YAY! So glad I could give you hope! Yep, it's Crystal! Yeah, it's really weird, but I find that us healthy people tend to get caught up in the wrong kinds of foods! Like nuts can really mess up your omega 3 to 6 balance, veggie oils, soy, flax (which also mess up hormones). I mean a lot of us health conscious people take these things thinking they are good, and they are just messing us up more! I mean, what cultures actually eat flax seeds...none, lolz!

And when I obsess about food...like all the time! I am stressed, and stress really can't be good for your skin! That's why makeup is so awesome, cause it helps, and yoga and running is so relaxing! I mean, when I was little, I never ate bread really, or nuts. I hated sandwidges, and peanut butter. Nuts were just a hassle to eat. But I mean these days people over consume ..I don't really ever hear of many really natural tribes eating nuts (Like African, this is what I base like every acne diet correlation on... !)...they more so eat legumes. I just don't think nuts are that great for us, unless we are squirrels!

I really wonder about eggs...I mean I ate them when I was a kid, but I dunno about now. I never really crave an egg, and sure I can go without!

The only things diff this week were eggs, flax, and some baked beans. Hmmmmmmmmm and I have cysts.

Why flax is the devil: http://butterbeliever.com/are-the-benefits-of-flax-seeds-worth-it/

Why chia is better: http://butterbeliever.com/should-you-eat-chia-seeds/

I think one or two eggs a day shouldn't be too bad? I eat them on occasion and don't notice any serious issues.

I'm thinking it was the flax... a lot of beans have omega-3's in them from what I know... I eat kidney beans all the time and they've only been good for me... plus I notice that when I eat more protein, I tend to break out less for some reason...

I was never that big on nuts on their own, it's just that when I heard they were a good source of fatty acids I started eating them to smooth out / moisten my skin a bit... bad idea haha. Sometimes I'd eat a couple nuts as part of something (maybe a cake or a muffin) but I never stuffed my face with them until recently.

Anyway, as per the "log"... this morning I was very pleased, because as far as I can tell there's only been one pimple this past day and a half, and it's a tiny little whitehead... basically "normal people acne". Not these crazy painful cysts I've been dealing with. There's still some pain and soreness around my mouth, but hey, can't expect miracles overnight! I'm not too concerned at the moment tbh, as long as the acne is on its way out and not on its way in I'm fine.

I'm going to try cutting out V8 temporarily as well... it's got a lot of vitamin A and C, but I've noticed that it tends to give me tiny little rash-like breakouts (perhaps vitamin overload) so I'm gonna go without for now. I already drink cranberry juice twice daily so maybe it's just too much for my system. Plus I hadn't really been drinking V8 these past two weeks or so and the small amount of bacne I had completely vanished.

Also, Juice, is just really not that good. Spikes your insulin, and people with acne realllyyyy shouldn't have that! Juice just really isn't good for you! It's like drinking straight up sugar! Why not just eat the fruits or...add some fiber to it. To prevent an insulin spike! Does your V8 have fiber in it? I would just add these things to a smoothie, so that they have less of an insulin impact. Most people with acne are slightly insulin resistance from poor eating!

Yeah, I'm going with the flax. cutting out eggs toot hough, cause I just don't even like them. I only eat them...again because of my skin.

My knew fave thing is tuna with organic and cauliflower rice! (no high fructose corn syrup ketchup).

Link for cauliflower rice: http://www.everydaymaven.com/2013/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice/

In mine I just use some coconut oil, salt, tomato, garlic and cauliflower of course!

It's way tastier than brown rice! And more nutrient dense! Also faster to cook, believe it or not!!!

YAY! So glad I could give you hope! Yep, it's Crystal! Yeah, it's really weird, but I find that us healthy people tend to get caught up in the wrong kinds of foods! Like nuts can really mess up your omega 3 to 6 balance, veggie oils, soy, flax (which also mess up hormones). I mean a lot of us health conscious people take these things thinking they are good, and they are just messing us up more! I mean, what cultures actually eat flax seeds...none, lolz!

And when I obsess about food...like all the time! I am stressed, and stress really can't be good for your skin! That's why makeup is so awesome, cause it helps, and yoga and running is so relaxing! I mean, when I was little, I never ate bread really, or nuts. I hated sandwidges, and peanut butter. Nuts were just a hassle to eat. But I mean these days people over consume ..I don't really ever hear of many really natural tribes eating nuts (Like African, this is what I base like every acne diet correlation on... !)...they more so eat legumes. I just don't think nuts are that great for us, unless we are squirrels!

