How to feed your skin without depriving yourself
We all know that healthy food is good for your skin. You are what you eat and all that jazz.
But if you aren’t used to eating a lot of healthy food, it may seem like a depressing task to start cleaning up your diet. What if I told you that you don’t have to deprive yourself of all the foods you love in order to have healthy skin? When you deprive yourself you are setting yourself up for failure. Having a list of “forbidden” foods has a negative power over you. As soon as something is forbidden, you want it BAD! (I know I do!) This is just basic human behavior.
Here are some of my easy (and delicious) tricks for feeding your skin healthy skin without depriving yourself:
1. Instead of withholding or depriving yourself of certain “bad” foods, give yourself two choices. For example: If you are a candy-lover, give yourself the choice between candy and fruits like dates or food sweetened with honey or maple syrup or a few bites of rich, decedent, anti-oxidant rich dark chocolate. This is just one example. If you really want to stop eating something, the best way to stop is just give yourself an alternative choice. You may not always choose the healthy option and that’s ok. But having the healthier option available increases your chances a lot!
2. Eat healthy, delicious FAT! Good news: Fat makes you beautiful! Olive oil, grass fed butter, coconut oil, nuts and nut butters are yummy and GOOD for your skin! Or how about a nice dinner with perfectly grilled salmon? Your skin needs fat because it’s made in large part of fat! Omega 3s found in healthy fat make the skin more plump, hydrated and help give you a natural glow. Plus-they are delicious!
3. Enjoy your food! Yep, I said it! When you really enjoy and savor your food you not only tend to eat a more reasonable sized portion, but you spare yourself the stress of guilt and shame. Even if what you’re eating is not “healthy”, it’s ok! For example, if you love ice cream, buy the really good ice cream and sit down and really enjoy every bite! This is conscious eating and it works with every food you eat. Ask yourself after really enjoying your food: What did you like about it? How did it make you feel? Consider your energy level after eating it and if you had any positive or negative digestive symptoms or just note how you feel over all physically and/or mentally. Something didn’t agree with you? Make note of it, don’t feel guilty about it, it’s only information (not judgement) and information can guide you in your future food choices.
4. Listen to your skin (and body). Analyze your cravings and digestive issues. Usually your body is trying to tell you something important. For example craving salt could mean your body needs more minerals and adding some high quality sea salt to your dinner plate could be a healthy (and delicious) remedy. Or if your skin breaks out every time you eat a certain food, don’t beat yourself up for eating it. Instead find a substitute for that food that you also enjoy so next time you’ll have an alternate choice. (Not gonna lie - sometimes the ice cream is pimple-worthy and I’ve made my peace with that!)
5. If you are just starting to eat healthy for your skin, I suggest making tiny changes to your routine. Find one new healthy thing to incorporate into your day, something that seems really simple and 95% achievable and run with it. When you’ve got that down, pick another one and keep going. Congratulate yourself along the way for taking such good care of you!
I hope you’ll take these tips to heart. These are things I’ve learned along the way through years of struggling with getting healthy and dealing with my problem skin. If you try any of these tips,
I hope you’ll reach out to me and let me know how it goes!
The information in this post is not to be interpreted as medical advice or as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a qualified health care professional when changing your diet or lifestyle.