One of my dearest friends, Francesco Clark, is a skincare guru. So when he says something, I tend to lean in close and lissen up. Recently, though, he said something kind of shocking, especially for a person who loves chocolate as much as I do: He said sugar is bad for the skin.
Shut. The. Heck. Up.
You can read more of his sacreligious statements here in this column. Initially, I thought, Blasphemer! How many pounds of sugar have you and I ingested together?! But I was a little hyper from eating about 12 macaroons at the time. (Macaroon recipe coming soon.) When I calmed down a bit and re-read the article, I thought, Well…
Hmm….
Maybe–MAYBE–there’s something to this. It wouldn’t hurt to try, would it?
Yes. Yes it would, I thought. Giving up sugar would hurt a lot. I love my sugar. But does it love me back? Not really, when I look closely at my skin, which looks okay but certainly doesn’t get the compliments it used to. Or when I look at my thighs. And let’s not drag my butt into this conversation, because it’s just too heavy to be dragged.
So Fran didn’t exactly lay down a challenge when he gently suggested cutting refined sugar intake down. Diane Chang, the author of the article, is going for two weeks without sugar. WOAH. That sounds like an awful lot of days without a reason to live.
But I do love a challenge. I don’t know why, because I often fail these challenges miserably–stay tuned for my wretched results at the More Magazine Half-Marathon. But I like to try. It’s that darn indomitable spirit of mine. Please remind me to have a doctor take a look at removing that at my next checkup.
So, here I am on Day 1 of not eating refined sugar. How far will I get? And will you join me? Stop laughing, I’m serious…
April 10, 2010 at 12:54 am
Try Blue Agave Nectar (I think that’s what it’s called) instead. It has a very low glycemic index and will satisfy your sweet tooth. I have to say that going off sugar is about the best thing anyone can do! Of course that rule is made to be broken, but in general it is a good one.
I never got back into your book to find a passage for your reading; is it over? It has been really super busy here lately!
By the way your friend Crystal contacted me…
More anon.
XOX
Marlane
April 14, 2010 at 7:32 pm
I certainly can’t go off sugar until I make the Nora cake mix and frosting I was lucky enough to win from you. Maybe after that… Of course, I’m a gandmama and you know grandmamas must have treats on hand. The trick is to not treat myself! I’ll be anxious to hear how you do and if you notice any difference as a result.
April 14, 2010 at 7:51 pm
I know, I’m really interested to see if there’s this big change my friend Francesco described. But if there was any Naturally Nora’s cake in the house, even he wouldn’t be able to stay off the sugar!!
Great to hear that you’re a grandmama–you know I love me a Nana and think the world of them/you. You’ll be very interested to come visit next week, when I unveil my new campaign…
May 2, 2010 at 11:44 pm
I hope you are okay.