It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about my skin struggle with acne, or even really shown it on my dear ol’ blog.
I actually can’t really remember the last time I talked candidly about it, or my skin. A quick little recap is in order, probably. So last year I went off birth control. I decided that I didn’t like how it was making me feel, and that it was probably making my other skin issues (eczema) worse. Plus, I wasn’t super consistent at it anyways, so why not just jump off of it.
First things – being off birth control didn’t magically make my eczema better.
It’s still a challenge that I’m trying to figure out. I also enjoy being off because I felt better in my body. Less bloating, slightly less hormonal and mood swings, but I still have rough times. But I love being off birth control. I originally went on to help control my acne, and as I went off it, I didn’t immediately notice any change. A couple months ago, I noticed a change.
My skin went from decent to terrible in what seemed like overnight (obviously, it wasn’t. I just wasn’t paying close enough attention to it). I admit, I wasn’t taking good care of it either. I was used to skimping on the routine due to birth control, and continued skimping until we hit a couple months ago. And BAM – terrible skin, and not just on my face. Gross to admit, but my back is taking the brunt of it. My chest a little bit, and my face a bit more. I love being off birth control so much that I really don’t want to go back on.
But because I don’t want to cave and go back on birth control, I need to figure out a way to make my skin better. And that means ROUTINE.
I’ve noticed a definite difference in my skin when I wash my face twice daily. And I’m pretty sure that the products that I’m using right now are the right combo for my skin. At least until it gets used to it and then I’m back at square one.
Taking care of my back is a little bit harder. I’ve actually gotten Andrew to start dry brushing it a couple times a week, and I think that’s helping. Yay for living with someone else who can help!
The next step for me to tackle is diet.
I’ve definitely slipped from my healthy eating habits; buying and eating more “junk food” and processed sugars. I’m still eating fairly healthy dinners, with lots of veggies but the in-between hour snacking is killing me. Plus I’m not exercising anymore so I’m starting to gain some weight too. Eventually I’ll start up with the exercise again, and then it should be perfect, but right now ROUTINE and DIET are my main focuses.
Any tips on keeping on track are definitely welcome. I’m doing a ‘How to Be A Morning Person’ course and I’m hoping that will help keep me on track with the morning routine. Adding in some meditation would be excellent as well.
I feel like I’ve just thrown a crap ton of goals and focuses out there in this post, but they’re not really as big as they sound. Daily face washing, and getting up 15 minutes earlier to make sure that I can isn’t that hard. Weekly meal prep that I can do on a week night after work isn’t hard either. I just need to stop procrastinating.
Which one day, I eventually will learn how to stop doing. Wish me luck!
