Kudos Corner

Connie Recommends, Kudos Corner, Sweet Stuff, Tantalizing Tidbits

Fun Friday Tune: Dale Dale

I invite you to enjoy this sweet start to get you ready for the weekend ahead.
Enjoy boogying to this Fun Friday Tune, “Dale Dale,” along with choreographer, singer, songwriter, dancer Francesca Maria.
(By the way, “dale” means “go ahead,” “give it” or “do it,” according to this Wild104fm site. If you’re a girl and someone shouts “Dale” at you, it means they think you’re cute.)
You may be wondering about the sugar connection here.
Essentially, when you bring sweetness into your life — in this case, it’s energetically doing Zumba to an upbeat — you’ll get a life that’s sweeter without junky sweets.

Beyond Sugar Shock, Catching Up With Connie, Get Inspired, Kudos Corner

Many Thanks & Wows to Anne Lamott

I’m now recovering from being very sick (cold, flu, utter exhaustion, and grief over my mother’s recent death), but I wanted to get out of bed to extend many thanks and wows to the talented, prolific, motivating writer Anne Lamott, author of the fabulous book, Help, Thanks, Wow.
Annie — whom I had the pleasure of hearing speak while she was launching her remarkable book, Help, Thanks, Wow — kindly mentioned me and my newest book, Beyond Sugar Shock, on both her popular Facebook page and in her reprinted article on Style, Substance, Soul.
While I’m very grateful for the mention of Beyond Sugar Shock and my sugar freedom coaching, there’s a far bigger reason that I want to extend my deep, heartfelt gratitude to Annie.
Although the inspiring Anne Lamott asked me for help with her sugar challenges (after we met at her book signing for Help, Thanks, Wow) and while it’s been an honor and privilege to offer her text coaching, what Annie didn’t know was that while I was giving her support, she was giving me a tremendous amount of support, too.
Indeed, without realizing it, the remarkable Anne Lamott was probably helping me just as much, if not a lot more, than I was helping her.
A little background is in order. I met Annie while I was (and have been) going through a very rough time. In fact, I barely dragged myself to Annie’s book signing while nursing a broken heart. Recently, my mother passed away, and I’ve been reeling in absolutely excruciating grief, profound anguish, and utter agony after what I now call My Bittersweet Last Year with Mom, as well as some recent, very painful discoveries.
At the same time, I’d been feeling lost and in limbo. I was (and still am) trying to decide where to live, because soon after discovering that Mom was terminally ill, I gave up my apartment in New York City (which I’d enjoyed for a decade) and moved across country to California to be there for my mother in her dying days. I’m now in a temporary, cramped, but wonderfully peaceful place. Read about my truly beautiful, but utterly gut-wrenching time on my new Bittersweet Year blog.
Anne LamottThe delicious irony about my having been there for Annie Lamott since late December (right before Christmas) is that in between or after texting or emailing tips, ideas, encouragement and insights and the joy of eating healthily and staying away from sugary non-treats, I’d often turn to three of her many marvelous books — Help, Thanks, Wow; Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith; and Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life — as well as her fabulous Facebook page, to get tips, ideas, encouragement, and insights.
It seemed like every time that I visited Annie’s Facebook page or picked up Help, Thanks, Wow; Traveling Mercies or Bird by Bird, I’d find more inspiring, thought-provoking, butt-kicking words of wisdom.
Indeed, whenever I veered off track, Anne Lamott — and also Louise Hay (more about that later) — kindly, generously, magnanimously reached out to me and gave me solace and encouragement though her words and concepts, which helped to propel my thoughts to a better plane such as moving away from sorrow and grief to gratitude or optimism.
For instance, Anne inspired me by writing:
“There’s freedom in hitting bottom. . . relief in admitting you’ve reached the place of great unknowing. This is where restoration can begin,…”
Or, in Help, Thanks, Wow, Anne Lamott urged me to find freedom and value in my funk with these words:
“I have seen many people survive unsurvivable losses, and seen them experience happiness again. How is that possible?
“. . . In most cases, their pain evolved slowly into help for others. The great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. / I awoke and saw that life was service. / I acted and behold, service was joy.”
Ah yes, how true. Thanks, Annie, for reminding me that I’m here to serve people. And while I heal, I can and shall serve.
Meanwhile, I’ve been getting awesome ideas from her. For instance, in Help, Thanks, Wow, Annie offers the suggestion to store your woes in a God box. (I love that idea, and I’m now experimenting with this.)
It’s truly remarkable how every time I’ve turned to Help, Thanks, Wow; Traveling Mercies; or Bird by Bird, I’ve found something that really speaks to me. (One of my favorite things to do with inspiring books is to shut my eyes, pick a page and then find a quote or comment that helps me.)
What I also find fascinating is that although Anne Lamott and I are different religions — I’m Jewish and she’s a Christian, who welcomes Jesus into her life — she still inspires me mightily.
Anyhow, after my nap today — remember, I’m very sick, flu-ish, and utterly exhausted — I’ll turn again to Help, Thanks, Wow, or what she’s now playfully calling Hips, Thighs, Waist.
Meanwhile, Anne Lamott has helped to wake me up. It’s as if she’s been nudging me to focus and refocus.
She helped me to realize that I really need to say, “Help,” more often, especially in my time of profound grief. But that’s not all. I also need to gratefully and repeatedly say, “Thanks.” And then later, I should continue to marvel, “Wow.”
Anne Lamott, thank you for all you’ve done for me while I’ve hoped to be there for you, too. You’ve motivated me to say “Help, Thanks, Wow,” more often and more meaningfully.
Now, dear readers of any religion, whatever you’re going through at present, I strongly urge you to get, read, and re-read Anne Lamott’s latest book, the spectacular Help, Thanks, Wow.
My prediction is that you, too, will begin to learn the value of saying, “Help, Thanks, Wow.”

