Cover Photo is a dairy-free cupcake. Keep reading for why that is relevant!
Growing up, I was taught and always reminded the importance of monitoring what I put into my body. Now, don’t get me wrong, that does not mean I was taught to count every single calorie or shy away from eating what I desired. Simply just being taught the concept of being aware and striving for healthy eating majority of the time.
Throughout my life, I have been always open to dabble in different dietary habits. Ridding my diet of red meat for extended periods of time, challenging myself on being a pescatarian for a limited amount of time and even now cutting dairy out of my diet! I am not classified as a vegan because I still allow meat in my diet, and the only reason I decided to “cut the cheese” (ha) is due to some recent issues I have had with digestion.
As young adults, directed to young women in particular, it is important to constantly stay aware of your health. Women, though, are generally healthier and statistically proven to live longer than men, are more susceptible to auto-immune diseases. Aside from that, on a more general level women also go through things such as their menstrual cycle, pregnancy, hormone imbalances/supplements and vaginal infections that can come and go. Needless to say the care of being a woman is very important and can be tedious to stay on top of. Finding the right care for these types of things can be difficult once in college, which is why staying on top of appointments when traveling home is a good idea. When traveling home for check-ups or any type of emergencies is not possible – it is necessary to stay aware of how your body feels and what it is telling you at all times.
Some things I have continuously tried to do that have helped is to:
- Drink water throughout the day: the worst thing you could do is allowing your body to get dehydrated. It can mess with your skin, fluctuate your hormones and create an imbalance with appetite. To prevent all of the above, water is your absolute best friend.
- Start the day off with light breakfast: I’ve never been much of a breakfast girl at breakfast time – definitely a breakfast for dinner/brunch type of girl – but the specialists weren’t lying when they say breakfast is your brain food. Even if it’s something as light as a granola bar, some fruit and/or some type of nutritious drink, you’ll be able to start the day off strong. Not to mention it actually levels out your appetite allowing you to tell when you will actually be hungry for a bigger meal that’s still proportionate.
- Say no to things that make me feel “bleh”: Whether that’s cutting down on coffee (shocking), cutting out dairy (even more shocking), or basically saying no to all forms of fast food (am I okay?), it is something that as growing adults we must consider! Our bodies and things it can handle change as time goes on so, if your body is rejecting things do your best to listen and make your body happy on the inside.
- Don’t be ashamed to check on personal things: I used to fear the doctor. Having a slightly weak immune system, something is always kind of wrong with me even if it’s just a minor cold. As I’ve gotten older I’ve let some things go to long without getting checked on and I realized how ridiculous that was. We only have one life, whenever something feels off don’t feel to ask someone in your life or a medical professional if it’s more serious.
I say all of this to say that, ideally, I would never in a million years imagine myself having to give up dairy products. Though, I was already substituting milk due to me simply liking the taste better it was everything else that was very challenging at first to give up. But though it has been a challenge, nothing compares to how great I feel now after eating.
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