Week 5

Again just reminding you that this was part of some posts that I did on my neighborhood Biggest Loser Contest blog. Just in case you were a little confused. I hope you are enjoying them and finding them helpful. Tammie

So how is everyone doing!?!?!?!?!? Are there any success stories? Are you losing or gaining? Has ANYONE even tried my suggestions? I hope everyone is accomplishing their goals and seeing success! Please let me know if I can help!

I have heard from some of you and I'm thrilled to hear that you are drinking green smoothies and eating whole grains! Way to go!!! Sorry I am so late this week posting! I really don't have an excuse just that I have been putting it off because if you haven't banished me already (ie. started another blog and didn't inform me of the change ;-) You may be more inclined to after this! But after much procrastination I decided that it is only fair to be straight forward and honest with you in sharing what I know and my experiences.



So here goes. I won't sugar coat and I will tell you exactly what I think. If I were in your shoes I would hope you would do the same for me! This weeks challenge that you will hopefully try for at least 4 weeks is to have no, meaning not ANY, none, nada, zip, zilch, absolutely

NO DAIRY!

Alright now I said it! Before you throw your mouse at the computer and curse my name please hear me out! And don't worry remember this isn't permanent (just 4 weeks although I highly recommend 6 but that's up to you) then you can decide! Giving it up for at least 4 weeks will give you an idea of how much better you may feel without it! Does it mean you can NEVER have ANY dairy again!? Well of course not that all depends on what you want and what works for you. Just hear me out I want to share my experience and quote from some others experiences. It's a little different for everyone some people give it up entirely some choose to have it only once a week. Some choose certain forms of dairy that seem to agree with them and have it every day. But you really need to let it go for at least 4 weeks before you are able to judge properly.

Since someone asked me about my dairy stance recently on my blog I am just going to share my answer with you here!

I have not really "preached" a lot on my blog about my stance on dairy because I have seen many people with very different opinions. I'm not necessarily "anti-dairy" I am open to using it if I feel it would help my family and get some things that we are lacking. Lately I have thought a lot about making kefir out of raw goats milk but then found out you could use Young coconut milk also. I think I would like to try that first. Mostly I want that because I feel we need to get more live active good bacteria also known as friendly flora in our diet.

Here has been my opinion on dairy. Aside from all the propaganda, big dairy business stuff, hormones and antibiotics given to cows. I have for a very long time felt that milk from another animal was meant for that animals baby. I like to think how did "Nature" or God intend for things to be? I especially have looked at a cow! A calf is born usually at about 80 pounds and grows to be over 600 pounds in the first year topping up to over 1000 in the second year! They also have 4 stomachs that is very different from humans. I just did not feel that it was meant to feed humans ESPECIALLY baby humans. The protein is much too concentrated and can be very hard on a little ones system. I think that is part of the reason so many people are lactose intolerant and/or allergic to dairy.

Well there you have it that is my opinion. I'm sure others would disagree with me but I always come back to wondering what Nature may have intended. I do think in it's raw form it is better because it still has some enzymes and is easier to digest. And definitely goats milk just because they are so much smaller would be better than cows milk for humans. That's where I'm at right now it doesn't mean that I won't learn more and find I would like to add some animal products back into our diet if we find we are lacking. But so far my family and I have had this similar diet for about 8 years and have been very pleased with our health!

Here is how someone else responded to my comment:

I just wanted to agree with your anti-dairy stance. I have read research about all of the reasons you've listed. For me personally, I'm so much healthier without dairy. Joint pain went away when I quit using it and my kids quit getting ear infections. My face also slimmed down, which was great! I've just discovered coconut milk and I'm in heaven. I love it! Most people don't realize all of the great sources of calcium out there, like broccoli. Anyway, thanks for all your effort and for sharing this with us.

This one is from a book review from Moooove Over Milk:

What many people don't know about dairy is revealed in this book. And not many people will believe it til they try first hand going with out it for a while. I tried it and it changed my life! I used to get sick all the time as did my daughter. We are now non dairy and never sick! Our doctors are amazed and applaud me on this decision. I urge everyone to please read this book and at least try going without it for a while. I used to have skin problems, sinus infections, bronchitis and other problems. I no longer suffer from this! My daughter used to have ear infections and colds alot and no longer gets those either. She also had a behavioral problem, and the doc said he could not figure it out. She no longer has this problem and HE AGREES it had to have been the dairy. The book dicusses this as well.So please read this book. If you are worried about calcium, you will be amazed at what this book says about that too. Milk actually DAMAGES your body! Stop being lied to. Read about the "udder side of dairy" Take care and be healthy.

Here is what someone else said in a email I received recently:

I just wanted to mention, as some of you know we cut dairy out about a month ago hoping to see my baby's eczema get better (it is better but not sure if that's just the dairy to blame)but I will say, over the last month I have lost almost FIVE pounds. I am not eating any different at all except for the dairy being cut out. I do workout at the gym but I have done that for a very long time and have been maintaining my same weight almost the entire time. I haven't been trying to lose weight at all just trying to stay exercised and fit. So I can definitely say with confidence that getting rid of the dairy made me lose weight! It is so weird. I am under 120 now and that is the weight I was before I was pg with baby #2. Though I can't hope to be much smaller, it was a fun surprise to see the scale. I have had a few people ask me if I have lost weight too and I just laughed at them, until this morning when I saw the scale for the second time this month. So what my point is, is if you have considered cutting dairy, it has some big benefits!!! I feel so much better and have so much more energy. And when I'm cooking with rice milk instead I am having people ask me "mmm what is this pleasant sweetness in this?" And its the sweet rice milk. Its been great in everything and besides occasional butter or mozzarella we will definitely be keeping the dairy at a major minimum. I have so much energy and less tummy ache complaints from my 2 year old. High five for dairy free! Just wanted to share.... I no longer consider dairy free a sad thing!

I also found I lost those extra pounds when I gave up dairy and have not had to worry about my weight since! I think dairy just tends to make some people fat! (if that was just the worst it did) Again you need to find what works for you and your family but I have seen many benefits! A big one has been that one of my sons was born six weeks early he ended up having asthma since lungs are the last to develop. We were able to use diet and herbs he has never needed steroids or other drugs for his asthma. We had given up dairy just before he was born. He is now almost 7 and he has very few if ANY symptoms of asthma. He can run and not get wheezy he sleeps well at night! He only gets "the cough" when he has a cold but it goes away quickly now and it's maybe twice a year! It has been nothing short of a miracle for us! I thank the Lord every day for that blessing! I think a huge contributing factor was not having dairy!

If you want to do a little research I highly recommend the books Moooove Over Milk and The China Study! I hope at least some of you will take the challenge I mean really what have you got to lose? I personally have seen great benefits! Are you afraid you will too?!?!? My only regret was NOT doing it SOONER! Just try it 4-6 weeks and just see how you feel! Common

NO DAIRY!

And that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

If you are wondering what you are going to eat go to my blog! There are lots of creamy, comforting, dairy tasting recipes on there that are ALL dairy free! Even super tasty dairy free ice creams! In fact if you decide to do this let me know I'll make you up a batch! My favorite is the Pumpkin Pie kind!

P.S. A friend of mine said she gained 12 pounds since the end of last Summer! She said the only thing she did different was she started eating dairy again! Hummmm interesting don't you think?