All You Ever Wanted to Know about Zumba

Editor's note: You've been asking about Zumba for a long time, so we are happy to share this guest blog post from one of our favorite bloggers. Gina, otherwise known as The Fitnessista, is not only a HUGE fan of Zumba, but she's a Zumba instructor and former dancer as well. She was happy to write about her favorite form of aerobics for the dailySpark.

Hi, everyone! My name is Gina and I write over at a little blog called The Fitnessista. On my blog, I write about fitness tips, nutrition advice, recipes, workout routines and my daily shenanigans. Determined to experience a negative “freshman 15,” I lost 40 pounds about 8 years ago and have since then become a personal trainer and group fitness instructor. My favorite class to teach, by far, is ZUMBA!

So, you may have heard about Zumba or you might be wondering what the heck it is.

The Best Foods for Energy

Want to know what's really zapping your zip? Don't blame your bed—or the lack of time you spend sleeping in it. The real problem may be sitting on your plate. Find out the surprising reasons behind your energy crisis and take steps to fill your tank.

Energy Buster: Sugar Substitutes

Since you can't digest them, low-calorie sugar alcohols—including mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol—can cause stomach distress like bloating and gas, which are major energy drainers. 

3 Easy Exercises for a Flat Tummy and Strong Back

You don't have to splurge on a gym membership to get ready for swimsuit season. Three simple moves can flatten your tummy while toning the muscles that support your back makes it easier to sit up straight. Click through for three good-for-you workouts (demonstrated by health editor Abby Cuffey), and do them daily for best results.

1. Wall Push-Ups
Stand about 3 feet away from a wall and lean forward, placing your hands shoulder-width apart against the wall. Bend your elbows and bring your chest toward the wall (your heels may come off the floor), then push away until your arms are straight again. Repeat 10 times. 

5 Moves That Are Missing from Your Core Workouts

In college I was a dancer, and Pilates was part of my daily training. Somehow I would ''get through'' the mat classes, just going through the motions, but miraculously, I was never sore. My roommate, on the other hand, would be doubled over the next morning, whining in agony as the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) would remind her of class several hours after it ended. It took me years to figure out that the reason I wasn't sore was that I didn't know how to recruit my innermost abdominals. I was skimming the surface without going very deep. Once I learned how to engage and target the internal abdominals, I was able to redefine my abs from the inside-out.

And that is exactly what I am going to show you how to do today!

10 Tips for Preventing Colorectal Cancer

Research has shown that at least 50% of all cases of colorectal cancer could be prevented by lifestyle, and one recent Harvard study found that risk could be reduced by as much as 70% to 75%! Here are 10 things you can do to minimize your risk for colon cancer: 

1. Maintain a healthy body weight. Watch portion sizes and balance your food intake with activity to reach or maintain a healthy weight.
    
2. Be physically active. Walking just 4 hours a week significantly reduces your risk, and being active will also help you achieve tip #1.
    
3. Don’t smoke. Smoking increases your risk of many cancers not just colon and rectal cancer.
    
4. Practice moderation when drinking alcohol. For women this means consuming no more than one drink per day, for men no more than two. All of the following equal one drink:
   • 12 oz. can or bottle of beer or wine cooler
   • 5 oz. glass of wine
   • 1½ oz. shot of hard liquor

1. Eat a plant-based diet that’s high in fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables contain powerful antioxidants and are the best source of important phytochemicals. Green vegetables and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower are especially helpful as they may slow down or block the expression of cancer genes.
    
2. Increase your intake of fiber. Whole grains, beans and legumes contain important vitamins and minerals, and are excellent sources of fiber. They help to soften your stools, prevent constipation and keep things moving through your GI tract.
    
3. Eat less red meat and avoid processed meats.
    
4. Don’t overcook your meat. It’s important to cook meats enough to prevent food-borne illnesses, but overcooking can cause cancer-causing compounds to form.
    
