So Long, Sugar…

So Long, Sugar...

I know the secret to great skin, and it’s not your beauty regimen, your Botox injections, or your age. The grisly truth is that it all comes down to what you eat. In some ways, this is kind of a bummer. (“What do you mean, no Flamin’ Hot Cheetos?!”) But in other ways, it is immensely empowering… And that’s not a word I toss around lightly.

It’s simple cause and effect. You are what you eat. To put it bluntly, if you eat shit, you’ll look like shit. And lately, I’ve been fulfilling both sides of the equation.

I can make all the excuses I like, but the truth is that despite eating well over the holidays, I totally lost it at the start of January. My sweet tooth got the better of me in a big bad way. Chocolate peanut butter gelato? YES! Blocks of toffee chocolate? MMMHMM! Endless chocolate chai lattes? UH HUH HONEY!

And predictably, I looked awful, and felt even worse.

I noticed a while ago that I would find myself searching out a sugary treat whenever I was feeling a little down. It was a quick, easy and inexpensive way to perk me up. But like many things that become a habit, the pay-off — that sugary high feeling — kind of stopped working, and yet I continued to do it anyway.

Those kinds of cycles can be hard to break.

So when my old friend Sarah Wilson emailed to tell me her I Quit Sugar course was open for enrollment, and that it all kicked off on the 30th of January, it took me about 3 seconds to tell her I was in.

I’m actually really excited to have a concrete reason not to eat the things I know I shouldn’t be eating anyway. Sure, it’s really tempting to buy a tub of chocolate peanut butter gelato, and there’s no denying it tastes good, but the way I feel afterwards is horrible. It’s just not worth it.

From doing similar programs in the past (namely the Clean Program), I know that I thrive when I have rules and regulations around what I eat. Some people are abstainers (“I never eat meat”), and some people are moderators (“I only eat meat on a Sunday”). I’ve learned, through experience, that I am an abstainer. I cannot moderate. If I have a “cheat day”, every day somehow becomes a cheat day.

I’m definitely not saying this is going to be easy. I just ate a bag of dark chocolate peppermint-covered pretzels, for crying out loud. But I think it’s worth making some (delicious) (peppermint-flavoured) sacrifices to look and feel great.

So, what do you think? Would you like to join me in kicking the sugar habit? Following a program like this is so much easier if you have someone to do it with, so do you want to be my buddy?!

So Long, Sugar...

By the way, no sugar doesn’t mean “no chocolate”. To prove it, the I Quit Sugar team put together this amazing I Quit Sugar Chocolate Cookbook!

Even better than that, I have five copies of it to give away!

Wanna be in to win? All you need to do is like my Facebook page, and leave a comment on this post telling me what change you’d like to make to your health this year!

Terms and conditions: Contest is open to everyone over the age of 18, regardless of where you live on the planet. You have until 11.59pm EST on Monday the 27th of January to enter. Winners will be notified on Tuesday 28th January via Facebook and will have one week to email to claim their prize. The prize may not be exchanged or transferred and no cash alternative will be offered. Liability cannot be accepted for entries which are lost in transit or not received due to technical difficulties. Gala Darling’s decision and any decision taken by the promoter is final and no correspondence will be entered into. No purchase necessary.

Love always,

Photos from ‘Moon Dust Is Icing Sugar’, POP S/S 2012. Frida Gustavsson shot by Daniel Sannwald.