As I discussed in this previous poop post, I’m exploring a low sugar, dairy free diet right now. Today marks Day 30 with this diet change that I’m trying out and I must say, it has VASTLY improved my digestion problems. I really think taking out a lot of the excess DAIRY has been good for not only my poo problems, but it’s helped clear up my skin and I just feel less bloated. I should tell you – I’m not reading every single label to see if it contains dairy, but I am focusing on eating REAL FOODS and not PRODUCTS so that I don’t have to read any label. The foods that I’ve been eating don’t have labels (they have stickers and I very nearly ate one on an apple the other day – you hear that the average person consumes like 10 spiders in their lifetime – I wonder how many fruit stickers we eat??? Hmm..)
I’m eating less sugar because, well, it’s really not healthy for you. Like at all. My acupuncturist said to cut out white starches to help heal my gut – so by eliminating “white foods”, I’ve drastically reduced my sugar intake. Drastically because I used to eat sugar with nearly every meal. (I’ve also been known to have open bags of Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips in my pantry just for snacking. Anybody else?!?) I’ll share a recipe below for one of the ways I’m dealing with my sweet tooth. I’m still eating NATURALLY occurring sugars (such as fruits, agave nectar and honey), but cutting out the refined stuff.
The difference in how I feel now versus back in December is HUGE. I’m not sure how long I’ll be dairy free (it could be a couple of months or it could be forever), but I know I’ll do whatever works. This works for me!
Without further ado, here’s everything I ate yesterday!
Breakfast (Pre-Workout)
Two whole eggs + two extra egg whites + diced sweet potato + salsa
Snack (Post-Workout)
Trail Mix, minus the M&M’s. Ok…I had 2.
Lunch
Broiled Tofu Squares + Brussels Sprouts + Broccoli + Carrots + Hummus + Annie’s Roasted Red Pepper Dressing
Snack
Whole Juice = 1 Beet, 1 Carrot, 1 Apple, 2 cups Spinach, Ginger & Lemon
Dinner (Post-Rehearsal)
Stuffed Red Pepper = Red Pepper + Quinoa + Black Beans + Mushrooms
Snack (Dessert!)
Vegan Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients = 1 cup water + 10 diced dates + 8 diced figs + 2 tbsp. natural peanut butter + 2 tbsp. dark cocoa
Place ingredients in a Blendtec (or other high speed blender or food processor). Blend until smooth.
Oh man! This stuff is good! You can also sub out the peanut butter for any other nut butter. I like to freeze it just a bit so that it resembles soft serve.
Let me know if you try it!
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QUESTION: Tell me the BEST THING you ate yesterday (or today)! Have you experimented with a dairy free diet before?
splendid…lindsay
It’s so awesome to hear how the dairy-free change has made you feel better- makes me so happy for you! :)
I wonder if my Magic Bullet would process that. I also wonder how it would turn out, sans figs (I don’t care for them AND I don’t have any in the house). Without the figs, I could make this ASAP without purchasing additional ingredients.
YAY for the blendtec–that stuff makes seriously awesome stuff, eh??? :)
I was pretty affected by dairy in high school… My stomach used to be very sensitive. Since then I’ve grown out of it. I still don’t eat a ton of dairy but def love ice cream and fro yo every so often!
My vegan self experiments with a dairy free diet daily! Ha!! I slay me (and only me – no really I’m the only one who finds myself funny) ohhh and the best thing I’ve eaten recently (and its a good thing both the husband and I love it since it made a TON) was
http://www.eatliverun.com/crock-pot-lentil-sweet-potato-soup/
Ahh, Lindsay! I am a usual reader of your blog, but I’d somehow missed your post about eating a low sugar, dairy free diet! I am going through a similar experience, and these posts were so helpful to know that I’m not alone. Typically, I am bloated and gassy. That has been my normal resting state, and I didn’t realize how ABnormal it was until I got married last spring and had a husband to say, “Catherine, this isn’t normal.” Long story short, I’ve recently pegged sugar, processed food, and dairy as the major offenders. I felt especially bad after Christmas (hello, peppermint ice cream and tons of chocolate.) After a few weeks of eating a mostly clean diet plus a few chocolates every night because I don’t believe in depriving myself, I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t feeling any better. Last week I googled, “Always bloated and gassy,” (hahaha, at work… I hope they don’t check my search history ;-)) and I found a lot of information about sugar and GI issues. Currently I am four days chocolate-and-added-sugar free, and already I feel SO much better.
Anyway, thank you for posting about this; reading it helped my mental state with the whole thing! I’m glad you are feeling better! Sorry for the long comment :)
The spider thing I did not need to know about!! I would love to try a vegan or dairy free diet but I really am in love with yogurt and cheese. I guess if it was making me sick it would be that much easier to not eat it. I usually always have a bag of the dark chocolate Ghiradelli chips in my cupboard, your not alone :)
oh and BTW one of my favorite evening snacks is a chopped up banana with Greek God’s honey vanilla yogurt and Ghiradelli dark choc chips.. so good. It’s better than eating a huge ice cream sundae!!
Oh my goodness we had stuffed peppers for dinner last night too!!! Except ours were green :) that pudding sounds/looks delicious! I will definitely have to try that out sometime, wonder how a little chocolate protein would taste in there…
P.S. LOVE Herdez salsa too! ha It’s my favorite
There are so many great food ideas in this post! I love the quinoa stuffed peppers and the pudding and might have to give them a try.
