For the past few months, I kept coming across information concerning a dairy-free diet. The first few times I didn’t pay much attention to it. The idea intrigued me, but I felt my diet was restricted enough already since I don’t eat sugar, flour, wheat, caffeine, and a host of other things. As time has gone on, I’ve seen more and more references to a dairy-free way of life and it suddenly occurred to me that it wasn’t just a coincidence so I decided to educate myself.

I’m almost sorry I read everything I did because it was all so disturbing. The more I read about the effects of consuming dairy, the more I want to never ever consume another ounce of dairy in my life. This stuff is vile! It’s almost as bad as sugar, which is saying quite a lot.

As of today, I’m officially giving up dairy. I have 5 containers of my (formerly) beloved Greek yogurt in my refrigerator that need to find a home, because I will not be eating them. A few people have asked me why I’m making this change, and I get a little overwhelmed trying to explain because there are just so many reasons. I’m going to document them here, and hopefully this list will help me to answer people who are curious about my latest dietary change.

Here are some symptoms/ailments that have been linked to dairy consumption:

• Migraines
• Breast cancer
• Diabetes (both types)
• Obesity
• High Cholesterol
• Heart disease
• Irregular bowel movements
• Sinus/Allergy problems
• Colds/Sore Throats
• PMS/Emotional problems
• Acne/Problem skin

I suffer from more than 1/2 of the problems on that list. I want to see if giving up dairy changes that. Apparently, it only takes 7-10 days to start noticing a difference. I will be sure to report back to let you know how I’m feeling and if there are any changes to how I’m feeling.

Although all this dairy stuff has been disturbing, it didn’t cause me to lose my sense of humor. During my lunch hour today, I went to a local health food store, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods to find dairy replacements. Specifically I was looking for some unsweetened plain soy yogurt. I purchased quite a few things, and I had to laugh at myself as I was walking up the driveway with my grocery store bags in hand. Here I was replacing three basic food items on my food plan: milk, yogurt, and powdered milk. And in my hand were three full grocery bags of assorted items to take their place. Did I really need 6 boxes of assorted flavors of unsweetened soy milk? It’s apparent that this change is stirring up a little bit of fear and a need to control, as most change does for me. Still funny, though!

One other note - I wasn’t able to find a yogurt or powdered milk alternative, so I bought two types of soy cheese, tempeh and tofu as well. I don’t believe there is a soy yogurt alternative that has no sugar in it, so looks like I’m going to learn to live without it. I might try silken tofu blended with fruit to take its place, but I’m not sure. My diet now has a whole lot of soy in it, and I don’t want to go too far overboard in that direction, either.

In my travels studying the problems with dairy, I also read quite a few things about animal products in general. I have a feeling I might turn into a full-fledged vegan, but that is for another day. Today, I address the dairy.

Here are some more resources if you’re interested:

Not Milk
Go Dairy Free Challenge

The Dangers of Cow’s Milk
Say No to Milk
Milk Sucks

For some reason, I’ve been getting hungry about an hour before my meal time for almost a week now. I’m not sure what’s going on, but it sure is annoying. The funny thing is, I thought for sure this meant I would be sure to see a big drop in weight this month; I lost a whopping 1/2 pound. Ha! Maybe if I don’t change anything this month, the weight loss would show up next month, though, since this hunger thing is a new development.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to go a full month without making a change if this continues, though. I don’t do well with hunger. It scares me and triggers negative reactions in my mind. I know I won’t die between meals, but logic doesn’t help a whole lot when hunger comes to town. It’s such a driving, primal force!

My sick mind is so torn between wanting to keep my food the same so I will lose weight and making a change so I can eat more. Both sides of my compulsive eating disease are rearing their ugly heads. I left a message for my sponsor about the hunger, so I’m sure we’ll come up with a plan of action for this - and I can return to sanity.

This month when I weighed, I was down 2 pounds to 158.8. I’m pleased with that number, very pleased. I’m also noticing changes in my body; my stretch marks on my stomach are shifting again and my upper thighs are finally, finally firming up! I guess it really does take the body a long time to adjust to losing over 100 pounds.

My food has been pretty darn clean this month, which explains the weight loss, I’m sure. I love when I have the willingness to do what’s good for me.

I also came across some pretty cool practical tools that make it easier for me to weigh and measure when I’m out and about.

Check out the Chef’n SleekStor™ Collapsible Cups. I love these things! Owning these means I can carry a measuring cup in my purse, even when it’s not the size of a suitcase! In addition to the measuring cups, I also bought the Chef’n SleekStor™ Swivel Spoons - another addition to my repertoire of food tools.

