Managing food allergies and making the kitchen a “safe” place.

Managing food allergies and making the kitchen a “safe” place.

Living with food allergies – how to be safe.

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. This is not about how and what you need. Unfortunately, food allergies affect many other aspects of your life. People with food allergies very often experience:

  • frustration, anger, and anxieties about living with food allergies

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    travel with food allergies

  • basic tasks, such as grocery shopping, label reading, meal preparation become a challenge

  • dining out and eating out with friends or colleagues needs to be planned ahead

  • isolation

  • lack of confidence to handle food allergies

  • uncertainty about how to approach different situations/people

  • travel/vacation planning brings more anxiety than joy

The sooner you start understanding food allergies and your new needs the better your health and confidence level will be. As the first step, I would advise you to make sure that you feel safe at the place where the most of your foods are being prepared. This is one step that should not be underestimated. Being gluten-free with a number of other food allergies taught me to be very careful about my food. At the very moment when I found out about my new needs, I have opened every cupboard in our kitchen and cleaned out everything that could have caused me an allergic reaction. This included reading labels on things I have never read before and thrown out anything even little bit suspicious. I also educated myself on chemicals added to foods and other names for common allergens. All this research, googling and cleaning out lead to our whole house becoming gluten free and food allergies free. If you can’t or don’t want to go to this extent, have designated cupboards for your “safe” foods and different cupboards for food for other family members.  I would suggest that you label everything clearly to prevent any mistakes or accidents.

I would say that getting into the action and physically making my place “safe” for myself made me feel much better about the whole situation. My husband was the greatest support I could ask for and he actually lived for a long time on the same diet as me. This really made my life and adjustment so much easier and I felt ultimately supported. We have explored our new options together, looked for foods that I could have, instead of looking for limitations. We went through recipes, made trips to health food stores and educated ourselves on new or ancient grains and flours. It has been a steep learning curve with very little help from outside, while I kept craving my old favorite foods. However, we have seen changes in my health fairly quickly and continued to be very strict on what would actually enter our house. With time, of course, we have made an agreement that it was OK for my husband to buy things that he enjoyed; he would just keep them separately from my food.

IF YOU ALLOW FOOD ALLERGENS IN YOUR HOME YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND CROSS-CONTAMINATION between foods. We agreed to take this step with an awareness of risks and agreement to be very careful with foods I am allergic to.  At that point, I felt confident enough to manage my own needs safely. I didn’t want to deprive him of pleasures of foods that he likes; I just wanted to make sure that I am safe to eat and cook in my own house. So, even today, after nearly ten years, “regular” foods very sparingly make it to our house. Exceptions are when we have visitors, or I decide to cook one of my husband’s favorite foods. Be aware that my allergies are not as severe that I wouldn’t be able to handle or smell food that I am allergic to. I just can’t eat them. If your allergies are more severe – TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTION and BE SAFE first.

Even with some liberty about the food that we bring home, we make sure that everything is labeled and clearly marked, so we can distinguish between foods that I can or can’t eat. I have developed many receipts during those years to nourish and treat myself to cakes, pasta, and homemade bread. Even our friends enjoy many of gluten-free, lactose-free foods without complaining about their taste 

If you have questions, needs, or would like to hire a health coach to develop confidence in living and traveling with food allergies, let me know. You can even ask about cooking tips or help with your own cooking skills while using safe foods without food allergens. We can also work on developing great tasting food, recipes, and menus to fit your dietary needs.

Some of my favorite recipes will be coming soon.

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dining with food allergies

My journey with food allergies

My journey with food allergies

Professional health coach sharing a life story with food allergies

Hi, my name is Dusana, and I would like to share my personal journey with food allergies with you. I am an outdoor enthusiast, who loves to travel, eat good food and meet new people. As a Psychologist, counselor and coach myself I have always been interested in people’s lives and troubles helping them to find solutions and confidence in their own strengths and their lives.

The game-changing moment came many years ago when I got diagnosed with several food allergies.

Finding out that I was allergic to a variety of foods sent me on a fascinating journey.

In the end, I have become an expert on managing food allergies, while continuing to travel and living a good, healthy life.

