Food allergies

I have noticed that my acne responds to different foods that I eat. In particular, I believe I have received some negative reactions after peanut butter, and shell fish. It seems that after I eat those foods, my acne flares up and/or my skin gets itchy. Looking around the internet, these foods seems to be common food allergies. The shell fish was from a Chinese restaurant, which leads me to think it was MSG (monosodium Glutamate), and not the shell fish. I will need to investigate this further. A interesting post over at acne.org has some more information on MSG and acne.

I used to think that food and acne have no relation, because there is no medical evidence proofing the case. However, after noticing my acne's reaction after eating certain foods, I would have to say that there is some relation between the food we eat and acne. However, like all things, it depends, because everyone is different. One food may not cause the same reaction between two different people. I would recommended testing to see if you have any food allergies by noticing reactions after consuming foods. According to foodallergy.org, the most commons ones are: milk, eggs, peanut, tree nuts, shell fish, wheat, and soy.

I listened to an interesting story on NPR talking about food allergies. It seems that is a growing medical issue.

Here is an update picture. It is with my movember stash. Unfortunately, this picture does not do a good job showing it off. Not that it is that great to begin with. My skin is doing OK in this picture. I had Chinese food the day before. I thought it might be MSG free, but I think I was wrong and it caused some damage.

I think my next post will be about hydration and/or digestion.

Clearing up

Recently, my skin has been getting a lot better. I have a clearer complexion and I feel larger pimples shrinking. I started taking more apple cider vinegar (two TBPS, twice daily), D 53 Acnex, and I have been getting more sleep. I think all 3 have been crucial to improving my skin, but I want to emphasis sleep. Over the past month, I noticed I have not been getting as much sleep as I should. Some days I would get up at 5am and go to bed at 10:30pm. This lack of sleep would leave me feeling physically fatigued during the day. I felt i the worst after this weekend. I ended up getting a total of about 10 hours of poor quality sleep and I felt like shit on Monday. Also, when I am talking about sleep, I am talking about the waking up drooling sleep. Which means that it not only does it need to be ~8 hours of rest, it needs to be quality sleep. I find it difficult to get this kind of sleep often. It is too easy for me to not be comfortable while I sleep. I toss and turn, because I am experimenting with new sleeping positions (I am a belly sleeper trying to convert over to a side sleeper) or I have to get up to use the restroom in the middle of the night.

Progress from June

Here is a photo of me taken back in June.

Tazorac Chemical Burn

I have been using Tazorac, a topical rentin-A acne cream, for the whole summer. Initially, it was working really well. It was drawing out some of my blackheads and bring them to the surface. My complexion started to clear up. However, towards the end of the summer my chin began to break out a lot and turn really red. At first I thought this was normal, but after talking to an esthetician, I found out the medication was giving me a chemical burn. It was really irritating my skin and it was causing damage. The esthetician told me to stop using tazorac and she recommended some products to heal my skin. I have been following her advice and using the products for over a week now. I can tell that the redness has gone down. I have been told by a few friends that my face looks better. I am going to continue seeing this esthetician on a monthly basis. I really need the monthly facials, and I hope she can help my situation. I blame my self for not consulting a doctor after a few months of using tazorac. I should have checked with a specialist to make sure every thing was OK. I am going to be more careful in the future.

Here is a picture of what my break outs on my chin were looking like. This day was especially bad.

Diet

Most of my diet has been about limiting sugar, limiting gluten, and increasing "good" fats, "good" carbs, and proteins. Listed below is what a standard breakfast, lunch, and dinner will look like for me. I am not affiliated with any companies or products listed below.

Breakfast
1/4 tsp of Ultra Flora Plus and 6oz water
Omelet - olive oil, butter, 3 Large AA Brown Eggs with 350mg Omega3 each 
EnviroKidz Organic Koala Crisp Cereal /w 2 Tbsp of Ground flax seed and 1 Tbsp of Caproyl
Some Almond Milk for Cereal
2 Gluten Free Omega 3 Frozen waffles with butter
1 NOW Adam multi vitamin cap
1 Metagenics Omega 3/6 cap


Lunch
1 Cup of quinoa
6-8 oz flat skirt steak or chicken thighs or pork or salmon
1 cup kimchi or other vegetables


