Category: Recommends

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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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.

Before You Indulge this Holiday Season, Consider Nearly 150 Ways Sugar Ruins Your Health

As 2011 winds down and we approach the holidays, we’re about to enter what I call the Season of Overeating and the Season of Sugar Gorging.
So before you over-indulge this holiday season, I urge you to learn the sour news. You need to know that when by continually chomping on delicious desserts, sugar can ruin your health in nearly 150 ways.
Suicide by sugar-pc2Below you’ll find an extensively researched list from my mentor and heroine, Nancy Appleton, Ph.D., author of Suicide by Sugar: A Startling Look at Our #1 National Addiction. Bear in mind that Nancy has been researching sugar’s dangers for more than three decades, and she found (and cites) medical studies to back up all of these claims on this list.
An avid researcher, Dr. Appleton is also the best-selling author of Stopping Inflammation and Healthy Bones. In addition, she lectures extensively throughout the world, has appeared on numerous television and radio talk shows, and maintains a private practice in San Diego, California.
Incidentially, to this day, more than 13 years after I quit sugar myself, I’m grateful to Nancy. In fact, her book, Lick the Sugar Habit, helped me quit sweets back in 1998.
Now review Nancy’s shocking list of nearly 150 ways that sugar can ham you before you continue to overdo it on sweets this holiday season.
144 Ways Sugar Can Ruin Your Health by Nancy Appleton, Ph.D. (Reprinted with permission.)
1. Sugar can suppress your immune system.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause juvenile delinquencey in children.
4. Sugar eaten pregnancy and lactation can influence muscle force production in offspring, which can affect an individual’s ability to exercise.
5. Sugar in soda, when consumed by children, results in the children drinking less milk.
6. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses and return them to fasting levels slower in oral contraceptive users.
7. Sugar can increase reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can damage cells and tissues.
8. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, inability to concentrate and crankiness in children.
9. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
10. Sugar reduces the body’s ability to defend against bacterial infection.
11. Sugar causes a decline in tissue elasticity and function – the more sugar you eat, the more elasticity and function you lose.
12. Sugar reduces high-density lipoproteins (HDL).
13. Sugar can lead to chromium deficiency.
14. Sugar can lead to ovarian cancer.
15. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
16. Sugar causes copper deficiency.
17. Sugar interferes with the body’s absorption of calcium and magnesium.
18. Sugar may make eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration.
19. Sugar raises the level of neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
20. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
21. Sugar can lead to an acidic digestive tract.
22. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
23. Sugar is frequently malabsorbed in patients with functional bowel disease.
24. Sugar can cause premature aging.
25. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
26. Sugar can cause tooth decay.
27. Sugar can lead to obesity.
28. Sugar increases the risk of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
29. Sugar can cause gastric or duodenal ulcers.
30. Sugar can cause arthritis.
31. Sugar can cause learning disorders in school children.
32. Sugar assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).
33. Sugar can cause gallstones.
34. Sugar can cause heart disease.
35. Sugar can cause appendicitis.
36. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
37. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
38. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
39. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
40. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.
41. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
42. Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E in the blood.
43. Sugar can decrease the amount of growth hormones in the body.
44. Sugar can increase cholesterol.
45. Sugar increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which form when sugar binds non-enzymatically to protein.
46. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.
47. Sugar causes food allergies.
48. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
49. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
50. Sugar can lead to eczema in children.
51. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
52. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA.
53. Sugar can change the structure of protein.
54. Sugar can make the skin wrinkle by changing the structure of collagen.
55. Sugar can cause cataracts.
56. Sugar can cause emphysema.
57. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
58. Sugar can promote an elevation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL).
59. Sugar can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
60. Sugar lowers enzymes ability to function.
61. Sugar intake is associated with the development of Parkinson’s disease.
62. Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.
63. Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.
64. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
