Day 8 Summary

What an exiting day! I went to see a naturopath today, $100 well spent. I really liked this doctor. Today was an initial assessment, which run for about an hour. She listened to my story, then examined me and asked some relevant questions. I felt like she is very knowledgeable and really can help me. She was very skeptical of Accutane and wouldn't recommend taking it. She thinks that my acne is my bodies reactions to some problems inside. She is confident that diet will be sufficient to cure it. She advised me to make some adjustments to my current diet as well as stop taking any supplements I was taking before.

Basically the new diet is Elimination/Hypoallergenic diet and is very similar to what I was doing but excluding some vegetables and fruits that can cause allergies. For example tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, citrus can cause allergies, so I should avoid them. It was very interesting to see this list and it does make sense to me. I will scan the document and will post it here. I came up with my diet mostly by trials and errors, so it wasn't perfect. I still had many doubts about what aggravates my acne and what comes it down. It makes sense that some common allergens could easily aggravate it. I'm planning to start this diet on Monday. I should do some grocery shopping on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it.

I also used many different supplements and she asked me to stop taking all of them. I think that's a great advice since I came up with the list of supplement just searching on the web for what can help with acne. I probably was taking too much of everything, especially when I was consuming so many fruits and vegetables that are packed with vitamins. Instead of supplements and vitamins she prescribed me to take L-Glutamine (2g 3x's/day before meals), turmeric (2 pills 3x's days before meals) and mil thistle (2 pills 3x's day).

So she asked me to do the diet for a month and I should see some improvement. After a month I will have a follow up appointment and we'll see if I need to stay on the diet for another month. She hope that I would be able to stop this diet after 2-3 months and eat normal without many restrictions. All her suggestions were in a good agreement with my believes. I've decided to follow her suggestions. From Monday I start the new diet. So excited :)

I also promised her not to be obsessed with my acne anymore, try to avoid looking in the mirror in a search for new pimples, etc. I will really try to do it, and I know that'd be hard. I will post my weekly update photo on Sunday but the next one will be only in a month. She said that with the diet it's always taking 5 steps forward but 1 back. So looking for improvements every day or even every week is a bad idea, because if I don't see any or I see new pimple I get upset and that causes stress and hence more pimples. Therefore, no more photos or mirrors for a month.

Day 7 Summary

Another great day. Again it was extremely busy, so this post will be short. I went to the gym today and I've realized that I need some good skin care routine when at the gym. I usually wear a foundation and eye makeup when I go to work and I don't take it off before the gym, only after I work out. I guess that's not good, but I'm too embarrassed to go to the fitness class without makeup. After work out I took makeup off with jojoba oil. It works better than any other makeup remover I've tried (my favorite brand name makeup remover was Lancome). then I took a shower and gently washed my face with the mild cleanser. I also continue to use some benzol peroxide on the areas with whiteheads. (I'm really paranoid that one day these whiteheads will aggravate to full cysts :( That won't be nice. ) After I've used moisturizer.

Diet: I still doing the same: fruits and more fruits, some vegetables with hummus and for dinner quinoa with salad.

Supplements: These week I used only calcium and zinc supplements. In fact I'm not sure which supplements I should take. There are so many suggestions on the web: vitamins A, C, E, D; Zinc; Chromium; Cod Liver Oil and Fish Oil. Then there are so many different natural remedies and already combines supplements. We also have different herbs such as milk thistle, dandelion root, etc, that help with liver detox and acne. So how would I know which one too choose? I'm meeting with the naturopath tomorrow. I hope to get some help with understanding all these supplements and natural remedies. I've already tried some of them, but there is no quick solution. During the last four months I've tried drinking dandelion root tea for 2-3 weeks, mint tea for 2 weeks, also eating milk thistle, etc. There was no significant results until I've started the diet. I'm pretty sure that some of the supplements and herbs really can help but again "which one is the right one for me???". The same with topical remedies. I've tried all kinds of natural masks and products such as manuka honey, clay, aloe vera just to name a few.  In fact I really overdone it. I simply should of left my skin alone. Sometimes less is better. Anyway, tomorrow I hope to get some answers from a professional.

Day 6 Summary

Today was extremely busy day for me. It's so hard to find time and keep posting here :( I do continue the diet. I had no meat or fish today, just fruits and vegetables. However today I've noticed that more whiteheads appear on the left side. They are very tiny and mostly unnoticeable but I'm afraid that one day they can transform to cysts.  Anyway I'll not worry about them now. I'll use some benzol peroxide on the places where they appeared. Maybe that will help.