On top of that, I was able to revive my pocket scale, so I’ve got no excuse at all for not weighing and measuring no matter where I am. And weighing and measuring on a regular basis is really the only thing that works for me to stay squeaky clean with the food. There’s so much freedom in not wondering after a meal if I had too much or too little - the lack of head games is a refreshing, enlightened way to live. I hope to experience it the rest of my life.

Our vacation was absolutely wonderful and everything with the food turned out just fine. I’m so glad that I took care of myself and prepared my food ahead of time, though, because I really needed it. There were quite a few instances where I would have been completely out of luck with eating any sort of food that falls on my food plan if I didn’t have my own food with me. That’s a big plug for planning right there! I know I freaked out a little, and got a bit anal about it all, but I’m glad I thought it all through.

There was one tough time at dinner on the last day we were there that actually put me in tears. My aunt had a nice, home-cooked meal on the table for everyone and I realized there wouldn’t be enough green vegetables for everyone else if I took my full two cups of green beans (fresh from the garden!). I asked my aunt if she had any more vegetables I could cook up and she looked at me like I had three heads and said, “There’s corn on the cob, salad, and mashed potatoes on the table. And cranberries are good for you, too.” Well, corn on the cob and mashed potatoes both count as a starch for me, not a vegetable. The salad had crumbled bacon, cheese, and a creamy salad dressing mixed through out already. The cranberries were in some sort of gelled concoction, not to mention the fact that the cranberry is a fruit.

I sort of went into an internal panic. I’m not close enough to my aunt to “talk back” - she’s really my mom’s aunt and is almost 80 years old, so I didn’t think there was too much I could say that would have made a difference anyway. I went back to the table briefly before running downstairs to the bathroom where I lost it for a few minutes. In that moment, I was just upset about being a compulsive overeater and hating that I wasn’t a “normal” eater who didn’t have to go through these issues. I hated being different than everyone else the whole weekend, and have everyone make observations about how I was eating. “Oh, you’re so good.” “I wish I could do that.” It gets old after a while.

After a few minutes, though, I started to get myself together and headed back upstairs. When I looked up, my husband was coming down. Seeing him made me burst into tears all over again. We headed back downstairs where he held me for a few minutes and listened to me moan about hating being different. Then I recomposed myself yet again and we headed up. I felt so self-conscious because it was obvious that everyone knew I was upset and had been crying. Then everyone started announcing that they didn’t need any green beans and that I should take as many as I needed. lol

I got through it, though, and the important thing is that I remained abstinent. It wasn’t comfortable or easy, but it was much better than the alternative. The experience also helped me to cultivate some gratitude for the fact that I don’t have to fight like that every day or every meal - I am surrounded by supportive people who help make it easy to stay on my plan. If I only have to experience that type of situation on rare occasions, I can handle it. In the meantime, I can also look at why the situation caused me to become so upset so I can do something about it the next time.

We’re planning a trip back to the same location in another couple of months, so perhaps I’ll get an opportunity to put some new skills into place then. Wouldn’t that be great?

We’re going on a trip for a few days this coming weekend and I’m starting to get a bit panicked about the food situation. It looks like we’re going to be going out to eat quite a bit, which I hate for two reasons. One - it’s expensive, and two - I can never fully guarantee that I’ll get exactly what I need there. It’s just safer to eat my food at home. I’m doing as much planning ahead as I can. Here’s my plan so far.

Friday
B: Pineapple Loaf (that I make at home and bring with)
L: Grilled sirloin steak, house salad, baked potato at Cracker Barrel
D: Out to eat somewhere
S: Blueberries & Yogurt (from home - they’ll be in a cooler all day)

Saturday
B: Blueberry Loaf (I’m hoping the hotel can heat it up for me)
L: Tuna, pepper strips & carrots, and brown rice* (packed from home)
D: Out to eat somewhere
S: Apple & yogurt (packed from home)

Sunday
B: Pineapple Loaf
L: Tuna, pepper strips & carrots, and brown rice
D: Out to eat a country restaurant
S: Apple & yogurt

Monday
B: Blueberry Loaf
L: Regular food (we’ll be at a relative’s house)
D: Regular food
S: Apple & yogurt

Tuesday
B: Pineapple Loaf
L: Out to eat on the way home
D: Dinner at home!
S: Blueberries & yogurt (at home!)

* I bought an electric burner today to bring with us. I’m debating if I really need it. I would use it to heat up my breakfast loaf somehow if the hotel won’t do it for me. I could use it to make my brown rice, but I also could make that ahead of time and bring it with me. The only thing is - it wouldn’t be as fresh and it would have to be stored in a cooler with ice. Yuck. Okay, I think I’m bringing the burner. I’m thinking we could even use it to make eggs for the rest of the family to save on going out for breakfast.

Okay, so that is 6 times out to eat in 5 days, I guess that’s not too bad. It could be worse. I’m glad I wrote it all out like this. Now I know what I need to pack and this will ease my fears greatly.