My No-Dairy Diet Experiment (With Accompanying Hellacious Meal Plan)

In May, I started school … again. I didn’t go back to the MBA program I entered last year. I enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). I am training to become a certified holistic health counselor, and I couldn’t be more excited! Finally, school is an enlightening, positive influence again (as it should be) instead of a frustrating, stressful chore.

One of the requirements of the IIN health counseling curriculum is that we work with our own health counselor. My health coach, Supreet Sandhu at Yuva Aesthetics & Wellness based in Calgary, Canada, has been helping me create a healthier, happier life.

In my first session with Supreet, we analyzed a typical day’s worth of meals for me. A normal day for me would be a fruit and veggie smoothie for breakfast and a cup of coffee, a homemade deli sandwich for lunch with some fruit, a Kind bar or some pistachios for a snack, if I needed one, and some veggie pasta for dinner with parmesan cheese.

The good news: I eat pretty healthy, overall. I incorporate fruits and veggies into most of my meals.

The bad news: I include dairy in every meal (or most meals). A little dairy is fine, but a lot of dairy can be hard on some people’s digestion, making them more sluggish and bloated, among other health concerns.

I told Supreet that one of my health goals was to have more energy. She suggested that for one week, I eliminate dairy from my diet. Then, on the eighth day, eat normally again and pay attention to how I felt.

Sure, one week of no dairy. No problem. I was prepared; I had a meal plan. Couldn’t be that hard, right?

See my no-dairy meal plan, and find out my experiment results ...