Days 15-21

Here’s a quick update in case you missed my last few posts on this experiment. Week 1, I fell in love with castor oil. It’s a Great moisturizer and it makes your skin feel amazing. Week 2, I finally start to see improvements in muscle tone. My crepey skin might be getting a little bit better. It’s a small change but it’s encouraging.

In case you don’t know what natural supplements or devices I’ve been using, see the list below.

The Tools

• 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.
• 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 my problem areas are.

So those are the basics but you’ll get the idea of how I use them as I go through the journal. Let’s get started.

Day 15

Oh the halfway mark, I always feel so great when I hit this spot. For some reason when people start to hit week 3 they start to get less focused on their goal, diet, etc. I can attest this is a real thing since I experience it almost every-time I hit this week. Now that I know it happens, it helps me push through and I think “okay you know it’s a hard week but you’ve got it under control. Keep going.

It’s Saturday and I know I struggle to maintain on weekends. So I force myself out of bed and tell myself to finish five things on my list. This might sound like a lot but it’s really not because I break everything down into small tasks. My lists has about 60 things on it, let me tell you why that’s not scary. You might put vitamins, supplements, medication as one item but I break it down. For me that might be 10 things. I have to take some vitamins and supplements at different times of the day. It’s more helpful for me to see them individually and cross them off as I go. This way I know exactly what I’ve done and what still needs to be done. Same thing with exercise. You might put workout but I put 50 biceps, 50 triceps, morning rebounding, etc.

Wow I got off track.. Okay back to my morning so I tell myself get up and do at least 5 things. I put my castor oil on my cotton pad and I rub it into my cyst, it’s starting to shrink but it very ugly now so I hope this week it calms down. Next I make my morning tea of licorice root, marshmallow root and slippery elm. Put some collagen in there as well as a little tumeric, black cohosh, b6, and lemon balm. It’s my morning stomach soother. It probably sounds weird but it helps me.

I take my Rx and vitamin D3, K2, B12, as well as my mastic gum and Zinc Carnosine. A little later I’ll take my B5 and folic acid.

B5 and Folic Acid are new to my regimen. So far it appears they are helping my nails strengthen and my hair to stop falling out..

It’s a heavy self care day but I’m not ready to do all that yet so I sip my tea and give myself some well deserved quiet time.

Well my quiet time lasted a little too long so I spent the rest of the day hustling to get it done.

It’s a micro-needling and steamer day. One I love, the other not so much. Still I finish them both and hope I will see improvement.

Day 16

Sunday morning, man I have been so sleepy. I slept almost nine hours, which I never do. Usually I struggle to get 5.

However this morning when I took my shower I noticed my skin is starting to look a little better in my stomach. Thank goodness because the workouts are kicking my you know what.

Even the weather which usually dries out my skin has not affected me much and I know that’s the castor oil. Now my lips that’s another story. They are definitely feeling the effects of the weather. But chapstick bothers me a little bit so I don’t typically use it. I know I could use coconut oil too but I just don’t like things on my lips.

I check this morning to see if my miniature torture device made me 20 again. The answer is still no. Just a tip for those of you thinking about Microneedling. Don’t get discouraged, it takes a few days to see your skin improve. No question my face is seeing improvement slowly. It was actually so much better than it used to be with the change in my diet that I was shocked it looks even better now.

I rubbed castor oil in my scalp last night and then washed it out this morning and I’m impressed. It’s not oily, but it has gloss. Plus smooth as silk when I combed it.

Day 17

Well I’ve done all my exercises, facials, castor oil, vitamins, drank my tea and bone broth.

Can I say I’m not in love with bone broth, I want to be if it counts. I love my collagen but bone broth is just something I struggle with. After this experiment I most likely will just use it for my soup and try to have it a couple times a week.

Everything else is great and doesn’t bother me at all. I mean I don’t love working out but that and the castor oil may be helping me most.

