Meet Cartoon Connie!

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Cartoon Connie.
In this cartoon, “That Was Then… This is Now…,” you’ll get a glimpse at how sugar turned me into a Sugar Shrew..
Please bear in mind that this isn’t someone I know anymore.
This is the discouraged, depressed, frustrated Connie of 1998 — the Connie, who was besieged by by a whopping 44 ailments, including heart palpitations, difficulty concentrating, and mood swings.
But kicking sweets turned my life around.
By licking all those processed sweets, life turned sweeterlicious (my word for sweeter, delicious, luscious, scrumptious, and sensuous).
Connie’s Story: That Was Then… This is Now…
C1_jekyll-hyde_72dpiI hope this cartoon entertains you in its outrageous, exaggerated version of my once, sugar-addicted reality.
Of courrse, I didn’t gorge on red licorice while cowering in closets, but this silly image certainly captures the flavor of my previous addiction. (Pun intended.)
Anyhow, now that I’ve kicked sugar, I urge others to discover the power of living sugarfree..
The transformation was extraordinary!
Now, I urge you to find the humor in your sugar addiction.
When you see the absurdity of your sugar addiction, it can help you to break free so you can get a life that’s sweeterlicious — that’s my word for sweeter, delicious, luscious, scrumptuous and sensuous.
Would you like help to let go of your sugar addiction?
I invite you to discovfer how to easily, even joyfully release your habit. Just get my book Beyond Sugar Shock.
Join the Conversation.
Can you relate to my story? If so, please comment now.

Win a Copy of Beyond Sugar Shock as Sugar Shock Blog Celebrates Its 7th Birthday

Today is a special day for the Sugar Shock Blog. It’s our 7th birthday!
I guess that makes me an old-timer!
See my first post in 2005.
What a great time to have a blog birthday or blogiversary. I’m now knee-deep into sharing the joy about my new book, Beyond Sugar Shock.
To celebrate the Sugar Shock Blogiversary, I’m holding a contest: one of you can win a copy of my book, Beyond Sugar Shock.
In addition, I’m giving away admission for one to my Sugar Freedom Now Course.
So convince us to give you a copy. Tell us here why you should win either my book, Beyond Sugar Shock, or admission to my Sugar Freedom Course.
And make sure to join my other contest, which is co-sponsored by Typepad, the blogging platform, where I host this Sugar Shock Blog.
Get details here.
This is an ideal opportunity to blog away your sugar addiction! Apply now.

Win a Year of Typepad! Part of the Beyond Sugar Shock Launch

Have you heard that Typepad, the blogging platform where I host this site, is giving away a free year of Typepad?
For those of you sugar or carb addicts who want to blog about your journey to Sugar Freedom, I urge you to get the details here.
Then join the contest now!
Thanks to Typepad for featuring this.

