Welcome back. This blog is becoming a form of self-reflection for myself, and I hope you’re learning a little bit about me along the way. Of course, you can always look at my About Me page if you really want to learn anything else, or contact me if there’s something on your mind!
For the past couple of months now I’ve been trying to apply going dairy-free to my diet. Sometimes I mess up, but overall I’m doing fairly well. Ice-cream and chocolate are my favourite desserts, but I do try not to buy them! I do enjoy my daily coffee and so the biggest thing has been swapping from regular milk to almond milk. At first it was a bit of a change, but now, I don’t think I miss normal milk at all. Almond milk has a slight different taste, but it was super easy for me to get used to, and I definitely feel significantly better from drinking it. Regular milk used to make me feel so sick and queasy, and I can’t believe I didn’t change sooner.
It can be hard to eliminate all dairy, which is why I’m trying to document this so I get more motivated. I still have regular butter/margarine, but I barely use it on anything. My partner uses this on toast/bread, but as I hardly eat that I don’t have a problem with it. I tend to use oil more for cooking anyway, and so this is something I can continue doing. Cheese is another a hard one, though. I do like my cheese a lot (it runs in the family, apparently!) and so I’m hoping I’ll be able to swap to vegan cheese soon to enable me to fill that hole where cheese once was. I do notice I feel a little sick after eating cheese, so it’s definitely something I want to change. I haven’t gone to the dairy-free section in the supermarkets yet as my boyfriend likes to get in and out of the shops, but next time it’s something I’ll be looking into myself.
I’m pleased to say that I’ve already changed my yogurt eating. I don’t eat yogurt regularly, but I find it so thick with milk that I have to change it to dairy-free or risk feeling incredibly sick. I’m glad it’s sticking with me!
One huge benefit for eating dairy-free for me (apart from the fact my stomach feels so much better) is that my skin appears to be clearer and improving all the time. While I still do get some flare-ups and scarring, I’m seeing a bit of a difference if I try to eat healthily with no dairy. I’ve always been prone to acne due to genetics, but I’m grateful that eating dairy-free has allowed my skin to improve.
If you haven’t tried going dairy-free or lactose-free, I’d highly recommend it. This is coming from someone who does enjoy their ice-cream, chocolate, cheese and whatever else – it can be easier than you think! Small changes are best but you can always give dairy-free diets a Google in your spare time and learn a bit more. Even one change is better than none if it’s something you think would help you. I’m positive that there have been lots of studies done on this, but taking it day-by-day and writing down what you eat or change can be of help, too. Let me know how you go if you do decide to make the change! 🙂
A Long Recovery 