Category: Boos, Jeers & Hisses

Connie’s Confession: I’m a Health Hypocrite! Help Each Other

Normally, I don’t reveal my vulnerabilities here, on this Sugar Shock Blog. Nor do I share a personal plight, but today, I feel a need to confess to you that I feel like the ultimate Health Hypocrite.
Sure, I eat healthy, wholesome, real foods. Yes, I religiously avoid sugary foods and carbs — and have since 1998 with only a handful of very minor infractions. I don’t even smoke anymore. (Inhaling two packs of cigarettes is a thing of the past.) What’s more, I’ve been shunning caffeine since a doctor suggested I do so more than a decade ago. And I don’t even chew sugar-less gum or eat candies with artificial sweeteners anymore. In addition, I’ve triumphed over my diet soda slugging. Plus, I’m huge exercise aficionado. But feeding my body well and moving just aren’t nearly enough.
Sleep My body craves — as does yours — ample sleep. We desperately need those zzzzzz’s.Otherwise, I’m headed for sniffles, sneezing, coughing and congestion.
Well, lately — especially in the last week — I haven’t walked my talk. Despite the fact that I know about the wonders of a good night’s sleep and I’m even mentioning it as a “Smart Diet Habit” in my next book, I skimped on sleep myself last week. Now that I’m a health coach, I’m not going to indulge in self-blame. Rather, I’m going to use this realization as an opportunity.
The irony is that lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about and striving to do excellent self-care, because of my training as a health counselor and life coach and because I’ve been completing Cheryl Richardson’s fabulous book, Take Time for Your Life, which was required reading for my life coaching program through iPEC.
I even just bought Cheryl Richardson’s latest book, The Art of Extreme Self-Care, this weekend at this remarkable Hay House ouse Movers & Shakers conference. Both books have motivated me to think a lot about how we all will benefit if we devote ourselves wholeheartedly to treating ourselves with respect and reverence, even it it means we have to let go of current projects and disappoint people.
Well, despite my commitment to treating myself right, last week, I neglected my needs when it came to snoozing. You see, I felt compelled to help you you a lot this month.

Obesity: All Americans May Become Obese by 2048? Absurd!

According to a frightening new study in the research journal Obesity , by 2048, all American adults may become overweight or obese.
A whopping 100 percent of us in the U.S. obese? What an absurd notion!
Despite the fact that the projections are based on national survey data, etc., I just don’t buy this outrageous idea. There’s just no way that all of us will allow ourselves to become fat!
Millions of us care way too much about being at optimal health, putting quality food into our bodies and getting or staying in shape to let ourselves fall prey to flab.
Just go to any gym and you’ll see the exercise-driven people, who would never let themselves become obese.
My workout buddies and any fitness enthusiast would simply scoff at this projection.
After all, every year, millions take drastic measures to peel off pounds — in particular, they buy diet products and diet books to get slim bodies. (In fact, I’m hoping that my upcoming book, The White-Out Diet(TM), will become a major bestseller. Soon, I’ll be asking you for your help to make this happen.)
What do you think of these nightmarish projections? Would you let yourself become obese?

TV Ads Make Kids Fatter: Ban Those Junk Food Ads Targeted at Children

Well, we already knew this, but it’s interesting to see that a study concluded watching too much TV can make kids fat.
But, specifically, watching those food commercials aimed at them that makes them wider. And if there was a ban on fast food TV advertising, that could help reverse childhood obesity trends, according to a new study from researchers from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
In fact, just getting rid of thoses enticing TV spots for fast food could reduce the number of overweight children by 18 percent, found the researchers from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
Now that’s an impressive stat. And it’s a very simple change to make.