About

If you’ve ever felt like a prisoner to sweets or processed carbs, you’ll relate to my tale.

My health journey began more than a decade ago when I was a huge sugar addict, carb junkie, night owl, and frazzled, deadlines-driven, overworked journalist. At the time, I was walloped by 44 baffling ailments, including scary heart palpitations, crushing fatigue, unpredictable mood swings, ferocious headaches, severe PMS, embarrassing sobbing spells; monstrous sugar and carb cravings, unsettling depression, and more.

My many symptoms took me to several doctors over the years. Finally, one smart M.D. had answers. “You have severe reactive hypoglycemia,” my doctor told me. “Quit eating sugar and processed carbohydrates. If you do, your headaches, heart palpitations, and cravings will go away.”

Let’s face it. I did not want to follow my physician’s advice. But I was desperate to feel better. Besides, I was intrigued. Within days, all 44 of my symptoms vanished. Suffice it to say that I was excited, energized, and intrigued.

Now that I was feeling good again, I became driven to discover The Sour Scoop about Sweets. At the same time, since kicking sugar wasn’t always easy, I began to find and create super-simple, powerful, research-backed tools to quit the sweet, dangerous stuff.

My fascination in the subject of sugar’s dangers led to my first book, Sugar Shock: How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life–And How You Can Get Back on Track (Berkley Books, 2007). It quickly became a bestseller. (At the time, not many books about sugar had been released.)

Thankfully, many world-renowned experts praised it, including Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Mark Hyman, JJ Virgin, and actress/author Marilu Henner. Dr. Stephen T. Sinatra was contributing author, and Dr. Nicholas Perricone wrote the foreword.

Suddenly, readers and fans — who were Impressed by my sugar-free energy, excitement, and effervescence — people began to quiz me repeatedly about my secrets to let sugar go. That led me to coaching, inspiring and guiding people worldwide. (Because I wanted to really help people, I also studied at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and the Institute for Professional Empowerment Coaching.)

After a decade of helping sugar addicts and hosting The Sugar Freedom Course, my second book, Beyond Sugar Shock: The 6-Week Plan to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction & Get Slimmer, Sexier & Sweeter (Hay House, 2012), was published. It also quickly became an international bestseller and was endorsed by many experts, including Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Daniel Amen, Bernie Siegel.

 

I’ve had lots of time to figure out why I blew my diet so badly and for so long.

 

First, I moved across country for my terminally ill mother. Then I spent the most grueling, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching year watching her succumb to the vicious cancer, which, unfortunately — as it spread — made her really mean. (Alas, the disease made my mother downright abusive, irrational, accusatory, and a lot worse.)

 

After Mom angrily died, I became a shell of my former self. While bombarded by tear-jerking heartbreak, persistent stress, and confusing PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome). At the time, I hid out to heal.

 

Crying spells, confusion, and shock were only part of what I went through. For months after that heartbreaking time — while struggling with depression, anger, confusion, jumpiness, nightmares, insomnia and brain fog — I was attacked by absolutely Crazy Carb Cravings, as I now call them. Frankly, I’d never experienced anything like it. Those Crazy Cravings “made me” pig out on on processed carbs (not sugar) for months. I quickly gained 21 pounds. Now, admittedly that wasn’t a huge amount of weight, but I was ashamed. After all, I’m a health expert, whose expertise is to help people cut curbs, quit sugar, and enjoy a slimmer, sweeter, happier life.

 

Finally, one day, I had enough. I decided to turn my misery and melancholy into happiness and hopefulness. It was time to look at my terrible cravings as my teachers. It was important, I realized, to know exactly why I blew my diet big time.

 

 

For the next few years, I was driven. I threw myself into lots of research, introspection, and writing to discover why millions of us worldwide ditch our clean diets.  My team and I poured over fascinating medical studies, which helped me to identify 21 reasons people may eat badly, throw caution to the wind, and rush to junk foods.

 

But knowing why we blew our diets wasn’t nearly enough. So I did more investigating. Now, I’ve created a series of super-simple, but powerful steps to begin to Bounce-Back Boldly on only three weeks. (That is what you’ll find in my next book, I blew my diet! Now what?)

 

You can get a flavor for some of what I’ve uncovered in my free ebook, 3 Super-Simple Secrets to Crush Your Cravings.