I have an exciting announcement to make.
I’m in the process of writing a great, big, giant guide to nutrition, food, and eating for health and, most importantly – beautiful, even, acne-free skin!
If you’ve read my free ebook, Roadmap to Clear Skin (if not, download it asap!), you know that diet is not the only thing that is important when it comes to getting rid of acne. There are a lot of little things that work together to elevate you to a state in which acne can’t and won’t exist.
However, healthy eating is a huge subject and one that tends to completely overwhelm people, so it does deserve a lot of attention. What we eat is so important culturally and individually and changing your diet is very tough, especially with the amount of addicting processed foods available to us. And not to mention that the whole diet thing in general is completely cluttered with misleading and opposing opinions – as a result, many people think they are eating healthy when it couldn’t be further from the truth.
Hey, it’s confusing. I know – I don’t blame anyone for getting overwhelmed. I’m here to help steer you in the right direction and explain everything you ever wanted to know about food, nutrition, and eating a healthy and delicious clear skin diet!
In the book so far, I’m outlining an entire plan for figuring out and eliminating allergens, healing your digestive tract, and in depth, yet simple explanations of what, why and how to eat in order to get rid of that acne quickly and efficiently.
And believe me, I don’t mean eating a bland, boring diet.
Everything I eat is absolutely mouth-wateringly delicious, so there’s no worries there.
I do have to mention though – I will be charging a small fee for the book. I LOVE doing this blog and I LOVE my readers, and believe me, it’s the most rewarding thing in the world to help people who are struggling so much with the same thing I was not long ago. I’d love to give this information away for free, but the fact is…. writing books, doing high quality articles and videos on a consistent basis, answering everyone’s questions quickly and thoroughly, and fiddling with techie website stuff takes up a LOT of time, and I do need to live. My heart and soul goes into this blog and there is no way I would be able to do this while keeping up a full time job as well.
I’m not sure how much the fee will be yet, but it will definitely be reasonable – not more than the average book at a bookstore. If you’ve enjoyed all the free content here, you know that I’m an honest person whose main intention is to help people. What’s the saying again…. find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life? That’s what I’m aiming for. I’m studying nutrition, so if I wasn’t doing this, I’d have to drop out of the blog to work at something along the same lines that I didn’t enjoy nearly as much!
Anyway…. I need your help! I can’t read people’s minds. In the book, I’m going to tell you what you need to know, but I also would like to tell you what you want to know – otherwise it’s pointless to write an entire book and not address the burning questions and concerns that are at the forefront of your minds.
So, I have one simple question that I’d like you to answer.
As an incentive for answering the question, I will be giving away THREE free copies of the ebook when I release it, which should be within the next couple of months. The chances of winning are really good, so you’re missing out if you don’t enter!
In order to enter the contest, please leave a comment below with the answer to the question.The contest closes and the winners will be chosen at random in one week from today – Friday, April 15, 2011!
The question is (and please go into as much detail as you like):
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What do you think are people’s biggest problems or frustrations when changing their diet for clearer skin?
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Thank you so much for your help, my lovelies – good luck! 🙂
53 Responses
I know I have felt overwhelmed when learning how many foods I have to give up in order to have clear skin. It’s hard to see that others can eat whatever they want and not break out. I love to cook and it’s been a challenge to alter my meals (ditch high GL recipes) and replace things with better (low GL) options. It’s particularly frustrating because I’ve always been a health nut and try to eat well, but as your post says, there is so much misguided information out there. I never considered that I would have an intolerance to specific foods. I can’t imagine how overwhelming it must be for those who don’t prepare their meals and have to eat out often.
My biggest frustration when changing my diet is not knowing which foods will break me out and why. I don’t have the funds for allergy testing so I’m constantly researching the impact specific foods have on my body and testing them one by one. It’s very time consuming, but has been worth it.
Hi Tracy,
I would have to agree with a lot of the other comments: lack of SUPPORT is a huge one. It never ceases to amaze me (well, in the past several months of endless research in attempts to clear my sudden-onset severe acne) how deeply entrenched our society’s general lack of knowledge about health and nutrition truly is. People just do not view nutritional healing as a viable method for curing illness (even though there are countless stories of people who have found miraculous success in doing so!).
I have found that people will actually mock my attempts to clear my skin through a strict diet. When one is starting out on a new dietary regime, it is very hard to stick to it when one is constantly in social situations where poor/unconscious eating habits are encouraged. To have people actually ridicule you for your attempts to become more healthy, is extremely disheartening. It can make you feel embarassed and ashamed about your decisions, and I know how much this hurts, in addition to having to struggle with a skin condition whose emotional burden many people do not understand.
I would love to hear some tips on how to address this important issue… I think it’s a huge one for all of us who are on the path to better health (in addition to clearer skin!), and overlaps with so many categories that food does as well: emotional, physical, mental, etc.
Thank you!
So true! I’m with you on this one.
I think there are a couple reasons people run into problems or frustrations when changing their diet for clear skin and good health in general. Here are the top four I could think of!
1. People want to see immediate results – from my personal detox experience, It was completely discouraging to still see cysts on my face after a whole month of completely altering my diet and lifestyle. Eliminating dairy, all processed foods, alcohol, smoke, most grains and most meat. The truth is, after decades of abuse, it going take some time to detoxify. Be patient!
2.People eat for comfort. – Ice cream, cake, chips, pizza, hot wings, breads, soda, beer, etc. etc. You name it, everyone has their unhealthy comfort foods and drinks, when one is having a tough time emotionally, its every easy to cheer up next to a bag of Oreos or a hotwing sub (my old favorite).
