Category Archives: Sugar

Refined Foods are Making You Stupid, Sick and Sleepy

Afternoon slump? Spacing out? Have another cold? It’s the refined foods you are eating. It is not the stress, old age or even lack of sleep. Nothing has a bigger effect on your mood, memory and health than the food you put in your body. The brain and body is a biological engine and it runs on food.

The ups and downs of your blood sugar cause the ups and downs in your mood (mood SWINGS.) A meal high in sugar or refined foods raises the hormone insulin which raises blood glucose which gives you a shot of energy – but your energy drops just as quickly as it soars — leaving you feeling irritable, tired and lethargic. Worse yet, our bodies grow a tolerance toward the insulin spike, requiring more of those foods and a need to eat them more often in order to get the same energy boost – this leads women to eat more often to get the same high, which causes your body to store fat.

If you can’t seem to remember simple things like you used to or if you have difficulty concentrating or are feeling spacey lately, it is likely the result of your intake of refined foods. This happens because the brain depends on blood sugar for ALL of its energy and the longer that glucose stays in the bloodstream the less fuel the brain has to store memories. This effect gets worse with age and is not reversible.

Your immune system is also compromised by the spike in insulin caused by sugar intake. Some research suggests that the immune system can be compromised by up to 75% when you eat a moderate amount of sugar. Research demonstrates strong links between refined foods and asthma, heart disease, cancer, hypertension, and, of course, diabetes. This is due, in part, to the decreased ability of white blood cells to destroy bacteria when you eat sugar. The effect is immediate and last for up to 5 hours.

You should not be eating sugar or refined foods and neither should your children. Scientist are just now discovering just how detrimental these foods are to the human body because the damage has taken years to demonstrate. Refined foods became wildly popular in the 80’s with the widespread use of high fructose corn syrup and in the 80’s obesity rates were less than 10% – they are now over 60%. Cancer rate, obesity rate, Alzheimer, diabetes – they have all dramatically increased and the reason can be attributed almost entirely to diet.

If you are ready and wanting to lose weight and keep it off – join me.

Call me or email me today.

I would really appreciate your comments below. Ask me any diet related question or let me know what you would like to know more about.

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If you read this article and could forward it to a friend you could really help them out.
Most importantly, if you are struggling and need help all you have to do is email me at tiffany@skinnycoach.com and I’ll set up a complementary session with you to pinpoint your triggers and help you with ways to deal with them. You don’t have to struggle with your weight and health. I can help you.

Get Skinny!
Take the Skinny Coach quiz and the
Skinny Coach will call you with the results.

Please add me to your Facebook friends and I will send you the list of the 100 names of sugar and 1 tip to lose that belly fat. www.facebook.com/skinnycoach.

Sugar is Not as Sweet as it Seems: Candy as a Kid Can Lead to Violence as an Adult

Britain have food a strong link between children who ate candy every day as a child and those who commit violent crime. They controlled for lifestyle, family income, parenting style and children’s level of education and sugar consumption remained a strong prediction of adult violence. The question is if this is due to something in sugar that increases aggressive behavior or if eating too many sweets is a sign of lack of discipline in childhood that later shows up as lack of impulse control. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts.

I would really appreciate your comments below. Ask me any diet related question or let me know what you would like to know more about.

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If you read this article and could forward it to a friend you could really help them out.
Most importantly, if you are struggling and need help all you have to do is email me at tiffany@skinnycoach.com and I’ll set up a complementary session with you to pinpoint your triggers and help you with ways to deal with them. You don’t have to struggle with your weight and health. I can help you.

Get Skinny!
Take the Skinny Coach quiz and the
Skinny Coach will call you with the results.

Please add me to your Facebook friends and I will send you the list of the 100 names of sugar and 1 tip to lose that belly fat. www.facebook.com/skinnycoach.

