-_____________________- I feel like I'm the only one who owns this blog.

It hurts.

The other day I was with my mom and aunt at Rita's...The last time I had the gelati (( it's like ice cream except soft-serve)) swirled with Italian ice, it didn't hurt my stomach. There was no reaction what.so.ever. So, of course I chose to have it again thinking that I could pull it off and get by with it...About half way through the cup, I felt awful. My stomach was k-i-l-l-i-n-g me. I was wrong. I couldn't handle it. I had to finish eating it otherwise it'd be a waste of 2 or 3 bucks. So, after I was done, we got back in the car and I was in so much pain I felt like throwing up. It hurt to the extreme. I curled up in the back seat clamping my eyes together and holding in the shrieks that wanted to escape my mouth. That night for dinner, my aunt ordered pizza. I had to ask her to ask the pizza person to cut back on the cheese...I basically had bread, with tomato sauce and a few teeny shreds of cheese on top, what a dinner. I underestimate what I can take and what I can't. I always think I can "get by" since the previous time didn't hurt as much. I need to make better choices.

At least I'm not all alone in this huge world.

I hate milk.

Sometimes I get deceived... And it's not fun...

Sooo, today, after church, we headed to Wendy's with a couple other families and I ate my meal very happily. After I was finished with lunch, I decided to just deal with the pain and eat an amazing chocolate frosty. So, I ate one, and I was the happiest little girl in America. ((at the time)) I expected to get a stomach ache WHILE I was eating it buuuuuuuut I didn't and I was uber surprised. So I got home and I was STILL feeling perfect fine but then, after a little while, I felt the frosty getting to me... My stomach was killing me and it hurt to breathe... I hate going through this but God obviously has a reason for it.

The Ups and Downs

A diet can be both easy and hard, fun and difficult, uplifting and discouraging. At first I figured my dairy-freeness would relatively easy with only a few struggles in saying no. And I did prove myself correct . . . well, at least after I got through the first day.

  Yeah, day one was kind of difficult. Once I got over the initial shock that I would be going without all forms of the allergen casein, I began to see what exactly I would be missing out on. For starters that morning was my family's egg and toast morning. Now get this: I'm not a big egg person UNLESS I can put cheese on my omelet or scrambled eggs or whatever, but now I CAN'T! And so on went the rest of the day while my brothers and sisters continued to happily eat things I couldn't.

But after the first day was over, I began to regulate what I ate almost mechanically. I simply knew I couldn't have dairy so I refused it without even thinking about how much I wanted it. My adorable niece could decide to share some of her candy and shove a chocolate bar in my face, and I would have no problem putting the candy back in her basket. When I was given a snack wrap sprinkled with cheese, I sat there and picked the cheese off.

Then the diet became a little fun. My older sister, who is on a waaaaaayyyy more restricted diet than me, and I started looking for recipes and alternative foods to eat. Instead of being excited about going to the mall together, we became ecstatic to go and check out all the health food stores. Thanksgiving and Christmas were glorious with our gluten-free vegan brownies, hummus, and ghee . . . except for a few slight temptations.

See, this is where the diet became a little difficult. Everyone starting pulling out there candy, hot chocolate, cookies, and blueberry pies. And yeah, I'll admit it; I went a little crazy for some time. It wasn't exactly fun to stand by and watch the rest of the family enjoy their pretzel M&Ms and ice cream cake while you got almond milk smoothies.

  But I lived, and here I am, still wishing for the ice cream and cheese but yet still fascinated with the challenge.

Sometimes my dad forgets...

The other day my dad was like, "Hey Tay, want some ice cream?"...."Dad...have you forgotten...again?"..."What are you talking about?"...*huffs* "You're daughter is lactose intolerant. Remember?"..."Oh yyeeaaaahhh I forgoooottt"...*thinks* "Mmhmm. Of course you did..."

Today, one of my very best friends informed me that there is dairy free chocolate. I love her for giving me hope.

Had an interesting day! I ate a "Good Humor" ice cream cone annnnnddd...I DIDN'T GET A STOMACH ACHE! Yuusssssssssssssssssssssssss. An unusual day... But I thought I'd share...

Sometimes I wish I could just escape this and head out the door. But of course, it's not that easy.

The Real Meaning of Dairy-Free For Bekah Sikora

When I was told that I have an allergy to dairy products, I had NO idea how much of the foods I ate that included. I was completely ready for the challenge, though a little horrified at the thought of giving up chocolate.  But soon I found that not only was I ignorant of why people are allergic to dairy, but I also didn’t have a clue of how many foods are excluded from a dairy-free diet.
First of all, I have to point out that when I say I am dairy-free, I am using the better-known and more general term. I am really CASEIN-free. Okay, I’m guessing I just lost you, but hold on and let me explain. Casein is what causes the allergic reaction. So when a label doesn’t say “Contains: Milk,” casein still may be there, and that food may be off-limits for the person on this diet.
So you may be thinking at this point (especially if you are neither on a dairy-free diet nor have come across anyone that is), “What’s the big deal about dairy-free? I mean, how hard can it be to not drink milk or eat cheese?” Well, that’s what MY first thought was when I found out about this sudden change I needed to make in my eating habits. I was pretty excited about taking on this new task and about seeing how it would improve my health. THEN I found out exactly how many of my favorite foods I would have to throw out altogether. Don’t get me wrong. I still am very much committed to my diet, but change is usually hard, especially when one has been consuming milk for her entire, incredibly long life of seventeen years. ;-)
Now I was completely surprised to find out about a few things that I couldn’t eat and was a little appalled at some foods that I had just never thought about containing milk. I knew right off that I would miss milk in my cereal; cheese as a topping on a LOT of things, especially pizza; chocolate, though I did find some dairy-free dark; and yogurt. Not so bad at first look, except the chocolate and pizza, of course. But then I started “researching” almost every food I ate by reading the ingredients labels. HUGE shockers! Remember the factor that I am really on a casein-free diet. This means that the food I am consuming can’t contain milk OR whey OR lactose OR casein-containing artificial flavorings. And if you really set your mind to it, you can probably think of multiple foods in which is milk, even if only in small amounts. Some examples are mashed potatoes (contain milk and butter), cake mixes (contains whey), and many non-chocolate candies (contain artificial flavorings).
And that’s the overview of my new diet that will last who knows how long. I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes.

So sad...

Just the other day I wanted to have cheesecake...So, I figured "Oh the lactose pills don't work anyways so I'll just have to deal with it all together..." but then mom suggested that I take some so I swallowed two pills and started to eat my wonderfully amazing homemade cheesecake. I took about three bites and immediately started to get a stomach ache...I hate this. >>.<<

To start it off(:

Hey, blog-readers! So we know you all are wondering what you're doing on this blog, and what the heck these girls are trying to say. Well, since we hate keeping people in suspense (okay, we don't really), we’re going to tell you.
So one of us, Bekah, was recently put on a dairy-free diet by her new doctor¸ while the other, Tay, has been living cautiously (when it comes to dairy) and taking so little steps to get used to consuming milk and dairy products. So we got together and decided to make the best of it and blog about it. We both wanted to blog about how things are going in our milk-deprived lives and what it's like. Also, we plan on posting a few recipes for those who can relate to us about having to find different foods to eat. So that's the basic overview. Hope you enjoy our blog!