Day 18

This morning lunch took me a little longer to make than I thought so I missed some of my morning routine. Mostly my morning facial and morning workout. Note to self: wake up earlier if you’re going to make a new recipe.

So tonight instead of my peaceful wind down routine. I’ll be doing part of my invigorating morning routine on top of my night routine. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Well double workouts tonight. Yeah I will be making sure I split these guys in the future, because it was a bit much for me. They’re not hard workouts separately but together…no thank you.

I did my facial this evening and finished my supplements. Okay mission accomplished. It’s 8:40pm and I’m just now getting to relax. I have to be consistent in my experiments otherwise I won’t know if they really work.

Day 19

It’s freezing today and I spent half the day in the warehouse and I’m to the bone chilled. All I want to do is wrap up in blankets and sleep. But no, I have stuff to do. Like Microneedling which is not my favorite. I do this on Wednesdays and Saturdays but man I don’t want too.

When I got home, we had no power which was not great so my house is cold too. Not how I wanted to start my evening. Hopefully they’ll get it back on soon. Maybe I should do my workout so I can warm up.

Fortunately the power was out only for a short time. So I had no excuse to lay under the covers and do nothing.

I did my Microneedling and applied vitamin C afterwards. It wasn’t bad tonight but I learned my lesson after less week.

Day 20

My skin is looking pretty amazing this morning I have to say. Even my stomach is showing signs of improvement. My cyst well I’m definitely not a two week success story, but it’s getting smaller little by little.

Day 21

It the end of week 3, guys this experiment is definitely going to have to continue after my 30 days. No question everything is looking better each week but there is still some room for improvement that might take longer. I imagine if I keep going I will get where I want to be.

Weekly Recap

Castor Oil -I love this stuff. I am using it for a moisturizer on my body, to shrink my cyst and as a weekly hair mask. It’s improving every area but mostly I just love how it makes my skin feel. Definitely a winner.

Microneedling – I do this at home, two times a week and while it’s not relaxing, it’s not bad. Do I see a difference? I really do, especially a day or so after.

Bone Broth – I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan. I think it’s the glutamine that is messing with me. I will not continue this after the experiment. If your body is tougher than mine, I highly recommend it because it’s so good for you.

Vitamn C – I love the serum, it adds brightness to my skin and it soothes after Microneedling. I’m going to be adding this to my routine as well.

Collagen– I have been taking this through all of my experiments and I have to say I love it. I love it for my skin and I love it for my gut. I don’t even feel human until I have it in my morning tea.

Dry Brushing – my skin looks great after dry brushing and it’s so soft. You have to apply a little pressure when you’re doing it but not to the point it hurts but firm. I feel little tingles when I do it and it feels great. I shower and then apply my castor oil and it looks awesome. I do this every other day.

Red Light Therapy – I have used red light therapy for pain in my back before and it really works. This time I’m using it for my stomach and back of my legs and I have to say they are looking better. The only thing I would warn against is falling asleep because it’s so relaxing.

Rooibos Tea – This tea is delicious and it’s so very good for you but as far as skin health it does add a nice glow to your skin. I might not know with all the things I’m doing this time but a few years ago when I tried to give up Diet Coke (unsuccessfully) I drank Rooibos tea and man my skin looked great.

Exercise- let’s be honest we all know exercise is good for you but I can honestly say it has made a big difference in how my body looks I probably will have to continue for a while to really see a major difference but yeah it’s helping. Not only my soft areas but in building my strength and endurance. I’m 5’1’ and 110 pounds. I never feel strong but I am feeling more capable at moving and lifting than I ever have.

Read my next post if you want to see how I do on my final week!

To read my latest posts

• Surviving the Holidays With Celiac (When You Have to Go to Other People’s Houses)
• ⭐ The Calm December Method: How I Protect My Gut During the Busiest Month of the Year
• 💤 When Rest Isn’t Lazy: How Intentional Rest Fuels Real Productivity
• 🌿 Preparing for My 3-Day Fast
• 🍂 Four States, One Beautiful Fall Story

• WordPress