The shape of the nation? It’s projected that 40% of American adults will be obese by 2030.

by Jill Escher, author, “Farewell, Club Perma-Chub: A Sugar Addict’s Guide to Easy Weight Loss”

A new program, “The Weight of the Nation,” premieres tonight on HBO, so I admit to writing this column without the benefit of having seen the actual show.  But just by perusing the website, http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/, one can easily discern that here’s yet another well intentioned but misguided effort to slim down America, parroting the same old “eat less, move more” conventional wisdom that’s been proven time and again to not work.  The trick to weight loss, says their website, is as follows:

“The term “energy balance” refers to the balance between the energy (calories) you take in through foods and drinks and the energy you burn. When your body is in positive energy balance, you are taking in more calories than you are burning. Your body stores extra energy as fat. When you take in less energy than you burn, your body is in negative energy balance, and your body burns fat for fuel.

“Most effective weight loss plans include changes to both diet and physical activity to achieve negative energy balance. Having an imbalance of 500 to 1,000 calories per day can lead to weight loss of about 1 to 2 pounds per week.”

In other words, they say, “You Will Lose Weight if You Are Miserable and Hungry and Sweat a Lot While Being Miserable and Hungry.” One thing we know, for sure, is that a weight loss plan that entails feelings hunger or deprivation will not only fail, it will backfire because our age-old hormonal signaling system will make us to anything (cookie binge, anyone?) to relieve our state of hunger.  Low calorie diets invariably result in dieters regaining the weight, and then some more.  Weight of the Nation also gives patently backwards food advice, urging dieters to:

“Eat 6 ounces of grains. At least half the grains you eat should be whole grains (such as 100% whole wheat breads, whole-grain cereal, and brown rice). One-ounce examples include: 1 slice of bread, 1 cup dry cereal, or 1/2 cup cooked pasta, rice, or cereal.”  And to:

“Dig into dairy. Eat 3 cups a day of low-fat or fat-free dairy, such as milk, cheese or yogurt.” And to:

“Go lean with protein.” And to:

“Choose foods low in saturated fats and cholesterol…. Keep total fat intake between 20 and 35 percent of your total daily calories.”

Yes, indeed, the same old, same old, that ol’ dogma-driven advice that hasn’t helped one bit in the past several decades to stem the rising tide of obesity and diabetes.  The writers appear to have not noticed that (1) the human metabolism does not operate under the laws of thermodynamics; (2) grains are basically nutrient-lite sugars that drive up insulin, and therefore the storage of fat; (3) low-fat and non-fat foods having higher proportions of sugars, and are not satiating in the way of real fats; (4) lean protein without the naturally occurring fats are less nutritious, and satisfying; and (5) dietary fat and cholesterol has very little relationship with blood serum fat and cholesterol–those lipids are driven high by dietary sugars, not fats.

That said, the series does seem to have some redeeming qualities — it urges drinking water instead of sodas, minimizing processed foods, cutting down on sugar, and eating lots of colorful veggies.  But the recommendations as a whole are solidly based, unquestioningly, on the carb-heavy, low-fat USDA Dietary Guidelines that made us obese in the first place.

So, what’s the right advice?

The mammoth health debacle that is the obesity epidemic is fueled not by a sudden inexplicable human quest for more calories, but rather by a biochemical tampering unprecedented in history.  This biochemical malfeasance is a nice way to say “We’ve been poisoned.”  By refined sugars, processed carbohydrates, faux-foods engineered from chemical substrates.  These poisons (for indeed, they make us ill, and are far from nourishing substances) wreak havoc with our metabolism and neurochemistry, and launch a cascade of biochemical consequences that results in often massive accumulation of fat.

So, what’s the answer?

