3 Gifts to Have a Sweeter Holiday Season

For many of you, the holiday season is filled with anxiety, stress, financial worries, loneliness, family arguments, gift-giving concerns, many irritations (from flight delays to family squabbles) and many tasty temptations — mostly high-calorie and sugar-filled that you find hard to resist but that pack on the pounds, sap your energy and ruin your moods.
In fact, many people leave the holiday season feeling drained, deprived and 5 or more pounds heavier.
But I’m here to help you lose weight, get organized, become more organized, joyful, calm down, look younger, plan a vision for the future, attract abundance, and much more.
In other words, my goal is to bring you peace of mind, happiness, and super-simple cool tools to start using so you can have a Sweeter Holiday Season.
Therefore, it’s my pleasure to give you three special gifts.
All three gifts were the opening programs in last year’s much-acclaimed Sweeter Holiday Season, which featured a whopping 38 programs featuring a Who’s Who in the fields of health, wealth, fitness, personal empowerment, feng shui, organizing, happiness, Law of Attraction, and so much more.
So here are the gifts you’re getting now:
Your First Gift with Law of Attraction Guru John Assaraf
John_assaraf_150pxwidthFor your first gift, you’ll get inspired and educated by the remarkable John Assaraf, one of the stars of The Secret, founder of several multi-million dollar companies, a Spiritual Entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author.
In our special program, John — who is also a Law of Attraction expert and certified life coach — will help you ll discover:
* What’s blocking you from abundance.
* How the super-successful John didn’t come from a family of scholars or multimillionaires, but somehow he managed to learn about quantum physics and neuroscience and build several 5 multimillion dollar companies and write a couple of New York Times bestselling books along the way.
How oceans and stars are not the last frontier for mankind but the human brain is.
Why some people achieve enormous business and financial success while others don’t.
How there is an inner game to wealth and success and an outer game.
Why it’s so hard for people to change.
What are the exact steps people can take to change from the inside out so that their results are 5,10 20 times better in the next 12-24 months.
How some people settle for less than what they can achieve and how you can easily break free from that pattern, achieve huge transformations; and become incredibly confident.
How to find out about John’s super-sophisticated, amazing brain training program (which I love).
Your Second Gift with America’s Relaxation Expert Darrrin Zeer
Darrin-zeerFor your second gift with Relaxation Expert Darrin Zeer, you’ll get some very simple, fast techniques to tame your stres.
For instance, you’ll discover:
* How to do what Darrin calls “The Bear Claw.”
* How to calm down with “The Ragdoll Pose.”
* What to do if you get headaches.
* How to do “Keyboard Calisthenics.:
* How to do something called “Email Meditation” (yes, meditation!)
* How to do the “Really Fun Laughter Exercise.”
Your Third Gift with the Renowned “FlyLady” Marla Cilley
Flylady_toonThen, your final gift — also from the Sweeter Holiday Summit — comes from the renowned “FlyLady” Marla Cilley, who will give you tools galore to help you get through the holidays. For instance, Marla will reveal:
* How to change your life in 15-minute increments.
* How to crisis-clean your home.
* What to do which days of the week so you don’t feel so overwhelmed.
* How to avoid last-minute, gift wrapping challenges.
* What to do before you go to holiday parties.
* How to put the fun in your cleaning and decluttering endeavors.
* How to give “action” gifts.
* How to go on a “cruise” this holiday season.
* And much more.
These three programs were all part of the Sweeter Holiday Summit, last year’s amazing program, during which You’ll also get one bonus gift on “How to Relieve Holiday Stress.”
In this program, with Love Hypnotist Debra Berndt, author of Let Love In, you’ll get easy ways to calm down quickly, no matter where you are.
To get your three exciting gifts (and the one bonus gift, go here:
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Email
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How You Found Us
Make sure to tell me how you like your gifts and what A Hah moments you’ve had. Just talk to us on my Facebook fan page.

Sugar Shock Readers: What Would You Like in My Next Book? (Last Call)

Attention, readers of my first book, Sugar Shock.
Amazon Sug Sh 51RDZ7DBVAL._SL110_ This is the last call for any ideas on what to include in my next book.
I’m now making last-minute changes and editing to my next book, The Sugar Shock Diet,which will be released next year by Hay House. (Here’s the original announcement.)
My next book will provide you a simple, six-week mind-body-spirit plan that will allow you to easily cut back on those quickie carbs so you can shed excess weight, boost your libido, increase your energy, and much more.
Please, dear readers of Sugar Shock, as I’m doing final rewriting and editing for Sugar Shock Diet, tell me what you’d like to see included.
What would make your life easier and sweeter?
Please tell us now, on this Sugar Shock Blog, and on the Facebook Smart Habits Fans Page what you’d like to see in this next book.

