My Carb Confession Triggered Your Tales of Relapse — Join the Conversation

Talk to us: Have you had a relapse? Were you embarrassed to admit it to others as I was? Let us know.
Recently, with great embarrassment and perhaps a bit of shame, I made what I call My Carb Confession.
Bittersweet_banner_final (2)I revealed that after the death of my mother and what I call My Bittersweet Last Year with Mom, for a number of months, Crazy Cravings™ pestered and pounded me while I was assaulted by grief, depression, anxiety, trauma, and the enormity of my loss..
As a result, I caved in and ate lots of crappy carbs (corn nuggets, movie popcorn, chips, etc.). The upshot? That led to a 20-pound weight gin. Aargh!
In short, for months, I’d become a Carb Fraud! But in the midst of my grief, I just didn’t pay attention.
For a while now, I’ve been really nervous, reluctant and hesitant to share My Carb Confession,.even though for over a year, I’ve been back to eating cleanly.
After all, I’m an author and speaker, who’s known for badmouthing sweets and quickie carbs.
But you were so supportive when I finally revealed my carb relapse.
Wow!
Little did I realize that My Carb Confession would resonate with so many of you.
So, I just wanted to say, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, for your kindness, consideration, and wonderful emails.
From the bottom of my heart, I want to share my profound gratitude.
I’m so relieved that you still respect me and my work to help you achieve Sweet Freedom.
FYI, as you may have read, I”ve now achieved Sweet Success. I finally shed all 20 pounds I’d gained during my trying times after my Mom passed away. My slim body is almost back!
Plus, now that my injured knee is healed and my sprained ankle are feeling better, I’ve been toning up doing weight resistance and high intensity workouts.
And, of course, I’m back to eating very cleanly — crappy carbs and My Crazy Cravings™ have gone bye-bye!
Again, thank you for supporting me during My Carb Confession.
By the way, stay tuned for some new tips and tools so you, too, can Rise Above Relapse™, as I now call it.
Have you had a relapse? Were you embarrassed to admit it to others as I was? Let us know.

Tony Horton is on Gab With The Gurus

Connie’s exciting Beyond Sugar Shock book launch continues.
Today, listen to a replay of an exciting Gab With The Gurus Show with fitness guru Tony Horton, who is founder of P90X.
Listen to Tony shares his ideas on:
– How to add a daily workout to your busy schedule
– How sugar is dangerous
The importance of fitness
How to get you motivated
How to add a daily workout to your busy schedule
And much more
Listen to internet radio with Gab With the Gurus on Blog Talk Radio

Sugar Addiction Awareness Time: The Day Before Halloween

Tomorrow, millions of Americans will celebrate Halloween, which has become a National Sugar Overload Day.
This means that teens and tots all across America will gorge on candies galore.
So today, I invite you to boost your sugar consciousness.
Join us today for the first ever Sugar Addiction Awareness Day, thanks to organizer Jill Escher.
Granted, all across America tomorrow, people will hand out candies galore, forking over about $2.3 billion this year.
Let’s face it, it’s Halloween dilemma time, as the Los Angeles Times so aptly points out.
Join us for the first ever Sugar Addiction Awareness Day Gab with the Gurus Radio Show.
In this show, Sugar Addiction Awareness Day founder Jill Escher joins me. Listen now to find out how to:
Help your kids avoid going into huge sugar shock.
Talk to your kids before they go trick or treating on Halloween.
Deal with your kids if they come back home hyped up on sugar.
Get involved with Sugar Addiction Awareness Day.
Begin to break free of your own sugar addiction. (You’ll get some easy steps. In addition, you can learn about my Sugar Freedom Now Course here.
Gotta dash. It’s time for one of my big treats of the day — a fun class at Equinox, my gym.

Jack LaLanne: Tribute to the Legendary Grandfather of Fitness

As you may have already read on my Sugar Shock Blog, Jack LaLanne — who passed away yesterday — was one of my heroes.
Can you think of another man, who’s been as influential in the field of fitness?
And can you think of another person, who’s been as outspoken as he was on the dangers of sugar and refined carbs?
As I mentioned here, I’ve had the pleasure to interview Jack several times.
I encourage you now to listen to one of my interview with the enthusiastic, energetic Kind of Fitness and Sugar-Free Pioneer.
I conducted this interview with Jack LaLanne on May 1, 2008.
Listen now.

