If you’ve read my blog, you know as my health declined after the death of my husband that my autoimmune symptoms, nausea and GERD got debilitating. I could hardly eat, that I dropped 70lbs without really trying. It wasn’t fast but it wasn’t slow and it definitely wasn’t healthy.

The after results were a sick body that showed on the outside and was felt deeply on the inside. I have been working diligently healing on the inside and now I’m going to show a little self love to my physical appearance. Starting with my skin.

The Damage

To anyone who has lost weight quickly instead of carefully you know what happens to those areas where you carried your weight. Yes saggy or crepey skin. In my mind I wasn’t trying to do anything but get through the days so I wasn’t thinking hey dummy moisturize your skin or take care of your skin. I was proud of myself at some of my lowest points just for brushing my teeth and getting through the work day.

When you are stressed or depressed, even when you try to hide or deny it your body finds ways to show it both internally and externally. For me the damage from not eating made me thin but it also made my skin saggy. I also started getting cyst under my arms and back but the worst one I have is on my face. The stress aged me quickly. I started getting dark spots as well and my skin was dull and had no glow.. My hair had lost its luster and won’t grow any longer.

Cleaning up my diet has helped so much but some of the worst affected areas still need a little extra help.

The Tools for the Experiment

• Castor Oil – touted as an excellent moisturizer to help skin retain moisture, improves saggy skin and reduces cysts.
• Microneedling at home , improves wrinkles, increases collagen, improves scarring and stretch marks.
• Red Light Therapy – builds collagen and minimizes inflammation, reduces fine lines, improves texture and tone and reduces pain.
• Bone Broth – increase collagen, promotes wound healing, improves gut health and improves joint pain
• Vitamn C– brightens skin tone, boosts collagen, improves texture of skin, soothe redness and irritation, supports wound healing.
• Collagen– improves elasticity, skin firmness, gut health
• Dry Brushing – exfoliates, can reduce cellulite by breaking up fat deposits,, gets the lymphatic system moving, unclogs pores.
• Rooibos Tea – prevents toxins from damaging your skin, anti-aging, brightens complexion.
• Vitamin B5– Anti-aging, skin healing, scalp health, improved digestion, promotes hair and nails growth.
• Exercise – strength training, lunges, squats, planks, weights…it helps with a lot of things but for now we will focus on building muscle in my abs, glutes, and arms where the skin is not tight.

The Plan

I’ll start each morning with a cup of Bone broth, I like that I’m adding a little more protein to my day and that it protects your gut. Up next and already a part of my routine will be my morning tea with collagen. I know technically that I’m getting this from my bone broth too but still my tea makes me feel so good that I’m not ready to give it up.

Currently my morning workout consists of almost all cardio. I walk and rebound. Now I will begin adding strength training. Before my shower, I’ll dry brush and then after I will apply castor oil to my skin, and do a massage on my not so pretty problem areas, I’ll cleanse my skin and then add vitamin C.

Throughout the day I will drink rooibos tea and continue eating nutritious food getting at least 75 grams of protein. Making sure I’m not sedentary for long periods of time.

In the evenings, I’ll apply my red light to problem areas and apply castor oil on my cyst.

Twice a week I will do a Microneedling session and hope it’s not too painful..

So let’s begin.

Day 1

It’s Sunday and I start my morning with a cup of bone broth. I add some spices and a spoon because I just can’t drink it straight yet. It wasn’t terrible but definitely not used to having soup in the morning. I notice that it soothes my stomach right away and it feels nourishing as soups tend to do but then I feel not so great about a half hour later. I sleep for another 2 hours and still don’t feel great. I struggle with glutamine and I’ve read that bone broth can have excess glutamine depending on how it’s prepared. And shocker I don’t handle it well. I have not had this problem before but I tried a new brand when I probably should have stayed with the one I use for soups.

My new workout consists of lunges, squats and weights and all sorts of toning exercises that my body is not used to. Already I’m doing my walking and rebounding but dang this going to make me sore.

I dry brush, jump in the shower, oil up, wash my face and apply vitamin C. this actually all feels great. Minus the time it takes for the oil to dry, I love this part but I may have to rearrange my schedule.

I also love rooibos tea so drinking it is no burden, I drink 3 cups throughout the day and enjoy each sip.

In the early evening I put my red light on my stomach, thighs and face. It’s so relaxing and I don’t mind it all.

