Dairy strikes again!

Ok.  I think I will use this blog to help me stay accountable with the dairy allergy in addition to tracking my skincare journey.  Maybe posting about the trials and tribulations of cheating will encourage me to stay strong.  The consequences are definitely not worth the joy of a slice of pizza.

I have been cheating on my dairy-free diet lately.  Bad me!  At first I thought I was getting away with it but the itching and breakouts have caught up with me.  I also gained weight and my system is off--I just don't feel right and I'm really tired.  The biggest problem I have with sticking to my diet is that I am limited on time and it's so hard to find quick and easy dairy-free food.  I go to the grocery store, wander the aisles, and feel hopeless.  Or I get ingredients for meals but get home and am too exhausted to want to cook anything.  So I end up not eating or eating just snacks.  I have got to find some better options!  I have tried cooking meals ahead on the weekends and that works but I don't always have time on the weekends for hours of cooking.  I did download a list of dairy-free products from godairyfree.com that is very extensive.  I can see that avoiding dairy is going to be a long, hard journey. 

On the up side, my face is continuing to clear up and the redness is starting to fade.  The flare ups are now speed bumps instead of the Alps.  My skin all over is looking smoother and feeling more comfortable.  All without the side effects that come with antibiotics and prescription topicals.  No harsh chemicals and no doctor visits!  Consider this a giant raspberry in the face of all those dermatologists who failed to provide answers or relief of any kind!

On that note: One of the resources that did give me answers was internet sites that described an "acne map".  According to ancient wisdom, acne on the forehead is indicative of digestive disorders and/or food allergies/sensitivities.  Acne on the cheeks is due to stress (sides of the face near the ears can mean dirty cell phone).  And acne on the chin is evidence of hormonal imbalance. 
   I have to say that this made a lot of sense for me.  My forehead is where the initial breakout with eczema blisters occurred, my cheeks were broken out (and tend to flare due to my rather stressful job/life), and I had a hormone panel done awhile back that showed severe hormone imbalance so the chin breakout made perfect sense.  My forehead is clear now (aside from a couple of spots that popped up since I cheated last week) so I consider that strong evidence of my self-diagnosed dairy allergy.  I have also noticed that just before my period my breakout is on my chin and jawline exclusively so that seems to back up that idea.

I'm off to enjoy a dairy-free lunch and think fondly of the days when I enjoyed pizza and ice cream in ignorant bliss...