My Acne Story _ 5 Healthy Habits for Clear Skin (Part 2_3)

Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel and welcome to part 2 of this acne series. So in my last video, I really opened up and shared my complete acne story and my goal in that video was I really wanted to shine some light on the fact that acne is not just something physical, when you're dealing with it for so many years, the effects of it go much deeper than just this outer layer of skin and it starts to affect you on an emotional and on a psychological level. So I shared very personal moments of my life, including the story that I thought I'd never share with anybody, much less put it out there for the entire world to see it. I shared the story of when I hit rock bottom and I also shared how I was able to overcome all of that. So if you still haven't seen that video, I highly recommend watching it. I'll leave it in the YouTube cards as well as in the description box below. So for part 2 of this acne series, I want to focus on those changes, those habits that I established in my life that helped me in my journey to clear skin. So when you're dealing with acne, it's really easy to get desperate, you get frustrated, you want results to happen overnight. You want that magic pill that's going to clear your skin once and for all. And I was there, I was definitely that person, but one day I realized that acne is much more than just a skin issue. So it's not just about looking for the best face cleanser or the best face mask. It's much more than that. And this acne experience reminded me to see myself as one whole being again and to go back to the basics and give my body those fundamental needs. So today I'm going to share 5 of those habits that I established that changed my life forever and of course helped me in my journey to clear skin. So I want to start off with what I feel like is one of the most important things, the food that we eat. So eating more healthy, more nutritious food was one of the very first changes that I made. Because growing up, I ate a lot of processed food, a lot of unhealthy food, things like cookies, chips, chocolates, pastries, a lot of junk food. And I also drank a lot of sports drinks and sugar-filled juices. So basically I was consuming a lot of anti-calories, meaning food with little to no nutritional value. And I'm also Mexican. I love Mexican food and so my mom would cook super delicious food, but it wasn't always the healthiest. And because I was coming from a place of eating whatever I craved, whatever my heart desired, learning to eat healthy was a process. This definitely did not happen overnight. I remember I slowly started to become more aware of what I was putting into my body. I started learning a lot more about nutrition and the importance of reading food labels, the dangers of eating processed and unhealthy food. And at the same time, I was also reading and learning about the benefits of eating healthier food. And still to this day, that's one of my favorite things to do because it really encourages and motivates me to eat more of that. So what I did is I started to incorporate more greens into my diet. So a lot more vegetables, more fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, things like that. And I minimized processed and refined foods as much as possible. And I did this every single day until it turned into a habit and then it turned into my lifestyle. It's also important to mention that eating healthy is not about being perfect, whatever that means, because I feel like that's one of the reasons why many people give up on their health journey. They give up on eating healthy because they feel like it's very restrictive and it doesn't have to be that way. So my approach to eating healthy very early on was to not restrict myself, to not judge myself. And I encourage everyone to do the same. So don't judge yourself if you eat out or if you have a cookie or a handful of chips or whatever it is that you have because it's not what you do sometimes. It's what you're doing most of the time. That's what's going to make the difference. And I think one of the best tips that I can give to somebody that's just getting started on their health journey is rather than having the mentality of eliminating things from your diet, adopt the mentality of what's a healthier alternative. So start by looking for healthier alternatives to the things that you love and consume already. So let's pretend that you love McDonald's fries and you eat them regularly because you just love them so much. So instead of going and buying some fries at McDonald's, try making them yourself at home and bake them instead of frying them. So you see, that's already going to be a much healthier alternative than going and buying some fries at McDonald's. And then maybe once you get a hold of that, you master that, maybe you can try baking sweet potato fries since sweet potatoes are generally more nutrient-dense than regular white potatoes. So as you can see with this mentality, there's always room for improvement. There's always going to be healthier options. And at the same time, it's also a smoother transition into eating healthier because this way you don't feel like you're completely eliminating something from your diet. And the chances of you giving up are going to be less because it's a much smoother transition. And eating healthy is also about finding what foods work for you and which foods do not because what works for me may not work for you. And the reality is that every single one of our bodies is different. We all have different needs and different triggers too. So I remember one of the very first things that I did was switch from cow milk to almond milk because I realized that my body did not like cow milk. So as you can see, every person's health journey is going to be very unique. It's going to be very personalized. So it's really more about learning to listen to your body and find what works best for you. Another huge part of my healing came from learning how to minimize stress and learning how to take care of my mental and emotional well-being. I used to be a person that stressed out very easily. I remember I would easily get overwhelmed and it was really hard for me to just give myself a break. I would just keep going and going. I would push past my limits until I was basically burnt out and that is no way to live. During this time, I also had zero awareness of my emotions. It was really hard for me to express my feelings because I just wasn't aware of them. So having that ability to manage them was just not going to happen because I had no control over them. It was the opposite. They had control over me. And the truth