Oops page

[jujeki]

Hallo, ich heisse Johannes (as I would say in my high school German class)!

Actually my name is Justin, but you can call me anything at all (seriously, I've always wanted a nickname). I grew up in Oregon, but fate has me studying in the Midwest. I grew up basically Primal, eating traditional Korean foods and doing everything barefoot and outside. Turn the sundial ahead 18 years and enter college-Justin. Finally eating on my own, choosing activities as I please. Curse you, dining hall food! Just 4 months of eating crap and I could feel myself slowly deteriorating. Sleep went out the door, eating regularly wasn't a priority, and stress just shoved itself down my throat (I know I'm really stressed when I each pass of my hand through my hair makes me slightly more aerodynamic). Tack on a roommate that refused to speak to talk to me for an unknown reason, I thought I had no outlets. Except for my skin, that is. You see, I had a very normal skin until my first winter in college. Mr. Pimple crashed a party that wasn't even happening and summoned every pimple and it's neighbor to my face. I spent the next year devoted to, no, enslaved by my skin. You could make an internet meme with my face: "What are social functions?" or "Sorry, UV rays" come to mind. Needless to say, people were jerks about it and I found it easiest to just go about my day alone.

So, now, how I did I stumble upon MDA and the primal/paleo lifestyle? I heard about the "caveman regimen" for skin care and dug a little deeper to find out more about these silly cavemen (happy note: not washing with poison got one particular cyst to finally give up rent and leave after a 9 month residency). Alongside this "regimen" I decided to take dietary self-experimentation seriously and found out which foods did what to me.

Guess what? Grains and legumes just make me kind of hate life (shocker, huh?). I'm fine with some dairy like butter and yogurt, though I haven't had milk or cheese in ages. In general, I eat whatever I feel like eating (which is handy, since the only foods I don't want to eat are those life-suckers).

Ah, I guess I should re-address the whole acne thing. Since stopping those OTCs and eating what my body really wants, I've cleared up almost 95%. I still breakout, but nothing lasts as long as the rental-monstrosity from 2012. Now, I'm dealing with more PIH than I know how to handle.

This journal is just going to be an ongoing log of random things, often times moments when I say, "Oops," but there will be normal stuff like food and exercise, too. I promise.

[jujeki]

Ah, so the first OOPS that I want to share, and the OOPS that inspired this journal!

I made my friend some almond flour butter cookies for her birthday party. Only, I have a bad relationship with making cookies. The last time I made cookies (7 years ago), my sister was wondering who left the burnt dog shit in the oven. So, yeah. I wasn't expecting much, but I had no idea these cookies would be SO bad. They were sour and now that I think of it, I think I forgot to mix in the honey into the second batch (which I then mixed into the first to make a giant ball of nasty dough). Oh well, it was a nice gag joke in the end. Everybody who tried it was physically upset upon trying the cookies (myself included).

However, that is not the OOPS that I wanted to share! The OOPS comes later. I'm going through a rough patch right now and my emotional side reasoned that I spent the money and time to make a "healthy" cookie (BIG quotations) that has good protein and fats. Don't let that go to waste! I ate the entire bowl. Yes, I binged. I hated every minute of it. I cried a little. It reminded me of my sister and her eating problems. It made me want to quit school more than I already wanted. It was just so damn gross and emotionally upsetting!

Good news is that my gut worked overtime process that mess (impending food allergy, anyone?). I was bloated for the rest of the day and most of the morning after.

[jujeki]

I guess regular food intake is also expected in these things:

Chicken liver in butter.
White onions with brussel sprouts in coconut oil
4 Eggs
Some canned salmon
My universal seasonings for veggies and meats (turmeric, cayenne, cumin sometimes, cinnamon, salt).

[Annieh]

Hi Jo. Persistent acne is no joke, I am glad that you are finding the primal cure. Wishing you all the best in your studies, diet and life.

[Knifegill]

Usualy bad oils do it to me, but we're all different.

[jujeki]

Ran into some friends at the grocery store. It was a little awkward when they saw my basket was full of eggs and their's had some of that egg-white-in-a-box stuff (awkward for them, that is). Had some eggs fried alongside a strip of pork belly, garlic, and onions.

If I ever had the appetite (or patience) for a snack, I'm pretty sure garlic cloves roasted with butter and turmeric would be my #1 choice.

Just had my last exam and papers today, time to relax and hit the hay!

[jujeki]

I'm currently studying music in Illinois, as a clarinetist. I've been playing on two terrible sticks that sound just awful, and finally, I tried some new instruments today. There was one clarinet in particular that left me wanting nothing but to play all day long. That was the most primal I've felt in a long time, just an urge to create and revel in sound. Alas, I didn't buy that instrument, let another struggling student get it instead. Oops.

[jujeki]

Been off the grid for a long while (because I shut out all internet connections for a long time). Where I left off, I went home to visit family, enjoyed lots of homemade traditional Korean cuisine. During my "off-the-grid" period, I've really only thought about maintenance rather than self-improvement because I had other pressing things to manage. While home for a good 2 weeks, I ate tons of vegetables, more than I usually eat, and I had some trouble digesting everything for a couple days, but by golly, my mother's kimchi did the trick and my bowels were quickly happy campers.

I went back to school on April 2, and decided to make some MAJOR changes in school (huge, not study focus). Then I was in Denmark for a week. I just got back actually. I learned more by being abroad than I ever learned in the past two years of school. I'm stepping off of the standard trail that most classical musicians follow and it's pretty exciting and scary. I definitely will find myself in those neck of the European woods again.

Hi again!