Jack LaLanne: Fitness Guru & Anti-Sugar Pioneer Thrives Until 96

In Loving Memory of Jack LaLanne
The personable, larger-than-life fitness guru and anti-sugar pioneer Jack LaLanne passed away yesterday at the age of 96.
What’s so remarkable about the Superman-like Jack LaLanne was not that he lasted into his 90s but that the energetic, effervescent health aficionado knew how to live well.
Decades before Americans realized the value of fitness, Jack opened his first own health spa and, of course, worked out regularly himself.
What’s more, decades before people knew that sugar was bad for you, Jack spurned the sweet stuff. (Actually, people are still waking up to sugar’s dangers, which is now keeping me busy.)
More importantly, because of Jack LaLanne’s determination to stay healthy, fit and happy, he thrived. The idea of “just surviving” or “getting by” was completely foreign to him.
I mean, the “Godfather of Fitness” really lived, as I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing.
That’s because, in recent years, since becoming an anti-sugar advocate, I’ve had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Jack LaLanne several times.
First, in 2004 or 2005, he took time out for an interview for my book, Sugar Shock. (For those of you who have my book, please turn to page 139, where you can read his compelling sugar story.)
Then, in April 2008, Jack graciously appeared on my radio show as part of my 10 Years’ Sugarfree Celebration. At the time, Jack had been off of sugar for a whopping 80 years! (FYI, my show was then called the Stop Sugar Shock Radio Show, not the Gab with the Gurus Radio Show, which is what it’s called now. Special thanks to BlogTalkRadio for featuring that interview with Jack LaLanne.)
The following year, on April 26, 2009, I had the pleasure of meeting Jack in person.
I was invited to interview Jack and to present him with a Lifetime Achievement Award at a Obesity and Food Addiction Addition Summit on IslandWood, Bainbridge Island. What a treat that was! (You can watch the program here.)
Granted, I wasn’t a close personal friend of Jack’s, but from our few times chatting, what struck me about this amazing man was his infectious enthusiasm, his remarkable power to motivate people, his deep-seated joie do vivre (gusto for life), his diehard commitment to a healthy lifestyle, and his profound love and admiration for his wife Elaine (to whom he was married for 51 years).
Jack LaLanne also had a gleeful, “I’ll-show-you-how-much-a-man-can-do” attitude, which, of course, led him to perform quite amazing feats, which I recounted on my Sugar Shock Blog.
As I take some time out from writing my next book, Beyond Sugar Shock, to reflect on this magnificent, inspiring man, I’ve trying to think of how best to pay tribute to Jack LaLanne.
What I’ve concluded is this: Each and every one of us should honor Jack by living gloriously and cleanly, as he did.
In other words, fellow Americans — or people around the world — let’s get off our tushes now. In short, let’s exercise often. No excuse is good enough, as Jack pointed out.
And ditch the sugar, which can, to put it bluntly, kill you if you consume too much of the stuff. (Almost all of you fit into that category, as The Dr. Oz Show pointed out last week.)
For that matter, let me scare you more. Your excess sugar intake can trigger heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer so there’s a good chance you won’t make it anywhere near 96 like Jack.
Now, let’s all honor Jack LaLanne by making plans to get on a regular work-out regimen.
And please, I implore you, also in his honor, get on the White-Out Wagon — in short, quit the nasty White Substance, sugar, that can cut your life short.
Now, I invite you to watch what Jack said about sugar years ago, on his “Jack LaLanne Show.”

Exercise Helps Your Brain

A fascinating new medical study reveals that exercise improves your brain health. Specifically, as the research points out, "Increasing evidence suggests that […]

Support my Team in Training 100-Mile Bike Ride for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

