Thursday, January 3, 2013

Blessing #167 - Resolution 2013


I always have New Year's resolutions.  I realize some people do not like them, but I love the challenge of setting a goal even if I don't actually reach  it.  I would rather try and fail than not try at all.

In the past, I have tried to lose weight or read a book a month, this year I have a different resolution.  This year, I am going 99% dairy free.

In April, my doctor suggested I try a dairy free diet for a couple of weeks.  She suspected my health problems might be a dairy allergy.  I thought she was crazy, but it turns out she was right!  I am allergic to milk and all it's wonderful friends.

Now, I'm not lactose intolerant where it affects my stomach, I'm actually allergic to something in milk itself.  When I drink milk, my bronchial tubes spasm and it feels like severe chest pain.  One of the first times it happened was during the super bowl last year.  I ate a buffalo chicken dip which had a lot of cream cheese in it.  My chest started to hurt, and I assumed it was a form of heart burn.  My solution was to drink two big glasses of milk.  This turned out to be the worst think I could have done and it only made the problem worse. I didn't know what it was and I went to the emergency room with these chest pains.  After some experimenting, I was able to figure out that I had the same reaction every time I drank a glass of milk.

It also affects my immune system.  That is why the doctor's thought I may have lupus last year because the milk allergy messed up my auto immune system so badly.

I have taken milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, and cream cheese completely out of my diet.  I guess I would say I was 70% dairy free, but there are two last dairy products that I just can't seem to say goodbye to, cheese and butter.  Cheese and butter are the glue that hold a meal together, the best friends of every southern cook, and I have had a tough time letting them go.

For my New Year's resolution I resolved to be 99% dairy free, and that includes butter and cheese.  In case you are wondering what the 1% is, I'm not going to worry about foods where milk is an ingredient like bread or biscuits.  Eventually, I will cut these out, but not right now.

I'm writing this blog post because I have a very weak will power about this, but it is so important to my health to do it. If you know me in real life and see me eating any dairy, I give you permission to tell me to stop.  I will probably look at you mean, but I will thank you for the reminder later.

Just last week Shad and I had a conversation that went like this.

me: Let's just get a pizza tonight

Shad: Pizza?

me: Yeah pizza!

Shad: cheese?

me: Crap. I forgot. 

Shad: How do you forget that?

We seem to have that conversation about twice a week.  Knocking out an entire food group has not been so easy.  I forget about it all the time.  I have just had a hard time adjusting to this new way of eating.

So in 2013 I say goodbye to my good friends cheese and butter, but hopefully I'll be saying hello to a healthy me.

Note: If resolutions are not your thing, check out "one little word."  Basically, it's where you choose one word to represent your year.  I don't do this at the start of the year.  I do it at my birthday.  Last year my one little word was "shine," and this year my one little word is "abundant."  If resolutions aren't for you, check it out. 

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