Diabetes News

Many Americans -- certainly not readers of this blog! -- may think of Memorial Day as a time to laze around, guzzle soda, chomp on chips, grab popsicles and frolic in the sun. But let's remember the real meaning of today: It's about honoring those who've fallen in the service of our country.

So I invite you to do just that. Check out MSNBC's information-packed Honoring the Fallen section. Then, you may want to visit the official Memorial Day site, too. And you also can learn what President Bush said.

For those of you with loved ones who've lost their lives because they fought for our country, my heart goes out to you and I wish you a peaceful Memorial Day.

For the rest of us, if you're not having fun in the sun, please use this day off work to do something healthy or constructive like taking a bike ride or going on a long hike. And after your fun physical activity, then consider tackling a project you've been putting off for a while.

Which is exactly what I'm doing. This Memorial Day weekend, I'm tackling the rather unpleasant task of cleaning my office -- something that I've been successfully procrastinating doing for a while. And, I'm embarrassed to say that this is a massive, massive project! Ugh!

When you write a non-fiction book, especially one as labor-intensive as SUGAR SHOCK!, you tend to gather mounds of research studies, notes from many interviews with health experts, and many news articles about your subject.

Suffice it to say that working on SUGAR SHOCK! wreaked complete havoc on my office. A plethora of papers piled up. We're talking three or four stacks of papers that are three or four feet high. Ugh! And I absolutely must continue to clear through these stacks as I have for the past couple of days.

Yesterday, for instance, I tossed out lots of e-mails in which I coached dozens of sugar addicts. (Don't worry: I'm keeping important stuff.) Today, at long last, I'm battling the stack of papers directly next to me.

By the way, speaking of procrastinating, if you've been putting off getting on my mailing list, I recommend that you do so right away. If you subscribe now to my free, weekly Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Minute, you'll get come on board just in time to get my special before-summer weight loss issue, which will contain:

• A fun article about how you can use procrastination to kick your sugar habit. Seriously!
• Tips to help your kids peel off pounds from renowned children's obesity expert Dr. David Ludwig, author of the wonderful new book, Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World.
• Easy, proven weight-loss pointers created for you, from my buddy, renowned nutritionist Dr. Jonny Bowden, author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. (Jonny is even kind enough to give a special gift just to readers of my e-zine.)

So sign up now for your free weekly Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Minute so you, too, can get all my goodies -- sugar-free, of course.

This morning I felt a compelling need to write something that will empower sugar addicts everywhere. So I was inspired to write this article for you.

So is that chocolate donut calling out to you? Does that French toast tempt you? Are you convinced that the scrumptious-looking brownie is beckoning you?

Hogwash. No offense, but it's time for a reality check.

Look, I don't mean to sound callous, but it's simply preposterous to think that those foods are deliberately whispering out to you or that they have your name on them! Yet, these are exactly the phrases that I frequently hear from people overly attached to sweets.

Whoah! It's time to squash those desires right now!

Now before you get angry at me and claim that I don't understand your feelings, you need to know that I am an ex-sugar addict myself so sweets used to capture me often, too. In other words, I deeply empathize deeply with your plight. But now, I'm here to show you the way out of this sugar trap.

So here are 4 sure-fire techniques to squash that temptation right as it confronts you. When those sugary foods "call out" to you:

1. Pinpoint the source of your hunger. Are you really famished for those nutrition-lacking pieces of red licorice that you gaze at so longingly or do you instead long for love, tenderness, joy, friendship, laughter, sympathy, a good workout, a session of spirituality, a better job, or improved communication with your significant other? In other words, are you completely malnourished, because your heart and soul aren't getting the things you most cherish and need? When I kicked sugar back in 1998, asking myself such questions helped me to turn away from sweets time and time again. Just become conscious in the moment as to the reason(s) for your so-called "hunger," because powerful knowledge like this can lead you to right, healthy actions. Or, you can think of this in another way, as the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) (where I studied) suggests. When sugary temtations are about to get the better of you, ask yourself, "Do I really yearn for "primary food" instead?
2. Get really angry at your habit! At this point, I suggest that you get furious at your pitiful reliance on sugary foods. I'm not suggesting that you become hateful at yourself; just become outraged at your behavior and the fact that you lean on sweets so much when you're blue, lonely, moody, etc. Now go ahead -- get downright repulsed and revolted by your heinous, destructive habit and how you let these sweets strip you of your dignity and force you to do demeaning activities such as digging into your garbage pail to retrieve uneaten candies. (Sound familiar?) Get really livid at how low you have gone. (I'm not a therapist, but I'm telling you that tapping into your fury -- which is what I once did -- can have a potent, effective, life-affirming result.)

3. Claim your power. Realize that you are in control. It's totally up to you what you stick on your fork. You can consciously make better selections as to what you'll feed yourself and how you'll spend your time. Stand in your own corner. Stick up for yourself and choose to treat your body and soul with respect, dignity, admiration and even encouragement.

4. Choose nourishment instead. Armed with the valuable information that maybe you're really not hungry for sweets but instead need a strenuous workout, a fun time out with a friend or some tenderness from your significant other, you can make a better, more positive, healthier choice. Pick a more healthy, nurturing activity to substitute for pigging out on sweets or refined carbs. Now go do it!

Remember, if it's been your pattern to turn to sweets for solace, at times you may feel that sugary foods have control over you. But you need to remind yourself that this is just not so!

You alone have the final say as to what you put into your mouth -- not your sugar-pushing relative or insensitive, sugar-addicted friends or loved ones. You can choose health by saying no to this potentially damaging white powder (or food using it).

Take back your power now and decide that you just do not have to cave into temptation. Chooose to nourish yourself in other ways instead.

As someone who has been where you are, I bring you abundant hope. You can win out in your battle against processed sweets and refined carbs. In fact, you have many easy tips and tactics on which you can rely. These are just four of many that you can use to break free from your sugar habit.

Connie Bennett, C.H.H.C. is a former sugar addict and author of SUGAR SHOCK! (Berkley Books), with Stephen Sinatra, M.D. She now helps thousands of people worldwide to break free of their debilitating sugar habit. Connie is the founder of the 21-Day, Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Countdown Dietâ„¢; a certified holistic health counselor; and an experienced journalist, who has contributed to eDiets.com, The Los Angeles Times, and many other media outlets. To get more simple strategies to squash sugar's temptations, grab a sneak peek of her book SUGAR SHOCK!  If you'd like to reprint this article, please contact me first for permission.