The Ultimate Guide to Glowing Skin

The Ultimate Guide to Glowing Skin

Many of you know that my health journey began with me looking for a solution to cure my cystic acne.  I dreamed of the days where my skin would be clear, glowing, and smooth.

Through the last 10 years, I have learned so much about how nutrition and lifestyle can impact our skin. I have experimented on myself trying just about everything and have come to many conclusions about how to have clear and glowing skin.

With summer finally here, I decided it was time to share my ‘Ultimate Guide to Glowing Skin’ so you can look and feel your best this summer too!

What You’ll Learn:

• The 3 Biggest Mistakes Causing you to Still Breakout
• How to Build a Healing Plate
• Recommended Supplements for Clear Skin
• Non-negotiable Lifestyle and Mindset Strategies for Healthy and Clear Skin

Let’s dive in!!

3 Mistakes Causing You to Still Breakout

There are 3 BIG mistakes that I see again and again that will make your skin worse NOT better.

Too Many Skin Care Products

I totally get it.  You are desperate for a solution right now.  But the truth is, healing takes time. Not only is it a waste of money to buy every product, it will not help your skin either. Keep things simple.  I suggest purchasing a cleanser, hydrating toner, day moisturizer and night moisturizer.  And then choose one topical medication, if desired.  For extra love, try out a serum.  (I swear these are magic in a bottle) Make sure your skin stays hydrated. Over drying out the skin can cause breakouts.  A simple routine is best because spending all the money and trying everything is stressful! Find a product line that resonates with you and stick with it! No need to over complicate it! Click here for my simple skin care routine.

Skipping Meals or Binging

One of the best ways to keep your skin clear is to eat consistent meals.  The goal is to avoid energy highs and energy lows.  I find the best way to do this is to avoid sugary treats, excessive coffee, and overeating sessions.  When you eat at minimum 3 full meals, your energy stays stable over the day.  Your body is happy and fueled which reduces stress. Eating 3 meals also helps to avoid binging on large amounts of processed foods or sweetened treats.  And if you are eating 3 meals and still find yourself binging, you might not be eating enough throughout the day.  Your skin wants to be well-fed and it will thank you when you eat 3 full size real food meals.

Ignoring the Root Cause
“All disease begins in the gut”-Hippocrates

One the biggest mistakes is to ignore the root cause of your acne. Potions and creams will not 100% clear up your skin for good. Instead we must look inside our body to figure out the cause.  Most skin issues begin with a disrupted digestive system.  A lot of magic happens, when you put your focus on gut healing. The gut stores over 80% of our immune system.  And when your gut is re-balanced and on the path towards healing, your hormones balance out as well. You cannot have balanced hormones if your digestion is a mess.  Put your focus and love on your gut and it will pay off in multiple ways. A few things you can do to start on the path of gut healing include:

1. Remove inflammatory foods. I suggest removing gluten and dairy to start. This will give your gut a chance to heal. You cannot heal if the foods you are eating keep irritating the gut.
2. Add in probiotic foods. Probiotic bacteria will help to rebuild your gut. Eat fermented foods like sauerkraut and fermented veggies to each meal.
3. Chew your food. This isn’t an exciting recommendation, but it is SO important. Our stomach is not meant to digest large chunks of food. Break your food down before you swallow, and you will see a difference in your digestion. Read this article for more details on why healing the gut is so important.

How to Build a Healing Plate

Create a Balanced Plate

I build my plate following the paleo lifestyle.  But you can build your own plate with whatever lifestyle you choose. The most important factor is that you eat as much real food as possible. Minimize your processed foods.  Build your plate to include protein, fats, and vegetables.

Protein is packed with amino acids that are the building blocks of our skin.
Fat is necessary for cellular health and it is used to build hormones. Fat is also needed to absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K.
Vegetables are packed with antioxidants that protect and heal the cells from daily life (oxidation).

I highly recommend eliminating dairy and gluten from your diet.  These foods have significantly changed in the last 50 years so that they can be more harmful than helpful.  Experiment and see how these foods impact your skin.  Both can cause inflammation and digestion issues which can lead to breakouts.

Study Ancients Wisdom on Balancing the Body.

First and foremost, I believe that eating real food is the best thing you can do for your body and skin.  If you are eating processed foods, I highly suggest eliminating them as much as you can. This includes protein bars, organic cereals, organic granolas, and any organic processed food.

Once you are eating all real food, the next step is to focus on how various foods can balance your body back to health.  The ancients were much smarter than us when it comes to nutrition and health.

Ayurveda is a science that was created thousands of years ago in India.  It was designed to bring the body back into balance from disease.  According to this ancient system, acne or inflamed skin is a pitta imbalance.  Pitta is one of the 3 doshas (or body types) and when out of balance can express acne.  To calm down Pitta or fire, the body needs cooling foods that are bitter, astringent, and sweet.

Sweet foods include: watermelon, oats, millet, quinoa, root vegetables, sweet potatoes, dates and ghee(clarified butter)

Bitter foods include: dark greens like dandelion greens, cilantro, arugula, artichokes, bitter melon, radicchio, and kale

Astringent foods include:  chickpeas, lentils, mung beans, pears, quinoa, sprouts, beans, apple, pomegranates, potatoes, chicken, dill, caraway, coriander

Foods that can aggravate Pitta include: spicy peppers, red meat, salty foods, excessive oils, aged cheeses, tomatoes, garlic, excessive nuts

Keep it simple and focus on adding in more cooling foods.  Try to not excessively eat the foods that can aggravate pitta.  Build your meals around the 3 flavors of sweet, astringent, and bitter.