Win a Year of Typepad: Blog Contest in Honor of Beyond Sugar Shock’s Book Launch

Today marks the official launch of my new book, Beyond Sugar Shock, and I’ve been seeking to provide lots of fun programs and activities for you.
To my delight, Typepad, the easy-to-use blogging platform where I’ve been hosting this Sugar Shock Blog since 2005, has generously offered to help me hold a contest.
Calling all would-be bloggers or current bloggers (on other platforms) — because the winner of this contest will get a year of Typepad Unlimited ($179.40 value).
I love BloggingNow, if you’re a blogging newbie, this contest should be especially appealing. And it’s also ideal if you’re a person with a strong, savvy voice about a certain topic.
In particular, sugar and carb addicts and people with weight goals, this is your big chance. If you’ve been thinking about writing a blog about going sugar-free, leading a healthier life, or sharing tasty recipes, I urge you to apply. This is an ideal opportunity for you to write about a topic that’s dear to you — and get support from your readers in the process.
By the way, in my book, Beyond Sugar Shock, I discuss the value of blogging or journaling to help you release your sugar addiction.
You even get some helpful blogging pointers from veteran journalist Dana Kennedy, who ran her popular Year Without Candy blog from Feb. 28, 2010 to Feb. 28, 2011.
Entering the contest is simple. In order to win, you have to be either new to Typepad, or have to want to migrate your blog from another provider to this more-user-friendly platform.
Here’s how to join the contest:
To enter, leave a comment on this post, stating why you want to win a year of Typepad Unlimited.
Tell us about the blog’s topic and title, too. Will this be a weight loss blog? Will this be your safe haven where you can write about eating sweets instead of splurging? Would you post recipes?
Your deadline to enter the Typepad giveaway is three weeks from today, Tuesday, June 19 at midnight (EST).
To select a winner, I’ll confer with Typepad and a panel of two other experts (like on a TV show) to select that special person, who seems most motivated to use her or his blog to further an important goal.
I’ll announce the winner on June 20. And please, of course, only entry per person, please.
Remember this giveaway is only open to those who aren’t already blogging with Typepad.
So why would you want to be with Typepad? From my perspective, as a non-techy kind of person, I’ve found it easy to learn. What’s more, their customer service is excellent — you can actually reach a live person via a Help ticket.
That’s one of my favorite features of Typepad. If I ever have a question about how to use a particular function or program, I just fill out a support ticket, and a Typepad representative generally gets back to me within about 24 hours with a detailed answer.
I just love that Help section. It makes life so easy for me. Because they’re so good at explaining things, I no longer have to scramble to find answers.
So, what are you waiting for? Enter this blogging contest now.
Typepad-featured-weblog-125Please note that while Typepad agreed to sponsor this giveaway, I will choose the winner.
In addition, all opinions are my own, and I wasn’t compensated by Typepad in any way to sing their praises. I’ve just been a happy customer for seven years, because it’s so easy to use!
By the way, I’m thrilled to report that Typepad is also doing something else very nice for me.
Any moment now, my Sugar Shock Blog will be featured shortly in the Everything Typepad section.
Stay tuned for details.
Now just post a comment here to enter the contest and get one year free at Typepad.

The Most Important Blog Post I Ever Wrote

Dear Wonderful Visitors to this Sugar Shock Blog,
This is the most important post I’ve ever written.
As you no doubt know, obesity has skyrocketed among adults and youths alike; and children are on a track to die before their parents if they don’t change their unhealthy ways.
At the same time, coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease have become our nation’s top killers. You probably know — or love — someone who has suffered from one or all of these.
But all of the above diseases are largely preventable.
I call them The Preventable Big Killers. And ALL of these potentially fatal illnesses — and many more — can be caused by overdosing on sugar and/or refined carbs.
Think this doesn’t include you? That’s what I used to believe.
But the average American — and person in any civilized country is consuming (either consciously or unconsciously) HUGE amounts of sweets and quickie carbs on a DAILY if not many-times-a-day basis.
Each of you may be taking in roughly 170 to 228 pounds of sweeteners per year and another 200 pounds of sugar’s sinful sisters, which I dub “culprit carbs.”
And every day, it seems, the news gets more frightening.
One of my favorite recent studies revealed that sugar can make you dumb!
More research suggests that it can make you violent.
Your sweet tooth even can trigger type 2 diabetes, even though your doctor may vehemently deny it.
Simply put, millions worldwide are in Sugar Shock.
For the past decade, it has my personal mission to inspire and empower sugar
and carb addicts worldwide.
I want to help them (you?) Get a Life that Rocks™, as I like to put it. (I began coaching people to Sugar Freedom in 2002, four years after I reluctantly quit sugar on doctor’s orders after being waylaid by 44 debilitating ailments.)
So I invite you now: Help me to help transform the lives of millions of sugar and carb addicts around the world!

