Best products from r/EOOD

The ease with which you get stretch marks means your skin is not in the best condition due to nutritional or environmental factors, or it's genetic. The skin is the largest organ in your body & reflects the state of your health or your environment.

There are several treatments for preventing and removing stretch marks:

-- Nutritional interventions:

Diets with adequate protein (for collagen & skin proteins), omega 3 fatty acids & antioxidant oils, lots of fruits & vegetables. You should take vitamins & minerals to support skin health including vitamin e, vitamin D, vitamin C. You can also take other supplements that support good cell metabolism & membrane condition (creatine, DMAE, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Acetyl-L Carnatine, etc). Note that the same diet & supplements for good skin are also those recommended for good CNS & brain nutritional support. Vitamin D is important if you have stretch marks or other skin continuity issues as it supports a class of substances called ceramides, which are needed to form good intercellular bonds.

-- Dermaceuticals:

You can also apply skin nutrition topically. Dermaceuticals are serums & lotions with ingredients that have good transdermal properties & can be directly applied to skin to treat skin as well as be absorbed into the bloodstream. Things you can apply to skin to aid in stretch marks include skin metabolism & function support, which includes (1) topical lotions & serums containing vitamins & supplements listed above. One way to promote collagen & other protein production cell metabolism, is to (2) support skin cell ATP: apply CoQ10, creatine, & collagen serums. Nivea Q10 Plus is the only line I know of that includes ATP support for skin with both CoQ10 & Creatine, but if you're working out & have creatine in the house, it's easy to add creatine to CoQ10 lotions yourself. Nivea also has a men's line of skin care that contains CoQ10 & creatine (3) The Strivectin line of products is a medically prescribed cream, also available over the counter, that contains peptides to stimulate collagen growth for stretch mark treatment, as well as a good proprietary vitamin B based ingredient & other skin conditioners. Stivectin SD is very effective, but expensive. (4) Another set of peptides with medical community uses include copper peptides, for wound healing, scars & stretch marks.

-- Non-surgical skin treatments for scars & stretch marks:

• laser resurfacing
• RF fractioning
• LED Red Light/Near-Infrared light therapy
• Microneedling

-- Traditional/ethnobotanical treatments for skin conditioning & tightening

• frankincense, myrrh oil (skin tightening, anti-inflammatory, conditioning)
• rose hip seed, olive, avocado, argan or jojoba oils (contain skin conditioning fatty acids)
• roman chamomile, geranium rose, otto rose, bergamot oils (cosmetic skin treatment herbal remedies)
• lavendar oil (multiple anti-inflammatory properties)

Astanga Vinyasa, especially if you like the mindful, calming movements of tai chi. It's fast-paced enough to constitute a complete workout but with postures held for 5 breaths, you get some space to breathe. The standard series is to be memorized and practiced as a moving meditation. You learn the postures one at a time and the more you progress, the more you add to your repertoire. It's also really cool to "feel" your progress. You develop the strength to 'fly' through postures, which is really rewarding. Tons of free internet resources and online classes.

Initial instruction is highly recommended. Injury is totally possible if you're not doing it right. Also, it takes some clarification in terms of which side comes first, when to progress, where the vinyasas are (the flowing movements in between static postures). Once you learn the series, it's 100% portable and really is a moving meditation.

I used to run, weight train and have done different kinds of yoga but nothing has challenged me more than astanga.

The downsides: some tedium after months of practicing the same postures every day (but then again you can switch it up, or add more); a long-ish practice. A half-primary is 45 minutes, this is all I have time for most days. Full by-the-book practice is 1-1.5 hours. When you first start out, it's about 45 minutes.

YMMV but I'm off of anxiety medications, happy, have better lung capacity but with less injuries than I had when I was runner. Now that I practice every morning, I can't really justify wasting my nights away like I did before. I've built more muscle and lost more weight doing this than any other activity.

Tips, from experience: if you take it on, don't underestimate the importance of getting enough sleep and enough protein, especially if you're doing it every day. When I wasn't watching the two things, I struggled with muscle recovery and was more minor injury-prone.

Free downloads here: http://grimmly2007.blogspot.ca/p/free-downloads.html

Good book here: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Vinyasa-Yoga-Presentation-Based/dp/1569244022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317368186&sr=8-1

Cheat sheets here: http://www.ashtangayoga.info/practice/cheat-sheets-pdf/

Out of everything, meditating is likely going to be the key to unlocking the capability to accomplish your other goals.

