Tag: weight gain

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.

You Can Retrain Your Brain to Prefer Healthier Foods!

Join the Conversation: Does this news excite you, too?
If you find it hard to say no to candies, cookies, chips, it may be because your brain is addicted to them, according to a new study.
In short, your brain is actually hooked on junk food, which, of course, leads to weight gain and obesity and other harmful dieases.
But promising news came out recently, which reveals taht you you can literally ‘reprogram’ your brain so that you not only break your food addictions, but you actually develop a preference for healthier non-fattening foods so you lose weight.
For my part, I’m simply thrilled by this exciting news.
You may wonder, though, is this just too good to be true? Not so!
Some definitive proof this is possible came from a September 2014 study by scientists at Tufts University and Harvard Medical School. The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to show how the brains of volunteers had been altered during a six-month experiment, during which they forsake high caloric foods for low caloric ones.
Thirteen overweight or obese adults between the ages of 21 and 65 were placed in either an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group received 19 hour-long support group sessions during the 24 weeks in which they were taught how to use portion-controlled menus and recipe suggestions designed for high-satiety. The foods consumed in this plan were low-glycemic index carbohydrates along with high fiber and high protein (known as the idiet.) FYI, these are the foods I recommend, too, as you can discover in Beyond Sugar Shock.
These foods” have “a slower digestion profile and reduction fluctuations in blood glucose that could reduce hunger,” according to the study. The control group received no such counseling or support.
What’s intriguing is that before the experiment began and six months later, on its completion, all study participants underwent the fMRI scans as they were shown 40 food and 40 non-food images. The foods were half high caloric and half low caloric.
While being scanned, the volunteers rated the desirability of the images they saw on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being undesirable and 4 being extremely desirable. Those who had gone through the six months of intervention measured significantly less response in the striatum region of their brains (an area governing reward processing) when shown the high caloric foods and more responsivity when shown the low caloric images.
It was as if the brain charges they previously got from these foods had been disconnected. They also achieved significant weight loss, whereas the control group lost little weight and still had no control over how their brains craved certain unhealthy foods.
One of the study co-authors, Sai Krupa Das, Ph.D., who is with the United States Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center, observed how the weight loss program they used with high-fiber, low glycemic foods worked hand in hand with behavior change education to bring about the remarkable changes in weight and brain activity related to cravings.
“The weight loss program is specifically designed to change how people react to different foods, and our study shows those who participated in it had an increased desire for healthier foods along with a decreased preference for unhealthy foods, the combined effects of which are probably critical for sustainable weight control,” according to Dr. Das. “To the best of our knowledge this is the first demonstration of this important switch.”
Sources: “Training your brain to prefer healthy foods.” Tufts University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-09-brain-healthy-foods.html.
“Pilot randomized trial demonstrating reversal of obesity-related abnormalities in reward system responsivity to food cues with a behavioral intervention.” Deckersbach T. Et al. Nutrition & Diabetes. September 2014. http://www.nature.com/nutd/journal/v4/n9/full/nutd201426a.html
iDiet program. https://www.theidiet.com/content/food
Join the Conversation: Does this news excite you, too?

