Tag: cancer

Cherish Your Cravings

If you're like most people around the world, your cravings for chocolate, candies or chips often get the best of you — […]

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?

How to Begin to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction: Get Spooked!

Whenever I give talks or begin to work with new clients, one of the first questions they ask me is, “What’s the first thing I should do to kick my sugar addiction?”
One of the most powerful ways to jump on the no-sugar or less-sugar bandwagon is to get spooked and shocked.
That’s right!
Boo!
Seriously, there’s nothing more powerful than being scared to the depths of your being to convince you to quit your health-harming ways lickety split.
Back in spring 1998, I hit upon this potent technique after my doctor ordered me to quit my cherished sweets and refined carbs to eliminate my 44 ailments, from scary heart palpitations to embarrassing mood swings to annoying brain fog.
“Connie, if you keep eating so many sweets and simple carbs, you’ll continue to feel awful much of the time and you’ll probably die way before your time,” my doctor bluntly told me.
Despite my physician’s dire warnings, I didn’t want to listen.
Let’s face it, as I’m sure most sugar addicts can appreciate, bidding farewell to my edible sweethearts was the last thing I wanted to do.
How could I ever live without my beloved candies, red licorice and chocolate chips even if they were toxic?
After my M.D.’s “prescription,” I still kept eating my favorite “treats.”
But I went head first into research mode. You see, since I’m a journalist, I always want to get to the bottom of the story.
So while still shoving sweets into my mouth, I read every book I could find on the subject.
Bookcover I pored over the classic Sugar Blues by William Dufty, Lick the Sugar Habit by Nancy Appleton and Get the Sugar Out by Ann Louise Gittleman. (If you buy the latter two, make sure to get the latest editions.)
After reading these books, something inside me happened. I became frightened me to the depths of my being. I began to realize what my doctor had been telling me.
That’s when the reality dawned on me. I began to realize that:
* By treating my body so abysmally (i.e., eating nutrient-poor sweets and fiber-stripped carbs), I’d been tricking myself and acting as if every day were Halloween, a sanctioned sugar-overloading day.
* It was high time to quit treating my body like a garbage can, because being overly attached on sugar was no way to live.
* If I kept up my unhealthy sugar-eating ways, I could get heart disease, cancer or type 2 diabetes.
Then, it hit me: My sugar-eating days needed to be over. My sugar habit was killing me.
After my “A-hah!” moment, I soon made the Sweet Switch. I began to really want to quit sugar.
In effect, by immersing myself in as much anti-sugar literature as possible, I began to see that my life with sweets was no life indeed.
So my advice to you struggling sugar addicts is this: Pick up some books, scour the Internet and get scared now!
If you’ll forgive the plug, I also invite you to read my book Sugar Shock! How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail your Life–And How You Can Get Back on Track.
You see, my goal with Sugar Shock! was to give you the kind of book I wish I’d had back in 1998, because not only do I see to scare you, but I also give you some tips and tactics to help you to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction. (By the way, I’m now writing Beyond Sugar Shock for Hay House. My intention with this book is to give you The 6-Week Plan to Break Free of Your Sugar or Carb Addiction & Get a Slimmer, Sexier, Happier, Sweeter Life.)
Please note that getting spooked is the first step. After you’re shocked into action, you’ll want to start using other tried-and-true tips and tactics, too.
Feel free to run this story, but please credit me appropriately. “How to Begin to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction: Get Spooked!” by Connie Bennett was first published on the Sugar Shock Blog. Join the End-of-Summer Tele-Party to Help you Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction in 6 Weeks. Just sign up here now