3.Lack of support – I myself, have faced some serious ridicule and negative criticism while changing my diet. Friends and family will often ostracize you just for choosing a huge plate of fresh greens, over a bucket of fried chicken or when you opt out of a night of binge drinking with friends. It can be very difficult to make the right food choices, when everyone else is trying to convince you to do otherwise.
4.Taking it too far! – Like you’ve said in your blogs Tracy, diet is very important but the emotional end of things is also a huge issue to take into consideration. Dont stress yourself out too much about your diet, or you could actually develop an eating disorder and more acne!
Good luck with the book! I’m very excited to read it!
I think frustration is a common thing amongst people who aren’t use to eating healthy. I know I’ve gotten on and off the diet train several times.
I think the number one frustration is food is comforting. We relate food to some amazing memories. Dinner with families, vacations, hanging out with friends. We all have those times where people haven’t been there for us, food has been there to make us feel a little better. I think a lot of people with acne like to use food as a coping mechanism. For me personally i grew up in a southern american family that ate fast food and junk a lot, so it was a lifestyle for me. It’s hard letting go of what you knew as “food.” I also think that there is a deeper reason for the cause of acne. So as much as people want to change, I think some people emotionally hold onto their acne without realizing it. I think this is a reason diets fail sometimes, because when there is no comfort of food a bunch of emotional stuff they never knew they had comes up.
Along the lines of what i was saying before of letting go of what you knew as “food,” its hard when people around you are still eating the same foods. My sister loves baking so anytime i would start this new lifestyle and there would be cookies and cake on the counter, there was also too much temptation. People that have never dealt with acne will never understand the pain, therefore they think you are being silly when you ask them to be supportive. I think to solve this you can’t start out on an extreme diet or change. You have to do it slowly so the cravings won’t be as strong. Also too much restriction(like a lot of people starting out do), will just have the opposite effect.
Last I think a huge problem is how it changes your life socially. If you are use to eating out with friends all the time, you can’t do that if you are trying to get clear. I think its hard for people to adapt without going out to eat all the time, so some people might give up because they think they will lose friends. Or they do the opposite and never go out because of their restrictive diets. It’s hard finding the happy median.
I could probably list a few more, but those are the main points. I actually typed out a huge post before but i accidently deleted it(talk about frustration!) ..on that note don’t let the little things stress you haha
Being budget conscious when starting a healthy diet. It can be expensive to eat healthy and very difficult to find some health foods since most everything is junk nowadays.
I think the biggest frustration comes from eliminating foods that are staples for people. Most ace sufferers don’t like it when they have to cut out bread or dairy or other foods which they have eaten almost everyday. For instance, I was be pretty mad when I found out I couldn’t eat a sandwich everyday anymore because the gluten in it may cause acne!
I’m really looking forward to your book! Good luck!
I think the biggest problems with changing diet for clearer skin are how much time goes into preparing good healthy food, and how much money goes into purchasing good healthy food. It’s a lot to organize when you buy varieties of healthy options.
Thanks Tracy!!
This might sound a bit radical and totally unrelated, but I think DEEP down it’s a psychological need to please our mom. Mom here is a relative term, that actually means any primary caregiver that cooked our food, whether it be a grandma or our dad. I absolutely despise Freudian psychology (and Freud himself frankly,) but I just realized this is going to sound a lot like his line of thinking.
I think deep down people don’t want to believe their mother has been feeding them “poison” for years. We all want to think the best of our parents, but what does it say about us as people and our society at large when we can’t even trust what our parents put on our plates? When I first began my journey towards better health (which ironically started with vegetarianism) I couldn’t believe my mother had been feeding me MEAT for years. Not only that, but she was oblivious to all the uses of chemicals, antibiotics, hormones and factory farming that was going on. How was it that all of a sudden, seemingly overnight I knew more about what I should be putting in my body than my own mom – my supposed caregiver? I was always taught to eat everything on my plate, but what if that food is horrible for me?
Why is it that all of a sudden the foods that were such a big part of my childhood – potatoes, bread, dumplings, copious amounts of (probably) hormone-laden meat, corn, cheese, chips, chocolate, milk, etc. – were not only giving me acne but causing me to be unhealthy? Our parents listened to the silly little FDA’s and Surgeon General’s recommendations on what we should eat. “Eat more whole grains and fiber, eat less meat and you will live a long, healthy life.” They never told me I might also suffer from Leaky Gut, IBS and acne as a result of having a diet that’s pretty much 99% carbs.
The true frustration lies in the fact that we have to balance our realization that the medical system and nutritional guidelines set forth by The Powers That Be are NOT good for us. At all. I’m sorry, but whenever I hear anyone recommending someone eat/drink dairy, I seriously question their sanity. We have to balance this knowledge, with nutritional information we often hear from our peers, and also nutritional information we hear from other acne-sufferers.
“Soy makes me break out.”
“Well, Soy doesn’t make ME break out and thus you’re lying because if it doesn’t break me out it must not break anyone else out.”
“Fish also caused me to break out overnight.”
“But wait, didn’t you have acne before? How can you be so sure it was the fish and not everything else you were eating?”
“It was the fish.”
“Ok, I’ll stop eating the fish even though I’ve heard all of those Omega-3s are absolutely great for me.”
It’s one big tangled web of uncertainty, despair, unhealthy eating habits, orthorexia and paranoia about food. People need to realize that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel and that avoiding certain foods doesn’t mean you can’t ever have them again. It just means that, for the time being, you must abstain from them if you ever hope to get clear skin. After your body is healed, you CAN eat those problem-causing foods once more in small amounts spaced out over a long period of time. And if it causes you to get 1 more pimple, who cares? After your skin is clear, 1 pimple won’t seem like a big deal because you’ll realize that it WILL eventually go away with proper nutrition, positive lifestyle changes and time.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone to not EVER have a delicious Snickers bar or bowl of pasta ever again. Just don’t make it a regular part of your diet.