The answer — one you won’t hear in Weight of the Nation — is to eschew the engineered and refined foods that trigger this biochemical disarray and return to eating, get this!, REAL FOOD.  If America dumped the processed crud, including sugars, flours, packaged and prepared foods, vegetable oils, etc, we would have no obesity or diabetes epidemic.  Humans have been eating Real Food since time immemorial, so why not resume this state of normalcy? I think it’s because we’re firmly in a state of addiction to them, and can’t fathom life without our muffins, pizzas, pastas, cookies, chocolates, ice creams, and chips.  Yes, our poisons are powerful indeed.

by UCTV

Is sugar a toxin that’s fueling the global obesity epidemic? That’s the argument UCSF’s Dr. Robert Lustig makes in “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” a video that appeared on University of California Television’s (UCTV) YouTube channel in 2009 and has since gone viral with over 2.2 million views, sparking a national dialogue and warranting coverage in The New York Times and most recently on “60 Minutes.” On UCTV Prime’s new series, “The Skinny on Obesity,” Dr. Lustig and two of his UCSF colleagues tease out the science behind this alarming claim and the dire threat it poses to global public health. The 7-part documentary seriespremieres April 13 on UCTV Prime, a YouTube original channel, with new episodes every Friday. Video and bonus content are available at www.uctv.tv/skinny-on-obesity

Throughout the series, Dr. Lustig, a UCSF pediatric endocrinologist, and his colleagues Elissa Epel and Barbara Laraia, co-directors of the UCSF Center for Obesity Assessment, Study and Treatment (COAST), unpack the scientific and sociological factors that have contributed to the startling rise in obesity rates over the last 30 years. Featuring interviews, charts and graphic visualizations, the 6 to 10-minute episodes provide a comprehensive perspective on an issue that affects everyone, of any weight.

“The Skinny on Obesity,” an original YouTube series from UCTV Prime

April 13 “An Epidemic for Every Body” How did we get so fat, so fast? The debut episode debunks the theory that obesity only affects the “gluttons and sloths” among us and is, in fact, a public health problem that impacts everyone.

April 20 “Sickeningly Sweet”
 Dr. Lustig illustrates the overabundance of sugar in today’s processed convenience foods and explains how our bodies metabolize these sugars in the same way as alcohol or other toxins, causing damage to the liver and other organs.

April 27  “Hunger and Hormones: A Vicious Cycle” Sugar impacts the brain just as much as the waistline. In this episode, Dr.Lustig explains the biochemical shifts that sugar causes, making us store fat and feel hungry at the same time.

May 4 “Sugar: A Sweet Addiction”
 Sugar isn’t just sweet, it’s addictive. This episode explores the cycle of addiction that sugar causes in the brain, much in the same way as drugs andalcohol.

May 11  “Generation XL”
 An unnerving trend of obese infants is just one indication that obesity can be passed on from mother to fetus. This installment looks towards the next generation, with an emphasis on preventive care and pre-natal health.

May 18  “A Fast-Paced, Fast Food Life” 
The pace of modern life is a key contributor to today’s obesity epidemic. Elissa Epel and Barbara Laraia explain the connection and offer practical and effective solutions that don’t involve dieting and exercise.

May 25 “Drugs, Cigarettes, Alcohol…and Sugar?” Our experts offer a frank indictment of the country’s agricultural policy and food industry, which have made it nearly impossible to avoid sugar in our daily diet, and suggestions for possible remedies.

by Jill Escher

Though I do not generally follow the lives and dramas of teen idols and tv stars, I couldn’t help by notice all the Twitter chatter yesterday about Miley Cyrus’s pronouncements on the evils of gluten and the health benefits of ditching it (go, Miley, go!).  Apparently there was some concern that the petite actress was suffering from an eating disorder, so she tweet-responded to her critics thus:

“For everyone calling me anorexic I have a gluten and lactose allergy. It’s not about weight it’s about health. Gluten is crapppp anyway!” And then, even better, “everyone should try no gluten for a week! The change in your skin, phyisical and mental health is amazing! U won’t go back!”  Since the starlet has more than 5.4 million followers, such unusually bold statements could have (fingers crossed here) some significant influence.

Enter now the quietly outraged response of Registered Dietitians, by definition members of the junk food-industry-sponsored Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, who tow the party line that wheat–the main source of gluten– is healthy and we can risk nutritional deficiency without it. Here’s what those RDs (called “experts” by the media, alas) had to say:

This AHA-endorsed grape juice has 37 grams of sugar per cup. That’s 9 teaspoons of sugar.  NINE teaspoons. Since the AHA itself recommends no more than 5 or 6 teaspoons of sugar per day for an adult female, via what reasoning would the AHA promote such densely sugary, inflammation-promoting, heart-unhealthy stuff?

by Jill Escher, author of “Farewell, Club Perma-Chub: A Sugar Addict’s Guide to Easy Weight Loss”

A few nights ago, as we hosted our annual Passover seder, I marveled at the tableau of delicious grain-free foods set on the table before us.  There was slow-cooked brisket, roasted vegetables, a green salad dressed in a lively vinaigrette, the apple-nut mixture called charoset, and soup made with almond flour faux-matzoh balls and a dense homemade chicken broth.  We were indeed blessed with a meal providing all the yummy satisfaction of Paleo-worthy nourishment and nothing to spike our blood sugar.

