Cutting out Sugar

I might have a bit of a problem with sugar.

I used to take down a donut a day in Toronto....

Cupcakes couldn't cross my path without being destroyed...

And oh no, I didn't forget you juicy delicious fresh mango pastry....

Ohh baby, Tim Tams...

Where am I going with this again?

RIGHT.

I decided to cut myself off.

Almost every night after dinner, I'd find myself rummaging through the pantry for a sweet something, or walking over to our local Kurtosh (BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD!) for dessert.

It got to the point where I couldn't just stop at one cookie or a piece of chocolate. I had an entire bar, a package, a slab (of cake.. mmmm). I just didn't have the heart to stop myself. I thought, "I'm active and healthy generally, this can't hurt me, nothing can hurt me, CUPCAKES AND I ARE GOING TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER AND EVER WAHHHARHARHARHARHAR!"

Totally not an exaggeration of my feelings for cupcakes.

In the end, I just don't want to be controlled by my food. I want to be able to enjoy some sugar sometimes, not a shipping-container-load of sugar after every meal. Plus, those pesky little things like diabetes and obesity.

So I started on Monday, and so far the results have been great.

Because I'm not shoveling cookies in my face after dinner, I finish eating a lot earlier than before. As a result, I wake up feeling less sluggish and cookie-hungover. My morning Ashtanga practices are much stronger, and my flexibility is better.

However, I'm not cutting sugar completely out of my life (even though it's probably a good idea.).

Sugar is one of the best ways to replenish stores of glycogen in your body, especially after an activity like running (or doing Ashtanga for an hour and a half), so I'm still having fruit juice, fruit, smoothies, and the occasional Starbucks latte.

I don't think I'll be able to cut out sugar completely. After all, the forces of travel and limited kitchen appliances are at play here in Sydney. But I'm very happy with the start I've made, and I think it will be easy to maintain until I decide to take it further (or re-unite with the love of my life).

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Shaking things up in Sydney

Since moving to Sydney last year, Steven and I have settled into a life of work, weekends, work and work.

That's one of the reasons we took our New Zealand trip so suddenly. The routine of life can really make this Australian working holiday feel more like work than holiday. It's the reason we're trying to do something new each weekend.

Today, we started the day with a walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

There were plenty of runners out, but the pollution from the traffic beside the pedestrian walkway was really too much. I wouldn't ever want to run the bridge mid-day, but I am thinking of taking an early morning run by the bridge.

Across the bridge, you walk into a suburb called The Rocks.

There was an open air market on today--food, clothes, souvenirs!

They built a temporary windmill here just for kicks.

They hold workshops, concerts, and demos here. Today they had a talk about how windmills do useful stuff like grind grain into wheat.

As we strolled around, I got this:

There was a fresh juicing stand and for some reason Steven let me "build" my own juice.

It was disgusting: apple, lemon, grapefruit, carrot, kale.

Still, I drank it all because it was healthy, and I didn't want to be sick again.

I also saw this:

The cone-shaped frostings were very interesting, but I didn't get any. I don't have much faith in Australian cupcake makers. No one can compare to my forever love: Prairie Girl Bakery in Toronto.

After we grabbed some lunch, Steven and I went to Sydney's Sea Life Aquarium and saw my new favourite animal: The Dugong!

He was chowing down on some delicious lettuce.

Steven thinks I like them because they eat the same meals I do:

But it's not true. Not the eating part...yes, I do eat a lot of lettuce, but the reason I like dugongs is because they're huge, gentle, cute and cuddly.

Steven wouldn't buy this for me because he says we should spend our money on silly things like vacations and food.

Great day in Sydney! What are you doing this weekend?

By the way, a new New Zealand post will be up soon! Stay tuned!

V-day in the Haus

So it turns out my boyfriend doesn't just sit around, eat fried chicken, and scratch his armpit hairs, eh? 

Because isn't that what men do on Valentine's Day?

Not mine! He got me a bag of coffee.

A pack of Caramel Tim Tams (by far the best version).

And a scrunched up face of joy.

The best part may have been the water bottle EXACTLY LIKE THE ONE I LEFT IN CANADA.

No wait, the best part may have been this:

Unfortunately, these turned out nowhere as good as Prairie Girl Bakery back in Toronto. Why is it so hard to find really good fresh cupcakes in Sydney? And can someone ship me a Prairie Girl to bake me some awesomely soft and fresh red velvet with cream cheese frosting please? Or ship me this girl. That's cool too.

Anyway, I got Steven a couple of ties because all the moving had ruined one of his nicer ones.

Not sure if he likes them...seeing as how they're kind of hard to match with shirts. Who knew that ties would be that hard to buy?

Steven wrote me a wonderful card: 

"Dearest Sandy, 

Roses are red & violets are blue

These are the givens that we take to be true

But not our relationship,that I don't take for granted

Just like a strong tree, it's not enough to be planted

It must be cared for and nourished and given plenty of food

So on this Valentine's,

If you're keen we'll go for some curry, possibly green

Be my date and you'll be in for a treat

Desserts are a-plenty if they survive this heat."

And then we went out for curry. 

And it was green.

How was your Valentine's Day?