Day 5 Summary

Still eating tons of fruits. I also had some green beans and small portion of fish. I fast in the morning for my blood test and my first meal was very late, around 10:00. Even for such a busy day as today the diet was very easy to follow by eating some bananas, apples, kiwis, and other fruits. However I don't think I had enough food/calories today. Since I was extremely busy I didn't have a chance to drink as much water as I usually do, or eat as often as I do.

Day 4 Summary

Today I ate tons of fruits, barley, some steamed green beans with olive oil, a pinch of salt, a few drops of lemon juice and garlic (yumm:) and baked fish for dinner. In the morning I exercised outside for about 30 min. I feel good :) Tomorrow I have an appointment with my family doctor. Not looking forward to it :(

Day 3 Summary

It was a great day. Lots of fun skiing :) I continue eating mostly fruits, some vegetables (mostly green leaves) and vegetable soups. Energy level is great :) I don't really care about my acne anymore. It is slowly going away. I've posted my progress photos today. Last night I got a skin reaction on my back. I've realized that it might be vitamin overdose, specifically vitamin A. Apparently Cod Liver Oil contains not only Omega-3 and vitamin D, but also tons of vitamin A. Most fruits and vegetables also have tons of vitamin A. So I guess it is from an overdose of vitamin A. I've stopped taking all the supplements for now, except calcium and zinc. Tomorrow I have a meeting with a dermatologist. I'll write an update about the meeting tomorrow.

Day 2 Summary

Today was much easier day with the diet. I won't keep track of my cal or glycemic load anymore. It just takes too much time. I've realized that raw or slightly steamed vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, etc. are very hard to digest, as well as beans. However soups are processed ok. I'll listen to my body. The easiest foods for me to digest are fruits, some vegetables and vegetable soups like bean soup, tomato soup, etc. That's what I'll be trying to eat every day.

My skin looks better every day. Tomorrow I'll post my photo from this week. The acne on my back isn't healing as quickly as on my face but I'm sure it will, with more time :) Energy level is great. It seems that I eat all the time and I'm never hungry. Quit the opposite, I'm stuffed. I actually have to force myself to eat that much. I hope to gain back 4-5 pounds I've lost.

Day 2

8:00 AM

• 1 Vitamin B100 complex by Kirkland (from Costco)
• 1 banana      100 Cal   Sugars 14g      Carbs 26g   GI 54    GL 14
• 1 kiwi            46 Cal   Sugars 7g      Carbs 10g     GI 53    GL 5.4
• 1 orange       86 Cal    Sugars 16g      Carbs 22g   GI 44    GL 9.6
• 6 baby carrots   30 Cal  Sugars 6g       Carbs 6g    GI 47    GL 2.8
• 2 glasses of water (400 ml per glass)

Total Calories: 262

Total GL: 31.8

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10:00 AM:

• 1 Multivitamins and multi-minerals by Kirkland from Costco
• 1 Iron (35 mg) from Costco
• 2 capsules "Help for Skin Disorders" by Bell (Master Herbalist Series)
• 1 tbsp Norvegian Cod Liver Oil with some lemon juice 122 Cal  Sugars 0g  Carbs 0g  GI 0   GL 0

• 1 cup 4 beans salad    200 Cal  Sugars 10g  Carbs 20g  GI 35 (as for chickpeas)  GL 7
• 1/2 cup zucchini         14 Cal    Sugars 2g   Carbs 4g  GI 15   GL 0.6
• 7 spears asparagus      21 Cal    Sugars 0g   Carbs 7g  GI 1
• 1/2 table spoon olive oil 62 Cal   Sugars 0g  Carbs 0g   GI 0    GL 0
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• pinch of salt 
• 2 prunes            46 Cal   Sugars 8g  Carbs 12g   GI 29    GL 3.5
• 1 glass of water 

Total Calories: 465

Total GL: <12.1 (since lemon juice should lower GI)

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1:00 PM:

• Vitamin E (400 UI) by Kirkland from Costco

Green smoothie: 