Well, not exactly, as there was one item on the table chock full of sugar: the Kedem “100% Pure Grape Juice” endorsed by the American Heart Association because, it says, it “Meets American Heart Association food criteria for saturated fat and cholesterol for healthy people over age 2.”

Huh?  Do my eyes deceive me?  The blood-sugar blasting syrupy stuff made with grape juice and sweetened with juice concentrates somehow merited a two-and-a-half-inch long endorsement from the nation’s leading nonprofit group ostensibly devoted to helping people prevent heart disease?  Does the AHA not read its own material?  Does the AHA, with its vast scientific advisory board, not understand that sugars and starches (which are long-chain sugars) are the major culprits in today’s epidemics of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease? Do they not know that dietary cholesterol and healthy, natural fats (non vegetable oil) eaten in the absence of high sugar have been largely exonerated?

Could such misinformation even be legal? Isn’t this tantamount to a fraud perpetrated on an unwitting and trustful public?  I don’t mind the fact that the Kedem Food Products Company of New York is selling this juice, but that it would earn a heart-healthy prize from a nonprofit in which millions of people place their trust and their charitable donations, boiled my blood.  (Two Passover references in that sentence, just sayin’.)

As I tried to reflect on the Exodus from Egypt and to feel gratitude for redemption from slavery, I couldn’t help but think of a hidden slavery that’s rampant today: the enslavement-by-addiction countless people have to sugar and processed food, and the fact that chronic consumption of highly inflammatory, disease-making processed food is perpetuated by Big Food sponsored-pseudo charities like the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Dietetic Association, now called the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

These trade-groups-disguised-as-benevolent-do-gooders practice, in my opinion, outright deception and fraud on the public.  Rather than promote eating that is truly healthy they promote processed food and then hide behind such misleading mantras as “everything in moderation,” “exercise to burn calories,” and “research says such-and-such-junk has health benefits.”  For the AHA, these heart-check endorsements are a major Ka-Ching, bringing in millions of dollars from processed food companies.  And to cite an equally egregious example, who sponsors the American Dietetic Association, or AND, the group that is lobbying for a monopoly on providing nutrition advice in the US? PepsiCo, Mars, Unilever, Kellogg, General Mills, Coca Cola and Hersheys.  I can’t make this stuff up, so see, eg, http://www.eatright.org/HealthProfessionals/content.aspx?id=7446&terms=sponsors

The truth is that countless millions of Americans are locked in a brutal addiction to sugar and blood-sugar-spiking processed carbs, and the mega faux-charities who reap millions from endless sales of crap like it that way.  This Passover and Easter season, if you want freedom from your sugar addiction, eat real food and avoid the processed stuff like the, uh, plague, no matter how many deceptive AHA heart-checks may appear on the labels.

Calling all nutritionists, physicians, nurses, therapists, addiction specialists, dieticians, and diabetes counselors.

A bulk discount is available for orders of “Farewell, Club Perma-Chub: A Sugar Addict’s Guide to Easy Weight Loss.”  It lists for $10 on Amazon, but for a limited time, bulk orders for ten or more copies will be just $5 a copy, plus S/H. This offer is not available through Amazon, only through the author.

The offer expires June 1, 2012, so take advantage while you can.  Your clients will appreciate the honest, straightforward advice and inspiration found in this gem of a girlfriend’s guide.  Just email your order to hijillescher@gmail.com, and you can provide payment and shipment information thereafter.  Another plus: all proceeds go to charity.  Please find a recent review here and podcast here.  Thanks!

I am in the midst of a fascination with the fashion designer/filmmaker/all-around genius Tom Ford.  When you look at videos or photos of Tom, you can’t help but notice his perfect skin and glowing good health, and ponder What Does This Gorgeous God of a Man Who Is About 50 But Looks 30 Eat?

