This one time I gave up coffee and dairy --- Going Dairy Free

Recently I have given up dairy and caffeine- crazy right!
If you've looked through my blog or followed my tweets or instagram you will know how strongly I LOVE coffee! and dairy! So here is why the change....

Some Background
In 2007 I was diagnosed with PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome) And although I was told by the doctor it was cysts on my ovaries affecting my hormones etc... I wasn't told much about how to look after my body regarding food and lifestyle. I was told there were some medicines I could take like metformin because I could be pre-diabetic and another medicine that I can't remember now. But that
was all I was told. Now that I look back - why didn't ask more questions? So off I went but the doctor advised me to think it over and see what happens with my body before taking the medicines (she didn't prescribe any and I could come back and see her to get a prescription in the future). At this point I had been on every contraceptive pill on the market and they wanted to see if I went off it long enough what would happen. Lucky for me I didn't go back to that doctor - or any doctor again!!!

The Reason
So why didn't I go back, well you see I had been doing a bit of reading about food as we had figured out that our daughter was gluten intolerant and we were becoming more and more shocked about what was in our foods (not just the gluten). I then learnt that there was hormones in the farmed meats and dairy so we started buying hormone free meat and hormone free dairy.  So our diet was now gluten free and hormone free... things started looking up.

What Happened
For many years we ate this diet. No gluten, better meats and dairy... slowly we became more and more picky about our meat and foods.
VEGGIES: Our veggies and fruit went organic when we learnt about the pesticides and what they do to your body.
BPA: Then we learnt about the BPA in plastic and how they mimic estrogen in the body - yip so that went too (water bottles are either glass or stainless steel).
WATER: Then we learnt about the terrible stuff that could be in the water - so we bought a water filter, then a better water filter... We are now looking into and even better water filter! -- All I can say is its a journey.  

Then What?
So back to the reason Im writing this post, recently I heard a talk about how even if you are consuming the best RAW cows milk (that is unpasteurized, hormone free and antibiotic free) the cow is still producing natural hormones for its baby calf that it is breast feeding and therefore you will still be getting hormones through the dairy - this was a wake-up call for me as I had been avoiding added hormones in everything I eat and use but had clearly not heard this or thought of this before ( I was consuming the best RAW milk I could get my hands on) but I was was still getting hormones!
So I decided to do a test on myself...

Homemade Almond Milk

The Test
So the TEST was to give up dairy for a week or two and see how I feel... within 3 days of going completely dairy free (no milk, cheese, cream, butter, yoghurt etc) my skin was amazing! I always have spots on my face and all of a sudden for the first time I have NO spots - this is amazing for me (cause adults acne sucks)
Along with the dairy I decided that coffee is no fun without nice frothy milk and so I went with out my 2 - 3 times a week cup. And I must say that even though I didn't consume that much coffee as I had consciously cut down over that past few months - I felt even better!

Where to From Here?
So I am adapting to using coconut milk, almond milk (homemade) and only in moderation or using things like hemp seeds or other seeds with water in the blender for a creamy base to smoothies etc... also I have to say avo makes smoothies AMAZING!!! like super creamy - you won't even believe there is no dairy in it! I was sceptical at first but once I tried it I will never go back.

Who knows what I'll give up next ;) so far I am free from:
Gluten
Dairy
Refined Sugar
Caffeine


I feel great!
Just whole natural organic foods... whats not to love about that

It really is a journey - Tell me about your journey - I'd love to hear