In late June, I invited you to make a donation to encourage my bold biking goal of riding 100 miles to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). As a participant in LLS’s Team In Training program, my goal was to go 100 miles (or at least 60) on my bike in the Seagull Century Race on Oct. 9 in Maryland.
But my training came to an abrupt hatl on July 4, when as I shared on this Sugar Shock Blog, I accidentally slammed head first into glass and when plagued by dizziness and headaches, I soon discovered that I was suffering from post-concussive syndrome.
Concussion cartoon The doctor’s orders were explicit: Drop out of the Team in Training program. In fact, he even insisted that I stop working out. (Yikes, was I bummed out.) To be honest, I haven’t followed his advice all the time. In fact, at the end of July, on my birthday, I went on a rigorous bike ride, only to experience a major setback, with the headaches and vertigo returning.
Anyhow, I’m now feeling a lot better, and I’m back to gently, carefully working out, and I hope to soon to re-enter the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s respected Team in Training program.
Now, even though I’m not back to my rigorous workout schedule, I invite you to an exciting Gab with the Gurus Radio Show on Sept. 8 at 2 pm Eastern with two Team in Training representatives.
All the while, my fundraising page is still staying up, and I still invite you to support me by making a contribution to this worthwhile organization.
Despite my head injury, I’m excited that I found a way to do one of my favorite things — biking — and to do good at the same time by raising money for an important cause.
Team-in-Training1-Schwinn Although I’m uncertain as to when I can start training again and wha date I’ll ride, but I still invite you to please use this link to donate online quickly and securely. You’ll receive a confirmation of your donation by email, and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation. Of course, I’ll keep you up to date on my efforts, too.
Each donation — which you can make here — helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers. I hope that my participation in Team In Training will help bring them hope and support.
On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, thank you very much for your support. I greatly appreciate your generosity.
Signature 6a00d834520ed269e2010535f793c1970c-800wi
P.S. I’d be grateful if you could forward this blog post this email to as many people as you can to encourage them to donate as well.
P.P.S. Would you be kind enough to visit my fundraising page now and donate to this worthwhile cause? All your contributions go straight to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Please make your contribution now.
And please join us on the Gab with the Gurus Radio Show on Sept. 8 at 2 pm Eastern so you can learn more about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program.
To get directly to my fundraising page, just go here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/seagull10/cbennetbqu

Do You Have Passion? I’m Passionate About Bicycling. What About You?

Often, people write to me and tell me that sugar or refined carbs is their “big love.” .
Or, they might mention how eating sugary foods is what they most look forward to.
In other words, they put sweets on a pedestal. And, “treating” themselves with sugary foods or drinks is of utmost importance to their happiness.
Language like that makes me sad.
Because to get sweetness in your life — which is what having a sugar addiction is about, in my opinion — should have nothing to do with the sweets that you eat.
So, I’m off to get sweetness today — and it has nothing to do with sugar.
I’m off shortly to ride my bike, and tomorrow, I’ll both bike and play tennis. These are two of my big passions, and both these sports, exercise and working out are mong the many things that bring lots of sweetness and joy into my life.
What are you passionate about — other than a person? (Although, of course, it’s important to be passionate about a significant other.)
Share with us what activitities bring you passion.
By the way, the photo above is when The Reverend Canon Thomas P. Miller, S.T.M. blessed my bike last month during the Blessing of the Bikes ceremony at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine by The Rverend Canon Thomas P. Miller, S.T.M,
Although I’m a nice Jewish girl, as I mentioned to Rev. Miller, this Blessing of the Bikes event was so much fun and uplifting.
What activities bring you pleasure and make you passionate?

Get Sleeveless & Sexy with JJ Virgin on Today’s Gab with the Gurus

Join acclaimed fitness and nutrition expert JJ Virgin, who appears today at 2 pm EST on my Gab With the Gurus Radio Show.
JJ Virgin—the author of the exciting new book, Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy—will tell you how to get the toned, gorgeous arms like she has (in the photo above).
On today’s show, you’ll learn:
•The keys to building learn arms — and why your muscles will never get bigger from lifting weights
•Simple strategies for avoiding the common mistakes that can derail your progress
•The one simple activity that can derail your diet plan (and it doesn’t involve eating)
•How to keep motivated
•How to eat to get sinewy arms and a sleek body
•The “3 bite rule”
•And much more.
To join us live or later, go to: http://tinyurl.com/FitnessSecretsJJVirginGabGurus
Remember, you can listen to the show live at 2 pm EST or later, at your convenience. Listen here: Gab With the Gurus Radio Show with JJ Virgin.
Join us Wednesday: http://tinyurl.com/FitnessSecretsJJVirginGabGurus
Get JJ’s new book now, too.
•JJ really wants to help you. Now, learn how to have your best body by summer. Just go here:
=== >>>> http://tinyurl.com/LiveWellWithJJ-Connie