lose fat from any part of your body is to shed pounds from your entire body – exercise combined with a permanent eating regimen that focuses on eating healthier foods in smaller quantities.

Are there any exercises that can target back fat?  The good news here is yes, but it might not be what you expect.  What you need to focus on to lose that back fat is an aerobic workout that burns calories.  You need to be burning more calories than you are eating.  It’s that simple.

Choose activities that you enjoy, are easily accessible, within your budget, and effective in shedding pounds. Weight-resistance training is good, but be sure to get some aerobic exercise, too. You want to be working hard enough that you are sweating and huffing and puffing.  Think about the level of intensity you are working on a scale from 0-10.  0= laying on the couch watching TV with the remote.  10 = absolute maximum, pass-out stage.  When you are warming up, shoot for a 5-6 level.  Hold this for about 10 minutes.  Next, move into your aerobic zone of your workout (where you really burn the calories) and move into the 6-9 level.  Go with how you feel that day, and be sure to vary your workout. If you have been doing the same workout for awhile or if you have reached a plateau, consider adding interval training.

Interval training is basically exercise which consists of activity at high intensityfor a period of time, followed by low intensity exercise for a period of time. These ’sets’ are repeated. Interval traning can really have an enormous impact on your fitness level, your metabolism and can spice up a workout routine that has gone stale.

If you want to tone and firm up the upper back muscles for better appearance; or for that strapless dress, then resistance training is a great idea.  Working your back also lowers your chance of back injury, improves your posture, and provides stronger support for your entire body. Check out our strapless dress podcast workout!

This is from the University of Washington Lipid Research Department.  Interesting….

Check the answer which best describes the way you have been eating over the past month.

1. How many ounces of meat, fish or poultry do you usually eat?*

___ 1. I do not eat meat, fish or poultry.
___ 2. I eat 3 ounces or less per day.
___ 3. I eat 4-6 ounces per day.
___ 4. I eat 7 or more ounces per day.

*3 ounces of meat, fish or chicken is any ONE of the following: 1 regular hamburger, 1 chicken breast, 1 chicken leg (thigh and drumstick), 1 pork chop or 3 slices of pre-sliced lunch meat.

2. How much cheese do you eat per week?

___ 1. I do not eat cheese.
___ 2. I eat whole milk cheese less than once a week and/or use only low fat cheese such as diet cheese, low fat cottage cheese, or ricotta.
___ 3. I eat whole milk cheese once or twice per week (such as cheddar, swiss, monterey jack).
___ I eat whole milk cheese three or more times per week.

3. What type of milk do you use?

___ 1. I use only skim or 1% milk, or don’t use milk.
___ 2. I usually use skim milk or 1% milk, but use others occasionally.
___ 3. I usually use 2% or whole milk.

4. How many visible egg yolks do you use per week?

___ 1. I avoid all egg yolks or use less than one per week and/or use only egg substitute.
___ 2. I eat 1-2 egg yolks per week.
___ 3. I eat 3 or more egg yolks per week.

5. How often do you eat these meats: regular hamburger, bologna, salami, hot dogs, corned beef, spareribs, sausage, bacon, braunsweiger, or liver? Do not count others.

___ 1. I do not eat any of these meats.
___ 2. I eat them about once per week or less.
___ 3. I eat them about 2 to 4 times per week.
___ 4. I eat more than 4 servings per week.

6. How many commercial baked goods and how much regular ice cream do you usually eat? (Examples: cake, cookies, coffee cake, sweet rolls, donuts, etc. Do not count low fat versions.)

___ 1. I do not eat commercial baked goods and ice cream.
___ 2. I eat commercial baked goods or ice cream once per week or less.
___ 3. I eat commercial baked goods or ice cream 2 to 4 times per week.
___ 4. I eat commercial baked goods or ice cream more than 4 times per week.

7. What is the main type of fat you cook with?

___ 1. I use nonstick spray or I do not use fat in cooking.
___ 2. I use a liquid oil (Examples: safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean, and olive oil.)
___ 3. I use margarine.
___ 4. I use butter, shortening, bacon drippings, or lard.

