Sugar Sugar Sugar!

1. J'adore les bonbons, 2. Brigadeiro Decorado, 3. Cupcake Heaven., 4. Cupcake Heaven <3

For part of my iCiNG Transformation Challenge, I'm cutting out sugar this month, not counting Valentine's Day. This is probably going to be the hardest part for me, (as I love my Sprite and Lemonheads!) so I'm thinking of some ways to be sure I don't 'cheat'.

-Check in with D, daily. He's Mr. Nutrition, so if I scarf sugar at some point and he catches me, it won't be pretty. (He enjoys merciless teasing and practices daily.)

-Budget all my money out for other things. This is something I've already been trying to do, I need to save more for school, so if I have set amounts for tithe, savings, that sort of thing it'll be harder to come up with the money to cheat!

-Avoid Wal-Mart and Kroger. I live next to to a Kroger store (literally!) and I can walk there in 15 seconds, which is good when I'm out of milk, but really bad when I'm wanting to cut down my sugar intake. -Come up with good alternatives! I love fruit, so I'll be eating tons of it; I can buy cranberry juice that has Splenda instead of sugar (yes, Splenda is bad. I know.); and chocolate rice cakes are really sweet but have only 4 grams of sugar in them. (Awesome!)

Now I only need to figure out a way to drink sugarless coffee without gagging, and I'll be set...

iCiNG Transformation Challenge!

Photo Credit

The iCiNG Transformation Challenge is the brainchild of Miss Gala Darling, blogger extraordinaire.

"You asked for it, you got it! The second annual (wow!) iCiNG Transformation Challenge starts at the end of the week — on Sunday 1st February, & will run for 28 days.

GET PUMPED, BABY!

For those of you who weren’t here for it last year, the iCiNG Transformation Challenge is an opportunity to achieve something you’ve wanted to do for a while but as yet, haven’t quite managed to hit out of the park. Last year, my personal challenge was to exercise in some form every day & eat 100% raw. Other people changed bad habits, revamped relationships, made steps towards doing more fulfilling work, transitioned their diet, worked on artistic projects, stopped smoking or taking drugs, etc. There is no limit as to what you can or can’t do within the challenge — it’s totally up to you." -Gala Darling

I think it'll be a great way to keep me accountable, as there are some things I want to give up that I don't like the idea of giving up, haha. Anyway, my list is as follows-

-Give up extra sugar for the month (wince!). This will probably be the most challenging goal for me, as I love me some sugar. This means no pop, candy, cakes...junk like that. The one exception will be Valentine's Day, of course.

Photo Credit

-Keep exercising! Every day. Dance, yoga, jogging, sit-ups, push-ups, whatever. Between 15-30 minutes a day.

Photo Credit

-Be more creative. Try one new and creative thing a day, be it wearing bright blue eyeshadow; trying a new hair-style; using a different medium for my sketches; or cooking Thai food for dinner.

-Open a shop on Etsy! I want to start selling my sketches. This will force me to keep sketching and coming up with new designs, as an added bonus. I'm going to have to get a PayPal card, finish registering, invest in better paper and materials, and START SKETCHING!