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I’ve been struggling with cystic acne and was hoping that Whole30 could help. I started Whole 30 right after my last period and haven’t had any breakouts until the very end of my Whole30 when my period came back. This tells me that my acne is mostly hormonal considering I haven’t even started reintroducing foods yet. So my question is if there’s a compliant food that I’ve been eating that might be contributing to my hormonal acne? Does anyone have suggestions for dealing with hormonal acne and diet? I’ve literally tried everything and was really hopeful that by changing my diet it would help with my cystic breakouts.

Hi all! I'm a 36 y/o breadwinning mom with a demanding dream job and beautiful little family. I'm overweight (5'6", 210 lbs) and have PCOS. We're thinking about having #2 but before making the dive I've been working on prioritizing "self-care", stress reduction and generally achieving a better sense of balance (i.e., making time for friends, hobbies, hubby, exercise, etc in addition to work & mommying). Part of the self-care has been making the time to deal with annoying health issues I've been ignoring for a long time. I've been going to the dermatologist to deal with persistent acne for over a year now with no noticeable results. In the last meeting, my derm suggested starting Accutane which I've been apprehensive about. I went to my primary yesterday evening to discuss and after reviewing my family history of insulin resistance (long line of diabetics on my dad's side), my primary recommended me trying the whole 30. I started this morning. So far, so good! Wish me luck!!

Today is day 23. Yay, right the bells, only 1 week left, yada yada. I'm frustrated and trying to sooth myself with my NSV's - but there aren't nearly as many as I thought there would be by now, and side effects that have me grumpy. On the plus side: getting better quality sleep my clothes feel looser meal prep and cooking is practically mindless now and easy haven't slipped up at all challenge: still trying to break emotional ties with food (getting cravings for wine when I've had a bad day, for ice scream on those early sunny spring days) However, this has been so much harder on me than I thought it would be. Notice I said "on me", not for me. I don't find the W30 itself difficult, but what I'm going through has just sucked. Context - my husband and I are doing this together. BEFORE we started, this is what life was like: HIM: never ate breakfast chipotle burritos for lunch 5 days a week (or some other fast casual restaurant) fast food ~ 1x a week for dinner exercise one day a week casual alcohol 2-3x a week (1-2 drinks) ME: Already dairy-free lifestyle breakfast every morning, usually some kind of egg and/or fruit homemade lunches every day (chicken breasts, salads, soups, etc) homemade dinners every night (similar things like steak and asparagus, salad, etc) working out 3x a week alcohol 1 night a week or less eating out 1 meal per week With that in mind, I thought my husband was going to go through withdrawal headaches, exhaustion, and have all the side effects, and that I would coast by easy. Not the case. He had headaches for a day or two. That was it. That's all he dealt with. On the other hand, I had headaches, exhaustion, bloating, all sorts of stuff for the first two weeks. Week 3 quieted down a bit, but now I'm on day 23 and have TERRIBLE CYSTIC ACNE all over my chin - worse than I've ever had it before, including the long-ago teenage years. Hubs and I are eating the exact same meals - what am I doing wrong? How is this happening so late into this program? I'm getting frustrated and not really feeling all that different from how I felt before I even started. In fact, possibly feeling worse, except for the joy of clothes being looser. But if you had said "In 30 days I'll give you loose clothes but you must take a chin-full of acne" I would have turned down that offer. Can someone talk me off a ledge (and out of finding the wine we hid on the top shelf of a rarely-used closet)? And explain this acne phenomenon? I'm so frustrated and would likely be calling it quits if my husband wasn't seeing great results - I need to at least see this through the end for him.

Hi, I’m confused because we are told to listen to our bodies to determine whether we need a snack or extra fat etc. But not to listen to our bodies when we’re not hungry? I’m on Day 3 and have been compliant but I am eating much later in the evening then I normally do, because I’m just not hungry but am forcing myself to get the three meals in. Eating just before bedtime packs on the pounds for me. I’ve noticed that not only has my face broken out in acne , my double chin is more pronounced, and I’m concerned that forcing three meals with fat when I’m not hungry and eating late is to blame. Can you not eat if still full from breakfast at lunch, or from lunch at dinner. I am following the meal template as I am transitioning from an (unhealthy) vegetarian diet and want to be sure I’m compliant, but feel like I’m forcing myself to eat and it’s resulting in noticeable weight gain or bloat, acne as welll as constipation. Can I not eat if not hungry and if I can reduce portions of the template where Can I do so? Also is bulletproof coffee with ghee and mct oil allowed and if so, what should it be eaten with?