65. Sugar can damage the pancreas.
66. Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention.
67. Sugar is the number one enemy of the bowel movement.
68. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
69. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
70. Sugar can make tendons more brittle.
71. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
72. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
73. Sugar can adversely affect children’s grades in school.
74. Sugar can cause depression.
75. Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
76. Sugar can cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
77. Sugar can increase the risk of developing gout.
78. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in the blood much higher than complex carbohydrates in a glucose tolerance test can.
79. Sugar reduces learning capacity.
80. Sugar can cause two blood proteins – albumin and lipoproteins – to function less effectively, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.
81. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
82. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness, which causes blood clots.
83. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance – some hormones become underactive and others become overactive.
84. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
85. Sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
86. Sugar can lead to biliary tract cancer.
87. Sugar increases the risk of pregnant adolescents delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
88. Sugar can lead to a substantial decrease the in the length of pregnancy among adolescents.
89. Sugar slows food’s travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
90. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stool and bacterial enzymes in the colon, which can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
91. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
92. Sugar combines with and destroys phosphatase, a digestive enzyme, which makes digestion more difficult.
93. Sugar can be a risk factor for gallbladder cancer.
94. Sugar is an addictive substance.
95. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
96. Sugar can aggravate premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
97. Sugar can decrease emotional stability.
98. Sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese people.
99. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit disorder (ADD).
100. Sugar can slow the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
101. Sugar can cut off oxygen to the brain when given to people intravenously.
102. Sugar is a risk factor for lung cancer.
103. Sugar increases the risk of polio.
104. Sugar can cause epileptic seizures.
105. Sugar can increase systolic blood pressure (pressure when the heart is contracting).
106. Sugar can induce cell death.
107. Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.
108. Sugar can cause antisocial behavior in juvenile delinquents.
109. Sugar can lead to prostate cancer.
110. Sugar dehydrates newborns.
111. Sugar can cause women to give birth to babies with low birth weight.
112. Sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia.
113. Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the bloodstream.
114. Sugar increases the risk of breast cancer.
115. Sugar is a risk factor in small intestine cancer.
116. Sugar can cause laryngeal cancer.
117. Sugar induces salt and water retention.
118. Sugar can contribute to mild memory loss.
119. Sugar water, when given to children shortly after birth, results in those children preferring sugar water to regular water throughout childhood.
120. Sugar causes constipation.
121. Sugar can cause brain decay in pre-diabetic and diabetic women.
122. Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
123. Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.
124. Sugar increases neural tube defects in embryos when it is consumed by pregnant women.
125. Sugar can cause asthma.
126. Sugar increases the chances of getting irritable bowl syndrome.
127. Sugar can affect central reward systems.
128. Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.
129. Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.
130. Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell cancer.
131. Sugar can cause liver tumors.
132. Sugar can increase inflammatory markers in the bloodstreams of overweight people.
133. Sugar plays a role in the cause and the continuation of acne.
134. Sugar can ruin the sex life of both men and women by turning off the gene that controls the sex hormones.
134. Sugar can cause fatigue, moodiness, nervousness, and depression.
135. Sugar can make many essential nutrients less available to cells.
138. Sugar can increase uric acid in blood.
139. Sugar can lead to higher C-peptide concentrations.
140. Sugar causes inflammation.
141. Sugar can cause diverticulitis, a small bulging sac pushing outward from the colon wall that is inflamed.
142. Sugar can decrease testosterone production.
143. Sugar impairs spatial memory.
144. Sugar can cause cataracts.
Go here now to find find Nancy’s extensive references, which back up the citations on this list.
To learn more about sugar’s dangers, I urge you to get Nancy’s book, Suicide by Sugar. I also invite you to read my book, Sugar Shock.
In addition, I invite you to learn more about sugar’s dangers by listening to a special Gab with the Gurus Radio Show on which I interviewed Dr. Nancy Appleton.
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Listen to internet radio with Gab With the Gurus on Blog Talk Radio

