This giveaway is now closed. Thanks so much for participating!
Giveaways are a common occurrence in the gluten-free blogger world. When I first started on this path, the very first giveaway I won was for a copy of Ricki Heller’s Sweet Freedom. At the time, I was already familiar with many natural sweeteners – honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, sorghum syrup. But, Ricki introduced me to a whole bunch more – coconut nectar, palm sugar, stevia, and yacon syrup. I realized I had much to learn about eating a refined sugar-free diet!
I quickly fell in love with Ricki’s blog – Diet, Dessert, And Dogs, and have adopted many of her techniques for limiting the sugar in my diet without compromising taste.
And, now you have an opportunity to learn from Ricki and her friend and co-teacher, Andrea Nakayama. Andrea is a functional nutritionist from Portland, who, like many of us, took a family health crisis as an opportunity to learn all she could about nutrition. Her website – Replenish PDX – lays out her personal nutrition philosophy. A quote I love:
I believe that the body yearns to heal itself. My mission is to open the channels to welcome this nourishment and revitalization.
And, now Ricki and Andrea have teamed up to present an all new course, Sweet Victory. Sweet Victory is a 2 week course, starting March 24th, that takes an in-depth look at sugar cravings and what to do about them from a physiological as well as emotional standpoint. It begins with a kickoff teleseminar call the first day with Ricki and Andrea introducing the course materials and providing their perspectives and information on sugar addiction and kicking the habit. Then there are 2 weeks of a sugar cleanse including menus, recipes, charts, some notes from the class, and full 24/7 support via a discussion forum (participants can post any time and both Andrea and Ricki are on the board 2-3 times a day to answer questions and provide feedback). The final Saturday of the course there’s another call with both teachers for about an hour. Both calls are recorded so participants can listen in later if they missed it, or just listen again. Included in the materials is an earlier home study course that Andrea created called Sweet Tooth Bitter Truth. That one outlines all the different types of sugars and how they affect your body.
And the recipes – oh boy, the recipes!
I’ve had a sneak peek at the recipes, and believe me, these are recipes you want! Delicious, wholesome, whole food recipes that will have you forgetting that you’re on a cleanse. For example, you’ll get the recipe for this amazing, grain-free granola. (Hint, there are veggies in there!)
Grain Free Veggie Granola, coming at ya
And, lest you think you’ll be deprived of treats, many of my cookie and dessert recipes would fit right in on this sugar cleanse. (There’s a reason Ricki asked me to host this giveaway. 😉 )
The course is valued at $227 (though you can sign up until Saturday, March 17th for just $197). But, one of my readers will get the course for free. That’s right! A 2-week jump start to better health, all for free. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me how sugar affects your life.
The contest is open until midnight, Monday March 19th. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, March 20th.
Good luck!
Want to improve your odds? Head on over to Hallie’s Blog, Daily Bites – or Cara’s Blog, Cara’s Cravings – for another chance to win.
The Mommy Bowl 
I tend to get low blood sugar easily which makes me CRAVE sugar, which i then indulge in usually via dried fruit, but that then starts the cycle again!
Deanna, thank you so much for this fabulous write-up! We’re so happy that you’re hosting it for someone to take part in the cleanse! I know almost anyone can benefit from clearing out the sugar and gaining strategies for healthy eating. And yep, I think your dessert style and mine are perfectly compatible. 😀
Thank you for your insight! I have been craving sugar forever … I have learned why refined sugar is so bad for me but I chicken out when I should be stronger in changing my ways! I’m addicted to it … I need it when I get emotional ~ happy or sad! It seems to make everything better until the next morning when I see the bloat!
I appreciate being able to read blogs like yours (and Ricki’s)! It gives me opportunities to incorporate some healthy eats while I’m living my unhealth-ful life! Thank you and keep up the good work!
I have just discovered your blog and I am so excited!!! I’ve recently switched to gluten free and the more blogs I find that have great recipes the better!!! I’m also trying to cut out and replace sugar. I don’t eat it often but I struggle in the winter because I crave hot chocolate. I also struggle around that special time each month and I go right for a bar of dark chocolate or I make something with chocolate in it. I’d love to be able to make foods that curb those cravings and also be able to make dishes around the holidays that won’t make me feel guilty afterwards.
What a great giveaway! Sugar effects me in mood and over all health. I love the sweetness but my body feels horrible after I indulge and often leaves me with a huge headache; diabetes and a sweet tooth runs in my family. I want to share a healthier diet with out sacrificing taste with them.
Andrea’s cleanses are awesome!! I’d love to do this one too!