Neuro Science of Food Addiction

Addiction has two components, physical and mental. Sugar and flour are physically addictive at a chemical and cellular level, and as with any addictive substance, it must be eliminated. By definition, if an addict could moderate they would not be an addict – abstinence is a must. But even if you find a perfect diet, like the Skinny Coach Diet, that eliminates these triggers you still have a system of neural pathways that represent learned associations, habits and reactions to stress and life. This must be addressed. The neural pathways in your brain are developed based on what you have done in the past making the breaking of a habit difficult. What are required are the development of new neural pathways and a deterioration of the old pathways. Food addiction is real and it is as real as heroin or alcohol addiction. Food, namely sugar and flour, affects the brain and the pleasure centers of the brain in exactly the same way as drugs. Dogaminergic pathways – reward pathways – in the brain are responsible for motivating food consumption and also feelings of pleasure that you get when you eat. These pathways also activate other circuits throughout the body that regulate hunger, satiety and weight control.

In order to properly heal and be free long term you have to rewire those pathways. The problem, of course, is that those pathways represent how you think – you can’t think differently because your brain is wired to say things like “one bite won’t hurt” and if I eat that cookie I will feel better.

I work with my clients daily and people mistakenly believe that they need this because they need accountability. In fact, it is only through daily conversations in a multitude of varying situations is it possible to teach an addict how to think differently. My work is to literally rewire their brain, over time, so that they internalize a healthy eating lifestyle which leads to life as a person that is natural thin. If you were allergic to strawberries you simply would not eat. Your brain would not be activated when you saw strawberry shortcake, you would not have to talk yourself out of eating a strawberry pie, it would be a non-issue. This is true for foods like sugar and flour which are usually the food of choice for addicts – over time the old addictive part of the brain that was alive and firing at the sight of a donut or baked bread is dead and the part that accepts easily that you don’t eat those things because they make you fat, sick and tired is alive and active.

Other diets fail because just following the diet does not make a “lifestyle change.” You must change the way you think, and someone has to give you that language every single day until that happens. Skinny Coach works because it addresses the physical addiction with a healthy hormonally balancing food plan and because you work with me, the L.A. Skinny Coach, to reprogram your brain as a Skinny Girl.

It is all in the Brain

I talked to the most wonderful woman today and she told me she used to be able to do anything but now she can’t, “I just don’t have any willpower anymore.” I was sick to my stomach. There are so many bright, beautiful, talented women that are ruined because of their addiction to food. The problem is they think it is their fault. But it is not. A new study validates the current research that sugar and flour are addictive. In fact Oreos are as addictive as Cocaine.

Our pleasure center in our brain called the nucleus accumbens is activated by sugar in the same way it is by cocaine and morphine.  In fact, many studies have shown that sugar is MORE addictive than either cocaine or morphine because it activates more cells in this area making it even more pleasurable.

This is not about willpower – it is about addiction.

I can help you – take the sugar addiction quiz and schedule an appointment with me and be free from your addiction and stop battling the bulge.

Do you have Metabolic Syndrome?

Increased consumption of sugar is linked to higher diabetes rates independent of rates of obesity. In other words, regardless of weight, sugar causes diabetes. In fact, the research controls for everything and meets longstanding criteria for causation. Given these findings, it is proof enough that sugar is poisonous and it is time to regulate by removing fructose from the safe list and setting limits on how much sugar can be added to a food. It is clear that obesity is not the cause of our dramatic increase of chronic disease but instead metabolic syndrome, which is a problem for normal weight people as well. Metabolic syndrome is a result of insulin resistance, which is caused by consumption of added sugar.

If you want to live longer, be healthy, lose weight – get rid of the sugar.

The Skinny Coach diet is a sugar abstinent diet and will make you healthier than you have ever been. Take the quiz and find out if you have metabolic syndrome.

Fat, Forgetful, Fatigued – FED UP?

Nothing has more of an impact on your health, mood and brain function than what you put in your mouth. But what is the major culprit for your depression, memory lapses, exhausted afternoons and inability to lose weight? Sugar, of course, and refined foods.

Let me explain why.

