Are You Constantly Craving Sugar? Here’s Why

It’s safe to say that most people like sugar, at least to some extent. But sometimes sugar cravings can get so intense that you may feel they’re taking over your life. 

We would never tell you to completely stop consuming sugar, especially if you have a sweet tooth (we do!). Because we know that that would only make you want more of it. Avoiding sugar altogether just isn’t sustainable for most of us.

But we do think that sometimes we certainly eat too much sugar. With the so many treats available at any time, it’s never been easier to overeat the sweet stuff. However, there are things you can do to get a better hang of your sugar cravings and understand why they’re happening in the first place.

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How to Make Healthy Living Easier

Too many people see working out and eating well as just some things they have to do in order to be healthy and fit.

It’s sad because living a healthy life and exercising can–and should be–much more than that. It really should be fun and enjoyable!

For someone fairly new to a healthier lifestyle, being active and eating better food on a regular basis may sound like a terrible punishment. When you’re first starting out, it may seem like there’s no way it could ever be something you actually enjoy.

And it’s actually not hard to see where people with this point of view are coming from. Here are a few misconceptions that make us think that healthy living is so difficult:

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Why It’s Important to Lead By Example

 

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Have you heard this quote before?

We’ve gotten a lot of emails from you guys asking how to get your friend, partner, or a family member to adopt a healthier lifestyle. And we get it that it might be hard, because just telling them to start eating vegetables and move every day may not make any difference.

But there’s a better way.

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Are Carbs Really That Bad?

 

I have a confession to make.

Despite knowing better, over the past couple of years I fell deeper and deeper into the “carbs are bad” fitness trend.

Now, I knew when I first started hearing about the low carb fad that it was just that: a fad. I knew carbs were crucial to a healthy, well rounded, diet, yet I let myself demonize them anyway. And most of all, I knew carbs were absolutely crucial for athletic performance, yet I kept ignoring the evidence, despite knowing better.

And I wasn’t alone—other performance-focused fitness lovers and athletes began to fall into the low carb trap over the past few years as well. Writers like Adam Bornstein and Jason Ferruggia have recently talked about their own experiences with the low carb diet trend, and the success of Eat to Perform, a site pretty much dedicated to helping athletes add carbs back into their diet in order to improve their athletic performance as well as their overall health, is pretty telling as to just how many athletes are dealing with this issue.

Yet this isn’t to say that low carb diets have absolutely no place for anyone—in fact, if you’re overweight and sedentary, a diet low in carbohydrates can definitely help you lose weight. And if you only do light or moderate exercise, a low carb diet may be right for you as well.

But if you train like an athlete, you have to eat like one. And that means embracing carbs.

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How to Tell if You’re Addicted to Exercise (And What to Do About it)

 

I have a confession to make: I am an exercise addict.

I work out six days a week, like clockwork. Sometimes twice a day if I’m working on a specific skill like pull ups, double jumps or handstands.

Saturday is my rest day, 52 weeks a year (there are 52 total weeks in a year). I hate Saturdays.

I work out every single day on vacation. It doesn’t matter if I’m going to be active all vacation, as was the case with my recent trip to Sunriver, Oregon, a place where pretty much all there is to do is to bike, walk, swim, play tennis, and strike up a game of bocce ball. I’ll work out in a tiny hotel room, an empty field, someone’s driveway. It doesn’t matter what the conditions, I will still work out.

I get anxious when I stay with other people or go somewhere new because I wonder how I’m going to break it to my hosts that I need to work out. As in, it’s not even an option not to.

I can’t even remember the last time I took two rest days off in a row. As a personal trainer, I tell people to listen to their bodies and that if they need to take an additional day off in order to let their muscles heal, to do so. Yet I never take my own advice.

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Why You Should Take More Naps

why you should take more naps

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I look at my cat with envy. He sleeps most of the day, usually in some sunny, warm and cozy spot, and even when I wake him, he seems happy, rested and content—very rarely stressed and grumpy.

Yet no matter how tired I am during the day, whether from lack of sleep, too much stress, or overworked muscles, my first inclination is always to try and find a way to wake myself up more—never to actually rest or take a nap.