Oh and I was clean of sugar for a while and felt amazing but it snuck back in on a Disney Cruise (imagine that?!) and I’ve been struggling to get back on the sugar/gluten free wagon ever since!!
I used to weigh 320. I lost it all through dropping refined crap and sugar, changing to low carb and working out. I dropped to a healthy 150. Now I have come back to 177. I am in a relationship with someone who eats carbs and stays thin. It is so hard not to eat like he does. So, in the last several months I have gained this back. My mood sucks, my sex drive sucks, I feel less confident and beat myself up. I am Native American and when I eat sugar I immediately feel anger and anxiety–yet, I do it!!!! Ugh. I am so scared of riding the scale up again. I already have PCOS and borderline diabetes…where is my self control??!??? Help.
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Wow! Just started an anti-candida diet/regime and have been stalking Ricki’s blog for ideas. In addition. I’m battling to keep my HgA1C in check, and avoid the adult on-set diabetes genetic predisposition; working toward immune system health, thyroid/hormonal balance & more. I started pursuing health in my early 50’s (better late than never) and as – approach 60 I see so much more to learn & am excited to see my son & his wife eating healhy, whole foods — and sharing ideas & recipes with them! TMI — sorry — but I’d love to win this!
I can’t wait to try that granola! I added your link too. Thank you!
This sounds perfect for me. I lost 96 pounds but when I learned that I have allergies to gluten and dairy, I have struggled to keep that weight off. I knew just what to eat and how of it to consume. Now, I dread mealtimes and struggle to stay satisfied and keep the weight off. This would be an awesome blessing.
What a wonderful opportunity. My husband has diabetes and a sweet tooth. Not a good combination. Sugar also negatively effects my digestive system. This would be a wonderful way for me to learn how to improve both of our health.
I’ve struggled with sugar cravings for a long time. I’ve overcome it somewhat, but would love to really kick the habit.
Sugar is really affecting me right now, I have some candida and I am trying to figure out how to live without sugars for awhile. I could really use this for the extra support.
Would love to participate. Thanks for the opportunity to face one of my weaknesses head on. In addition to having a sweet tooth myself, my daughter has had cane sugar and all it’s many forms come up on her allergy testing. Of course with the limitation of sugar and other foods, I’ve become a more avid label reader when I shop. Amazing how many foods have sugar in them. We have found the best option to be homemade which has impacted the whole family in a wonderful way. I would love to have more recipes in the old tool box as we continue on the journey!
Sugar is not my friend and I’d like to learn skills to leave him behind!
After years of no sugar, I “fell off the wagon” unintentionally when I was diagnosed with pancreatitis at 15 weeks prego. Unfortunately the only thing I could keep down was anything white! I have a happy, healthy little boy now, but my eating habits have gone down the drain. I’m back to being a sugar fiend and it makes me feel so yucky… yet I can’t stop! Please help!!!
I crave sugar all the time, whether it’s sweets or fruits. I think I have Candida. I want to do something about it, but the cravings are so intense. I don’t feel satisfied unless I give in and at least have a piece of fruit.
Sugar is a vicious cycle of highs and lows and even though I know that, I still put it in my mouth! Hoping this course could help me break the cycle!
Most of my sugar intake comes from fruits and veggies. I am celiac, so I don’t often get really good bread or desserts. I’d love to win this course to broaden my food planning and choices!
What a fantastic giveaway! Sugar makes me just want more sugar. I try to get most of my sugar from fruits but would love to learn more about how sugar effects my body.
Sugar is the elephant in my diet so to speak…I’ve been able to make positive changes overall, however, this one has me stuck in a cycle. I’d love to win this and have some help along my journey!
I would love to finally end the control sugar has on my health!
This is a fantastic giveaway. I am constantly thinking about sugar because as a Social Worker I work with individuals experiencing mental health issues. Due to the medication they are on, sweets are frequently craved and so many are unable to manage their cravings and how have diabetes, some even metabolic syndrome. I’d love to learn ways to conquer cravings so I can help those less fortunate take charge of their health.
I would love to attend sweet victory!
I eat healthy, I exercise, I love healthy wholesome foods, and I don’t eat lots of sugar because since it gives me massive headaches.
So, I try to avoid it as best as I can, but one thing that gets me is the day to day temptations. It is hard not to have sugar when you have a 9 year old son who likes it and sometimes wants to share the happiness of having ice cream along with you.
I want to pass along to my son that eating everything in moderation is ok, I don’t want to send a message that he cannot eat something, so when it comes to sugar and he wants to try a new treat with me I go ahead and do it, or if he offers me something to try, I try with him. I love trying all kinds of foods with him (he is pretty adventurous!), and that apply to sweets too.