• 1 banana      100 Cal   Sugars 14g      Carbs 26g   GI 54    GL 14
• 1 cup blueberries 84 Cal   Sugars 15g    Carbs 21g   GI 40    GL 8.4
• 1/2 cucumber   23 Cal  Sugars 2g    Carbs 5g     GI 15    GL 0.7     
• 1/2 grapefruit   52 Cal   Sugars 8g      Carbs 13g   GI 25    GL 3.3
• Lots of green leaves 20 Cal  Sugars 0g  Carbs 2g    GI  0     GL 0
• 1/4 lemon
• 1 glass of water 

Total Calories: 279

Total GL: <26.4 (since lemon juice should lower GI)

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4:00 PM:

• 2 tangerines    80 Cal   Sugars 16g    Carbs 20 g   GI 40?    GL 8
• 1/2 mango     67 Cal   Sugars 15g    Carbs 17 g   GI 56    GL 9.5
• 1 cup blueberries 84 Cal   Sugars 15g    Carbs 21g   GI 40    GL 8.4

Total Calories: 231

Total GL: 25.9

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5:00 PM:

• 2 cups Home-made Tomato Basil Soup:
• 6 tomatoes       162 Cal  Sugars 24g  Carbs 36g  GI 15  GL 5.4
• 2 avocado     645 Cal  Sugars 4g  Carbs 34g  GI 0    GL 0
• 1 red pepper, roasted  46 Cal    Sugars 6g   Carbs 8g     GI 15    GL 1.2
• basil, water, salt
• yield 7-8 cups of soup
• total for 8 cups:  Cal 853  Sugars 34g  Carbs 78g  GI 15  GL 11.7

Total Calories: 214

Total GL: 3

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6:00 PM

• 1 apple        116 Cal   Sugars 23g    Carbs 31g   GI 38    GL 8.7

Total Calories: 116

Total GL: 8.7

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8:00 PM

• salad
• 1 cup blueberries 
• 1 banana
• 1 orange
• sweet peas
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Total Calories: about 400

Total GL: about 35

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Total Daily Calories: about 2000

Total GL: 143

Exercised indoor for 20 min (5 min jumping rope and 15 min strength) 
No skiing for today :(  Rescheduled for tomorrow

Day 1 Summary

What have I learned today?

It was extremely informative for me to write down what I eat in detail. I realized that I don't consume enough calories on this diet and you can see that I've decided to add some extra cal at my last meal. Not a wise decision. But in my defense I had no idea that 1.5 avocados would add up to almost 500 Cal.

Another observation is that low GI diet is quite the opposite to LFRV(low fat raw vegan) diet, which consists almost entirely of raw fruit. As you can see 1 banana has a high GI index = 54 and GL = 14. So 30 bananas a day diet would give us GL of 410 vs max suggested amount of 120 on low GI diet. So which way should I go? Fruits or low GI? Well, it seems that 2 diets are kind of two extremes. I'll try to combine both. It's winter here, so it's hard to find nice ripe fruit. Moreover they are very expensive.

I'll try eating lots of fruit but also will add some cooked low GI food. I want to keep my daily calories about 2,000 which means small 6 meals of 330 calories. I still want to keep daily GL around 100 or 17 per meal. I'll try to eat smaller and easier to digest foods for dinner and not eat too late, not past 8:00pm, but preferably before 7:00pm.

My energy level today was extremely high. I didn't feel this good for ages. So far I like what I'm doing. My body loves it :) Tomorrow we'll go skiing! Can't wait :)

Day 1

7:00 AM

• 1 Vitamin B100 complex by Kirkland (from Costco)
• 1/2 banana      55 Cal   Sugars 7g      Carbs 13g   GI 54    GL 7
• 1/2 kiwi            23 Cal   Sugars 3.5g   Carbs 5g     GI 53    GL 2.7
• 1/2 grapefruit   52 Cal   Sugars 8g      Carbs 13g   GI 25    GL 3.3
• 1/2 orange       43 Cal    Sugars 8g      Carbs 11g   GI 44    GL 4.8
• 2 glasses of water (400 ml per glass)

Total Calories: 173

Total Sugars: 26.5g
Total GL: 17.8


GI - Glycemic Index
GL - Glycemic Load=(GI x the amount of carbohydrate)/100


Recommended GL per day no less than 80 and no more than 120. For acne there is no suggested GL per meal, but someone tried GL of 10-12 and it worked. 
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10:00 AM:

• 1 Multivitamins and multi-minerals by Kirkland from Costco
• 1 Iron (35 mg) from Costco
• 2 capsules "Help for Skin Disorders" by Bell (Master Herbalist Series)