Refined foods cause a increase in blood-glucose levels. In response, the body releases insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. Insulin signals the body to allow blood sugar to get into our cells and use it as fuel. If you eat refined foods, the body overreacts and produces too much insulin (remember we have not evolved to handle or eat refined foods, thus the health and condition of our bodies.) The overproduction of insulin drives our blood sugar too low and that causes memory problems, makes you feel like you are dragging and can cause headaches. Of course your body reacts to the low blood sugar and tries to correct by releasing hormones. These hormones raise your blood sugar but also signals your body to STORE FAT — ESPECIALLY AROUND THE BELLY. For another wonderful ironic twist of fate, it signals you to eat more because even though you just pigged out at lunch, your blood sugar is so low that your body thinks you need more food, so you become very hungry with a cravings for more refined foods. Have you noticed a difference between a nice omelette for breakfast vs. a donut? Or even NO breakfast vs. a bagel? With the donut and bagel you are hungry in two hours. But it gets even more ironic! A diet that causes your blood sugar to spike slows your metabolism down significantly. The effect works out to a difference of about 80 calories a day or 8 pounds a year.

Now you see why you can’t seem to lose that last 10, 20 or 100 pounds! Stay tuned to find out about the effects of refined foods on your memory, immune system and moods.

And in the meantime, don’t gain another pound. Call or email me to Get Skinny!

I would really appreciate your comments below. Ask me any diet related question or let me know what you would like to know more about.

comment-arrow-right

If you read this article and could forward it to a friend you could really help them out.
Most importantly, if you are struggling and need help all you have to do is email me at tiffany@skinnycoach.com and I’ll set up a complementary session with you to pinpoint your triggers and help you with ways to deal with them. You don’t have to struggle with your weight and health. I can help you.

Get Skinny!
Take the Skinny Coach quiz and the
Skinny Coach will call you with the results.

Please add me to your Facebook friends and I will send you the list of the 100 names of sugar and 1 tip to lose that belly fat. www.facebook.com/skinnycoach.

Sweet Heart Attack

I have been off sugar and flour for over 18 years. When I gave it up we were smack dab in the middle of the low fat craze. Do you know that 18 years ago the rate of obesity has skyrocketed and so has people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Yet it is only recently that the media is finally addressing the real culprit of heart disease, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and obesity — SUGAR.

Sugar is a dangerous drug that is destroying your health. In fact, research came out recently demonstrating how sugar causes heart disease NOT fat. When you eat sugar your body converts it into glucose. Our pancreas creates the master hormone, “insulin” that transports that glucose into energy. However, because sugar and flour is processed into glucose so quickly the pancreas is over worked and thus not able to use the glucose as energy so it is converted into FAT – visceral fat, like the kind that is surrounding your heart.

Sugar also has a heavily addictive quality. It stimulates the part of your brain that is activated with addiction and drug abuse and studies have demonstrated it is more addictive than cocaine. Additionally, there are behavioral components of addiction like tolerance, withdrawal and cravings.

How do you kick it? COLD TURKEY is the only way to kick an addiction. You can’t wean yourself slowly because eating sugar activates the brain reward system so if you eat less you are still perpetuating your addiction so you can’t stop that powerful association.

In order to stop sugar cold turkey you have to deal with a whole plethora of issues, including withdrawal, grief, difficult situations, associations, bad days, controlling spouses and sabotaging thoughts, just to name a few.

Addiction is a very powerful way of learning. We have learned to associate a lot of food cues with sugar and flour. You have to learn to deal with those food cues that will entice you to eat those foods that make you fat and sick. If you need help making these transitions – help learning to be a Skinny Girl – fill out Sugar Addiction Quiz and schedule a time to talk with me.

Is Cereal making your kid stupid?

Sugar makes you stupid. Rats who eat an omega-3 deficient diet are slower at completing a maze and those who drank a fructose solution instead of water were the most stupid of all.

