First, my reason for being dairy free:
This is my nearly 3 month old son, Four. (He is my 4th child, and in the blogosphere all my children are referred to as a number, in birth order.) How can you look at that face, which will turn into a projectile-vomiting-screaming-at-you-for-hours-monster, and knowingly eat dairy? I can't! My son is allergic to dairy, and I am a breastfeeding mama. It is a HUGE struggle for me, as I am a dairy LOVER. Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, sour cream, cream cheese, cheesecake, ice cream, even my beloved Coke, have all gone out the window. That's true love right there folks. Some days I feel like it's totally worth it, and other days I want to be a selfish bitch and eat cheese again. I know there are others out there who are dairy free, and not really by choice. I'm not knocking people who are dairy free because they want to be, more power to you, but it's just not me. I miss my dairy products. :(
Coke, some of you are wondering why I can't have Coke if I'm dairy free...there isn't milk in Coke, silly blogger. I can hear you thinking it. But, Coke (and many other soda's, as well as LOTS of other random foods) contain caramel color. Caramel color may or may not be derived from milk, and they don't always denote "Contains Milk" on the label. I found this out after first cutting out dairy and doing so well, and then we had a horrendous day. I wracked my brain to figure out what in the world I had eaten that had caused such a bad day. And, I had consumed a Coke, and some syrup. Both containing caramel color. So, I just decided it was yet another thing that had to go. Sigh.
I really truly wish they had to label EVERYTHING. It would take the guesswork out of it.
Oh, let me finish on a positive note: I have lost all my baby weight PLUS 10 lbs which I totally attribute to cutting out dairy. I have to find a ray of sunshine somewhere....
