Past blog posts about the Everlywell project: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four
As I mentioned in the most recent blog, I've now completed my 30-day elimination diet for cow's milk (including yogurt), coffee, and lamb. According to the fine folks at Everlywell, the next step was to add back in one of your triggers for just one day to see how things went.
My precious! How I have missed you!
Per their instructions, on Friday, May 13th, I reintroduced cow's milk to my diet for just one day (of course I tried it out on Friday the 13th - what could possibly go wrong?!?!?!?). As it turned out, this day would be a busy one for us; several months back, we'd planned a trip to Flagstaff for this particular weekend, full of fun activities like hiking, eating, drinking, and not sweating to death (it was 104 at home while we were enjoying the 65 degree temps just a few hours north). Not only would we be leaving to head up the hill after work (and using our lunch break to drop the monsters at daycare), but I also had an in-person one-on-one meeting with our Director (she does this every few months to ensure she has a good handle on how the team is doing - it's always a nice session with her). While it may seem like poor timing to reintroduce dairy into my diet, it was nice to have one less thing to think about (i.e. whether I should eat this particular thing or not) while going about the day.
I started my "dairy party" day with a scoop of my old friend, the Trader Joe's Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix pictured above. I very much enjoyed my morning beverage, but it quickly became apparent to me just how much I've reduced my caffeine and sugar intake since starting this project; by around 8am, I felt like I was flying. All of that business mixed together made my hands quivery, and while I had plenty of energy, I was having trouble focusing it in any particular direction (good thing it was a quieter Friday at work). Eventually, I came down off my high without too much of a crash, and thankfully, it was right in time for my meeting, which occurred at a nearby coffee shop. As you might have gathered from the previous blogs, not enjoying butter-filled pastry goodness has been the thing I've missed the most, so I took advantage of my cheat day to pick up a non-vegan chocolate croissant and raspberry/pistachio danish from the shop to take home to Chris (both were just okay, which was so sad - they looked amazing).
I didn't do anything special for lunch - I don't even remember what we had, but I'm sure it involved cleaning out the fridge, which meant those leftovers from earlier in the week would have been dairy-free - and on our trip north to Flagstaff, I enjoyed a handful of Chris' Cheez-It crackers and half a Twix bar (even though the electric car doesn't need to stop for gasoline, many chargers are located around truck stops/gas stations, so we still have the pleasure of perusing the junk food aisle - whee!). We made it to Flagstaff without any issues and checked into our lodging for the next two nights, Cabin 19 at the Arizona Mountain Inn and Cabins, off Lake Mary Road, just south of downtown proper.
Before too long, it was time to change into out on the town clothes (for Flagstaff, that's your nicer jeans and flannels) and head to dinner at Shift Kitchen and Bar, a newer farm to table spot right off the main drag (aka Route 66). While they have a lovely ala carte menu, we wanted to do Shift's four course tasting option, so it actually worked out well that this was my dairy inclusion day.
Inside Shift, from the internets
The back room, where we sat
Someone took this picture pretty much from our seats
(it was not us).
As you've read in the prior blogs, all of the restaurants and spots I've eaten in the last month have been super awesome about making adjustments and accommodations as needed, and I'm sure Shift would have been as well for their regular menu items. However, most spots don't allow substitutions on tasting menus, since they're set for the entire table, need to come out within a specific flow, and so on. Thankfully, I didn't even have to ask, and I enjoyed all sorts of delicious, butter and milk-heavy items like a creamy pasta, elk chops, and the like.
Not our specific food,
but some like it.
Everything was outstanding, including our beverages - here's a picture of my second fancy drink, albeit the N/A version since I was in charge of driving back to the cabin later:
Ooh, so pretty!
Drinking at elevation
(Flagstaff is about 7000 feet)
is no joke.
Moderation was the better part of valor here.
We wandered a bit after dinner, making a stop at Hops on Birch for some great take-home beer options, and then headed back to the cabin, where we sat on the tiny porch and looked at the stars until it was time for bed.
The next morning, it was back on the elimination diet; Everlywell has you test out that one trigger for just one day and then do another 4-5 days of elimination, to help you isolate any effects you might experience. Chris made some coffee while I brewed up my MUD/WTR, and then we took our hot drinks outside to enjoy the cold morning.
