Winning Sugar

November 2 2018

Cravings and Spiritual Nutrition

Have you ever had a sugar hangover?

I definitely have, more times than I care to admit. These do exist.

I believe we don’t often notice or associate it with the sugar though. I wasn’t until I sufficiently removed sugar from my daily diet and then added some back in, did I really see what this “hangover” was.

Waking up with headaches, aches and pains, tight jaw from clenching teeth while asleep, body soreness, indigestion, stomach gurgles, dehydration and guilt combined with out of control tastebuds searching for what to eat next. Later that day comes bloating, constipation, more dehydration, cravings and hormone spikes. Also, depression, low energy, lack of connection and motivation.

I’m not anti-sugar or anything. It’s normal to crave and desire this sweet sensation.

Personally, my body basically says HECK NO each time I consume more than my share of refined sugar and sometimes even things like Maple Syrup. So I just make other choices.

I share this because I know I’m not the only one.

I’m actually grateful my body rejects it because it has brought me to where I am today.

Through my experiences, I found a connection between my spirituality (aka connection with the present moment) and my choice to change my relationship with things like sugar over the past 8-9 years.

June 20 2018

Are you addicted to sugar?

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Most people like sugar, but a question about being “addicted” to it still lingers, for some... There is such a big difference between someone who eats sugar once in awhile and can go weeks without it and someone who cannot stop thinking about it and needs it every single day.

In today’s video, I break down the other side of sugar addiction, watch it below.

If you are addicted to sugar, you are not alone. I’m a recovering sugar addict and I have a brief story about it to share with you, I share more of the story in other videos too so make sure you are subscribed to the blog to learn more.

Over 8 years ago, I began this nutrition and life coaching practice to help people and centered it around “loving yourself” because it seemed to be a common denominator between every person I worked with. As I began helping more and more people as a practitioner and coach, I noticed how I was personally still using work, sugar and obsessive eating of certain foods to escape and numb out. I started to see my own addiction to sugar and it was so loud I could no longer ignore it!

I was not just craving sugar here and there, I was in a committed relationship with the stuff and began to see that it was a pattern for most of my life.

The irony of it all is that the root of “addictive behavior” is the avoidance of loving yourself. So there I was, trying to teach others the practice to love themselves and to value themselves and I was being faced with the reality of not loving or valuing myself. Talk about a wake up call and a humbling smack in the face. It was hard to look in that mirror and I cried many tears during that time.

I knew I had no choice but to face my own lack of self love if I was to grow up and help more people.

I thought it was just about the sugar and the “sweet tooth” I had my entire life, but I learned it was about so much more. The lack of love I had for myself impacted how I showed up in all of my relationships, my career and day to day activities, even how I dealt with my finances.

Now, 8 years later, I’m coaching clients privately and within groups through their suffering with food, body, emotional healing, eating patterns, craving, obsessive behaviors, relationships, career goals and purpose.

At the root of it all, is Love of the Self.

This invaluable work really is so much deeper than “sugar addiction”, although this is where some of us must start to peel back the layers to grow and open our hearts.

This summer, I have a handful of openings for private coaching with clients who want to change their life and have the urge to create a new way of being and living. This person wants to own all the parts of themselves, heal the trauma and step into their purpose and serve the greater good. They want to get their health/nutrition, relationships and life into alignment and experience peace of mind and connection to helping others.

If this sounds like you, click here to fill out an application.

I want people to be healthy – mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I want us to have access to healthy food, attract healthy relationships and have the best resources without it being complicated or difficult.

I want you to know your value.

Looking forward to connecting more with you soon.

Watch the video above if you haven’t checked it out yet.

Thank you,

Renee

PS. Want to work with me? Click here to fill out an application or respond to this message and let me know. We can have a quick phone chat and I can listen to what you have going on to see if we are a good fit for the results you want to achieve with your health and life.

