Dear Sarah,

As the weather slowly gets nicer, it's dawned on me that I can't hide my little bit of winter weight gain under my warm, cozy sweaters too much longer. I work out four to five times per week and this usually consists of three step aerobics classes and two weight sessions. Can you suggest some ways to boost my workouts and get my body ready for less bulky clothing?

Amanda

Dear Amanda,

It is great to hear that you have a regular workout schedule, but your body can become accustomed to a workout routine and thus it constantly requires a boost to keep your metabolic engine burning (rate at which you burn calories).

Here are three things you can easily incorporate into your existing routine to give you the boost you need to shed the winter weight.

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Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she's seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.

This Week's Client: Claire, a school teacher, single mom and self-professed chocoholic

The Problem: Claire was eating chocolate every evening, but it wasn't good quality, 85 percent dark, organic chocolate, her poison was processed chocolate bars such as Kit Kat and Snickers. She was desperate to kick her habit but felt she was literally addicted admitting that she was binging on these sugary treats after dinner.

Thus, she came to see me as she realized it probably wasn't a good thing that should couldn't go a single night without chocolate. And, of course, there was the fact the extra calories weren't doing her waistline any favours.

Does Claire's problem sound remotely familiar? I know I've been there, particularly during that time of the month. And it's not surprising to me as chocolate is one of the most common foods that women find themselves "addicted" to and want to break. So the question is, why are we so addicted to chocolate?

• Chocolate contains a component called theobromine which has a stimulating effect, but to a much lesser degree than caffeine, some find this addictive.
• Serotonin-connection: Foods with sugar give us an initial happy-high similar to that of serotonin. However, it's short-lived.
• Magnesium-deficiency. Dr. Natasha Turner, ND and women's health expert advises that when her patients experience chocolate cravings she has them supplement with magnesium.
• Craving sweets, especially chocolate is a sure sign you are an "emotional eater". If this describes you then read what Deepak Chopra advises for this, after the jump

Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she's seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.

This week's client: Brad, a busy entertainment lawyer by day and warrior by weekend who thrives on high intensity exercise.

The Problem: Brad gets headaches after any exercise whether it be lifting weights, cardio or playing hockey.

When Brad hired me as his nutrition coach and personal trainer, he was (sorry boys) a stereotypical beer-drinking, wing-eating guy who worked hard by day and played hard by night and weekends. He knew exercise was important and he wanted to lose 30lbs, so he came to me in hopes that he could shed his beer belly and get more energy.

What Brad didn't realize was that I was going to help him solve a problem that had prevented him from taking his fitness to the next level -- post-workout headaches. They weren't debilitating enough to prevent him from his belly-fat-burning workout but they were most certainly unpleasant enough that often he couldn't make any social plans immediately after exercise until his pain medication kicked in. Of course, being a holistic nutritionist I cringed at the thought of how many pain meds he'd popped over the years and what his poor liver had to say, but we will save that post for another day.

Solution after the jump

Everyone's increasingly concerned about what we're eating and where it comes from, but even some seemingly healthy choices are filled with toxins. Dr. Janine Bowring, ND, explains how to avoid dangerous food.

Q: What commonly makes foods toxic?

A: Foods can be deemed toxic if they contain things such as pesticides, heavy metals and other environmental toxins such as PCB's and dioxins found within them. Unfortunately, our food is more toxic than we think. Even seemingly non-toxic organic food can be high in heavy metals, causing a number of health concerns.

Foods can also be considered toxic if they are difficult to digest by an individual. A common culprit is wheat products. Most people now have difficulty digesting wheat because this grain has been altered over the years to become more pest-resistant. For this reason, it can cause digestive ailments for many of people. Packaged food containing a number of preservatives is also toxic. We should focus on eating whole foods as much as possible to stay healthy and prevent disease.

Q: What affect can eating toxic foods have on our health?

Hi Doug,

Quick question for you: Is rooibos tea as good for you as green tea? Just wondering if the nutritional properties are similar. I've been drinking rooibos because it's caffeine-free, but I'm wondering if I'm getting all those benefits of green tea drinking.

Charelle


Hi Charelle,

Unfortunately, the answer is no - rooibos does not have all the same properties as green tea. Proper tea, which includes white, green, black and oolong teas, are all from the evergreen tree Camellia sinensis. These teas vary due to the amount of processing they undergo, including cutting and fermenting. Here is a post I wrote a while back on white tea vs. green tea.

Each morning, we dish out a few links we love.

So just how much walking does it take to burn off all those candy canes? The answer is here.

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Canadian fitness expert Brendan Brazier, author of Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimum Performance in Sports and Life, is a big fan of a eating a plant-based diet. Here, he fills us in on some of the benefits of cutting out animal products.


Q: What are the primary health benefits of a plant-based diet?

A: There are quite a few. For me, I got into it to be a better athlete -- I wanted to be a professional triathlete. When I made the conversion to a plant-based diet, I had considerably more energy. I think that's because the food was easier to digest and I didn't have to expend so much energy digesting heavy food. You gain energy through conservation as opposed to consumption. I also noticed a reduction in inflammation, which meant that I could recover quicker. Plant-based foods are alkaline-forming, but dairy and other animal products are acid-forming, which actually promotes inflammation. More inflammation means that you can't exercise with the same intensity and you have to rest longer between exercise sessions, so you can't do as much training as you'd like to and won't improve as fast.

Q: Are there certain foods you find most beneficial to your workout regiment?

Each morning, we dish out a few links we love.

Planning your Christmas dinner? Here are some delicious and healthy veggie side dishes to consider adding to the menu.

Here's something that's not exactly surprising: Research shows that if you watch less TV, you'll probably lose weight.

Recent studies have found that marriage is good for you. However, divorce definitely is not.