is our mental health affects our physical health and they're both equally as important. Every system of our body is connected and when you're not balanced in one area, it will most definitely show up in another. So in the case of acne, when we're stressed, our bodies release cortisol hormones which causes an increase in oil production in the skin and that leads to a higher risk of getting pimples. It's exhausting just to talk about it and that is just in the case of acne but it can manifest in many other ways. So learning how to manage my stress and my emotions was crucial to my healing. So I started practicing things like yoga, meditation, I listened to more calming, more relaxing music, I spent more time outside in nature and even something as simple as drinking a cup of green tea. That sort of became like a ritual of mine and still to this day, that's one of the things that I enjoy doing because it just instantly puts me in a better mood, it calms my mind, relaxes my body and that's what it's about. It's about finding those little things that brings that peace, that calmness, happiness into our lives. So I encourage you to find what makes you happy and do more of that. Add it into your everyday activities. Make it a part of your lifestyle because at the end of the day, it's all about self-love. It's about learning to love yourself, take care of yourself and do more of what makes you happy. Exercise was another one of those things that really helped me when it came to managing my stress but I wanted to make it its own category because I really want to emphasize the importance of this. The truth is our bodies were made to move. They weren't made to just live a sedentary lifestyle. So if we're not moving, our bodies will remind us. It starts showing up in all kinds of ways but in the case of acne, this really helped me because like I said, I was a person that stressed out really easily and when we exercise, our bodies release endorphins and serotonin and these help to reduce those levels of stress. And you know the beautiful thing about exercise is that it comes in different forms. It can be in the form of walking, running, dancing, strength training of course, yoga, pilates. There's something out there for everybody. So I really encourage you to find what kind of exercise works best for you and make it a part of your lifestyle just like the other stuff that I've been talking about. And I also wanted to mention that it's important to respect wherever you are today. So don't judge yourself or compare yourself to somebody else because the truth is we're all on our own journey. So just listen to your body and be kind to yourself. I feel like because this one is so simple, it can easily be overlooked and usually when I mention this to somebody, they'll typically roll their eyes or say something like, yeah, yeah, like it's not that important. But I think that we forget that our bodies are more than 60, 70% water and it needs it in order to function at its optimal level. There's not a single organ in our body that doesn't require it. And our skin is the largest organ of our body. It's mostly made up of water. So I feel like there's not much more to say except that without water, our skin simply cannot be at its best. And you know how most people recommend drinking eight glasses of water a day? Well, I have never really liked that advice because I just feel like it's so general and it doesn't take into consideration our lifestyle, whether we exercise or not, what kind of environment we live in, how much we weigh. All of these factors have a say in how much water we should be drinking and how much water our body needs. So a good rule of thumb that I have been following for the last few years, I actually go to the I got this from a teacher and one of the courses that I took when I was getting certified in natural health, I took an entire course on water. So he recommended to drink half of your body weight in ounces. So let's say that I weigh 160 pounds. So 160 divided by two, that would be 80. So 80 ounces of water, that is like the minimum amount of water that I should be drinking because obviously if I'm exercising or if it's hot outside and I'm sweating out a lot of it, it's going to have to be replenished. So that number 80 ounces just serves more like a good starting point. And then depending on all those other factors, I would drink more as I see needed. So I just wanted to share that with you because I found that really helpful. I felt like it was much more helpful than just drink eight glasses of water a day. I love drinking water. I carry water with me everywhere I go, but it wasn't always this way. Just like with everything else, this was a process. When I was dealing with acne, I was definitely not drinking enough water. But once I realized the importance of it, I made it a priority and made sure to drink plenty of it. Just like water, I feel like the power of sleep is also something that is extremely undervalued, especially with the lives that we live today. It's really easy to just put it on the back burner and pretend like it's not that important, but it really is. And it's one of our body's fundamental needs. So our bodies heal when we sleep. So if we're not sleeping, our bodies are not healing and that includes our skin as well. Not getting enough sleep can also affect our hormones. And if your acne is hormonal, you can see how getting enough sleep is super important. And if you're looking for something to help optimize your sleep, I highly recommend reading the book, Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. That book is one of the best resources that I have come across when it comes to sleep. It's full of research and information that's shocking, but at the same time, it's really motivating. It like really opens up your eyes and helps you see sleep in a completely different way. And it makes you want to fix your sleeping schedule and prioritize your sleep. I remember that I just read the very first paragraph and I instantly wanted to get into bed, go to sleep and fix my sleeping schedule because it was, it was really off. So if sleep is something that you struggle with, I highly recommend reading that book. So those are the five habits that have made the biggest difference in my life and of course in my skin. So I hope this video encourages you to see yourself as a whole again. Take a look at every area of your life, find where your imbalance is and take action. That's the most important part. So if there's any way that I can help you, let me know in the comment section below. Otherwise, I wish you all the best in your journey and I will see you next time for part three of this acne series. Bye.