As you may have noticed, my blogging all but stopped over the last couple months. There are several reasons for this. First, I started a new business called Sales Energetics, LLC where I am helping sellers and entrepreneurs eliminate their internal blocks so they can maximize their external results. Additionally, I’ve been spending a lot of time with my special lady-friend. So much, in fact, that I asked her to marry me and wouldn’t you believe she said, “Yes!”

I thought you might enjoy the story, so here is a full account of the occasion:

After a regular day of shopping at the mall, I dropped Jamie off at the hair salon. An hour later, I picked her up and she asked if we could go to Banana Republic. I said, “Sure, we’ve just got to get on the highway.” About a half-hour later she asked, “I thought you said it was in Lansing, we’re almost to Brighton & Howell. Where are you taking me!?”

She then guessed we were going to the Outlet Mall, but we passed that exit. Then she became convinced we were headed to the 12 Oaks Mall in Novi, but I took the exit toward Ann Arbor. “Are we going to the Briarwood Mall?” she asked. Every time she asked I would alternate replies like, ‘I wish I could tell you.’ ‘If only I knew’ and ‘I’m not at liberty to discuss that information’.

When we eventually passed the exit for the Briarwood Mall, she really started to break, “Where ARE you taking me!!?” “I don’t know Baby, but I think it’s going to be a while, so here’s some food in case you get hungry….” I then pulled a big bag with dinner for us out of the back seat that I cooked the night before. As we said grace, I added, “Lord, if you know where we’re going, could you PLEASE let us know!?” That was a really fun one because then I could ask, “So, did He say anything yet?”

When we arrived in Ohio and I took the exit toward Toledo, she started to guess, “Oh, I know, we’re going to Mass at the Cathedral aren’t we??” But she then realized we just ate dinner, so going straight to Mass wouldn’t have worked into that equation because you don’t eat for an hour before Holy Communion. On top of that, when we passed that exit, I made a big deal of it saying, “Well, if I remember correctly, THAT’S the exit for the Cathedral, so if we were going there, I think we should have gotten off here and turned left, so who knows what’s going on??”

This really drove her crazy and only a few minutes later, it was time to exit. I started to get a little nervous because I remembered they have huge signs directing you to the zoo and I knew that’d be a dead giveaway. Luckily, when we passed the first sign, she was looking down taking care of our food. The same thing happened when we passed two more signs.

Finally, we pulled in and paid for parking. She still had no clue where we were and asked, “Why are all these cars here on New Year’s Eve? Where are we?” I directed her attention to the sign in front of us to the right and she read, “Merry Christmas…Welcome to the…Toledo Zoo???”

As an aside, Jamie LOVES animals. It’s absolutely adorable to ride in a car with her because every time you drive past a farm, she will excitedly exclaim, “Oh my gosh look at the horses, they’re SO CUTE!!” And if it’s wintertime, you get bonus cuteness when she adds, “Awww, look at their little sweaters, they must be cold…”

So, parked, got our tickets, and walked inside. That is when the night really began. As we came across the pedestrian bridge and got our first look of the whole park lit up, it was simply outstanding. Gorgeous lights for as far as you could see on a calm, clear, winter night, I really couldn’t have asked for a better night for what was about to go down. Walking down the bridge into the park, there was a split second when I felt myself starting to get a little misty-eyed, so I thought, “Come on James, pull it together man!” I did and the night moved on.

We went into the reptile house and I was simultaneously freaked out by the huge snakes and the uneasiness in my stomach from being so nervous. I covered it up nicely, though, and Jamie was none the wiser.

After the reptile house, we started making our way to the aquarium, but on the way we encountered a HUGE light display that was synchronized to a medley of Christmas music. We sat and watched the lights and she said, “James, I’m SO in love with you!” I replied, “I love you SOOO much too Baby!” and in my head, I thought, “You have no clue what’s about to happen.”

We moved on and into the aquarium. At this point, I knew we only had an hour left in the park, so I was trying to keep us moving through their very large and very impressive display of waterly creatures from around the world at a decent pace. Then, at 8:30 p.m., as we were looking at a big green eal, an announcement came on, “We hope you’ve enjoyed your time at the Toledo Zoo. The Zoo will be closing in 30 minutes.” I knew it was time to get moving, but Jamie said, “Come on, take a picture, I want to send it to my sister.” As calmly as I could, I said, “Well, we really should get moving, there’s LOTS more of the park to see and I want to see it all.” She didn’t argue and we came out the back door of the aquarium.

