Hey all! So, the acne on my face is pretty well managed. It doesn't bother me -- I still get an occasional pimple or two but it's nothing I can't handle. It doesn't feel "out of control." However, my back is a mess. I've been using Panoxyl and it's made things better, but still not where I want to be. My back still has active acne. I wouldn't really give a second thought to it, except I noticed something: my acne is acting up now that I'm at my parent's house on break. Especially on my back, but I would also say that I've gotten more/more frequent pimples while back at home. My diet is wildly different here because my parents use sugar (I use honey in my tea because I like the taste) and my little brothers love sweets. When I'm at home, I don't buy sugar and I limit my purchases of sweet things because I don't need them and they're an extra grocery cost. So, based on that, I have a hypothesis that cutting out sweets completely might clear me up. My goal is to cut out sweets completely for at least a month and fifteen days and then re-assess. It's actually not too lofty of a goal for me, considering I don't eat too many sweets to begin with...except some dark chocolate every day, when i get it from people, and during exams/during my period. So my goal is to cut these things out. The dark chocolate can often be my reprieve. I might replace that with a glass of wine or a cup of chamomile tea (I love love love chamomile). Anyway. Here goes. I kind of just want to use this blog as a way to "remember" my goal, to think about it, and to write about any difficulties.

From a medical point of view, sugar is an awful thing to put into your body on a regular basis.

My diet at home looks something like this:

Breakfast, if time. Cereal (Bran Flakes) + milk OR yogurt, muesli, and honey. tea or coffee.

Or Kashi bar.

Lunch -- often skip. If not, go home, eat pasta or something leftover. quick lunches include quesadillas or pb/fruit sandwiches.

sometimes turkey sandwich. sometimes salad.

snack - whatever I can get my hands on. Maybe some fruit. Maybe a kashi bar.

Dinner - usually some sort of pasta with veggies. some dark chocolate.

Yeah, so my diet is pretty uninteresting and the only sugar involved is the chocolate, the milk (yes that counts in my book), and the kashi bar. Or if someone gives me free sweets. Or if my friends and I go out somewhere specifically for sweets -- like a donut shop or Ghirardelli. I can make a conscious decision to try and not be in these situations or choose not to buy sweets. I need to find a replacement for the kashi bar as a snack -- I'm thinking banana or an apple and a nut/bran cereal mix will have an equal caloric/nutritional equivalent. I think I'll switch to almond milk. And I've already addressed the dark chocolate!

I'm still at my parents' house. It shouldn't be too hard to find alternatives to sweets here because my parents' pantry and fridge is STOCKED.