Love your caffeine? Drink up -- three cups a day can slash your risk of diabetes.

Got a case of the Melancholidays? Cheer up with these six tips to beat winter blues.

Elizabeth Somer is a registered dietitian who has written nine books about what we eat and how that food makes us feel. Her latest book is Eat Your Way to Happiness. Here, she discusses how food affects mood, the worst things to eat, and how to use food to boost your mood on a daily basis. Here are 3 foods that will make you happier.

Q: How does food affect mood?

A: Many substances in food are the building blocks for brain chemicals called neurotransmitters (NT) that relay messages from one nerve cell to another and are the very foundation of how we think, act, feel, and behave. Approximately 40 NT have been identified that alter appetite and affect mood.

Natasha Turner, N.D. is a Toronto-based naturopathic doctor. She is the founder of the Clear Medicine wellness boutique and author of the bestselling book The Hormone Diet. Each week in her column for That's Fit.ca, Dr. Turner advises readers on how to remedy common health issues as well as improve their overall health.

Have you ever been caught grabbing a bit of shut-eye at your desk? What was your excuse to your boss? New sleep research may be your best answer.

A 2002 study from Harvard University considered worker burnout over four days of training and the effect of napping. As the four days of training wore on, the workers began to experience burnout. But the good news is - the study found that workers who were allowed to take a 30-minute nap on the second day of a four-day training session experienced less decline in visual tasks. A one-hour nap was actually found to return performance back to normal in the last two sessions.

That is not to say that curling up for an hour or so at the office should be sanctioned, but keeping it to less than 30 minutes might not be so far-fetched. It seems that half-hour naps should not only be recognized as acceptable by companies, but also beneficial. This is old news to many European countries where afternoon siestas are standard practice and many shops close for an hour or so each afternoon.

Afternoon drowsiness is a major problem for many corporations: it is estimated that lost productivity costs billions of dollars every year. A possible solution is to allow 20 to 30 minutes of napping per day when it is deemed necessary, creating a work environment that may actually help boost workplace productivity rather than hinder it. In today's fast-paced society and tough economy, however, most companies frown on napping in the workplace rather than encourage it.

Can't squeeze in a nap? Use these nine tips to boost your energy and productivity during the day:

Dr. Richard Beliveau and Dr. Denis Gingras are the authors of Eating Well, Living Well, translated by Valentina Baslyk along with their bestselling books Foods That Fight Cancer and Cooking With Foods That Fight Cancer.

It is easy to avoid blood sugar overloads by simply modifying certain (bad) eating habits.

1. Drink water instead of sweet drinks and, above all, avoid soft drinks containing large amounts of sugar. Many recent studies indicate that consumption of these drinks is playing a key role in the obesity epidemic currently afflicting the population. In addition, beware of the many "energy" drinks flooding the market. The industry targets adolescents and young adults who don't understand the harmful consequences of these products. They are nothing but sweetened drinks containing an astronomical amount of caffeine (almost 100 mg per can) – the equivalent of a very strong double espresso. These drinks, which have nothing energizing in them, are just stimulants!

2. Pay particular attention to breakfast cereals.

Each morning, we dish out a few links we love.

How's this for motivation? K-Fed is being offered a staggering $2.5 million to slim down.

How do you stay fit when it's you job to eat? Chef Padma Lakshmi shares her tricks -- and there's no yoga involved.

Here's something to think about if you're hoping for a baby -- Giving up alcohol and caffeine is just as effective for fertility as IVF, a report says.

How do you bring the romance back into your relationship on a budget? The National Post has some tips.

Where does Eliza Dukshu get her meat? She kills it herself ... with a bow and arrow! I don't know whether to be horrified or impressed.

Yay! Thanks for this awesome post, Doug!

I am a former addict (possibly still, but I'm successfully quitting at the moment), and these are really good suggestions. One thing I am very curious about, maybe you would know something: I have a coworker who says her doctor told her to take caffeine (possibly not specifically coffee) for her chronic migraines. Any idea why?

Phoebe

Hi Phoebe,

Glad you liked the coffee post. Coffee is sometimes used as a tool to help prevent migraine headaches. Although many sources site caffeine addiction as the cause, and therefore the cure, for migraine headaches, I've known several migraine sufferers who've said coffee prevents their headaches even if they never have caffeine normally. My understanding is that, if you catch the migraine right at the beginning, a cup of strong black coffee may stop the headache in its tracks. In fact, many over the counter headache medications contain caffeine.

So what's going on here?

Each morning, we weigh in on the day's hottest headlines.

Super sweet Mandy Moore loves peanut butter and her curves! Which is good because those two kind of go hand in hand ...

Need a reason to just let it go? Apparently, bitterness is a form of mental illness.

Can't stand decaf? Good news -- now caffeine-free coffee plants are growing in the wild.

Did you know that most of us are overcooking our garlic? Shine reveals this and several other common kitchen mistakes we're probably all making.

Johnny Depp recently revealed that he can't wait to get old and fat. Something tells me he will still be just as hot with a bit of a paunch ... agreed?

Each morning, we weigh in on the day's hottest headlines.

Madonna and Stella McCartney are often thought of as pretty fashion conscious -- except on a recent outting to the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Gala. Those outfits are actually kind of painful to look at, don't you think?

Why should you listen to your dentist and look after your teeth? Because -- eek! -- plaque can kill you. Seriously, get flossing now.

This is your brain ... this is your brain on alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine. It's not a pretty picture.

Remember that embarrassing video of David Hasselhoff eating fried chicken while drunk? Well, the Hoff is off the sauce -- and he credits his teenage daughter for helping him get on the wagon.

Jenny McCarthy has vowed to give up sugar until summertime -- maybe the rest of us should too? I know I need a serious chocolate detox after Easter.