We bundled back up and continued our walk, only to turn the corner and find an 80-foot tall Christmas tree with 32,000 lights on it. I said, “Baby, we should get a picture in front of the tree.” “Ok,” she replied. So, I snagged a young guy walking by with his wife and daughter. The tree was so big, they had to stand a few feet back to get the whole thing in the shot, which really worked out for me. Jamie went to get in place for the picture and I leaned into the guy, handed him the camera and said very discreetly, “I’m about to propose.” I then realized I just unlocked a new dimension in the Man Code I had yet to see as he gave me a serious look and nodded his head as if to say, “I got this brother!”

I went back to get into the shot with Jamie, but he asked, “Wait, how to I get it to turn on?” I went back, showed him, and added very quietly, “Get a couple good ones.” Again, very confidently, he looked me in the eye and gave me a strong-subtle nod. It happened so quick and Jamie was too busy getting ready for the picture, so she didn’t see anything.

We got in place for the picture and he snapped it. I asked, “Wait, can we get one more.” “Yeah!” he replied. I then turned to her, opening my jacket to pull out the ring, and got on one knee. I’m not exactly sure what I said, but I believe it was somewhere along the lines of, “Jamie, I love you and I want to be with you forever. Will you marry me?” She screamed nodding her head and I asked, “Is that a ‘Yes’?” And she yelled, “YES!”

I jumped up, hugged her, and kissed her as a crowd of on-lookers began to applaud. I got the camera back from the guy and he and his wife congratulated us.

Our last stop was the rainforest greenhouse next to the tree where we sat on a bench in the back corner and I came clean with her on the whole occasion. I told her the story of the ring–which is another miracle story–and told her about how I planned it all out and asked her Mother for her hand in marriage. That was when she really started to cry.

The woman working there was just awesome. She took our pictures, shared our joy, and even gave Jamie a big hug as they rejoiced in a very special moment of feminine bonding that up to that point I had only see in movies and television.

As we wound our way out of the park, I was filled with the greatest sense of joy and peace, SO thankful that everything worked out so perfectly. Just before the bridge to go back across to the parking lot, there were speakers playing Christmas music, so we stopped and had our first dance as an engaged couple. Word must have spread throughout the park at that point because everyone walking by was congratulating us and calling us “Love Birds.”

As if that wasn’t perfect enough, we drove back to Ann Arbor, calling our families, and ended up at a HUGE New Year’s party where tons of our friends were. The first group of four girls was probably my favorite as they said, “Oh my gosh, you changed your hair, it’s so gorgeous,” and Jamie replied, sticking out her hand, “Yeah, but I’ve got something more exciting than that to talk about.” They all screamed and the madness continued.

We counted down, kissed (LOTS), and then said good-bye to everyone so we could make it back to Lansing at a decent time. I thought we would head straight home, but Jamie asked, “Do you want to go to the adoration chapel?” I couldn’t believe I didn’t think of it myself, but I very happily said, “YES! Let’s take our marriage to Jesus.” She said, “Yeah, take it to Jesus before facebook, that’s our motto!” LOL!

We arrived at the IHM Adoration Chapel at around 2:30 a.m. Beautiful oversized snowflakes filled the still night sky as we entered. We kissed quietly a couple times and then opened the door holding hands tightly as we approached Jesus and knelt down. After a few seconds, I laid face-down praising Him for everything He has given me in Jamie. As she continued to kneel on the floor, I got up and into the kneeler on her right. She leaned her head on my arm and we locked eyes. I wish I had words to describe that gaze. Kneeling in front of the Blessed Sacrament–JESUS!–with my future wife and sharing that love for each other in a simple smile that spoke volumes–it was amazing.

Throughout 2009, my mantra was, “The greater the cross, the greater the glory!” By this, I mean, the harder things get, the better off you are. That may sound crazy, but just think about it for a moment. Who suffered more than anyone in human history? Jesus. Where is Jesus today? Sitting at the right hand of the Father. Next to Jesus, who suffered most? Obviously His Mother Mary who watched Him be brutally tortured and executed. Where is she now? She’s the Queen of Heaven. So, as things got harder and harder with family issues, money issues, nutritional issues because of money issues, the more the pendulum swung into the pain, the more confident I became.

Well, it’s 2010 now and the glory has begun! I’m going to marry the girl of my dreams and to top it all off, just before I picked her up from the salon, the BIGGEST account I’ve been working on getting into that will launch my business into another galaxy called and said, “If we’re going to do this, we’re going all in.”

What a phenomenal beginning to a year that is sure to be the best of my life and a decade that will take Jamie and I places we could have never imagined possible.

PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really don’t have all the answers when it comes to solving the obesity epidemic. It’s easy to say that people need to break free from their sugar addictions and take full responsibility for their lives, but exactly how we can convince individuals to do that across society is still open for debate.

Some people think, like tobacco, soda should be taxed to the point that nobody can justify drinking it any more. On one hand, I can understand this argument because smoking has declined since it started being taxed so heavily. However, I know plenty of people who still smoke and I don’t know anyone who specifically quit because of the tax.

If you’ve read this blog long enough, you also know I’m a huge fan of Ron Paul, so I have some Libertarian leanings. As a result, it’s always difficult for me to justify raising any taxes and encouraging a “Nanny State” society. At the same time, it seems that we pay either way. If we do nothing and obesity rates continue to climb, healthcare costs will rise exponentially and everyone will pay. Yet, if we tax soda, yes taxes go up, but only those who choose to drink the poison are affected. You can see my dillema.

Enter Steven R. Gundry, Medical Director and Found of The International Heart and Lung Institute in Palm Springs, California.

Writing for the Huffington Post yesterday, Gundry proposed, “There are two ways to slow obesity: One, limit where and when simple carbohydrates can be used (it worked in World War II). Or two, tax the consequences of their overuse. The first choice is legislatively improbable and not within the government’s jurisdiction but the second could work.”

Gundry goes on to argue, “It is only when the result of overusing simple carbohydrates becomes unpleasant that the epidemic will be reversed. We pay by weight for much of what we want so we should pay by our own physical weight too. Bananas are purchased by the pound, our airline luggage has weight limits and financial penalties, and the trucks that carry our cargo is taxed according to weight. It only makes sense that if we want to be fat, then we should pay a tax to cover the consequences to society we know are coming. Taxing the consequences of behavior (the overuse), not the behavior itself is a better solution.”

Needless to say, this article has generated considerable discussion. Again, I don’t have all the answers, but I find this to be an intriguing solution that at least calls for people to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. It will be interesting to see if opinions like Gundry’s gain any ground.

I just uploaded my first ever YouTube video and I’m thrilled! Please, check it out, leave some comments and share it with everyone you know. I’m trying to get to page 1 on Google’s “Sugar Addiction” search and having a video with plenty of hits will certainly help out!

According to CBC News, new findings from Yale University show, “…that cereals marketed directly to children have 85 per cent more sugar, 65 per cent less fibre and 60 per cent more sodium than cereals marketed to adults.”

It could be easy to dismiss these finding as a blatant statement of the most obvious facts, but I think it’s extremely helpful to get the raw numbers laid out like this. Maybe people will start to wake up and realize the garbage they are feeding their children.

It can also be easy to push back and dismiss these findings saying, “Come on, sugary cereal is just a part of growing up.” However, scientists recently demonstrated, getting hooked on sugary foods can permanently alter your taste buds. I am certain that had I not been raised on Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispes with a cup of sugar poured on top, I would probably would not have grown up to make cookies and cream milk shakes that filled the entire blender several times a day. And, if that were the case, I also probably would not have ended up with a crazy roller coaster weight problem.

Our kids today are no different. If we want to do away with childhood obesity, we need to stop writing off things that are killing them as a part of the culture of growing up. Cap’n Crunch was introduced to the market in 1963. Smoking cigarettes in school classrooms was still an accepted practice back then. Today, we know second-hand smoke causes cancer, so people don’t do that anymore. Yet, we now also know that sugar leads to diabetes and obesity, but for some reason we still gladly start our kid’s days with just that.

Does anyone else see the disconnect here? Can we look around at the state of our children’s health and realize that sugar addiction is killing them MUCH faster than second-hand smoke ever did?

Here are a few shocking statistics as the CBC reported them in the side bar of the story…

Cereals the industry classifies as ‘better-for-you’ foods:

- Cocoa Puffs: 44 per cent sugar.
- Cap’n Crunch: 44 per cent sugar.
- Froot Loops: 41 per cent sugar.
- Lucky Charms: 41 per cent sugar.
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch: 32 per cent sugar.

Key findings:

- The average pre-schooler sees 642 cereal ads per year on television alone, almost all for cereals with the worst nutrition rankings.
- Companies make heavy use of online marketing in the form of websites and “advergames.” The General Mills website, Millsberry.com, averages 767,000 unique young visitors a month who stay an average of nearly 24 minutes per visit while Post Foods averages nearly 265,000 young visitors monthly on its site, Postopia.com.
- Kellogg — the most frequent in-store advertiser — averaged 33.3 promotions per store and 9.5 special displays for its child and family brands over the four-week period examined.
- General Mills markets to children more than any other cereal company. Six of the 10 least-healthy cereals advertised to children are made by General Mills, including the advertised cereal with the worst nutrition score: Reese’s Puffs, which is 41 per cent sugar.