8. How often do you eat snack foods such as chips, fries or party crackers?

___ 1. I do not eat these snack foods.
___ 2. I eat one serving of these snacks per week.
___ 3. I eat these snacks 2 to 4 times per week.
___ 4. I eat these snack foods more than four times per week.

9. What spread do you usually use on bread, vegetables, etc?

___ 1. I do not use any spread.
___ 2. I use diet or light margarine.
___ 3. I use margarine.
___ 4. I use butter.

10. How often do you eat as a snack candy bars, chocolate, or nuts?

___ 1. Less than once per week.
___ 2. One to 3 times per week.
___ 3. More than 3 times per week.

11. When you use recipes or convenience foods, how often are they low fat?

___ 1. Almost always.
___ 2. Usually.
___ 3. Sometimes.
___ 4. Seldom or never.

12. When you eat away from home, how often do you choose low fat foods?

___ 1. Almost always.
___ 2. Usually.
___ 3. Sometimes.
___ 4. Seldom or never.

To Score: Add the points for each answer. If you have 24 or less, your diet is moderate to low in fat and cholesterol. If your score is greater than 24, look for high fat choices you could change.

Time Magazine Monday, Jul. 06, 2009
First Comes Love, Then Comes Obesity?
By Bonnie Rochman

It’s full-on wedding season, but anyone about to pledge to have and to hold should pay closer attention to the bit about “in sickness and in health.” New research shows that within a few short years of getting hitched, married individuals are twice as likely to become obese as are people who are merely dating.

The study, published in the July issue of Obesity, set out to determine how romantic relationships affect the tell-no-lies number on the scale. Researchers tracked changes over a handful of years in the weight and relationship status of 6,949 individuals, and their findings don’t bode well for commitment. Not only are married people more likely to become obese than those who are just dating, but young people who move in with a boyfriend or girlfriend tend to pack on the pounds too. (See pictures of the busiest wedding day in history.)

And in a twist sure to tick off all the ladies in the house, the study notes that unmarried women who have been living with their sweeties for five years or less run a 63% increased risk of obesity. What about unmarried men? On average, they have no increased risk during cohabitation.

“With women, we saw incremental risk after one year,” says Penny Gordon-Larsen, one of the two nutrition epidemiologists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) who conducted the study. “The longer she lived with a romantic partner, the more likely she was to keep putting on weight.” Meanwhile, the risk of obesity among guys — married and unmarried — spikes only between the first and second years of living together.

What’s behind the weight gain? Gordon-Larsen and the paper’s lead author, Natalie The, have their theories after questioning 1,293 couples for a separate part of the study. Mealtime may become more important than it was when the people were living alone. Gym memberships may not get the same workouts they did before nuptials. And maybe, after months of prepping to squeeze into crinolined and cummerbunded finery, couples just let themselves go.

Scientists have known for a while that having a close relationship with an obese person, whether a friend or a spouse, makes you more likely to become obese. So how to break the cycle? Perhaps by drawing inspiration from the same person who helped get you into this mess: your better half. Amy Gorin, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut, published a study last year that showed if one spouse participates in a weight-loss program, the unenrolled spouse tends to lose about 5 lb. Now Gorin is exploring whether enlisting the support of spouses can help both partners shed more pounds. In June she wrapped up a 16-week pilot study of 20 couples, in one of which, the support person lost more weight than the main participant in the study.

Couples don’t have to live chubbily ever after. And studies show that marriage conveys some health benefits, like living longer and being more likely to quit smoking, notes UNC’s The, who lives with her boyfriend but insists her obesity findings haven’t scared her away from the idea of marriage. “This is an interesting paradox,” she says, “but it certainly wouldn’t stop me.”

This workout was a killer!  Take your fiance or your wedding party out to the park this weekend and put him through the paces!

