How to survive holidays with food allergies

If you live with food allergies then you know that life with food allergies presents unique challenges. They become even more prevalent when we face social situations that require eating out with others. Being out of the comfort of own kitchen and safe foods is where we are the most vulnerable. Especially,when we are getting ready to celebrate and enjoy, just like anyone else. Here are some tips on how to be successful in navigating maze of social events and family visits during holidays.

Merry Christmas – keep it allergen free holiday

Plan ahead – make sure you know what you will be
facing and who is in charge of foods
Prepare yourself for a marathon of explanations
and asking questions – this is part of you advocating for yourself and making
sure that what you are just about to eat is safe for you
Be clear on what you can’t eat. If needs to be
make a list and have it handy
Make a list of foods that you CAN eat. This way
you might be able to present some ideas to people that find it hard to think
outside of box. This might just make your experience more pleasant.
If situations allow it, offer to make your
favorite food, or cake, so you can share with others, but you can also be sure
that you will be able to eat something that you really enjoy.
Don’t assume that people know as much as you do
about your needs. Be polite but ask how was the food prepared. Ask for
details, making sure that these holidays are going to be a great memory for
If you are hosting an event at your house, this
could be easier. However, if you are going to serve food that is not safe for
you, make sure to place it at the very end of serving table, so people will
help themselves with this meal last. This will prevent people possibly dropping
small pieces or crumbs onto the rest of the food.
Call or email ahead the host of the event and
make it clear that you have food allergies and would like to know if they would
be able to accommodate those. You can make suggestion how those could be accommodated.
Carry snacks with you all the time. Just in case
that everything else fails and you will need to eat something.
Do your research of restaurants close to the
place where you are going to eat at. Do they offer meals that you can possibly have?
As the last resource, you can always excuse yourself and eat somewhere else, if
they were not able take care of your needs.
Enjoy yourself! But don’t let your guard down.

Happy Holidays with Food Allergies!

Fantastic Summer Drink

summer drink, recipe, great taste, healthy drink, elderberry

Resources to build confidence in managing Food Allergies

Food Allergies coaching, online health coaching

Hire a Health Coach and GET YOUR LIFE BACK!
You can have GREAT SOCIAL LIFE, even with food allergies!
You CAN TRAVEL and enjoy new places while managing life with food allergies!
You can PREVENT many complications, by simply looking ahead and being prepared!
You can be CONFIDENT in your abilities to manage life and travel with food allergies!

Stress Management

Stress management is extremely important especially if you are already experiencing any health problems, including food allergies. Even more challenging can be dealing with stress levels if you are suffering from autoimmune disease, connected to diet restrictions.

health coaching, food allergies coaching, health coaching

Travelling with Food Allergies

I believe that everyone who lives with food allergies has to make special considerations when planning a vacation. Are you able to handle all inclusive package, or would you rather cook for yourself all the time, missing out that feeling of being cared for while on vacation. Can you feel safe enough to visit local restaurants and try new foods?

How to stay safe with Food Allergies

When you get a diagnosis of food allergies, the best thing you can do is to understand that your life and your needs are going to change drastically. Food allergies can only be managed, which means that you need to fairly quickly gain lots of information and start making different choices about many things in your life.

Don't give up - get inspired

Having food allergies myself, I have experienced the first hand, how challenging and even overwhelming life and travel with food allergies can be. If you love to travel and meeting new people, DON’T let Food Allergies to stop you! Getting diagnosis of food allergies or any other dietary restrictions sends you to a huge transition

How to enjoy camping with food allergies

How to go camping while managing food allergies.

No matter where you go or what you are planning to do, you always have to take care of your dietary needs.

Rule number ONE when living with food allergies – your needs have to be your HIGHEST priority!

Let me start by sharing a bit about my own experience. I have always loved being outdoors. With my husband, we have made numerous camping trips to many amazing places. Every spring, when the weather got better we started making plans to get outdoors. Being in nature, going on hikes, and discovering new places was the best spent time, we could imagine. However, afte r finding out about my food allergies, adventurous weekends and holidays had changed drastically. My complex dietary needs have put a burden on any traveling or being outside of my home environment. Not being able to have any lactose, soy, peanuts, olives or olive oil made shopping for any trips very hard. And, this is only one side of my own dietary needs – the allergic reaction if I ingest any of those foods. The second and actually harder to deal with is the autoimmune reaction of my body to any gluten. Living with celiac disease means to never know how exactly your body is going to react to any amount of gluten. I can surely count on the digestive problem, but it goes further than that. The autoimmune reaction often brings long-lasting pain and inflammation. Digestive organs and joints being affected the most. I can get lucky and only suffer an episode of pain, but it could get to the point when I have difficulty moving around or walking. That is where I don’t’ want to go.

How to handle the possibility of allergic or autoimmune reaction and still live an active life?

I am going to share some tips to help you prevent mistakes that I have made.

Take yourself seriously and plan ahead
Don’t give up what you love, just approach it with your needs in mind
Talk to others that could help you with preparations and staying on track
Don’t feel bad about asking for help when you need it

Planning ahead is the key to success of any trip. As I am good at packing and organizing I started preparing menu for myself before getting any other camping gear ready. I started with couple of simple foods that I can make and are easy to pack. My husband also helped me to add additional cooler to accompany my needs. I also started to carry my traveling set of spices, rice, and gluten-free pasta as permanent part of our travels. I would also make a menu for the whole trip to help me figure out how much food I needed and to assure that I can have variety of foods. Often, I was at least able to make it taste differently and more appealing. In addition, I would add few additional snacks and non-perishable options, in case I fancied something different. And – it worked! I started to enjoy camping again and my temporary resistance of heading out for the weekend was gone too!

I have to admit that I prefer packing for camping to any other type of travel. When going camping I can pack any amount of food that will fit in my car. Making list to remember what is stored in which bag or box is also very helpful. On those longer trips, I would always count on being able to buy fruits and vegetables at local markets. Buying local is always fun. You can meet nice people and learn more about fresh produce that you are just about to buy. You can also try something new and personally when I see signs of the organic farm or the one that sells non-GMO, no pesticide produce, I am stopping my car in a hurry.

I have been on many great trips, however for some, I had to prepare more significantly. Trying things, such as dehydrating and canning food helped me to make it to those isolated areas for a longer period of time. If you want to read more ideas how to survive long trips, go to my blog next week and check out Trip to Yukon and Alaska.

Testimonials

I would highly recommend Dusana as an experienced coach, who will not hesitate to share her own journey with you. She would guide you towards safe and healthy eating. She helped me to gain a different perspective on my situation with food allergies and encouraged me to follow my dream of traveling and meeting new people. I am happy with my life and enjoy great meal times with family and friends! Before starting coaching with Dusana I didn’t know this change of mind is possible. It was truly a magical experience.

Megan T., Calgary, AB

Thank you, Dusana for teaching me to take baby steps on this journey. I was frustrated with not being able to manage my own life and social situations. You have helped me to set realistic goals and get my priorities straight. I have learned so much from you and regained confidence in my own strengths and abilities. Life is good again!

Rob A., Phoenix, AZ

I was recently diagnosed with food allergies and found myself struggling to get my life and diet on the right track again. I felt isolated, unable to go through an explanation of my allergies and dietary needs again and again. So…..I made the first step and booked the first session with you. Your compassion and expertise made me feel very comfortable and hopeful. You have shown me the best in me and took me on an amazing journey of personal growth and success. As a result of your coaching, I am confident and happy living my life with food allergies. I would recommend your services to anyone who feels stuck and overwhelmed by the complexity of life with food allergies.

Caroline M., Palm Spring, CA