January 26 2018

Why is junk food so addictive? (video)

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Do you know how many times I’ve stood in front of my refrigerator with the door open… waiting… wondering… thinking about ‘what will satisfy me right now…’? How many times I’ve found myself lurking in the pantry… looking for something.

Do you have any idea how many clients and people in our community who share these similar stories with me? It’s SO common that sometimes, around 3pm, I imagine that thousands of people are getting up to walk around in search for that special junk food or fast food snack.

I created a video for you that not only answers why junk food and fast food are so darn addictive but it also talks about How To Stop Eating It!

Watch now below

PS…. There was a time in my life when fast food and junk food were my normal, i did not cook. I drank a lot of soda, smoked cigarettes and ate a lot of sugar. So when i talk about fast food – I don’t judge. I’ve been there. Check out this video and let me know your thoughts.

September 21 2017

Want change? Address these 3 key areas…

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Hey there, people who make the biggest change, address these 3 areas… before I get to that, to illustrate why all 3 are important, a person in our community just shared this with me, perhaps you can relate…

“I have a very heavy load at home and work. I’m so busy. I don’t feel consistent in most anything right now. People are so hard on themselves, I mean, I am hard on myself. I guess all of us are, right? Maybe it’s just me. The world can be mean, but I think we can be meaner to ourselves. Renee, you helped me to feel great about being imperfect and reminded me there are people just like me. I make myself a priority in the midst of how busy I am now and it has changed me. Well, it has changed my whole family. I needed to see the whole picture. Thank you.”

In all of my years, the people who have made the highest change have addressed these three areas.

Food, feelings and thoughts.

And we are going to do it over the course 12 weeks in Love Your Life Academy.

Have you ever heard someone say, “everything is energy?”

Kind of hard to prove something you can’t see, however I want to prove it to you today.

If you break your arm, the energy stops flowing effectively in that area. You body will try to instigate healing, but until it heals, the energy will be stifled.

Another example: if you have inflammation from too much sugar and white carbs in your body, the energy in that area of your body doesn’t flow like it needs to be.

There is science to back this up.

What also happens, is that you can get emotionally impacted and feel like crap from all that sugar too. So now that sugar, is impacting your body physically and emotionally.

And then you feel lazier from that sugar and perhaps more depressed. You might not follow through on things and your thoughts become negative. Your relationships become impacted. These are all mental impacts.

So this one example of sugar (it could be anything though: overweight, gluten, stomach issues, etc) impacts the entire energetic body emotionally, mentally and physically.

When you work with me, we often start with the physical and the food in Love Your Life Academy. We get this straight and your body in harmony.

However you need all three areas (food, feelings and thoughts) in alignment to change you whole life.

Anyone can get their food and body in shape for a little while, maybe you’ve done this before with a cleanse or diet plan. But then, something happens in life that throws you off… relationships, career or with finances and your emotions get all out of wack.

Some people do some healing around their emotions, but then they go back to the same mental habits of procrastination or security in comfort foods and the cycle continues.

You need all of these areas in alignment to change our life and to break the cycle.

I’m looking for people who believe that if they made a big change in how they feel in their body and how they manage their emotions and thoughts it would make a big difference in their entire life.

I want to work with these people.

My 90 Day course, Love Your Life Academy, begins soon with only a four more spots left and limited time in my calendar to chat with me.

Click here to apply

One of the things I said to the person who shared above is, “how long have you been unhappy and stuck in your thoughts? And what is it costing you?“

Because the cost of continuously focusing on pieces of the puzzle but never putting the whole thing (food, feelings and thoughts) together is not only costing us money, it’s costing us our precious time. And we don’t get our time back.

Take the first step and apply and schedule your breakthrough session with me here.

Thanks for reading,

PS. My calendar tends to book pretty fast this time of year and there are less than two weeks before Love Your Life Academy begins to speak with me. I am excited to talk with you. Apply

One of the things I said to the person who shared above is, “how long have you been unhappy and stuck in your thoughts? And what is it costing you?“

Take the first step and apply and schedule your breakthrough session with me here.

