This is a guest post from Jill Therese, author of the blog Heal Your Face With Food

Six years ago, I was deeply ashamed of my skin. I couldn’t run a mile. My diet was french fries, burgers, pizza and eggs. Every time I went to the gym it felt like punishment. I wasn’t happy.

Fast forward to today, I have beautifully clear skin. I’ve ran 3 half marathons. I drink delicious green juices almost every morning and crave salads all day long. I’m a fitness instructor. I feel beautiful and confident again; I know exactly what I’m doing with my life.

How did I make these changes? And most importantly how did I clear my acne?

It was a combination of 4 things happening over a period of two months that changed everything.

I want to share this with you because I think these changes are available to everyone. And, I want my acne story to be your acne story. 

First Change:

I took a workout class called Intensati. It’s a different type of class; a combination of yoga, martial arts, and kickboxing (normal part) combined with spoken affirmations as you’re working out (weird part). Yep. You literally yell “I am strong now” as you’re punching.

For the first ten minutes of the class, I was completely out of my comfort zone.

But after about 10 minutes in, a light switch went off.

Wait a minute…I thought. I am strong. I am powerful. All this time, it was my thoughts- not my body, mother (haha), money, etc. holding me back. It was my very own thoughts!

This workout is really hard. You use the power of your words to push you through the workout. As a result you accomplish more than you thought you could, which then changes your perception of what you think you can do. And then you start taking that idea into the rest of your life…

Second Change:

Around the time of my first Intensati class, I was also at the complete end of my rope when it came to my acne.

So, I decided to go see another doctor (“maybe they’ll have another option”) and as I finished listing everything I had tried, the doctor cocked her head to the side, looked at me sadly and said, very simply, “You’ve tried everything. I dunno what else we can do for you. We do have a laser treatment, it’s 500$ a session but I can’t guarantee it’ll work”

No. Thanks.

I left her office beyond frustrated, crying and yelling in my car all the way home.

However, that day was actually everything I needed to change my life.

I had always been told that my acne was not caused by the food I was eating. But I had read in Chinese medicine journals and Aruveyda that jawline acne (my exact type) in women was very much tied to their hormonal cycle.

And because of the Intensati classes I was taking, I had truly started to feel powerful. As in, can do anything powerful. So, I decided to take the healing of my acne into my own hands and started looking at my food.

Third Change:

I picked up Kris Carr’s new (at the time) book Crazy Sexy Diet and a few others (ok, maybe six) and read all about diet, food, and juicing.

And I started to change what I was eating.

Slowly- but seriously. I cut out sugar, gluten. I had a huge glass of lemon juice plus cayenne pepper and a huge green juice every morning. I started taking probiotics every day. Almost immediately- I noticed my skin start to “calm down”. I didn’t notice as many “new zits” coming.

I kept it up. Removed more bad, added more good. (bad = sugar, gluten, dairy, meats. good= grains, plants, pro-biotics).

I followed this diet for about 30 days… and I literally have not had more than 2-3 small break-outs since. Literally. Clear skin since.

And to be completely honest and transparent with you- I don’t eat like that anymore. I still eat very well, but it’s my belief (and much of my research has confirmed this) that I reset the bacteria in my tummy (super important) and got it back to normally functioning levels so that it supported my skin in a better way. (After years of eating badly which deeply affected my body chemistry)

Fourth Change:

Also at this time, I started to work out consistently. Not as a punishment, but because it felt good.

Exercise is so important to your body’s endocrine (hormone) system. And this system has a major impact on acne.

So these four changes added up to a complete healing of my acne, from the inside-out.

How Can We Make This Your Acne Story As Well? 3 Steps:

  • #1. Listen to your thoughts. What do you say to yourself? Think about your body, and your life? Can you think more empowering thoughts today?
  • #2. Pay attention to your food. You don’t have to go crazy, but start to really examine what you put in your bod. When do you break out the most? After a weekend with your peeps drinking? For women- what time of the month? Sometimes there are teeny changes you can take on to really see nice “calming” results.
  • #3. Exercise for joy. Not to get skinny, or to get HAWT abs. Exercise for that feeling you get right AFTER you’re done. You know-the light hearted happy feeling? That’s the one you want. There’s a good-hormones-thing happening there and it’s super important to your body’s chemical balance.

I know many of you have tried many different things- and a LOT haven’t worked. I want you to know that I totally freaking hear you and that I’ve cried more tears over my acne than I can even count. But, by visiting The Love Vitamin, you are coming to the best place to support the healing of your skin from the inside-out.

That’s the way I did it and it was the best way. I hope some of these tips help you heal your skin in a new, more permanent way!

Don’t lose hope – sometimes the “fix” can come from the most unexpected place 🙂

Jill Therese is a former acne sufferer who is committed to helping others heal their acne from the inside out through the power of positive thought, nutrition, juicing, and movement at healyourfacewithfood.com

She is a former French poetry major (yes, yep.) from North Carolina, an ACE certified fitness instructor and IntenSati leader, a Series 7 & 63 certified financial representative, a 3x half marathon runner and a former actress. She can usually be found tweeting funny interweb snippets @heyjilltherese, watching bulldog videos online, reading as many books as humanly possible and/or watching the sunset in Brooklyn from her best friend’s roof with a glass of vino.

She wants everyone to feel glowing and beautiful in their own skin, and hopes healyourfacewithfood.com can help you do that.