Breaking Free from Carb Cravings with Connie Bennett

We explore the paradox of why we eat junk food when we know better with Connie Bennett, author of "Sugar Shock," "Beyond Sugar Shock," and "I Blew My Diet. Now What?" Connie shares her powerful journey from sugar addiction that caused 44 ailments to becoming a health coach, and then her relapse after losing her mother.

• Connie identifies 21 reasons people eat badly, including four major "binge triggers"
• "Heartbreak binging" occurs after losing loved ones, while "caregiving chomping" affects those caring for others
• Trauma can lead to "comfort crunching" while relationship changes may cause "divorce devouring" or even "contentment crunching"
• Navigating the "junk foods jungle" requires planning ahead with healthy snack alternatives
• The power of fractals in nature can reduce stress by 60% almost instantly
• Connie's "hug-hum-rock relief process" combines hugging, humming and rocking to eliminate cravings
• Meditation creates a foundation for better food choices and smoother daily functioning

Find Connie Bennett at www.connieb.com

To learn more about Mindy CLICK HERE

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Connie Bennett, Former Sugar Addict
• 6:07 44 Ailments from Sugar Addiction
• 9:28 Why We Eat Badly: 21 Reasons
• 16:10 The Junk Foods Jungle & Convenience Trap
• 22:01 Power of Nature: Focusing on Fractals
• 27:56 The Hug-Hum-Rock Relief Technique
• 31:50 Meditation as Daily Self-Care

Transcript

Mindy: 0:07

hey, friends, this is your host, mindy duff, and you're listening to up level your life with mindy, your number one personal growth podcast that will bring you closer to uncovering your greatest self. As a certified holistic health and nutrition coach, I created this podcast for anyone who desires to improve physically, emotionally and spiritually. I'll be interviewing experts and sharing tips and tricks that have helped not only my clients, but that have guided me on my own transformational journey. I believe that we all have a greatness that lies within. We just need to uncover it. Are you ready to level up? Then let's begin. Hi everyone and welcome back to Uplevel your Life with Mindy.

Mindy: 1:01

I am your host, Mindy Duff, and today I have a special guest with me. I'm going to be chatting with Connie Bennett and we're going to be talking about all kinds of things sugar-related and carb-related and all that. Why do we eat what we eat when we know better? But before we get into that, let me tell you a little bit about Connie herself.

Mindy: 1:20

Connie Bennett is a former self-mocking sugar and carbs addicted journalist, a motivational TEDx speaker and author of the best-selling books Sugar Shock, Beyond Sugar Shock and I Blew my Diet. Now what she's written for or been featured by hundreds of media outlets, including Time, CBS News, Sunday Morning, Oprah and Friends Radio, First for Women, Women's World, Women's Health and Forbes Health. Bennett is a certified health coach, a certified dream builder coach, a life coach and a practitioner of EFT emotional freedom technique. She is the founder of Bounce Back Boldly Boot Camp, which compassionately guides people to choose healthier foods while they become their best, bravest, boldest selves. See Bennett's relatable, motivating, entertaining TEDx talk how to Tune Out Temptation to Eat Better and Feel Better. Connie, welcome. So much to the show.

Connie: 2:18

Mindy, thank you so very much for having me.

Mindy: 2:20

And before we get into too much, I know I just read your bio, but I like to hear people describe what they do in their own words also, so tell us a little bit more about what it is that you do.

Connie: 2:31

Well, if you were going to characterize my bio, it was like there were two Connie's there was before sugar Connie, and there was after sugar Connie, or after, after. After garbage Connie. Garbage stands for carb garbage, Because up until I became smart about sugar and carbs, my life was driven by this like obsessive desire to have more and more and more of these really unhealthy substances. In my case, my substance of choice was sugar or carbs. But now, after sugar, Connie is more just, more together, more in touch, happier, healthier, more vibrant and more more dedicated to helping others, people to discover the kind of freedom, the kind of joy, the kind of excitement that you can have when you eat healthy.

Mindy: 3:34

Yeah, and I'm curious Now I know that you didn't always eat healthy. Obviously you just said so. What was, what was it for you that made the shift? What? What was your wake up call where you thought, okay, I can't do this anymore?

