No more dairy for these girls
I like  milk. Ice cold, preferably straight out of the glass container. Half and half, yes please, with or without coffee. I probably have given Ben and Jerry’s CEO a nice retirement by now based on my consumption of Phish Food alone.  Now I recognize how revolting this is for an athlete’s palate… Whatever. I figured I was working out enough to enjoy a bit of this every now again.  This past November I got news that changed everything. It turns out Eva is milk/soy protein allergic. Since I was feeding her via the superboobs, I was told by her pediatrician to give it up, cold turkey or continue to watch her projectile vomit on everything in a 2 foot radius.  I nodded my head in agreement and committed to making this change. I left his office not sure the full implication of what I agreed to and then maybe a tear or two was shed on the way to the car.
After a thorough purging of the refrigerator (partitioning off milk products in a corner for JB alone), I started my search for satisfying milk replacements. Everything with the labels coconut milk, rice milk, almond milk, soy free, and dairy free were purchased (thank god for Whole Foods). Suprising to me is that within about two weeks, not only was Eva doing better, I was feeling better too. I credit the dairy free movement for getting rid of the last 8 pound of prego weight. I noticed a happy baby and happy runner in me. You know if you have an irritated gut from milk, let me tell you. Especially while running. That feeling did subside with this new diet change. I don’t think my running improved in a drastic sense by any means.
So here are my new favorites: almond milk by Silk, almond butter by Martha Natha, Coconut bliss frozen dessert, Rice milk “cheese”, Hemp protein powder blended with berries and rice milk and coconut milk creamer for my morning coffee addiction. And by the way, milk is in everything (casein, whey, sodium caseinate)… start looking at labels and you will see this challenge is intense.
Will I ever do dairy again… probably at some point..Don’t addicts get a chance to fall off the wagon everynow and again? I really do miss good cheese. But this non-dairy lifestyle is also very addicting. It feels a little cleaner and lighter on the gut and my baby is happier without it. Boy what we mommas will do for our babies. I hear this is just the start.
My new obsession
I am there with you! After I stopped being vegan, I slowly started eating more dairy, mostly cheese. Then after this past Christmas, I gave it up again and wow do I feel better. A million times. It is definitely addicting to feel so good. I love cheese, yeah but I love feeling good even more. I am happy that there are so many good alternatives out there. I live on unsweetened almond milk, that coconut milk creamer is the best and love a good splurge on coconut bliss or so delicious coconut milk ice cream. The occasional “worth while stomach ache” as I call them are, well, worth it. But I think we appreciate them more when they are truly worth it. If you get keen to make your own coconut milk ice cream make my recipe: http://devoncrosbyhelms.com/2010/03/coconut-ice-cream-with-peanut-butter.html. It is tasty and a bit more budget friendly than the $6/pint for coconut milk brands.
Hi Devon,
Yep, its hard but worth it! Next is gluten free! Thanks for the ice cream recipe- I am ready to try it! Hope you and Nathan are doing well!!! xoxo