With more of my friends going vegan, the trending increase of celebrities going vegan, and the many YouTubers promoting healthy lifestyles, I’ve assessed my diet time and time again. But I’ve never committed to making a drastic change. I’ve never truly challenged myself with changing my diet. So I’ve finally decided to take the first step in changing my diet and I am trying to go dairy-free. I know that might not sound drastic but I can’t take the full plunge into going vegetarian or vegan just yet. As someone whose favorite food is pizza and someone who loves cheese, going dairy-fee is a huge deal for me. I never fully looked at how much dairy I have in my diet until recently and I came to the realization that dairy products truly took up the majority of my diet.

Ever since the semester started, I was eating cereal with dairy milk nearly every morning and I was eating a healthy yogurt bowl with granola and mixed fruit nearly every school day for lunch. Other than that, I have dairy products like ice cream, cream cheese, yogurt, and milk often in my diet. Removing all of that from my diet and restocking with new groceries, I was tasked with the challenge of creating new breakfast and lunch choices for myself. (Dinner was never an issue as I rarely had dairy products in my dinner). Here is a list of things I’ve developed a new relationship with in my attempt to go dairy-free.

1. Almond Milk

I had already dabbled in different types of milk a while back when my grandma introduced me to rice milk which I was skeptical about. But after I had it frequently with cereal, I got sick of it and went back to the 2% reduced fat milk that dwelled in my comfort zone. Lately, I’ve been getting my coffee with almond milk and so I didn’t think it would be too difficult for me to adjust to adding almond milk to my diet. That was until I realized that the taste of almond milk is far from regular milk. Almond milk is not something you can drink by itself; its milky yet watery consistency is difficult to get used to. I tried it with cereal and it tasted weird. My taste buds immediately felt that something was off, but I ate the whole bowl of cereal with the almond milk anyway as hunger took over. At least I know now I won’t be having cereal as often. Also, I don’t know if it’s just the hot cocoa mix I have but hot cocoa with almond milk is disgusting. I am never drinking that again.

*I should note that I looked into the many brands of almond milk and the different flavors of it prior to my purchase. I got the unsweetened vanilla flavor. The regular vanilla flavor probably tastes less bland and arguably sweeter with the added sugar.

2. Almond Butter

Yes, there is an almond flavor trend and I have joined it. I must say that Justin’s Almond Butter is amaaazing. I’m not a big fan of peanut butter and I’ve had peanut butter on toast here and there for breakfast but toast with almond butter and fruit is soooo much better. Specifically sliced banana or sliced strawberries. YUM. Justin’s Almond Butter comes in different flavors also and I of course bought the vanilla one first but my mom recently bought the new maple flavor. It is saltier and tastes more like peanut butter which surprised my mom and me. So if you want a sweeter option, go for the vanilla flavor but maple is still pretty good.

3. Oatmeal

Now I have a complex relationship with oatmeal. Like a love-hate thing perhaps? I dislike it and like it at the same time. As a Russian child I grew up eating porridge more than oatmeal, and arguably the latter is more of an American breakfast nowadays. Oatmeal doesn’t really have a taste to it unless you add flavor to it. On my first try with oatmeal during my week of going dairy-free, I didn’t have the almond milk yet. I had to make oatmeal with water and the consistency of it was awful. I didn’t want to look at it and I didn’t want to eat it either. Alas, I did eat it. I sprinkled cinnamon first but that surprisingly did nothing for the flavor, so I added spoonfuls of blueberry jam on one side and one spoonful of almond butter on the other, with sliced bananas on top also. It was pretty good after. I don’t think I ever want to eat oatmeal made with water ever again though. Now that I have the almond milk and have tried the oatmeal with almond milk, I can safely say that it has a much better taste and consistency. This time around I had the oatmeal with the maple almond butter on one side and sliced strawberries on the other, which honestly was an interesting combination that tasted pretty good. Oatmeal, overall, is very filling especially when you add fruits, jam and/or almond butter, so perhaps it’s time I eat it more often.

4. Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy Ice Cream

When I first found out Ben & Jerry’s were releasing Non-Dairy Ice Cream flavors I was ecstatic. I first tried the Chunky Monkey flavor, as I’ve tried the regular Chunky Monkey and liked it. Yet, I was surprised that I really didn’t like the Non-Dairy version. It tasted too sweet like it had too much added sugar and because of the almond milk the consistency of the ice cream was different. I gradually finished the tub of ice cream over time, but I was fairly disappointed. As of recently, I decided to give another Non-Dairy flavor a try. Now I have the PB & Cookies, and I must say it is really good and it is much better than I expected. I have to stop myself from eating too much of it but it feels so light that I forget it’s ice cream. I’m looking forward to trying the other two flavors they currently have available and I hope over time they come out with more flavors.

5. No Cheese

This is perhaps one of the main challenges I have with going dairy-free. I don’t want to eat salads everyday and I do enjoy having sandwiches for lunch. But whenever I’m in the city looking for something to eat for lunch, I’m honestly shocked at how many foods have cheese or dairy products in it. Recently, I ate at Au Bon Pain, and nearly their entire sandwich menu has cheese in it with the exception of two which I’ve already tried. I don’t want to eat the same thing every day but even falafel from the cart in front of Hunter comes with a yogurt-based sauce and it tastes bland without it. I went to Moe’s for the first time the other day and the first ingredient put on my quesadilla was the cheese, so I immediately had to say “no cheese please.” The employee gave me a look of surprise and continued with the rest of the ingredients. Although I’m trying new lunch choices and am slowly getting used to not eating cheese, I truly wish more places offered vegan options. Perhaps more dairy-free options at least. I wish there were vegan places close to Hunter; my favorite vegan place is train stops away and I don’t have the time for that when I’m done with classes and want to find something to eat in a short amount of time.

Out of everything, I will miss pizza the most and though I am slowly getting used to this diet, it is really tempting to cheat. Unfortunately, I’ve cheated once already as I found out that my mom’s homemade cake with strawberries had sour cream in it. I even got a stomachache after and I knew the mistake I had made. It is a challenge of fighting temptation as well as finding and creating new options for myself food-wise. I hope to see a change in my health and I’ve been told too much dairy influences stubborn acne also-- hopefully I will see a change in my skin as well. Good luck to me and to anyone who is trying to go dairy-free or trying to go vegan or vegetarian. And to anyone whose friends or parents do not understand your choices and are trying to dissuade you. It is your diet and your lifestyle, so do this for you.