So, it’s been nearly two weeks into the no sugar diet which I’ve put myself on in the hope that it would improve my skin (and health in general). It hasn’t been easy I can tell you and there have been many temptations along the way, most of which I’ve gallantly avoided. One of the biggest challenges was last weekend when my mum made an amazing chocolate cake…and then proceeded to ask me to ice for her. Seriously? Are you kidding me? You expect me to take a spoon, load it with thick, creamy, freshly made chocolate cream icing and cover that delicious looking, amazing smelling just baked chocolate cake with it? AND NOT LICK THE SPOON?!! Well, I did it, and I didn’t lick the spoon. It was torture.
But, I confess, I am not as virtuous as I seem. I have cheated. Not with chocolate, but with alcohol. The weather was just so gorgeous last Friday afternoon that it seemed impossible to resist sharing a bottle of wine with my friend when I met her for dinner. In penance though, it gave me a horrific stomach ache. Ignoring that warning sign I proceeded to drink far too much the following night while out for a friend’s birthday. At least I did my best to stick to only vodka with fresh lime and soda water to minimise my sugar intake. Even so, it was definitely cheating and I paid the price on Sunday with the mother of all hangovers. (Didn’t take enough NAC. It would have required half the bottle to save me that night to be honest!)
Not to give myself a reputation of a complete alcoholic (I’m not, promise!) I did also indulge again on Thursday at a work event. Come on, there was free champagne! (well, Prosecco)…what’s a girl to do?! Aside from these slip-ups, I’ve been pretty good *pats herself on the back*. My only cheats have been the odd bit of regular (yeast containing) bread and a bit of ketchup. Oh, and I did have a small helping of fruit salad when we went to my boyfriend’s house for dinner and I felt awkward announcing my detox to everyone and rude not to eat the food that had been prepared.
Confessions aside (phew) I am really pleased so far with the results. I haven’t had a single spot in the last two weeks and the couple I did have at the time of starting this have cleared up. This is a real improvement for me as I am prone to having some sort of breakout on my face (not loads, but there are always one or two nasty red ones waiting to rear their ugly heads). As I mentioned at the beginning of this experiment, I was also experiencing dry and flaky skin around my nose, mouth and chin which, through self diagnosis, I believe to be due to too much yeast/bacteria in my gut. This wouldn’t be present in the morning but would appear and worsen throughout the day. I have to say the problem hasn’t completely gone, but I’ve seen probably a 50% improvement. Some days I hardly notice any dryness but there’s usually a little. Not surprisingly it was worse the days after my drinking binges episodes…
The only thing I would say I have really craved is some dark chocolate. The thought of milk chocolate actually doesn’t appeal as having had little to no sugar that feels like it would be overwhelmingly sweet. A bit of quality dark chocolate though is making my mouth water. Only two more weeks to go…*sigh*