And in my 26 and 3/4 years of observing human behavior, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not alone here. Most people, when they’re tired, reach for a cup of coffee, an energy drink or even a caffeine pill—rarely, if ever, do they actually consider taking a nap.

While I’m not big on using caffeine as a remedy (for some reason, it doesn’t really have an effect on me), I completely understand why people would reach for stimulants instead of listen to their body and sleep. Usually, this comes down to the logistics of napping. If you have a full time 9 to 5 job, are a new parent, or just have a lot going on in your life, it can be pretty difficult to find the time and a place to nap during the day.

But for the most part, the lack of naps also comes down to one, silly but completely normal human characteristic—guilt.

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Choose to Be Fit, or Choose to Be Unfit: It's Your Choice

It amazes me how many people I talk to tell me they can’t lose weight, can’t get fit, can’t get healthy.

Oh, they’re very good at coming up with excuses.

They don’t have time, can’t find the motivation, they travel too much, the workouts are too hard.

Or maybe they blame their weight issues on genetics, an undiagnosed thyroid condition, big bones.

Excuse after excuse.

The whining never stops. But it’s their loss.

Because no one can force you to be healthy.

It’s completely up to you. You have to choose it.

What are your priorities?

Some people really don’t care if they are in good shape or not. They’ve made a conscious decision that food X is more important to them than a strong, healthy, sexy body and a long life.

And that’s OK.

But if you do choose to eat that fifth slice of pizza, or that second bowl of ice cream, don’t tell me that you can’t lose weight.

Because if I ate five pieces of pizza in one sitting, day after day, and skipped out on my veggies, I’d be fat too.

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Why Sitting is Killing You—And What You Can Do to Stop it

standing desk

Be honest… how much do you sit during the day?

6 hours? 10 hours? More?

You’re not alone.

Because whether it’s due to a desk job, a long commute, or just hours of TV watching or video game playing a day, the typical American sits for 8 to 10 hours a day.

But while it may be normal to sit that much… it sure isn’t healthy.

In fact, here’s the ugly truth: sitting all day is not only bad for your health—it can also kill you.

Sit less, live longer

As a nation, we have a sitting epidemic.

We sit all day at work.

We sit all day in the car, driving to and from work and running errands (with no actual running involved).

We sit during our entertainment. Movies, television, video games, watching (but not playing) sports, you name it.

But we have to stop. If we do, it can add years (literally) onto our lives

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What Fitness Really Is

Recently I was walking my dog to our usual park in Bernal Heights, a cute little hilly neighborhood in San Francisco.

We go there almost every day, and to get there, you have to go up a few pretty steep hills—and a long set of fairly long stairs.

On days when I’m sore from the previous day’s workout, or when the wind is blowing hard, I’ll admit that even I find the climb a bit daunting, but I’ve never once stopped to rest and always keep a steady fast pace.

This time, when Rocket and I made our way through the chilly fog up to Bernal hill, a noticeably overweight woman and her little terrier dog were blocking the stairway in the middle.

Bent over and panting from lack of breath, she noticed us approaching and her face turned red from embarrassment.

“We’re just taking our time,” she said between breaths. “Go ahead and pass us.”

We did, and when I looked back after we’d reached the top of the stairs, she was still standing there, a look of misery on her face.

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How to Eat Healthy—And Like it

Have you ever gone on a diet, only to quickly become so hungry and miserable, you give it up almost immediately?

If you’re like most people, your answer is most definitely yes. Because there’s no doubt about it: the vast majority of people think that in order to eat healthy, they have to be miserable.

They just assume they have to give up all the foods they love and eat nothing but kale and boiled chicken for the rest of their lives… and never feel full again.

Heck, before I knew any better, I thought the exact same thing.

During one particular diet I tried out in high school, I immediately became cranky and lethargic, my brain started to feel fuzzy, and I felt like crap. After the second day, no one wanted to be near me and I just wanted to sleep to pass the time away.

Luckily, on the third day, I snapped out of it and realized that dieting (or in my case, not eating anything but carrots and yogurt), wasn’t doing me any good, and soon after decided to learn about what it really means to eat healthy on a day-to-day basis.

Because here’s the truth: diets just don’t work.

So how can you eat healthy—without dieting—and like it?

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