Connie: 3:48

Well, I actually had two shifts. So one was I was hooked on sugar. I was a journalist at the time, still am a journalist and I was. My day was like driven around deadlines. So I'd be like stuffing my face with like dozens of these hard candies oh, and they were low calorie hard candies, sugar filled, and uh, you know, I I was besieged by 44 ailments. So it got so bad that I just couldn't function anymore. So the catalyst for why I changed was I just I didn't feel well, who wants to have 44 ailments?

Mindy: 4:31

Right, so are you talking like anxiety or what? What were some of the things that you were plagued with from this sugar?

Connie: 4:39

Severe headaches, terrible anxiety. Yes, severe headaches, terrible anxiety, yes, depression, extreme difficulty concentrating. I would read things and then I'd have to read it over again, and then maybe I'd read it again. I finally would sink in and heart palpitations that came out of the blue. Oh, cold hands and feet. That was the weirdest symptoms. Just I mean one after another, after another, the heart palpitations. Those were very very scary.

Mindy: 5:48

It's just it was like a laundry list I literally have. For my first book, sugar Shock, my editor said make us a list of how many symptoms you had. So literally there's a list. Definitely messes with our systems in so many different ways, but you were able to kind of overcome that right and quit eating the sugar.

Connie: 5:57

More than kind of overcome that, I did overcome that and I was even helping other people to let go of their sugar and carb habit. And lo and behold, after the loss of my mother, it was with. It was as if all of my knowledge is kind of floated away into thin air. And I was pigging out on what I call carb garbage garbage, not sugar, mind you, what I call carb garbage garbage, not sugar, mind you. To this day I don't quite understand how I had the power to resist the sugar, but I went for the garbage and I was ashamed, I was mortified, I was just appalled.

Connie: 6:41

Here I am for a decade I'd been helping people to quit sugar and processed carbs and yet I had lost my power. I could not take control again, and that is what sent me on another mission, which is I had to discover why do I eat? So why was I eating so badly? And then how can I help others who also are eating so badly? So that's been my new mission and that led them to my most recent book I blew my diet. Now what?

Mindy: 7:16

Yeah, I think that's a very, very relatable story. I'm probably most people that are listening and I know even for myself. You know, when Connie and I met just a short time ago, I told her I was like, oh, you have to be on my show. I'm in the middle of a two week no sugar cleanse myself. Like as we speak at this moment and now, as we're recording this, that portion is done, but I'm still. I'm still off added sugars for the most part, just just because I mean it's better for me, I feel better and I can do it. But let's rewind to a month ago when I wasn't off sugar.

Mindy: 7:52

And how long have I been a health and nutrition coach and how long have I personally known that you shouldn't eat this and you should eat that? But yet I, I'm human and I fall into the same traps as everybody else. It's very common, it's very easy to do and I know when we're in positions like you and I, connie, we feel I should know better what's wrong with me. But there's a lot more to it than just like you did. I always tell people, you know, that an apple is healthier than an Oreo. Everybody knows that I can go into a kindergarten classroom and they would know that. But why don't we go for the apple every time if we know that it's better for us?

Connie: 8:34

and what are your thoughts?

Connie: 8:35

on that and those are basically. Those are some of the questions that have just obsessed me for years, because people know that you know fruits and veg or low sugar fruits and vegetables and whole grain. You know whole grains and and you know organic meats are better for you than these other. I'm not going to mention brand names, I never do that, I don't want to tempt anybody. We know that. But then why don't we eat better? So, basically, for the for the last seven years, I've been determined to discover why do people eat so badly? And what I've uncovered are 21 reasons that people eat badly. Or I call it blow your diet, but it's not really like you're necessarily on diet, but just why do people eat badly is how I refer to it.