I really wonder about eggs...I mean I ate them when I was a kid, but I dunno about now. I never really crave an egg, and sure I can go without!

The only things diff this week were eggs, flax, and some baked beans. Hmmmmmmmmm and I have cysts.

Why flax is the devil: http://butterbeliever.com/are-the-benefits-of-flax-seeds-worth-it/

Why chia is better: http://butterbeliever.com/should-you-eat-chia-seeds/

I think one or two eggs a day shouldn't be too bad? I eat them on occasion and don't notice any serious issues.

I'm thinking it was the flax... a lot of beans have omega-3's in them from what I know... I eat kidney beans all the time and they've only been good for me... plus I notice that when I eat more protein, I tend to break out less for some reason...

I was never that big on nuts on their own, it's just that when I heard they were a good source of fatty acids I started eating them to smooth out / moisten my skin a bit... bad idea haha. Sometimes I'd eat a couple nuts as part of something (maybe a cake or a muffin) but I never stuffed my face with them until recently.

Anyway, as per the "log"... this morning I was very pleased, because as far as I can tell there's only been one pimple this past day and a half, and it's a tiny little whitehead... basically "normal people acne". Not these crazy painful cysts I've been dealing with. There's still some pain and soreness around my mouth, but hey, can't expect miracles overnight! I'm not too concerned at the moment tbh, as long as the acne is on its way out and not on its way in I'm fine.

I'm going to try cutting out V8 temporarily as well... it's got a lot of vitamin A and C, but I've noticed that it tends to give me tiny little rash-like breakouts (perhaps vitamin overload) so I'm gonna go without for now. I already drink cranberry juice twice daily so maybe it's just too much for my system. Plus I hadn't really been drinking V8 these past two weeks or so and the small amount of bacne I had completely vanished.

Also, Juice, is just really not that good. Spikes your insulin, and people with acne realllyyyy shouldn't have that! Juice just really isn't good for you! It's like drinking straight up sugar! Why not just eat the fruits or...add some fiber to it. To prevent an insulin spike! Does your V8 have fiber in it? I would just add these things to a smoothie, so that they have less of an insulin impact. Most people with acne are slightly insulin resistance from poor eating!

Yeah, I'm going with the flax. cutting out eggs toot hough, cause I just don't even like them. I only eat them...again because of my skin.

My knew fave thing is tuna with organic and cauliflower rice! (no high fructose corn syrup ketchup).

Link for cauliflower rice: http://www.everydaymaven.com/2013/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice/

In mine I just use some coconut oil, salt, tomato, garlic and cauliflower of course!

It's way tastier than brown rice! And more nutrient dense! Also faster to cook, believe it or not!!!

Never heard of cauliflower rice, something to try!

I made the switch to brown rice for a little bit last year, but just couldn't handle it, so I went back to white rice. I know it's not the best thing out there, but it doesn't seem to give me that many problems.

Quick update... seems like avoiding V8 yesterday paid off... I'd started getting tiny red bumps around my neck area but have not gotten any since then. Only new acne I can see is a tiny little red whitehead on my chin... not too worried... sure, I could do without, but it's just "normal people acne" again. Plus I really should be feeling grateful and relieved that the painful cysts around my lips have stopped coming in rather than stressing. Old stuff is healing, slowly but surely. I feel like near-lip acne may take longer to heal simply because it gets unintentionally irritated all the time from talking and eating. I put BP on it last evening to expedite the process, especially on the cluster I have near my lower-right lip. This is the only real painful near-lip remaining.... the rest is just soreness. Hopefully things continue to get better and don't take a turn for the worse again. My hope is, in a week, to at least be rid of the pain and hopefully be at a point where the acne isn't embarrassing enough for me to want to pile on concealer.

EDIT: I'm also going to try cutting out the cranberry juice for a little bit to see if that has any effect. I think you (Crystal) were spot on with the Omega-6 thing, so maybe the juice isn't the best idea either? To me it seems that the little red bumps / whiteheads didn't really start until I was od'ing on cran juice and V8, both rich in vitamin C... so maybe I'm just getting too much C... I know the body flushes out any excess, but hey, each of our bodies is unique and has our own way of reacting to things... I eat bananas and carrots anyway so I don't think I'm at risk for scurvy or anything anytime soon.