   Tom Ford

Happily I found a little snippet about his diet buried in a transcript of a discussion between him and his friend, photographer Lisa Eisner.  It can be found here:  http://blog.bergdorfgoodman.com/womens-style/tom-ford-a-singular-man

We find out, surprise surprise, that he’s a very healthy eater who eschews soda and drinks only water.  But we also find out something else.  Read on:
—-

Tom Ford: …. I’m the same weight now that I was when I was thirty-three years old. I weigh myself every day. If I gain more than three pounds, I eat vegetables for two or three days until I get back down to my weight.

LISA Eisner: That is a health diet too . . . less calories and you live longer.

TF: Absolutely. I eat healthy foods. I don’t eat any fried foods ever. I never ever have ice cream; I probably haven’t had it in fifteen years. I eat sorbet instead. I definitely watch what I eat. Then, on top of it, I eat candy. [laughs] It’s true! I eat really healthy foods, but then at least once a day I eat some total piece of junk sugar.

LISA: And drink Diet Coke.

TF: Not any more. I quit because of the artificial sweeteners. I’d been trying to do that for years. I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t smoke cigarettes, I don’t do any drugs. It’s very exciting. A life on water . . . You actually discover that water has a flavor.

LISA: Yes?

TF: I’m kidding. Water is so boring! But that’s all I drink.

—-

So there you have it, the Perfect Tom Ford eats a shmush of sugar every day, and really, he does not seem any worse for it.  Now, if he ate the average American dose of 22 tsp a day along with a bunch of fries and Cokes I think the picture would be quite different–we might have a Tom with blotchy skin, bags under his eyes, a spare tire around the middle, and no energy for his many amazing creative pursuits.  But perhaps the lesson is this: if you’re eating right 90% of the time, a little plop of sugar probably won’t do much harm.  Sugar Addicts who fear cutting out the white stuff completely might aspire to the Tom Ford model instead of abstaining altogether. 

For those of you who share my admiration for the man, check out this fine little documentary from OWN:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsmJ_l4jZFQ.  Even if you care nothing for fashion you can’t help but be inspired at the man’s drive, creativity, and of course, complexion.

by Jill Escher

Last year when I visited my local doctor for an annual physical, I could not help but notice that not only was he fairly fat, his young female receptionist likely exceeded 400 pounds.  Though working in an office ostensibly devoted to the promotion of good health, she was so sick and disabled she could barely move from her chair.  When I quietly suggested to the doctor that he perhaps help his employee find treatment for a probable sugar or refined food addiction underlying the morbid obesity, he looked at me like I had three heads.  He had never heard of such a thing.

My doctor had of course been schooled in the idea that obesity results from eating too many calories and moving too little, that obesity is rooted in failings of willpower and character, and that real addictions were reserved for nasty foreign substances like methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine.  A solidly mainstream doctor, he sees no distinction between the physiological impacts of highly refined edible substances like sugar and white flour, and whole foods, like vegetables, eggs and meat.

So it was with tremendous pleasure and relief that I watched the DVD, “Dangerous Liaisons: Comfort and Food,” featuring a lecture by the noted addiction specialist Vera Tarman, MD, who has a long history treating people suffering addictions to a wide array of substances.  Based in Toronto Canada, it was through her work with drug addicts and alcoholics that Dr. Tarman became interested in the subject of food and sugar addictions, which she couldn’t help but notice followed the same patterns as more classic drug addictions.

   Vera Tarman, M.D.

The DVD lecture perfectly summarizes why refined food addiction is very real, and explains in layman’s terms how concentrated carbs — which are human creations not found in the natural world — can hijack the reward pathways in the brain just like drugs, creating an ongoing cycle of consumption and craving.  She also explains why the addiction recovery paradigm — including a focus on supported abstinence — is an absolutely necessary tool for any practitioner treating obesity, eating disorders, or other chronic conditions related to over- or under-consumption of food.

The DVD is available for $20 and is available at the Addictions Unplugged website, here:  http://addictionsunplugged.com/store/.  The lecture bears repeated viewing, it is densely packed with information tremendously useful to recovering addicts, physicians and other practitioners.  Highly recommended — if all doctors added addiction recovery to their weight-loss and diabetes toolbox, we’d have a whole lot fewer people suffering from chronic disease.