Thanks for reading,

PS. My calendar tends to book pretty fast this time of year and there are less than two weeks before Love Your Life Academy begins to speak with me. I am excited to talk with you. Apply

March 20 2017

Mom’s In Control Podcast: Winning The Sugar Game

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I was recently interviewed by Heather Chauvin from the Mom’s In Control Podcast. She definitely targets mom’s and parents with her message, however if you have a interest in topics about feeding your feelings with food, sugar addiction, parenting, depression, anxiety and more… you’ll like this. We had a blast together and I loved this interview. I hope you do too.

Listen here for ANDROID USERS

Listen here for IPHONE USERS

In this episode, we talk about…

* The true addiction of sugar.

* How food and mood are connected.

* How to start eliminating your sugar intake.

If you like it, take a few minutes to check out Heather’s other podcasts and leave her some love on ITunes. She has some great topics that help so many!

Renee

March 1 2017

This should be illegal to market to children…

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Mike from our community posted something within our community forum (thank you Mike). I shared it on social media and it’s caused some conversation and reactions. I want to include you in on the conversation and give you a heads up about a free online workshop I created.

This should be illegal to market to children, what do you think? By the way 93 grams of sugar is equal to 19 teaspoons of sugar.

Notice I said “illegal to market”, not illegal to sell. Freedom to sell things is important, even if I don’t happen to like it. (wink)

If people want to do drugs or smoke cigarettes, they can have free choice to do so. There are laws so cigarette and liquor companies cannot market towards children.

Now sugar, that’s a different story. Sugar is 8 times more addictive than heroine or cocaine. Click here for the short version of the science behind this.

Why don’t we have laws in place in the United States that restrict marketing sugar and junk food to young children? I live in the states and I know there are many grass root efforts. We have what I would consider a corporate oligarchy when it comes to our food system. A handful of companies and an elite few control our food system. This makes short term change challenging.

The money spent on selling sugar in the United States in particular, is staggering. Coca Cola spent $269 million on advertising Coke in the states and Pop Tarts spent $32 million last year. Here is a quote from the article:

“Despite the fact that fruits and vegetables are the only foods that experts encourage us to eat with abandon, all fruits, vegetables, and nuts are considered “specialty crops” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Less than five percent of land planted with food goes to growing fruits and vegetables. More than 50 percent goes to growing soybeans and corn, to feed animals and refine into sugar.”

In contrast, there are over 8 countries that are taking action against junk food marketing to children.

How will the United States get on that new marketing train?

You + Me + Education.

Okay, back to this conversation I’ve been in with people on social media that I want to include you in on. We were looking at this McDonald’s advertisement for a shamrock shake that markets to children and adults alike with 93 grams of sugar!

Many people are chiming in and saying things like:

“yuck” or “disgusting” and some are sharing how good it tastes.

Some are sharing that this is about education and teaching people how bad this is for them.

I could not agree more that it is about education. Education is where it all begins.

Another person was sharing that she spent 25 years dieting and starving herself because of her weight. She shared that it was her biggest source of stress and angst and that the struggle ruled her life. She ended up reducing her sugar and dropped 25 pounds in 40 days. She went on to lose 85 lbs! She explained that she was eating a lot of other foods and not sugary ones and her weight came off.

I started wondering a few things…

Do people know how much sugar impacts brain health, hormones and the body’s ability to gain or lose weight?
Do children know how they are being marketed to with products that can hurt their development and brain health?
Do parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and caregivers know how both they are their loved ones are being targeted by marketing companies?
Do people realize how much the constant marketing of sugar, driven by the subsidies that we give our agricultural industry for corn, soy and refined sugar, are psychologically impacting them, their family and children?
Do you know about the fact that sugar hides inside 74% of our packaged foods and this makes it challenging for people to stop eating so much sugar, even though they may want to.

