Milkin' It

Weigh in Feb. 16: +2.0 (total of -5.1 lbs down)
Weigh in Feb. 23: +.08 (total of - 4.3 lbs down)
Today's weigh in: -7.6 HELL YEAH! (total of -11.9 lbs down)

I know, it's been awhile. Too much has been going on, life is getting in the way, etc. All of the excuses a dieter makes when they're not making healthy choices. When they're not logging their food. When they're not holding themselves accountable.

I got to a point in the last week where I was just mad. I was angry that I wasn't losing weight (but I was losing inches). I was doing *almost* everything right. I hit that wall that so many of us fail to climb. I kept persisting, hoping to pass over the plateau with minimal damage. In the midst of all of this, I had a doctor's visit. The doctor is still concerned about my Vitamin D level, but she was also concerned about this back and forth of 5 lbs I've been dealing with over the last few weeks. She put me on a thyroid medication to see if it would help. After this week's results, I certainly believe it helped! Of course, now I feel like I cheated and that maybe there is something screwy with my thyroid, but that's a different issue.

I also learned this week that this minor skin allergy I've developed to milk is greatly exaberated by fondue parties. I've had the pimples coming and going the last few weeks, but when I woke up after Sunday's day o' cheese and chocolate, I looked like a 16 year old going through puberty. It was horrible. I've been staying away from most (if not all) dairy since then and looking for dairy-free options. My Facebook family left lots of helpful suggestions:

1) "Silk": Apparently this is a very popular soy milk brand. I'm learning from reviews that it doesn't taste much like milk (it has a different consistency and a slightly sweeter taste), but it makes a great substitute. Since I don't drink milk on it's own (it needs chocolate syrup or cereal to be added), this seems like a viable option. Of course, it costs about twice as much as regular milk... good thing I don't use a lot of milk. 

2) "So Delicious" coconut milk: This got rave reviews from one of my sister's best friends and by one of my glucose intolerant friends. The online reviews I've read suggest going with the vanilla flavor, since it masks some of the coconut flavor (rather, it enhances the taste). It has a 2% milk-like consistency. But, again, it's expensive- like $5/ gallon.

3) "Almond Dream": Hungry Girl raves about this on her website. It's 1 point/cup for the unsweetened variety, and she uses it in almost recipe she creates. It has great reviews and is fairly reasonably priced.

4) "Teese Cheese": It's reviews are higher than Sheese or Cheezly (I can't make these names up), as it tastes better, melts better, and isn't much more expensive than regular cheese. But, it  comes shaped like a log. Weird.

5) "Tofutti" cream cheese/sour cream: Mixed reviews, with one of the top ones being listed as "Tofutti sour cream- GROSS...help!" Doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Apparently it's still pretty bad for you, although there is no milk product in it (still has 5g fat and only 1g protein?! From what?!), but it has a similar sour cream taste and consistency. Again, this is a product (sour cream) that I use much of, so I should be ok here.. 

The reason dairy is important to our bodies is because of the healthy protein and the calcium- both which I can get with the soy products and vitamins. I don't plan on cutting out dairy entirely, but I'm planning to make a fairly significant change with the basics- milk, cheese, and sour cream/cream cheese. I'm sure there are many other substitutes out there, but I'm a little leery (and poor!) to try them all. So any other suggestions/samples you want to push my way... feel free!