First, here’s my take on snacks and all this whole subject…

I used to love snacks, entire bags of chips, ice cream, crackers.  Actually, I still do.

And unfortunately, I have some good news and some bads news for all of you out there who empathized with that statement above.

The bad news is that you’re gonna have to drop all of those. Like I said before, this whole thing really is more about will power than anything else. But if you really think about it, sometimes I still find it odd that I’m struggling so much over food.

I mean, it’s just food, who cares if I have to sacrifice desserts, it’s totally worth the confidence I get when I have clear skin.

But really, I’m not gonna lie, I’ve fallen into temptation so many times and binge ate “forbidden foods” that I pretty much know exactly how long I have before my next pimple and how far I can push the envelope. So many times have I finished a bowl or a bag of whatever it was I “wasn’t” supposed to eat and regretted it right away because I knew the consequences of tomorrow morning.

Anyway, enough about my thoughts. =)

The point and the trick is this…

I’ve associated eating bad foods with acne, and acne with not looking or feeling “that” great.

And when I don’t feel or look that great, it’s not easy to attract women.

There, I said it, I have a thing for women.

Don’t judge =).

Alright, quick side story.

SIDE STORY

High school and college are supposed to be the best times of your life. The peak as they say, but not when your face is covered in zits. Sure, I still had several girlfriends, but even when I was with them, deep down inside, I was still embarrassed and insecure. I was often jealous of other people with clear skin who were having all the fun without the disfiguring crutches of acne and myself for being born with these ridiculous genes. Somehow along the way, I wanted to become that guy whose appreciated for more than just inside because you can only take so much, “Wow Ray, you have such a great personality” in one lifetime. Plus, women are beautiful, sue me =P

End of side story =).

So whenever I’m about to eat chips, I’ve pretty much conditioned myself to think:

Hmmm… chips or beautiful women?

Ice cream or beautiful women?

Dessert or beautiful women?

And really, does anybody even have to think about that? If you do have to think about that, you’re either incredibly suave and Casanova’s got nothing on you or “slightly” overweight. Hey, I’m a very straight forward kind of guy so I’m gonna put it out there and just say it. So as you can see, really, this is a “little” more than just about acne. It’s really about what kind of person are you? Can you resist unnecessary temptations in life? Do you have your priorities in order? Can you make the right choices for your own body? If you can’t even NOT eat a bag of chips when you know you aren’t supposed to, how the hell are you gonna do bigger things in life?

So pretty much, through this program I’ve trained myself to have pretty good self control.

And I gotta say, it rubs off in other parts of my life too but that’s another story.

Many of you want to know some snacks that you can munch on to help alleviate the urges. Well, I’m here to tell you that there really aren’t that many. But like I said earlier, don’t be discouraged folks because, look at the big picture, life’s about more than cheesy poofs or Doritos. And I used to looooove snacks. If you’ve read my earlier entires, I’m telling you, I can eat more than all my fat friends and not gain a single pound. So if anyone loves eating and feels the pain in the loss of snacks, I do.

So I’m here to tell you, snacks, desserts, soft drinks, they’re dead to you. If you have a sweet tooth, convince yourself you don’t like sweets. Start telling other people the same thing. That’s what I did, they’ll start offering you foods that you “like” instead of desserts because you “don’t like sweets.” More than just acne, this kind of eating will help your body in the long run.

Of course, it’s okay to trip up once in a while and devour an entire box of Frosted Flakes. Just be prepared to suffer the consequences. For me, that’s no girls.

8 BEST SNACKS FOR ACNE FREE CLEAR SKIN

1. Flaxseed Chips or Crackers.  If you look closely, sometimes you’ll be able to find these crackers that are organic and made from flaxseed & wheat. Those are pretty safe.  Now I’m not suggesting that you replace your previous addiction of chips and crackers with these flaxseed chips.  But what I am saying is that you may want to replace the unhealthy chips that you may be eating now with a healthier version of a snack like these flaxseed crackers.  And of course, limit snack consumption if you can.  But that’s another issue altogether.

2. Berries. Cranberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries. I put these into my kefir smooth or just eat them straight up sometimes. But remember, they still have natural sugar so no more than one serving at once and preferably after you’ve eaten fiber because that will slow down the blood sugar spike. I’ve also heard you can mush them up for a magnificent and all natural jam.

3. Half a banana, I’ve read some scientific report stating that if you eat no more than 15 grams of sugar or carbs, your blood sugar won’t spike. Half a banana on average is about 15 grams of sugar I believe. Remember this principle, you can eat sweets but anymore than 15 grams of sugar or carbs and your blood sugar will begin to spike and you don’t want that.

4. Yogurt.  If you’re starving.  Have some kefir.  Right now I have, sitting in my refrigerator, a bottle of kefir that, if at any time I’m hungry, I will simply walk downstairs and eat half a cup.  It’s that easy.  I wanted a snack, I wanted to eat something.  So I went downstairs and got something to eat.  The best part about this is that I don’t feel guilty about afterwards and it was good for me too because it helped contribute to the first step of clearing your acne.

5. Emergen-C. Go out and get this if you’re a big juice kind of guy. It tastes almost as good without any of the bad. It’s got a ton of electrolytes and vitamins. Wayyy better than Gatorade and that kind of stuff because that Powerade/Gatorade is loaded with sugar. I drink this after all my workouts and sometimes just cuz’.

6.  Stevia. If you have a sweet, go out and get this herb called “Stevia.” It’s 300 times sweeter than sugar and absolutely does not spike blood sugar level. It takes a little bit gettin’ used to, but it’s better than the alternative: me eating a ton of ice cream and being girlfriend-less. I add it into my smoothies, tastes amazing.

7. Walnuts. Not all nuts are that great for you though because of their omega 3 to 6 ratio. So don’t think that just because you’re eating nuts that it’s safe. Walnuts are high in omega 3 so you want that but just don’t eat too many because you’ll get sick from the high amounts of oil in them (more than a handful). Trust me on this one.

8. Wheat Bread & Coconut Oil. Once in a while, if I’m really starving, it’s late, I don’t feel like going out, and I got nothing in the fridge I’ll warm up two pieces of wheat bread and smear Organic Virgin Coconut oil on them. You can toast the bread pieces if you like crunchier things but it’s pretty damn good. And pretty damn healthy too. Just don’t go crazy with the bread because it’s still a carbohydrate and you don’t want to overload on those yet.

Hi there HTCYA readers, a quick ending message…

Fact 1: In Los Angeles, California, a Registered Dietitian makes between $49,262 – $67,742 a year to give advice about diet and nutrition.

Fact 2: Even just keeping this website running and my internet costs me money out of my own pocket every day.

Fact 3: I spend many hours of my own day writing, recording, and designing this website in order to help acne sufferers and the acne community when I’m not in Nutrition Graduate School or at work.

Fact 4: HowToClearYourAcne.com is done completely without pay and without outside help (I do everything myself). This is information and experiences that I’ve compiled from more than the last 10 years of my life that I’m offering in order to give back to the community.

Fact 5: I could really use your help; there are over 6000 pageviews from you out there week, you are legion, you are mighty, $20 from each you and that would be huge (I’d actually quit my job now and devote all my time to helping acne sufferers if that happened =) Even just $1 from each of you and HowToClearYourAcne.com would be doing much better.

So please, if you’re a regular reader, please consider itif you enjoyed my article, had a hearty chuckle, learned something, or just want to encourage me to quit my job and dedicate ALL my time to helping people clear their acne and have clear skin, please subscribe and consider CONTRIBUTING! I could really use your help. =)

-Ray

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