No sugar for Katie

If there's one thing we can all agree on its that I'm certainly no health food freak. I enjoy a generous serving of fried food fairly regularly and if I could, I'd put bacon on everything I eat. Don't get me started on the joys of pizza, hamburgers and butter.

Fried pickles, twice baked potato and a chili cheese burger at the Haunted Hamburger, Jerome

What won't I eat?

Processed sugar.

Why? Because it makes me feel gross.

Back in October I enjoyed two tasty desserts in one single day; a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie with lunch and fresh pizookie with dinner. By the time I went to bed that night, I wanted to throw up. The sugar was doing terrible things to my stomach, my energy levels and my general comfort. I couldn't help but think that something causing so much pain couldn't be good for me. Right then and there I pledged to stop eating less sugar and by golly, I've done pretty well.

I began to turn down dessert options and by New Year's, was ready to cut them out altogether. I've always preferred spicy and salty to sweet and sugary anyway so the adjustment was pretty painless. After three months of near-abstention, I can hardly get through a Hershey's kiss, let alone anything more substantial.

Turns out, there's another good reason to give up sugar. Recent research has concluded that participants with lower levels of sugar in their body on average appeared to look 20 years younger than those with higher levels. Now, don't get me wrong, the participants in the study from Leiden University were aged 50 - 70; I don't think my not eating sugar will make me look like I'm five. What it will do though is keep my skin fresh and my stomach not upset. Let's be honest here folks, I already spend enough time in the sun, my skin would appreciate a little help here and there.

So, despite those tasty treats that co-workers continue to bring to the office, no sugar for Katie!