this is the story about this doodle

Why low GI? O wait…What. is. GI?
It has something to do with blood sugar.
Well…i can explain but i bet google explains way better.
So feel free to consult him.
Here have a peek if you’re curious. and maybe this too.
And, oh, this is gonna be a long post of a lamentation kind
just because i need to vent out. So, you can skip to my next post
if you want (it will be about easter artwork, hopefully..)
Anyway, change of diet, is one of my many desperate
shots to fight acne. It’s been a never-ending battle and i’m depleted.
I don’t always suffer from acne though, It all started like about 10 years ago when i graduated from university and moved to Jakarta – which, actually were not supposed to trigger anything like a massive break out. I don’t know…
So, basically since 2005 until now I’ve always had severe acne –
except for a couple of periods of great clean skin during Accutane and the pills –
but, never had the break out is as severe as the last three months.
Thus the low GI diet started.
I’ve had enough and decided to take care of it more holistically. Here I am now going all groceries shopping and cooking and blending smoothies. Because i want to get a cure, not just temporary treatments. (I didn’t finish my therapy with Accutane because i didn’t believe in it and turned out it made my eczema worse. I went with pills for almost a year than decided to got off it. Both the accutane and pills are prescribed by dermatologist)
Convinced that no dermatologist could cure me – it’s been unpleasant, my visits to them derms. with the level of severity like mine, every one of them will prescribe either accutane, birth control or antibiotics – i seek advice from mr.google who imparted many revelations.
Now I know better about acne, why some people has it and the other don’t, what the relation is between our diet and skin, and why it is ok to punch someone in the face when they told me i got acne because i have oily skin and should wash my face more often. *kidding* It is basically toxin, hormone and genetic tendencies that play part in creating an acne conducive skin. It’s not because your face is dirty.
Ok, it’s a slim chance to try and to cure oneself. First, I know I’m not knowledgeable enough about skin and body to actually try things out without any expert’s guidance, but I’m done with dermatologist.
Secondly, the information out there come from various sources.
And they don’t always agree with each other.
Also, most information and research are based on American diet, american skin etc. (i bet my guts got more bacteria and parasites than any american guts)
I use my own logic to judge what is the best for me. I am skeptical about some, embrace some, dismiss another.
So whatever i choose to do is not necessarily the right ones. For example, I don’t believe in liver flush and colonic. I feel more comfortable with the natural habitat in my colon intact. I also don’t believe in blue light treatment that would kill all the acne bacteria. I do believe in cutting out dairies, sugar and deep-fried food.
Getting all the mismatched information about what to eat to get a better skin really could add more breakouts rather than eliminate them. Too much contradictions out there. Moreover, it is stressing enough to decide on a perfect diet plan for me, let alone shopping for it. (if you only knew the price of those organic vegetables and fruits here! and salmon. and honey.)
So at first i just copied whatever meal plan that has worked for someone and saw if it would work for me too. It went for a while, copy pasting some meal-plan (and some skincare regimes too), keeping a food and skin diary and keep researching. There were some improvements, then it got worse again, and so on. So, it is, still, a never ending battle.
But what i want to say is, in fact i do enjoy the process of cooking all my own meal, blending smoothies, trying out new recipes, though it means that i have to wake up much earlier in the morning when I’m soo not a morning person.
The hardest part of this diet change is giving up white rice. White rice is like, the staple grain here. And I love white rice. Especially how we cook it here in Indonesia, “pulen” is the term here, it’s like the grains are sticking together nicely but not too watery. o it’s sooo good… Moreover, most of Indonesian & Chinese food is just not right to be consumed without rice. I’m replacing it with brown rice now. And quinoa – which, cost me irrational amount of money.
The other torture is eliminate cheese & butter. Can’t drink milk is totally fine. But..butter! arrgh.. ok i can get really worked up if it comes to food. Anyway, I only cut them out completely for the first 7 days. After that i include them now and then but in small quantity.
The first 7 days i totally eliminate wheat, dairies, starchy vegetables, nightshades, sugar, red meat, and refined carbs.
Plenty of fresh veggies, fruits and lemon water instead.
I cook only with coconut oil, not even dare to use olive oil.
The problem is, to my palate, coconut oil didn’t really go along with chinese food. Or even some western food. Sauteed vegetables should smells like sesame oil, like the soy sauce hitting the sizzling wok (wok, not pan). not coconut. Coconut oil is actually best in balinese food, if you ever visit bali, they’ve been using coconut oil for like, forever, loong before VCO became the god of all oil. Well, anyway, the result? the war is not over, but there are improvements on my skins.
At this rate, i will have to maintain this diet for like, forever. Like they said, it’s a change of lifestyle. Not an easy cure. I also not saying it’s cheaper than seeing dermatologist. But it is healthier :) and make me feel happier. For now I’ll just keep trying not to consume too much food that will spike my blood sugar level. Keep eating a lot of fruit and veggies, and keep trying to be happy. (The downside is, my already hypochondriac self is turning into Cyberchondriac. *woot*) but here’s something to be drooling at.

