7 replies to this topic

[solidsnake88]

I have had Acne for 5-6 years, I have NEVER gone 1 day without getting a blackhead, cyst, whitehead, or any other pus filled crap since I have stopped using Duac which was about 3-4 years ago.

Anyway, the only period where my skin was clear was when I was on Duac, however after 2 years, it stopped working. (Topical Antibotics...Damn bacteria evolution).
I have tried many vitamins & supplements, and I my acne has improved somewhat, but I have always had 1-5 spots at any given time

I have tried all sorts of crap, neem soap, sulfur soap, broccomax, ALA tabs, olive oil, apple 3 day diet, apple cider vinegar even the damn warrior diet where I was fasting for 20 hours a day....etc
The most outrageous thing I tried was Urine therapy, I drink my piss for 6 MONTHS. 6 F***ing Months, and I applied it topically twice a day in the morning and night. It made my skin glow somewhat and helped heal acne quicker, but didn’t stop new acne forming.

I have also not washed my face with anything apart from water for over 18 months, just cool water, and even this doesn’t clear me. I really though the caveman regimen was the answer.

My current regimen

Eat Paleo-ish diet however I eat normal cheap non-organic supermarket meats, I can’t afford the expensive meat. I eat rice, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, brown soaked rice on WORKOUT days during my Post workout meal. I also eat a hot of caged hen eggs (again due to me being broke, meat products are much more expensive in the UK compared to US, however our normal meat doesn’t have hormones injected, due to a EU ban).

I do strength training 4 times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday all compound lifts and Gymnastic style training at home on Saturday’s.

I eat low carb diet on OFF days, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday, probably 50-60% fat, 30-40% protein and less than 10% carbs.

Due to carb refeed’s every other day, I don’t really get cravings for sweets and cakes and other junk, however I do have cheat days.

Cheat days – every 10-15 days or so. Eat anything I desire. In the morning, I eat a high protein 30-40g meal (protein decreases appetite and food high in insoluble fibre, such as peas, lentils, which helps with digestions before eating crap. I usually schedule my cheat day on my workout day, so as to maximize nutrition portioning. I.e. Hope most of the crap goes into my muscles and refuels glycogen instead of getting stored as fat. I also take a green tea extract after my morning meal, since green tea supposedly stops certain fats being digested and just lets it pass through the digestive tract.

Cheat day

Eat high protein meal + insoluble fibre + take normal vitamins + green tea extract

Exercise

Eat Junk and crap, preferably junk high in carbs, such as cookies, flapjacks, but anything can go, treat yourself, obviously it depends if you are gluten or lactose intolerant, I’m not. During the junk food feast, I sip on freshly juiced lemon in water periodically throughout the day, helps with insulin sensitivity.

Take evening vitamins.

Normal everyday vitamins

After my morning meal, (please include some fat in the form of butter or coconut oil to increase absorption of vitamins)

5ml cod liver oil + C, E, Calcium (I’m not a fan of diary, also calcium helps with fat loss)
Last meal of the day, again eat some fat and then 5ml cod liver oil + Zinc, Chromium.
These are the vitamins I take. I live in the UK, so I used to go Holland and Barrett, but they are expensive and add WAY too much filler ingredients, some of the vitamins they have are not even gluten free (just some extra info for sensitive folks).

-C: Now Foods, C-500 Complex, With Bioflavonoids, Acerola & Rose Hips, 250 Tablets
-Chromium: Now Foods, Chromium Picolinate, 200 mcg, 250 Capsules
-zinc: Now Foods, L-OptiZinc, 30 mg, 100 Capsules
-E: Source Naturals, 100% Natural Vitamin E, 200 IU, 250 Softgels
Green tea extract: Now Foods, EGCg, Green Tea Extract, 400 mg, 180 Vcaps
Cod liver oil - Seven Seas Cod Liver Oil Range Traditional Liquid 450ml (only UK product I buy)

After using numerous suppliers, I now use iherb.com because they have not yet let me down. But for the UK folks,

If you use iherb.com, make sure you ensure the value is below £18..IMPORTANT. Just try to keep the total cost below $25-26 dollars not including delivery.

If it comes to more than this, UK customs will STING you and also Royal mail, they will add about £12 pounds extra. (From experience).

Other than that I have found that they send supplements for a extremely cheap shipping fee $4, about £2.50 and they arrive in 1-2 weeks.

Anyway, they offer $5 off first order if you use this code: NAV007
It is my referral code, you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.

Anyway, I think I have covered everything. Sorry I don't have no pictures, I didn't let anyone take photo's of me when my acne was bad.

