SUGAR SHOCK! Blog

Facebook Disabled My Account: Too Friendly too Fast?

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:22:27 PST

Facebook has disabled both my regular account, (www.Facebook.com/ConnieBennett), and my public page, www.Facebook.com/SmartHabitsFans. (Although I can't post to the latter, I believe you can still join and post comments to previous posts.) Suffice it to say that I was shocked upon being told: Your account has been disabled by an administrator. If you have any questions or concerns, you can visit our FAQ page here. I finally discovered my offense after carefully reviewing Facebook's Warnings and reading such helpful blog posts as "13 Reasons Your Facebook Acount Will be Disabled" (from Thor Muller of Get Satisfaction) and "Facebook Account Deactivation, Can It Be Avoided" from Facebook guru Mari Smith. Apparently, my violation is that I wrote too quickly to people who'd requested to be my friends before accepting them. You see, I did what I thought was a great time- saver -- I simply cut and pasted innocuous messages such as "Wow! Lots of friends in common. Look forward to your posts." You see, I was just seeking to conserve my precious time.) I guess you could say that a fun, apt way to describe my Facebook violation is this: I was too friendly too quickly for Facebook! And the speed of my friendliness, along with the cutting and pasting of messages, was interpreted as being potentially "annoying or abusive." (As far as I know, no one complained.) Facebook, I've now learned, limits the number of times a user can send the same message or make the same post. (So much for saving time!) Guy Clearly, Facebook needs to set limits to protect users from spam, but unfortunately in its zeal to do so, many of us innocents are tossed out of the site. If you're on Facebook, I would strongly advise reading all of Rights & Responsibilities so you don't suffer similarly. Anyhow, I hope to be back on Facebook soon to connect with you, but in the meantime, here's what I discovered about the unsettling experience of being booted off the social networking site. Every day, thousands of people are banned for a variety of reasons. Just do a Google search for "Facebook account disabled, and you turn up a whopping 38,100,000 hits. Among those who've been disabled are Robert Scoble, Guy Kawasaki, and actress Lindsay Lohan, who vented about it on MySpace.

Connecting: How to Win Friends, Clients & More -- Learn on Nov. 10

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST

Join us Tuesday, November 10 at 2 pm EST when Maribeth Kuzmeski, my guest on the Gab With the Gurus Radio Show, tells you about the power of connecting with others to achieve dramatic results. Learn more here, on the Gab With the Gurus Blog. Remember, as always you can listen live or later to my radio shows.

Share Your Stop Sugar Shock Success Story

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:03:27 PST

Have you licked sugar and refined carbs and lost weight, become more focused, improved your moods or experienced other benefits? If you're a kick-sugar success story -- whether it was to lose weight, get more energy, feel better mood-wise or get your insulin resistance under control -- I want to tell your tale here! By sharing your story, you will have a golden opportunity to go forth and inspire, motivate, and encourage others. Just send me a comment here, and I'll get in touch with you immediately. Read some previous Success Stories to get a flavor for what we're seeking: Fellow blogger Jimmy Moore Felicia Desrosiers Karly Pitman Need inspiration and motivation to take control of your culprit-carbs habit? If you haven't yet kicked sugar or refined carbs, you may be wondering, "What's in it for me?" To learn about the amazing benefits of stomping out your sugar habit for...

Speak Out Against Ill-Advised Coke-Doctors Partnership

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:03:29 PST

Please pass this post -- which also appears on the Huffington Post -- to your friends, family members, colleagues and, in particular, your physician friends and contacts. Recently, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)--in a move away from pharmaceutical funding--accepted a "strong six-figure" grant for a new "consumer alliance partnership" with the Coca-Cola Company, the world's largest beverage company, to create content about beverages and sweeteners for its consumer website.www.FamilyDoctor.org. The academy--which represented 94,614 family physicians, residents and medical students nationwide as of Dec. 2008--should be ashamed of itself for accepting a six-figure sum from a soda company that sells empty-calorie, sweet drinks--usually with fructose--which numerous peer-reviewed medical studies link to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, strokes and even premature death. In my opinion, it's a conflict of interest for the AAFP -- whose vision is "to achieve optimal health for everyone" -- to allow Coke to "educate"...

Wolfing Down Your Food Can Trigger Weight Gain

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:37:26 PST

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."

Doctors Group Gets Intimate With Coke

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:16:00 PST

Have you heard yet that the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) -- which is dedicated to helping everyone attain "optimal health" -- accepted a reported $600,000 from Coca-Cola, the world’s largest beverage company? As if taking Coke's money wasn't bad enough, the soft drink manufacturer will actually fund new content about beverages and sweeteners for the AAFP's consumer website, www.FamilyDoctor.org You heard me right. Big Soda will pay to "educate" you, dear consumers, about how sugar-filled beverages can be a part of your "healthy" lifestyle! Many of us wellness advocates, as well as AAFP members, are in an uproar over this misguided alliance. Talk about partners with different objectives! Last week, AAFP doctors (see photo above) even resigned over this appallaing partnership. Share your thoughts here about the doctors-Coke alliance and also join the new Facebook group, "End the AAFP and Coca-Cola Collaboaration.