Begin Your Day With Positive Thoughts to Create an Exceptional Life, Louise Hay Urges

How do you begin each and every day?
What are the very first thoughts you think?
What ideas fill your head as you get out of bed, hop in the shower, make breakfast, and prepare for the day ahead?
Do you dread the projects and duties that lie ahead of you? Or do you approach your day with happy anticipation?
No matter what challenges you are facing — whether it’s sugar addiction, financial issues, or other family situations — If you begin your day joyously and gratefully, you’ll have a fabulous day — and life.
Lately, I’ve been giving quite a bit of thought to how I begin my day, thanks to the fabulous new book, You Can Create an Exceptional Life, from two of my heroines, Louise Hay and Cheryl Richardson, both mega-best-selling authors, who’ve helped millions around the world. (Follow these amazing ladies on Facebook — just click the links I just gave.)
Both of these remarkable women are living proof that the spiritual principles they discuss in their new book really do work. As you read You Can Create an Exceptional Life, you’ll discover that you, too, can create an exceptional life, too.
In fact, I now follow their wonderful advice religiously, and I urge you to do that, too.
In You Can Create an Exceptional Life, which features the collective wisdom of Louise and Cheryl, you get many wonderful tidbits of advice on how lead a glorious life.
For instance, Louise suggests that you begin your day by looking at yourself lovingly in the mirror and telling yourself how much you love yourself and how awesome you are. Try it! You’ll find that this simple little tool works amazing wonders!
Also, see this wonderful YouTube video with Louise and Cheryl.
Anyhow, in this fabulous new book, You Can Create an Exceptional Life, you get many wonderful affirmations to use as you begin and go through your day. (There’s an amazing Collected Affirmations section in the back of the book, which you’ll love, I predict.)
By the way, another one of my absolute favorite CDs/books is, I Can Do It: How to Use Affirmations to Change Your Life, also from Louise Hay.
Since June — after getting quite exhausted, rundown, headachy, low on energy, and really burnt out (I developied electropollution from working long hours on my book, Beyond Sugar Shock) — I’ve been listening to I Can Do It or another Louise Hay CD every morning.
My daily Louise Hay booster shot helped to quickly bring back my natural energy, enthusiasm and joe de vivre. Wow! If you’re facing any kind of challenge, I urge you to check it out!
Let us know here what you think of both of these fabulous books, You Can Create an Exceptional Life and I Can Do It: How to Use Affirmations to Change Your Life.
Stay tuned for photos of me with Louise and Cheryl at Louise’s recent 85th birthday party.
So what new affirmations and thoughts are you having as you begin your day?
(Full Disclosure: My next book, Beyond Sugar Shock, is for Hay House, which is the same publisher for both You Can Create an Exceptional Life and I Can Do It: How to Use Affirmations to Change Your Life, but just because we’re in the same publishing family does not affect my thoughts about these books. Both of these books are amazing, and I’d be raving about them no matter what. Get them now to change your life, and tell us what you think!)

My Next Book: Beyond Sugar Shock

Readers of this Sugar Shock Blog may have noticed that lately I’ve been referring to my next book, the follow-up to Sugar Shock, as The Sugar Shock Diet.
We’re now back to the original title.
So ny next book — which my publisher, Hay House is releasing next spring — is now officially called Beyond Sugar Shock.
The subtitle is The 6-Week Plan to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction & Get Slimmer, Sexier & Sweeter.
I’m now in the middle of doing more editing on it, but you’ll learn more about it later. Also, stay tuned for a free, upcoming teleseminar.
As noted earlier, this is the follow-up to Sugar Shock, which is more of an expose about sugar’s dangers. My new book will give you a guided plan to you can easily, effortlessly release your sugar or carb habit and get a better life and body in the process.
If you haven’t read my first book yet, I invite you to get Sugar Shock now. Please let me know what you think of it.

The Sugar Shock Diet: Finished Editing!

I’m thrilled to announce that I finally finished editing my next book, The Sugar Shock Diet (formerly called Beyond Sugar Shock).
It’s kind of embarrassing to admit that I’ve been busting my bedtime bigtime to finally finish all my rewriting, etc.
So it’s time to recuperate! Desperately need to give my body and break and get some fun me time!
Wait, that’s not entirely true. Some interns and I are wrapping up the quite extensive bibliography.
Anyhow, I’m pleased to have time now to read and appreciate my friend Ann Louise Gittleman’s hot new book, Fat Flush for Life.
Check it out. It’s quite amazing!
Oops, forgot to say she’ll be on my Gab with the Gurus Show next Wed. at 2 pm EST. Join us! Stay tuned for details. I need to collapse!