Oh, btw. I’d like to withdraw from the giveaway. I’ve already gotten rid of my acne naturally and there are others who could make more use of your ebook (which I’m sure will be insightful and informative as usual) than I can.
🙂
That’s very noble of you, Sampson! Thanks for the great input, as usual 🙂
I think there are a number of things that are frustrating, and a lot of people have already listed most of them. I hope I’m not sounding like a broken record repeating what others have mentioned, but here are mine personally.
1. Some food hold emotional values. Some weighty ones. I’m not talking about eating when you’re depressed, but about the foods that give you joy. I mean we were meant to enjoy food, which is mostly why its so easy abuse food in the particular society that live in since its everywhere. I just found out I was sensitive to milk, and I love Camembert, which is a French cheese by the way. My husband is French, and I will say that I have particular feelings of joy and love attached to French food from living in Paris for a small part of my life. However, I’m sure its completely possible to cope with this, and/or have it moderation. However, how to not feel deprived of something you really enjoy? I’m still trying to figure all this out. We’ll see how it pans out.
I agree with @Jonathan Torres. I’ve been having whole wheat open faced (one slice) sandwiches for a while. I’ve come to really enjoy them with feta and tomato, spinach. We also make panini a lot. Taking something out that is a staple, and when you think its a “healthy” staple. Ouch. Then factor in when you share your life with someone else, it starts really to feel difficult and overwhelming, slightly selfish.
Some are more easy than others, milk isn’t hard for me at all, bread on the other hand will be a challenge. Let’s face it, we are bought up in country that basically teaches that grains are the majority of your diet.
2. Having people around who don’t completely support you. There are people in my life who don’t really believe in holistic care. They like scientific proof of things working, and aren’t really into things that fall into the pseudoscience category. Myself on the other, I’m not extreme on either side of coin.
3. Taking it to far. I’m a perfectionist, when I know something is better for me, I want to dive in head first, and except whatever comes. Even though I’ve learned time and again that this never really works, I still do it. I get excited at the idea of doing something new, but then comes the overwhelming feeling of a chaos, too much too fast, etc. So take changes slowly!
When it becomes so extreme you start to not enjoy life, and eating becomes dreadful. Why me, why can’t I just go eat whatever with my friends, husband, family whatever. You get where I’m coming from.
Good Luck Tracy, I think what you’re doing is really fabulous. ^_^
Ha! Well said Sampson, my mom used to boil mixed vegetables and slather them in butter, make huge meat loafs baked with ground beef and white bread crumbs… with bacon, ketchup and mustard on top. Or a huge ham. Or chicken covered in Italian dressing and god knows what else. Its amazing when your realize that all “Moms famous wholesome foods” were actually killing you. This is coming from a former fat kid..that could never understand why he couldn’t lose weight. hmmm..maybe its the daily bowl of Ramen Noodles and bullion, or Friday night pizza and wings…OR maybe it was the comforting Burger King Double Cheeseburger meal with Onion Rings and extra zesty sauce.. oh man.. my poor body.
I love my mom and I know of course that she wasn’t trying to kill me intentionally (at least I think), her generation was just very uninformed…they didn’t fully grasp the age old saying of “you are what you eat”. She also grew up very poor…where at times her and her siblings were surviving off of ketchup sandwiches! Ive been trying my best these days to get my whole family on the right track..but old habits die hard for them. I guess you just have to do your best to be a positive influence…and when they see positive changes in you…maybe it will inspire them.
I think the biggest frustration in changing ones diet is whether or not their discipline will pay off.
If there were a fixed diet and nutrition plan that guaranteed clear skin the anyone who followed, there would not be a single blemish in the world, even if that diet called for you to eat foods you may dislike. With a 100% guarantee, there is no doubt that your skin will clear. It’s like having clear skin before actually having clear skin. You could begin to “live your life” as a clear skinned person knowing it was only a matter of time.
It’s not the giving up foods that people like; there are limitless flavours and textures and combinations to satisfy even the pickiest eaters, without opening a bag or box. It’s giving up foods that people like and then… not having results to justify your efforts.
For it to all be in vain would be incredibly frustrating; you might as well have eaten the foods you like.
I think that’s true for anything in life. People want to see the returns of their efforts. It’s innate.
Wait. Nevermind. It’s not a spelling mistake. I’m going insane.
Tracy,
I find it very important that people go to see someone to let themselves be tested for intolerance and allergies.
If you don’t know what makes you break out, yes, what’s the point?
I’m on the diet for two months now, and mostly it is going very well. When we are going out to diner, I sometimes cheat. But the next day I restart, I don’t mind. I have a whole life to eat healthy, that one or two diners a week will not ruin everything.
What I would like, is some good healthy recipes. It is not always easy to find recipes with no diary, wheat and sugar in it.
Thanks again for your wonderful site, you have changed my live! I’m now more calm, energetic, relaxed, … And that’s all because I’m eating other healthier things, I also excercise now, I do more walks with our dogs, …!
Evelien,(excuse me for my bad English)
Hi Tracy!
First of all, stop apologizing for charging a fee for the book! You are doing hard job and you DESERVE to earn some money with it. You really do. So don’t feel guilty. People are used to get things for free on the Internet and sometimes we don’t realize how much effort has been put on it.