Washington Wizard’s All-Star forward Caron Butler used to drink at least six 12-ounce cans of Mountain Dew every day. He finally decided to break his sugar addiction at the beginning of the summer and then he lost 11 pounds.

Butler chronicled his experience blogging for NBA.com.

“A lot of people don’t know I’m a Mountain Dew addict so I guess this is my confession.

To try and give this up was CRAZY for me! I was going through withdrawals. I was in the bed sweating. My wife would turn over in the bed and ask “Are you OK?” .Honestly, those first two weeks without The Dew was the roughest two weeks of my life. I’m talking headaches, sweats and everything. Before that I drank at least six 12 ounce Mountain Dews a day.

It was so bad at one point that I had to have a cold one right there at the night stand before I went to bed. I had to get the coasters and let it drip a lil’ bit and just have it waiting on me. Come 2 a.m.., I’d wake up out of my sleep, I’d pop one open and hear the fizz sound…and just down it!  Then I always had to have another one in the morning when I woke up. Before practice I had one too and before games I would knock back two.”

When I saw this headlined on Yahoo.com, they called it a “strange addiction.” Unfortunately, even as some of the public begins to catch on to the destructive power of sugar, sugar addiction still gets people laughing.

However, a Mountain Dew addiction is anything but strange. One regular 20 oz. Dew contains 77 grams, just over 18 teaspoons, of sugar and 92 milligrams of caffeine. As someone who used to practically have a Mountain Dew Amp I.V., I can say that, if anything, getting addicted is the normal reaction when a substance contains that much sugar and caffeine.

So, congrats Caron! Here’s to hoping that a few kids follow your example!!

Fad diets come and go, but every now and again you hear about one that is so absurd, it’s hard not to laugh.

Enter the sugar addict’s dream; Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet.

You read me right; for $56 a week, you get to eat six cookies a day and one ‘real’ meal that brings your total consumption for the day up to no more than 1,000 calories. Yes, if you would like to starve yourself and enjoy some delicious cookies while you do it, the Cookie Diet is what you’ve always been waiting for.

The New York Times reports that, according to Dr. Siegel, about 500,000 people have lost weight using his technique. As you might predict, business is booming, “He expects 2009 revenues to be $18 million, up from $12 million in 2008, thanks in part to endorsements from celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson.”

The problems with this “diet” are too numerous to mention in one post; however, the most glaring is that it presupposes you can have just one cookie. As I mentioned yesterday, for me, that’s simply not possible. While there are no hard numbers on the percentage of the population who are like me, if you walk down the street and look at what people are eating and how big they are, I can’t imagine it’s a small number.

I would like to know how many people have lost weight on his program and actually kept it off. Moreover, I would love to find out how many people eat all of the cookies in the first two days and end up fasting the rest of the week; that approach should help you shed the pounds quick!

Dr. Siegal is, in effect, profiting from other people’s weakness and ignorance. People should know better, so I guess he has every right to do that. Anyone naive enough to try something so ridiculous probably deserves to be out a few dollars.

I just wonder how a doctor could sleep at night as he encourages people to starve themselves for cookies and weight loss.

I recently discussed the need to take personal responsibility in maintaining your health. I believe that no matter how poor or disadvantaged you may be, you always have the opportunity to take control of your life. If you are determined to be healthy, nothing will stand in your way.

This video highlights Debra, a mother from Harlem, who is living proof of this philosophy. Debra’s daughter experienced trouble growing because of the food she was eating. After learning about proper nutrition and providing it for her daughter, Debra decided not to stop there. This social worker looked around her building and saw several other children with similar challenges. So, each day, she feeds 12 hungry kids on a very limited income.

The Huffington Post quotes Debra saying, “I couldn’t allow these children to eat poorly anymore. These kids were eating a steady diet of friend chicken wings from a takeout place, pork-fried rice, French fries, and soda. One mother fed her children that exact meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two whole years.”

The article goes on to state, “She takes buses to far away stores and farmers markets to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. She makes meals from scratch. Her mantra is to serve her daughter and the other children the freshest, healthiest foods possible so they can grow to be strong individuals. She even coaches other moms in her building and gives them healthy cooking tips.”

Here’s to hoping more parents follow her lead. If they did, obesity and sugar addiction could be gone in no time.

Nice Work Debra!!

I can’t have just one cookie. Before I kicked sugar January 12th, 2006, if I had one cookie, I would eat the whole box. Then, I would drive to the grocery store to buy some ice cream. On the way there, I would stop at Taco Bell and on the way home I would stop at Wendy’s. In short, I’m a sugar addict.

