No one said growing up was easy, but no one ever said it would be this hard. After 20 years of eating a bowl of ice cream every night, countless grilled cheese, an infinite amount of Easy Mac and adding “extra cheese” to the end of almost all of my orders, I’ve developed a dairy allergy.
It all started a year ago after I drank a milkshake (my last milkshake ever just for the record) and felt sicker than I ever had in my entire life. I tried to convince myself that the milk was old or that it was something else I had consumed that day, but the pattern continued.
I went to the doctor and started taking pills to help with the stomach pain, but I’ve never had to take pills on a regular basis so forgetting my pill is a common occurrence. When I do forget, I vow to never eat dairy again, but that promise to myself is rarely ever kept. I spend a lot of my time wondering why I have no amount of self-control.
I made the switch over to almond milk a few years ago so that hasn’t been an issue for me, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the taste of a nice cold glass of regular milk every once in a while. Nothing tastes right if it’s “dairy free.” It feels like I’m cheating when I see those words on the outside of the packaging.
So the answer to the question, “How are you dealing with your dairy allergy?” is that I’m not. I currently have three different types of cheese in my fridge along with a tub of yogurt and a jar of queso. As a college student with limited funds to spend on food, cutting something like dairy out of my diet is something I’m not willing to do. I admire vegans and I wish I had the strength that you do but I accepted this weakness of mine a long time ago.
Maybe one day I’ll find it within myself to cut dairy out of my diet, but I don’t see that day coming anytime soon. If Oprah can eat bread every day, I can eat cheese every day.