I must be nuts...

Happy November, everyone! So did everyone have a nice Halloween? I did – Rick and I did our usual “turn off the porch light and go out to dinner” thing. It’s our Halloween tradition. Yeah, that’s right, we’re the mean people on the street who never give out any candy. :) Hey, it could be worse – we COULD give out toothbrushes… that was my suggestion this year, but Rick didn’t think it was a good idea. We also mulled the idea of an Obama Halloween – that’s where we would’ve just put a box on our porch with a sign asking kids to “share their wealth” and leave US some candy. Just because we weren’t in costumes or handing out candy to anyone or participating in any way doesn’t mean that we don’t have JUST as much right to that candy as those little kids… so c’mon, kids – hand over the Kit Kats and Snickers and Almond Joys… it’s the American way… (apparently… ;))

Actually, I’ll pass on the Almond Joys – or anything else with almonds. I’ve recently discovered that certain nuts may not agree with me very much. As I’ve mentioned before, for quite a while now I’ve been making an effort to eat a decent diet and exercise as much as possible. And I’ve been dismayed by the fact that my exercise routine has become much too sporadic since I started my job. My eating habits, however, have remained pretty consistent. In lieu of “bad” snacks like chips or candy or cookies – things that may be quite portable and easy to take to work, but not conducive to a healthy diet – I’ve been opting for things like apples and bananas and homemade trail mix.

But soon after I started my job, I noticed that my face was breaking out… and while, of course, I’ve had the occasional zit now and then, they usually only pop up in lone, solitary formation and hang around for about two days… then they retreat and fade away and I don’t see another one for quite a while. All of a sudden, however, they were popping up every week. At first only one or two, which I wrote off to stress – after all, I’d just started a new job, I had a totally new schedule, I was tired, I was freaked out over the relentless disorganization in my new office, I couldn’t figure out how to balance everything I needed to do at home with my lack of time (actually, I STILL can’t figure that out…). But then it seemed like every other day I was seeing another little spot popping up, marring my previously flawless face (hahahaha!! Sorry, I couldn’t say that without laughing… :)).

So I tried to think of what in the world could’ve been going on – what had changed? I wasn’t putting anything weird on my face… the only thing different was the job. And then Rick asked me if I’d been EATING anything different. At first, I couldn’t think of anything that I was eating that I hadn’t already been eating… and then I remembered the homemade trail mix that I’d been taking to work with me every day – I was mixing up almonds, walnuts and dried fruit, and putting a little in a Ziploc bag for a mid-morning snack. I was eating it just about every day… every day since I’d started the job. Could it have been the nuts?? I decided to try an experiment – stop eating my almonds and walnuts for a week or so and see what happened. And lo and behold, after about five days my face started clearing up.

So I guess it’s possible that I have some sort of sensitivity to nuts – or at least almonds and/or walnuts. I’ve thought about trying each of them separately, to see if either of them has more of an effect on my skin, but I’m sort of afraid to try it. I’d rather not have to stock up on Clearasil just so I can eat a few nuts.

What’s funny is that I’ve never really LIKED nuts all that much (maybe that’s why I’ve always had pretty clear skin?? :)), but have recently developed more of a taste for them. But if I’m going to break out every time I eat them, I think I’d rather go back to my nut-free ways…

Well, it’s getting close to my bedtime (it’s not even 9 o’clock yet – isn’t that ridiculous?? I wish I could stay up to watch the World Series, but if I do, I’ll fall asleep at my desk tomorrow…). Hope everyone has a great week!