Whether you are trying to lose weight, build muscle or just live a slightly healthier lifestyle, reducing your sugar intake will help get you where you want to be. But we know this can seem like an impossible ask. Celebrity personal trainer Simone De La Rue understands. 

“Sugar is the hardest thing for me to give up,”  the former professional dancer told us during an appearance in Toronto for the launch of the SodaStream FIZZI One Touch. “I can give up almost anything fully besides sugar.” We asked the “Revenge Body” coach to break down some of the advice she gives her clients that are looking for a healthier lifestyle. 

Is it ok to stick with one type of workout or do you recommend changing it up?

I think it’s important to try a whole bunch of different exercises to see what you love and what resonates with you. You should do strength training and cardio training. Some days you can split them up, and some days you can do them together. I think your body becomes really smart, so I am always trying to do something different. If you are just doing dance and that is all you’re doing your body will eventually plateau. It is really important to dance and then add in some strength training with heavier weights, then add in some yoga. All of those things are really important to keep your mind stimulated but also your body and your muscles stimulated.

Do you actually get better results by splitting up your workouts into leg day, arm day, etc.? 

Yes. The reason you are doing that is you are working each muscle [to its point of] fatigue. So it is important to choose a muscle group, for instance it might be biceps and chest, and those are the two muscle groups you are working to fatigue. And then they need time to rest and repair—usually a day or two—and then you would come back and visit it. It’s interesting with dance because it’s never just a leg day, but with the classes that I’ve made, there is an upper body class, a lower body class, a full body class, and a dance cardio class, and the way it’s scheduled is to complement each other. 

How do you make someone try dance cardio that is too scared to dance?

People are terrified by the word ‘dance,’ but then once they take the class they realize I break it down slowly and it’s just really about combining steps together. So I say, ‘Leave your ego at the door. Don’t be intimidated, it’s a safe environment. We are just here to have a good time, we aren’t auditioning for Broadway.’ 

What would be the biggest difference in training if your client wanted to lose weight versus build muscle?

If a client wanted to build muscle they are going to be lifting heavier weights, their diet is going to be heavy protein and they are going to be eliminating sugar and alcohol and heavy fats. Their training would be entirely different than someone who is trying to lose weight. I would then encourage them to do more cardio, obviously mixed with strength training, but it would be heavily cardio based and then really focusing on their diet, so really eliminating all of the bad stuff.

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The new SodaStream FIZZI One Touch ($180) lets you pick the level of carbonation you want with one touch.