Edited by solidsnake88, 12 January 2011 - 06:54 PM.

[Drizzler]

Awesome job man, you've got it down! Way to go on the butter and eggs, I absolutely 100% believe many people would see improved skin just by adding some good fat and cholesterol. Keep going with that diet, and I highly doubt you'll need any of those supplements for long. Maybe keep up the CLO...

[solidsnake88]

Awesome job man, you've got it down! Way to go on the butter and eggs, I absolutely 100% believe many people would see improved skin just by adding some good fat and cholesterol. Keep going with that diet, and I highly doubt you'll need any of those supplements for long. Maybe keep up the CLO...

Hey thanks man, yeah butter and eggs are awesome foods. I have used trial and error and have found that I need supplements + diet to remain clear. I have tried the diet on it's own, acne improves but does not go away, same with supplement taken without a good diet. But together, acne just dissapears. It's much better when you have a cheat day after 10-15 days, you appreciate the taste much more than if you eat cakes & cookies everyday.

Yeah CLO is crucial since my meat is grain fed, I only omit it if I eat salmon, about once a week or less.

[ben90]

Nice dude, your lifestyle is literally identical to mine bar the gymnastic style training and grains in diet. I follow pretty much full paleo except for small exceptions like milk in tea, maybe some milk PWO. Fruit is very low, if at all.

Cyclical carbs, higher WO days and lower on rest paired with Leangains. I don't feel the need to cheat as I feel if your going to cut it out then do it completely, especially the gluten. No point really cutting out gluten if your going to cheat with it so often as the damaging effects are still there, can take months since your last exposure to heal, and the worst part is you don't even think its effecting you because you don't feel any problems, but it is. Best thing to do is eat food that you enjoy but is still healthy, so you don't have to cheat.

How long did it take to have an effect?

Edited by ben90, 13 January 2011 - 08:23 AM.

[alternativista]

Congratulations. Please add your story to the Success Compilation thread pinned under important topics. You can link to this thread.

[solidsnake88]

Nice dude, your lifestyle is literally identical to mine bar the gymnastic style training and grains in diet. I follow pretty much full paleo except for small exceptions like milk in tea, maybe some milk PWO. Fruit is very low, if at all.

Cyclical carbs, higher WO days and lower on rest paired with Leangains. I don't feel the need to cheat as I feel if your going to cut it out then do it completely, especially the gluten. No point really cutting out gluten if your going to cheat with it so often as the damaging effects are still there, can take months since your last exposure to heal, and the worst part is you don't even think its effecting you because you don't feel any problems, but it is. Best thing to do is eat food that you enjoy but is still healthy, so you don't have to cheat.

How long did it take to have an effect?

Effect on the acne, around the 2-3 week mark I stopped getting new acne, I now just have red marks but they are fading. I noticed ages ago, once I stopped washing my face with chemicals I rarely got cysts. But even washing with water only, I still got pus filled spots and whiteheads, I guess the diet and more importantly, the combination of supplements was the key.

I went a month without grains and felt good, I reintroduced them and didn't feel any different, so I nowcontinue to consume them, but it's every week or so, mainly in the form of pizza, cookies, pasta, burgers. I might try to go without them for 2 months to see how I feel, however I heard Robb wolf mention it can take about 15 days or so for you gut to get rid of all traces of gluten.

I can sometimes omit the vitamins except cod liver oil on my OFF days, but I need to ensure I take them on training days due to the insulin/inflammation response from carbs.

Unfortunetly for me, I need to eat snickers, cadbury's chocolates, ferrero rochers and cookies, I have tried to replicate the paleo versions of some desserts but they don't have the same taste.

The only recipe which is delicous is a banana ice cream which is so simple to make,

Freeze a overripe banana in a ziplock bag, once frozen, cut into chunks and throw in food processer with tablespoon of coconut milk, blend until smooth and creamy. Tastes pretty DAMN nice, throw in nuts if you desire.

Edited by solidsnake88, 13 January 2011 - 10:40 AM.

[ben90]

Feeling the need to eat sweet food is caused by an addiction to sugar, it isn't normal! Sugar messes with the same receptors in the brain that drug/smoking does. Cutting it out for a long enough period of time will solve the issue, i've been through it myself.

[solidsnake88]

Feeling the need to eat sweet food is caused by an addiction to sugar, it isn't normal! Sugar messes with the same receptors in the brain that drug/smoking does. Cutting it out for a long enough period of time will solve the issue, i've been through it myself.

I admit, I'm a sugar addict, but I have enough control to eat it every other week, unlike most of the western population who consume it everyday. How long did it take for you to lose your sweet tooth ben?