Stress & Cortisol Can Lead to Belly Fat & Weight Gain

Join the Conversation: What’s your favorite way to relieve stress? Share your thoughts now.
Stressed out? Struggling with excess weight?
StressIf you’rve been stressed out and you’ve gained weight, you want to learn about cortisol, which is caused by stress and its role in both weight gain and infuriating belly fat.
Here are some answers to questions you may have about the stress-cortisol-weight gain connection.
How does too much cortisol make you gain weight?
We normally think of cortisol as being released from our adrenal glands in “fight-or-flight” situations when we don’t have control of a situation or it’s threatened.
It raises our heart beat and gives us a burst of energy. Yet, there is a second even result relating to cortisol, which is related to the ‘defeat’ response, which occurs when stress is prolonged.
“Although the stress pathways work together,” wrote a team of exercise science professors at the University of New Mexico, “they each can uniquely affect the function of bodily processes.
“The ‘defeat’ response {when stress is prolonged} can lead to enhanced lipogenesis (fat creation), visceral obesity (deep abdominal obesity), breakdown of tissues, and suppression of the immune system.”
In short, stress and your elevated levels of cortisol can make you fat.
More specifically, cortisol is a steroid hormone, which has the ability to move fat in your body from storage deposits directly into the fat cells located in your abdomen.
Plus, the more cortisol you secrete over extended periods of time, the more you engorge fat cells in your abdomen to create belly fat.
Not only that, but cortisol “also indirectly influences appetite by regulating other chemicals that are released during stress such as cortiocotrophin releasing hormone, leptin, and neuropeptide Y,” the New Mexico research team noted.
Does abdominal fat attract more abdominal fat due to stress reactions?
The short answer is yes! Another study, this one from a team of health psychologists at the University of California, San Francisco, researched 59 premenopausal women, about half of whom had a high waist-to-hip ratio (abdominal fat) and half, who had a low ratio.
Over four days, all the women were exposed to stressful test situations and had their cortisol secretions measured. Women with a high abdominal fat reported more chronic stress and “secreted significantly more cortisol” than women with lower abdominal fat.
The study authors concluded that “stress-induced cortisol secretion” contributes to central body fat and this fat distribution, in turn, “relates to greater psychological vulnerability to stress and cortisol reactivity.”
Physicians at the MedicineNet website label this cortisol-induced abdominal fat “toxic fat” because its buildup in this part of your body “is strongly correlated with the development of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes.”
What are proven methods to control cortisol and reduce belly fat?
It’s a one-two punch in the gut, so to speak. You need to manage your stress so cortisol doesn’t continues to inflate your abdominal fat cells, and you need to adopt a dedicated exercise program that not only burns calories, but also helps to manage stress levels.
“Many types of aerobic and anaerobic exercise have been shown to be effective interventions in reducing or managing stress,” observed Len Kravitz, Ph.D., an exercise science expert at the University of New Mexico.
“Some of the popular ‘mindful’ exercise programs such as yoga and Tai Chi are also recommended for stress management. medditation, progressive relaxation, deep breathing, and visualization are methods that can be effective in decreasing stress-induced symptoms. Also, eating right and getting enough rest should be incorporated in a stress management plan for life.”
Join the Conversation: What’s your favorite way to relieve stress? Share your thoughts now.

Join us for The 31 Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Campaign

Join the conversation. Please tell us what you’re doing as part of The 31 Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Campaign. How will or are you being kind and sweet to others?
When was the last time you did something really kind and sweet for someone else with no expectation of getting anything back in return?
Have you noticed that when you give freely to other people or organizations that you tend to forget or at least ignore your pressing problems? Plus, you feel so good for being so generous.
Now, for those of you who ned to weight , your frustrations about about the number on your bathroom scale won’t seem all that important when you’re focused on giving.
Plus, if you’re a sugar or carb addict, your plight will fade away or at least greatly diminish when you do something sweet for someone else or several something elses.
In fact, being kind and sweet makes you feel so good that it’s a lot easier and more enjoyable to eat healthy, wholesome, unrefined, natural foods that don’t contain a lot of sugar, gluten, salt, fat or other additives.
Anyhow, I’m so excited to invite you to join me for The 31 Days of Kindness Challenge.
Although I’d love to be able to claim this fabulous idea as my own, I can’t.
This great suggestion for The 31 Days of Kindness Challenge. comes from speaker/communicator Ryan Avery,, who is co-author with Jeremey Donovan of Speaker, Leader, Champion: Succeed at Work Through the Power of Public Speaking, featuring the prize-winning speeches of Toastmasters World Champions.
Ryanaverys31daycahllengeFYI, please note that I’m personalizing the experience. Although I plan to do kind and sweet things every day for 31 days (and probably longer) and I’m printing out Rya’ns list, I won’t t follow his guidelines exactly. Rather, I’ll use them as suggestions.
Ryan-Avery-Keynote-Speaker-300x300Furthermore, with Ryan Avery’s blessing, I hope, for my fans, I’d like to rename this The 31 Days of Kindness-and- Sweetness Campaign, because you’ll be focused on giving or doing something kind and sweet instead of stuffing your face with something sweet.
Now, let me tell you how I plan to kick off tomorrow, day one of The 31 Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Chaallenge.
At last, I’ll write a thank you letter to the amazing pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig for the valuable work he’s done to raise people’s sugar consciousness and to improve the health of the planet.
More importantly, though, along with my thank you note, I plan to make a donation to his Institute for Responsible Nutrition, whose mission is to reverse childhood obesity and type 2 obesity.
Institute for REsponsible Nutrition rewbztj9dvkvr8ifs30aThis is something I’ve been planning on doing for a while. In fact, my envelope (without a stamp attached yet) has been ready for weeks. So tomorrow, thanks to Ryan Avery’s polite nudge, I’ll finally do this.
As you probably already know, the remarkable Dr. Lustig is acclaimed for his powerful Sugar: The Bitter Truth lecture, which has had nearly 5 million views on YouTube.
You can watch Dr. Lustig’s lecture below. (By the way, Dr. Lustig will be participating in my upcoming Sugar World Summit. Stay tuned for details.)
In addition to watching the video below, I urge you to get Dr. Lustig’s remarkable, bestselling book, Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease.
So will you join me in The 31-Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Campaign?
To participate, first get guidance from Ryan Avery, who offers great ideas on how to join in.
Then, will you join me by kicking off your involvement in The 31 Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Campaign tomorrow by making a tax-detuctible donation to Dr. Robert Lustfg’s important Institute for Responsible Nutrition?
Join the conversation. Please tell us what you’re doing as part of The 31 Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Campaign. How will or are you being kind and sweet to others?