I am curious if people within our growing community realize the addictive dependency that sugar/fructose/artificial sweetener creates on a person’s physical, emotional and mental self.

Do you know how much excess sugar impacts you in your daily life?

These questions and so many more inspired me to create an online workshop on the topic, called:

The 4 Types of Sugar Addiction: How To Control Your Relationship With Food, Create Long Term Harmony and Become Truly Happy On The Inside

click here to register

We must start with educating ourselves first. Knowledge is powerful. Learn the 4 types of addiction to sugar and which of those 4 ways is impacting you most.

I hope you join me and so many members of our community on this free online workshop and in the revolution to create change in our body and minds.

Talk with you soon,

Renee

PS. Remember, seats are limited for the online workshop, whether you’ll be with us LIVE or desire the recording make sure you register here.

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February 28 2017

Sugar Shame

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During the 7 Day Sugar Challenge that I host for free, many people fill out surveys through out it that I get to read. I read every single word from every single person. I have read hundreds of forms in the past week!

I look for the message often between the writing… the story being told that isn’t fully being said. That story is one of “shame” and “guilt” for not always being our word with ourselves when it comes to habits, food, working out and more.

Many people are not doing what they say they are going to do and then they shame themselves for it. We have lost trust with ourselves, in many of the cases anyway.

The antithesis of shame and lack of trust is communication. You must find a place to share yourself and communicate… a trusted friend or trusted journal or our trusted FB forum. Find a way to communicate your real voice, the one that isn’t always easy to share.

If you are concerned how to keep up winning at the sugar game, then join in on my free online workshop: The 4 Types of Sugar Addiction: How To Control Your Relationship With Food, Create Long Term Harmony and Become Truly Happy On The Inside

If you are in the trenches with cravings and feeling like sugar has control over you, then click here to join my Free 7 Day Sugar Challenge.

Renee

February 18 2017

Hidden Sugar In Common Foods

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It all started way back with me eating boxes of chocolate. Imagine me in the episode of I Love Lucy, where her an Ethel eat all the chocolates, it’s hilarious. (I posted the video below if you haven’t see it)

Later, when I finally thought I had gained control over eating so much sugar years ago, I was just finishing up nutrition school. It was 2010 and I was eating all of these healthy things… I was so proud of myself.

Then slowly I began to feel more cravings for sweets again… they crept back because of the “healthy” food I was eating. “Healthy” gets quotes because the protein bars I loved were filled with sugar – as much as 2 donuts worth – and also marketed as “natural” and “organic”. The yogurt I used to eat was touted as healthy but had more sugar than a can of Coke. The new gluten free crackers I found had 7 grams of sugar in them. The bread I enjoyed with my healthy almond butter, I realized had sugar. The delicious salad options I chose at restaurants had salad dressing that was full of sugar.

There are so many people who say, “I don’t have a problem with sugar. I don’t eat cookies and cakes” and what they may not realize is that 74% of packaged foods are full of sugar. People who don’t think they are impacted by the inflammation, hormone impacting and immune system lowering SUGAR actually are impacted… they are just temporary victims of the labels they aren’t reading. Awareness is the first step.

I decided that I wanted to create something for the people I love to give them a peak into living without sugar for 7 days. It changed my life and I needed to be able to share that. So I created this free 7 day sugar challenge to guide people. I offer to everyone now – think of it as my gift to you.

Click here to join my free 7 Day Sugar Challenge starting soon.

Much love,

Renee

PS. Here is Lucy and Ethel and their chocolates. Enjoy

February 15 2017

This is what happens when you drink soda

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I was 17. There was a old, yellow, 70’s looking fridge in our garage; it had a 2 liter of coca-cola sitting right inside the door… That bottle was just sitting there, waiting for me to return home from class. It was on my mind while I listened to the professor speak. I was in my first year of college.
As I drove home in my 1990 gray Jeep Cherokee, I would eat an entire container of orange Tic Tacs that I picked up from Costco in bulk earlier that week and think about drinking in a tall glass of my Coke when I got home. It was my special treat. This all felt very normalized and yet somewhat secretive… maybe even sacred.

