The Sugar Smart Diet: Stop Cravings and Lose Weight While Still Enjoying the Sweets You Love (38 page)
Authors: Anne Alexander,Julia VanTine
PHASE 4
Makes 4 servings
PREP TIME:
15 minutes •
TOTAL TIME:
25 minutes
½ cup mixed berries, frozen and thawed, drained
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
20 (3") wonton wrappers
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.
Gently mash the berries with a fork. Mix with the maple syrup. Drain the excess liquid from the berry mixture into a small dish.
3.
In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon.
4.
Place a wonton wrapper on a cutting board. Dip your finger in water and gently run it along the perimeter of the wonton wrapper. Place a scant teaspoon of berry mixture in the center of the wrapper and fold two diagonal corners toward each other to form a triangle. Press the edges together to seal in the fruit mixture and transfer to the baking sheet. Continue this process with the remaining 19 wrappers.
5.
Brush each filled wonton with butter and sprinkle with a generous pinch of the cinnamon mixture.
6.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are crispy and golden. Serve with the reserved berry juice as a dipping sauce or drizzle.
Nutrition per serving (5 wontons and ½ teaspoons berry juice):
168 calories, 4 g protein, 32 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 7 g total sugar, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 230 mg sodium
THE SUGAR SMART WORKOUT
O
n the path to the sweet life, as you shed your sugar belly, you’re bound to find that some of your old ideas melt away, too. One idea that is past its shelf life is that exercise is hard, boring, sweaty drudgery and less rewarding than scarfing cookie dough from the tube.
If that sentiment about sums it up for you, I understand. Like you, I lived through the feel-the-burn, no-pain-no-gain 1980s and 1990s—the Dark Buns of Steel Age of Exercise, you might say. But if you can be open to a new way of thinking about exercise, you just might develop an entirely new perspective. In a life of chronic stress and constant doing for others, exercise is your time to turn off your smartphone, walk away from the everyday demands of life, and do
you
. You’re off the clock, free to ponder life’s eternal mysteries or work out everyday vexations or
marvel at the elegant machinery that is your body—and, believe it or not, grab a sweet hit of joy.
Essayist and literary critic C. S. Lewis observed, “We are not bodies with souls, but rather souls with bodies.” Exercise is a way to bring them together. In a very real sense, people who exercise regularly—whether they walk, run, Zumba, or do yoga—are tending their lives along with their bodies. We all know someone who raves about how their daily walk or run or gym time has changed their life. If you open your mind to the rewards of exercise that don’t involve the scale, and seek pleasure in moving your body, that someone can be you.
The rewards of the Sugar Smart Workout will show on the outside in ways you and your doctor can see and measure: a slimmer body, a flatter belly, better blood sugar control, and a reduced risk of diabetes and heart disease (or better control of these conditions if you already have them). But the extra perks of regular exercise—a more sparkly outlook on life, energy to burn, self-confidence, an increased appetite for pleasure—radiate outward and inform your whole life. It’s no exaggeration to say that a strong, fit, vital body is your ticket to a life of pleasure, fulfillment, even adventure and a sense of accomplishment. Gayle, one of our test panelists, walked a half marathon 13.1 miles) while she was following the Sugar Smart Diet—and finished in just over 3½ hours. “That was a personal best for me,” she says, “I was so proud of myself.”
Truth be told, if you followed the Sugar Smart Diet without working out, you would still lose weight and reset your sugar thermostat. But when it comes to controlling sugar cravings and blood sugar levels, you just can’t beat the effects of exercise. You will simply see faster, better results, as the research shows.
