I want to talk about acne. Mostly because it’s pissing me off and if I complain to my friends, they just get mad. So I write in my diary instead. Aka, my blog.
Acne is stupid. And no, nothing has worked. I thought long and hard about going to a naturopath, but I just can’t afford that. I spent my money on more fun things, like trips to exotic places. Instead, I choose to try to ignore the acne since there seems to be nothing I can do about. The acne is all on my jaw line now, meaning it mostly has to do with my hormones. And since I stopped lifting heavy and CrossFitting multiple times a day, my hormones have started to calm down. I’ve lost weight, my body is remembering it’s feminine, and my cystic acne has calmed A BIT. I emphasize a bit, because it’s not much. I posted this picture below the other day and people thought my face looked great. Little do they know, I have makeup on that smudges off on EVERYTHING. Like, seriously, everything. It’s disgusting. I’m astonished I have a boyfriend that will put up with that. Poor man. But I wanted to show you that I still do have plenty of acne. I’ve obviously just good at makeup, good lighting, and well, contorting my face to look like I have none. Meaning, make myself look like an idiot.
It’s like a fun house up in here.
So in conclusion, my acne is not really getting better. I just wanted this to be clear since I haven’t talked about it as much anymore. I’m trying to put my energy of hatred for my skin into other things. Like, oh I don’t know, just being happy. And loving other people. And supporting my friends.
Speaking of supporting my friends, I need your help in supporting one of my blogging friends. If you haven’t read Nom Nom Paleo, I don’t know what you’ve been doing with your extra time. Michelle is awesome, has delicious recipes, and amazing pictures to boot. She also part of a contest for Cook Taste Eat. She is in 1st place right now, but her 2nd place contender is right behind her. So do me a favor and support this amazing paleo blogger. Please vote for her Mexican Pot de Crème recipe by March 8th! The steps are kinda weird, but you can’t fail if you follow these simple directions:
1) Click this link: http://bit.ly/14bhNU2
2) Click “Like” on the top right of Page (you can unlike after the whole process is done)
3) Click “Vote”
4) Install “Offerpop App” (you can easily uninstall after if you choose)
5) Click “Vote” again
6) Share this post with your pals
If you do this, you are getting the name of an amazing paleo blogger out there and supporting all of us. And then I’ll love you.
I think I’m going to make a dessert for tomorrow’s post. Michelle inspired me. And being that it’s Friday, that means it’s chocolate and wine day.
PS- my boyfriend thought these tortillas tasted like pancakes. Relationships are hard. Sometimes you just must agree to disagree. And that’s that.
Boneless Pork Short Rib Breakfast Tacos
- Yield: 2-4 1x
Ingredients
For the “tortillas”
- 3 eggs, whisked
- ½ cup canned coconut milk
- 2 tablespoonscoconut flour
- pinch of salt
For the shredded pork
- 2 pounds boneless pork short ribs
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- salt, to taste
For the toppings
- 5–6 strips of bacon
- 1 (6-8 ounce) can of green chiles
- 2–3 tablespoons hot sauce (or your choice)
- chopped green onions
Instructions
- First, this recipe will start in the crockpot.
- Add short ribs to the crockpot. Pour maple syrup on top of them, along with garlic powder and salt. (I didn’t put any liquid in the crockpot because the fat will leak out and protect it from burning)
- Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
- When you wake up the next day, remove the pork ribs from the crockpot, shred them and pour some of the excess liquid from the crockpot over the shredded pork for extra flavor.
- Now make the tortillas. In a medium bowl, whisk together the tortilla ingredients until smooth.
- Place a large skilletover medium-high heat, pour ingredients into the pan to create a pancake size tortilla. I would pour on the liquid, pick up the skillet to roll it around and flatten out the tortilla even more. Cook on both sides for just about a minute per side.
- Once all your tortillas are done (this made about 8-10 tortillas for me), place bacon on the skillet or oven to cook on both sides, cool then roughly chop.