Connie: 9:29

And one of the absolute biggest reasons is the loss of a loved one, which is exactly what happened to me, literally within minutes okay, maybe hours of losing my mother after the most grueling, heartbreaking year of my life. I call it my bittersweet. Last year, with mom, boom, I just rushed those carbs like they were just my salvation which of course they weren't and that went on for months and I couldn't stop myself. I didn't have sugar, but I just was stuffing my face and within a few months I'd gained 21 pounds. I developed insulin resistance, all those ailments that we talked about before they all came. Most of them came rushing back. I wasn't having sugar, so it wasn't quite as bad as it was before. I didn't have 44 ailments I think I counted it was more like 35 ailments but from the carb garbage that I was having, boom. All the ailments came back and it made me angry. And again I'm supposed to know better. I'm a health expert, I'd written two books about sugar, and why did this happen to me?

Connie: 10:45

So, as far as the 21 reasons, so, one was the loss of a loved one. So I was doing what I now call heartbreak binging. It's when you eat in this like fast, frenetic, frantic way. I mean you have lost a loved one, your world comes to an end, so to speak. Another reason that people may do what I call one of the four big binge triggers is you are a caregiver, so you may be doing what I call caregiving chomping. Another reason is that you may have gone through some kind of trauma at some point and you may be doing what I call comfort crunching. And then another one has to do with relationships, and we know how difficult it can be when a marriage or a long-term relationship dissolves, and so that can lead to something that I call divorce, devouring, breakup, binging, or even this is kind of an interesting one even if you're in a happy relationship, your relationship can lead to a different kind of eating. It's like contentment crunching.

Mindy: 12:09

Yeah, that one sounds kind of funny, but I know, when I first started dating my husband, we definitely I know we both gained weight because we were just happy and let's go out for ice cream and let's do all these other and go out for yeah. So that sounds silly but it's very real.

Connie: 12:25

Yeah, I mean relationships are just a big, big reason that people eat badly. So those are what I call the four big binge triggers. But there are a number of other reasons as well. For instance, I mean, one of the biggest reasons that people overeat is basically they are out and about in a place that I call the junk foods jungle and you know, you hop in your car and you're going to pass by a donut store or you're going to pass by, obviously, the grocery store or gas station, whatever temptation is going to surround you and confront you at every single turn, and so, basically, that leads people to make bad, just bad, bad choices.

Mindy: 13:15

Yeah, I would say one of the things that was one of many, that was my biggest downfall more recently was the convenience factor. Just fact of the matter is, eating healthy is not quite as easy in our environment as eating junk. I mean, that's just reality of how it is. Right now, and I am away from my home, a lot Kids have football practice and band practice after school, all kinds of different stuff, and having to eat out of our car all the time. And man, it was just so. It's very hard to always pack everybody's supper in addition to packing everybody's lunch, and that convenience really just kind of sucked me in, whether it was fast food or prepared things at the grocery store and whatnot. But that's another very real reason, I think, that people kind of fall off the bandwagon, so to speak.

Connie: 14:13

I think really that's the number one reason.

Connie: 14:15

It's interesting that you mentioned convenient, because I literally say that.

Connie: 14:19

You know, one of the big number one reason I believe that people eat badly is temptation, and you were tempted by when I say you, I don't mean you, Mindy, I mean like you, as in all of us out there you know you're tempted by fast, easy, convenient munchies in the junk foods jungle.

Connie: 14:38

And you raise a good point about how what you need to do is, anytime you go out there or run errands or go someplace, you need to have like a bunch of healthy snacks to pack. And I mean we've all fallen prey to that where I've been like, oh my God, you know, I didn't know this errand would take me as long as I thought it would and all of a sudden I can feel my blood sugar dropping and I'm like absolutely frantic for food and it's at least I know a couple of things that I can have, you know, that are healthy, that can tide me over, Like, oh, there's a hardwood egg I can go buy. But so that's why it's imperative to have like your little healthy snacks bag with you at all times, Just to be your standby, just in case anything happens yeah, I think that that right.

Mindy: 15:39

There is an excellent tip just just have that emergency granola bar, whatever it is, it's for you in your purse all the time. Um, that's gonna save you.

Connie: 15:49

I know, I don't even I don't even think in a purse I mean literally having an extra bag, separate bag. Okay, for instance, I eat these things called Nick's sticks, little protein things. There's no sugar in them. You can have a little package of sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. You can bring some almonds. You can have some hard boiled eggs with you, maybe some celery sticks, just something. Oh, you can even buy. Some companies make little instant bone broth so you can bring like the little packet of bone broth with you. Yeah, yeah. So, in order, in order to keep yourself healthy, I mean, you have to be vigilant.