The view from our teeny tiny front porch
Drinking hot beverages!
Wearing jackets!
Outside!
Since our cabin had a small kitchen (calling it "galley-style" would be generous), we brought items to make breakfast burritos; we headed back out to the front porch to enjoy them and the temperature (we were soaking in the cold, in case you can't tell).
Teeny, tiny stove.
Everything in this place was pretty teeny,
but it was a great spot.
I'm standing in our living room,
looking back at Chris in the kitchen.
The entry to the bathroom is the door right before the cabinets,
and you can just see the ladder
to the sleeping loft on the right of the shot.
The ladder up to the loft
The front door and living room -
here, I'm standing with my back to the kitchen.
The wood burning stove in the corner
actually works, but it wasn't
quite cold enough to use it.
Up in the loft -
there was a queen sized bed up here!
"May I please eat my burrito now?"
After breakfast, we changed into outdoorsy clothes and headed a bit northeast of town proper to the Little Elden Trailhead for a bit of hiking. Our plan was to do the Little Elden Trail to Schultz Tank Hike detailed
here in
Phoenix Magazine. The magazine article described the hike as about 5.6 miles and moderate, so we figured it would be good for a few hours of adventuring.
Driving to the trailhead takes a bit longer
in the Tesla than in the pickup truck,
that's for sure.
The Little Elden Trail also serves as part of the
Arizona Trail, a hiking route that spans the entire height of the state (maybe some day). The weather was pretty nice - a light breeze was blowing, the temps were in the 70s for most of our wandering, and we also had some shade as we meandered along.
Parts of the trail were in wide open spaces,
but other parts were in areas wooded with spruce and pine
(I loved the bright green new growth on this one).
We also hiked through a few aspen strands,
but I didn't get shots of those.
in 2010, and you can still see the damage.
Many of the big trees that survived
have burn marks like this guy,
and other sections of the hike
(those wide open spaces mentioned above)
used to be wooded but are now completely decimated.
In the vein of "that's a thing we probably should have known and have now learned," on this adventure, we discovered the importance of checking out trail pictures from previous hikers while researching our wanders. For example, we knew that this hike ended at "Schultz Tank," but we never really bothered to find out what that was. The article linked above described it as "scenic," but didn't give much more information than that. As we neared 2.5 miles, we were getting ready to turn around and head back, but we hadn't yet made it to the Tank. We rounded another corner, and behold:
It seemed odd that the hike write-up would feature this rust bucket, but we figured, hey, maybe it was historic or important in the fire I mentioned earlier or something like that. It wasn't until we made it back to town - and into internet service - that I Googled "Schultz Tank" and came up with pictures like this one:
Um, yeah, we didn't see that.
We are idiots.
In fairness to us, it was extremely dry in Flag
while we there, so the actual Tank
would not have looked exactly like this.
Despite not seeing the "scenic" tank, we still enjoyed the hike - we did right at 5 miles round trip, climbing around 700 feet (from 7300 to 8000 feet - and then back down), which took us just under 2 hours. We also saw some wildlife:
Chris walked right past this lizard
(as well as almost stomping on a snake,
which caused me to scurry off trail
for a heart-stopping moment),
but he went back to take a shot
once I pointed him out.
We also saw a deer!
Nature break!
If you didn't log your fitness on social media,
it didn't happen, right?
Once back at the car, we started the slow, bumpy journey down the dirt road back to the 89, and we pit stopped at the car charger behind the Courtyard Marriott for 30 minutes or so, enjoying the chicken salad wraps and other lunchy items we'd packed ahead. Upon arrival back at Cabin 19, it was time for showers and naps before we headed to downtown for the afternoon/evening.
This day was Game 7, the final game, of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Lightning were deadlocked with the Toronto Maple Leafs; while I'd accepted that I might not get a chance to watch it, we still looked for a few spots that might have tv's (Flag isn't a big "sports bar" type of city). Thankfully, our first planned stop,
Historic Brewing, had a few sets, and they were happy to put the game on the one closest to our table.
Hooray!
Hockey and good beer!