Do you Multi-Task While Eating? It Makes Your Food Taste Bland

Do you multi-task at meal time?
If you eat while on the computer, watching TV or doing other things, this means there’s a good chance that you’re over-indulging, too. (So found a variety of studies, which link distraction with mindless bingeing. A review of 24 studies drew that conclusion in the April 2013 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.)
Now, more research published in Psychological Science reveals that doing mentally taxing tasks while you eat will make your food taste bland, too.
In other words, when you juggle too many things at mealtime, you just won’t enjoy or appreciate your food as much.
What’s more, scientists at the Institute for Psychological Research at Leiden University in The Netherlands discovered that when participants ate sour, sweet and salty substances while doing various tasks, they consumed more food and preferred stronger tastes.
In addition doing other things while eating makes your food tastes bland. Indeed, researchers found that an “increased task load reduces people’s taste perception by limiting attentional capacity to assess taste intensity and that people adjust their consumption accordingly.”
In short, the researchers believe that cognitive load may compete with sensory input for our attention.
But let’s focus on the good news, as pointed out by Scientific American’s Tori Rodriguez. Other studies have found you eat less when you pay mindful attention to your food and fully focus on the taste, armona and texture.
The important takeaway, as I see it, is that if you want to peel off the pounds, cut out multi-tasking at meal time.
Besides, as this new study reveals, you’ll enjoy your more, too.
So join me: Mindfully savor each morsel or swallow at each meal or snack.
Multi-Tasking at Meal Time: Why It
Special thanks to visual.ly for the above infographic.
Join the Conversation. Do you multi-task while eating? Do you end up eating more? Tell us your experiences.
Then join us in ending multi-tasking while eating.

My Most Popular Blog Posts: What Did I Forget?

Here’s a list of my some of my most popular posts on this Sugar Shock Blog. Please check back, because I’m still adding to this list. (It’s taking a while to compile all the hot posts since I founded this Sugar Shock Blog in early June 2005,.
Weight Loss Assistance
CLS May Reduce Stubborn Fat Around the Middle
How Not to Pig Out on Thanksgiving;
Musings and Commentary
Shame on Reporters Critical of Cookie Monster’s New Moderate Habits
Holiday Help
7 Tips to Squash Your Sugar Cravings this Holiday Season
5 Ways to Indulge Over the Holidays Without Gaining Weight
‘Tis the Season to be Stressed: 7 tips to Relieve Holiday Stress
Relieve Holiday Stress: Holiday Gift to You from Debra Berndt and Me (Audio Program)
5 Tips to Soften Halloween Sugar Shock
The Sour Scoop About Sugar
Sugar at “Safe” Levels Can be Deadly;
The Inside Scooop about Agave (I don’t recommend it)
iHigh Fructose corn Syrup: Some Scary Facts to Consider Before You Gulp Down Soda & Other Foods (with 3-minute video)
146 Reasons Why Sugar is Ruining Your Health (Guest column from Nancy Appleton)
Reformed Sugar Addict Alec Baldwin Interviews Dr. Robert Lustig;
The Fallacy of Diet Foods
Study Shows Diet Sodas Are Linked to Weight Gain
Tips to Let Go of Sugar or Pile off the Pounds
Delay Away Your Sugar Cravings (Creatively Procrastinate)
7 Tips to Help You Squash Your Sugar Addiction
Slipped? Destroyed Your Diet? 7 Tips to Get Back on Track
Humorous Takes on the News
Michelangelo’s David Returns to Italy After Touring the U.S.
Help to Shop
Stumped when Shopping? Some Sugar-Free Foods By Brand
Social Media
The best time(s) to post on social media
Get Social Media Secrets with Mitch Meyerson
Woo-Hoo, Feel-Good Tunes
Listen to Woo-Hoo, Feel-Good Tunes
Listen to Guests on My Gab with the Gurus Shows
Lose Weight with Best-Selling Author & Spiritual Activitist Marianne Williamson (she spoke about her then-new book, A Course in Weight Loss; she wasn’t running for Congress yet;
Anita Moorjani: On Cancer, Near Death & Treasuring Our Magnificence
Other Health Posts
Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar): Do You Have It?
Anita Moorjani: On Cancer, Near Death & Treasuring Our Magnificence;
Hyperactivity and Mental Woes Linked to Soda Consumption
Take Charge of Your Stress & Sleep: Two Keys to Live Life Well
Salt: The Forgotten Killer: — The AMA & CSPI Urge Crackdown On the White Powder, But What About The-More-Dangerous Substance, Sugar?
Other
Are You Among the 85 % of People With Low Self-Esteem? It Can Lead to Weight Gain & More
My Sweet, But Stringent Standards & Disclosures
Did I leave out your favorite posts? Let me know which one(s) to include.
Connie Bennett is a former sugar-addicted journalist and the author of two bestselling books, Beyond Sugar Shock and Sugar Shock, Connie’s sour-to-sweet story began in 1998, when she quit sugar on doctor’s orders. Her doctor blamed all 44 of her strange ailments (baffling brain fog, ferocious fatigue, horrible headaches, embarrassing mood swings, severe PMS, etc.) on her habit of eating hard candies, red licorice, refined crackers, and other quickie carbs. While releasing her sugar and carb addiction, Connie created many simple tactics to make letting go of sweets an easy, exciting adventure.
Since 2001, Connie has been helping thousands of sugar addicts worldwide through her Sugar Freedom Now Course, speaking, and coaching (she is a certified life coach, certified health coach and EFT practitioner). She founded this Sugar Shock Blog on June 7, 2005.
Subscribe now to this Sugar Shock Blog to get juicy tidbits, tips, and musings on healh, wellness, personal empowerment, social media, and more.