Yeah I currently have Ghiradelli chocolate chips in my freezer… that was last night’s dessert! I think it’s great that you are experimenting with a dairy-free diet. I have been basically dairy-free for several months but have it on occasion (I love ice cream and Ghiradelli chocolate too much to let it go for good). Whenever I eat it though my stomach freaks out!! The biggest struggle for me is reducing my sugar intake when snacking. I will definitely be making your protein pudding! Keep up the great work with healing your gut!
You’re a clean eating machine! I’m so so so happy that it’s helped your GI issues, I know how miserable that can be!! Hugs, mama.
Hi Lindsay! Just wanted to say that I enjoy reading your blog and will definitely be trying that pudding-it looks amazing!!
That blended concoction looks amazing! Good for you for trying the challenge and feeling better. So good to hear. The best thing I ate today so far has been Lindsay’s Healthy Bites before yoga. They are my go to ALWAYS before hot yoga. YUMMY!
That dessert looks unreal! Can’t believe how creamy its gone! I would go make some now but I dont have any dates in the house :( boo hoo!
Yum to the pudding! Yes to the low dairy…I switched to almond milk, and less dairy in general and have had vast gut improvements and acne improvements.
Just noticed in your veggie juice: 1) your lemon had rind…did that effect the taste? I used a whole orange in my juicer and it made it taste, well, pithy…also 2)noticed you sliced up your beet…when I put a beet in my juicer I washed it but didn’t take the skin off…tasted like dirt…oops…gonna follow your lead on this one for next time.
Hope all is well! hugs!
Christinjoyful :)
I am soooooo making this pudding!! It looks amazing!
I try to stay as dairy free as possible, but this girl NEEDS half & half in her morning coffee. ;-)
I’m getting on that vegan chocolate pudding immediately. I have never seen something look so rich and delicious that is healthy. I want it!
I would never have thought you’d get such a creamy consistency from all those dates and figs! It sounds pretty good though!
Dairy-free’s the way to be!
OK, so I did start eating Chobani, but that is only because it actually HELPED my digestion to put it back in. Other dairy products mess with me too much, but the low lactose content in their yogurt doesn’t seem to bother me. [Also, it tastes awesome.] I have tried to go back to cottage cheese, which was a bloating disaster. As was the time with the ice cream.
But anyways…
LOVE that recipe! Great idea for sweetening with date and figs. :)
The best thing I ate yesterday was 2 eggs with a slice of turkey and cheddar…my usual, but I had some extra avocado on top, delish.
I’ve been thinking about going dairy free because I have been noticing that when I have too much it doesn’t make me feel great. So I started eliminating dairy and then the next day I got really sick and have been in bed since and the only thing that I want to eat is comfort food, which of course, includes dairy. So now that I’m feeling a little better, going to try again to eliminate it.
I’ve been doing the paleo challenge all this month and therefore by default, I’ve been dairy free. I’m amazed at the lack of bloat. And I know it’s from the dairy b/c on the one “Cheat” (hate that word so so much) meal I had with lots of dairy, I paid for it afterwards. I’m excited to reincorporate some grains & beans after this month but I’m thinking dairy is going to take a back seat forever for me. It’s just not worth the bloat, skin issues, etc. that it causes. I never would have thought it was the culprit either!
This is really interesting because I’ve been having some digestive problems lately as well, and I’ve been wondering if this would be a good option for me. Loved getting a “sample” meal plan!
The best thing I ate yesterday was a grapefruit- deeeelicious! I will have to try the pudding recipe, thanks for sharing it with us.
Im always looking for healthy desserts! That looks delicous, along with all of the food! If you like desserts you need to try my protein icing to drizzle on anything. so good!
Everything looks amazing! I have experimented with dairy free before and it definitely makes a little difference for me. I do love it though. The biggest diet change for me has been cutting out gluten! Once I did I felt amazing!
Dairy-free is hard for me, but my stomach feels much better when I don’t consume dairy. I’m thinking of going to an acupuncturist too. Did yours say anything about liver qi stagnatation? I was googling and it totally sounds like that’s what’s wrong with my tummy.
I love that you’re feeling so good Dairy free was actually harder then vegetarian for me, but you’ve been rocking it! Best thing I ate… probably my sashimi I packed for lunch yesterday. Co-worker stares make food taste better. :)
oh
I wonder if my seven year olds tiny palate could TASTE THE FIGs???
make it! i promise if you blend it well enough, it tastes VERY similar to chocolate pudding!!
I do the same thing with chocolate chips, except mine are semi-sweet. I even put them in the freezer… so good! And, so bad for me! ha! I’m going to try your pudding recipe. Thanks!
that vegan pudding is like crack, just sayin
Glad to hear that going dairy free has been working out for you. It was fun to read your recap. I’ve been thinking about giving it a shot and see how it affects my energy & just all around self.
So happy to hear the dairy free diet is working for you! As a majorly lactose intolerant girl, I know how much of an impact cutting it out has had on my body. I still eat Greek yogurt but that seems to be the only dairy product that my body can digest (weird huh?). It might be worth a try to play around with it when you’re up for it. I also know how sugar affects my body, always leaving my with tummy aches, feeling bloated and just run down. I have to remind myself of that every time I want sugar. Sometimes it’s worth it and okay but most of the time, the way I feel after just isn’t.
Good job! That pudding is a great idea. I use to battle with wanting to have whole, natural foods but also wanting it to be calorie free. The pudding you made may have more calories than say a calorie controlled ice-cream but the ingredients are way higher quality nutritional wise. I need to wrap my head around that! And I’d love to adopt that a bit more, unfortunately some times I end up not eating the low calorie or whole food treat because it’s just easier that way.