I share almost all the other commenter’s frustrations and concerns. I specially agree with @Ben: I started changing my diet on October, it’s April and believe me, I’m still far away from getting clear… And sometimes you think you’re just being silly,
Apart from that, I have three frustrations that I think haven’t been mentioned:
1. The damn IG. I’m terribly confused about that. So much that I’m thinking about getting a glucose meter to check it myself. I’m terribly prone to hipoglycemia and although it has gotten better by eating more fat and proteins, I still have some issues, and the information about it is so contradictory… everybody seems to agree more or less about carbs raising insulin, but some say that fat doesn’t make your insulin rise, some say it does, some say it’s protein, some say it depends… and then there’s caffeine, stress and other stuff that can make your blood sugar level change.
Related to that, I don’t know how often should I eat to improve my blood sugar levels, because I’ve found that in some paleo forums they reccomend to eat two or three times a day, while other people say it’s healthier to eat five-six times a day, others say intermittent fasting is the answer… I really need to improve my response to blood sugar and I don’t know how to do it.
2.Cheating is a big deal for me. I live alone, and that makes things easier for me when it’s about avoiding cravings and unhealthy foods: I just don’t buy them. It’s easier to resist temptation when you have to go outside and buy it than when you only need to grab it from your refrigerator.
BUT… when I go out with friends, I’m not able to say I’m following a special diet for acne… it’s just embarrasing for me… so I just eat the same than everyone else. Here in Spain is very common to eat tapas, which means you share the food with the others instead of ordering just for yourself, and I find incredibly hard to control myself: once I’ve started to eat unhealthy, I eat EVERYTHING: dairies, sugar, gluten, bad fats… and I eat A LOT. It’s not a big deal when it’s only a dinner out, but if I go on a few days trip with other people I reaaally end up eating a lot of bad stuff.
3. Related to question number two, I would like to know the “less bad” foods, I mean: foods that are better for cheating, or at least “less bad”. Is it worse to eat sugar or gluten? Is it better to cheat at the beginning or at the end of the meal? I suppose the answer is “it depends on the person”, but anyway maybe you have some insights about it.
Enough! Good luck and thanks for everything 🙂
PS: Despite of what I said before about being far away from getting clear, I am getting better results since I started to get sunshine and exercise regularly, and also since I increased my amount of veggies, so yes, there’s hope for everyone 🙂
Sorry, IG stands for Índice Glucémico, which is Spanish for Glycemic Index 😀
I totally agree with what everyone has to say, especially Ben and Marina. It is SO unbelievably frustrating to feel like all your work is possibly for nothing.Tracy, while I TOTALLY agree with and believe everything you say 🙂 I guess it’s just the cynical nature in me that thinks I will be the ONE person unable to get clear. I have been dealing with this for so long that it’s really hard to imagine it not being in my life. As for my current diet situation, I don’t see how I could possibly cut anything else out of my diet and am still far from clear with new problems “popping up” daily. Sometimes it just doesn’t seem worth it. Some major problems for me are:
*Little to no support or understanding from family and friends. People just really don’t understand what you’re going through because they’ve never been there.
*Completely conflicting opinions on everthing health related, especially diet, from every person you encounter, especially doctors–holistic or otherwise. I have had MANY different kinds of allergy testing done and literally each test has brought completely different results. That makes it really hard to have ANY clue of what to eat!
*Just sheer frustration!!! 😉 Like Ben said, if there was some sort of guarantee that was given to us that assured us this would all be worth it and we WOULD get clear, I would really have no problems! I can really make myself eat anything if I think it’s good for me. It’s just the nagging worry and doubt that is always in the back of my head that creeps up when I’m feeling down or not seeing results that I would expect that makes the whole process sometimes seem like a cruel joke. (talk about dramatic) 🙂
Anyway, Trace…….GOOD luck with the book!!! Seriously can’t wait to read it!! Thank you again for all of your hard work!!
I think I can second everybody’s previously mentioned frustrations. I have two I would like to add. First is purely time and convenience. It is much easier to prepare a frozen dinner or other processed foods for a meal/snack vs. preparing something fresh. Even bagged/canned vegetables are quite a bit easier to store/prepare than fresh. Secondly, it’s difficult to be the one guy not partaking in splitting a pizza or saying no foods being offered that you know may lead to problems. I can also really enforce the whole “guarantee” issue and simply not knowing what foods actually trigger what. Example: I have been taking your advice for the past several weeks about cutting out dairy. I haven’t eliminated it completely, but I’m cutting back. I used to drink about a gallon of milk a week by myself and take a protein supplement derived from dairy, but have cut those out completely. So for my cereal in the mornings, I switched to drinking almond milk. Sure enough, the number of inflamed pimples were minimized. Last weekend I thought I would try soy milk as a change for the week, and have been breaking out a little bit, not knowing what was triggering it. Ironically, yesterday is when I saw one of your videos about soy being bad for hormones. It would just be nice to know for certain what things are triggering what. How do I know what diet changes are actually affecting my acne, and which ones are just in my head?
@jordon
Can’t agree more with all you mentioned!