Explore What Works for your Body

You might have tried everything and are stilling struggling.  If this is the case, it is time to look at your gut health even closer.  When the gut becomes damaged, the junctions in the small intestine break open allowing food particles to slip through into the blood stream. Our immune system then reacts to the food that is in the blood stream and your body develops an immune response to specific foods.  The immune response can include:  racing heart, allergies, tiredness, breakouts, headaches, achy joints, excessive thirst, constipation, diarrhea, and/or sudden feeling that you have the “flu”.  To find what foods may be causing a reaction, I would start with an elimination diet like the Whole30.  If you want quick answers, the MRT blood test reports up to 150 chemicals/foods and their inflammation response.  You can read more about my experience with the MRT test here.

Recommended Supplements for Clear Skin

Supplements are important because it is not easy to get in the all the nutrients we need by food alone. But there are hundreds of recommended skin supplements, so what is helpful and what is a waste of money? First, supplementation just like food should be personalized. Everyone is a different, so if you have specific questions I suggest working with someone to get a better idea of what will help you the best. In general, everyone should take these supplements to have healthy and clear skin!

Probiotics

If you want healthy skin, you must start with the gut! Everyone should be on a quality probiotic to rebuild the good gut bacteria. There are so many things that can disrupt our gut and many people are dealing with issues that stem from poor gut health. Chronic stress, medications, poor water quality and processed foods can all cause an overgrowth of bad bacteria.  Probiotics along with a healthy diet can bring the good bacteria back into balance.  The health of our gut is connected to our immune system and when healthy can keep our skin clear.  Here is my favorite probiotic.

Magnesium

This is my favorite supplement because it is the anti-stress supplement.  The majority of people are depleted in magnesium due to stress, excessive caffeine, and medication.  Stress is one of the worst things for our skin.  Supplementing with magnesium will keep your nerves calm. And if you don’t want to take a pill, you can drink my favorite magnesium tea or take a magnesium salt bath!  I take magnesium mostly at night because it helps me sleep like a baby. And getting in good sleep is one of the best things you can do to balance your hormones and heal your skin. Here is one of my favorite magnesium supplements. 

Fish Oil

I recommend fish oil because it is an anti-inflammatory healthy fat.  Fish oil is a good source of Omega 3 essential fatty acids which are so low in our standard American diet.  Omega 3’s in fish oil include EPA and DHA. EPA is essential for regulating oil production and hydration of the skin. EPA is also an antioxidant that can protect and repair against skin damage. It is not easy to eat enough oily fish especially if you don’t live near the ocean! Taking a high-quality fish oil supplement is a must! It will help your skin be less red and glow more! Here is my favorite trusted fish oil. 

Non-Negotiable Lifestyle and Mindset Strategies for Healthy and Glowing Skin

One of the biggest steps forgotten about is having healthy mindset about yourself and your skin.  Too much negative stress can slow down your body’s healing.

• Stressed out eating will slow your digestion.
  Stress is awful for digestion. Chronic stress can lead to leaky gut in your small intestines causing inflammation.  Stress can lower your stomach acid.  This makes your food more difficult to breakdown in the stomach.  Stress slows down digestion because our body nervous system will sent signals to send less energy to your gut.  Take the time to eat and cut out the stress eating!
• A happy mindset will make a difference.
  Acne is not easy to deal with. It can bring up feelings of shame and insecurities. But not letting it make you feel bad about yourself will be life changing. Your skin does not define who you are. Letting it ruin your day does not serve you in any capacity. A stressed out mind will only lead to a stressed out body.

• Slow down, eat more food, sleep 8+  hours.
  We live in a world where we are continually told we need to do more. (While eating less and sleeping less! Ha!) There is no need to fall into this trap.  Do not be afraid to eat more food.  Say “no” to responsibilities that do not serve you.  Sleep in and don’t feel guilty about it!  Our body needs rest and nourishment.  We are not meant to do all the things.  Sit down and examine what you can let go of.Check out this article to read my favorite lifestyle habits to keep my hormones balanced. 

The path to healing your skin is one that takes time, love, and patience. It is not always clear journey, but one that requires you to explore all areas of your life. Everyone has a different path and I am sharing mine and what I have learned. Today, I am grateful for my acne because if I didn’t experience it, I might never have embarked on the journey toward holistic lifestyle. Through my struggle, I have a found a way to live that is pushing me to balance my body, mind, and soul. Let your journey take you towards the same. 🙂

xoxo
Chelsea Jolene

Ps- If you are ready to stop wasting time spending money on all the new skincare products, download my free guide on the 7 secrets to glowing skin naturally.  These are the 7 rules to what I believe to be the foundation to clear and glowing skin. If you are not following these rules, you could be wasting your money. Download here and start on your way to effortlessly clear skin.

PS 2 – Post a comment and share with me – ONE thing that helped your skin the most! I would love to hear and you just might help someone else too!

PS 3 – (don’t judge lol)  If you are looking for personalized support on your healing journey, I am now accepting 1:1 clients!  I support my clients through specialty lab testing to find EXACTLY what their body needs and use my detective skills to connect the dots on their unique past and develop a simple to follow plan to get them back to feeling amazing! Just click here to apply (so I know a bit more of what is going on) and we can chat about exactly how we can restore your health! yay!

Questions? Email me at chelsea@cjwellness.com . xx