3 min line runs

Leg Blaster:20 body weight squats, 20 lunges, 20 lunge jumps, 10 jumpies(squat jumps) 3  x through

3 min line runs lateral (side ways)

3 sets 15 biceps curls

3 min line runs

3 sets 15 triceps dips

15 pushups then sprint 100 yards with resistance, then 30 bicycles
(wrap a band around your hips, have your partner hold the band, providing resistance while you run forward)
Change positions, sprint 100 yards back

Jog to a set of stairs – run 5 sets of stairs. (we jogged 3 blocks to the stairs)

Jog back to sprinting location

25 pushups then sprint 100 yards with resistance then 30 crunches (legs in the air, reach to your shoe laces)
change positions, sprint 100 yards back

Stairs: run another 5 sets of stairs.

Back to sprint location.

1 minute plank forward

30 second plank each side

This is straight from whfoods.org, but it’s a comment and question I hear all the time! Read on for a well thought out, helpful answer.

“It is very common for people to use the word “addiction” when it comes to sweets. Many people feel like that they can lose control very quickly when it comes to sweets. While researchers do not consider the craving for sweets to be a true addiction, there are many good reasons why we feel that it is.

The first reason is sugar. Most sweets are high in sugar, and sugar is a type of carbohydrate that can be digested, absorbed, and released into our bloodstream very quickly. If you’ve gone too long without eating, or if you’ve eaten too much low-quality, processed food with little nutrient value, or if you have somewhat unstable blood sugar levels to begin with, it can be easy to get caught up in a sweets dilemma. You feel low on energy because you’ve gone too long without eating-or because you have eaten poorly, didn’t get a good night’s sleep, you haven’t exercised, or some other reason-and then you reach for sweets that can raise your blood sugar up quickly and make you feel richer in energy (even though you really aren’t). The “energy” you feel from sweets may be quick, but it is also very temporary. Usually within 30 minutes or so, you’ll find yourself wanting more sweets because your elevated blood sugar level will have descended back down. Without a healthy diet and without healthy lifestyle changes, you could end up being caught in a trap where sweets lie at the center of your eating. The best way to escape from this sugar trap is to start off with small steps that can begin to restructure your entire Healthiest Way of Eating. (One example includes eating protein- or fat-containing food, like nuts, when you eat a sweet food like fruit to help better balance your blood sugar levels.) Lifestyle changes—such as exercising, becoming more involved in non-eating hobbies and activities, and stress reduction techniques—may also be critical for you to escape from this aspect of sweets craving.

A second reason is taste. Most sweets are delicious! We have taste buds on the tips of our tongue dedicated solely to the taste of sweet. When we nurse as babies, those sweet taste buds actually run all the way down the center of our tongue to let us enjoy the sweetness of milk. For many people, sweets are very closely associated with the special pleasure of food, and other tastes and flavors just don’t compare to the special experience of sweet. One step that you can take to change this focus on sweets and their taste is to experiment with new foods. When it comes to food, there are probably some tastes that you have never tasted! Enjoying ethnic foods that make use of many different spices and seasonings can sometimes be very helpful in adding new tastes to your diet. The goal is to round out your way of eating in such a way that sweetness does not stand alone as “the best of the best” when it comes to taste.

The third reason for sweets craving is as a means of seeking comfort. Sweets are treats we believe we can count on to make us feel better. They almost never fail us in this regard! When our day has not gone well, when events may have disappointed us, or when we’re just looking for something to brighten our outlook on life, sometimes there is nothing better than a sweet treat. We also tend to associate sweets with celebrations and special occasions that we want to mark in a memorable way (the decorative birthday cake is a perfect example). This aspect of sweets craving can be one of the most difficult to shift. Sometimes, what’s required is a step away from food altogether. Finding ways to celebrate that have nothing to do with food of any kind, and finding things to look forward to that aren’t related to eating, can sometimes be the only way of lowering a sweets craving that is related to the comfort aspect of sweets.

I am super curious about the Style me Pretty Blog.  Do you or anyone you know use this blog to plan your wedding?  If you have you heard of the blog, what do you think?  I want to work with them, but know very little about them.  I appreciate your help!