I just wanted to mention, that if anyone was interested in finding out what they food sensitivities are, you can look up NET (Neuro Emotional Technique). It uses muscle-testing, or applied kinesiology to help find your sensitivities. Again, like the method that Tracy use, its unconventional and controversial as to whether is works and does fall in the pseudoscience category, but its step away from now having to “guess”. I went yesterday, and found it very interesting and helpful. Not only that, but they claim to be able to help your body into being less resistant to these sensitives, but that is to be seen, I’m skeptical but I’m willing to be open-minded. http://www.netmindbody.com/
Sorry if this was off topic, but I wanted put that out there, if it can help someone. ^_^
Wow! Everyone’s responses are truly insightful. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one out there feeling the same exact way about what I’m eating and how it will effect my acne. I agree with @Danielle, eliminating “healthy” staples is hard. I also want to add that most people don’t understand why I eat the way I do and are quick to judge. It’s difficult to tell friends/family it’s due to acne because like @Evelyn said, it’s embarrassing. I’m 5’3 and like you, have a small frame and generally all around tiny for my size. Most assume I’m on a “low carb” diet and think I have an unhealthy relationship with food, which is so far from the truth.
The support your website has generated is a blessing to me! I can’t wait to read your e-book.
@E
Wow, I’m so sorry, I can see how people could be judgmental! that’s horrible. I’m actually 5’1 and had weight troubles and colon troubles my whole life, so I can see how I can have acne if I’m not functioning properly, and this hopefully it should help me heal. Its nice to have other reasons other than acne to eat better, but at the same time, trying to heal troubles I’d had since I was little is hard.
Whatever anyone assumes of you, its just that, an assumption, and shame on them for judging you. Just remember you are doing what is best for you, and what will heal you, and that’s what its really about. I wish you love and luck on your journey. 🙂
~D
Aw, thank you much! You are absolutely right about assumptions. I’m at the point where I’ve decided acne could be a blessing in disguise. We are able to see which foods cause inflammation, which is really good to know for overall health.
you must change really old and deep seated habbits, not easy, depending on person, may be not easy at all.
you now must look for different food, which also can be really hard if you live in place with limited possibilities.
good, healthy and especially organic/biological food is expensive and at first may not be as filling as for example bag of potato chips, you eat it & youre good to go for all day.
you have to prepare your food in special ways to not loose its nutritients etc & basically bother about many different little things and rules you never bothered about and that werent taking as much of space in your head before.
diet can be really irritating in many ways at all, especially if it is very limited and you tend to eat for entertainment kinda or have cravings for something specific but you cant have it. and when everyone else can have it without no problems. basically fact that other people can not bother about anything and eat whatever they want but you have to calculate everything and give thought to it etc.
you have to prepare/make food yourself, takes time and patience. its easier if youre into it, but if youre not it can be stressing and annoying at times.
you have to measure and calculate certain stuff like omega ratios for example and go into other details if your acne case is stubborn and you need to perfect your diet as much as possible, which ofcourse can be annoying and stressing for some too
*but hey good luck with ebook and everything, i find your info helpful and even if i know some stuff myself already its nice as reminder anyways, also i like how u explain things simply and easy to understand for everyone and your videos are fun to watch. so good luck! 😉
good luck with the book tracy!
my biggest frustration is just not knowing what is ok to eat. there’s so much conflicting information out there! also what supplements, if any, should i be taking and should i try a detox cleanse or fast or not.
i’m almost 32 and have struggled with acne since i went off birth control 8 years ago. it’s always my neck, under my jawline and more recently my entire back has broken out! i am new to making changes in my diet to *hopefully* get clear someday – i’ve been doing pretty good since my dr told me to cut out sugar for 8 weeks…i also quit alcohol and caffeine and i’m trying to limit dairy and gluten. does it get worse before it gets better?! will i ever get to the point of being clear enough to try some of these things again?! sigh…..
I dont wanna answer this question. i just think you are very beatiful. full of light. shining miles away throught the deepest oceans.
Its hard to accept ones own beatyness. I send you a deep hearted smile back. Take care of it. You will im sure.
Youre really omething special. good luck. im sure its nice joking with you.
everyone should love each other. thinking of a world which is different.<3
I think one of the biggest frustrations is deciding what to eat and then staying consistent with it especially around family. It’s hard when you see family members who eat whatever they want and have perfectly clear, glowing skin. And then they offer you what they’re eating, and you have to say no and worry about hurting their feelings or making them feel awkward.
It makes me feel depressed because I walk into the kitchen and have to navigate it to find something healthy & it’s hard to know what is. I want to eat something really greasy and fatty and delicious, and it’s hard to know how I can eat like that in a healthy way. I’m not doing the grocery shopping and times are tough.
It’s also hard choosing what to eat because everyone is different & different people have different causes for their acne. Some people can cut out dairy and clear right up. Others do it & it has no effect. The mystery of why acne is showing up is frustrating and makes me feel like I can’t eat anything. It makes me feel scared of food in a way.
I’m a “health nut” and feel isolated and depressed trying to solve this mystery, and it makes me want to give up and go eat fatty food and cover it up with expensive skincare products and makeup. I’ve wasted so much money. 🙁
1) I think the most difficult thing is that it takes time. It is not a quick fix when one is changing their diet, and often it will get worse before it gets better. I think this is one of the biggest frustrations because someone could think that they are doing the wrong thing because their skin gets worse with diet change, but in actuality their skin is just healing. slowly.
2) I think a close second that also takes a lot of time is determinig food allergies. While allergy tests can be helpful, in many instances they can be wrong. Really, the only way to really know is to listen to your body and that can take be very frustrating and time consuming as it often involves eliminating and testing foods to know which ones your body can tolerate.
For me it’s being dependent. I don’t have a job yet and I eat whatever my mom cooks. I don’t have a choice. 🙁 I can’t nag that it’s unhealthy and yuck why are you feeding me that. 🙁
What do you think are people’s biggest problems or frustrations when changing their diet for clearer skin?