The two clearest times I've been in my life was when a) I wasn't stressing over my face and b) when I was eating regularly, not going to excess on anything. I think I have a tendency to want too much of a good thing...

Quick update... seems like avoiding V8 yesterday paid off... I'd started getting tiny red bumps around my neck area but have not gotten any since then. Only new acne I can see is a tiny little red whitehead on my chin... not too worried... sure, I could do without, but it's just "normal people acne" again. Plus I really should be feeling grateful and relieved that the painful cysts around my lips have stopped coming in rather than stressing. Old stuff is healing, slowly but surely. I feel like near-lip acne may take longer to heal simply because it gets unintentionally irritated all the time from talking and eating. I put BP on it last evening to expedite the process, especially on the cluster I have near my lower-right lip. This is the only real painful near-lip remaining.... the rest is just soreness. Hopefully things continue to get better and don't take a turn for the worse again. My hope is, in a week, to at least be rid of the pain and hopefully be at a point where the acne isn't embarrassing enough for me to want to pile on concealer.

EDIT: I'm also going to try cutting out the cranberry juice for a little bit to see if that has any effect. I think you (Crystal) were spot on with the Omega-6 thing, so maybe the juice isn't the best idea either? To me it seems that the little red bumps / whiteheads didn't really start until I was od'ing on cran juice and V8, both rich in vitamin C... so maybe I'm just getting too much C... I know the body flushes out any excess, but hey, each of our bodies is unique and has our own way of reacting to things... I eat bananas and carrots anyway so I don't think I'm at risk for scurvy or anything anytime soon.

The two clearest times I've been in my life was when a) I wasn't stressing over my face and b) when I was eating regularly, not going to excess on anything. I think I have a tendency to want too much of a good thing...

I totally have an excess problem too! Now that we have knowledge about these so called "good foods" that actually aren't that good, like nuts, and high sugar juices, we can take control of our health.

Those naked drinks aren't even that good! I stopped drinking them because they have about 30 grams of sugar and no fiber to buffer it! Your body is like....whatttttttt!? Every now and then probs not bad, but I mean...Drinking that much sugar is like drinking soda! Do your pancreas, liver, and waistline a favor by cutting out or limiting high sugar and no fiber items.

Also, I dunno if it's a placebo or something, but when I don't stress about my face, I don't look in the mirror as much or as long, which really helps you notice healing faster and less spots. I mean and then if something pops up, it's just like whateverrrr. I mean if you have a zit and you look at it ten times a day for an hour long, you are more likely to pop it, and then just not notice any progress, or make it seem like it's taking forever!

But just a quick glance, wash your face, and leave! Take your mind off of it, and then before you know it, it's gone! Time is time, staring isn't going ot make it any better!

Quick update... seems like avoiding V8 yesterday paid off... I'd started getting tiny red bumps around my neck area but have not gotten any since then. Only new acne I can see is a tiny little red whitehead on my chin... not too worried... sure, I could do without, but it's just "normal people acne" again. Plus I really should be feeling grateful and relieved that the painful cysts around my lips have stopped coming in rather than stressing. Old stuff is healing, slowly but surely. I feel like near-lip acne may take longer to heal simply because it gets unintentionally irritated all the time from talking and eating. I put BP on it last evening to expedite the process, especially on the cluster I have near my lower-right lip. This is the only real painful near-lip remaining.... the rest is just soreness. Hopefully things continue to get better and don't take a turn for the worse again. My hope is, in a week, to at least be rid of the pain and hopefully be at a point where the acne isn't embarrassing enough for me to want to pile on concealer.

EDIT: I'm also going to try cutting out the cranberry juice for a little bit to see if that has any effect. I think you (Crystal) were spot on with the Omega-6 thing, so maybe the juice isn't the best idea either? To me it seems that the little red bumps / whiteheads didn't really start until I was od'ing on cran juice and V8, both rich in vitamin C... so maybe I'm just getting too much C... I know the body flushes out any excess, but hey, each of our bodies is unique and has our own way of reacting to things... I eat bananas and carrots anyway so I don't think I'm at risk for scurvy or anything anytime soon.

