Food has been a big part of my life for a long time. I would always cook with partners, enjoy food with friends, I could spend hours talking about food and thinking up new recipes… I was a foodie through and through. And I think I still am, but something has definitely changed.
My dad used to say that I didn’t have a sweet tooth… “you have a whole sweet mouth!” Dessert has always been the one for me, when other people are getting excited about posh bread and savoury flavour combinations, my eye was always on the dessert menu. And now, even though I can make some amazing desserts at home (check out the list at the bottom of this post), it’s rare to find a totally sugar and syrup free cake out and about. And maybe that has made eating out less exciting for me, which is really sad!
It’s my birthday coming up, and the idea of making my own birthday cake so it’s sugar free is totally fine – I usually am the resident birthday cake maker among my friends. But I’ve noticed that trying to pick a restaurant to go to for a birthday meal just isn’t getting me going in the same way that it used to. Maybe it’s because I’ve become more disciplined with food, maybe I’ve just changed my perspective on it and I no longer enjoy the indulgence – although even as I’m writing the idea of that feels wrong. I still love food, but I feel like the spark has gone.
I’m left feeling a bit nonplussed by the whole affair, despite really wanting to celebrate my birthday this year (which I haven’t been too fussed about for the last few). So is it to do with sugar? Or is it just because I think I’ve eaten everywhere in Bath now…?
I don’t know what it is, but I’m not sure that I like it. Quitting sugar has been a great experience, and I don’t think I’ll know what to do when this official ‘challenge’ period is over on the 5th August. By then I will have been sugar free for 66 days, and it really hasn’t been as difficult as I thought it would.
How about you, have you been inspired to quit the white stuff? Or is it just too good to give up?
Before I go, here are some amazing recipes I’ve stumbled across (and not make any of yet) in the last couple of weeks:
Raw vegan choc brownies: http://bhfood.org.uk/recipe/134-chocolate-coconut-date-walnut-bars
Banana coconut cookies: http://bhfood.org.uk/recipe/146-banana-and-coconut-cookies
Spiced apple granola bars: http://bhfood.org.uk/recipe/147-spiced-apple-and-cranberry-trail-bars
Raw carrot cake: http://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/raw-carrot-cake-cashew-frosting
Peanut butter mousse (anyone who knows me will know how much I love peanut butter): https://dessertswithbenefits.com/healthy-peanut-butter-mousse/