       Green smoothie: 

• 1/2 banana    55 Cal   Sugars 7g      Carbs 13g   GI 54    GL 7
• 1 apple        116 Cal   Sugars 23g    Carbs 31g   GI 38    GL 8.7
• 1/2 cucumber   23 Cal  Sugars 2g    Carbs 5g     GI 15    GL 0.75
• 1/2 orange       43 Cal   Sugars 8g      Carbs 11g   GI 44    GL 4.8
• 1/4 lemon
• 1 slice honeydew melon 15 Cal   Sugars 4g  Carbs 5g   GI 65 (as for cantaloup)  GL 3.3
• 5 leaves of lettuce 5 Cal  Sugars 0g  Carbs 0g    GI  0     GL 0
• 1 glass of water 

Total Calories: 257

Total Sugars: 45g

Total GL: <25 (since lemon juice should lower GI)

+ 2 glasses of water
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1:00 PM:

• Vitamin E (400 UI) by Kirkland from Costco 

• 1 cup mushroom barley soup  73 Cal  Sugars 0g  Carbs 12g  GI 25 (as for barley) GL 3
• 1/2 cup 4 beans salad    100 Cal  Sugars 5g  Carbs 10g  GI 35 (as for chickpeas)  GL 3.5
• 1/2 pear            50 Cal    Sugars 9g   Carbs 14g   GI 38    GL 5.3
• 1/2 red pepper  23 Cal    Sugars 3g   Carbs 4g     GI 15    GL 0.6
• 3 prunes            69 Cal   Sugars 12g  Carbs 18g   GI 29    GL 5
• 1 glass of warm water 

Total Calories: 315

Total Sugars: 29g

Total GL: 17.4
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4:00 PM:

• Calcium Plus (600 mg) with Vitamin D (400 IU) and minerals by Kirkland from Costco 
• 1/2 kiwi            23 Cal   Sugars 3.5g   Carbs 5g     GI 53    GL 2.7

Steamed vegetables (3 min in microwave in Case Steamer):

• 1 cup broccoli       54 Cal  Sugars 2g  Carbs 12g  GI 15  GL 1.8
• 1 cup cauliflower  28 Cal  Sugars 2g  Carbs 6g   GI 15   GL 0.9
• 1/2 cup zucchini   14 Cal    Sugars 2g   Carbs 4g  GI 15   GL 0.6
• 1/2 cup sweet peas  67 Cal   Sugars 4.5g  Carbs 12.5g   GI 48    GL 6
• 1 table spoon olive oil 124 Cal   Sugars 0g  Carbs 0g   GI 0    GL 0
• 1 table spoon lemon juice
• pinch of salt 
• 1 glass of water 

Total Calories: <310

Total Sugars: 14g

Total GL: <12 (since oil and lemon juice should lower GI)

Note: I've calculated all the calories as for boiled vegetables. Raw vegetables have less Cal and Carbs then boiled. I guess steamed should be somewhere in between raw and steamed. I've decided to take the largest number and went with boiled.
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6:00 PM:

• 6 baby carrots       30 Cal  Sugars 6g  Carbs 6g  GI 47  GL 2.8
• 1 pear             100 Cal  Sugars 18g  Carbs 28g   GI 38  GL 10.6
• 1 glass of water 

Total Calories: 130

Total Sugars: 24g

Total GL: 13.4 

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8:00 PM:

• Zinc (50 mg) from Costco
• 2 capsules "Help for Skin Disorders" by Bell (Master Herbalist Series)
• 1 tbsp Norvegian Cod Liver Oil with some lemon juice 122 Cal  Sugars 0g  Carbs 0g  GI 0   GL 0
• 1 cup 4 beans salad    200 Cal  Sugars 10g  Carbs 20g  GI 35 (as for chickpeas)  GL 7

Guacamole:

• 1.5 avocado     483 Cal  Sugars 2g  Carbs 25.5g  GI 0    GL 0
• 2 tomatoes       54 Cal  Sugars 8g  Carbs 12g  GI 15  GL 1.8
• 1/4 onion         20 Cal  Sugars 1g  Carbs 3g  GI ?  GL 0
• 1 glass of water

Total Calories: 879

Total Sugars: 21g

Total GL: 8.8 

Daily Calories: 2064

Daily GL: 94.4

Water: about 3.5L

Exercised outside: 40 min (20 min running and 20 min strength: squats and lunges)