Dinner
1 cup quinoa
1 cup kimchi or other vegetables
a few olives
6-8 oz steak/chicken thighs/pork/salmon

1 NOW Adam multi vitamin cap
1 Metagenics Omega 3/6 cap
EnviroKidz Organic Koala Crisp Cereal /w 2 Tbsp of Ground flax seed and 1 Tbsp of Caproyl

Through out the day

4caps of rhodiola
4caps of olive leaf
water
some peanut butter

After a workout
1 protein shake

Before bed
1 serving ON casein protein shake

Picture after 4 weeks

I have completed for weeks of the routine I posted earlier. I feel great. My posture has improved. There is more definition in my abs. My shoulders are more defined. Look for your self.

Fungus Test

I read online that there is a test you can do to check for a fungus. The test has you spit into a clear glass of water upon waking on an empty stomach. If the saliva looks a certain way (as depicted below), a fungus may be present. I did this test before I started my diet change. At the end of this diet I will preform another fungus test to compare.

Image from http://www.owndoc.com/candida-albicans/spit-test-candida-diagnosis-unreliable/

My saliva after 15 minutes

Exercise Routine

I have been doing a 3 day a week exercise routine. The routine mostly focuses on core and endurance strength. I have listed the routine in detail below. Monday is a circuit day. Wednesday focuses mostly on pulling muscle groups. Friday focuses mostly on pushing muscle groups. I am currently on my 4th and final week of this routine. Each week my technique and endurance have improved. Generally, each week I was able to either lift more weight or fail at a higher rep count. After the end of this week, I will take a rest week and have a new routine. I am not certain what the new routine will be composed of, but I am thinking it will have more of a hypertrophy focus. I will post it as soon as I have it figured out.

Monday

Exercise	Rest	Reps	Tempo	Sets
Squats DB	Circuit	10-15	slow	2-4
Push Ups	Circuit	10-15	slow	2-4
Med Ball Chest pass on Knees	Circuit	10-15	slow	2-4
Push Ups	Circuit	10-15	slow	2-4
Kneeling Shoulder Press	Circuit	10-15	slow	2-4
Sit Ups	Circuit	10-15	slow	2-4
Lateral Raises	Circuit	10-15	slow	2-4
Sit Ups	2-3 min	10-15	slow	2-4
Ju Jitsu Sit Ups	1-2 min	25+	moderate	2-4

Wednesday

Exercise	Rest	Reps	Tempo	Sets
Waling Lunges DB	60 to 90 sec	10-15	1-1-1	3
Lat Pull	60 to 90 sec	10-15	slow	3
1 Arm Cable Row	60 to 90 sec	10-15	slow	3
Anterior Serratus	60 to 90 sec	10-15	slow	3
21's	90 sec	7-7-7	slow	3
T Y	60 to 90 sec	10-12	slow	3
Jack Knives	60 to 90 sec	15-25	slow	3
Prone Cobra	60 to 90 sec	30-90 sec	isometric	1-2

Friday

Exercise	Rest	Reps	Tempo	Sets
One Leg Squats	60 to 90 sec	10-15	slow	3
1 Arm Snatch	60 to 90 sec	10	fast	3
Bent Over Row	60 to 90 sec	10-15	slow w/ pause	3
Spider Crawl w/ push ups	90 sec	10-15	slow	3
Tricep Snap Down	90 sec	7-7-7	slow	3
Buddy Upright Row	60 to 90 sec	pyramid up to 7	slow	3
Trunk Rotations	60 to 90 sec	10-12	moderate	3
Neck Bridges	90 sec	30-90 sec	moderate	1-2

Body Measurements and Pictures

Here is kind of the starting point.  I have recorded my height, weight, measurements, and have taken pictures.  I feel pretty good right now considering that I have been working on this whole summer.

• Height: ~185 cm
• Weight: 78.29 kg
• Wrist: 17.5 cm
• Upper Arm: 31.5 cm
• Forearm Left: 27 cm
• Chest: 99.5 cm
• Thigh: 52 cm
• Calf: 35 cm
• Waist: 88 cm
• Shoulder: 114.5 cm
• Neck: 39 cm

My acne is pretty mild compared to what it was like over the summer.  See for yourself.

I will post my diet in the future.