One night while I was lying in bed, an intrusive thought hit me: let’s try going dairy-free for a week. My skin was a bit of a mess—I’m talking about Mt. Vesuvius that inhabited my skin basically overnight—I was desperate. Sticking to any diet, especially on a college campus, is hard af. Needless to say, this week was going to be a challenge.
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Day 1
Rolling myself out of bed, I was intent on keeping my promise of being dairy-free. I annoyed all of my friends about it because I knew that they would hold me accountable. Not going to lie, I thought this was going to be easy after having two sunny-side-up eggs and a slice of toast for breakfast. Heck, I already put almond milk in my coffee, so I was already golden on that front. Day one was a breeze.
Day 2
Day two was not a breeze. I have back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back classes from 9:35 a.m. until 8 p.m. My day was already off to rough start because I ordered an omelet without cheese and it was so bad. I am a firm believer that cheese is the glue that holds an omelet together. Between classes, I ran to Bits and was upset by my options: almost all of the grab-and-go snacks are dairy. Yogurt, cheese, you name it. As tempting as it was, I settled for a granola bar and tried to muffle my growling stomach all throughout my next classes. Dinner was surprising good: I got a veggie burger without cheese. I could not taste the difference at all.
Day 3
After working out for the first time in two weeks (oops), I plopped myself down in Bits to do my homework. I ate a salad and was so tempted by the frozen yogurt. For those who don’t know, froyo is my weakness. It’s so good and Red Mango had really good flavors that week (Strawberry Milkshake!!!) that I had to pass up. But, I stuck to my guns.
Day 4
I was seeing no difference in my skin— I wanted to throw in the towel altogether. But I was SO CLOSE! Wednesday was pretty much a repeat of Monday, except it was Halloween. Candy everywhere and I couldn’t eat it! Well, I ate the boring kind without dairy and was sad about it. I did this to myself.
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Day 5
Two of my friends had the audacity to eat froyo in front of me. I couldn’t even taste it. It was awful. To top it all off, one of my friends knocked on my door that night and delivered some M&M’s. She totally forgot about my dairy-free week and was so apologetic when I said that I had to wait to eat them.
Day 6
I was irritable. I just really love cheese: shredded, block, cream cheese, every kind of cheese. I now understand why those who are lactose intolerant just bite the bullet sometimes and eat dairy. They are willing to suffer the consequences in the name of cheese and ice cream! Bless them.
Day 7
Finally, I could eat dairy. I kid you not at midnight on the dot (okay, maybe a little bit after), my friends and I hit up McDonald’s. I got a McFlurry. I could not finish said McFlurry. I was shocked. I have never, in my entire life, not finished ice cream. This week changed me. What I did eat of the McFlurry was heavenly.
The Verdict
Completely eliminating something from your diet is hard. I totally give everyone credit who follows a strict diet. I’m not sure how they do it. As for me, it was hard, but I’m proud of myself for sticking with it. Unfortunately, nothing about my skin changed, but I found myself not reaching for dairy as much— kind of amazing for a cheese lover like myself.