Delay Away Your Sugar Cravings (Creatively Procrastinate)

Here’s an article I wrote to help you those of you, who are sugar addicts or junk food junkies, who need help to sweetly say, “No, thank you!” when offered those tempting, unhealthy “treats.”
Delay Away Your Sugar Cravings™: Creatively Procrastinate to Ditch Your Sugar Addiction & Excess Weight
By Connie Bennett, MSJ, CHC, ACC, CPC
Whenever people meet me, join my Sugar Freedom Now program or work privately with me or read my book SUGAR SHOCK!, they almost immediately ask me (either in person or via e-mail), “How can I overcome my sugar cravings?”
It can be challenging to say “No, thank you!” when your favorite, tempting dessert is right there, in front of you.
Because it’s what you do in that very first one or two minutes that can make or break your diet, I’m determined to help you get over that “Must-Have Sugar Now! hurdle.”
Let me share a tactic that helped me on many occasions (back in 1998) and that now helps my clients and Facebook Smart Habits Noww fans.
One of the most powerful and effective strategies is so simple that you’ll wonder why you never tried it in the first place.
It’s this: Simply DELAY before you put any sugar or dessert foods in your mouth. That’s right, DELAY before you something that you’ll later regret such as when you look at your scale a day or two later or when your pants don’t fit anymore or when you become edgy and unfocused after your Sugar High.
Let’s be honest: If you do mindlessly nosh on those fast-acting sweets or much-like-sugar carbs™ into your mouth, won’t you become feel headachy, wiped out, spaced out, moody, depressed or even angry at yourself (and maybe your loved ones)?
Let me introduce you to the Delay Away Your Sugar Cravings Method™ (also called Do Creative Sugar Procrastination™).
Think about it: Most of us excel at putting things off or procrastinating, right?
We have every good intention to clear off our desks, donate old clothes, organize our drawers, ditch (recyle) those not-needed papers, help kids with their homework, throw out the garbage, etc.?
Clearly, all of us have things we’ve been planning to do but we just haven’t got around to doing it.
Well, I invite you to take a positive look at procrastinating. It can be a wonderful, Won’t-Have-Sugar-Just-Yet Strategy.
I hit upon this incredible simple technique back in 1998 when I reluctantly kicked sweets and refined carbs on doctor’s orders. To this day, I continue to be amazed at how easy, effortless, and darn effective it is to just delay.
What’s so wonderful about this Delaying Now Method is that people of all ages—unless maybe you’re a tot—can easily cultivate this tactic.
So, here’s how to do it: Just promise yourself to delay eating that tempting “treat” for a certain amount of time, say 10 minutes. You can do that, of course!
In other words, you will Delay Away Your Sugar Cravings for 10 minutes at a time. Then, you can delay over and over again — for another 10 minutes — for a while, like an hour even. It’s that easy!
Now think ahead to the next morning when you’re so relieved and proud of yourself that you didn’t cave into your cravings.
Here are 7 ways Delaying or Creatively Procrastinating becomes your ally to help you pull the plug on your unwanted sugar addiction. (Delaying is one of the “7 D’s” that I developed to help “Sugar Kickers.”)
First delay 10 minutes before you eat that cookie, candy bar or brownie that’s calling out to you. When you do that, you begin to detach from your destructive impulses.
When you delay for 10 minutes, then another 10 minutes, and another 10 minutes, your cravings will subside while you get involved with other things. At that point, you’ll also be able to put your cravings into proper perspective.
When you Delay Away Your Cravings, you’re taking powerful, positive, health-promoting action by simple inaction. Yes, doing absolutely nothing can be pivotal when you kick or cut back on sweets and quickie carbs. See how simple this is?
When you delay, you turn procrastinating into a useful, proactive skill. Procrastinating becomes a good thing!
When you delay, you can take time to find out which foods—if any—you’re really craving. Is your body really needing cookies, cake, and pretzels? Of course not! Your Amazing Body might instead be begging you for water, fresh vegetables and fruits, high-quality protein or healthy fats?
