Forget what I just said. I just had some plain, organic yogurt, and I bloated almost immediately after. Dammit. I can feel it, right over my actual stomach, and my lower belly now looks pregnant.

Okay, enough kvetching about this. I either have to try going off dairy, or shut the hell up about it and accept life as an inflatable pool toy. %$#!*&~#!&^%$!

Hi waywardsis, It sounds like it could be the dairy. It does the exact same thing for me. Most of my weight now is in my belly.And it gets worse when I have any dairy at all. There must be dairy free cream out there somewhere.

LOL! Ok, sorry dairy is the culprit for you too. I love dairy too and miss it. However, I did adjust. Any time I have it now though I become a pool toy.

I'm still working on a yogurt replacement. Coconut milk yogurt is not too horrible.

I'm experimenting with goat milk, but my diet fell to pieces and I returned to bloat-land so it might've been the goat milk yogurt, or it might've been something else.

Be careful of soy replacers for dairy products. Soy gets me too.

After 53 years of drinking milk with impunity, I gave up milk in a desperate attempt to end the 10-year bloat. Within days I had lost 5 pounds and 1.25 inches off my waist! (I don't know what that is in metric, I'm mono-numerical) I thought I'd never give up my cafe au lait or yogurt, but guess what! Not being bloated feels sooooooo gooooooood. I can wear pants, and skirts, and pantyhose and everything without wanting to scream. I have added back one cup of lactose-free milk to my day, and so far so good. But if the bloat comes back, even that is gone. Believe me. If you're right about dairy, it will be so worth it.

Nelson - that is sooooo good to hear. I hope this is the culprit bc if not, I have NO idea what it would be. I don't eat soy and am grain-free for now, at least (maybe for good)

NancyLC - man, I love that bunny I've been reading about coconut yogurt, but I think for now I'll skip it. I would like to lacto-ferment veggies though, but can I if I'm avoiding dairy? The lactose gets eaten up, right?

And I made ghee last night - OMG, it tastes like buttery caramel. I'm going to end up freezing little blobs of it and eating them like candies. Fried a steak in it for breakfast and scrambled eggs in it for lunch. I am smitten!

I did a lot of research about food intolerance while I was trying to solve my bloating issues. (For years I had been trying diet and exercise to get rid of the last 5 pounds of fat that wasn't fat!) I learned that some surprising things can be a problem. Some people really can't tolerate fruit or fruit juice. Everyone knows now to avoid high fructose corn syrup, but the naturally occurring fructose in fruit can be just as undisgestible to some people as lactose is to others.

If eliminating dairy doesn't do it for you, I'd suggest finding a good elimination diet program and follow it. A good one will take a few weeks, but you'll know once and for all what the problem is. There is a test for lactose and fructose intolerance, but most Drs. don't take food intolerances seriously, so it's hard to find someone to give you the test.

Thanks Nelson. For years I thought I just had a fat belly or a naturally protruding stomach, but I don't think all of it is actually fat. My sister gets it too, though it's not as noticeable on her. But I always wondered, even when I got down to a lower weight, why my belly didn't budge. Never lost inches there.

I am pretty sure it's dairy, since it's the only thing I consume at least a little of every single day. BUt if it isn't, I will look into an elimination diet. Can you (or anyone else) recommend a good one?

I used the SCD diet to try to figure out my food intolerances.

Adopting a basic diet that you know doesn't irritate your GI tract is a good starting point, then start to slowly add in foods and carefully journal your responses. It can take 24 hours to respond badly to a food.

I'll read up on that, thanks. You guys are so helpful!

TOM in a few days and I am gigantic. GIGANTIC. And I want to punch people randomly. Of course I give up dairy to remedy bloat, then retain water.

LOL! You can't win.

Go ahead and give in to the urge, you'll feel better.

Still waiting for TOM, but on the bright side am no longer punching random people. Diligently avoiding dairy despite feminine bloat. Ventured into OoO territory and had extreme bathroom event. Will try again when outside obligations won't interfere with possible explosive reactions. (OoOoOoOoO!!)

Want to rate my bloat? Visit my gallery and be awed at the image of my gut! Am I bloated? Or just fat? You be the judge! (I have been working on website ad copy all day, can you tell?)

Check out the False Fat Diet book by Elmer Haas (I'm not sure about the author name, but I am sure about the title). (Search Amazon) It seems to address exactly what we've been talking about. I just ordered it. When it comes, I plan to try his approach to see if there is anything else besides milk that I could benefit from eliminating. I am at goal now, but I'd still like to see an even flatter stomach.

Hmmmm - sounds like it's worth checking out. I know I do have some badyfat to lose, but this bloat is the worst. I look bigger than I am. Some mornings, I can't see my feet!

So do you still have some bloating? And how long did it take you to connect the bloat with your diet?

I'm wondering what else may be doing it to me - I ate rotisserie chicken last night with herb salad and a commercial dressing (made with soy and canola oil, vinegar, and sugar - will be making my own dressing now) and I blew up. Trying to eat basically meat and eggs for now. Not as easy as I thought.

I'm having the same problem with bloat, too. Most of the time it seems I just can't hold my stomach in--and lately it's been very upset. Since I'm gluten intolerant I figure it's the dairy. I had added back in about 1/2 cup whole milk and ended up with strong cramps. Now I just use cream but it still burns. I'm thinking it's either the cream or coffee. I'm going to try using coconut milk for a while and go completely off dairy--except for clarified butter.

I went to your gallery and my stomach sticks out like that too, and I don't believe it is just weight. Trial and error, I guess. I love dairy, especially cream but I'm going to try the cream on top of regular coconut milk.

Hi JAnn! Glad you looked - always thought I had a beer belly type thing going on, but couldn't figure out why. I'm not THAT overweight! It's been bigger lately too, and I'm wondering if it's mild yeast die-off - took a test and scored med-high for candida.

I'm trying dairy today after a week off. Should be interesting. Mainly, I just want to use up the stuff in my fridge before it goes off and I have to throw it out! After that, I'm going elimination diet as per Nancy's suggestion.

How did you discover you were gluten intolerant?

The more I read, the more it seems gluten and dairy go hand-in-hand. I used to be a vegetarian, and ate mainly grains (pasta and bread) and some soy, and lots of dairy. I had terrible hayfever, (the worst I'd ever had it) awful skin rashes (like little water blisters on my hands and feet, but itchy, and red bumps on my arms) and I was the fattest ever in my life (140lbs). And of course, I had my bloating I look back now and can't believe I thought I was doing the healthy thing for me!