Making It Stick -- What Inspires Me to Stay Off Sugar

I recently became a moderator on the Stop SUGAR SHOCK! ning network. I just started a new discussion about "Making It Stick", and I want to paraphrase my story for you.

There are essentually two types of sugar-free people: Those who are *struggling*, and those who *used to struggle* but suddenly seem to get it. I've been on and off sugar for years, struggling, knowing that I should but always able to rationalize eating it -- until recently. I had an epiphany!!! Suddenly, going sugar-free is a no-brainer for me, it's a definitive choice, no longer a struggle.

Before this magical moment happened, despite all the reading and learning about sugar and its negative effects from authors such as Bennett, Perricone, Fallon, Enig, Schwartzbein, Clower, and even Suzanne Somers, I could ALWAYS find a rationalization to eat sugar until I watched this:

Sugar: The Bitter Truth, Dr. Lustig, UC Berkeley
Connie Bennett has also blogged about this lecture.

The moment came for me when he talks about cholesterol. He describes in biochemical detail how sugar, not dietary fat, is to blame for the rise in heart disease. He scientifically discredits the study on which all Low-Fat diets are based. This particular arguement did it for me:

Fat raises LDL in the body, and LDL clogs arteries. WRONG. Dietary fat *does* raise LDL -- but it raises the type of LDL that's too big and light to clog our arteries. However, Glucose is processed in the body like a fat, and results in LDL too -- small, dense LDL that slips under the cells in our arteries and causes clogs. The process is **the same as a steak carmelizing on the grill - if you open a person up, you can actually see carmelization of the arteries as caused by sugar (fructose).**

Sugar is a POISON. It just happens to kill much more slowly than arsenic. I need to watch the video again to get in my head also how sugar slowly kills the liver much like alcohol. I'm no biochemist, but I can take away this:

Sugar, Not Fat, Is The Cause Of My Family's Deadly History of Heart Disease!!!!

That scares the crap out of me. That's all I needed -- it's the last nail in the sugar-rationalization coffin in my brain.

If you watch the video, you can shorten it by watching until he starts on the biochem analysis (he'll tell you when that happens) and then skipping to the last 15 minutes. A friend of mine who is a PhD in Biochem has vetted this for me (Hi Mel!) as has the E.P., who is not a scientist but works with scientific papers at science journal of well-known repute.

Inspirational Books for Achieving Healthfulness Through Diet

In my personal journey to discover good health and eating habits, these are the four books that have contributed the most to changing my life.
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Joshua Rosenthal to Attend ADA Convention

I just opened my email to some exciting news. Joshua Rosenthal, Founder of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, has rented a booth at the American Dietetic Association's National Convention.

The ADA as an organization refuses to acknowledge IIN and their graduates as legitimate nutritional counselors, because IIN does not preach medical-textbook nutrition. The ADA receives funding from lobby groups the same way Washington does: Major processed foods manufacturers and distributors, including McDonalds and PepsiCo, are among the ADA's major monetary contributors, sending hundreds of millions of dollars worth of incentive to continue preaching the Standard American Diet every year. And the ADA contends to teach people to be healthy?

Joshua said in the e-newsletter that he realized that McDonalds and Co. had all rented booths at the convention... and so could he. Not only that, his booth for IIN, advocating a holistic approach to health counseling and a whole foods diet, is right next to the booths for both Mickey-D's and ConAgra!

Go Joshua Go!!! Now is the time to prove that IIN's approach to health and nutrition is more than legitimate, and put those corporate fakers in their shameful place. Whoo hoo!!!

The Beauty of the LOTUS and wisdom of Sri Gurudev

As you may know, I visited the LOTUS in Yogaville (Buckingham County, VA) earlier this week. Although I've been to the Light Of Truth Universal Shrine before, I wanted to share it with my husband and to renew myself spiritually, as it's the most loving place I've ever been.

This particular visit has inspired me to learn more about Sri Gurudev, who founded Yogaville, and the Yoga principles he espoused. I'm very pleased to learn that although he practiced Hindu, his method of Integral Yoga is not tied to any particular religion but embraces religious diversity. Integral Yoga practitioners are Christians, Buddists, and Jews among others, and interfaith services are a particularly cherished part of this tradition.

I wanted to share with you this article about the LOTUS written by Sri Gurudev (who passed on in 2002). He speaks of a vision for the world that I've been dreaming of for years. He says exactly what I've been thinking and wanting for myself and everyone. Maybe this is ultimately the spiritual tradition I will join (as I'm no longer motivated by traditional Christian worship, outside of the High Holy days.)

The idea behind LOTUS is not to have all faiths merge into one. If there is only one kind of flower in the garden, it's no longer a garden. Should the flowers fight about their colors, their scents, their shapes, and forms? Should they hate each other for their differences? We seem to appreciate the variety, texture, shapes, and scents of the flowers as they blend together to create a beautiful bouquet. God created all this variety for us to enjoy and for this beauty to enrich our lives. Our aim should be to understand the unity and enjoy the variety.

Applying to the IIN Later This Week

I've decided to go for it, and move away from another important career transition for which I am grateful to have a window of opportunity. This is a huge decision!! But I have finally found a cause I can be passionate about, that excites me, and that I can see myself earning $ doing without it being about the $. I am getting myself healthy, and then I will work to get others' healthy, and change our culture's relationship with food.

Whoo hoo!