Is There Any Comfort in Comfort Foods?

Lately, while editing (finishing) my next book, The Sugar Shock Diet (for Hay House), I’ve been thinking about comfort foods.
I came across this fascinating Top 25 Comfort Foods list from www.About.com.
Apple Pie
Baked beans
Banana pudding
Beef stew
Brisket pot roast
Chicken & dumplings
Chicken pot pie
Chicken soup
Chili
Chocolate chip cookies
Corn on the cob
Fried Chicken
Gelatin
Green bean casserole
Hot dogs
Ice cream
Macaroni & cheese
Mashed potatoes
Meatloaf
Potato salad
Pumpkin pie
Shepherd’s pie
Spaghetti
Tomato soup
Tuna casserole
I’ll write more later about comfort foods, when I’m off deadline, but for now, tell us: What are your favorite comfort foods?
By the way, I’ve now decided to create recipes for a number of Healthier Comfort Foods so you can enjoy them knowing that you’re treating your body well. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, tell us: Do you enjoy any of these comfort foods? And what do comfort foods do for you? What do you get from them?

Today’s Feel-Good Tune is Waka Waka! Get A Fun Song Every Day in Smart Habits Fans on Facebook!

Today’s Feel-Good Tune is “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” from Shakira.
This Feel-Good Tune of the Day is a new fun feature in the Smart Habits Fans on Facebook.
Every day, in Smart Habits Fans, you’ll find another upbeat, exhilarating, cheery, confidence-generating Feel-Good Tune that at cheers you up, empowers you, and lifts you to a great place!
Shakira Waka Waka Dance (1) Right now, when you can, take just a few minutes — the song’s only a quick break — and get up and boogie!
So how does this amazing song, Waka Waka make you feel?
It’s far better and sweeter than food, junk food or sugary chocolate, isn’t it?
Join us now in the Smart Habits Fans to get Daily Feel-Good Tunes.
By the way, I’m posting on Facebook — at http://www.facebook.com/smarthabitsfans — instead of here, on this Sugar Shock Blog, because it’s easier, quicker, and it allows us to become more interactive. Also, you can easily share the tunes from friends and fans.
By the way, I got the idea for posting a Feel-Good Tune of the Day on the Smart Habits Fans page on Facebook, because I need to come up with ways to get away from the computer — I need to cut back on my constant exposure to those harmful EMFs or electromagnetic fields from my computer, etc. (When on deadline, as I cam now for my next book, The Sugar Shock Diet, I tend to put in 10, 12, 14 hours a day, and all that electropollution has been dragging me down. So it’s time for Feel-Good Breaks! Learn more about the dangers of electropollution on my recent Gab with the Gurus Radio Show.
Like this post now, and share it on Facebook with your friends or fans. Then get up and boogie!
Been writing too long on the computer. Time to get away from those EMFs. It’s dancing time to Waka Waka!

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.

Important Info for Users of Cell Phones, Wireless Routers, TVs & Other Appliances

Do you get dizzy, headachy, nauseous, have difficulty sleeping and other issues?
You may being zapped — in other words, you may be sensitive to the Digital Age.
Or, to put it another way, you may be a victim of what’s now being dubbed electro-pollution.
All of us are under constant attack from electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and the electromagnetic radiation (EMR), which are caused by our cell phones, power lines, household wiring, computers, TVs, clock radios, microwave ovens, and many other appliances.
Now, researchers are linking electro-pollution with more incidents of cancer, depression, chronic fatigue, birth defects, learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, and more.
We all need to how to protect ourselves against electro-pollution.
Arm yourself now by listening to my recent valuable Gab with the Gurus interview with Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman, author of Zapped: Why your Cell Phone Shouldn’t Be Your Alarm Clock and 1,268 Ways to Outsmart the Hazards of Electronic Pollution.
Listen to internet radio with Gab With the Gurus on Blog Talk Radio
Special thanks to http://completewellbeing.com/article/getting-buzzed/ for the photo.
Now that you’ve listened to this Gab with the Gurus show about electro-pollution with Dr. Gittleman, what changes can you immediately make?