Woo Hoo! Beyond Sugar Shock Out Today – SAVE the Date, Tues., June 5 for Offical Book Launch

Woo Hoo!! Today’s a REALLY, REALLY BIG day for me!
In 1998, I very reluctantly quit sugar on doctor’s orders. (He blamed sugar for my 44 symptoms, including my fatigue, brain fog, migraines, and severe PMS.)
FINALLY, today, 14 years after I desperately kicked sugar on doctor’s orders, my new book, Beyond Sugar Shock, is officially released.
It is hitting bookstores nationwide (in the U.S. and Canada). On Monday, it will be published in the U.K.
If you buy a copy of Beyond Sugar Shock, please send a photo of you and the book, which can help YOU easily, joyously release your sugar addiction, too.
When you send your photo, I’ll even post it here, too.
Please note that right now, we’re building momentum for TUESDAY, JUNE 5.
On TUESDAY, JUNE 5, you’re invited to tell your loved ones, fans, friends, relatives, and sugar-addicted co-workers — even people you don’t like too much! ( they’re probably high on sugar!) — to buy Beyond Sugar Shock.
Find out why this book has been praised by Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Dr. Daniel Amen, Brian Tracy, Bernie Siegel, Dr. Jonny Bowden, Dr. Joe Vitale, Marci Shimoff, Kathy Smith, Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. and many others.
Keep checking back here to the Sugar Shock Blog for more news about our Beyond Sugar Shock Book Launch on TUESDAY, JUNE 5, when we seek to HELP sugar addicts worldwide.
And make sure to SAVE THE DATE, TUESDAY, JUNE 5 to spread the word about Beyond Sugar Shock.
Do you have a large mailing list? If so, sign up here to join my book launch on Tuesday.

Bloggers, Wellness Experts, Authors, Health Coaches, Low-Carb Advocates & More: Join My Bestseller Book Launch for Beyond Sugar Shock on Tuesday, June 5: Help Build Grass Roots Momentum & Buzz