(and merch)
We hung out at Historic and watched the entire game, enjoying their brews, some bar snacks (including a pretzel with vegan beer cheese, which was surprisingly good), and of course, a Tampa Bay victory. We thanked (and tipped) them mightily (the guy at Historic: "oh, you're welcome! Did we win?"), and wandered north across Route 66 to our next stop,
Dark Sky Brewing. Dark Sky makes amazing beer, but they also happen to have a location of
Pizzicletta inside their taproom, an outstanding pizzeria. They had a seat at the counter just for us, and we ate and drank well, having a front row view of the kitchen.
Dark Sky's celebrity canning machine.
For those of you unfamiliar with the
awesomeness for which this canner is named,
After Dark Sky, it was back to Cabin 19 for more porch sitting before bed, this time while enjoying some hot cocoa (as I've mentioned several times, we were basking in the cooler temps up here). The next morning, we once again enjoyed coffee and MUD/WTR on the porch, and then we cleaned up and headed to
MartAnne's Burrito Palace, another local favorite, for breakfast.
Their slogan is "the house that chilaquiles built,"
and the namesake dish is appropriately outstanding.
This is the Emmett, a vegan version
with grilled seitan as the protein.
It was delicious!
Following breakfast, it was back to the cabin to pack up and roll down the hill toward home, with another quick stop at the charger in Cordes Junction, right along the 17. By 1pm, we had picked the kiddos up at daycare, and everyone was back at home, enjoying the A/C. Although it was a quick trip, it was a great one!
Per the instructions from the Everlywell folks, after my one day dairy binge on 5/13, I did 4-5 more days of my elimination diet. To be honest, I didn't notice any weird aftereffects of the one day dairy inclusion; I had a slight headache the next morning, and while that may very well have been from the milk/butter/etc, it equally may have been caused by the strong drink at dinner, being at elevation, dehydration, new assaults to my sinuses, or anything else. Honestly, the biggest impact I noticed was the caffeine/sugar jitters from drinking my chai mix, which clearly is my body telling me that continuing in that vein isn't the best idea.
Now, two weeks past that (at the time of this typing), I think I've reached my new, sustainable normal - my MUD/WTR + almond milk + hot water mix is my morning beverage for the foreseeable future. I'll continue to attempt to avoid most cow's milk options, substituting almond milk and vegan butter into recipes I make at home as needed. I'll still ask a few questions at restaurants and review any available allergen notes, trying to make informed decisions, and I'll read the ingredient list on grocery store items that could be suspect, like breads, tortillas, pitas, and na'ans. I'll try my best to substitute goat or sheep cheese for cow's milk cheese when I can, although certain cheeses (like cheddar) showed up as fine for me in my Everlywell results. If we bake a dessert or grab one from the store, I'll ensure it's vegan/dairy-free (vegan is way easier to find on the store shelves, even though I'm fine with eggs).
However, I've also committed myself to not being a psycho about it. If we're in a place with a tasting menu (as Mom and I will be next weekend - in San Antonio, for those of you who saw the clue in last week's blog), I won't attempt to make changes or hassle the servers or kitchen. If there's not a good vegan/no dairy-veggie option on a restaurant list, I'll enjoy the selection I can make. If there's a cake for a special occasion (as there will also be in San Antonio - my Dad's cousins are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary), I'll have a few bites without feeling guilty.
So, all in all, the question you may be asking - and one I've asked myself several times since starting this project - is "was this whole experience worth it?" Overall, I'd give my answer in the affirmative. Thankfully, as I noted in previous blogs, I didn't have any foods in the highest reactivity category, so it makes sense that the symptoms I was experiencing were relatively mild; it also makes sense that not all of them have completely disappeared as I was going cow's milk-free. For me, the biggest change has been the reduction in migraines - they haven't gone away entirely, but I've only had one in the last 60 days, which is a significant improvement; it's one I'm happy to maintain by making some slight dietary adjustments.
Overall, I feel better and healthier, and that's a win for sure!
Later!
Amy
PS - As I mentioned in the prior posts about this, if you want to try Everlywell out on your own, here's my referral link. You get a 15% discount and I get an Amazon gift card. Win, win!
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