Dairy Free Dilemma

One of the most depressing days of my life was when I finally discovered that I was lactose intolerant. But even worse was when I learned that lactase enzymes do NOT work for me. For a few weeks after finally putting a finger on my symptoms and calling it lactose intolerance I was content to keep eating my pizza and just pop a pill at the beginning of the meal. Unfortunately--it didn't work. In fact most days the medicine just made me feel even worse, sending me to bed with horrible cramps for an hour. (sorry, TMI?)

Anyway, it finally occured to me, my body does not want dairy. DUH! Why am I trying to force it? So has begun my journey with a food allergy. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Back in the day my roommate Sarah and I would play the classic conversation starting game "Would you rather". One of our favorite questions was; Would you rather from this day on never have sex, or never eat cheese? We usually agreed we'd rather give up sex than cheese, in theory anyway. Well...looks like I'm giving up cheese.

Things I'm learning along the way:

1. I can go without things I love, like cheese, cream in my coffee, pizza, and ice cream. Maybe this means I could make it without other unhealthy things that I think I'd die with out, ie. tortilla chips, candy, and Diet Coke.

2. Soy milk after a while really starts to taste just like soy. Not a fan of crushed edamame over your breakfast cereal? I'm partial to almond milk lately. It tastes like almond a little, but I'd rather have almonds with my cereal than soybeans any day.

3. Starbucks caramel topping, that they use to top off their delicious Caramel Macchiatto and yummy Creme Brulee Lattes (which are both good with soy btw), is made with milk.

4. I'd rather skip the dairy and feel great, than enjoy the 30 minutes of cheese and feel like junk for the rest of the day.

5. I am way more sensitive to other people's dietary needs and preferences than I used to be. How hard is it really to accomodate gluten free or dairy free, or vegan. Hmmm well all three and we're running out of food, but you get the idea.