I’ve given up milk and other dairy products.

It wasn’t an easy decision; I mulled over it for years, depriving myself of something I enjoyed so tremendously had me wavering.

In August, after hours of reading Notmilk.com, I scared myself into ending my love affair with dairy.

The truth is, I knew this day would come, I just wasn’t sure when.

I’m not one of those people that think Milk is evil and we all need to stop drinking it. On the contrary, I believe Milk is vital… to the people who need it.

For me, Milk does more harm than good; and I can get my nutrients from other sources.

I’m not sure when I started noticing things; I think I read an article then started looking for the authors symptoms in me. To say that I felt better after giving up milk would be an understatement. You never know how great you can feel until you stop feeling crappy.

These are a few symptoms I hadn’t associated with diary consumption: sluggishness, inconsistent bowel movement, bloating, weight gain, allergies and mucus

Yes, I include weight gain because I actually lost eight pounds in my three short diary free months; I’ve unsuccessfully tried to lose ten pounds for the last two years.

Now, there’s still some percentage of diary in my diet but I make sure it’s very small. My favourite powdered Chai has dried skim milk in it; sometimes I eat packaged foods that may contain diary, and I do have the occasional chocolate bar. My ultimate goal is to cut them out completely in time.

Someone suggested I try goat milk but the idea grossed me out, which then seemed ridiculous to me; I’ve been drinking a cow’s milk for years! At least goats are smaller in size.

I’ve switched to nut milks, but I don’t do soy because I have my issues with soy (that’s a whine for another day). Blue Diamond’s Almond Breeze in vanilla is my favourite.

It hasn’t changed my life much, I cohabit with dairy folks all day, save for a few taunts, cautions and the overall healthy feeling, life has pretty much been the same.

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