- If your main goal is to shrink your belly, you should know that exercise targets visceral fat better than diet alone. A study of 209 women and men on low-calorie diets, published in the
International Journal of Obesity
, found that those who exercised lost 30 percent more belly fat than those who didn’t. - If
you struggle to stick to a diet, exercise appears to suppress the desire to eat by giving your brain a healthier option. A study of 30 people, published in the
Journal of Applied Physiology
, found that a single bout of exercise reduced the response of nerve cells in the brain’s reward regions. - If you have diabetes, exercise has been found to reduce the need for diabetes medications. In one study published in
Diabetes Care
, people with diabetes lifted weights for 35 minutes, three times a week. In 4 months, 72 percent were able to reduce their dose of diabetes medications. - Exercise also helps you keep the weight off once you lose it. Data from the National Weight Control Registry, a long-running study of people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept them off for one year or longer, shows that 90 percent of people who have maintained their weight loss cite exercise as one of their strategies.
Those are compelling findings—and if you like to walk, you’re in luck. Recent research into the effects of walking on health have yielded similarly spectacular conclusions.
- Brisk walking can lower the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
- A long, brisk morning walk can rein in appetite and reduce cravings all day.
- A 15-minute stroll after meals can head off undesirable post-meal blood sugar spikes.
Amazing! I knew we had to work these findings into the Sugar Smart exercise plan. So I reached out to Michele Stanten,
Prevention
’s former fitness director, walking coach, and certified trainer. Michele developed a fun and flexible workout that’s as simple as it is effective.
My main goal is to get you moving. If you already have a workout routine you enjoy, that’s terrific. If you’d prefer to stick with your walking-only routine, that’s good too. But I encourage you to take a close look at Michele’s plan. It’s designed to help you burn fat, build muscle, and beat stress. All three elements
will help shrink your sugar belly and lower your blood sugar levels. But Michele keeps it real, too. No need for pricey equipment, special clothing, or even a gym membership. And although I’m asking you to devote 45 minutes, 6 days a week, to exercise, you can break it up into 15-minute chunks throughout the day. So give it a shot! The way I see it, you have nothing to lose except more belly.
The Sugar Smart Workout is built around three main components. Cardiovascular exercise, or
cardio,
conditions your heart and lungs as it burns calories and blasts fat.
Strength training
builds calorie-burning muscle and boosts your body’s sensitivity to insulin as it strengthens your bones.
Easy yoga
improves flexibility, and, unlike other forms of stretching, can help build muscle while both relaxing and invigorating your body. It also helps keep stress in check, which in turn makes people prone to emotional eating less likely to reach for sugar.
Team up these different forms of exercise, all with multiple benefits, and the results speak for themselves: a stronger, slimmer, healthier body. Muscles use glucose as fuel, so any type of physical activity can reduce blood sugar levels. Exercise also helps the body use insulin more efficiently, which in turn helps the body use more glucose. And improved response to insulin means fewer blood sugar spikes that encourage your body to pack away extra fat.
Activities that raise your heart rate, like brisk walking, running, swimming, Zumba, and dancing, help melt the just-under-the-skin fluff that pads your hips, thighs, butt, chest, arms, and back. Cardio keeps a sugar belly gone, too: Just 80 minutes a week slowed weight gain in 97 overweight women and stopped them from regaining visceral fat a year after weight loss, according to study in the journal
Obesity
.
Anything that keeps you moving counts as cardio. You can walk outside or use the stationary bike, treadmill, or elliptical trainer you have at home or at your gym. You can ride your bicycle. Swim. Take up fencing. Join a ballet or
tap-dancing class. Dance in your living room to the Beatles, Bruno Mars, or Beyoncé. Take a Zumba or a Spinning class. Do an exercise DVD. Cross-country ski. Hike in the woods. The options are endless.
Of course you know how to walk. But when you walk for fitness, using proper form can increase your speed, which will maximize your calorie burn. Each time you step outside, practice this checklist of proper techniques. If you’re walking on a treadmill, the same techniques apply.
• Many people trying to walk briskly take overly long strides, which can actually slow you down. Instead, take shorter, quicker steps, rolling from heel to toes and pushing off with your toes.