Are You a Hypoglycemic Who Finally Got Help? Reporter Wants to Interview You

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:21 PST

Are you a reactive hypoglycemic, who spent years trying to figure out why you had fatigue, headaches or other ailments? Were you misdiagnosed and prescribed anti-depressants? If so, a writer with major national publication wants to talk with you. This reporter is seeking attractive, articulate women aged 30 to 50s, preferably mothers, who have reactive hypoglycemia and were astonished to learn that their eating habits and sugar consumption were to blame for all their confusing ailments. You need to have resolved your health issues and experienced an improvement to your health and energy. If you fit into this category, please let me know ASAP so that the reporter can interview you.

CLA May Speed Reduce Stubborn Fat Around the Middle

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:52:54 PST

CLA Frequently, clients ask me what they can do to reduce reduce stubborn fat around their mid-section other than quit sugar and refined carbs and regularly exercise. My friend Jonny Bowden -- one of the most knowledgeable nutritionists in America today -- just wrote a fascinating post on his blog that touts the virtues of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), noting its effectiveness in losing body fat, especially around the tummy. While "losing pounds is CLA's most notable claim to fame," Jonny points out, its benefits also have been known to also include "slowing the spread of cancer cells, help stop bone loss in postmenopausal women and interestingly, calming of inflammation linked to asthma and a host of other things." Jonny writes about CLA, because a study in the prestigious American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that CLA is effective at reducing body mass index (BMI) and total fat tissue without altering lean body mass among obese, postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes.

Help for the Holidays" 10 Tips to Combat Cravings for Candies, Cookies Or Cakes

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:27 PST

Every year, many people become overly attached to candies and cookies, starting on Halloween. As we know, this holiday season, which kicks off on Halloween and continues through Christmas, Chanukah and other celebrations, can be a challenging time when it comes to eating right. During this season, which abounds with candy canes, gingerbread men, chocolate geld and other "goodies," you can gain weight, but, if you know what to do, lose weight and even maintain it. To help you get control over your consumption of candies, cookies and other sweets, I've put together a guide for you at my new Huffington Post blog. Get 10 Tips to Combat Your Candy & Cookie Cravings. Share this beat-your-sugar cravings article with your sugar-loving friends, family members. Please post a comment, too. And I invite you to become my fan, too.

Halloween Tricks Kids Into Sugar Overload: Op Ed Piece

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:35:37 PDT

Are you re planning on passing out sugar-filled candies for Halloween tomorrow night? If so, you should know that every time you hand out candies, you're tricking kids into sugar overload. Halloween isn't just one night. It paves the way for bad eating habits year-round. Read more about this in our opinion piece in today's Newark Star-Ledger.

Halloween: Prevent Sugar Shock

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:55:59 PDT

Halloween can be a harrowing time for both kids and their parents, because on this holiday and the days or even weeks that follow, kids will often face major blood sugar highs and lows after pigging out on dozens of sugar-laden candies. In other words, they'll be hurled into sugar shock. Let's face it, no matter what kind of limits their parents may try to place on their children's candy consumption, youngsters will often overdose on sweets, even if they have to do it in secret. Unfortunately, that's what Halloween means these days. It's a nationally sanctioned "Sugar Overload Day." So how can you help your young trick-or-treaters not get wiped out, cranky, depressed, headachy or charged up from having too many candies? The way to soften the blood-sugar-bouncing whammy and lessen sugar shock is to make sure that your children eat a healthy meal before they cavort aroundthe neighborhood trick-or-treating for candies. For instance, before they head for the streets, give your children:

Halloween Cartoon "Shows" Sugar's Reaction

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:15:29 PDT

Special thanks to Mike Adams and NewsTarget.com for this cartoon, which cleverly illustrates the dangers of trick-or-treating for candies on Halloween. Consuming too much sugar can harm your kids in many ways, including causing them to gain weight, develop type 2 diabetes, and beven become more violent, according to a recent study in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Candy Consumption Soars

Connie Bennett, CHHC — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:34:00 PDT

I'm alarmed and frightened for the health of most Americans. That's because the average person chomped on 23.8 pounds of candy last year, according to just-released stats from the U.S. Census Bureau. Not surprisingly, these figures were released right around Halloween, which is when people consume an obscene amount of sugar-loaded candies. As I revealed in my book SUGAR SHOCK!, too many sweets can lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and as a recent study revealed, violence. Remember, folks, you can lose weight, get more energy and become more cheerful if you cut back on all those sweets.