My Yogurt-less Life

I hope everyone is ready for a great week! My commuting is going to be interesting this week because the UN General Assembly begins today. I get off the subway at Grand Central and walk to work from there. Woody works close to the UN and has told me it's going to be very hectic, lots of police, National Guard and closed streets. I guess I should probably plan on leaving a little early.

Thursday night is the New York Road Runners Young Professionals Committee fall happy hour at Heartland Brewery on 5th Ave at the Empire State Building. I hope all of you NYC readers will come out to support the Youth Programs and pick up a few raffle tickets. Believe me, the raffle prizes are pretty fantastic! (Click the link on the right column to purchase tickets, their cheaper in advance!)

Last week, Molly, who writes I'm a Sleeper Baker (if you don't read her blog already, you really should check it out), asked me how my dairy free challenge is going. You may recall from this post that I have decided to forgo dairy products which I love (like yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, and milk) to see if it will produce a positive change in my health. Today is the first day of my third dairy-free week and I'm sticking to it pretty well. I have had a few slips and tried a few artisan cheese samples (there are some great vendors at the New Amsterdam Market), I've had some chocolate (like the delicious brownie I split last night with Woody from the Fulton Stall Market) and while I eat very little processed foods, I'm sure there were traces of milk in a few things I've eaten over the past two weeks, but I haven't haven't had yogurt once even though I love my Greek Yogurt and haven't had milk in my coffee either.

My breakfasts have mostly consisted of overnight oats and toast with peanut or almond butter, and some hard boiled eggs.

I actually had cereal over the weekend, using almond milk. I haven't had cereal in years, so this was a nice change, adding chia seeds, sunflower seeds and a banana to my Trader Joe's Shredded Wheat.

I've also been using almond milk in my coffee. The fact that almond milk is very processed does bother me a bit, but except for the bowls of cereal, I use it sparingly.

This morning I'm enjoying Nutty Cherry Overnight Oats, which are pretty delicious!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mix of Irish Oats and Whole Rolled Oats
2/3 cup water
1tbs wheat bran
1tsp chia seeds
1tsp ground flax seeds
2tsp crunchy almond butter
1 small banana
15 dried cherries
cinnamon to taste

I mixed everything together last night except for the banana and almond butter, which I added after my workout and before my shower so it could meld together a bit but not get too mushy.

I have to admit, I'm not feeling a lot better since I drastically reduced the amount of dairy I've been consuming. I'd like to think that I am, but I don't think it's true. Maybe it takes more time? I want to stick with this for a few more days but maybe have yogurt just once this week. Since I'm not feeling all that much better, perhaps I could eat dairy on a moderate basis but by limiting my intake do good things for my system. I have mixed feelings about this because I was really hoping that this experiment would reveal the cause so I would know what I need to do to feel better, but it would have also meant that I'd have to give up something I really love. So, I am glad that perhaps I don't have to give up yogurt and cheese, but now it's back to the drawing board!

Have you discovered any food allergies or sensitivities that you didn't have when you were younger?
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workout stats -
Sept 19
1.5mile run
yoga

Sept 20
10mile bike
3x10 cable pull twists
3x12 hammer curls
3x12 bicep curls
dynamic and static stretching
ankle strengthening exercises