Announcements, Beyond Sugar Shock, Big Sugar & Big Food News, Blood Sugar Blues, Connie Recommends, Hay House, Help for Sugar Addicts, Kudos Corner, Sugar Shockers, Sweet Stuff

Is Sugar Toxic? “60 Minutes” Explores Issue: Hurrah!

Tonight, on “60 Minutes,” multiple Emmy-award winning chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will tell the show’s viewers about new studies, which suggest that sugar is toxic.
Specifically, on “60 Minutes,” Dr. Gupta will tell viewers:
“New research coming out of some of America’s most respected institutions is starting to find that sugar could be a driving force behind some of this country’s leading killers.”
Of course, this sugar-is-toxic conclusion — which has been gaining momentum for years — is nothing new to those of you, who are regular visitors to this Sugar Shock Blog and to readers of my first book, Sugar Shock, which was first published in 2007.
Sanjay_GuptaFor my part, I’m thrilled that “60 Minutes” is devoting time to explore the question of whether or not sugar is toxic. I’ve been hoping for such a segment for years.
What I find especially exciting is that Dr. Gupta will spotlight the close cancer-sugar connection, which I also explored in my book, Sugar Shock.
I also examine recent sugar-can-cause-cancer research in my upcoming book, Beyond Sugar Shock, which is being published in June by Hay House. (In the book, I guide readers to eaily break free of their sugar addiction by joining me in a fun, six-week Mind-Body-Spirit adventure.)
Anyhow, in the “60 Minutes” segment about sugar, you’ll watch Dr. Gupta interview respected pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert H. Lustig, whose YouTube video, Sugar: The Bitter Truth, has gone viral, attracting 2,159,456 viewers (as of today).
Dr. Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, is not alone in his sugar-is-toxic view.
Amazon Sug Sh 51RDZ7DBVAL._SL110_Indeed, many cutting-edge physicians, including Dr. Stephen T. Sinatra, medical consultant for my book Sugar Shock, contend that the high amount of sugar in the American diet is killing us. (By the way, I disagree with the low figures usually cited — most Americans consume far more than the 130 or 150 pounds a year that’s often mentioned in news reports.)
While I applaud “60 Minutes” for telling the nation that sugar can be toxic, I also need to congratulate Dr. Mehmet Oz for his important work drawing attention to sugar’s dangers in several episodes of the top-rated “The Doctor Oz Show.”
In one episode, Dr. Mehmet Oz even called sugar “The # 1 food Dr. Oz Wants Out of Your House.” Hurrah!
By the way, I’m honored that Dr. Oz praised my book, Sugar Shock.
Again, congratulations to “60 Minutes” for devoting a segment to this important sugar subject.
Join us on my Facebook fan page during and after “60 Minutes” airs to share your thoughts and feelings about the is-sugar-toxic segment.
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Make sure to tell your friends and family members to watch this important “60 Minutes” episode.

Announcements, Beyond Sugar Shock, Catching Up With Connie, Hay House, Help for Sugar Addicts, Kudos Corner

Dr. Wayne Dyer Endorsed My Book, Beyond Sugar Shock, for Hay House: He Joins Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Bernie Siegel, Dr. Christiane Northrup & Others