Plus, sometimes I am alone in the house studying or working and I feel the need for a little sweet, something to make me happy, and having sweets around makes me end up eating them too.
I believe that learning to detox your body of any substance is a very good skill to have and learning how to conquer this day-to-day challenges, and how to maybe find alternatives for the sweets available (for both me and my son), would be a wonderful skill to have! Especially since I would be able to apply it to other eventual cravings and “addictions” that might surface, and will enable me to teach my son how to reach for better options when it comes to sweet foods/treats.
This sounds like a great opportunity, and I would love to be able to participate in it! This is a very valuable giveaway!
Thanks!
Ana
I did my first sugar cleanse at the beginning of the year and it made me feel fantastic. I finished the cleanse and was determined to keep it up but sugar has slipped back into my diet and I’m starting to feel it. I try to limit my sugars to natural sources but even too much of these can have an effect. I’d love to be a part of this program to learn how to break sugar’s hold on me!
When I was pregnant, I developed gestational diabetes. So I was told to exercise daily and drastically reduce my sugar intake. I managed it, and lost 40 lbs in the process. (I was overweight to begin with so I thought this was great!) After the baby was born, I was too tired to exercise or bake treats using alternative sugars – and my sugar cravings came back with a vengence so I put all the excess weight back on (so I’m now back to my original weight and obese again). Diabetes runs in my family and I’m worried about (and too scared to find out if) I have developed diabetes. I need to understand what’s going on emotionally for me now about craving sugary foods; (I’ve proved that I can curb it in the past when it was important to do so, so why can’t I curb it now?)
I hope I win a free place on the course, as I can’t afford to pay for it right now, while I’m not working.
Thanks so much for sharing your ideas and recipes! I try not to indulge too much with refined sugar, but do have it often enough to look for alternatives. I am strongly thinking of doing a cleanse once I complete run training 🙂
I have been battling candida for over a year now, and 3 months ago started on the Anti-Candida Diet (ACD), which doesn’t allow any sugar (including fruit). I have been struggling with this diet, because sugar is in so many things, and I do miss treats. Especially since I just recently moved out on my own (starting my Master’s Degree) and so not only do I have to learn how to live on my own, but also adopt a whole new and restrictive diet. But I feel a lot better on this diet and so I am going to continue on it. I would just really like some more food ideas, for every meal of the day, I am getting into a rut of the same few foods. Ricki’s website has been a tremendous help, as before I found her site, I had no idea how to do the ACD diet while vegan – as all other sites tell you its not feasible to be vegan – something that I am not willing to change about myself.
I have learned so much in the past 3 months embarking on this new diet, and now realize that sugar can have such a huge and unhealthy impact on your body. I would love to win this giveaway so that I can continue to learn and be inspired along my healthy path.
Jillian, we have so much in common. I felt like I was all alone moving to a new city and having to change my diet so drastically! (Doing ACD as well.)
Kate – I am sorry that you seem to be in a similar situation, it isn’t the best way to start off in a new place 😦 I hope you are getting the hang of the ACD diet. Maybe the stress of our moves to new places had in influence on the bacteria overgrowth!
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sugar causes so many cravings in my life and lots of guilt…when I stay sugar free my thoughts are more balanced and I live in much greater peace…I would love to get to the place where I am craving free…
Ah sugar… As I have gotten older I have realized sugar has been an enemy of mine for a long time. Let’s see, car sickness, emotional roller coasters, headaches, and weight issues all from sugar.
My daughter, 5, now suffers from severe headaches when she eats refined sugar.
Basically, life is better when sugar is absent
This class would be amazing right now. I need some healing in my life. Sugar makes my Fibromyalgia flare up so badly, but I can’t seem to “break the cycle”. Sounds crazy, I know, but I need help.
I have Chronic Lyme so candida is an ever present threat. Probiotics help but honestly, avoiding sugar is the solution, plus I don’t have the blood sugar swings and just plain feel better!
I am really struggling with my health and I know its because I eat so much sugar. I’ve craved it all of my life. I have been on a health roller coaster for the last year and a half. I am online tonight at 3am because I’ve had enough. I can’t keep feeling like I have poison in my body and feeling so fatigued that I want to just cry. I need help 🙂 I would love to win! It would be a tremendous blessing to me!
Thanks so very much!
Sincerely,
Natalie
Oh wow, this is just EXACTLY what I need. I have had fibromyalgia for 19 crappy years, and lately I am craving sweet and carb-rich foods so much! I know that part of it is needing the energy, but then it is a vicious cycle of needing more again and again! I need help!!
