What I Learned After Going Non-Dairy for a Month

Welcome back, y’all! It’s been a while, huh?

So there are a lot of things all the rage right now: the keto diet, becoming vegetarian/vegan, whole 30 and more.

But what about going non-dairy?

According to statista.com, in 2018, the market value of dairy alternatives were over $17 billion. By 2023, the market value is expected to reach $29.6 billion, almost double the value.

Personally, when I was younger, I wasn’t a very big milk drinker, despite all those “Got Milk?” campaigns that plagued my television in between Spongebob commercials. I didn’t even like mac and cheese until age 13, so I had a relatively dairy-free childhood, or so I thought.

There are so many things that have milk that you wouldn’t even think about! I learned a lot about myself during this month and I’m eager to share everything that I learned!

A few non-dairy disclaimers…

First of all, I went officially dairy-free the entire month of November 2019. I thought it would be interesting to go dairy-free during the beginning of the holiday season! I started weaning myself off of dairy products towards the end of October though, to make it an easier transition.

Second, I’ve been drinking, using and cooking with soy milk since roughly junior year of college. If there’s a milk substitute available at coffee shops, I try and get it.

Third, I have a nut allergy, which means that I’m unable to consume typical nut based dairy substitutes. It was an added challenge, but a fun one!

Fourth, this is not a guide on becoming vegan, as I did eat meat and other animal products during this month!

Now, on with the post!

Labels and reading are everything

I was incredibly surprised how many things contain milk products that I never thought would’ve. It was about the second week of November when I realized I could barely eat anything in my kitchen because everything contained milk.

Yes, this included my “I’m too lazy to cook” staple of ramen noodles. My favorite frozen dinners had cream and milk. Some of my favorite Keurig coffee cups had milk in them. Basically, I had to completely start from scratch when pay day came around.

Until then, I was forced to eat out for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which seems like it wouldn’t be too hard, right? Wrong.

Eating out without dairy

Good luck going to Chick-fil-A for breakfast, well, unless you want to eat fruit and hash browns. Every single breakfast item with the exception three contain dairy in them.

Lunch and dinner options were way easier to find though, especially if I went to a Mexican restaurant or Tex-Mex place. Chipotle and Moes were absolutely my godsends in November, especially Chipotle.

Chipotle’s entire menu is dairy-free unless you choose to add sour cream or cheese in your bowl or burrito and other food chains are similar.

Sandwich places, like Firehouse Subs and Subway, were heaven sent as well.

Just be prepared to look up “(insert restaurant name here) allergen menu” before you go out to eat anywhere. For me, this was nothing new since I have several food allergies, but for somebody who is not allergic to anything (lucky you), this might be a bit tedious at first.

Since I was diagnosed with my food allergies, food chains have become more and more transparent with letting people find the information quickly. Back in my day, you literally had to call corporate to get any type of information.

Shopping cold turkey

As I mentioned above, I had to buy a bunch of non-dairy stuff towards the middle of the month. Honestly, as I never really ate a lot of cheese dishes in the first place, just buying one package of Daiya mozzarella did it for me. The biggest switch I had to make was finding plant based butter to use.

After much searching, I found a great plant-based butter from Country Crock! I replaced my usual butter with Country Crock Plant Butter with Olive Oil and really didn’t taste that much of a difference. I also asked my mom to use it in all her Thanksgiving dishes and nobody in my family was the wiser.

Overall, I’d say that I spent maybe $30 on switching to non-dairy items over the course of November. Buying soy is a part of my usual grocery shopping, so that’s not included. The biggest bulk of money was spent on finding non-dairy frozen meals to eat.

You would be surprised what meals have milk in them despite not appearing so.

Here’s a list of some of the items that I bought over the course of the month:

• Country Crock Plant Butter with Olive Oil (almond oil version also available)
• Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts
• Uncle Ben’s Basmati Ready Rice
• Nestle Toll House Simply Delicious Allergen-Free Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Frozen General Tsos Spicy Chicken Dinner

To make it easier on yourself when shopping, I would suggest taking advantage of an online grocery service like Walmart Grocery, who shows nutrition labels on each food item. That way, you know what exactly you can pick up in the store without spending hours in the frozen aisle reading every label.

Another option, of course, is heading to the vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free aisles of your local grocery store, since that’s where a lot of stores tend to stick non-dairy items at.

Pros, cons and cravings

There were certainly a lot of pros and cons from going non-dairy. For one, my face began to clear up throughout the weeks. I have no idea if that is common amongst people that don’t consume dairy, but I personally noticed fewer and fewer outbreaks as I went along.

Another pro was just an overall feeling of healthiness. I was more energized about eating once I got the non-dairy food items I wanted to eat.

Now, the cons…

The biggest downfall for me when I went non-dairy was forcing myself to remember not to reach for my typical foods. Usually, when I’m lazy, there’s a list of meals that I make and call it a night. I had to reinvent my snacking.

Boy…the cravings. Despite weaning myself off of a lot of things, Cheetos and buffalo mac and cheese invaded my thoughts all month. Especially ice cream and chocolate.

Luckily, I was in an environment where people around me didn’t mind indulging my non-dairy habits, at least for a month. Eating at work events and going out to eat spontaneously with friends was a challenge, but besides that, it honestly wasn’t too bad.

Would I go non-dairy again?

ABSOLUTELY! When December hit, I didn’t even reach for a lot of the things I thought I would during the month. I did make my way over to Chick-fil-A to get a chicken biscuit, but I’m still cooking with plant butter, eating non-dairy popcorn and cooking with soy milk.

I totally recommend cutting out dairy, or getting rid of it completely, at least for two weeks, if not a month like I did! You’ll be surprised what you learn about yourself, your body and your willpower.

Have you gone non-dairy or cut out some dairy products in your life? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,