30 Day Challenge: The Results

I recently completed the 30-day dairy free challenge and wanted to recap what I experienced.

First, nothing "major" happened. I'd been hoping for something big, such as my acne clearing up or my period suddenly appearing. I didn't see a change in either, though. In fact, as I documented with weekly photos, my acne seemed to have gotten worse, not better, over the course of the month.
That was disappointing.

But, what did I learn? I learned the power of the mind. We really can do anything when we have determination and a fixed goal. It was a task to check every food label for anything containing dairy. And I was sometimes surprised by what I found. Eating out happened even less often that it did before, as "dairy free" options turned out to be less common than gluten-free menu items.

It wasn't as hard as I had thought it might be. There were a few days when I craved certain food, but overall, it took more thinking and more time to prepare meals than before. I was able to find some really delicious recipes - and had fun looking for new dinner ideas. One of my favorite meals was a salmon burger, brown rice, avocado salsa & asparagus. I also experimented making brownies . . . I was not a big fan of the avocado or zucchini brownies. But, I had fun learning and experimenting.

I also discovered that Ben & Jerry's makes killer dairy-free icecream. Don't get me wrong, I also enjoyed coconut-based icecreams. But this, this took the cake. And that's probably why I didn't lose any weight in the 30 days. Ha!

So, what now? Since my 30 days ended, I have had dairy again on occasion. It was a few days before I tried it because I didn't want to get "hooked." But, I realized that the way I eat dairy (mainly Greek yogurt or using butter) aren't that common to start. Perhaps that is why I didn't notice a dramatic change as one would, say, if they had a glass of milk 3 times a day that they were giving up. Having given up milk years ago, I didn't notice much of a change.

Will I keep doing it? Ideally, I would like to do an 80/20 rule. 80% of the time, I watch ingredients and eat dairy-free. 20% of the time, I indulge.

I think doing it consistently & long term would also yield better results than just 30 days.

But, I do like challenging myself, especially when it comes to nutrition. Last summer, I did 2 months without sugar, and that too was an incredible experience in learning mind > matter.

So, even if it didn't turn out the way I had hoped, I am glad I did it and definitely learned about myself in the process.

See my original post about PCOS here.