With the obesity crisis we face in this country, it’s amazing that anyone could be skeptical about our ability to become addicted to food. Americans often times don’t use common sense and frequently need scientists to tell them what to think before they believe anything. Luckily, scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida are on the job.

ScienceNews.org reports, “Junk food elicits addictive behavior in rats similar to the behaviors of rats addicted to heroin, a new study finds. Pleasure centers in the brains of rats addicted to high-fat, high-calorie diets became less responsive as the bingeing wore on, making the rats consume more and more food.”

Scientists fed one group of rats Ho Hos, bacon, and cheesecake, and another group standard high-nutrient chow. No surprise here, “Rats that ate the junk food soon developed compulsive eating habits and became obese.”

Researchers used electrical stimulation to activate reward centers in the rats brains. If they wanted more pleasure, they could run on a wheel. The more they ran, the more pleasure they got. Interestingly, the junk food rats ran more, which showed they needed more stimulation to feel good.

As the experiment unfolded, the junk food rats saw, “‘profound reductions’ in the senstitivity to their brains’ pleasure centers.’” As a result, they ate more and more to attain the same level of stimulation, much like drug addicts have to up their dosage to get the same effects.

After a while, pain couldn’t even stop the junk food rats.

“…the researchers exposed the rats to a foot shock when they ate the high-fat food. Rats that had not been constantly exposed to the junk food quickly stopped eating. But the foot shock didn’t faze rats accustomed to the junk food — they continued to eat, even though they knew the shock was coming.”

Perhaps the most fascinating part of the story comes when they tried to get the junk food rats to go back to a healthy diet.

“When the junk food was taken away and the rats had access only to nutritious chow (what Kenny calls the ’salad option’), the obese rats refused to eat. ‘They starve themselves for two weeks afterward,’ Kenny says. ‘Their dietary preferences are dramatically shifted.’”

So, the next time you’re trying to justify feeding your kids garbage because, “Oh, they’re young and can burn it off at that age,” remember you could be altering their dietary preferences forever and setting them up for a lifetime of struggle.

p.s. I believe the “high-fat” focus of this research is misguided. These findings speak much more to the addictive nature of the sugar in the food they were feeding the rats, particularly its affects on their brain chemistry. But, regardless of their focus, the outcome remains the same.

Everyone knows sugar addiction and obesity is costing Americans billions, but every time that statement is made, it refers to the general population. Well, according to the Associated Press, obese people are starting to experience the real cost of their condition in dollars and cents.

“As the nation battles the obesity crisis, ambulance crews are trying to improve how they transport extremely heavy patients, who become significantly more difficult to move as they surpass 350 pounds. And caring for such patients is expensive, requiring costly equipment and extra workers, so some ambulance companies have started charging higher fees for especially overweight people.”

It can apparently cost up to two and a half times as much to transport obese patients. Between the additional workers involved and all of the expensive equipment (like the kind shown in the picture above), it adds up quick.

Joseph Nadglowski, president of the Obesity Action Coalition, pushes back saying, “Ambulance services are a critical public service and should accommodate the needs of all of those who require them at a fair cost.”

However, it just seems to make sense; if you cost more to move, who else should pay for it?

The rise in sales the kind of equipment needed mentioned is shocking, “…specialized lift systems nationwide are expected to reach $193 million by 2012, up from $75 million in 2004, according to EMS Insider, an industry newsletter. The sale of specialized stretchers is expected to nearly double to $50 million in 2012.”

So, by losing weight, you will not only greatly reduce your risk of caner, diabetes, and heart disease, but you will also save yourself some cash if you have to take an emergency trip to the hospital.

“Earlier this year, Michael Pollan posted a request for reader’s rules about eating on Well, Tara Parker Pope’s health blog. Within days, more than 2,500 responses were received…”

There are quite a few good ones, but my top three were:

1. From my Romanian grandmother: “Breakfast, you should eat alone. Lunch, you should share with a friend. Dinner, give to your enemy.” – Irina A. Dumitrescu

2. “You don’t get fat on food you pray over.” This is from a friend who points out that meals prepared at home, served at the table and given thanks for are more appreciated and more healthful than food eaten on the run. – Carol Jackson

3. Avoid snack foods with the “oh” sound in their names: Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Hostess Ho Hos, etc. – Donna David

Of course, I’d have to say #3 takes it for me, but that’s the one that most directly deals with sugar addiction.

Check out Pollan’s 17 other favorites and see which ones you might be able to start applying today.