When you delay, you can get in touch with your true feelings. By putting your sugar binging on hold for 10 minutes or more, you can figure out what the heck is really going. Ask yourself, “Why do I feel like I must have these sweets now?”
When you delay, you’ll be so proud of yourself! You’ll be filled with a longer-lasting joy than the very short-lived, self-defeating immediate gratification you’d get from a cookie. What is your real goal? Are you seeking to shed excess weight, get more energy, concentrate better, improve your health and boost your libido? So delaying gives you a chance to think about what you really want rather than suffer the consequences of your moment of weakness.)
In short, simple delaying or creatively procrastiating is one of the most effective tools a successful Sugar Kicker can use.
Tips to Delay Away Your Cravings or Creatively Procrastinate
It’s time to learn how to put this in action. Shortly, you’ll become a Delaying Artist or a Creative Procrastinator.
The next time you want something sweet (that’s processed) or something white (as in a refined carb), delay for 10 minutes. That’s it — just 10 minutes. You can do that, right? Feel free to set a timer or look at your watch, clock or cell phone to keep you honest, so to speak.
Now, imagine that you’re stepping outside and leaving behind your obsessive sugary thoughts. Now, get going with some project you’ve been delaying.
After 10 minutes, if you still want sweets or quickie carbs, Delay Away another 10 minutes. Be creative while you delay. You may want to do the dishes, put away your clothes, organize your closet, color your hair, organize your CD collection, meditate, work out, fix your nails, etc. Doing these things can help you pass the time and pull the plug on your food thoughts.
Then challenge yourself for even longer! Wait 1 hour or even 2 hours, or maybe even the whole evening. Do something really fun in the meantime. Jump into that project that you’ve been putting off doing. Fill your time with satisfying activites that help you “forget” about the sweets calling out to you. (If you pick going to a movie as a way to delay, do NOT stop at the concession stand! Bring along your own water or snack.)
Finally, write about your experience in a journal or notebook. Just jotting down your feelings can be eye-opening, as many of my Sugar Kicker clients have revealed to me, and as I personally discovered years ago.
Ultimately, when you just delay or creatively procrastinate, you can learn a lot about yourself and the power of a focused mind.
To this day, I’m thrilled that I hit upon this Delay Away Your Sugar Cravings Tactic back in 1998 so that I could learn that Life is Sweeter Without Refined Sweets™.
Copyright © 2011, Connie Bennett, Sugar Shock Blog, Stop SUGAR SHOCK!™
Connie Bennett is the “Sugar Freedom Now Coach.” She is a former sugar addict and author of the bestselling book, SUGAR SHOCK! (Berkley Books), which has been praised by Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Joseph Mercola and others. Her next book, The Beyond Sugar Shock Diet, will be published in 2012 by Hay House. Connie is also founder of the Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction in 6 Weeks Program (also called Sugar Freedom Now Course). Learn more at www.BreakFreeWithConnie.com. Connie’s Sad-to-Sour-Sugar Story began in 1998, when she reluctantly kicked sweets and quickie carbs on doctor’s orders, and all 44 of her ailments disappeared, including throbbing headaches, severe PMS, and mood swings. Nowadays, Connie jokingly dubs herself a “Sugar Shrew No More!” She has coached thousands of people around the world to Break Free of their sugar addiction and other unhealthy habits. Connie is a certified life coach, certified health counselor, certified vision board coach, popular radio host (Gab with the Gurus), journalist and essayist, who has contributed to many publications and websites and has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning, Oprah & Friends Radio, and The Howard Stern Show. To get free kick-sugar tips and other updates, sign up for her free Motivating Morsels e-zine. This article first appeareed on the Sugar Shock Blog. Connect with Connie on Facebook in the Smart Habits Fans page or the Gab with the Gurus page.
Please note: You may publish the above article on your blog or website, but you must use this entire piece, including the above credit informationabove. Please contact us to let us know that you’re using this article.

