Aviva Drescher is the 42 year-old star of Real Housewives of New York City. She is often seen frolicking on the beach in her bikini. Many viewers assumed that she was picked to star in Housewives because of her excellent figure. However, she admits that it does not come naturally, or easily.
She recently shared some of her fitness and diet secrets with RadarOnline.com, and revealed that her secret is really not very different to the diets that we recommend – high protein, low carbohydrate, combined with plenty of exercise.
Spinning 3 Times a Week
For fitness Aviva goes to a spinning class a few times a week. Spinning is an intensive form of cycling performed in a group session. The fitness instructor leads the group through a range of HIIT workouts (High Intensity Interval Training) that are proven to increase fitness and shred fat.
But exercise alone does not make a great body. Many people say that a good body is made in the kitchen, not in the gym. And it is as much about what you do eat than what you do not.
Plenty of Protein and No Junk
Aviva consumes a lot of protein and keeps refined carbs (bread, cakes, cookies, pasta etc) to a minimum. Refined carbs are an excellent and cheap energy source, but nowadays we really do not need a cheap energy source – food is relatively cheap. This type of diet is really just a low GI diet, which is designed to ensure that all the carbohydrates that you eat are highly nutritious and low in digestible sugars.
To control your weight you need to control the rate at which food is digested, broken down into sugars and then taken up into fat storage. This is done by regulating insulin (the hormone that causes sugar to get stored as fat) and insulin is produced when we eat high GI foods, like white bread.
As well as following a low GI diet Aviva also consumes healthy fruits drinks that pack a nutritious punch.
“I love green juices. I won’t drink diet soda, and I avoid pesticides and food with chemicals.”
While it is noble to avoid pesticides and food with chemicals, the key to losing weight is to avoid all forms of soda. Regular soda is full of sugar, but diet soda also increases appetite, as was demonstrated in The Big Fat Truth About Low Fat Foods on the BBC. Catherine Appleton showed how drinking a low calorie drink before eating lead to increased appetite and the consumption of more calories, not fewer.
“We eat grass fed beef, organic chicken and fruits and veggies. I won’t eat hotdogs or bacon as they are filled with nitrates, and those are cancer causing agents.”
Avoiding hotdogs is a good idea because the hotdogs themselves are generally high in saturated fat and salt, and the bread is high GI. The sauces are generally full of calories too.
Really, what it comes down to is the usual advice: eat a healthy and balanced diet, avoid junk food, eat plenty of protein, keep high GI carbs to a minimum, and exercise often.
You can follow Aviva on her Twitter channel @AvivaDrescher and her own website, www.avivadrescher.com.