The Dance of Food

I’ve had a very tumultuous relationship with food throughout my life, or at the very least, it changes a lot. When I was young, I loved to eat. Then I hit a phase in my early 20s where I lost my appetite and twenty pounds in the space of about half a year. Might sound awesome but it was terrible. I was always jittery and I couldn’t wear any of my clothes anymore.

Now, post-baby, post-30, I love to eat, and I don’t feel conflicted about the size or shape of my body — and now it turns out I have a slew of annoying food allergies. These are not anaphlactic allergies, but the kind that just sort of accumulate and make you feel run-down over time. So I have a list of things to avoid: soy, corn, dairy, almonds, wheat, and green beans, some of which I used to eat every day.

I think I figured out a strategy — something like putting on my own oxygen mask before I take care of anybody else. I went to the store yesterday and shopped only for myself, meticulously planning food for every single meal. Today I’m cooking and putting it up in the freezer. This way, I just eat these meals that I have prepared, and I can fix other food for my family without having to figure out how to adapt it to myself.

The interesting-new-food highlights so far: flax milk, which I didn’t even know existed (and which is quite good) and Scottish oat cakes, which are amazing and delicious. I’m about to find out how my soy- wheat- corn-free black bean+beef+chicken taco chili turned out. Slow cooker, don’t let me down now!! 🙂

I am very interested to see how I will feel throughout the next few weeks as I get old allergens out of my system. It’s been about five days and I have to admit I do feel a little more sprightly, although this might just be because I am happy to have answers. Onward and upward!