Going through this challenge tough me many things life coach, food allergies coach, travelling coach, confidence in life, confidence in travel, professional coach, health coach and I have evolved into a new self. I have found peace and grace in the way I live and nourish myself. I have found gratitude in being different and growing through the process of learning to take care of my own needs and valuing my health high enough to ask many questions when ordering my food. TRUST ME, YOU CAN DO THE SAME.

In order to share my story, let’s go back a number of years. At that time I was an ordinary person, eating regular foods and enjoying life. I explored the world through travels, work opportunities and out of curiosity. I loved to see new cultures and new cuisine. But, that was just about to change…… When I got my initial diagnosis of being celiac (gluten free), lactose intolerant (no milk or cheese), allergic to soy, peanuts and couple other things I felt that I have hit rock bottom. It sounded like a death sentence to me. I almost believed that I was going to starve myself or die of an allergic reaction to the food I wasn’t supposed to eat. How does a person, who loved so-called “regular foods” such as cakes (cheesecake was my favorite!), pizza and pasta with mouthwatering cheese sauce, get by without it? I didn’t know the answer, I WAS LOST AND DESPERATE.

I didn’t know about health coaches who specialize in food allergy coaching. I WISH I DID! It would have saved me a lot’s of trouble when I struggled with finding information, learning to read labels and being stuck eating the same disgusting foods, day after day. Not having many food choices was upsetting and it took all the joy of eating. Also, not knowing about cross-contamination of foods left me with lessons about not being able to eat with others or share good times with them. I WAS DESPERATE FOR CHANGE.

As you can imagine, I have been through times of ISOLATION because let’s be honest, how do you enjoy going out with friends or colleagues, when you can’t touch any of the foods served? Romantic dinners or even buttered popcorn at the movie were out of the question too. I have tried to go back to “normal” way of life and do simple things, such as having a coffee with a friend or going out for a wing and beer night at the pub. Quickly I have discovered that those outings were not simple or enjoyable for me. If you are like me, you might find yourself struggling to find the sense of being normal again and trying to reach to others to re-establish your life. However, I had a period of time, when I had closed my doors and stayed in, feeling sorry for myself and looking for strengths to keep going.

But I have to say that I have learned something. It has been a steep learning curve, from not being able to cater for myself to gather any information and knowledge there was about food allergies and how to manage life with food allergies. I got into my own healthy cooking and finally developing allergy free recipes that TASTED GREAT!

I found the way to cater to myself when staying home more often. I started with trying new things that were safe for me to eat. I had tossed away anything that wasn’t safe for me to eat and literally cleaned out my kitchen. I have stocked on foods that I could eat. Another benefit was that I was looking healthy again. My energy also increased, and life was almost feeling “normal.” I could manage my foods, as long as I didn’t have to leave my home. As long as there was no invitation to the dinner or lunch; I was OK.  I have also spent hours and hours searching for advice, recipes, and connection with others in similar situation.  How to enjoy your life and get through those moments of isolation and self-pity is going to be shared on my blog. It all started with me wanting my life back, wanting to travel and enjoy every day.

This wish for a healthy life with well-managed food allergies also affected my professional journey. As a Nurse, who furthered her education by getting a Master Degree in Psychology I got myself heavily involved in health coaching and developing individual plans for clients living with food allergies. My passion for coaching people who wanted an active, healthy life was born. It was simple – I realized that we all deserve the good life – despite food allergies!  

Has it been like this from the start? No way! Contrary to my struggles and difficulties, you can approach your situation differently and make the best decision to hire a health coach specializing in food allergy management. Get an outstanding quality of services through knowledge and expertise in the area of health coaching. Make the first contact with me to start building your confidence based on a safe and comfortable plan for handling food allergies that work for you, your family and your lifestyle.

 

Share your story of food allergies!

Share your story of food allergies!

Become part of the community of people who want the best LIFE and TRAVEL POSSIBLE even with Food Allergies – share your story!

 

Welcome to Life and Travel with Food Allergies. Hope you will enjoy this blog designated to those who have to live with food allergies or have someone in their life dealing with food allergies on daily basis.