Friday, August 28, 2009

dairy free: the way to be??!

Well, it's been exactly 4 weeks since I have had a lick of dairy (well, maybe just a few licks). Honestly, other than 1 bite of cheese pizza and a few bites of cookie on vacation (peanut butter cup, can you blame me?!) I have stuck to the diet extremely strictly. I am happy to report that it is WORKING! Brynlee is so much more content and happy and does not spit up very often. I was wondering if it was just a coincidence that she had perked up since I had started the diet (like maybe she just snapped out of her funk at 4 months), so I had been not as careful with soy. I avoided it, but if a product (like bread) said "contains soy" but was not a major ingredient, I would eat it anyway. Well, last week I was DYING for something creamy so I indulged on some oreos. Bad, for baby AND for me! I guess it was a weak moment. The next night Brynlee had a mucousy, bloody stool that FREAKED me out. Alyssa was over at the time and we went from laughing at B's "poop face" (which is wildly entertaining) to freakage in minutes, I swear Lyss was as worried as I was! Luckily, I was taking B to the doctor the next morning (I called the on call doc and they said just to bring her in the next day and watch for more blood) and her doctor said it was probably from the soy and to just be more strict with it. She said that it confirmed that B DOES have a sensitivity and that the diet HASN'T been for nothing! Seeing results has really empowered me and makes me want to keep going and not give up!

Not only has this diet made Brynlee more comfortable, but I honestly can say I have never felt better. I have not been bloated for weeks and I have actually lost a few pounds. I am eating SO much healthier and am actually having (gasp) a bit of fun trying out new things. I really am getting the hang of it, and I don't even feel that limited in restaurants. My some of my "go-to" foods and new favorites...

-Ezekiel bread (no soy)
-I have had an OBSESSION with salads, I put in lots of vegs, avocado, hardboiled egg, oil & vinegar dressing, etc.
-sorbet (raspberry)
-rice milk (vanilla is good, very sweet) with cereal and in smoothies (with frozen fruit)
-pb and honey (& banana sometimes)
-coconut milk ice cream OH MY GOODNESS! The chocolate is BETTER than real ice cream, I am not exaggerating. It is pricey, though!
-quinoa
-pasta with o-oil, garlic and basil & tomatoes from my garden
-italian ice or any other kind of non-dairy frozen novelty
-fruit
-turkey sandwiches with hummus and avocado instead of mayo
-any veg with hummus
-I found CHOCOLATE without milk or soy... it was dark, which I don't usually care for, but I was desperate. I found it at CVS, and I think it was the CVS brand... and it hit the spot!

I've had pizza made without cheese, chicken fajitas without cheese, etc. It's not that hard, and I feel so good! The diet was a little tough to stick to on vacation (because Ryan's mom was cooking for all of us, but she accommodated to me SO WONDERFULLY... oh and I SO need to write a post about and share pics of our vaca!!) I miss my beautiful, wonderful cheese and ice cream dearly, don't get me wrong, but I've really thought twice now about my normal dairy-heavy diet. Plus soy is in so much processed stuff... so obviously I've been eating less of that which is healthier! I definitely will eat less of both even when I am done BFing Brynlee and am free to eat whatever I want. I am welcoming any and all suggestions/recipes for dairy free food that I've overlooked, and hopefully I've given ideas to any of you out there needing to be on a dairy/soy free diet too, be it because of BFing or because it's a life thing. (holding up my glass of rice milk*) Cheers!


*Actually, I think RM is kind of sick plain, I usually just put it in stuff, like cereal... haha.

8 comments:

  1. I am so glad it is working for you. I have had a couple of friends that have had to cut out dairy. I'm not sure I could do it though. YAY for you and Brynlee too!

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  2. Your daughter is adorable! How do you pronounce her name? Bryn-lee? It is so cute!

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  3. Good for you, girl! - it is a very hard road to walk (I skipped dairy, soy, eggs, gluten, nuts, beef, hmmm... well, let's just say I was ALLOWED to eat chicken, rice, and vegetables) for about four months, but there are a few specialty items that are delish! Check out Wegmans or someplace similar for Enjoy Life products. Everything they make is free of the 8 most common allergens (including dairy and soy!), and some of their stuff is GREAT! I used to eat their chocolate chip cookies (kind of grainy, but good), and I used to snack on their chocolate chips, mixed with craisins. $4 a bag for chocolate chips! But it was SO worth it, it was my one allowed guilty pleasure.

    Oh, and vanilla rice milk with Rice Krispies was my standby!

    Rice Dream vanilla "ice cream" makes good smoothies, just blend in some fruit...

    Hang in there, Mama! And kudos to you for sacrificing for your babygirl. :)

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  4. I <3 Hummus!!! its awesome :) I understand about the no soy...I used to love soy...but with thyroid disease I can't have it, its frustrating tho bc everything contains it...what is eziekial (sp?) bread?

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  5. Good for you Ashley! I'm so proud of you for making it a whole month dairy free! I tried and literally lasted 12 hours, 7 of which I was sleeping! You should feel very proud and Brynlee is so lucky to have such a dedicated mom! Miss you guys and once school starts we'll have to take the girls to storytime or the library! Talk with you soon!

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  6. OK you have convinced me, I'm going no dairy and will see how it goes! If it doesn't make a good difference, I will cut out soy as well!

    This might be a dumb question, but if you do no dairy, can I still have bread? I know certain breads can be made with milk sometimes.

    Thanks for the inspiration! I'm proud of you!

    Meagan

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  7. You are the best Mommy in the world!!!! Sacrificing what you love to do what is best for her. I am amazed with your commitment. You are doing awesome and I am jealous of how healthy you are eating. You inspire me!

    Love you!

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  8. I am not sure if you saw, but you won my giveaway. E-mail me at Koxborough@yahoo.com.

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