or and beloved teacher Dr. Wayne W. Dyer just gave me the most exciting, amazing gift!
The remarkable Dr. Dyer — author of many bestsellers, including his latest, Wishes Fulfilled: Mastering the Art of Manifesting — has just endorsed my next book, Beyond Sugar Shock.
This endorsement means so much to me at this time. Although I’ve been a fan for years, lately, I’ve been relying and turning to his motivational works and books over and over again.
For instance, every morning now, I chant and listen religiously to his Meditations for Manifesting: Morning and Evening Meditations to Literally Create Your Heart’s Desire.
I’m also very eager to get his new I AM Wishes Fulfilled Meditation, that Dr. Dyer and James F. Twyman have created. I’m sure it will be miraculous.
So here the endorsement that Dr. Dyer so kindly gave:
“I have taken the advice and guidance that Connie offers here and used it to reclaim my own well being. We have unknowingly and unwittingly become a nation of addicts, and here in this book you are given a blueprint for living a life of perfect health. Follow the easy-to-apply guidelines, and then you will be able to look in the mirror and say, `I AM finally living a healthy life.’ There is no greater feeling and it is your birthright. You were not designed to walk around in shock. A much needed book. –Wayne Dyer”
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Dr. Dyer!
So watch these fascinating interviews with him.
And make sure to sign up for a chance to get Dr. Dyer’s new book, Wishes Fulfilled, and a copy of Anita Moorjani’s Dying To Be Me, offered by Hay House, his (and my) publisher.
Watch Dr. Wayne Dyer Wishes Fulfilled | Preview on PBS. See more from pbs.
Dr. Dyer is joining many other wonderful experts, who’ve generously provided endorsements, including Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Bernie Siegel, Brian Tracy, Dr. Joe Vitale, Marci Shimoff, Janet Bray Atwood, John Assaraf, and Brian Alman, Ph.D.
Nutrition gurus Dr. JJ Virgin, Dr. Oz Garcia, Dr. Jonny Bowden, Ann Cooper, Marc David, and Mark Sisson also said kind words about Beyond Sugar Shock, which offers you a fun, simple, compassionate six-week Mind-Body-Spirit adventure to easily and effortlessly release your sugar addiction.
In the book, I take you by the hand, so to speak, and coach you to Sugar Freedom so that by the time you finish the book, you’re now leading a life that’s sweeterlicious (that’s my word for delicious, combined with scrumptious, delicious, and of course, sweet).
Even fellow sugar experts have been kind enough to praise it–which gives me such profound joy.
I bow my head in gratitude to such amazing authors of sugar books or programs as Jeff O’Connell (to your left), Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, Richard J. Johnson, M.D., Jill Escher, and Kathie Dolgin (a.k.a. “High Voltage”), to whom I’m so grateful for writing endorsements for Beyond Sugar Shock.
It’s also been an honor to have several authors published byHay House (my publisher) offer endorsements.
A very special thanks go to Dr. Christiane Northrup (see photo to your left), Colette Baron-Reid, Dr. Ken Druck, Donna Gates,Lauren Mackler, and CarolineSutherland.
Read my recent Sugar Shock Blog post to read the nice things other empowering speakers and best selling authors have said about Beyond Sugar Shock.

Catching Up With Connie, Get Fit for Life, Kudos Corner, Sweet Stuff, Take Action!, Weight Loss Secrets

Tony Horton Dishes Great Tips & Info on Gab with the Gurus

Did you catch today’s Gab with the Gurus Radio Show with fitness guru Tony Horton?
Get ready to be motivated, encouraged, challenged, excited, and intrigued.
Tony — the founder of the amazing P90X and other programs and author of Bring It! The Revolutionary Fitness Plan for All Levels That Burns Fat, Builds Muscle, and Shreds Inches — shared lots of valuable information.
You’ll love our Gab with the Gurus interview!
Listen now — or whenever you like — to this amazing interview.
Listen to internet radio with Gab With the Gurus on Blog Talk Radio
Tell your friends on Facebook, Twitter, etc. to listen, too.

Big Sugar & Big Food News, Blood Sugar Blues, Connie Recommends, Kudos Corner, Nutrition News & Tidbits, Sugar Shockers, Support This Cause, Sweet Stuff, Tantalizing Tidbits

Food Addiction Program Featuring Dr. Robert Lustig, Michael Prager, Etc. Planned

Robert H. Lustig, M.D., whose YouTube video, Sugar: The Bitter Truth, hit viral, and Michael Prager, author of the exciting book, Fat Boy, Thin Man, are among the fascinating experts I’ll have the pleasure of meeting and listening to in an exciting program about food addiction at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco next week.
Stay tuned for some compelling points that you’ll get from these amazing speakers.
These are the experts lined up.
Michael Prager, Author, Fat Boy Thin Man
Nicole Avena, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Florida
Eric Stice, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Oregon Research Institute
Dr. Vera Ingrid Tarman, MD., MSc., FCEP, CASAM, Medical Director, Renascent
Elissa Epel, Ph.D., Associate Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry
Robert H. Lustig, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, in the Division of Endocrinology at UCSF
Now read the enticing description:
Addiction is about brains, not just about behaviors. We all have the brain reward circuitry that makes food rewarding; it’s a survival mechanism. In a healthy brain, these rewards have feedback mechanisms for satiety or “‘enough.” For some, the circuitry becomes dysfunctional such that the message becomes “more.”
Michael Prager, author of Fat Boy Thin Man, will begin the discussion telling his very personal story of recognizing and then seeking treatment for his food addiction. Leading researchers and clinicians will discuss many aspects of this important topic.

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