The two clearest times I've been in my life was when a) I wasn't stressing over my face and b) when I was eating regularly, not going to excess on anything. I think I have a tendency to want too much of a good thing...

I totally have an excess problem too! Now that we have knowledge about these so called "good foods" that actually aren't that good, like nuts, and high sugar juices, we can take control of our health.

Those naked drinks aren't even that good! I stopped drinking them because they have about 30 grams of sugar and no fiber to buffer it! Your body is like....whatttttttt!? Every now and then probs not bad, but I mean...Drinking that much sugar is like drinking soda! Do your pancreas, liver, and waistline a favor by cutting out or limiting high sugar and no fiber items.

Also, I dunno if it's a placebo or something, but when I don't stress about my face, I don't look in the mirror as much or as long, which really helps you notice healing faster and less spots. I mean and then if something pops up, it's just like whateverrrr. I mean if you have a zit and you look at it ten times a day for an hour long, you are more likely to pop it, and then just not notice any progress, or make it seem like it's taking forever!

But just a quick glance, wash your face, and leave! Take your mind off of it, and then before you know it, it's gone! Time is time, staring isn't going ot make it any better!

Very true! I'll try to look as little as possible this week. I've been noticing a lot of healing and improvement day-to-day, but my focus is taken off by the tiny new pimples that come up. I should just stop stressing and let things run their course. Can't expect to recover instantly! I guess the keys for me are - avoiding omega-6 spikes, frequent bowel movements to make sure the body doesn't decide to remove toxins thru the skin, more exercise, more antioxidants and less stress. Probably not gonna update the log much this week specifically to avoid unnecessary stress.

Very true! I'll try to look as little as possible this week. I've been noticing a lot of healing and improvement day-to-day, but my focus is taken off by the tiny new pimples that come up. I should just stop stressing and let things run their course. Can't expect to recover instantly! I guess the keys for me are - avoiding omega-6 spikes, frequent bowel movements to make sure the body doesn't decide to remove toxins thru the skin, more exercise, more antioxidants and less stress. Probably not gonna update the log much this week specifically to avoid unnecessary stress.

You go! Yeah all those things you listed are great! I'm still lucky if I can strain out bowel movements! I dunno why! I take a good probiotics, drink a lot of water, run 2 miles or more a day, eat fiber. I think I have to retrain my butt. I think I was constipated for just too long that my body just can't even know when to go...so sad! I also like to take a shot of ACV before high protein meals to ensure good digestion. I'm sure I have low stomach acid so I take HCL (a digestion support), but I hope my body learns to digest well on it's own.

Just gotta say, yesterday went biking for like two hours, then afterwards came home and saw that the lightbulb I usually use in my bathroom had burned out... instead of replacing, I used the really bright spotlight right above the mirror... and DANG did I get depressed. My face was just a total mess... scars, pimples, flakes everywhere. I put one pump of BP all over just to make myself feel better. Not using BP again until maybe Thursday or Friday though, don't want too much dryness.

Gotta say though, this morning it seems that any big pustules (they weren't really cysts I guess, just pustules) I had are coming to heads. It's really unsightly because I have four HUGE whitish / yellowish spots on my face now. If these were gone, I'd say my skin was actually pretty smooth and relatively clear, at least by my standards. What makes me happy I guess is that a white head means that the pustules are dead / dying and are on their way out rather than in. Personally, I'd rather have them sink down and disappear rather than push out, but hey, we can't always have what we want XD

 

Very true! I'll try to look as little as possible this week. I've been noticing a lot of healing and improvement day-to-day, but my focus is taken off by the tiny new pimples that come up. I should just stop stressing and let things run their course. Can't expect to recover instantly! I guess the keys for me are - avoiding omega-6 spikes, frequent bowel movements to make sure the body doesn't decide to remove toxins thru the skin, more exercise, more antioxidants and less stress. Probably not gonna update the log much this week specifically to avoid unnecessary stress.

You go girl! Yeah all those things you listed are great! I'm still lucky if I can strain out bowel movements! I dunno why! I take a good probiotics, drink a lot of water, run 2 miles or more a day, eat fiber. I think I have to retrain my butt. I think I was constipated for just too long that my body just can't even know when to go...so sad! I also like to take a shot of ACV before high protein meals to ensure good digestion. I'm sure I have low stomach acid so I take HCL (a digestion support), but I hope my body learns to digest well on it's own.

