Quick note!

Hey y'all...thanks for the nice words! It makes me feel...empowered? At least I know people are reading!

So my mom told me never to tell people I had food allergies because it makes them not want to invite me over. Apparently the cat's out of the bag on that one. As a side note, this doesn't mean I expect you to go out of your way to feed me and accommodate all my allergies. Let's look again at the list--it's not the easiest thing to accommodate! So, Taylor commented that the vegetarian dish at her wedding should fit the bill...I'll tell you straight up now Tay, as long as it's vegetarian, it's fine! Maggie sent me cookies and we both considered the recipe...one egg, three dozen cookies. The egg is cooked. The proportion of egg protein left in there to antagonize my GI tract? Little. Actually, no noticeable reaction to those delicious cookies. So it's give and take sometimes.

There are upsides to my food allergies and among them is that my symptoms extend to headaches, fatigue, and sometimes a little cough. Nothing I can't live with! And do frequently because I am an incredibly temptable woman. I avoid what I can without being rude and that's that. For example, I just had an exam yesterday, so I was incredibly picky over the three-four days preceding because I didn't want to have to deal with a sinus headache and falling asleep on my notes during crunch time. There are days when I'm like I don't have anything to do this afternoon, I'm eating a sandwich. Sometimes I regret it. Usually not. There are some things that I will forever avoid--I ate beef at one point and about two hours later I thought my appendix was rupturing, that was how bad the pain was. I was literally sitting in the bathroom deciding if I was going to vomit and who would I call to take me to the emergency room. I managed to get to sleep instead of vomiting, but that's not something I'll experience again. So I take it all into consideration before I put anything into my mouth.

My goals here are not to shame you if you need to feed me, or think twice before inviting me over. I do a good job at refusing invitations or simply refusing food if I can (I was literally just offered girl scout cookies...and said no). It's more of something where I want to educate people, or just think about healthy living and that it can be easier than we all think it is. Radical changes obviously suck, but it can be worth it in the end.

The other thing is that I wasn't born with these food allergies, I'm the girl who enjoyed all kinds of lovely foods and lots of freedom in food choices up until this diagnosis. I'm not the kid who's never tasted peanut butter, and the reason why other kids can't have peanut m&ms in the classroom. I'm doing this whole change and educating myself about what's in my food, and I find that it's something worth sharing with you.

On that note...I'm done for today. I think next time I'll come up with a recipe to share, but we'll see. Depends on how busy I get with school!