Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Dairy Experiment

**WARNING: Possible gross personal information ahead. Proceed at your own risk.**

I'm 28 years old and I still break out. Despite taking impeccable care of my skin (I wash my face twice a day, exfoliate twice a week, and moisturize like crazy with products specific for my skin type) I am still going through my awkward teenage years apparently. I also have a recurring rash on the inside of my thigh. Sexy, right? Thank god it's not bathing suit season yet. I've been calling it a sweat rash, but really, I've tried bodyglide and powder and it still keeps coming back, sometimes switching legs. I also get a bloated stomach with borderline painful gas quite frequently. I just ooze the sexy, people.

I have read many sources that say consuming dairy may cause a lot of these symptoms (which btw, are not new to me, but have worsened over the last year or so). Rather than go through a whole rigamaroll of doctors to try to figure out what the problem is, I thought I would try first cutting out dairy for a few weeks and see if there are any changes. If this fails, I am going to try cutting out gluten and see if that may be the culprit.

I had cut out regular milk (except in baking) years ago and switched to soy. About a year ago I made the switch from soy to almond milk. I have been eating yogurt bowls for breakfast almost every day for the last month or so, plus the milk in my coffee and cheese is included in some of my meals. Not a lot, but some. So I do consume a fair amount of dairy.

I plan to start this on Monday (while in DC) and sticking to it the entire time I am there. I would have started yesterday, but I already had a huge container of yogurt and various cheeses that need to be eaten by Sunday when I leave. I hate wasting food, so my start date is getting pushed back for that reason. Which leads me to my next topic...operation eat the fridge! I have a lot of veggies that need to be eaten up before Sunday, so last night's dinner was a heaping plate of roasted vegetables. In the mix went a zucchini on it's last leg, an entire head of cauliflower, and a green pepper.

































I really do love sauteed and roasted vegetables. So yummy. I ate a third of this cooked salad and brought the rest to work today as part of my lunch.

Last night was my 5 mile long run that was rescheduled from Sunday. I didn't run Sunday because for some reason I woke up feeling extremely fatigued (daylight savings...or maybe the two drinks I had the night before), so I decided to push my run to Monday. Since it got pushed back, it had to be on the treadmill. The run went reasonably well, my base speed has increased since getting back into speedwork so I feel really good about my progress. Tonight I have 4 miles easy on the schedule, which will be done OUTSIDE since it's light out later. I am very excited about this :) I missed running outside so much.

Do you hate the treadmill? Or kind of love it? Also, have you ever given up dairy?

13 comments:

  1. Good luck with your dairy experiment! I hope that you get to the bottom of your discomfort (no pun intended). I have never given up dairy entirely but have really reduced the amount that I eat (barring greek yogurt and cheese).

    Great job on your runs. I hope that you enjoy being outside today!

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  2. Sorry you are going through all of that! I hope that the dairy free diet works for you. I have been lucky and haven't had any issues like that thus-far, but my hubby definitely has lactose issues, so I'm careful with feeding him dairy.

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  3. Gosh, that sounds painful. Hope cutting out the dairy helps!

    I kind of like the treadmill actually. I find that it helps me to push myself more than I do normally when I run outside. I like to play around with the dials and use the time to catch up on magazines :)

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  4. I think cutting out the dairy will help. I have heard this happen (skin issues) with several people - including myself. I noticed that I cannot drink a glass of milk w/o breaking out. I can handle certain cheeses but really in moderation.

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  5. I really don't like running on the treadmill but will tolerate it every once in a while. One of the reasons I love running so much is because I enjoy being outside!!

    I'm interested to see if cutting dairy out of your diet helps!

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  6. I usually do not like the treadmill, but have been going over the last few weeks and have kind of been enjoying it. It's weird.

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  7. I like the treadmill because I can watch tv, but once it's warmer in the mornings, I'll be outside. Just going outside cuts out so much time I spend getting to the gym.

    I hope cutting out dairy helps. If you eat a lot of soy, you might want to reduce that to (I know you said you stopped drinking soy milk, but not sure if you consume other soy products). I eat cottage cheese in my oats, 2 Greek yogurts, and cream in my coffee everyday. I don't know what I would eat if I cut out dairy. I've wanted to try though. Good luck!

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  8. I really am not a fan of the treadmill- so hard on the joints! Daylight savings time has one good side effect- post work runs. Enjoy yours!

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  9. I was going to say-you can't tell you breakout-your skin always looks beautiful in pictures and spotless. Then you said thigh-oops.

    Um, no way in hell I am cutting out dairy. I have reduced the amount of dairy I eat (cheese and milk) but can't cut it out completely b/c it makes me happy. Some days after a bad day at work, I don't want to go out for a beer, I want to sit in my pj's watching re-runs and eating a block of cheese. Hope your experiment goes well though-you will have to let us know how it goes!

    I don't like treadmills unless they have tv's on them, then it's doable.

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  10. I love the treadmill for it's convenience. That's about it. Anything more than 6 miles makes me want to hurl myself off of it into a wall, though...

    Roasted/grilled zucchini is awesome. I love it with greek seasoning!

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  11. Good luck with the dairy! I have never given up dairy and don't feel the need to... but I have cut meat out of my diet for the most part, for dietary reasons.
    And I do not hate the treadmill! I think that it definitely has its place and benefits!

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  12. I've heard similar things about dairy, but have had no problems with it so far (if I couldn't eat cheese it would be a sad, sad day!). good luck with your experiment. :) also, way to rock out your runs recently! I have considered speedwork, but I think I need to make sure I can cover the distance first. ;) what training plan are you following?

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  13. I go back and forth with dairy. I used to be lactose intolerant but kind of grew out of it... Greek yogurt is one of my main sources of protein but I noticed it started hurting my stomach so I gave it up for about 3 months and now I am starting to eat it again. Good luck, hopefully nixing the dairy takes care of your problems!

    I love the treadmill for intervals and thats about it... when I have to do a 3+ mile straight run I get so bored!

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