cheesy.

yesterday i ordered lunch from jimmy john's. i had the # 13 on wheat, no mayo. it's delish. the best part about this sandwich has to be the numerous layers of provolone cheese with avocado spread in between. it's a lot of cheese, but it's yummy. however, after enjoying half of my sandwich an ache began to develop in my lower intestines. a lingering ache, but nothing ever came of it. i thought it was just a fluke, as i am sometimes prone to stomach aches and issues. around 3:00 i decided to eat the other half of my sandwich. the ache worsened. and since then, anytime i eat, i get the ache. the same thing happened to me last weekend after i shared a cheese pizza with a friend - 2 days of misery. and as much as i hate to admit it, i think it's the cheese.

growing up, i never liked cheese. i would eat it on pizza or in macaroni, but never on a cracker or a slice of it by itself. but one day in may of 1999 changed my life forever. it was the day of my sister's graduation from college and it was the day i began to love cheese. i remember watching my mom prepare the plate of cubed cheese the night before and actually being quite disgusted by it. the next day, on the drive to my sister's house, i suddenly began to crave it. i could hardly wait until we got there to get my hands on some delicious cheese. i've since learned that every 7 years, your taste buds change - so i suspect that's what happened. but i doubt that many people can trace their change back to the exact day it occurred the way i can.

i think i've been in denial about my lactose sensitivity for a while. i stopped drinking milk about a year ago because of the stomach aches it gave me. and i rarely eat ice cream for the same reason. i notice that when i eat cheese (or any dairy), my abdomen swells to the point that i could pass for a woman 6 months pregnant. my body just doesn't know how to handle it. and i feel like crap until it's out of my system, like today. i seem to have outgrown dairy, and the fact that it's gotten to the point where i have to give up cheese makes me sad. especially because there are still so many kinds out there that i haven't tried yet! i know dairy products are really unhealthy anyway and nothing but good things will come from me giving it up.

but it's still a sad day for the cheese enthusiast that i have become.