Whole 30 Reintroductions: Dairy

Whole 30 Reintroductions: Dairy

I love all things dairy.  For as long as I can remember I have had a glass of milk before bed.  I use cheese as the best kind of treat.  I've even more recently become a huge fan of cottage cheese and Greek yogurt and use them as large chunks of my daily protein.  I'm so sad for people who are lactose intolerant or allergic to casein.  Naturally when deciding to do the Whole30, this was my biggest obstacle.

I made the commitment anyway and threw out everything in the kitchen that contained traces of milk.  I replaced milk with unsweetened almond milk checking the labels to make sure to find the right one with nothing added.  I put unsweetened coconut milk in my coffee (until I decided to just cut the caffeine too since it's not really the coffee I love, but the milk).  I replaced the cheese in my salad with avocado to give a little creaminess.  I added an additional quarter of a banana to my smoothies to give it a little oomph to my water/kale concoction for 30 days.  And you know what?  I didn't hate it.

When discussing which food group to add back and test first, dairy was definitely my choice.  I was a little hesitant because in Dallas and Melissa Hartwig's book, It Starts With Food, they talk about how sometimes people try their favorite food post-Whole30 to find they don't like it much.  Then they essentially have to grieve its loss from their lives.  Stranger things have happened to me, so I was terrified that this would be it.  I planned my day out to make sure I didn't overload my stomach with all that creamy deliciousness too fast.

Morning:  Coffee with 2% milk and my regular green smoothie with Greek yogurt

Afternoon:  Salad with cheddar cheese added and the smallest amount of Ranch dressing

Evening:  Parmesan cheese/Greek yogurt chicken breasts and broccoli

Snack:  Vanilla ice cream

While getting ready for my day post-green smoothie, I began to have a clear and happy outlook on the day.  I usually just bust through my morning routine to get to the train before I really am alert enough to care about anything, so this was new.  The coffee was worlds better with the milk, but I found I didn't really NEED it -- I'm not as in love with coffee as I was a month ago.  The salad did not need the Ranch dressing and I won't do that again, but oh the cheddar.  It was like saying hello to an old friend.  My afternoon was SO productive and I felt amazing.  Dinner was good but the Parmesan was almost overpowering, and I've made that recipe a million times.  That part was nuts.  Who'd have thought too much cheese could be a bad thing?!  Then for the ice cream.  I had a few bites, found it delicious, and put it back in the freezer with at least 3/4 of the pint intact.  It was so sweet, I just couldn't do much more.  I felt satisfied, happy, and relieved that I didn't have any issues with my first love.

Andrew, however, did not have the same day.  Similar meals, but not the same reaction.  Within minutes of having his coffee with creamer and yogurt, he was feeling overly full.  He found the cheese in his salad extremely flavorful, but maybe a little too much.  By the time he got home from work, he was a bit sluggish and almost felt puffy.  He kept saying his face felt bloated.  He found dinner a little too seasoned/salty/overpowering.  And then he surprised himself by doing the same thing with his ice cream as I did (his was chocolate).  He put it away after only a few bites.  He really enjoyed it but felt like a quarter of the pint was more than enough.

Today we're back on Whole30 to reset our systems.  I actually can't wait to add back the dairy in moderation, while Andrew is pretty ok without it save a few treats here and there.

Tomorrow we're adding back legumes (Andrew's pick).  We'll report back how things go!!