- Then mix together the green chiles and hot sauce in a bowl, place in microwave for 1:30-2:00 minutes or until hot. And then chop the green chiles.
- Now load up each tortilla. Shredded pork, green chiles, bacon, then green onions. Then eat it.
- Happy times.
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It’s always Taco Tuesday:
Slow Cooker Al Pastor Loaded Tacos
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Hi Julie– Absolutely LOVE your blog, kind of a stalker but not a scary stalker. But I’ve had the same issues with acne my whole life, tried everything- proactive, medication, oil cleansing and it NEVER went away…hate.hate.hate.
Ironically, I use the same as Nicole above and my skin has never been better. I use Alba pineapple cleanser and the jasmine moisturizer and seriously, it’s amaze-balls.
I’ve become an expert at BareMinerals to cover up all my acne, but it’s so nice now to be able to not have to wear a mask of makeup that comes off everywhere (still wear some of course ;).
I hope that helps, and as a fellow Coloradoan (I swear I must live by you ‘cuz you frequent the same bars/restaurants I do) this stuff is perfect for this climate.
Just to specify on the medication, I used Metformin, Spiro, Accutane and Minocycline with no luck (plus I have PCOS so that makes my acne even more awesome *sarcasm*) and like I said Alba is the only thing that has worked for me and it’s clean.
I struggle with skin issues too and end up wearing a lot of make up to cover it up. One product I would suggest to help prevent it from rubbing off on everything even when you are sweaty is Urban Decay’s Makeup Setting Spray. I use the All Nighter. If you haven’t tried it I highly recommend it. I buy it at Sephora.
BTW… love your blog and the recipes! Thank you for posting!
that’s awesome! totally going to get that!
So glad someone mentioned this spray–I use the UD setting spray as well, for oil control. I live in the tropics so it’s great keeping my makeup from smudging or running in the humidity.
These look delicious! I have some beef shortribs in the freezer and might make a quick substitute because I’m impatient and they sound fantastic. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
You can actually get the setting spray under it’s original name — Skindinavia setting spray. If you look at Urban Decay they actually “white label” the Skindinavia brand stuff and mark up the price a little bit. Check Amazon for it. HOWEVER, with that being said, it has some pretty intense chemicals. One of them is the activation chemical in perms (yeah like for the hair) so it may mess up your skin even worse. I use plain old rosewater spray to set my makeup and it has been working pretty great. Also, for acne, I like Aztec Clay mixed with Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar.
I know this post isn’t asking for advice, but I would totally try accutane. I spent 13 years doing every other medication under the sun, manipulating my diet, going to different types of doctors and nothing worked. I really resisted accutane because of it seeming unhealthy and too invasive. I had ridiculous severe nodular acne plus mini pimples that broke out everywhere and now my face is entirely clear. I did have to lower my dosage at one point because of achiness and a little insomnia, but from then on it was smooth sailing. Do I still feel comfortable with the pill itself? No, but the stress relief of having clear skin is entirely worth it.
anddd now im going to go make breakfast tacos. for lunch.
Question… Do you take whey protein powders on a regular basis? That can cause some of the cystic acne breakouts in some people. My dad was a body builder back in the day and was taking massive amounts of protein powders, once he stopped, he stopped getting the acne.
no, on rare occasion
OMG you must must must read Liz Wolfe’s Skintervention Guide. I am following her suggestions and my skin is very slowly but surely clearing up. I have had hormonal, cystic acne since my teens, and now my skin is finally normalizing and my scars are fading, FAST. I had been dependent on stupid prescription meds forever and for the first time I’m not using ANY. Also, fermented cod liver oil, kombucha, homemade, gelatinous bone broth are seriously working their magic. If I don’t drink bone broth for a few days my skin will look less pretty. AND Jane Iredale makeup is the bomb dot com…it’s as natural as you can buy, and my skin is loving it so far.
I just wanted you to know I feel your pain! You are still gorgeous though, in all honesty, inside and out.
+1 on Liz’s Skintervention guide! I was just going to recommend that!