The reason I suggest this is because it is a good intro habit to help you establish other habits, its free, and it is an innate human capability you can learn to tap into at any time. The other thing is it will help curb your anxiety, and thinking processes to help calm you down so you don't get stuck in circular thinking and enable you to be able to focus on tasks that you desire to accomplish.

Much like you, I had a hard time getting out of bed and doing things when I first wake up. Then by the time I did get out of bed, I was so anxious and miserable from all my circular thinking just laying there, sometimes for hours, that all my energy was zapped and I had no desire to do anything really. So that's why I started meditating every morning, there are hundreds of free meditations on Youtube, and free apps, although I used Headspace which is a paid app (although the initial program is free).

What this does is it prevents you from getting stuck in that cycle, and gives your brain and body a chance to relax before you confront the day. The key to meditation is you're actually teaching yourself to relax, its like creating a muscle memory for relaxation but you have to practice daily or it isn't as effective.

What I recommend is starting with 10 minutes every morning when you first wake up. Try guided, or whatever works for you. The goal here isn't to stop thinking, no one can stop thinking. If someone had figured out a way to stop thinking then we'd all be doing it all the time, so instead what you need to do is learn is how to let go of your thoughts, and change your relationship with them.

Accept that you're going to think, and not allow every thought to pass through your brain to have meaning or purpose, because most of them don't. I can't tell you have many silly, depressive, or pointless thoughts I've had in my life, and for years I paid attention to all of them as if they were the absolutely truth, but the reality was none of them had any meaning. I simply had a poor relationship with them and gave them attention they didn't deserve. Now when I start thinking circularly I just recognize that is what I'm doing (its taken years of training and I still do it sometimes), focus on my breathing, and move on with my day and get back to my goals.

See if you can go 7 days in a row, and then try another 7, and maybe try bumping to 15 minutes, and eventually 20 over time.

There's a good book on this subject, honestly its a bit dry but the lessons in it are good. The author has also done a TedTalk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A4w3W94ygA

https://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Way-Through-Depression-Unhappiness/dp/1593851286?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Start with meditation, improve your diet, and perhaps start a mood journal or use a mood tracking app so you can see the impact meditation and eating better has on your life. There's nothing more convincing then data from yourself to continue to motivate yourself to keep doing something.

P.S. For healthy food - I use a farm to delivery service. I never go to the grocery store, I just have my groceries delivered 1-2 times a week so I always have fresh food. Its actually cheaper then going to the store, and I just order the same thing every week.

My doctor suggested a sleep mixture of sorts that you are supposed to take 30 minutes before bedtime and it has been a huge help for me. I don't suffer from insomnia each night, but there are nights when I lay down at 10pm and don't fall asleep until ~3am. This sleep mixture has helped to regulate my sleep times and create a routine as well as provide my body with supplements to wind down. This is what I was told:
Zinc 11mg
Magnesium 250mg
*Melatonin 5mg

I'm not sure if the dosage recommendation was specific to my body, but I don't think this is a high dosage for the average body type for male or female (I am not a doctor). I would also head to a natural foods and vitamin store near you - I did and got most of these items on sale and the staff was super helpful and friendly and answered a lot of my questions. Hope you have success if you decide to try this! I linked to the brand that I have been buying, but you can try other brands if you want.

Diabetes is a for life thing. You can get your diet and exercise sorted so your blood sugar is in the normal range but if you ease off then you are back to the start. Far better to head it off at the pass.

Can I make a suggestion if you use eating to fill the time. Learn to cook really well. I know that sounds totally back to front but bear with me. By learning to cook you are giving yourself a new hobby and learning new skills both of which are good at reducing the effects of depression and at the same time you are working on your diet.

Take a look at a few subs like /r/Fitmeals and /r/EatCheapAndHealthy they have a lot of good information. I can really recommend A Girl Called Jack as a great cookbook for a beginner. The recipes are all fairly simple, healthy and cheap. (veggie burgers for 9p each!)

This book with the cringey title Born to Win is the best DIY therapy I've found--it is a participatory self-help journey. You can't just read it, you must do the questions at the end of each chapter.

http://amzn.com/0201590441

They force you to open up the childhood vaults, face things you don't want to face, but always with a feeling like you're making progress on each issue as an adult. All the uncomfortable feelings seem like they're adding up to something.

It combines Transactional Analysis theory but doesn't fall into the intellectual rabbit holes that other famous books do. It's the second part that makes it work, applying the learning with Gestalt exercises (lots of imagining stuff and talking in your head to versions of yourself)

Somehow it feels like no matter how fucked up you are or why it happened, you can start the healing process of becoming the adult you want to be, that those decisions and capabilities are inside you.