Mindy: 16:36

Yes, and this is not a plug for Nick Sticks, but Nick is, he is from Iowa and I am from Iowa and I have had the pleasure of meeting Nick in person and he is not only making a quality, delicious product but he's a top-notch guy. So, like Nick Sticks, all the way from me, from me here. So but yeah, you're absolutely right when I was doing this two week sugar cleanse you know, for me it's summer and I'm not personally as busy, but my kid I used to have a kid that plays baseball and so we're gone to baseball games a couple of nights a week and I knew that during the summer this is a great time for me to do this cleanse because it takes a little more time in the kitchen and I've got time to do that now and I felt weird sometimes riding along in the car on the way to a baseball game eating my, you know, salmon and cauliflower rice or whatever it was.

Mindy: 17:31

But I'm like there's nothing for me to eat at the ball field, there's nothing for me to eat at the convenience store, there's nothing for me to eat at the convenience store, there's nothing for me to eat on the way, you know, here and there. So it takes a little extra preparation, like you're saying, to pack your snacks and whatnot. But I think once you kind of figure out what your snacks are and what foods that do fill you up, and that you know that you can feel nourished, by then it's not quite as much work. It's just that initial mental oh, what am I going to eat? If you plan that ahead of time, I think you're in better shape.

Connie: 18:09

So I want to make the point that there's a reason that you want to eat better foods. There's a reason that you want quality foods Because I like to say that when you eat better, you feel better. When you eat better, you have more energy. When you eat better, you can concentrate better. When you eat better, you can get along better with people. So there is a reason that you want to be careful about what foods you're packing with you and you're having when you're out, out in the go, and you're out having fun during, you know, the summer or whenever, or whatever, whenever you're out there doing things that you enjoy. If you, if you go out there and you're at some event and you are having those you know event and you are having those you know ultra processed hot dogs and who knows what the heck is in them, uh, and you're having, uh, chips and and just a whole and and candy bars. You know your moods, you, your moods could tank.

Mindy: 19:11

so there there goes, the family fun yeah, and I think sometimes people think well, I don't want to, I'll feel left out, or I'll you know if I'm not eating X, y, z? No, you won't that. That doesn't. It lasts very briefly Um, excuse me. And then, once you're, I don't know as long as you're eating, like who cares what you're eating, as long as you're full, right.

Connie: 19:35

Yeah, I mean, it's just. I just would like people to think about every time you put food into your mouth, it is affecting not just the way your body is going to function, but it could affect your moods and your emotions and your energy levels and your energy levels?

Mindy: 19:59

Yeah, definitely. So I am 100% behind your idea of you know, packing, having the snacks with you all the time, because you never know. But what are some other ways, some of your other favorite tips? Maybe that people can start doing so that they're eating healthy more consistently? I think that's a big deal. We eat healthy for a few days and then by Friday we've fallen off the wagon and we're eating pizza and junk again. So what are some of your favorite tips that really have been helpful for you and your clients?

Connie: 20:28

So I think the first, the first thing, is to excuse me, understand and know your. Why like? Why are you eating better? Why like? Why are you eating better? Excuse me, I think the first thing to do is to know your why. Why do you want to eat better? Do you want to have more energy to hang out with your family? Do you want to be able to do better at work? Do you want to be able to you know enjoy this, this long, long, long bike ride or jog or run? Once you know your why, then you can.

Connie: 21:05

So you're tuning into that all the time. Every time you are eating, you are thinking about what I eat is going to make my life better. Then there are some tactics that you can use when you do get tempted and, let's face it, we are going to get tempted. So there are some really fun techniques that I've discovered while I was working on this book. I Blew my Diet. Now, well, one of them is it's a very, very fast tactic that can help you to prevent a binge and that is to focus on fractals, and fractals are what are called fingerprints of nature. They're found in trees and leaves and branches, and ocean waves, seashells, sand dunes, coastlines, clouds, and what's so fascinating about these fractals? So think about it and you go into nature and you just start focusing on these wonderful. You know birds soaring, you know trees swing and boom. One researcher told me that the effects of fractals are almost instantaneous, so literally just watching fractals can reduce your stress by 60% and they bring joy.

