Casein-free...what a LIFESTYLE change!!!

On January 9th of this year I started a casein-free diet. My doctor has found that many of her fibromyalgia patients have this in their blood and after 3-6 months with no casein they feel much better. This means absolutely nothing with cows milk in it!!! I have to read every label of anything I want to buy.
Of course, the choice was mine but how could I say no to something that may help me feel much better when nothing else has for years??? I knew this was going to be a dramatic change for me. I LOVE dishes made with cheese, cream of chicken or mushroom soup, ice cream and LOTS of yummy desserts!!! I love to have toast in the morning, sandwiches, pizza, rolls with dinner... You get the picture! Needless to say, that could be why I look the way I do. lol
This was first discovered in early December but when I asked my doctor if I could cheat a little at Christmas she said that if I have any at all, I would feel really bad for 3 weeks!! The only thing to do at that point was wait until after Christmas. My 2 sons were flying in from different parts of the country, and my sister, niece and 2 of her kids were driving in. I was going to be making all kinds of fudge, candy,p ies hashbrown casserole, green bean casserole, rolls. I knew I would be setting myself up for failure if I started before Christmas.
The start date was to be New Years Day. Well, we ended up moving that weekend & I had to pack & move in 5 days so no time for groceries. I ate what we had or fast food. Start date became the following Monday, January 9th.
So far, almost one month into it, I have only felt worse rather than better. It has been the worst month for me healthwise in a long time. Ah...does that mean at the end of 3 months I might get to go back to the GOOD food??? Well, it could. Or...it could be that I did have cheese in an Italian casserole that my aunt brought over about a week or so into this. I thought it only had the cheese on top but it was throughout. At first I couldn't tell but then got a bite that was so delicious I just knew. I hadn't thought about that until I was telling my hairdresser how bad I had felt since I started this and hadn't cheated at all. Then it dawned on me...I had cheated!! Not intentionally, but I had. Maybe that's why I've felt so rotten. I guess we'll see in the next few months.
The awesome thing the first week was that I lost 6 pounds!! I thought..Wow, if I can lose this much weight doing without then it will be worth it!! Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. The next week I lost 3 and that's been it. I've only lost 9 pounds. I'll weigh again on the 9th but today has been 4 weeks.
At first thought, I was depressed because I've only lost 9 lbs. Then I thought, OH MY GOSH, I've lost 9 lbs in a month!!!!! Even though I've already hit a plateau, it's something to celebrate.
I am eating lots more meat (mainly chicken), more vegetables and more fruit. All that is great. I have to be honest though. I know the reason I haven't lost more is because I have found things that aren't quite so healthy that I can have too. For instance, did you know the cream filling in Oreos does not have any milk?? I never would have thought!! I just happened to run into another of my drs fibromyalgia patients at the grocery store and she shared that tip with me. I can also eat Nutter Butter cookies and occasionally I find an oatmeal cookie that I can have.
As much as this may have hindered the weight-loss, I think it saved me from failure on my new casein-free lifestyle. I was so hungry for something good!!! You know, sweet!!! When the weight-loss stopped though I remembered SparkPeople. Two weeks ago I logged back in so I could track everything I eat and be sure I'm not going over the calories, fat, carbs, ... Most days I'm doing really good. In fact, some days I'm not getting enough calories which isn't good either.
I can not stress how thankful I am for this website!! The information, education, fellowship with others going through this weight-loss struggle, and the motivation and encouragement from friends on here is worth more than money could ever buy and best of all it's FREE!!! I know there are many like me who are on disability and wouldn't be able to afford this.
Thank you Chris Downie for all the lives you have changed, are changing and will change for years to come!! You are truly a blessing and I thank God for you!!

Karen