The Princess Diaries

Today marks three weeks since my initial foray into a sugar free life, things always get worse before they get better right? Today’s update is short and sweet, I’m busy turning lemons to lemonade. Days 15-17: All was going well, no weird cravings, and I was completely on track. I was super focused with my eating because I had a big wrestling match on Saturday and I really wanted to look and feel my best. Day 18: Show day! My plan for the weekend was to thrown in a 48hr fast - I hadn’t done more than about 32 hours yet, but during my match I took a fall outside the ring and managed to concuss myself yet again. It’s only mild this time, but in my daze I headed to catering and grabbed all the vegan food I could find. Which ended up being Thai Chilli Doritos, half a bag of Farmbake Peanut Brownies and a couple apples. Fail. Day 19: I have very little recollection of what happened this day. I only remember eating a whole box of Fry’s Vegan Nuggets - which are sugar free! Day ...

Wow, already in week two of this Sugar Free Challenge, who is really surprised that I missed my first week update? But I'm back to fill you in. Sugar, we're going down. Day 1 & 2: I experienced intense stomach cramps around 7.30pm both nights and then around 12-1am found myself wide awake and unable to get back to sleep. Day 3: Today was great, nothing out of the ordinary and managed to get a normal amount of uninterrupted sleep Day 4: Here's where I made my first major mistake, because it turns out that Indian Tonic Water contains sweetener, and I ordered four G&T's thinking that I was doing the right thing. I had thought that because Tonic Water tastes so bad that it was safe. As it turns out, I am in fact an idiot. And I barely slept. Day 5: No energy or focus, didn't make it to the gym. From waking, I was just ravenous all day - direct result of the sweetener in the G&T's, but on the upside, I was also so exhausted I slept like...

The Keto Diet seems to be be the new trend, everyone seems to know somebody who is doing it, or maybe you've even tried it yourself. If you aren't familiar, Keto is a modified style of a low carb, high fat (LCHF) diet in which you aim to consume around 20g of net carbohydrates (or 50g total) while increasing your healthy fat intake to induce Ketosis - a state where your body burns fat for energy instead of carbs. So I tried it. "But wait," I hear you say "aren't you vegan? Doesn't everyone who follows this diet just eat steak slathered in mayonaise??" Yup, I followed the Keto Diet and made it completely vegan. Let me tell you, it was one of the most time consuming things I've ever done. Oh, and I also follow a 16/8 split of intermittent fasting. Day 1 After a very expensive trip to the supermarket because everything in my cupboards were carbs, I started my meal prep. Every article I've read on Vegan/Keto diets recommended lots...

To welcome Amber back from her Hawaiian/LA holiday we headed to the Butcher's Son on Jervois Rd in Ponsonby, who are a fairly new fully plant based eatery. I tried the weekly special Buddha Bowl (Satay Kumara & Tempeh w/ Soba) and a Tropical green smoothie. I was really impressed, tried to make my own at home and it was nowhere near as good, sadly. I will definitely go back again! If you want to check them out you can find more info here: The Butcher's Son 204 Jervois Rd, Herne Bay, Auckland. Instagram: @thebutcherssonnz -Ash.