just smile – my 2 cents —
I took on c”y 3 or so years ago because I wanted to offer Hashem something very huge as a zchus for something important. I knew it would be very difficult and it has been. Not the milk or milk products per se, but the availability and the ability to nosh on candies and bought cakes at work and in meetings that were very frequently OU-D. Although I still mourn the loss of ice cream, I have found quick and easy recipes for peanut butter cups and kit kats. I have yet to find a replacement for m&m’s but I even bought heavy cream and made my own ice cream and whipped cream this summer.
Having these ‘stand ins’, coupled with the knowledge that I have grown and accomplished is very comforting. Since comfort foods are so much about emotion, why risk feeling awful about “giving in”.
If you really need these things to get you thru some rough stuff, you will obviously need to work that thru from the halachik angle, but emotional strength brings comfort. And since comfort is a state of mind, perhaps there is someone or something you can couple with a different but similar food that can accomplish the same thing.
Either way I wish you strength and recovery and clarity and comfort.