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Diet Tips From Dancing With the Stars

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:00:00 -0700

If you're following this season of Dancing With the Stars, you've probably noticed the dancers' amazingly toned and strong bodies in their sexy and revealing costumes. If you're wondering how they stay fit and lean, here are some of the dieting secrets they shared in a recent issue of Us Weekly.

Melissa Rycroft says, "I eat what I like in moderation and try to have a few small meals throughout the day."

Julianne Hough says, "I eat only until I'm full." She eats five small meals throughout the day, and during the show she tries to cut out carbs and sweets. She doesn't restrict herself entirely, though, and says, "If I want to have dessert, I'll have it. I know I'll work it off."

Shawn Johnson loads up on fruit and protein, but if she has an urge for chocolate she says, "I'll satisfy my craving and move on." She stays slim and muscular by dancing eight hours a day.

Denise Richards trained with her partner Makism Chmerkovsky and got her abs back after having two kids. She went from a size 26 waist to a 24 from all that training, and was still eating pizza and ice cream.

To see how the other dancers stay trim, read more.

Kym Johnson spends a lot of time doing core work to get her rock-hard abs. She also limits her carbs because she says, "I love fries and bread, but I see a real difference in my body when I don't eat them after 5 p.m." She'll still enjoy dessert when out to dinner with her boyfriend, but just a small portion.

Lil' Kim gets her meals and snacks from Freshology, a food delivery service. She eats a total of 1,200 to 1,400 calories a day, avoids heavy foods, and drinks a lot of water.

Lacey Schwimmer shed 10 pounds by ditching fatty foods and soda, and instead enjoys grilled chicken, steamed veggies, yogurt, and fruit. She recommends eating within an hour after working out.

Cheryl Burke dropped 10 pounds as well, by rehearsing eight hours a day, five days a week. She eats egg whites, whole grains, veggies, and lots of water. She also tries to avoid salt, and keeps snacks with her to avoid temptation.

Karina Smirnoff avoids meat but eats egg whites, fish, and salad. She has a tablespoon of olive oil on an empty stomach to help with digestion.

Holly Madison avoids liquid calories and drinks water instead.

Edyta Sliwinska sticks to 1,500 calories a day, eating foods such as cottage cheese, ground oats, berries, chicken salad, and cereal. She avoids pasta, bread, rice, and candy. She gets her toned legs from dancing in heels.

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Has Birth Control Affected Your Weight?

FitSugar — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

As if there weren't enough factors to worry about in the weight control battle, some varieties of birth control can disturb a balance we may have achieved. In a recent interview, Dancing With the Stars celebrity Cheryl Burke spoke about her weight fluctuation and said, "I decided over the Summer to stop taking birth control pills. I did it thinking that I was going to lose more weight for the season. But it actually did the opposite. It made me gain weight."

It's the first I've heard of someone going off birth control and gaining weight - most women I know have either maintained or lost a few pounds. One way or another, has birth control affected the number on your scale?

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Cheryl Burke: "You Don't Have to Be Anorexic to Be Beautiful!"

FitSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:30:00 -0700

Dancing With the Stars is in full swing right now, and I'm always impressed with how strong and toned everyone becomes over the course of the show. After the media pounced on her for potentially gaining a few pounds, Cheryl Burke is speaking out by reminding everyone that being confident is beautiful. The professional dancer recently told People:

I want kids or women out there to realize you don’t have to be anorexic to be beautiful. There’s a lot of pressure living this Hollywood life. People expect to see you at a certain weight and when you gain a few pounds then all of a sudden it’s the talk of the week.

People will always have an opinion about you, whether it’s good or it’s bad. But most important is to have a secure feeling about yourself and know that you’re beautiful regardless of what people think of you. When I was younger, I wasn’t stick thin. I wasn’t tall. I don’t have long legs. I wasn’t naturally skinny. As I grew older, I just became more comfortable in my own skin.

Cheryl is a strong woman and I'm pleased to see her standing up to the pressures to be super thin in Hollywood. Strong is beautiful, and there isn't a thing wrong with having a few womanly curves!

Pacific Coast News Online

Dancing With the Gym: Group Dance Classes

FitSugar — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 09:30:00 -0700

Dancing has really made its footprint in mainstream media. From Dancing With the Stars to J'Lo's Dancelife, we can't get enough of watching people dance on TV.