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.

My ABC’s to Break Free of Sugar & Other Bad Habits (Babits™)

Have you seen my video yet on YouTube, in which I shared My ABC’s to Break Free of Your Sugar Habit and Other Bad Habits?
Here’s a companion article to give you more information and tips to release your bad habits or what I call babits™.
My ABC’s to Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction & Other Bad Habits by Connie Bennett, CPC, CHHC
If you’re like most people, you’re often tempted by gorgeous, mouth-watering, nutrient-poor “treats”—dazzling donuts, colorful cereal or buttered bagels—and other bad habits such as excessive coffee-drinking, negative thinking, procrastinating and obsessive texting.
As I mentioned on my companion YouTube video, It’s certainly understandable if you feel tempted. Wherever you go and wherever you live, you’re inevitably bombarded by unhealthy foods, substances, thoughts and activities.
But I invite you to look inside and decide: Do you feel trapped or imprisoned by your sugar habit or other bad habit (what I call a babit™)?
And are you plagued by baffling health issues such as annoying weight gain, ferocious headaches or even type 2 diabetes?
I’m here to reassure you. You can escape from the prison of a bad habit.
In fact, I respectfully challenge you. Get out from under your sugar habit or other babits™ so that you can have a life that rocks!
You may be wondering WIFY (What’s In It For You?) if you overcome your bad habit. You can benefit in many ways!
You can get more energy, concentrate better, lose weight, become more productive, enjoy better relationships and so much more. And, as many clients have delightedly shared with me, if you cut out sugar and refined carbs, you even may be able to boost your libido!
So let me share my Double ABC’s to Break Free of Your Sugar Habit & Other Bad Habits (or what I call Babits™).(In my companion YouTube video, I share some of these tips. You’ll find more here.)
A is for Assume & Accept.
Just assume and accept that just about wherever you go, you’ll be tempted.
Your favorite aunt will nudge you to eat her favorite chocolate cake. You have to pass that vending machine at work. And no matter what, you’ll be taunted by candies galore while purchasing sundries at the local drug store.
But if you prepare for temptations—ones way more unhealthy than apples in the Garden of Eden—you can be prepared and always have healthy snacks on hand such as edamame (soy nuts), pumpkin seeds, hard-boiled eggs and sugar-free crackers or an apple (preferably organic) with almond butter.

Wolfing Down Your Food Can Trigger Weight Gain

Are you someone who’s a fast eater? Well, it’s time to slow down, savor your food and take lots of bites. That’s advice you can glean from this intriguing new study from the Journal of Clinical Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Essentially, eating quickly may trigger weight gain, because it curtails the release of hormones (you need) that help regulate your appetite, which could cause you to overeat, according to the researchers, headed up by Alexander Kokkinos, MD, PhD, of Laiko General Hospital in Athens, Greece.
As MedPage reveals, patients who ate a meal in 30 minutes had higher levels of two peptides that signal satiety — peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) — than those who wolfed down their food in five minutes.
In nother words, this study suggests that there’s truth to the “old wives’ tale” that eating quickly leads to weight gain.
“Our findings give some insight into an aspect of modern-day food overconsumption, namely the fact that many people, pressed by demanding working and living conditions, eat faster and in greater amounts than in the past,” Kokkinos says in the news release.
“The warning we were given as children that ‘wolfing down your food will make you fat’ may in fact have a physiological explanation.”