Strangely, omega-3s seem to have quite an impactful role in the metabolizing of sugar. The rats that had a diet without omega-3 had higher triglycerides, glucose and insulin levels and showed a decrease in synaptic activity, which is critical for learning and memory. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get omega-3s naturally and the American diet does not provide much. This is why The Skinny Coach Solution recommends omega-3 as part of the program. The research shows that omega 3’s protect our brains from the harmful effects of fructose.

No one will tell you not to eat sugar more quickly than the Skinny Coach but did you know that I also highly recommend omega-3? New research has shown that rats that have eaten a diet high in omega -3s were faster in solving a maze, in fact, without omega-3’s show a decrease in synaptic activity. Bottom line the mice were slower.

12 Ways to Actually Lose Weight

By Kelly Lynch of WorldLifestyle in Health+Fitness

Dr. Tiffany Wright, Ph.D studies the link between behavior and weight loss, focusing on compulsive overeating. She created the Skinny Coach solution, based on scientific facts about the body and the chemistry of food.

Having lost 100 pounds herself, Dr. Wright’s method involves coaching her clients through personality motivation and behavioral modification. Here, she shares some tips that cut through the excuses we often give after failing to lose weight.

1. Remove the sugar and flour! Eating too much sugar and flour over time causes our cells to become insulin resistant. When your brain cells become insulin resistant you can lose your memory, become disoriented and can cause protein plaque that is linked to Alzheimers. You have had enough sugar and flour for the rest of your life. It is time to get our mind and bodies fit and healthy and there is no place for refined foods in a healthy body.

2. Switch from flavored yogurt to plain, whole fat yogurt.  Most fat-free yogurts contain extra sugar to make up for the lack of taste in the nonfat versions. Cook some frozen berries until they are warm and gooey then mix that into your yogurt and add some cinnamon for a tasty treat.

3. Don’t feed your addiction. Sugar is highly addictive and for some one bite is never enough, so if you cannot moderate then you have to go cold turkey. Look on the ingredients list for any type of added sugar and if it is there, leave that food on the shelf. Make sure you eat enough protein, fruits, veggies and whole grains like rice, potatoes, and beans so that your blood sugars stabilize.

4. In order to lose weight permanently, you have to learn dieting skills and practice them every day, and with time dieting will become easier and easier. For instance, if you normally say, “I’ve worked really hard today, I deserve to eat,” which drives you to eat, instead practice saying “I’ve worked hard today, I deserve to relax with a walk or manicure.” You have to replace long established patterns and associations with productive patterns and associations and then practice them every day until they are set.

5. When you are feeling like “one bite does not matter,” remember that every healthy dieting choice you have ever made was sabotaged by one bite. One bite does matter. Think: “If I eat this, I will strengthen the habit of failure and unhealthy eating, which will make it more likely that I given in next time.” Think: “One bite does matter, I am not going to eat this because it is not good for me and I don’t eat what is bad for me.”

6. Regular weighing is critical. People that monitor their weight regularly lose more weight and keep at a steady weight. Weigh yourself once a week and if you gain more than 3 pounds, buckle down and get back to your normal weight before it is out of hand.

7. I know you heard this a million times – eat breakfast! But more importantly, eat protein at breakfast. Eating protein increases muscle mass, which increases your resting metabolic rate. Protein at every meal also stabilizes your blood sugar which keeps cravings and energy dips at bay. Try a Skinny Girl Smoothie: 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt, 1 cup of frozen fruit, and 1/2 cup of liquid egg whites blended in a magic bullet.

8. Boring is okay. People often worry if they are eating the same thing all the time that they will be bored and that will make them cheat. In reality, research has discovered that people who eat the same things regularly consume significantly less calories. If you want to vary your menu, by all means you should. However, do not worry if you like the same Skinny Taco Salad every day for lunch. Skinny Taco Salad: 4 ounces ground beef cooked with chili power, garlic, and cumin served with 1/2 cup of garlic black beans, 1/2 cup of brown rice, 1 cup of fresh salsa, and 1/2 avocado on a bed of shredded lettuce.