What a wonderful giveaway! Thanks for posting it, this would be a tremendous blessing to win for any of us who want to get off of sugar. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us, they are fabulous!
Hi
I would love the opportunity to participate in your amazing cookery course.
Love and best wishes
Najia x
i would love to win this…everything night i scour the kitchen for some sugar that I may have forgotten was there!! just end up eating chocolate covered raisins and justifying that they aren’t that bad for me! (if i can keep the amount in check!)
Sugar is like poison for me. I have hypoglycemia and diabetes runs in my family. I don’t feel well at all when I eat it. I get depressed, and zonked out tired. I have been trying to do a candida cleanse on my own but the more I say I am not eating sugar, the more I crave it. I am not working right now, so I would love this gift:) thank you for the opportunity!
Hi there, I’m finding out lately how much my diet has been affecting my anxiety. The main ones are dairy and sugar. I’ve been learning to control my anxiety in other ways (meditation techniques, exercise,etc) but it isn’t enough. I need to sort out my diet and make a serious lifestyle change here. And besides, I don’t want to be dependent on sugar! This course would be a great tool. Thanks for doing the giveaway!
I’ve been addicted to sugar for years and would love to rid myself of this habit once and for all. I consistently look for ways to be healthier and would love to do this in the company of like minds!
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Would love to do another class with Andrea, she is full of wisdom and the most delicious recipes!
Unfortunately sugar is my nemesis and I eat/crave it constantly. Sugar causes my energy level to rise and fall and it negatively affects my mood. I would greatly benefit from this class!
It sounds wonderful!
~Cinnamon
Sugar affects my life because I can’t get rid of it. I’m writing a thesis right now, which is kinda stressful (ha! Understatement!) and I’ve resorted to constant snacking in order to keep me at my computer… Which means that I’ve been having way more sugar than usual, and of course, the more I have it, the more I crave it. I just want to get rid of it without feeling like I’m missing something! 😦
What a stunning giveaway! Not only for the dollar value, but for the life changing opportunity. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want to take control of their sugar, rather than being controled by it. Thank you so much!!!
Sugar affects my life because it is everywhere, and often in places I don’t want it! I want to reduce my consumption that’s for sure
Sugar is so hard to give up, I have been trying for a long time and despite feeling so awful after eating it I keep doing it, ugh!
Feel soooo much better when eating healthy…need discipline and something to get me back on track! Program looks great 🙂
OH my- this sugar thing has affected me so much today! I usually try never to buy/eat protein bars, but today, I’ve eaten 7 luna + cliff bars. The sugar is so addicting!
I have struggled with sugar cravings for awhile and see the negative effects on my skin. i would love to learn more about this detox and some healthier alternatives!
2 years ago after downing a whole bag of gummies in one sitting I began to feel like I had the flu. My tummy hurt and I felt as though I was going to… It left me feeling cruddy for weeks. I had been eating sugar for energy especially after my third child arrived and I was trying to keep up with my almost 2 year old and 3 year old. I did a lot of searching on the internet about sugar and could find not find any link to how I felt and was very frustrated. I have since been working towards a healthier and less sugar craving lifestyle. And beginning to feel the results. Decreasing sugar and increasing nutrition is key to our happiness and health.
I’d love to have this opportunity. Sugar frustrates me constantly. I eat it, and feel sick, but want to eat it again…it sucks 😛
Since finding out I’m intolerant to gluten, dairy, eggs, and a number of other common foods, I’ve managed to completely clean up my diet and I’m now free of food addictions and eating nothing but whole foods – except when I cave into my sugar cravings! I try to stick to the rawest and most natural sweeteneres possible, but I’d like to end the cravings completely. It’s the last thing I need to conquer before I can be completely happy with my diet!
I find when I eat a sugary dessert my muscles get tighter and I am more tense. I am really trying to cut it out but this course sounds like a great help.
I found that sugar was giving me digestive issues, so finding alternatives is extremely important to me. I love DDD, too, so I’m can’t wait to see what else Ricki has in store!
Greetings:
Thank you for such a gracious offer. Medical reasons require me to be very cautions wilth food, and sugar is one of those things. It’s nuts, but it’s real. Me and a brother in law….which I worry his children up and coming, my nieces. We so badly need to pick up the pieces before the girls are affected. Thanks for this offer
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I am just starting to get into all of this and am so glad that there are blogs like this and DDD to help. For years I have been told by the medical profession “Your a mother and mothers get tired”.
Thanks for sharing and having offers for people.