 |
| pic courtesy of funfitchic.com |
Hey People!!!
Long time no hear!!
So I'm putting myself on a 4 month challenge to better health & clearer skin!! I've always had a minor skin issue, so my face has never been clear of bumps (from what I can remember) maybe it would be classified as a mild case of acne. I have extremely oily skin which is an advantage (I age more gracefully) and a disadvantage (get too shiney) and all these years I was thinking my face is extremely sensitive to commercial products. Well now for the past few months I've been researching more about the link between nutrition and acne. Especially since I don't use anything but natural products on my face & still get the breakouts here & there. I've been trying to start this "clean" eating habit (I won't use the word diet) for a few months but I keep putting it off for one reason or another.
The guideline to this "clean" eating challenge is inspired by the Paleo Diet
For my challenge:
No Dairy (non whatsoever I think, actually sorta know, this is a culprit...its hard to accept because I LOVE CHEESE)
No Soy (I have a few bottles of my favorite salad dressing that has soybean oil in that expires in Dec. so I'll be using that up before going completely soy free)
No Grains (I love me some rice but for this challenge, which is not that hard to give up actually, I won't be eating it, along with other grains including another favorite of mine CORN! So little to no high fructose corn syrup which is in EVERYTHING)
No Nuts (its one of the top food sensitivities and I'm not sure if I'm sensitive but thought I would cover all the bases, I just got into coconut based products but as of yesterday, I will be cutting that down too. I read online that people who are sensitive/allergic to nuts may have a reaction to coconuts as well)
No Legumes/Beans (so there goes my love for peanut butter! I may sneak in some baked beans here & there if there is no high fructose corn syrup in them & field peas here & there)
Little to no processed/refined/ fried foods
Little to no high sugar foods (not a lot of fruit juice, or table sugar, so most of the things I consume will be labeled "no sugar added")
Little to no sodium (I hardly ever had table salt to my food, and I now purchase "no salt added" veggies if I buy in the can)
So this may seem like A LOT of restrictions but it is necessary for me to figure out what is triggering my breakouts. Note: FOOD DOES NOT CAUSE ACNE BUT IF YOU ARE ACNE PRONE IT CAN TRIGGER A REACTION
At the end of the challenge I will slowly re-introduce foods/ingredients back into my diet one at a time to see how I react that way I will know EXACTLY what my "trigger" food is!! I will post weekly updates of my progress!!
Side Note: I'm currently working on my health & wellness business. I'll keep you posted about that....I'm still in the development stages so there's nothing to really discuss yet :-)
Stay Blessed!