9. Flour is worse than sugar. 2 slices of WHOLE WHEAT bread increases your blood sugar levels more than table sugar. If you have ever tried to give up sugar and still had cravings, withdrawal, and lack of weight loss, it is because you are still eating flour. ANY flour is processed and as such is immediately converted into glucose, which causes a cascade of negative health and weight consequences, including premature aging, obesity, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. If the ingredients have any type of sugar or flour listed – leave it out.

10. Plan your menu for tomorrow, commit what you are going to eat, and then stick to it. Menu planning and accountability dramatically increase your chances of eating what you want rather than giving in to temptation at the moment. When you wake up, if you already know what you are eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you are less likely to get into a dialog in your head about what to eat or not eat. Plan, commit and just eat it – no matter what, and you will be Skinny Forever.

11. Remember being a little hungry is okay. Being hungry is uncomfortable, but remember that when you overeat, that is uncomfortable, too. Both feelings are uncomfortable, but one gets you skinny and the other has made you overweight.

12. You cannot have everything you want and you know that in all areas of your life. But for some reason with food, people think that you should be able to eat anything you want or you will feel deprived and binge later. That is nonsense. If you were allergic to strawberries, you would not eat them. I am here to tell you if you are overweight then you are unable to eat whatever you want and be healthy, so you should not eat those foods that make you fat, sick, and tired. You can have a cupcake or you can have health, but you can’t have both. Which do you want today?

To learn more about Dr. Wright’s Skinny Coach solution, as well as her clients’ success stories, click here.

Happy New Life

How many years have you wasted talking about, thinking about, planning about, starting diets and failing at losing weight. At which point will you say – I have a problem, I am an addict. I know that food addiction is a difficult subject but when you cannot control what you put in your mouth then you are … by definition, out of control – you are a food addict. More specifically addicted to sugar. The diagnostic manual for psychological disorders has diagnosed food addiction as a true addiction NOT a eating disorder. Why? Because sugar triggers the same neural transmitters as other drugs, like cocaine and heroin. It feel really good and comforting to eat sugar. It makes us feel comforted and it makes us feel good.

If you are at a place where you can’t do it on your own – a place where you have tried everything and nothing has worked then you might be ready to submit and let go of the sugar. Bottom line, we can’t all do everything on our own, sometimes we need help. I have spent my life committed to helping sugar addicts become Skinny Girls. Experience, training and commitment is what the Skinny Coach Solution offers you. I know this sounds like a sales pitch but it is NOT. This program is only for the woman who can see she is addicted to sugar, the woman that can’t stop on her own – even though you can do anything you set your mind to – this one thing you can’t get a handle on – the Skinny Coach Solution is designed to do just that – get you in control and offer you freedom.

I love – love – love my holiday Skinny Girls – the women committed enough to say YES! I want to be a Skinny Girl in December. Not January, with everyone else but in December a YES – I want to be a Skinny Girl. I am here for you. If you want to commit to yourself, I will commit to you. As always, every year, I offer a Skinny Girl Holiday special. If you are ready to talk, take the Sugar Addiction Quiz and set an appointment.

You will not have lose weight as your New Years Eve resolution every again. You will be in a sexy black dress drinking a glass of champagne next New Years Eve, you will never again feel out of control.

Cocaine Addiction and Sugar

Do you think cocaine is addictive? Most people do, yet they deny that food is addictive. Remarks like eat less and exercise more are as futile as telling an alcoholic to simply not drink as much. Research has found that cocaine addicted rats work eight times harder to get sugar than cocaine. The researchers are quoted as saying, “Cocaine reward pales in comparison to sugar.” Other research found that even when giving rats electric shocks they will still continue to eat and seek sugar. Sugar is not like other foods and all calories are not the same. Sugar excites the reward part of your brain that activates addiction. Food and sugar specifically is biologically addictive — this is not an issue of willpower and just eat less is never going to cut it. If you can’t moderate, then the only answer is abstinence. Find out more at www.SkinnyCoach.com