I think that it’s society’s’ perception of the ‘correct’ diet. We are indoctrinated every day with advertisements for foods and diets that are so unhealthy, yet we fall into their trap. We all want to be happy, to feel our best, to have energy, and to be accepted. With a different diet than probably 90% of the world, we don’t feel accepted, and this causes havoc on our emotional health- and of course this inhibits the process of clearing our skin.
People want a quick-fix solution, and easy route. We’re all too impatient and most often, taking it slow and steady is the way to go.
Changing a diet is a big step. You have to get used to eating different foods, experimenting with unusual flavours, smells and textures. Your family or the people you live with may be unwilling to accept your new diet and they may not be ready to try your diet at the same time.
Financially, food is a huge gamble. Organic is super expensive and with everyone’s economic situation, times are hard.
Furthermore, once we start eating cleaner, healthier foods our bodies start to detox- get rid of the toxins that have been filling up inside us, and the change can often lead to more breakouts because the toxins our being released. We get discouraged and want to give up because we’re not seeing the results we anticipate.
Eating a diet that is oftentimes limited, it can be hard to choose what to eat, either in our own house, supermarket or restaurant/friends house.
When going on a different diet, and you’re not prepared or you haven’t planned what you’re going to eat for the day, choosing what to eat can be difficult, and time consuming- tt’s way more convenient to eat a microwavable lasagne and a bag of crisps and a chocolate bar than take the time to chop and toss a salad and pour yourself a glass of water!
Once again, we’ve all been taught that eating this food and taking this medication and pills will clear our skin and do away with that disease. Well the truth is-no. Everyone’s different we have to take the time to find what food works for US.
I’m really looking forward to this book Tracy, i would absolutely love to clear my acne!
For me, I couldn’t just change my diet for my skin. It somehow felt silly or not good enough, like many of the other changes I have always wanted to make for my health. It took a combination of factors, not that it should. When it comes to health, I have learned to be far less apologetic and guilty about making changes for me. I’ve realized it’s really important to make healthy decisions for me, sometimes. So, then, the greatest challenge is either (1) finding other reasons to reinforce the dietary changes or (2) overcoming guilt for making healthy but selfish choices that may inconvenience friends/loved ones.
What do you think are people’s biggest problems or frustrations when changing their diet for clearer skin?
My biggest frustration personally is that I have always been healthy and always ate well but learning that some “healthy” foods such as whole wheat and dairy was the culprit to my adult acne. It was frustrating for me to go gluten free and dairy free while all this time I thought these foods were doing me good! Ugh – Changing my diet at first seemed to be so hard because the cream in my coffee and my toast in the morning was gone and I was soooo used to eating this stuff! But, eating raw fruits, vegetables, fresh whole foods and lots of water really shows up on my face! It took a while to acclimate to my new changes in my new diet, but I’m doing it and it is working for me! ♥♥♥♥
What do you think are people’s biggest problems or frustrations when changing their diet for clearer skin?
I think people’s biggest problems or frustrations is understanding what really causes acne. Sometimes you change your diet and your skin gets better but you don’t know what is really helping you get clear.
I think that people’s biggest obstacles and frustrations when trying to go the healthy route and change their diet for clear skin is that it’s just plain hard to eat healthy in America sometimes. It’s definitely not convenient for the average on the go-er. It’s so much easier just to fall into the drive-thru trap and order the biggest, fattiest, greasiest burger on the menu on the way home from work. Restaurants don’t care about your health either, and put hydrogenated everything right in front of you and make it look as appetizing as possible. I mean it’s hard to say no to a huge yummy plate of anything from TGI Friday’s or dare I say Olive Garden. (like their shrimp scampi… yummm…) Healthy foods seem more out of reach to us than the normal unhealthy stuff is. This is definitely the area I struggle with the most. I could go out and try every cleanser and lotion on the market, but when I first heard that I should try to change my diet I was like, “Woah, woah, there! I don’t think so…” But then I realized that it’s not just for clear skin, it’s for an all around healthy life! I think people really need help with learning how to eat healthier on the go, and knowing what to snack on or what not to snack on. And also if they are at a restaurant, what to order or more importantly what to stay away from. I think some restaurants have things that look like they’d be healthy, but they’re really just health ninjas in disguise looking for a way to take you down from the inside. Then BAM… breakouts on the face. So I think getting people to realize (including me) that eating healthy is just as easy as their current diet would be extremely helpful! Because not only does a healthy diet promote clear skin, but also an all around turn in feeling good and not grogged down with unhealthy fats and cholesterol. Good luck with your book!! I loved the Roadmap to Clear Skin, and I already know this next book is going to be so helpful!! <3
Tracy I am sooooo glad you do what you do and enjoy it; lucky for me! I’m glad I found this site!
Of course I agree with everyone else on these issues
1. Not getting support
For me though it’s more about how hard it is to find healthy food anywhere and this needs to change!
The ignorance about how bad for us most of our food is, is astounding. My family is pretty supportive and when they’re not I chastise them because I am the only one who knows what it’s like to be me -no one else has a say.
2. Having a different diet than most people you come into contact with:
Though I have been a vegetarian, I was still eating dairy; I have since cut dairy out but cheese is a favorite that’s been hard to give up. I don’t like milk anymore and haven’t had it in years. I just tell people that I choose my diet for health reasons and they leave me alone; if they want to debate I tell them of the research I’ve done and they leave me alone…no one can argue with someone who chooses to live a healthier life! But still annoying.
3. Eating with friends and family
This can be hard and I may have something that is not good for me but I won’t overdo it because when I think of how it will break me out…it definitely tempers my desire for it! I will prepare my own food if necessary when at home and if we’re out and eating I’ll only do it twice a week at most!