Mindy: 22:27

That's interesting. Is there a limit on like how? Or I shouldn't say a limit, but is there a certain amount of time? You know, you said it's almost instantly, but is it? You know you need to do it for five minutes or 60 seconds or 10 minutes? How long do we need to stare at these fractals? You know?

Connie: 22:43

there there's, there's differing recent research. Basically, you know, just enjoy your time outdoors, I mean, and I don't want people to have to time themselves, but literally you go for a walk for a half hour or an hour or whatever, and those, and you know, out in nature and those fractals are going to calm you down. And what do we all want? We want to be soothed in this very stressful world. I mean, just think about, think about the last time you went for a walk outside in nature and how did you feel? Yeah, and then think about how did you feel if you went for a walk in a, an area that was like full of pavement and you know, no nature, no trees. And there was some really interesting research I found you do not get the same effects in nature that you get in it, like a pavement, you know, in an area that's full of pavements yeah, I would believe that there is.

Mindy: 23:47

I've mentioned this before my podcast. There's a state park not too far from me and it's like once I get out of my car, it's like instant, I can just feel it like around me. It just like lifts everything, like sucks all the stress right out of me. And I do enjoy going for walks in my town I live in a very small town with lots of trees but it's not the same. I mean, it's enjoyable but it's not not as instant.

Connie: 24:11

I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm fortunate in that I live I don't know maybe a five minute walk from this really beautiful park and it's like full of trees and you can see the ocean. It's just like, oh my goodness, I go there and it's like, ah. And then, of course, on the way there it's like this really steep hill. So I'm kind of huffing a little on the way up. I'm getting good exercise as well as calming myself with just seeing all these wonderful, wonderful fractals.

Mindy: 24:48

So that's really interesting. I've not heard that specifically about the fractals before, so I love that. I mean it's intuitive, it makes sense, so that's a great tip. So reducing our stress is going to reduce some of those cravings that are stress-based, the cravings that you know you're. You're eating this, you're not hungry, you're just looking for that comfort. So go looking for the fractals, like Connie says here, would be a great step there. But what about some of some other tips? For when you're eating is not due to just stress, you're junk eating, I should say, um, maybe it's just literally it's suppertime and you want to go to McDonald's because you do.

Mindy: 25:28

How do we stop wanting McDonald's?

Connie: 25:33

That's a good one. Um, before you leave your home, before you leave your home, just tune in to what it is you really really, really, really really want. Do you want to eat those hamburgers Again, I don't mention brand names, so I'm not talking about that brand, that company you just mentioned or would you like to be healthy? So I have a technique that I developed and you can do it before you know that you may go into a tempting situation, and I call this the hug-hum rock relief process. Let me tell you briefly how it came to be.

Connie: 26:26

So. It was after my mom had passed away and I was eating carbs like they were going out of style. But in particular, I had one particular kind of carb that I liked the best, and that was movie popcorn Crunch best. And that was movie popcorn Crunchy greasy, salty movie popcorn. That was like my go-to junk food and I was like Pavlov's dog go into the movie theater, see the popcorn, crave the popcorn. Pig out on the popcorn. And one day I was just like I have had enough of this. I know better. I should be able to control myself.

Connie: 27:08

So I sat in my car. I wanted to still go to the movie. I really did need to escape. I'd just been through a very grueling time. So I sat in my car and I turned on a CD it was a calming CD and I listened to it. And then I started to put my arms around myself while I'm listening to the CD and then I started moving and kind of rocking a little and then I was like touching my shoulder or maybe my head oh, connie, it's okay, you've just been through a really rough time Anyhow. So I did that through two songs. So basically I was doing hugging and humming and and touching myself. Anyhow, I went into the movie theater and for the first time in months I did not have any movie popcorn. I did not want any. The temptation had literally vanished and I was like, oh my goodness, what the heck just happened? How did I do that?

