My New Journey

I gave up dairy for Lent this year. I've been sick--and I mean really, really sick--for the last three months. Based on what my friends have been experiencing, that doesn't seem to be so unusual this year; but I'm tired of getting some sort of infection, being on antibiotics, well for a week, then sick again. A couple of my friends quit dairy a year or so ago, and they both said they noticed a dramatic change in their overall health.

So I thought, "What the hell? How hard can it be? I can give up cheese on my burgers and milk in my coffee. That's why there's soy, right?" Little did I know (when my judgment was clouded by all sorts of symptom controlling drugs) that I would be giving up anything worth eating. Dairy is in everything! I was so surprised!

Oh, what a tangled
Web we weave,
When we fail to realize
We are being naive!

Well, it's with mixed emotions that I announce that giving up dairy has done this body good. It has forced me--a girl who grew up eating all things heavily processed--to eat more whole foods. I eat more fruit, more veggies, and (in recent days) a ton of almond butter. It's my new chocolate milk.

It's not for everyone, but I feel great! And I've felt great for almost two full weeks now, which is a record for me over the course of the last 3 1/2 months. So I'm thinking I'll stick to it long term. And I've had a chance to pay more attention to the messages my body is sending me because I have to be extremely conscious about what I put in it now. (I'm not a nutritionist or any type of scientist by any stretch of the imagination, so if I read an ingredient on a box that I don't recognize or can't pronounce, I just put it back. It's not worth my time looking it up.)

The first few days were brutal. I had to remind myself on several occasions that if I can bring a child into this world I can do this. I still miss butter every day; not as a spread, but as a baking ingredient. I adore my sweets! I crave something scrumptious several times a day: a berry crumb bar; pound cake; or even just a chocolate chip cookie. The good news is I'm sort of learning how to recreate those things dairy free. They don't taste the same, but they are delicious, and I'm excited about posting some of my concoctions here in the near future!

Oh, and I'm not losing weight. Not yet. My cravings have been so strong that so far I have been replacing my dairy calories with other (for me, healthier) fats that have equal or more calories.  My goal is to be and feel better. If I shed what's left of my baby weight in the process, that will just be (dairy free) gravy.

This experience has been everything but boring, and right now I'm enjoying and am intrigued by the discovery and personal growth that has happened along the way. (Of course, I did just have some coffee, and a little dark chocolate. Don't ask me how I feel about it first thing in the morning. In fact, don't ask me about anything first thing in the morning.)