For the past three weeks, I’ve tried the best I could to eliminate dairy from my diet. And what do you know, I didn’t die! But I didn’t completely succeed at cutting everything out. I would say I got rid of the large majority of it, but I did run into a few snags.

Getting People to Take You Seriously
This was a lot harder than I imagined. I told my dad that I was going on a dairy free diet. Several weeks in, he hadn’t noticed what I was doing. I reminded him and he was in disbelief. The conversation went something like this.

-”I said I was going to stop eating dairy.”

-”You say a lot of things.”

So that was a bump in the road. We once ate a quiche that had to be 75% cheese. When I move into an apartment this August, it will be much easier to cook to my satisfaction. Right now, however, I rely on the cooperation of others. My fiancee still occasionally asks me if I want sour cream on my food and then remembers the deal a few seconds later, but other than that, she is very supportive. Asking for soy milk at a Starbucks drive through, for some reason, brought the cashier to ask who was allergic to milk. Whoops, no one!

Some Thing Are Not So Easy
I’m sure this is a nightmare for people with allergies. It’s not always easy to find foods without certain ingredients, even if it seems like they have no reason to be there. Butter wasn’t too hard. I found a great solution in a Smart Balance buttery spread. As a sidenote, I tried their peanut butter, which contains no hydrogenated oils. That’s great, except it tastes like fish. The palm fruit oil maybe? I was delighted to find an offering from Smucker’s that had as ingredients only peanuts and salt. BAM!

Aside from butter, I had a some difficulties. Why, I wondered, do 99% of salad dressings have milk or cheese? Ignoring those, my selection looks like it came straight out of the Soviet Union. Croutons were also an issue. I had to be a bit more creative with salad. Walnuts, cranberries, and green peppers are all excellent additions to a salad. I had to be brutally honest with myself. The caesar salad that used to I consume twice a week, loaded with a whole bag of croutons, 16 servings of fattening dressing, and additional parmesan cheese, wasn’t really that healthy.

Cheese, cream, milk, or whey showed up in a number of foods that you wouldn’t expect. So far, this has been the single biggest problem, but it gets easier as you go along. Buying unprocessed foods is always the best solution.

Some Things Really Are Easy
Surprisingly, it was very easy for me to eliminate cheese and milk. Come to think of it, I never really enjoyed drinking a glass of milk by itself. It had to involve either chocolate syrup or a batch of cookies. Half and half was a bit more difficult because I used to drink it religiously. I actually gave up coffee for a couple weeks before I started this diet. I went back to coffee after I had broken the addiction to half and half. First, I drank coffee black, which is a remarkably intriguing experience. Recently, I picked up a non dairy creamer and this works fine for me. It’s uncommon for me to go more than a week with Starbucks coffee, so I simply switched to soy milk. No problem! Unless they run out of course. :x

Cheese isn’t much of a problem. Unless it’s in prepared dishes, it’s quite easy to avoid. I can’t even say I miss it.

And Now
I want to completely eliminate traces of dairy from my diet, just so I can get the full effect. I’ve already come incredibly close and I haven’t broken any bones or died yet! :) Actually, I feel pretty good. It wasn’t too hard getting adjusted. Almost all problems with dieting can be solved with a little creativity.

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