Category: food

Hmm, so my problems aren’t solved – though they do seem to be better.  And I’ve lost and inch or two in my waist – so it would seem I’ve been living a bloated life for the last few years …

So I’ve decided to cut out obvious dairy (milk, cheese, ice cream) but not worry so much about the incidental stuff (like in bread).

And with my food diary, it would seem that potatoes, corn and rice seem out to get me – which leads me to think it’s not really a food tolerance, and perhaps more of a need-to-eat-more-complex carbs issue …

Next experiment: non-dairy south beach (maintenance phase, not that awful induction phase …)

So two days into my no-dairy experiment, and, well, nothing much seems to have changed.  I’ll spare you all the details of my exact digestion woes, but my after-eating state of being seems much the same.

So it looks like I may have to move on to wheat.  :'(  Not for another week though, I need some time to get used to the idea …

On the plus side, I did discover rice milk!  One of my neighbors who had her son on a lactose and gluten free diet for awhile tipped me off to it.  Apparently, if you suddenly go crazy with the soy, you can really mess up your hormones.

When it comes to milk alternatives on cereal, I vote for vanilla rice milk over vanilla soy.  It’s obviously not the real deal (i.e., the cat won’t touch it), but, at least for me, there’s no bitter after taste.  And it’s way less sweet than lactose-free milk, so I can eat sugar cereals with it! 

Cheddar-flavored rice “cheese” slices – fuhgeddabout it.  Might be ok for cooking, in small doses.  Not good on sandwiches.  Or plain.  In retrospect, I should have gone with American-flavored – at least American cheese is barely cheese to begin with …

Vegan parmesan-flavored … bits – ok on pasta with marinara sauce.  It’s not the real thing, but with just a dusting, it adds that parmesany essence.  More than that, and it becomes obvious that you’ve just covered your food in parmesan-flavored sawdust.  Mmmmm, sawdust.

And of course, fresh fruits and veggies!  In addition to strawberries, this week I splurged on cherries and sugar snap peas.  And some more grapes.  For the freezer.

Dairy-free, chocolate soy “ice cream” bars – surprisingly good!  Though not wheat-free, so that means I’ll have to eat them all this week.  (Such a sacrifice, I know.)  They’ve got the texture of ice cream down, and the chocolate ice-cream flavor seems to mask the non-milk aspects of things better than some of the vanilla soy “ice creams” I’ve tried.

So, even if I never go dairy-free, I’ve discovered some new foods!  The rice milk and soy ice cream might just stick around.

Since high school, I’ve noticed that sometimes after I eat, I feel … unsettled in my stomach.  Occasionally it results in the sudden purging of my stomach contents, but usually, if I just take it easy for an hour or so, I’m fine.

I’ve never really thought much about it, just been annoyed by it when it hits when I’m out running around and don’t have the pleasure of just waiting it out. 

I have long suspected that I have some kind of food sensitivity/intolerance/allergy, but I’ve   never wanted to do anything about it because the most common triggers (according to the internets) are milk and wheat.  And I loooooove me some chocolate chip cookies and milk.  And ice cream.  And breakfast cereal.  And pizza.  And cheese in everything.  And my daily chocolate.  My dear, dear, daily chocolate.

It’s seems that the last few years, things have really ramped up, so I’ve decided to finally do something about it.

So, this week, it’s goodbye to dairy.  :'(  And do you know that there is dairy in EVERYTHING??  And if I give up wheat, too, that means I can’t eat anything except for lettuce and strawberries.  Good thing I like strawberries.