Monday, March 19, 2012

Skin

It was a good Monday. Woke up feeling emotionally crappy, got busy and I guess things went moderately okay from there. 

If you do not know, I tweeted that for this upcoming 2 weeks I am going on a AS RAW AS I CAN challenge. Desperately need to clear the toxins from my system which I believe is an attribute to my terrible skin condition. I've never had pimples, marks and inflamed skin like this before. It is a nightmare.

RAW AS I CAN #DAY ONE

Breakfast, 10am. Raw blend. 1 cup of blueberries + 1 scoop of Raw Sunwarrior chocolate protein + 1/2 tablespoon of raw maple syrup powder + 1 cup alkaline water and ice cubes. It is filling and nutritious. Tried many protein powders and find Sunwarrior is still the best. It is raw hence not as dense but so much more nutritious.


After that I went for my scheduled dermatologist appointment with my favorite Dr. Lawrence Khoo. He is great and I love that he has been my "skin doctor" from the very beginning. I used to have bad scars on my legs when I was in secondary school but that all went away with his help. 

So today he suggested a couple of things to improve my condition both in the short and long term. For relief of the huge ass pimples and terribly inflamed parts of my face he suggested IPL which I seriously only saw people doing to improve their complexion on makeover shows like Style By Jury (my favorite). Together with injections. The nurse helped me to do some extractions as well. 

This picture shows my inflamed extracted skin with the numbing cream on and the second one after the entire "surgery" they call it. It was actually rather swollen but I guess the lighting made it look  much better than it honestly was. My face was numb for half a day, then stinging sensations began to kick in but now in the night I am perfectly fine. Haven't seen any miracle improvements but I know whatever he did helped. 
Antibiotics was also prescribed to me :( You know how much I hate taking medications and do not believe in it anyway. I detest antibiotics the most because they contain substances that impair our internal organs functioning as well as leave "residues" in our body system which may take years to flush out. However Dr. Khoo said it is the fastest and most effective way to clear the skin. I went ahead with it, hopefully my almost raw diet will aid in the cleansing part of it. Some other antibacterial gel and vitamin C serum was prescribed to me as well. Later on I'm going to mention something regarding FOOD that Dr. Khoo pointed out to me.

I rushed home for lunch because trust me, you can never find anything substantially raw and nutritious in the heart of Orchard road. Lunch was close to 4pm. I had rawtella with raw celery sticks. I love rawtella!!! Google it!!! Oh, managed to snack on a green apple on my way home :)
I went out again to run some errands and get some groceries like organic fruits and spinach. 

Had decided at mid-day to make spinach PB oatmeal for dinner. Ideally I am aiming for a 3/4 raw day which leaves room for dinner and if I am having supper too, to be a non-raw option.  

However! When I got back I found my grandma's cooking on the kitchen table and she my favorite wok-roasted curried chickpeas! Of course chickpeas are a good healthy option so I gave up and postponed my spinach PB oatmeal plan for this super filling meal. I could have afforded to load less food on my plate. It was vegetable dhal curry, wok-roasted curried chickpeas and my self-made cous cous with spinach, white pepper and soy sauce. Yummy!

So what do I have to say about what Dr. Khoo warned me? Well it is a simple F.A.C.T.

Sugar and dairy causes breakouts. While most people may be okay with it, especially Singaporeans, apparently I am not. In fact I've always known dairy ain't no friend of mine because of the occasional stomach cramping and runs that I get with the consumption of dairy. Sugar is also my best friend. I'd always choose sweet over savory. So suffice to say a huge part of my skin issues is the over-consumption of dairy and sugar. Something I have to cut down now. Dairy shouldn't be a problem if I'm looking at a mostly raw diet. Sugar is something I just have to be aware about.

I think I am blessed because I do not get the luxury to each such rich foods. My body doesn't allow me to do so. In return I get a good digestive tract and if I do not "abuse" myself like what I've been doing by over-consuming dairy and sugar, I believe I will have good skin. 

xoxo. God bless.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! (:
Umm, could I know where you get your 0 calorie butter flavoured spray from? Thanks! (:

Seraa said...

Hi there!

I'm from Singapore yah, so I got it from Tanglin Market Place at the basement of Tanglin mall. The brand is Crisco. They have another brand 'PAM' too :) It's a great handy kitchen item, hope you'll be able to get it.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I would like your advice on a matter! I'm on a low calorie diet because I think I'm fat but everyone says I'm too skinny. They don't understand that I'm just trying to eat healthy and shed unnecessary flab! Like you, I love Brown Rice Paradise at Tanglin! I go there all the time:) What do you say to such people?

Seraa said...

Hello :)

Hmm. I'm no expert at anything, merely trying to do the best that I can for my health. I understand where you're coming from... in my opinion, we are our own body's best judge. Try not to be too affected by what others say as I always explain to others, if I were to eat this or that and feel nauseous etc, then I'm suffering the consequences, not them. So I have the right to eat whatever way I choose to.

If you're not overweight I wouldn't encourage a low cal diet though. Maybe try to be more aware of your eating habits, and find the unhealthy foods that might be contributing to the "excess flabs". It is always about experimentation. Do not be afraid to try different eating styles and most importantly do no be afraid to be yourself in front of others!

Wishing you all the best. Cheers!