Update on the finely tuned machine.

My dad asked me Saturday how my diet was coming along. I was explaining to him that my skin was surprisingly clear (not spot-less) for the first time in several months and telling him what I was not eating (or rather the few things I was eating) and he said its hard to believe that the body is such a finely-tuned machine. He said he was more like a garbage-disposal that can handle anything except green things... This would be where my love of all things carbohydrate comes from.

I have now been on this new & revised 'diet' for 2 whole weeks and I have to say that most of you were right (of course!) and if I could make it through the first week, it would definitely suck less. I am glad to say I'm there!! Its really not all that bad at this point. (Rather expensive, but not horrible.)

I'm still feeling very overwhelmed by even starting to figure out what may be possible to add back in and what I may need to write off the list forever (I'm really sad about queso dip lately), but I've had a surprisingly good skin week.

I had a chemical peel two Thursdays ago and thought it would just speed things up a little. Which it did. Then it stayed pretty clear (not normal). I was also taking a 10-day cycle of progesterone, so I wasn't quick to think it would stay clear because I thought it could be that pill... and it still could be, but that ended Thursday. (Anyone have any experience with progesterone and clear/unclear skin?? Or maybe wanting to eat everything in site??!?)

So get this though... my skin is actually dry today. This is a rare occasion to say the least.

I had a mild 'reaction' on Saturday. I washed my makeup off as soon as I felt my skin acting up. Ben came in and asked, 'WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!" Because it looked that bad. He said it definitely looks like an allergic reaction rather than a breakout. Thank you very much! Just having another person agree that it isn't a normal break out makes me feel a little better on this journey.

Makeup off, clindamycin on, things calm down.

So then I went through the list of what I may have eaten/used....

wheat/grains? nope...
dairy? nope... unless Whole Foods tricked me with their dairy-free chicken salad....
honey? YES.... can you be allergic to honey?
nuts? YES.... the salad had walnuts in it...maybe 3 whole walnuts, but still... I ate them.
lotion? yes... I did put a lotion on my forehead that morning because of this unusual dryness... could be the lotion...? I did use regular lotion that morning too....Hmm... could that be it?

Nothing makes sense!

We're still at square one, but comfortably hanging out here. I have been in a research kick today reading about other people's diets and found a few other PCOS women who live a paleo life-style (the hunting/gathering idea) and they are very successful on it. (Can you imagine living this way forever? Could that be healthy???)

My mother in law is horrified that I'm even cutting dairy right now. She's worried about my calcium intake. So I looked up what I could eat veggie-wise that has calcium and its pretty much the grossest food ever (I'm an unfortunately picky eater).

Think boiled greens of any kind.

Ben said it was like spinach dip.... but spinach dip has sour cream....
spinach dip without sour cream is more just like.....

Boiled Spinach.

Or we could do boiled: kale, collard greens, beat greens, bok choy, plants from your backyard (seriously, dandelions was ON this list)... or Wasabi!! I don't even know what this looks like unless its in the form of green mustard on the sushi plate and I can't imagine eating enough of THAT to get a decent calcium intake!

I am going to the beach in 2 weekends with 22 people for a bachelorette/bachelor party. I am SO excited!!! I am very much looking forward to some sun and warm weather, but I have been trying to plan and prepare how on earth I am going to keep this diet up for 4 days with 22 people in a rental house that sleeps 16 comfortably. I'm quite anxious about it. Pre-cooked turkey bacon?? 4 days of apples for every meal?? I have no idea... I'm going to need suggestions.

Alright... way too long of a post about diets... I'll try to think of something much more blog-worthy to follow this so you don't disappear forever!