I haven't felt like boring you with picture after picture of summer squash on skewers and salads topped with tomatoes because I've also given up dairy in an attempt to calm the raging tummy
You see, a couple of weeks ago I was invited to my grandpa's 99th birthday party and as much as I wanted to go, my body just wouldn't let me. It was like I hit a new low.
I realized that getting up every morning, barely making it to work and suffering through in pain to come home and go to bed early every night isn't living. That one day a week when I felt able to run my errands was a real accomplishment for me and somehow I felt ok with that. But now, I feel sad about that.
Maybe TMI, maybe just a candid confession: I've been really unwell lately. Like, if I have one or two days a week that I'm not in excruciating pain, having gi issues or just curled up in the fetal position from all of the above, I feel lucky.
So, giving up dairy was kind of an accident. I felt so sick for about 2 weeks that I didn't even go to the grocery store. I lived off my Door to Door deliveries and whatever was in the pantry. Mostly quinoa and instant mashed potatoes. So, I ran out of cheese, yogurt and milk (I was making my instant potatoes with water and olive oil). Not so great tasting, but in a few days I was feeling better. My one good day came that week and I spent it with a friend visiting and laughing. A couple days later, I felt good enough to do some house cleaning above and beyond basic maintenance. Then, a third good day came and I considered going to the grocery store but I had so many other things I wanted to do, so I skipped it! I actually ended up with an entire week where I was able to accomplish things that I hadn't felt well enough to do in months but no "decent" meals to show for it.
Then, I went to the store. I had put 2 and 2 together but I got 3.5 somehow and grabbed some cheese. That night I topped my gf pepperoni pizza with it and the next day I was in pain and sick and for 3 days after that.
So, the short end of my story is that I've decided to give up dairy. Even if it was a coincidence because all other tests have shown it to be ok for me, I don't need it. It's kind of odd for humans to drink cows milk anyway.
People either scoff or are really concerned for me now that I've gone 90% vegan because they don't see how I could possibly get complete nutrition being gluten free, sugar free and meat/dairy free. I think mostly, they are afraid I'm going to put my food issues on them. Well, I'm not. Go ahead and drown in your gluten and pork, if it makes you happy.
All I know is that raw meat gags me and there's a good chance I'm somehow intolerant to dairy. I want much more from life than the pleasure of food, so I'm willing to give it up. As for nutrition - I'll worry about that when I get my life back! The FDA/USDA might suggest a "perfect mix" for us on some funky looking "pyramid" but that doesn't mean it's what I need to get through my day.
So, I'll get back to the food pictures, in fact there is a batch of pickles, pickling in my fridge right now. They are very pretty.
I'm starting to feel like I'm going to end up with a blog about how to eat nothing...well, maybe just plant based foods and the odd egg or grass fed beef (I said 90%...).
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