It's very sobering, and feels self-help in the 'it's your responsibility to heal yourself' without fake promises of happiness or anything else. It'll help you see at your talents and limitations and the world as it is, and the tendency to want to despair and hide from it.

It is also one of the books that reddit people might get defensive about since fundamentally it believes depression, anxiety, and lots of mental suffering are a shutting down or broken coping mechanism of childhood patterns that backfire on us as adults. Therefore the people who hold on to the 'my brain chemistry dopamine system is fucked and always will be' might get defensive. The book has a very calm and reasonable tone about the depression life-script we cling to, no different than seeing yourself as an alcoholic or constant victim or whatever. It's one way to live, and it may be possible to slowly choose other ways.

My personal plan of attack? Get the book and do a chapter a week, get outside and exercise each week, and if you can afford it get a therapist to practice and reinforce emotional changes once a week.


---Watch this series of 3 pretty neat intro videos to get the conceptual part of the theory down.

part 1 is here https://youtu.be/nKNyFSLJy6o

Like most psychology trends, it's just one version of understanding parts of the subconscious--don't question it too much. Lots of frameworks use different words for the same stuff. This is supposed to be emotional work, not science.

---If what you saw seems promising or interesting to you, get the book. DO NOT order the other more famous books on transactional analysis or other frameworks-- The point is not to become some expert on yet another mumbo-jumbo theory. You don't need it, and you'll overload / sabotage yourself--Theory is simply a TOOL.

--get a plain notebook and a pen. You will be writing out the answers to the many many questions in the book. It needs to be private as hell and a scribble fest. The questions are the the most important part. If you are willing to pay a professional $50 bucks an hour to talk to, you owe it to yourself to spend an hour (or five or however many it takes) by yourself to do the prep work. Almost all modern schools of therapy work in the 'here and now' and the content of what you talk about on the couch is increasingly irrelevant to how therapy actually helps people (fixing your ability to form attachments and feel your own emotions instead of using bad habits to run from them). It's your goddamn life, if your therapist is working harder than you are at your healing, you're going to have a bad time....

--Additional mental exercise that's been super helpful: Find one or two childhood photos of yourself, hard copy if possible. You should be carrying this around secretly all the time. You need to imagine your kid self as not a vague 'inner child' idea but as a very specific ghost-child only you can see and must comfort and protect and 're-parent'. Every time you are despairing and suffering in your day or can't get yourself out of bed or whatever, you must actively imagine the innocent-kid-you snuggling up or reaching for hugs, scared and seeking comfort. Wherever you are at, just imagine little-you right there, pulling at your shirt or blanket for cuddles. You are a broken adult because different parts of the world neglected, ignored, and/or hurt this kid in ways that may or may not be clear, but you are not going to let that happen again. All the kid needs is comfort and love and soothing hugs, so you imagine giving that and saying what the kid needs to hear. Somehow this mental exercise gives me the strength to activate my own best self, like 'this kid needs me' in a way that doesn't work when I'm trying to motivate myself for my own good. (the ghost-kid must be little innocent 5 year old toddler you, no matter what mixed self-loathing feelings you have about yourself. Wont work if you imagine a vague child-as-idea or your actual children. That's why you need the photo to remind you)

> I have a history of deep depression, eating disorders and many other self destructive habits.

Yup. That's me, too. All of it. Also a 24/F.

Regular, vigorous exercise is by far the best "cure." I've tried many medications and treatments over the past decade and my life transformed several months ago when I started exercising.

Part of the trick was finding a type of exercise that I truly enjoy (biking). I also do Insanity workouts, but they get kind of boring (they can be monotonous). Thinking of joining a gym to keep me motivated on cold and rainy days.

Not sure what ED you struggle with, but try reading Brain Over Binge if it's relevant. I found it very helpful.

Edit: Exercise has also helped me to truly want to respect my body and has helped deter ED urges or behaviors. I value my strength and physical ability more than temporarily gratifying self-destruction.

Have you tried any supplements? I have found that just pharmaceuticals alone don't cut it. I take a good quality multivitamin every day and the following supplements: Sam-E, Tryptophan, D3 (with Calcium) and Magnesium. The D3 had really increased my energy so I think there may have been a deficiency there.

How about seeing a regular doctor for some blood tests to see if you have any issues with thyroid or adrenals?

And are you getting sunlight? Watching shows that make you laugh? Do you have a pet? Have you tried personal growth podcasts or audiobooks?