I’ve put off Microneedling until the end of the night because sticking needles in my body does not excite me. Surprisingly it didn’t hurt very much at all during…but after yeah I felt it. Manageable but I was not ready for the weird little pains that shot through my body. It wasn’t drastic but uncomfortable.

Day 2

One day down. My body feels beautifully moisturized. Castor oil is cool and maybe the most moisturizing oil I’ve ever used.

The soreness is gone from Microneedling and only lasted a few minutes after. Today I’m back to work and happy to say back on schedule.

Adding these new things have added about 20 minutes to my routine. Now why I’m waiting for lunch to cook I’m doing my arm weights. Why I’m rebounding I have castor oil packs on my cyst. I’m oil pulling why I clean the house and although I’ve lost a few minutes of relax and read time, it’s not to bad. I’m a multitasking maniac but it’s effective.

My cyst doesn’t necessarily look better but it feels better because the tightness is less. That is a relief in itself because it was painful.

Day 3

I pretty much have the same schedule and slowly make my way through my list. Today I sip my bone broth a little at a time and I handle it much better.

Surprisingly not sore from the weights but today’s workout was harder to get through. I made a hamburger, sweet potato and apple hash and Brussel sprouts that I really enjoyed for lunch and it was perfect for this cold blustery day. Tomorrow I do my Microneedling and I hope I see improvement. I didn’t notice much the first time but it may be user error. We will see how it goes tomorrow.

Day 4

It’s a new day and I expect to look in the mirror and see my 20 year old body. The dream does not come true… seriously though… why I’m not seeing my younger self I am noticing a brightness to my skin and my skin feels incredibly hydrated. 1000% the castor oil. I will tell you I already know I will keep this on hand forever.

So tonight it’s Micro needling. I mentally had to prepare myself for this. Again no pain while doing it, but after it’s stings a little. I put a vitamin C serum on and that did help.

I’ve done the workouts, massaged the oil in. It’s a waiting game and I’m terrible at being patient.

Day 5

I wake up this morning and see a very subtle difference in my skin. It’s minimal and if I wasn’t looking hard I might not notice. More glow today and a little smoother appearance.

My workout routine is still kicking my you know what, but I get through it without taking breaks. I’m making progress even if it’s slow.

Day 6

I’m closing in on the end of the week. I read up on massage techniques for saggy skin on the stomach last night and then tried it. Okay circular motions from the pelvic area up to the rib cage working left to right. Work hard spots a little longer. Bummer is I have no hard spots.

Still I continued my normal routine and at this point I’ve seen only barely noticeable changes. Note to self, saggy skin takes time to heal. On a positive note my cyst does seem to be improving. It’s very slowly deflating.

We have a winter storm coming in and we are going in to work later. So a little more time to focus on my daily tasks. Yesterday I did not feel well so I promptly came home and passed out and didn’t finish my list of things to do. Which bummed me out.

Day 7

Finally, the end of week 1.

Let’s talk about what I’ve been doing and the impact it’s made so far.

I’m going to start with Castor Oil, what a huge difference this has already made. The intense hydration makes my skin feel wonderful and I already know I’m keeping this habit forever. My cyst is slowly deflating and the bags under my eyes are improving. It hasn’t helped with saggy skin yet but let’s be realistic that part is going to take more than a week.

Microneedling, yes I did see some improvement in my skin. So far nothing drastic but subtle changes. I’m excited to see with more time how it goes.

Red light therapy, why I can attest this helps my back when it hurts I’ve noticed nothing when it comes to my skin but again maybe more time.

Bone broth, this does feel great on my stomach in the morning but I notice more gut health than skin health.

Vitamin C added to my skin care routine is definitely giving me a glow.

Collagen, similar to my bone broth it’s great on my gut but no noticeable changes to my skin.

Dry brushing, I will say this has made my skin incredibly soft specifically on my legs and the usual flaky skin I get in the winter is non existent.

Rooibos Tea, aside from being delicious I really haven’t seen much but I used to drink Rooibos tea as my main tea and it seemed to keep blemishes at bay and my skin soft and supple.

B5 no noticeable changes yet, with the exception of my nails being a little stronger.

Strength training, it has not been long enough for me to develop any muscle tone yet but I am starting to feel a small difference in the way my clothes are fitting but my skin looks the same.

I know a week is not long enough to really see results, so read my next post to see if noticeable changes happen. Part 2

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