4. Not knowing what foods will break you out.
This is a tough one so I figured I would just cut them all out but not too strictly or I would go crazy! I have actually found bread and pasta without gluten and the additives in them; because what would life be without these things and I go to a local market for fruit that is very cheap. Organic is sometimes too expensive for me! I do eat seafood but only from health food stores.
#### Now I have a couple of different issues from the others
1. Baking
Can I bake?
I am doing more of this now and kind of enjoy it (I get to be creative) and have found alternatives to dairy but I am not clear on whether or not I should use baking soda or baking powder. So far I don’t but are these considered processed? Lard is probably a no no, too…
2. Any food alternatives you know of would be of major help
Trying to find these can be frustrating and any recipes would be nice!
3. And maybe a general daily regimen of what you eat or what we should eat
And once again, thank you for your site!!!!
loving everyones comments 🙂
so far my biggest frustration is when i go home for weekend and need to eat my mom’s cooking.
During the week i prepare food by myself and i have control over every ingredient.
My mom makes traditional food, with lots of stuff i avoid these days and i don’t want to make her feel bad since she slaved over the stove for hours.
Another thing is it’s hard to find healthy food in stores, i realized stores are full of junk food.
I would also love to learn more about low GI diet and what is a proper way of eating certain foods.
Good luck with your book, i’m looking forward to it!
After reading all the comments above it seems everybody is stressing too much over diet. If you eat a healthy diet it is okay to eat junk every once in a while. We can’t let this skin disorder ruin our lives!! The only thing that is holding us back is ourselves! Its funny I use to think people would always look at me, because I had bad skin. What i do is everytime someone looks at me I give them a good ol’ smile and that seems to do the trick lol. Or if its a female I will just give her a wink (very nice).
We shouldn’t be holding ourselves prisoners when it comes to diet. After reading a lot on how our mind and body works it is clear that i know what I need to do.
No white flour, processed foods, white sugar, brown sugar, gluten, soy or dairy. This doesn’t need to be complicated now. I have been reading a lot about chinese medicine lately since they are the smartest and healthiest country in my opinion. They have the greatest life expectancy, because they eat in moderation, have clean air, and seem like they are at piece with the world.
When I first started the whole diet thing I was a little confused. Now that i have the correct information at my fingertips I know how I should be eating. In my opinion all natural is the way to go, and that means with everything. That includes your food, air, and cleaning products. If you put good in your going to get good out. It was a little discouraging at first when I started to break out more and more. Once I realized it was the healing process I looked it as a blessing. If everyone is consistent in what they are doing they will have clear skin in my opinion. We all need to support each other in our journeys toward clear skin as it a constant struggle every day of our life.
With that said I’m glad I have had troubled skin. It has taught me a lot about myself, and I look at as a challenge put before me. It has made my mind, body, and spirit as strong as it will ever be. Once I accepted myself for who I am as a person and stopped worrying about my face all the time my skin started to clear up a little more as each day passed. All of us need to go out there and live our lives to the fullest. I love this website as it has taught me a lot life in general…… Thats all I have to say about that lol
One Love Tommie Wardell
I would say that there are 2 biggest challenges surrounding dietary changes – (1) budgetary – how much are these changes going to cost me? and (2) getting support from family or friends. No matter how much you want to eat better & healthier, if those around you aren’t on board or aren’t supporting you, it can be difficult.
I would say results.
We live in a fast pace society and people expect clear skin overnight.
I myself have cleaned up my diet, but there is still more room for improvement.
I wake up every day, waiting for my post acne marks to fade, but i hardly notice anything, if at all.
I know it will go away like they have in the past, but the process is so slow.
I can certainly agree with just about everything that’s been mentioned so far; finding the EXACT cause of my acne, having the patience and hope when change doesn’t seem to help immediately, focusing my attention on my life rather than my complexion. A couple of other important ones for me: 1)the price of organic, hormone-free food. I understand how absolutely vital all that is to our health, but it is impossible for my family to buy everything, even most, of our food clean. 2)Finding recipes that my husband and children will also love. I HATE making 2 sets of meals just because I have more restrictions. The amount of time it takes to make 2 dinners is exhausting and sometimes I just don’t bother with my “special” meals. Finding food that we all LOVE and that are filling and tasty is very important for me.
Anyway, good luck with the book, Tracy. I look forward to reading what you have to write (as always)!
Hi everyone. Like others here I find the biggest frustration is finding stuff to eat while on the go and in restaurants. I live in London where we have amazing choice but even so it can be really really hard. The ready to eat aisles in supermarkets are dominated by bread and pasta based foods, and even gluten free options often use dairy or soy. As for restaurants, Italian places with their gluteny pizzas and pastas used to be a staple with my family and friends. Now I try to persuade them to opt for something more eastern; I have found a really good Thai restaurant nearby and Indian meals can be good too. But it would be great to have some more guidance on this issue.
By the way, Tracy, I think you are such an inspiration. Finding your blog has literally changed my life: I’m now full of energy, calmer, happier, and well on the way to clear skin. Hurray!
Hi. I’m just starting out on launching on my new diet change (in a concentrated, yet common sense way) and I’d have to say the numerous frustrations or setbacks that I fear can be drawn down to one fundamental challenge — seeing my new eating habits and ‘diet’ as a conscious choice in lifestyle. By lifestyle I mean a way of living that incorporates not only a satisfaction with the results, but also the choices that are made in the moment. This means not eating out a lot and making my own food — who knew that making your own food can be more relaxing than driving to a busy, overcrowded restaurant! This means drinking more water during the day — which abates hunger and the need to snack on naughty things! This means seeing the process of living well as more of the reward in and of itself than just the end result of looking well.