Gyms around the country are catching on to this theory and are offering dancing group classes to cater to our love of dancing.

Crunch alone has 40 or more dance related classes. Including Ballroom Blitz. Sashay the floor like Cheryl Burke and Drew Lachey in this heart-pumping, cardio class that combines classic ballroom formulas like swing, mergengue and foxtrot. No worries if you can't get a hot c-lister to be your partner, partners are not required.
Equinox is no stranger to dance classes either. They have classes like Rap-A-Tap, where you'll tap dance to Pop and Hip-Hop music. It's easy to follow, which means everyone can do it. Tap shoes (and top hat) optional. Or you can go more mainstream with Video Dance Jam, a class where you'll learn dance routines to the latest music videos.
For all you traditionalists out there Bally's Total Fitness offers Balletone/Ballet Sculpt, which is conditioning that incorporates exercises from traditional ballet choreography.
The Sports Club LA has a World Dance class that should awaken the mover, shaker or dancer within you. Soul dancing combines movement and music of varying cultures designed to blast away calories and you may even walk away feeling a little more cultured.

Not a member of any of the above clubs? See what classes are offered at your gym as I am positive they have some sort of dancing class too. Or you can check out the Dancing With the Stars Cardio Dance DVD at home.

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Dancing With the Stars Dancing Workout

FitSugar — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:30:00 -0700

If you've ever watched a season of Dancing With the Stars, then you've seen how fit the stars get from dancing week by week. All that booty shaking can really burn a lot of calories (one hour of ballroom dancing can burn 300 calories). Two of the professional dancers on the show, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Cheryl Burke, demonstrated a dancing workout on People recently that looks like a lot of fun.
Here are highlights:

Dancing’sMaksim Chmerkovskiy, who, along with Seasons 2 and 3 champion Cheryl Burke, shows his moves below. “Working out on machines is so boring,” Maksim says. “This way, you can change the atmosphere, the mood – and you’re also learning how to dance.”

For a step by step guide for getting in a workout with three different dances, just read more

The Samba: 1. Stand with feet together, bend at the knees and bounce to the samba beat while contracting abdominals. 2. Step to the side and back to the center. This benefits your thighs, calves and abdominals, says Maksim. To increase intensity, bounce up on your toes as you move.

Paso Doble: 1. Swing your partner from one side to the other (as a matador swings his cape, which Cheryl represents). 2. Move your hips forward, twist your body and make a circle with your arms to stretch and tone abs and obliques. 3. Finish by swiveling your hips and allowing your partner to open her arms.

The Rumba & Cha-Cha: 1. For the rumba, lunge on one leg – great for thighs and glutes. Your partner leans in, working her inner thigh. 2. Now, the cha-cha. Spin your partner. To maintain her center, she keeps her abs tight throughout. 3. “Twist the body, extend the arm but don’t relax your abs or you’ll fall off balance!” Maksim warns.

If you're feeling this type of a workout, then you may also want to try the Dancing With the Stars DVD.

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Goal of Dancing is Not Fame, It's Fitness

FitSugar — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 04:00:00 -0700

If you've been following Dancing with the Stars this season then you've seen Laila Ali strut her stuff across the stage...

Being the daughter of boxer Muhammad Ali certainly helps, but that girl is fit (and she can move too). Ali has announced that Dancing with the Stars is just the beginning of her upcoming fitness ventures including a boxing oriented fitness DVD series with Sugar Ray Leonard and a book. The DVD set includes Lightweight Beginner's Workout ($10.91), which is a series of warm-up exercises and stretches. The cardio-boxing routine has easy to follow combinations of punches as well as defensive moves. This DVD can help you get fit all while seeing the other, non dancing, side of Laila. It's refreshing to me that she is not looking to be club hopping with Paris and Nicole but rather, she’d like to set an example for young women and others about the importance of living a healthy life. Fame or not, with an outlook like that, she's got a fan in me.

Not a boxer but still want a hot Dancing with the Stars bod like Stacey Keibler or Cheryl Burke? You can get it at home with the Dancing with the Stars Cardio Dance DVD.

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