Just gotta say, yesterday went biking for like two hours, then afterwards came home and saw that the lightbulb I usually use in my bathroom had burned out... instead of replacing, I used the really bright spotlight right above the mirror... and DANG did I get depressed. My face was just a total mess... scars, pimples, flakes everywhere. I put one pump of BP all over just to make myself feel better. Not using BP again until maybe Thursday or Friday though, don't want too much dryness.

Gotta say though, this morning it seems that any big pustules (they weren't really cysts I guess, just pustules) I had are coming to heads. It's really unsightly because I have four HUGE whitish / yellowish spots on my face now. If these were gone, I'd say my skin was actually pretty smooth and relatively clear, at least by my standards. What makes me happy I guess is that a white head means that the pustules are dead / dying and are on their way out rather than in. Personally, I'd rather have them sink down and disappear rather than push out, but hey, we can't always have what we want XD

Very true! I'll try to look as little as possible this week. I've been noticing a lot of healing and improvement day-to-day, but my focus is taken off by the tiny new pimples that come up. I should just stop stressing and let things run their course. Can't expect to recover instantly! I guess the keys for me are - avoiding omega-6 spikes, frequent bowel movements to make sure the body doesn't decide to remove toxins thru the skin, more exercise, more antioxidants and less stress. Probably not gonna update the log much this week specifically to avoid unnecessary stress.

You go girl! Yeah all those things you listed are great! I'm still lucky if I can strain out bowel movements! I dunno why! I take a good probiotics, drink a lot of water, run 2 miles or more a day, eat fiber. I think I have to retrain my butt. I think I was constipated for just too long that my body just can't even know when to go...so sad! I also like to take a shot of ACV before high protein meals to ensure good digestion. I'm sure I have low stomach acid so I take HCL (a digestion support), but I hope my body learns to digest well on it's own.

I hear coffee may be good for constipation? But that's probably the last thing you want to try when you're acne-prone XD

HA! Yeah! I'm afraid to drink coffee really. Plus I never really liked it. More of a tea person! Even if I eat too much pure dark chocolate my skin will get worse.

Getting better... the ugly white pustules are mostly gone, just raised red skin left in their wake... little to no new acne, most importantly no pustules / cysts, just tiny little ones here and there. They don't bother me, it's the huge painful stuff that I want to get rid of and keep away. Past that point, the rest can be taken care of with topicals.

I think ceasing almonds has been the most important factor here. I'm a little paranoid now, about anything containing even trace almonds, as well as about not pooping enough. But I think I'll get over it soon. I think once the cysts / pustules are truly healed I'll hop back on the probiotic, one cap a day, just to see what's up.

Quick update. Things are healing up. Had one or two new ones near the lip, which is officially the worst place to get acne... but they've been smaller and I could hardly feel them, as opposed to the ones I got earlier, which hurt so bad I couldn't chew. Overall, VERY little new acne in the past couple days, which I attribute to my high fiber intake as of late (I've just been eating lots of raisins, and raisin bran for breakfast... I've added psyllium husk to my list of things never to take again. Maybe I took too much or something, maybe I didn't use enough water... but that outbreak of painful herpes-like pimples was enough to convince me to stick to more, ahem, "traditional" sources of fiber). I'm convinced now that not going to the bathroom enough is one of the biggest problems for me, and I'm kinda glad I tried the probiotics, just so I could realize that, although I wish the realization didn't have to come with so many pimples.

Also as of Friday night I've hopped on some new topicals which so far have been working out great. Oxy 10% BP Maximum Action face wash, Oxy 10% BP spot treatment for the really troublesome actives, and Aveeno Clear Complexion 0.5% SA moisturizer. Before I was barely cleansing and mostly just using water, as well as not moisturizing at all... and of course this gave me a ton of flakes, more than I realized, as well as really dry skin and probably irritated my acne more than it should have. Now I have literally no flakes and my skin is nice and smooth all over. I'm going to do this twice a day, morning and night. I'm also considering incorporating Dr. Woods Black Soap in the evening, but I'll have to see how drying the face wash gets after prolonged use, and if the black soap won't just be overkill.

I'm still taking probiotics, which is kinda the point of this log, but I've just been eating homemade kefir morning and evening, five days a week.

Over and out.