5. Replace animal fats with nuts, seeds and vegetable oils. Olive and canola oil are great choices. Fish oils containing omega 3 fatty acids offer additional health benefits for your heart, brain and immune system.
    
6. Be sure to get enough calcium and vitamin D. Studies have shown that low levels of vitamin D in the body are associated with an increased risk of colon cancer. For the best advice on whether you need extra calcium or Vitamin D, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian. 

Since its inception, the Susan Cohan Colon Cancer Foundation (Susie’s Cause) has followed a specific road map for success and firmly established itself as the National Voice for the prevention, early detection, and treatment of Colon Cancer. (Susie’s Cause) will continue to strive to eliminate colon cancer as a life-threatening disease through the development and dissemination of grass roots educational programs and a robust online campaign to touch both medical professionals and the general public worldwide. Please support our efforts to save tens of thousands of lives each year.

9 Bizarre Things Our Bodies Can Do

Have you ever felt your joints throb before a thunderstorm? Experienced a sudden migraine during a cold front? Had the scent of cologne catapult you to a distant memory? Our bodies can do some spectacular and seemingly inexplicable things. Here, experts decode nine of the body’s oddest abilities—some of which you may not even know you have. 

10 De-stressing Methods Put to the Test

From relationship troubles to overwhelming workloads, lots of things can stress you out. Thankfully, there are a slew of strategies that promise to help you feel better fast. But do all of them really work? We challenged real women to try out 10 of the most recommended stress busters. 

Peel an Orange and Eat It

Why It’s Supposed to Work: Peeling releases a satisfying scent and triggers you to anticipate the refreshment of the fruit, says Coral Arvon, PhD, Director of Behavioral Health and Wellness at the Pritikin Longevity Center in Aventura, FL. Once you eat it, your blood vessels relax and blood pressure lowers, adds Nieca Goldberg, MD, Medical Director of the Joan H. Tisch NYU Langone Center for Women’s Health in New York City. 

Quick & Healthy On-the-Go Snack Recipes

You know the drill – by the time the late afternoon rolls around, you’re starving and the office candy jar starts looking better and better. Save yourself the temptation and try one of these simple, healthy, and satisfying portable snack ideas instead.

A bonus: not driving home starving means much less temptation to hit the drive through!

• Medium-size fruit (or 1 serving dried fruit) with 1 serving unsalted nuts (any kind)
• Greek yogurt (just store a few in the fridge at work!)
• Medium-size fruit (banana) or veggie (celery, carrots) with 2 TBSP nut butter
  • Tip: try buying the pre-portioned nut butter packets – easier to bring to work than a whole jar, and then you have portion control built in! They are usually sold in 100 calorie packets at the grocery store.
• 1/4 cup hummus with as many chopped veggies as you want (carrots, celery, peppers, etc.) 

How to Wake Up with More Energy

Discover ways to revamp your sleep routine so you can feel great in the morning.

Get Sleep Savvy

As you sleep, your body builds up its supply of a hormone called cortisol, which is then released throughout the day to help give you energy. Cortisol levels should be highest in the morning and depleted by nighttime, so you'll get the zzz's you need. Click through to learn how to get the most of your slumber, so you can be ready to move in the morning. 

Try This 42-Calorie Spaghetti Swap

Fall and winter squash varieties, including acorn, butternut and spaghetti, are now showing up in farmers’ markets. You’ll be delighted by how delicious, easy to prepare and versatile spaghetti squash can be.
 
Spaghetti squash is named for its uncanny resemblance to pasta once cooked. The squash is tasty yet neutral enough to pair with anything you would normally eat atop pasta.
 