The Dark Side of Sugar

Learn more about the Sour Side of Sugar in this fascinating article on DailyRx.com from reporter Laurie Stoneham.
FYI, I’m one of the experts quoted in this story, “The Dark Side of Sweet: Sugar is everywhere and it may just be killing you.”
Read this important article on DailyRx now.
Then, tell us: Does this article help inspire you to quit the stuff — or at least reduce your consumption?
If you’re stumped as to how to let go of your sugar habit, join me next Thursday week in a free teleseminar.
Sign up here for the program, Fast-Track Secrets to Release Your Sugar Addiction & Shed Excess Weight.
Now, tell us why do you want to quit your sugar addiction?

Sugar & Carb Addicts: What do You Need & Want?

Are you overly attached to sugar, desserts and simple carbs?
If so, please tell me what you need and want in the way of help so that you can easily release your sugar or carb habit.
You see, I’m currently working on my next book, Beyond Sugar Shock for Hay House, and I’d like to know what would help you.
As you may already know — I hope you do since you’re here — my first book is Sugar Shock, which provides an expose about sugar’s dangers.
Please share your questions here so I can better help you.
By the way, I also run a companion Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction in 6 Weeks Program, which is delivered using a variety of technologies, including:
* Dozens of emails;
* Six teleseminars/webinars;
* Short audio messages for all 42 days of the program (plus more);
* Weveral bonus audio replays featuring interviews with top experts in mindful eating, meditation, fitness, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and stress management;
* Access to a private membership website full of content; and
* Live, weekly half-hour Laser Liberation Coaching.
The next Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction in 6 Weeks Program begins again Sept. 14. To join us, please visit www.BreakFreeWithConnie.com
I look forward to your input. What will help you to let go of your sugar or carb addiction?

Sugar Addicts: Share Your Success Stories from Sadness to Sweetness

Calling former sugar addicts: Have you kicked sugar and refined carbs?
And are you a reader of SUGAR SHOCK! who was then inspired to remove refined sweets from your life?
Did cutting out sugar enable you to boost your energy, release weight, become more cheerful, have better relationships and get other amazing benefits? If your sugar addiction is a thing of the past — or is under control — we want to hear from you!
Share your Sugar-Free Success story with me so I can share it on this Sugar Shock Blog and other places. Please help me to encourage, educate and inspire other people.
Wondering what a Sugar-Free Success Story sounds like? Read motivational Kick-Sugar Success Stories shared previously on the Sugar Shock Blog.
* Jimmy Moore, who I interviewed recently on my Gab With the Gurus Radio Show
* Jaime Jackson
* Felicia DesRosiers
* Karly Pitman
To be featured as a Kick-Sugar Success Story on this Sugar Shock Blog and on other places, you should have either cut out or heavily cut back on your sugar and quickie-carb consumption for at least 3 months and achieved wonderful results. By sharing your story, you agree that I can publish all or parts of it on my Sugar Shock Blog, any other websites or in an upcoming book or books. You agree that I can use your name and photo and that I will edit your story for accuracy and readability. You agree that you are contributing this piece to help others and that you are sharing it without compensation. (Sorry!) To tell your sour-to-sweet story and to be considered for inclusion in this column, just write to me with answers to the following questions. Please also send photos — preferably before-and-after photos.
* Your Name (full or first name only), City, State & Country (or just list state, if you like) & Age (if you choose):
* Your Previous Weight & Height & Your Present Height:
* Favorite Hobbies & Activities Now:
* When did you kick sugar? Have you quit other foods, too? If so, what?
* What are the biggest BENEFITS you’ve received from kicking sugar?
* What was your rock-bottom moment before you decided you needed to change your diet?
* Just how bad were you feeling? What ailments did you have? Please be specific.
* Please describe any pivotal moments. For example, you could share something that happened in your doctor’s office, how you behaved towards a loved one (like I confessed in Chapter 1 of my book SUGAR SHOCK!), or what embarrassing event made you decide that it was high time to tackle your sugar habit, etc.
* What made you finally decide to eliminate sugar and refined carbs to help with your health issues?
* Describe the day that you finally decided it was time to break free!
* What were the very first 3 things that you did to prepare yourself to quit sweets?
* DS (During Your Sugar Days), what did you used to eat?
* Tell us how bad you felt. What was your lowest point? What was it like?
* What do you think most people don’t know about processed carbs that they need to know?
* How did you first learn about the dangers of sugars and refined carbs?
* Did you find a doctor or other health professional (acupuncturist, nutritionist, etc.), who understood all about how eating sugar triggers drastic blood sugar swings, etc. Tell us about him or her.
* What were your biggest challenges when kicking sugar and refined carbs? Please help prepare others for any potential pitfalls ahead.
* Do you have any favorite websites, blogs, books, organizations or support groups that have helped you to lick your habit?
* What are your best 3 tips and tactics to help other people kick sweets and quickie carbs?
* Please share some final words of wisdom, inspiration, encouragement or motivation to others who are thinking of cutting out sugar and simple carbs.
* Add your own question and response, if you like:
Please feel free to share this call for Confessions of Sugar Addicts No More on your blog or website, in your ezine, on your Facebook page or via Twitter. Please note that Connie Bennett, author of SUGAR SHOCK!, and the founder of the Sugar Shock Blog (http://www.SugarShockBlog.com) is compiling this collection. Please let me know if you’ve shared this call to action.
If you are not yet a success story but want to me, learn how to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction in 6 Weeks.