Attention:
Mommy and health bloggers, wellness experts, authors, health coaches (who, like me, are graduates of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition), low-carb advocates, Paleo gurus, and former sugar addicts, as well as stay-at-home moms, business executives, struggling sugar addicts and others interested in health and wellness,
Please help me to help millions of sugar adddicts or carb addicts around the world.
On Tuesday, June 5, you’re cordially invited to join the launch of my second book, Beyond Sugar Shock, which was released Friday, June 1 in the United States and Canada and will be published in the United Kingdom on Monday, June 4.
If you’ve never participated in a book launch before, let me explain how it works. Trust me, it’s really easy, personally rewarding, and even potentially lucrative (later on) to join us!
So, on Tuesday, June 5, you’re invited to send out a beautiful email prepared by my wonderful publisher, Hay House, to your entire mailing list.
Now, if you don’t have a mailing list, don’t worry. You can still join us. Just think about it: Everyone is either a sugar or carb addict herself or himself or knows one, right? (Just look at the people around you mindlessly polishing off those quickie carbs .)
For those of you with no mailing list, simply dash off this snazzy email to 50 to 100 or more of your colleagues, friends, neighbors, relatives — whether they’re hooked on sugar or not. Then, send to people who help you such as your chiropractor, fitness trainer, hairdresser, or physician — even if they don’t “get it” yet. Just ask them for their email adress.)
In other words, join this massive grass-roots effort to reach people who need help to gain control over their sugar or carb addiction and Get a Life that Rocks™, as I like to put it.
Why Millions Need Our Help: Sugar Is Toxic & It Can Kill You Before Your Time
Why do millions need our help? And why can Beyond Sugar Shock come to the rescue? Because the average person in the U.S. — perhaps you? — consumes at least 170 pounds of sugar and other sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup, crystalline fructose, etc. per year. Insider figures cite far higher figures — 228 pounds per person per year! (I’ll have stats soon for Canada and the U.K.)
In addition, the typical U.S. resident — you again? — unthinkingly takes in nearly 200 pounds per year of sugar’s culpable cousins — refined white-flour products such as white bread, white-flour pasta, white bread, mashed potatoes, and white rice. All these processed foods — what I call quickie carbs or much-like sugar carbs — also are speedily metabolized in our bodies.
All those sweets and refined carbs put you into Sugar Shock often. That means these quickie trigger elevated blood sugar levels, repeatedly over-stimulate insulin release, cause excessive inflammation, and pave the way for nearly 150 devastating, mostly preventable diseases or conditions, including obesity (of course), but also heart disease, blood sugar disorders (from hypoglycemia to type 2 diabetes), cancer, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
To put it bluntly, if you put yourself into Sugar Shock on a regular basis — as most people in civilized countries do — you can get fat and sick, and die well before your time.
Will You Join Us to Help Save People’s Health, Moods, Inner Peace, Relationships & More?
So will you join our worldwide effort to help millions of people worldwide to shed pounds, become more energetic, reverse or halt type 2 diabetes, prevent heart disease or cancer, and even boost their libido? Yes, quitting or cutting back on sugar and refined carbs can do all of that — and much more, as you can learn in Beyond Sugar Shock.
How Will this Book Help Sugar or Carb Addicts? And How Did it Come About?
You’re probably wondering why I think this book is special. Well, in Beyond Sugar Shock, I present a six-week Mind-Body-Spirit program, that gently, compassionately takes sugar or carb addicts on a fun, empowering adventure so they can easily, joyously release their dangerous, potentially deadly habit.
Briefly, here’s the back story. Beyond Sugar Shock has been about 14 years in the making. Back in 1998, when I quit sugar on doctor’s orders, I didn’t know how to go about doing it. So while kicking sugar, I began to create simple techniques to help me easily let go of my over-attraction to those tempting sweets. In Beyond Sugar Shock, I share these easy tools.
Then in 2002, four years after quitting sugar, I began in earnest to coach people to achieve that exhilarating state I now call Sugar Freedom. At the same time, I interviewed hundreds of experts to learn about sugar’s dangers and to discover new cool tools, which I also share in Beyond Sugar Shock. (In between, my first book, Sugar Shock, also was published, and much to my joy, it was even praised by Dr. Mehmet Oz. Dr. Stephen T. Sinatra was the medical consultant, and Dr. Nicholas Perricone wrote the foreword.)
Beyond Sugar Shock — which has been endorsed by Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Daniel Amen, Joe Vitale, Marci Shimoff, John Assaraf and many others — gives sugar and carb addicts what they need and seek. (That’s my intention, at least!
In fact, this book is what I would have loved to have in 1998, when my physician insisted that quitting sugar would make all 44 of my awful ailments disappear. (He was right!)
How to Join the Beyond Sugar Shock Book Launch
It’s simple to join us. Here are the 2 quick steps to take:
Sign up now to join the Beyond Sugar Shock Book Launch. (Many thanks to Hasmark Services for their vital support to coordinate this Book Launch.)
Email the snazzy email my publisher, Hay House, provided to either your mailing list of hundreds or thousands or, if you don’t have one, to a group of 50 to 100 friends, colleagues, and relatives. Just go through your email list. (By the way, you can send either this HTML version or an text version. (Huge gratitude goes to Hay House for creating this dazzling email for you to send.)
Attention, Bloggers: Another way to join our Beyond Sugar Shock Book Launch is to blog about this book or to post a review. We’re also offering you two books — one for you and one to give away as a prize. For details on the Blogger Book Launch, please contact me, and I’ll send you details.
Note to Colleagues of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition: When you get involved with my book launch, I’ll help you help your sugar-addicted clients. In fact, on June 28, I’m hosting a special teleseminar just for you. Please contact me to get details.
Here’s a quick reminder how to join us:
Sign up now to join the Beyond Sugar Shock Book Launch.
Share this special email from my publisher, Hay House, to either your mailing list or your group of 50 to 100 friends, colleagues, and relatives.
By the way, you may be wondering why I’m holding a grassroots effort. Suffice it to say that in these times of social media, as an author, you have an amazing opportunity to directly reach many of the people you serve, which is very exciting. Also, launching a book is a huge endeavor, and if your budget is limited, you need to use some innovative ways to get the word out. That’s why I could really use your help if you believe in what I seek to do — which is to help sugar addicts worldwide. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining us!
Questions? I’m here for you. Just ask away.