And, if you're watching your carb intake, spaghetti squash should go in your cart. Take a look at how it measures up against standard noodles:

15 Fiber-Packed Foods

You've heard that fiber is important for just about everything, from keeping your heart healthy to promoting good digestion and even helping you lose weight. But are you getting the recommended 25 grams a day? "Most Americans are only getting half of the amount they should," says nutritionist Lyssie Lakatos, RD, cofounder of The Nutrition Twins. Fortunately, snacking on these nutritionist-approved treats can help. 

5 Easy Ways to Better Value Your Time

Everyone on the planet has one incredible thing in common.  Every week, we are each given 168 hours to do what we please, to create and share our worlds, to make choices that decide our future, and to fill our hearts up with what makes them beat with excitement.  What wakes us up in life and how we spend our time are one in the same. 
 
The time I have today, teaching yoga and building a new business, is completely different than when I worked a 9-to-5 gig.  My goals with practicing yoga and writing balance each day, as well as my love for CrossFit and Pilates.  I like having a full plate at the beginning of each day and slowly clearing it as the day goes along.  Except for on weekends, where I don’t do any "work" at all (only occasionally subbing for yoga classes). 
 
My goal is to end each day with the satisfaction that it was well spent.  I want to be able to sit back, enjoy a glass of red wine, and know that I contributed to something bigger than myself.  Knowing this, over the past couple of years I have developed ways to utilize my time to its fullest.  These five tips speak to me, and hopefully to you as well. 

Beware the Addictive Cues: How to Fight Food Cravings

I’ve just returned from a meeting at Harvard, where I participated in discussions about the new news in the science of addiction. Ironically, as I hopped on board my flight to Boston and was securing my seat belt, I looked up at the TV screen in front of me. It was lit up and clamoring for my attention with an invitation to "Chow Down. Eat Up!"  

Fascinated, I timed how long the invitation stayed up in my direct viewing. It stayed that way throughout the prep for departure and popped right back up after the flight attendant’s usual safety lecture. I felt like the screen was reaching right into my brain’s reward center, trying to infuse it with cues to eat, eat, eat!



It’s only an hour flight, but as soon as it was safe, the attendants were soon marching down the aisles announcing "cookies or nuts?" Captive in front of the screen and now invited to eat some hyperpalatable sugary/fatty/salty products, I noticed that most people caved. The majority of people grabbed a bag or two of the free food fare, and washed it down with a soda. This vivid memory was front and center in my mind as I began my meetings, reflecting on the remarkable way our brains are subjected to hijacking opportunities every minute of the day.

 
And there’s ground-breaking science to confirm that our reward centers are indeed undergoing real organic changes when we encounter any kind of cue to eat. Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, is a lead researcher in this field and has laid the groundwork for understanding how a cue affects how we make food choices. Peering into the brain using specialized brain scans, Dr. Volkow and her team found that it’s the cue, not the actual consumption of the food, that really ignites the emotion (limbic) and reward centers (nucleus accumbens) areas in the brain. In other words, there’s a process of conditioned learning that going on. Here’s the sequence:

20-Minute Weeknight Dinners

Sometimes we don't have time to spend hours on a fancy dinner. That said, between driving kids to and from school and sports, fitting in a workout and running errands, everyone should still be able to enjoy a delicious, healthy meal come dinnertime. Here are some of our favorite simple, great-tasting meals ready in a flash. Just what you need when there's a lot on your plate.

 
Chicken and Asparagus Pasta
This simple and delicious pasta dish is sure to become a family favorite.

calories: 207.6     fat: 7 g     protein: 14.3 g     carbs: 25.4 g


Broiled Tilapia Parmesan
Forget chicken parmesan—this broiled white fish version is just the thing to take your dinner to the next level. Serve with a side of steamed veggies for a balanced meal.

calories: 275.2     fat: 8.5 g     protein: 48.5 g     carbs: 1.4 g


Chicken-Veggie Stir Fry
This is a great meal for a busy night! Change up the veggies, and you'll have a new meal each time you make this dish.

calories: 156.8     fat: 3.3 g     protein: 18.6 g     carbs: 12.7 g