Hey There!

Robby131313

Hi everyone! I posted yesterday for the first time, but forgot to stop by here and introduce myself! My apologies...

So I'm Rob (in case you couldn't tell from my username lol). I've been a fitness enthusiast and nutrition nut/researcher/experimenter for the past decade and have learned a whole lot about the power of diet as well as lifestyle AND about my own health.

When I first started training consistently at the age of 19 I had a very simple, yet flawed, approach to exercise and weight lifting... do more and fuel more. So I would spend long hours in the gym and then go and replenish with a whole lot of food. The food I ate was not very specific either. I would make sure I got plenty of protein and avoided the most processed foods, such as Oreos (Basically anything with partially hydrogenated oils and/or a lot of processed soy). I was young, had a quick metabolism and this seemed to work for me for a little while. Although I had skin issues, very real fatigue, and issues of anxiety and depression I was making gains! Lol. I did put on a good amount of muscle, got cut and looked good so I figured what I was doing was working. However, I came to find out that a good looking body does not necessarily equal health.

Although I tried making small adjustments over time that helped temporarily, my issues got worse as time went on. Injury became more prominent, my skin worsened, my fatigue got worse etc. etc. etc.

When I was around 23 I really started looking into making big changes in my diet. I first tried VERY low carb. It helped with the skin issues a bit, but that was about it. I lost a lot of muscle as well as energy and eventually went the complete opposite to a raw vegan diet. This was great in the short run as it helped with digestive issues I had for a long time (meaning it got things moving, providing some relief) and my skin cleared up a bit more. However, nothing was really fixed. I went back and forth including and excluding specific foods and entire food groups for a while, sorting out what helped and what harmed. I was continuously finding out more about my body than I thought I would ever know back when I was 19-22ish.

I started finding what things worked for me and have now gotten to a point where I know how to calm reactions of inflammation, skin flare ups, digestive problems, hair loss, anxiety/depressed state, low energy, mental fog/lack of concentration, lack of strength etc. These are all things I've struggled with over the years and now have overcome more or less (I say more or less only because I know if I eat cookies and cake for a week or two straight that many of these issues will certainly make their way back into life until I kick my healthy habits into gear again).

I joined up on My Fitness Pal to just get involved with the community, track my diet in a more organized way and share my past, present and future story, new experiences, ideas and research.

Anyway, I'm very glad to be a part of the community here and look forward to talking with everyone!

-Rob

funchords

Welcome!

You speak of skin issues generically but I can't help but think that if you were more specific, others with the same condition might be able to benefit from your experiences. Do you know specifically what condition afflicted you?

Robby131313

hey funchords (do you play music? I'm a guitarist/singer/songwriter)! Thanks for the kind welcome!

To answer your question... I've had bad keratosis pilaris (most of my life until the raw vegan diet), awful dandruff/Seborrheic Dermatitis on my scalp and face, frequent and various rashes that had come and gone throughout my life, back acne, acne around the mouth and cystic pimples primarily on the neck (wouldn't call it acne because I would only get 1 or 2 at a time), and generally super sensitive skin. As of now I wouldn't say anything is really an issue anymore other than some dandruff, but that is completely treatable with diet and I can clear it up quickly using other methods such as infrared sauna and/or topical oils. It will come on strongly, as will some of the other conditions only after more time, if I begin to eat a lot of sugar, processed foods, and even grains (more so if in the form of bread than say cooked rice).

That was a good idea to share that. Thanks for the input!

I should add that my ideal diet nowadays revolves a lot around a hybrid approach of Paleo/Primal diet and SCD/GAPS.

Basically... high quality, unprocessed meats, organic/quality oils, cooked or juiced veggies, small amounts of fruit, high quality sea salt, bone broth and other types of healing soups.

But I do include many other things here and there as well.