Sunday, January 27, 2013

Day 5, 6, and 7: The Weekend

I have to summarize a few days because I'm just not willing to sit in front of the computer as often most weekends.  I haven't messed up at all but by Sunday morning I found myself craving cheese.  I didn't have any but, man, that sounds good right now.

Friday night I ate at Taco Bueno and had a bean burrito with lettuce, tomato, and guacamole and chips and salsa.  Adding the guac made it easier to skip the cheese and it was still quite tasty.  Gotta admit that I was impressed.

Saturday dairy never even crossed my mind.  Again, at Matito's, a local Mexican restaurant, for appetizers and drinks with a girlfriend.  I opted for a side of guacamole with chips and salsa and THE BEST margarita I've ever had in my life.  (The menu said "limit 2 per person" and I completely see why.  Whoa!!)

By Sunday I really wanted cheese!!  There's nothing better after a late night with adult beverages than to have eggs and a TON of cheese on a warm tortilla.  Sigh.  I was able to resist though.  And then came Snuffer's.  It's a local restaurant to Dallas that's know for it's cheese fries. Awesome french fries smothered in cheese with chives and jalepenos and for the carnivores you can add bacon... and they don't skimp on ANY of the ingredients.  I mean, you can hardly see the fries for the cheese.  I did great though.  Had my favorite veggie burger that comes with fried jalepenos, chipotle sauce, and jack cheese... I, of course, ordered it with no cheese and quickly realized that the cheese is what holds it all together.  Oh well, it's a little messier now.  And instead of fries I went for onion rings.  Still all very delicious just minus the dairy.

Very proud of myself this weekend!!  The hard part is on the way though... a business trip this week.  It's hard enough to eat on a schedule but even harder to stay healthy so we'll see how it goes.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Day 4 Dairy Free: Almost Screw Up Free

First,  I should point out that I'm going down this journey with a buddy... a very evil buddy who wants to eat less cheese but thinks chocolate is ok.  Second, this evil friend sits a few cubes away from me and stocks her desk with these treats.  In comes "doh!" number 2... miniature Butterfinger for breakfast.  Oh so yummy!!  Again, ate it because they're so hard to resist and didn't think about it until after it was gone.

Woosah.

Reset.

The rest of the day was effortless.  Now if I can just not have any other "doh" moments I'd be good to go.  No physical changes today and feel I need a couple more nut-free days to determine if they're causing an issue.  One thing I forgot to mention though... cheeseless pizza doesn't produce that bloated feeling.  Yea!!  Wonder if I'll notice any other physical benefits...
---------------------------------
Breakfast:  Doh Butterfinger, Grits -- ok, so the grits were instant and have trace amounts of butter but it was the last packet at my desk and I refuse to buy them again.

Lunch: Grilled veggie sandwich, chopped side salad, pickle spear

Dinner: Beans and wild rice, sauteed brussel sprouts (takes time to separate the individual leaves but sooo worth the wait)

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Day 3 Dairy Free: Doh!!

Doh!!  I ate a cupcake!!

What in the HECK was I thinking??  Oh yeah!  I know!!  Up since 5am... work piling on top of work with no regard for priorities... almost 80 miles to and from work... AND THEN off to drop my kid off to ballet.  Luckily I had leftovers so dinner was easy but I scarfed it after working MORE this evening until 8pm and then when I finally tore myself away from the emails I decided to have a treat... a dairy treat... italian cream cupcake that my kid bought me... never even crossed my mind to think about it's contents... until I was DONE.

Honestly, it wasn't even as enjoyable as I thought it was going to be.  I KNEW I should've gone for the vegan brownies I made the other day!!

Today's lesson?  Think before you eat.

Pre-cupake thought, "it's just bread"... Post-cupcake thought, "Doh!!"

Today's unusual finding?  My stomach hurts... more like my intestines.  (Sorry if that's TMI but it's true)  Since I can't have cheese I find myself reverting to nuts... maybe too many.  Maybe I'll try to cut them out for a few days and see what happens.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Breakfast:  What's that?  Get to work!!  (snacked on a nut based brittle type snack I dehydrated)

Lunch: Grilled veggie sandwich (no cheese!!), Sunchips, melons and berries

Snack:  a few cashews, hummus and veggie sticks

Dinner: Tofu tacos (I'm finding myself to be addicted to this find!) smeared with avocado, tortilla chips, salsa 


Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Day 2 Dairy Free

I thought I would wake up craving a cheesy omelette but I'm surprised to discover that I'm not.  I'm not really very hungry so maybe that's why but after a full 24 hours I'm starting to feel like maybe I won't miss dairy as much as expected.  Today's meals:

Breakfast: Cinnamon brown sugar oatmeal

Lunch: Tofu tacos (crumbled tofu with black beans on corn tortillas), chips and salsa

Dinner:  Broccoli, wild rice, salmon
I wonder if I'll ever be able to give up fish.  I'd like to but think I need to take it one thing at a time.  So I still eat fish once or twice a week... I can live with that... for now.

I am finding that by eating less dairy I'm eating fewer eggs... interesting.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Day 1 Dairy Free: Discoveries

The official start of attempting to go dairy free.  I decide to get a healthy snack and purchased flat pretzels.  Doh!!  They're made with milk or buttermilk.  It's simply just not something ever thought about but at least I know now.  Guess I'll be donating those to the office snack pantry.  Went for hummus, wheat thins, and Naked green monster.  Great follow up to yoga and a brisk walk in the park. I discovered over the weekend that vegan pizza (cheeseless) is really good and now I wonder why I haven't tried it sooner.  Also made vegan brownies (no butter or egg and used pureed black beans instead) and... WOW!!!  Just as good as regular brownies!  Unfortunately.  ;)
photo.php

So far day 1 of my attempt at going dairy free is not horrific.  :)  Not missing cheese or milk... yet.