Sugar Shock Defined

Often, just about whenever journalists, radio hosts or TV reporters interview me, they ask me what I mean by the phrase “Sugar Shock.”
As you can guess, I’ve thought about this a log, given that I wrote a book called Sugar Shock!
Here’s how I define Sugar Shock.
Bear in mind that this Sugar Shock is a condition that afflicts millions of people
worldwide, including possibly as high as 80 percent to 90 percent of the U.S. population.
SUGAR SHOCK™ – A mood-damaging, personality-bending, health-destroying, confusion-creating constellation of symptoms affecting millions of people worldwide, who often turn to processed sweets and much-like-sugar carbs, which send their blood sugar levels wildly soaring and plummeting.
These people are suffering from what they may call sugar addiction or carb addiction.
The term Sugar Shock is intended to encompass the often-misdiagnosed and maligned
condition of reactive hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), as well as other blood sugar disorders,
from insulin resistance to diabetes.
Considerable research reveals that repeatedly overconsuming sweeteners, dessert foods,
and culprit, quickie carbs (such as white rice, French bread, chips, etc.) wreaks havoc on
your blood sugar levels, overstimulates insulin release, triggers inflammation, and
could contribute to more than 150 health problems, including obesity, diabetes, heart
disease, cancer, polycystic ovary syndrome, severe PMS, failing memory, depression,
mental confusion or “brain fog,” mood swings, Candida, sexual dysfunction, infertility,
wrinkles, acne, and early aging.
Victims of Sugar Shock also may experience such baffling symptoms as excessive fatigue,
headaches, dizziness, cold sweats, anxiety, irritability, tremors, crying spells, drowsiness or
the opposite (sleeplessness), forgetfulness, heart palpitations, nightmares, blurred vision,
muscle pains, temper outbursts, suicidal thoughts, and more.
Ultimately, this insidious Sugar Shock roller-coaster effect brought on by eating
too many inferior carbs hampers sufferers’ ability to function at full throttle–or even
half throttle.
Learn more about the dangers of Sugar Shock in my book Sugar Shock!
Get tips to break free of your sugar addiction by joining my End-of-Summer Tele-Party on Tues., Aug. 31. Sign up here. http://bit.ly/bx8Bkf

Sugar Sugar Time (And I Don’t Mean Sweets!)

Thanks to talented journalist Dana Kennedy — creator of the clever blog, A Year Without Candy — for reminding me of the fun pop song, Sugar, Sugar by the Archies.
This song makes me smile. I can’t begin to remember how many times radio hosts have played this song before they interviewed me about my book Sugar Shock!
Please enjoy this. And of course, I’m not posting this to make you think about sweets (as in the sugary kind) but to think about having (non-sugary) sweetness in your life — something I invite you to find, get and create.
Dana 52 And, readers, please join me in congratulating Dana for making it 90 days without candies, cookies, etc. Way to go, Dana!
See my interview with Dana here, in which she articulately shared why she’s choosing to go A Year Without Candy.
Would you like to join her? Can you go A Year Without Candy or another unhealthy substance or activity?

How Bad Does it Have to Get Before You Kick Your Sugar Addiction?

This morning, I received a poignant email, from a woman who — like most of us sugar addicts — has found it hard to let go of sweets.
The sad lady — who I’ll call “K” — labeled her email, ”Connie, You Told Me So!”
Here’s what she writes:
“About a year ago, I purchased your book, Sugar Shock over the internet. Sugar has been a big problem for my entire life. Now, my doctor is angry, because this addiction has progressed, to the beginning of diabetes. Going blind, having my kidneys stop working, dialysis, and having limbs cut off is an ugly scenario. Please, give me some hope to be an overcomer in this. Thanks.”
K, I’m so sorry for your plight. But I congratulate you for finally reaching out and being ready to look at your sugar addiction.
By the way, please take heart. Perhaps that’s what you needed — to plunge to the depths of despair and fear before you took action.
FYI, this has happened with many of my clients. Things had to get really bad before they/we were finally ready to make some positive changes. A similiar thing happened with me. As I revealed in Chapter 1 of Sugar Shock, I was suffering from a whopping 44 ailments before I finally took a doctor’s advice. Pretty sad, eh? But now, because I overcame my sugar addiction, I get to help people like you through programs like Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction in 6 Weeks. Pretty cool, eh?
K, you’re probably a lot stronger than you realize. You can do this! I’m writing to you privately to see how I can help you.
Special thanks to Vin MIller of NaturalBias.com for the above photo.