Twitter had its first Sugar Addiction Recovery seminar (Tweet-inar?) on February 29. @SugarAwareness (that’s me) sent out 22 tweets thumbnailing the problem, and the solution. In case you missed it, here’s the feed, below.  Spread the word, and be sure to follow @SugarAwareness for future Tweet-inars, thanks!

Welcome to the first Sugar Addiction Recovery Tweet-inar. Think sugar is your pal? Think again. 25ish posts to follow.

Sugar/starch addiction a pervasive problem, underpinning rise of obesity, T2 diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay, depression, cancer, etc.

We average 22 tsp/day of sugar, unprecedented from an evolutionary perspective. Our bodies are wholly unprepared for the onslaught.

We know sugar is bad for us, why don’t we just stop? Because we’re hooked.

Diets don’t work–deprivation leads to weight gain in the long term, and they leave the addiction intact. We need recovery, not diets.

Sugar addiction is drug addiction. A highly refined white substance that wreaks havoc on our neurochemical reward and endocrine systems.

Like all other animals, we are too sensitive and vulnerable to eat sugar and processed food; chronic consumption sickens and kills us.

Recovery starts in the heart, not the head. Whole-hearted acceptance of addiction leads to acceptance of some form of abstinence.

Abstinence (which might not be 100%) from sugar/starch lays groundwork for easy weight loss. Easy, indeed!

Weight loss is only difficult if we remain addicted to sugar/starch/refined carbs. Apart from that, it’s a piece of, uh, cake.

Willpower is irrelevant. We addicts can only heal by reclaiming our innate biochemistry from the invading forces.

Primary culprits are sugar, corn syrup, flour, cereal grains. But all starch turns into sugar and should largely be avoided.

Obesity is brain starvation — brain can’t sense satiety hormones. The way to rebalance hormones is through removal of sugars and starches.

Hunger is the enemy of weight loss. We need a highly nutritious, delicious food plan, with plenty of healthy fats.

Eat a lot. Include veggies, meats, fish, eggs, full-fat dairy, nuts, fruits. My own style I call “Lazy Paleo.”

Good fats include coconut oil, grassfed butter, avocado, nuts, olive oil, animal fats. No corn, soy, canola, vegetable oils — inflammatory.

Brussels sprouts in butter, grilled salmon, bacon, berries in heavy cream, chopped salads, this is the stuff of sugar addiction recovery.

How many more cupcakes do you need to be happy? Do they really make you happy? Or just give you a buzz?

Be like @livinlowcarbman, tell yourself “Sugar is rat poison.”

The toughest cravings will subside in the first three days. Then, normal biochemistry = normal food habits = healthy weight.

You will be relieved to be free from the white stuff, and abuzz with new energy. Some can even “cheat” a bit after a few months. It depends

Find ideas and inspiration at http://www.EndSugarAddiction.com, our all-volunteer website. Thank you for tuning in! No more TweetFloods for a while! xo

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Jill Escher is the author of Farewell, Club Perma-Chub: A Sugar Addict’s Guide to Easy Weight Loss, and the founder of EndSugarAddiction.com.

(Illustration by Melanie Hosoda)

Insulin is like a prison guard keeping our fat cells locked away, never to be set free, and exercise won’t help unless we also cut our insulin-spiking sugar/carb intake.

by Amy Berger

The recurring theme of this series on weight loss and psychology has been that carrying extra weight is not a character flaw. It’s not a sin, and it’s not a personal failing.  Contrary to what we hear in mainstream media, overweight people are not lazy, greedy, and undisciplined. In many cases, the very opposite is true.

Add together all the miles you’ve racked up on treadmills, bikes, and elliptical machines, and you could have gone around the world three times, right?  You practically live at the gym and you’d need a microscope to see the amount of fat you eat.  By your calculations, you should have lost so much weight you’d be invisible by now!

But what if you’ve been misled?  As we’ll see, remaining at the same weight despite being a regular fixture at the gym is simply the result of following the wrong information. Trying to lose body fat through exercise while eating a low-fat (and by default, high carbohydrate) diet is like trying to get at the money in a bank vault while there are ten armed guards in front of the door.  You ain’t gettin’ to the goods, no way, no how!

Think of insulin as the armed guards.  Insulin is big, he’s burly, and he is not going let you get past him to take the money (fat) out of the vault (your cells).  It is critical that you understand this: as long as insulin levels are high, you will not be able to burn your stored fat as fuel.  And what keeps insulin levels high?  Sugar and refined carbohydrates–exactly the kinds of foods you’ve probably been eating specifically because you thought they would help you lose weight:  fat-free muffins, low-fat yogurt, cereal bars, and “energy bars.”

