Dairy free and holidays dont go hand in hand. Actually a dairy free lifestyle is a fascinating creature to me. If you know me, you probably know that Im lactose intolerant naturally- so I dont eat ice cream, or drink milk, and try to keep cheese to a minimum (which is REALLY HARD BY THE WAY). So when someone suggested I go dairy free a couple of months into motherhood in the hopes that it would help SLs reflux, I thought, Sure. Ill quit eating yogurt for a while. So. Wrong.
Dairy free is not the same as lactose intolerant at all. Dairy free is a complicated process that involves reading labels like its your job. Which is awesome since you have so much free time to analyze the differences between monocalcium sulfate and polycalcium sulfate. And its really awesome at a restaurant, when you have the opportunity to make a waiter scurry back and forth to the kitchen. Maybe thats why Ive only been out to eat once since SL was born. Sometimes it feels like my whole world is wrapped up in food. If not mine, then SLs eating. But I had been managing fine, really, and M was completely supportive and cooking me dairy free meals and trying not to make a big deal about it. But then there was Christmas.
Oh, Christmas. Thanksgiving, you were a little rough pumpkin pie? No thank you. Ill just have sliced apples. But Christmas? With beautifully decorated pastries and treats? Not easy. The only positive was yesterday when I was reading 50 Foods Not to Touch During the Holidays: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20440821,00.html and felt much better about myself because I could not have a one. But really, telling people they cant have eggnog, cookies or pecan pie is not going to make for a happy anyone. When did health fanatics become so unreasonable? Now I know how much will power those Weight Watchers people have when it comes to sitting down for a meal with family and friends. Is this a first world problem? Um, yes, and Im curious about whether dairy free motherhood is an American problem. I have a feeling les meres francaise are not about to give up their croissants to make nursing easier.
Feeding this baby has become my existence. I think I blog about it on a regular basis, but it is the truth. My whole focus this year has been trying to make sure that SL is gaining weight and eating enough. Who knew it would be this stressful? And who knew the extent of trying to nurse a baby, how far we will come because of the liquid gold My mother and mother-in-law are nothing more than perplexed. In their minds, nursing was easy. You fed the baby when the baby was hungry and at some point the baby ate real food. End of story. Dairy free? What? I would love statistics (the librarian loves statistics) that show percentages of nursing mothers who are dairy free now versus dairy free even ten years ago. Where did we get the idea that would help? Why are we so quick to try and cut things out of our diet?
For the holidays Im hoping youre cutting nothing out of your diet. And dont take pity on me either- happily, wine is always dairy free.