I wrote an article back in April about your skin and exercising. This post is similar in some ways but I guess it’s more of a reiteration. Here’s my story in more detail for those of you that missed it…

It was around the year of 2008 when my skin problems first started. It appeared in the form of an itchy, red rash and believe me it was bad. My lifestyle around that time was poor, poor as in my diet and lack of exercise. I’d got myself into a bad routine and I knew I needed to change it but sometimes we all need a kick up the back-side now and then. My skin problems were getting me down, I wouldn’t say I was depressed but it was close. There were times when I’d find myself in tears because of the discomfort or because I just didn’t have answers. I was backwards and forwards to the Doctors and I must have tried hundreds of steroid creams. My skin rash came and went over the course of another year but I always felt it was just masking the problem.

It wasn’t until I was referred to my local dermatologistthat I started to get answers. After a few sessions and some wonderful advice it was like I had been blessed with new skin! Everyone’s skin issues will of course be different but what turned out to my problem was a cow’s milk allergy. Basically everything I loved at the time like cakes, cheese and chocolate. I cut it all out for two weeks and I instantly felt better. No more skin problems and no more fatigue, this was another symptom.

So why of all of a sudden when I hit 30 did I get a cow’s milk allergy? Your answer is as good as mine but I do believe my diet and lack of exercise at the time contributed to it. What does it mean for me now? I consume soy milk or soya milk as it’s sometimes known. It took a while to get used to it but I guess I don’t have a choice. I also have goat’s cheese and my local supermarket now has a freefromaisle. You wouldn’t believe the type of things you can get dairy free these days and they don’t taste that bad actually.

As well as my diet change, I hit the gym again. I believe the combination of both of these things, keep my skin issues at bay. I must admit having itchy inflamed skin, did keep me out of the gym as I wasn’t sure if it was a sweat related rash or not. Also, the two showers a day didn’t help either. These days I allow an extra 15 minutes onto my morning routine just for skincare. I get a repeat prescription for two things, Oilatumand a general moisturiser. I couldn’t recommend these products highly enough as my skin feels brand new everyday.

If you’d like more information about your skin and exercising, including all the benefits. Just click the red bold copy you’ve just read. I don’t like to duplicate stuff on here.

Thanks for reading and I hope you find the answers you were looking for.

Exercise has so many benefits on the body and one of the immediately noticeable ones is having better skin and a clearer more glowing complexion. I think your skin reflects your general health and well being of a person. Exercising also offers so many other health benefits which I’ll mention soon but here’s some background information into my skin and exercise.

For those of you that don’t know, I have a cow’s milk allergy. In a nutshell, if I do consume cow’s milk then I come out in a terrible skin rash and suffer chronic fatigue. I only found out I had this allergy about three years ago and I suffered with it for around two years. Throughout that time, I made numerous visits to the doctors and kept a food diary. This diary helped me start cutting certain food groups out until my rash disappeared. I’ll never forget the week I started to cut out cow’s milk because it was like someone flicking a switch as my problem went away. I’ve seen my dietician since as I wanted to make sure I was still getting enough vitamins from other sources. It was difficult at first, trying to get my diet right. You don’t realise how many nice things contain cow’s milk! I now eat goat’s cheese instead of normal cheese and drink soy milk instead of cow’s milk. Soy milk or soya milk is packed with other health benefits and I will write another post soon explaining them. I’d say my diet at the moment is pretty good and with Total Warrior just around the corner, it will only get better.

Stress

Throughout my numerous visits to the doctor, I was disappointed to learn that they only offered me lotions and potions to try and make the problem go away. I actually made a switch away from those doctors as I wasn’t happy with their advice and it was my new doctor that suggested I try a food diary. My doctor also asked me if I was stressed at all? I didn’t think so but I might have been. Health experts agree that stress levels are significantly reduced and stress can even be beaten if you exercise.

People who are prone to stress related spots and pimples will find that when they adopt an exercise program, you will gain a clearer complexion as the pores become unclogged due to the increase in sweat produced. This will also help to control acne flare-ups, which affect many young people today.

Circulation

When you exercise you are increasing your bodies circulation which in turn delivers essential nutrients to your body. This could mean you get a good nights sleep for a change, giving your skin a chance to recover. Did you know that your skin actually re-grows every 24 hours? Did you also know that your skin is your bodies largest organ? Well now you do! Your skin is rewarded more than any other organ when you exercise, it creates the right environment for your skin to build collagen. Collagen are fibres that support your skin and help wrinkles from appearing.

You will also know that when you exercise your face turns redder and redder. This is caused by the heart rate rising and the circulation increasing. This draws the blood to the surface of the body taking nutrients to the skin cells and helping to rid the body of toxins.

Hydration

Exercise also helps in hydrating our body, since we normally increase our intake of fluids following an exercise routine. Drinking lots of water helps prevent the skin from drying out, particularly during cold winter months. Deano wrote a cracking article on water and hydration levels, if you haven’t read it yet then you should!

Oxygen

Exercise can helps to increase the number of red blood cells and also enhances the quantity of oxygen which is sent to your muscles. People who exercise daily are liable to sleep better and feel more energetic. So why wouldn’t you want to sleep better and feel more energetic? Beats me, get exercising folks.

Thanks,