Hey y'all, I haven't been posting as frequently as I used to because, well, you know how it goes. Hope you all had a happy Holiday & New Year's! I know I did.
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php/gallery/image/48231-new-years/
("Get a room!")
A lot of people I've asked aren't really into New Year's Resolutions. Actually I don't think I've heard many. I'm guessing either people don't want to be held accountable for promises they make to themselves or they prefer to resolve to make changes in their life at their own pace, regardless of it being the season to buy a new calendar. Although I can respect both of those inclinations, I really like the idea of fresh starts, new beginnings, and a whole year to fill with something meaningful to me that I can look back upon and say "yeah, I did that for a year".
Which is why my partner and I are giving up sugar this year. We're on day 3.
It was actually his idea. Never would I hold myself accountable to something like that. Sugar is what I love to make allowances for. Who cares if it's pure gluten? It's a chocolate croissant, for god's sake. But because I share the same living space with someone who's doing the same thing, it gets way easier. And, as I've said before, if you cut out that one thing you always come crawling back to when you try to make too many diet changes at once, you're lookin' pretty good (figuratively and literally). Although I list other inflammatory things such as dairy, corn, soy, wheat, etc. in that post, let's face it. It's gonna be sugar for most of us. "Yeah, I'll get around to cutting out sugar...lemme just try this gluten-free thing for awhile." Ah, ah, ah! No you don't. I've done that too many times to let someone else do it to themselves.
Anyway, it was Grayson's brilliant plan to create a support forum for anyone who wants to give up sugar for __ weeks, __ month(s), __ year(s). It's in the early stages, mind you, that muffin icon was literally hand-drawn by me, photographed by homeboy's iphone, adjusted in inDesign, and plugged into the website in a matter of hours this past Sunday. Everything is essentially a placeholder.
HOWEVER, it's on this auspicious 3rd day of 2013 that I invite you to make a Sugar-free Pledge and use our Forum on an as-needed basis.
I'm so excited to see how my skin/digestion do after making this change!
If you're interested in learning/sharing more about sugar, inflammation, insulin resistance, consider making a pledge to abstain from sugar for a minimum of two weeks.
Happy New Year!
Yes, precisely. Glad to have your attention. Raw honey, fermented things containing sugars that get predigested like kombucha, and fruit are the only exceptions so far, although there is some debate about things like maple syrup, stevia, and coconut nectar.
I'm just thinking the more sweeteners which are allowed, the more room there will be to go overboard. Dried fruit and even the honey are possibilities for being eaten in excess.
I'm not 100% no sugar but I'm greatly reducing it. Its hard to avoid in some things like my coconut creamer but i'm avoiding it mostly everywhere else in my diet. I'm trying to also avoid Splenda.
Ah yes, coconut creamer. Understandable. I used to use Splenda as well but haven't for some time. Aspartame isn't a good idea! Feel free to visit our site in the first post if you'd like to focus more on reducing your sugar intake. 
Hi corgisoulpower! I'm so glad I found this thread.
I know for a fact that refined sugar and alcohol are the only causes of acne, for me. I've gone months without having either, and being compleletly clear, only to treat myself to one tiny bite, and spiralling from there. Months of being strong all gone down the drain and I'm left with new dark spots. You'd think it'd be easy not to make the same mistake twice, but I've managed to make it a handful of times over the past couple of years.
Well, I'm off refined sugar and alcohol again, and this time I'd like to make it final.
I'm on my third day.
Why isn't this thread more active?
Okay, so I'm about 10 days down.
All clear!
Although my blood sugar was low a few days ago, and they gave me a shot of dextrose. I was worried that would break me out, but it was needed. I think because it stabilised my levels, it didn't really cause a breakout.
Not eating refined sugar should not make your blood sugar drop. What are you eating? Did you skip a meal? How about some resistant starch sources like sweet potatoes to keep your blood sugar more stable?
Okay, so I'm about 10 days down.
All clear!
Although my blood sugar was low a few days ago, and they gave me a shot of dextrose. I was worried that would break me out, but it was needed. I think because it stabilised my levels, it didn't really cause a breakout.
Not eating refined sugar should not make your blood sugar drop. What are you eating? Did you skip a meal? How about some resistant starch sources like sweet potatoes to keep your blood sugar more stable?
Hi, thank you for writing.
I've been quite inconsistent with my diet off late, and tend to leave long gaps between meals when work gets busy. I did eat every couple of hours on that particular day though. Oats, brown rice, eggs, brown bread, veggies, bananas. I had a glass of vegetable juice (1 carrot, 1 tomato and 1 cucumber) about an hour before my blood sugar dropped.
Could the sugar from the carrot have anything to do with this? Maybe a sudden rush that lead to a crash? Forgive me if I sound like a moron.
Sweet potatoes aren't available where I live, you only get yams here. From what I can find online, they're both fairly similar nutrition wise, so I'll start having one daily.
Could you please suggest other food items that help maintain healthy blood sugar levels?
I will make it a point to eat every 2 hours.
Okay, so I'm about 10 days down.
All clear!
Although my blood sugar was low a few days ago, and they gave me a shot of dextrose. I was worried that would break me out, but it was needed. I think because it stabilised my levels, it didn't really cause a breakout.
Not eating refined sugar should not make your blood sugar drop. What are you eating? Did you skip a meal? How about some resistant starch sources like sweet potatoes to keep your blood sugar more stable?
Hi, thank you for writing.
I've been quite inconsistent with my diet off late, and tend to leave long gaps between meals when work gets busy. I did eat every couple of hours on that particular day though. Oats, brown rice, eggs, brown bread, veggies, bananas. I had a glass of vegetable juice (1 carrot, 1 tomato and 1 cucumber) about an hour before my blood sugar dropped.
Could the sugar from the carrot have anything to do with this? Maybe a sudden rush that lead to a crash? Forgive me if I sound like a moron.
Sweet potatoes aren't available where I live, you only get yams here. From what I can find online, they're both fairly similar nutrition wise, so I'll start having one daily.
Could you please suggest other food items that help maintain healthy blood sugar levels?
I will make it a point to eat every 2 hours.
Where do you live? If in North America, those things in the shops they call yams, are seet potatoes.
I live in Mumbai, and it's the opposite here. They sell yams as sweet potatoes!
How cool! I mean, I actually have no idea how cool it is to live in Mumbai or even India for that matter, I haven't been yet! I love Indian food and would love to go some day.
What are your thoughts on Ayurveda? Is it used frequently in your region? I know the lifestyle recommends dairy as a healing food for acne, which I disagreed with and haven't really looked into since. But I'm starting to think there may be more to it. Do you have any experience with it?
I think this thread gets disregarded because it's easy to think that cutting out dairy/gluten is difficult, whereas allowances can be made more easily for sugar. It tastes so good and is generally thought to be as innocent, something pure which brings us instantaneous joy. Angel food cake, white sugar, sweets, pastries etc. all sound so friendly and approachable.