Made of sweet stuff?

I've been having a challenge with myself these past 3 months to see if I could dare myself to go completely sugar-free. I was inspired to cut out all the unnecessary sweetness out of my diet and so, being my naturally competitive self, I felt I had to go without these sweet treats for a significant amount of time... and THAT is how I find myself, somehow, almost at the 3 months checkpoint of surviving with no sugar!

It hasn't been easy - there are those days when it seems that everyone in my life has been TRYING to make me suffer! Take today for an example - My English teacher, great as he is, decides to come up with a 'Freddos on Fridays' chocolate eating frenzy time each week in class, while I sit there staring at the fan or finding great interest in the graffiti crafted into my desk. Then one friend of mine bakes these AMAZINGLY delicious chocolate brownies (well I'm sure they are delicious...!) and shares them with everyone in our group. After school my mum takes my sister out to muffin break for a chocolate chip muffin, and then my parents announce that we're hosting a 'desert night' at our house with another family, and will be making baklava, banoffee pie, and ice-cream. So yes, today is just one of those days when it seems like the whole world is made of sweet stuff.

Not to fear! My birthday is near! "Why is this news so terrific?" You might ask. It is terrific, my dear friend, because my birthday will mark exactly 3 months of the challenge, and is when I am hoping to finally end this sugar-free madness that I talked myself into! My birthday is also Easter Sunday, and so they'll be plenty of chocolate on hand to quench my thirst for all things sugary! I have about 3 weeks to decide upon what kind of birthday cake I want, and I can't help but dream about what it will taste like!

I'm thinking this cake would taste fantastic:

On a second note, however, I have seen lots of benefits in my life to going without sugar for a while. I feel healthier, and though it may be hard, there are lots of benefits to cutting out even small parts of sugar from your diet. One of the most significant changes for me has been that I no longer get pimples on my face (or anywhere for that matter), and I have had people come up to me and say that my skin looks so much healthier and seems to be naturally 'glowing'. (I have no idea what kind of scientific explanation could be given for the glowing, but I'll give sugar-free the credit for it!)

I've also developed better eating habits now, and am more accustomed to being okay with saying, "No thanks" when offered something sweet. (Previously my motto was: 'If there's free food being offered, take it!') I have learnt a lot about what types of foods contain the most sugar, and have even found out that some foods I had believed to be healthy were, in fact, full of unnatural and processed sugars.

So don't get me wrong, sugar is great! Everyone needs a bit of it in their diet. But there really are some unnecessary sugars that we feed into our body, and many of us don't even realise just how much sugar is in some things! Take a can of sprite for example. I'm sure you've all heard about the outrageous amount of sugar that goes into coke, but like myself, you probably assumed that sprite was better - lemon flavoured fizzy water, right? Wrong. Did you know that in one 340g can of sprite, there are 9 teaspoons of sugar? 9! It really makes you think twice when you're thirsty and you go looking for a drink, doesn't it?

While this whole challenge has definitely been, uh, challenging, I've gained a lot more knowledge about nutrition and sugar in foods. I'm more aware about these things now, and I know that long after this challenge is over I'll still be checking out the nutritional content table on the back of food packages.

Now begins the count down of 23 days until my birthday! I'm actually rather worried about how my body will handle sugar after all this time... Some people say that their body can't cope with the sudden change and they end up getting sick, while others say that they feel great after tasting sugar again! I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I'll take it easy for a few days... I mean, who wants to get sick on their birthday, right?!

My biggest worry is the food my friends are planning for me at school - I've had so many people come up to me and say: "I bet you're just so excited to eat sugar again -You know what? I'm going to bake you double fudge chocolate brownies on your birthday!" (and other likewise exclamations, to which I try to look thrilled and secretly think, 'oh great' as I begin to feel sick at the thought of having to eat all that sweet stuff!)

Anyway, don't take for granted all the sweet things in your life right now! Make the most of every moment that passes you by...

Goodbye for now :)