Addicted to Sugar? Break Free with Me! – Early Bird Deadline Through April 5

Are you addicted to sugar and/or refined carbs? If so, you’re invited to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction in 5 Weeks, starting next month.
Because of extreme demand, many pleas for help and the fact that people are in Passover and Easter moods or liberation and resurrection, the deadline for the first Early Bird Rate has been extended through the weekend, until April 5.
Would you like to achieve freedom in the spirit of Passover?
Or would you like to achieve a health or spiritual resurrection of your own in the spirit of Easter?
FYI, if my choice of religious words bothers you, forgive me. What I’m trying to say that when you kick your sugar habit, you can be reborn, so to speak, and achieve an exhilarating feeling of freedom.
Why bother to kick sugar? The benefits of kicking sugar are many:
* You can lose weight and inches.
* You can get more energy.
* You can feel happier.
* You can concentrate better.
* You can get along better with loved ones.
* You can reduce your PMS.
* You may be able to get a better libido.
* You can reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, hypoglycemia, heart disease and cancer.
* You can fit into your skinny jeans.
* And so much more.
Learn more now how to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction in 5 Weeks.
Again, the Early Bird Rate ends Monday, April 5.

Sugar & Its Dangers Hit the News, Thanks to Dr. Robert Lustig’s YouTube Video & Nightline

Sugar and its dangers are in the news again, thanks to ABC’s popular show, Nightline, which, last night, aired a compelling story spotlighting sugar’s role in the obesity crisis.
In his “Sugar Wars” piece, correspondent John Donovan offers a fascinating look at the views of esteemed pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig, whose YouTube video, “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” has garnered more than a quarter of a million hits to date.
In this Nightline segment — which you can watch below — Donovan calls Dr. Lustig “a man at war with sugar,” because he argues that too much fructose and not enough fiber are to blame for our obesity crisis.
“Fructose is the cause of the current epidemic,” says Dr. Lustig, director of UCSF’s Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health (WATCH) Clinic and UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology.
Nightline correspondent Donovan also includes quotes from the the pediatric endocrinologist about leptin’s role in obesity; fructose’s role in metabolic syndrome; and the fact that low-fat foods such as SnackWells cookies and fruit-flavored yogurt are filled with sugar.
In the Nightline piece, Donovan made an effort to make his piece unbiased by allowing Dr. Lustig’s ideas to be criticized by three pro-sugar advocates — one from the American Beverage Association (formerly called the National Soft Drink Association) and two from the Corn Refiners Association, including a cardiologist, who has done studies funded by PepsiCo, the manufacturer of sugar-filled soft drinks.
Understandably, correspondent John Donovan seems to be like millions of Americans, who have a sweet tooth. In fact, the reporter readily admits that strolling with Dr. Lustig at San Francisco’s Pier 30 (a hot spot filled with sugary foods) can be “at times, well, a bit of of a downer. Because we love sugar, don’t we, most of us?”
Donovan is absolutely correct in his assessment. Most Americans — and people around the world — are so keen on sugar that they imbibe it to their detriment. Unfortunately, the Nightline reporter did not mention that obesity is only part of the sugar story.
The average American’s sugar consumption — about 170 pounds per year per person — also has been linked with heart disease, cancer, severe PMS, memory loss, depression, fatigue, headaches, infertility, low libido, polycystic ovary syndrome and many other ailments.
In addition, regretfully, the Nightline piece did not point out that Dr. Lustig is in very good company. His views are shared by many of us concerned health advocates. For instance, esteemed pediatric endocrinologist Dr. David Ludwig — who was previously interviewed along with me for a “CBS News Sunday Morning” segment, “Is America Too Sweet on Sugar” — is among those frightened by the massive consumption of sugar, particularly high fructose corn syrup, in this country and around the world.
Others sounding the sugar alarm include:
* Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard;
* Dr. Nancy Appleton, author of Suicide by Sugar: A Startling Look at Our #1 National Addiction;
* Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, who appears on my Gab with the Gurus Radio Show on March 31 to discuss his new book, Beat Sugar Addiction Now! ;
* Dr. Richard Johnson, author of The Sugar Fix: The High-Fructose Fallout That is Making You Fat and Sick.); and
* Myself, author of SUGAR SHOCK! How Sweet and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life–And How You Can Get Back on Track.
Now, I invite you to watch the eye-opening Nightline segment below.