Also, I just saw this yesterday and thought it looked really interesting: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/03/03/why-some-people-get-zits-and-others-dont/#ixzz2MmBAt1cK
Maybe face-probiotics will be the next big thing! Kinda makes sense that it relates to bacteria, because a lot of people have success with antibiotics.
Also, those tacos look amazing. I’m so hungry right now.
I also ditto Liz’s Skintervention.
Ive had acne since early on. My whole life..I try to forget it but I am thinking I started breaking out around age 11…I am now 31 and I have tried everything under the sun. Over the counter products galore, rx meds, paleo and clean eating. NOTHING helped. I started doing the Oil Cleaning Method and Liz’s suggestions for eating and healing the gut. *I also have autoimmune and hormone imbalance* Anywho…the OCM is AMAZING. Its the only thing that has ever helped me. Try it! Its all natural and you have nothing to lose! Good luck! And the recipe looks amazing as usual!
I must have missed a few posts (So sorry Juli)….boyfriend???
Hey Juli! You are SO HOT. Don’t forget that. Your recipes are SO INSPIRING. Don’t forget that either.
My hubby had HORRENDOUS cystic acne that destroyed his face. He tried everything under the sun including accutane which caused all his hair to fall out – 10 years after he went off the med it never grew back. It’s pretty tragic because he has suuuuper nice hair… but would be so much worse for a girl.
He completely cured his acne at age 28 by doing something pretty counter-intuitive (but maybe not so much for the paleo community)… he stopped washing his face. Okay, I know, gross, but he rinses it very well in the shower with water twice a day and obviously wears no makeup…. maybe going back to the “original” way of doing things like our ancestors did will help you? I realize its a vicious cycle of zit-makeup-more zits-more makeup but I hope you can find some relief! Seeing him suffer for so many years was very sad!!!
All the love and support!!
I, too, came here for the tacos and then I read Robyn’s reply. I second her husbands notion. I had horrible jaw line acne… I tried everything including retin-a, super strong hydroquinone peels, gentler lactic acid ones… Changing my diet, skin care lines including both Murad lines and proactiv (lol not good since I’m benzoyl peroxide) anyways long story. It devastated my face and I’m a black girl who suffers really badly from hyperpigmentation. It doesn’t even matter if I don’t touch the thing. I get scarred.
To get to my point (sorry!) I stopped washing my face and haven’t looked back. My skin is as perfect as it’s ever going to get. It took about two weeks to neutralize and balance out. I do rinse it multiple times with warm water and if I feel sticky or gross then I’ll even use a washcloth. It also saves me tons of money because now I use nothing on my face besides a little blush and eyebrow pencil, because no matter how great my skin is I don’t relish the idea of having Whoopi Goldbergs eyebrows.
Juli,
You are hilarious and I know you hear that every post…but just saying.
I don’t have acne, but in following Paleo circles Liz from Cave Girl Eats talks about oil cleansing for skin and also has her Skintervention guide. I know it sounds weird, but so did Paleo at one point. Cheers and good luck!
Accutane. The dryness sucks a big wiener but it works. It won’t scramble your unborn babies if you don’t get knocked up. The program you go through does a pretty good job to make sure you don’t. It is expensive, but something you can budget for over time before starting it. I’m poor and I was able to do it AND take righteous vacations when needed. Food for thought!
P.S. you, your food, and your blog are amazing.
Hi!
I’ve a friend that also had the same kind of acne and she went to a naturopath that took a lot of tests and so on and so on. It turned out that she was not allergic to almonds but her body couldn’t handle it at all. Now my friend are a vegetarian/vegan (she it’s mostly vegan food) and cook a lot with almond flour/milk/coconut – you know typical paleo food (minus animals of course).
Maybe you should try a month without almonds and if that doesn’t work try a month without coconut – i’ve realize that if I eat too much coconut milk i get this lovely good looking pores around my chin – not nice at all. Just a tip 😀
i actually don’t eat almonds for that exact reason! when i cut those out, my skin improved a bit with regular acne. now it just seems to be hormonal