During this time, I had yeast infections (just being honest), stomach issues and daily allergies that involved me taking regular antibiotics and allergy meds. I popped allergy meds almost every day like they were another container of Tic Tacs. I was constantly sick with a cold. I was in a codependent relationship with a boy, he was charming, wonderful and an addict, at the time. It all felt unhealthy and yet somehow safe. I was a committed Marlboro Lights cigarette smoker and also addicted. My addictions were different than his. I liked cigarettes, refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

I had no idea the harm I was inflicting on my body at this time. I remember one day, when I came home, The Coca Cola was gone. My father had taken it I guess, it just wasn’t in the fridge, like normal. I remember this day vividly. When I asked, he shared that I had been drinking too much and I needed to stop. I was so livid with him! I knew he was right though. My grandmother came over later that week and shared with me that Coca Cola would “take the rust off the cars”. She barked at me, “imagine what it’s doing to your insides and you drink so much! You need to stop it!” I heard her, but I didn’t want to believe her. I closed my mind to the ideas she shared.

If you are someone who drinks too much Diet Soda or regular “pop” or soda. You need to stop it too. And yet, you already know this, I don’t need to tell you that drinking soda accounts for 184,000 deaths each year (source: Science Daily). Or that artificial sweeteners alter your gut microbiome making your very susceptible to disease. On some level you know this to be true, right?
Let me show you how to do this: The 7 Day Sugar Challenge begins soon.

Love,

Renee

March 31 2016

Yummy lunch or dinner salad: What I Eat

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Hello there, I hope you have had a good week so far. I have been getting so many messages from you about dinner and what to eat. Since so many of you are asking what I eat every day, I am going to start posting more meal ideas for you.

I eat very healthy and I don’t really eat anything that comes in a box, if I do, it’s pretty rare. Of course, I have my moments and allow for some fun splurges, but as a general rule I keep the foods clean that go into my body. It’s my fuel.
As a recovering sugar addict, I also know that I gotta get in my meals because skipping them or snacking on small stuff (because I didn’t prepare) is what drives up sweet and carb cravings. Plus, I get pretty cranky and tend to feel cloudy when I don’t feed myself good meals, so I make it a priority. I choose a ton on “healthy fat” foods, because I know I won’t crave sweets as much this way and it works!

I eat 3 meals a day and sometimes 4 and I know that for me, eating something for breakfast that gives me some of that healthy fat and protein is essential.

Healthy fats are things like avocado, nuts and seeds, nut butters (like almond butter, sunflower butter or cashew butter with no sugar added), olive oil, salmon, sardines, coconut oil, chia seeds, hemp seeds, eggs.

I love quinoa for a little extra oomph when I eat salads because sometimes a salad just doesn’t fill me up. Quinoa is pronounced (Keen-Wa) and it’s actually a seed and super high in protein and nutrients. I think it makes things more lively, especially salads.

Here is the thing though, although breakfast is that “most important meal”, dinner tends to be where people go off the rails a bit. So maybe dinner is more important to focus on if that is you… I actually met with a new client this morning who said to me, “Renee, dinner is my nightmare!” I could relate to her. If I don’t plan ahead for dinner, then that’s when ordering out happens or we throw something together that isn’t quite what the body needs. This is not the worst thing to do now and then, but when it becomes a habit to order pizza, eat out , eat popcorn for dinner or eat frozen meals, that’s when our bodies start getting unhealthy.

One of the reasons I want to share this salad is because it is the “left-over salad” – I made it with everything left in the fridge and it took very little time.

In another blog, I will talk about healthy dessert ideas for those who have a sweet tooth, but for today, I want to share this salad I just made – use it for lunch or dinner. It feels hardy and filling and because it’s full of good healthy fats and nutrients, you are far less likely to crave after it.