• Keep your torso upright. Leaning too far forward or back will slow you down.
• It’s okay for your waist to twist as you walk. Trying to reduce the movement of your hips will slow you down.
• Keep your head upright, your eyes straight ahead, and your shoulders and neck relaxed.
• Keep your elbows at 90 degrees and your hands relaxed.
• Swing your arms forward and back, and keep them close to your body.
• To increase your pace, speed up your arm swing. Your legs will follow!
You, lift weights? Absolutely! There’s no need to strain or grunt. Nor will you Hulk up, no matter how hard you work out, because women don’t have enough of the hormones needed to build man-size muscles. What strength training will give you is a revved-up metabolism. After around age 35, if you’re not building or maintaining muscle, you’re losing it—and that can affect both your blood sugar and your weight in not-so-positive ways. Strength training can counteract the gradual age-related decline in muscle.
Every pound of muscle you add boosts your resting metabolic rate, or RMR, because muscle is more metabolically active than fat (i.e., requires more energy). That means you burn calories when you’re doing absolutely nothing. Because muscle is denser and more compact than fat, it’s possible to end up a few pounds heavier but wearing smaller sizes!
More muscle also means better blood sugar control and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. In a study of 30,022 men published in
JAMA Internal Medicine,
those who did even small amounts of strength training regularly saw a
25 percent reduction in risk. By building your muscles, you’re building added protection against diabetes and the host of health-threatening conditions that come along with it.
If you’re new to strength training, the process can seem a bit intimidating. But it’s simpler than you think. These guidelines, which cover proper form and breathing techniques, can help you learn the ropes. Keep in mind that it’s normal to experience slight muscle soreness or fatigue. It should fade after a week or two.
• The word
rep
is short for repetition. Each time you lift and lower a dumbbell, or roll your upper body up off the floor and then lower it back down, you’ve completed one repetition. A specific number of repetitions is called a set.
• The amount of weight you start with depends on how fit you are. But most people underestimate their strength and fitness level. If you can breeze through a set without fatigue, your weights are too light. The last rep should feel hard. If you can barely get through the last few reps of an exercise, though, you need a lighter weight. You may need different weight amounts for different exercises.
• Perform the moves slowly and with focus. Take 3 seconds to lift or push a weight into place, hold the position for 1 second, and take another 3 seconds to return to your starting position.
• Don’t hold your breath. This can cause changes in blood pressure, especially for people with heart disease. Rather, inhale slowly through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth.
• Exhale as you lift or push, and inhale as you relax.
• Use smooth, steady movements. To prevent injury, don’t jerk or thrust weights into position, and avoid “locking” your knees and elbows.
• Don’t perform the same strength routine 2 days in a row. Alternate the Total Body Toner and the Sugar Belly Blaster so that your muscles have time to repair themselves.
Michele has created two strength-training routines: the Total Body Toner and the Sugar Belly Blaster, and you’ll alternate between the two. The Total Body Toner shapes and strengthens your muscles from head to toe in just four moves. You target multiple body parts—like your arms and legs simultaneously—and you go through the moves deliberately but quickly, doing the four moves once all the way through and then repeating the series two more times. This is a better fat-blasting strategy than doing three sets of one move before going on to the next. And I saved the best part for last: You can do it anywhere, and you’re done in 15 minutes.
The crunch is dead! Long live core training! The Sugar Belly Blaster consists of five moves that not only flatten your belly, but go beyond your abs to tone and tighten your entire core, which includes the muscles of your back, sides, pelvis, and butt. Core training helps you develop what exercise physiologists call functional fitness—the ability to sail through everyday tasks without injury or discomfort. Your core comes into play every time you move, whether you’re taking a basket of laundry upstairs, carrying groceries into the house, or washing your car. When you exercise your core, you also tone your abs, keep your lower back strong, and improve your posture. Like the Total Body Toner, it’s something you can do anywhere in a fast 15 minutes.