Our bodies can run on a few different kinds of fuel, but the ones it likes best are glucose and fat.  The body can run just fine on either of these.  In fact, it’s constantly running on both.  We’re like hybrid cars that shift back and forth between gas and electricity:  we never run solely on glucose or solely on fat.  But, like hybrids, running on one generally means we aren’t running on the other.  So when we’re burning glucose for fuel, we’re not burning fat. If you had a brand of gasoline that got you 4 miles per gallon and one that got you 9 miles per gallon, which would you want to put in your car?  The one that gets you 9 miles a gallon would keep you going longer.  You’d have to fill up less often.  It’s more efficient.  That’s fat!

While our bodies are capable of running on fat or glucose, glucose is the “preferred fuel.”  It’s not that the body likes it better, or that it’s a more efficient fuel, but that our bodies will always choose to run on it first. Our bodies will use fat only when enough glucose isn’t available.  Indeed, our bodies like to run on fat. That’s why we’re so darn good at storing it–so we always have a ready supply.  We’re not good at storing glucose.  In fact, once our glycogen stores are full, excess sugar in the diet is actually converted to–you guessed it–fat!  The stuff on your hips, belly, and backside may very well be coming from the fat-free cereal and skim milk you had for breakfast.

So how can we get past the insulin gatekeeper?  We have to switch from being sugar burners to fat burners.  The way to gain access to those rich reserves of efficient, 9 miles-per-gallon fuel–the ones we store so conveniently on our thighs, hips, backsides, and bellies–is to deprive our bodies of glucose.  When we deprive the body of the fuel it “wants” (glucose), we give it no choice but to use the one it has–and it has plenty: FAT.

It should be evident by now how to make the switch from sugar burning to fat burning:  limit carbohydrate intake.  Once you become a fat burner, not only will your time at the gym be more productive, but you’ll be burning fat even when you’re not working out. Fat will be the fuel your body runs on most of the time, even when you’re just sitting around!  This is key, because working out is a temporary activity.  A one-shot deal.  You’re in the gym and you’re out.  But all the other things your body does all day long–even while you sleep–have to be fueled as well.  Just staying alive–breathing, digesting, blinking, sitting upright, your heart beating–constantly burns fuel.  So what’s more important: how much fuel you burn during your one, hour-long burst of a workout, or the fuel your body’s running on the other 23 hours of the day?

If the idea of hitting the gym–or even just getting up and going for a short walk–seems like a monumental hurdle, you are probably stuck in sugar-burner purgatory.  But when you switch to being a fat-burner, you’ll finally have access to all your fuel and you won’t be able to stop being active.  In fact, when people cut back on carbs, one of the first things they report is a huge boost in energy.  The truth is, you won’t burn fat because you’ve gotten active; you’ll get active because you’re burning fat! You’ll have the energy to exercise and move around because you’ll finally be allowing your body to run on its most powerful fuel! (Gary Taubes explains this beautifully in his book, Good Calories, Bad Calories.)

If you’re at your wit’s end, if you could win a Nobel Prize for calorie counting, and you’ve spent endless hours working out but haven’t seen any results, don’t despair.  It’s not that you’re doing anything wrong; you’re just reading the wrong instruction manual.  Whip out the new playbook I’ve been talking about.  By limiting carbohydrates, you’ll prime your body at a cellular level to use fat as fuel regardless of your activity–whether you’re out running or simply reading a blog.   

###
Amy Berger is earning a master’s degree in Human Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport. A proud U.S. Air Force veteran, Amy struggled for years doing “all the right things,” but failed to see any improvement in her health and physique. Through shifting to nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods and intelligent exercise, she has transformed her body and self-esteem, and plans to share the lessons learned with those still fighting the battle. She is especially interested in helping young women heal their relationships with food and serving as a source of common sense and sanity in the sea of nutritional madness. She can be reached at berger.amy1@gmail.com.

End Sugar Addiction will be posting a free Sugar Addiction Recovery Class, via a series of tweets, Wednesday, February 29 on Twitter.  So sign up to follow @SugarAwareness and get the full feed.  See you then!