Here's two of my favorites:

https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuitive/dp/B01I29Y344

https://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Badass-Doubting-Greatness/dp/B00EYNFJBE

One thing I've learned in thirty years of dealing with major depression and anxiety: It takes a holistic approach and the ability to step back and look at your habits and actions in an analytical way, which came come with practice. These are just some ideas, hope that helps.

Journaling is a great tool for a healthy mind in my opinion.

The act of writing it down is a good way to organize your thoughts and put words to your feelings. It makes it easier to reach conclusions. It quiets the bouncing thoughts in my head. It's like when you throw up and feel better after because the bile is gone.
Personally, I keep mine very open and free form. I try not to cross out or correct myself because it should come straight from inside without a filter. It's a skill that can be learned quickly just by doing it. Not everyone has a lot to say and I would recommend bullet journals in that case.

I think many people get overwhelmed with the idea that it's a book and therefore, the words inside must have a purpose or meaning or story. They get hooked on the audience and overthink what they want to write because of fear of judgement. I have heard "my life is boring so why would I want to document anything?" Most days, I write a few sentences or describe what I did. It's not terribly exciting, but thoughts are like water. Once it starts to move, the rest follows and you find yourself wanting to write about things that hurt you in the past or current struggles. Once its on paper, it's like my brain catalogs it away.
I like to use a hard cover thick papered guy like this one. It lays flat and so I can write straight across the two pages, and I don't feel cramped by trying to stick to the 5x7 format. Plus it's got a little pocket in the back for keepsakes.

Thanks for the read. I have been feeling especially overwhelmed lately at work. I snapped at two coworkers yesterday in separate incidents. I owe an apology to one of them today. The other, I do not.

I think that setting up small goals is really the best way to live. I was reading in a book about writing recently called Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It said something along the lines of "the best instructions for writing, and living life, are to do both like you are driving at night. You don't need to see more than a few feet ahead of you to make the whole journey."

I seem to get the best results from running, especially in the moderately strenuous range. Also, I usually need to do at least 20 minutes.

But I get really bored doing steady pace aerobic so I usually do some kind of interval training--for example, 5 minute walk, 5 minute jog, 5 x (1 min. run, 1 min. walk), 5 min. jog, 5 min. walk. I'll vary the interval times from 30 sec. to 3 min. and occasionally do all out 10 sec. sprints. Interval workouts give me the same mood boost as, say, running 20-30 min. but with less boredom and fewer nagging injuries. I try to run about 3 days per week.

I also lift 2 or 3 times a week, hardly ever on the same day I run. Lately, I mostly do a pretty minimal program focused on dead lifts and presses. I've just started the Power to the People program, which I like so far, but it's still early days. I have found when I do high volume lifting (by which I mean 5+ sets of 5 on 2 or 3 big lifts per workout) several times a week, it doesn't do much for my mood. You need a lot of rest to recover from those types of workouts and I always ended up feeling like I was dragging the bar around every waking moment.

So far, the PttP program, with it's emphasis on "practice" over training, hasn't left me feeling so destroyed. But overall, lifting doesn't do nearly as much for my mood as running (and to a lesser extent, biking). I think of it as a support activity, to make the running easier and reduce injuries. I know some people say lifting works well for them, but I tend to overdo it and end up feeling exhausted and terrible, which is the opposite of what I want.

tl;dr: Moderate to high intensity interval training for at least 20 minutes about 3 times a week works best for me.

The one thing that helps me a lot is melatonin. If I get off of my sleep schedule for whatever reason (exams...) popping a melatonin the next day at my normal sleep time helps me fall asleep and then wake up feeling refreshed. It resets my sleep cycle so I can get back on schedule.

Simple, cheap, effective solution to the sleep bit. Helps you set up a sleep schedule a bit easier. If you stick to the sleep schedule for a couple weeks you will feel sleepy by default at around the time you normally go to bed. After that, just listen to your body.

Glad you found it useful. :) The book is Comprehensive Anger Management by Gene Monterastelli and it encourages using tapping or EFT to help process emotions (I often use it for anxiety and fear). The author explains how being aware of other emotions and recognizing them can help someone feel things other than anger, and how subtle shifts along the scale are still victories. I've been surprised at how useful I've found the scale.

> You can't cure it, only do things to ease it until it passes on its own

Good point. Sad feelings and thoughts are pretty normal human reactions to things you've gone through. Let yourself feel them without judgment and they'll lessen over time.

This isn't just my opinion, it's shared in this book. Don't be put off from the "mindfulness". The first half of the book is an expansion upon the point i made above, the second half is basic meditation practice (which I don't really do but still founds this book really interesting for the first half). There is no mystical-ness to this, one of the authors is a physician, another a psychologist.