You're probably looking at this title thinking, "this is the most cliche thing you could have given up." And yes, at any other point in my life I would have 100% agreed with you. After all, there are more meaningful things I could be giving up.

I grew up as a Chr-easter. My family only went to church on Christmas and Easter. It wasn't until I was in middle school that we really started going to church and I finally developed a relationship with the Lord. I consider myself a non-denominational. But on Sunday mornings, I turn in the skinny jeans and my electric guitar and I trade it for a choir robe and a hymnal. On Sunday mornings I am Episcopalian. My job at the episcopal church is what introduced me to lent in the first place.

When thinking about what we were going to be giving up this year, I thought maybe I'd take up reading more for pleasure. Or maybe I would give up worrying and pray more when I felt nervous or anxious. But nothing I came up with gave me a solidified feeling that I was doing the right thing. Then one day during church, it hit me. I was going to give up sweets.

When I say that to people, I get the confused look and the question, "so wait... you're not eating any sugar at all?" So I explain that I'm not giving up all sugar (because that's borderline impossible, sugar is in everything) but that I am giving up all added sugar. I don't eat the normal sweets like donuts, cookies, candy in general. But I don't worry about the hidden sugars in sauces, I just limit my use of them. When I need a sweet substitution, I'll eat sugar-free dried cranberries, bananas and peanut butter, and even ice cream that is made out of frozen bananas. I even found a delicious recipe for breakfast muffins that sooth my sweet cravings.

I ate a lot of added sugar before. Cookies, brownies, ice cream, and especially candy bars. I also loved the fancy coffee drinks at Starbucks with the enormous of amounts of sugar. It didn't really affect me, so I just always kept eating them. And I love baking. When that would happen, I would eat the frosting, the batter, the decorations, any possible thing that was sweet and in sight, I pretty much ate it. My goal when I decided to give up sweets was not to lose weight. Because I just didn't need to. I wanted to be healthy. I wanted to make my body be the temple that God created and I wanted to make I put good fuel into it, not crappy fuel.

What I didn't know was how beneficial giving up something as simple as added sugar would be for me.

Two weeks ago, my dad got a new scale for the bathroom. Our old scale wasn't accurate at all. When I would step on it, it would say 93 pounds. So, I had to try the new scale out. When I stepped on, I thought maybe it was broken again. I stepped off and stepped on again. I had lost 8 pounds in four weeks without trying. Just because I cut out sugar.

Giving up sugar was the best decision that I have ever made. I'm more focused, I consistently have more energy, I'm less lethargic, less moody, less bratty (which was rare anyway). My parents and other people can tell I feel good. And I do! I sleep better than I ever have before. I'm more motivated to get up and do things. And I lay in my bed and watch Netflix way less than I was. I've lost weight (even though I didn't need to and wasn't trying), I'm more motivated to exercise, and I love eating healthy. I'm more confident, I'm less bothered by stress and drama, I'm more settled in.

My mom has seen such a change in me that she's convinced that she wants to try it!

So yes, giving up sugar for lent was very cliche, but it's done a world of good for me. I can guarantee that this is something I'm going to continue practicing even after lent is over.