Love to All. Live well.
Availability. Coming from a small town opinion, I’ve noticed a huge lacking of healthy food…without spending twice as much as I’d spend on bad food. Combine this with a family that refuses to eat healthy, the quicker access to junk food, and unhealthy restaurants and the stress is justified.
Hey Tracy! I think the hugest problem for me is having to curb cravings for dairy and deal with the fact that hormone-free meat is so hard to find. I know that eating dairy will inflame my acne but I can’t seem to stop when I’m stressed or out with friends or at a social event, having some tips and guidance and delicious alternatives would be really helpful. The other aspect is what is supposed to happen during the healing process. You hear many things and while your acne is getting worse and you’re eating cleaner, it’s hard to not just give up and resort back to one’s old eating habits. As well, not eating dairy often causes me to eat lots of fruits and high glyxemic foods- not knowing if this increases acne or not makes it hard to decide what is appropriate to eat or not. Often, because there is so much information out there, it causes people (like me) to go back to the old, awful ways of eating since everything is confusing. An online support group would be excellent and home remedies for somewhat “quicker fixes” during the heealing/changing diet process would be lovely too. I can’t wait til your books comes out, I really need it!
My biggest problem with a clear skin diet, is that I’m no “Master Chef” or nutritionist, so trying to co-ordinate balanced healthy meals for a family of 4, whilst “trying” to be a culinary genuis in the kitchen, is hard work, frustrating and stressful. It’s not knowing where to start, what foods to avoid, what foods to add, how to put it altogether and how do I do all of this 7 days a week, 3 meals a day, plus snacks, without getting bored. Boredom with food, only stunts my progress to clear skin. I know logically that it should be kept simple, but when you have so many fears when it comes to your skin, you want to do the right thing & you want to do it perfectly, so you can get the results & quickly!
I’ll give you an example of ‘me’ lost in the kitchen:-
I’m getting ready to make a colourful & tasty protein salad. I’m dying to use the beautiful avocado in my fruit bowl, but I remember being told that I’m blood type ‘o’ and that avocado is bad for blood type ‘o’. So for the next half hour I’m contemplating wether to use the avocado or not. “what if I use it & tomorrow I have a brand new zit”, “oh that’s ridiculous, avocado is good for your skin”, “maybe it’s good for others, but bad for me”, “god I wish I had one of those celebrity gurus that told me what to eat”, “how can I find out if avocado is truly bad for me”…. in the end I dont use the avocado, I’m not that hungry any more & my tummy is bloated. And dont get my mind ticking wether my beef was grain fed or grass fed….
Food is very mental & emotional for me, so if I can think less about it, I think I’ll be on my way to clear skin. I’m 39 with 2 little ones & a husband. My lifestyle requires me to be organised & have structure, otherwise I’m running around like a chook, stress building & emotions flying…not a good combination for clearing the skin.
So in saying this, If a section of your book contained a sample 7 day menu plan (breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks) plus recipes, that would take a load off my mind. For me personally, this would be helpful in alleviating the stress of what to eat everyday. I know 7 day meal plans shouldn’t be taken literally, as we all have different appetites & allergies, but it provides ideas & guidelines, which in turn can stop that daily frustration at every meal time “what to eat?”.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Tracy.
I love your website.
I look forward to your ebook.
in my opinion, i think one of the biggest frustration in trying to eat healthy to get rid of your acne (at least mine) .. would be not being able to eat fast food.. or food on the go. usually food that are “on the go” is probably not good for you.. i.e., mcdonalds, kfc, taco bell. fast food is really delicious (well at least i thought so before i had acne haha).
Furthermore, i also think it’s pretty frustrating because organic food is pretty expensive.. it’ll be pretty hard to eat organic food all the time as opposed to just regular super market food that isn’t organic and cheaper.
Moreover, it’s also frustrating if you had to go on this healthy diet a lone just for your acne. for example.. all my friends have super clear skin (well at least most).. and they eat relatively unhealthy.. my friends are always eating fried chicken, pasta, french fries, etc etc., and i always feel guilty when i go out to eat with them. my friends are always suggesting unhealthy food like pizza all the time and it really gets me frustrated because i can’t eat with them! like you said, it’s okay to eat something you enjoy from time to time, but i’m usually always around my friends so i can’t eat this way all the time, i always have to go home to to eat my fruits , veggies, and oatmeal. Otherwise, i have to bring my own fruits and pack my own lunch/dinner.
Another thing that is frustrating is when i go out to get drinks.. (i’m asian & there are a lot of “boba stores” around my area).. every drink that is yummy or tasty always contain milk, & the boba stores never have the alternative of soymilk, or almond milk, or any other dairy-free substitutes. which means, i always have to end up ordering plain ol’ green tea, which is suuuuuper frustrating!
Eating healthy is always all about SELF CONTROL…… and it gets frustrating having to have to “self control” myself all the time.
Hey, just wanted to ask, how are you picky winners? random or, are you actually choosing? just curious.
It’s random, I’m going to plug all the names in a randomizer type of website. Everyone’s answers have been so awesome, I’d never be able to choose! I will see if there are any more entries for the rest of today and announce the winners tomorrow!
Woot! I’m excited. 😀
Actually I’ve decided to pick them from a hat on a video tomorrow! haha that sounds like more fun
Hi Tracy,
I sent you a couple of emails (not sure if you are getting).
I’m having problems downloading ebook, as link has expired.
My computer kept freezing up on me, so I think I used my 3 attempts.
Can you please resend it to me.
Thanks,
Andrea.