Connie: 28:27

So then I went back to the drawing board and I did research and I uncovered all this absolutely fascinating research about the powers of humming and hugging and rocking, and when you put all and so all together, like it may lower cortisol or it may release dopamine or it may trigger oxytocin with the hugging, and I was adding all of them together and I was like creating this kind of cornucopia of comfort, and so basically, that is a tactic that you can use before you leave home when you know that you're going to go into a tempting situation. Now, as far as how long this takes, you can, you know, go through, you go through one song and play it once or play it twice, and it really almost sounds like way too easy to work. It really does, and that is exactly why I wanted to feature it. That is exactly why I created it, Because we are face-to-face with fast, easy, convenient temptations.

Connie: 29:42

So what we need to do is we need to create and use some fast, easy, convenient tactics to counter all those fast, easy, convenient temptations. So the hug hum rock relief is a really fun thing. You can do it with your family before you head out and say, hey, let's just have a, you know, hug hum rock relief party before we head out, to do, you know, whatever it is we're going to go do. So that is, that is one of the one of my favorite techniques.

Mindy: 30:11

Yeah, I love that. I like that it's free. I love that it's as quick as you need it to be. It's something accessible to everyone and it's something that you know. You say you could do it with your family or, if you feel weird, you could do it in your car. Nobody needs to know that you did it before you go into, whatever the situation may be. So that that is a really interesting tip, but again, like very science backed in in why that works. So that's fantastic If you are listening and you're like man, that wasn't enough tips. I need more tips. I'm going to encourage you to just go out and check out Connie's book I blew my diet, now what? Or her other two books sugar shock or beyond sugar shock. I'm sure she's got. Just get the new one. Well, sometimes, sometimes I like to read the new one, but then you have to go back and read the other ones too. There's always something in there.

Connie: 31:04

Just get the new one. There's more good information. No, I blew my diet. God you're not supposed to like. You know, talk about which book you like best, but I really think I blew my diet. Now, what is better than my last two books but it's different Because I blew my diet really confronts the fact that you know we may fall flat on our faces and then how do we pull ourselves back?

Mindy: 31:30

Yeah, which happens again to all of us, for sure. So, connie, before I let you go today, I do have one final question. This is something I ask all my podcast guests, and I love it because everybody has a different answer. What is one thing that you wish everyone on the planet would do in regards to their own well-being?

Connie: 31:49

Well, actually my answer probably has nothing to do with food. I would say meditate. I've had a meditation practice on and off for over I don't know 10, 15 years, but what happened was when my mom was dying, somehow I forgot to do it and literally so I listened to a Jon Kabat-Zinn CD yeah, I'm old school, I like CDs, what can I say? And so I literally the very first thing that I do in the morning is I turn on this Jon Kabat-Zinn CD and for 10 minutes we meditate together. And I've noticed I mean, I've tested this out there have been days I've missed it and on days I do not meditate, I don't know, things just don't flow as smoothly as they would. And even in terms of food, I mean, you know, I think you just make better choices when you meditate, so you're focusing on your breathing and you're just calming down at the beginning of the day and you're just like centering yourself, you know. And so I would say meditate.

Mindy: 32:54

I love that answer and, as someone who also has meditated and not meditated and meditated again, I've noticed that same exact thing. Things just don't always flow and sometimes you don't realize it and you're like wait a minute, why is this day going this way? Oh, I didn't even meditate today. It's kind of a. So I I'm with you on that one. Connie, thank you so much for being on the show today. If people are listening and they're like, hey, I want to know more about this lady, where can they find you?

Connie: 33:22

They can go to my website, which is wwwconniebcom, so it's conniebcom.

Mindy: 33:32

And I will be sure to leave that link in the show notes so they can just find you with a click of a button. And thank you so much for being a guest today, mindy. Thank you so much for having me and everybody else that's listening. I hope you've learned a couple new tactics so that you're staying away from the garbage and up leveling your diet a little bit. And wherever you're at today, I hope you're having a fantastic day and I will catch you on the next one. Fantastic day and I will catch you on the next one. That's it for today, friends. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe or, even better, leave a review and let me know what resonated with you the most. The more you tell me what you love, the better I'm able to create future episodes with even better content. I'm sending you so much love and light. I'll see you in the next episode.