• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Header Social Icons

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Just Vibe Houston

Your City, Your Story

  • Good Finds
  • Good Expression
  • Good Food and Drink
  • Good Events
  • Good Vibes
  • Home
  • About Just Vibe Houston
  • Tell Your Story
  • Writer’s Guidelines
  • Contact Us

Header Slide-Search Content

Explore Just Vibe Houston

We Don’t Say “I Can’t Have” And Other Tips for Living (Thriving!) With Food Sensitivities

February 27, 2018 by Dana Robinson 2 Comments

Seven years in and this gluten free/dairy free thing is old hat to us. We’ve got this. It’s how we roll. And it’s honestly not that big of a deal. But it was not always so easy. In fact, it was a life-sentence at first. No parole, no time off for good behavior. Behind bars with ice cream cones and macaroni and cheese on the other side and out of our reach.

An invitation to a birthday party required finding out what was on the menu, and bringing our own gluten-free versions of everything. We would show up with a cooler full of cold food and hot packs full of hot food. We were always so relieved when the party plan was simply cupcakes and pizza. One trip to Sprouts and we could easily replicate that. But in North Dallas, you couldn’t always depend on simple fare—that place can be fancy. It’s very difficult to explain to a 5-year old that while everyone else is eating the eye-catching delicious-looking treats on the big table, we have to eat these sticks and twigs from mommy’s purse. I did my best to make sure all of the alternatives that I brought were delicious, fun-looking, and as close to what everyone else was eating as I could manage.

I was a stay-at-home mom, so I had a little more time to take care of these kinds of details. My friends who worked 40 hours a week in an office might not have been able to manage the multiple grocery store trips and impromptu allergy-free cupcake making for unexpected school parties. We started to learn the lingo, recognize safe brands for us, memorize some of the ingredients lists, automate some of the shopping—but we had to put in some time and hard work on the front-end.

My Personal (from experience) #1 Tip for Thriving with Food Sensitivities

It was also during these early days that we decided to take one sentence completely out of our vocabulary. In our family, we never say “I can’t have that.” Instead, we say, “I do not eat that.” It may seem like an insignificant change, but it is actually the pebble creating a ripple-effect across the entire pond.

“I can’t have that” makes us a victim, sufferers denied certain privileges that others enjoy, underdogs in a hot dog world.

“I do not eat that” implies power over our circumstances, the choice to select the healthiest option for ourselves.

I can eat that piece of pizza, but I will then have to deal with the consequences. Alternatively, I could choose the healthiest version of myself and live free of those consequences.

This simple rule has made all of the difference for us.

When you first get a diagnosis, test results that confirm what you do not want to hear, but already suspect, the next steps can seem difficult to take. They may feel too big, too high, too wide to ever anticipate “getting there.” In those first few moments, it is important to remember that step #1 comes first. Then step #2. Then step #3. It may sound like an over-simplification of a complex issue, but it is actually how you get anywhere. Even marathons are run one step at a time.

May I suggest that Step #1 is to maintain power in a circumstance that you may feel is out of your control. Choosing to remember this piece of Old Testament wisdom will be helpful to you in your journey, “All things are permissible for me, but not all are beneficial.”

This is the bible version of “I do not” vs. “I can not,” and is a mantra that equals freedom for us—freedom to choose health.

When the task of cleaning out the pantry feels overwhelming, when travel seems impossible, when a dinner invitation feels like more work than it’s worth, remember that you are in control, and with a little planning and practice, you too will become a baller at living (thriving!) with food sensitivities.

*Please note that the food sensitivities in our case are not life-threatening.

**Any allergies causing anaphylaxis require different and much more strict considerations.

For more Good Food & Drink

Photo by Anton Darius | @theSollers

Filed Under: Good Health Tagged With: Dana Robinson, food allergies, food sensitivities, Good food and drink, Just Vibe Houston, living with food allergies, living with food sensitivities

About Dana Robinson

Dana Robinson is a writer living in Houston with her husband, Bryan, and their teenage son. She has been writing and editing professionally (and amateurishly) for most of her life. Earliest works include a few furtively written diary entries and a slightly amorous poem about PacMan.

Now the Editor here at Just Vibe Houston, Dana is passionate about discovering interesting stories in and around this city. Two things she loves about Houston are the coffee and the weather, and that’s not a joke.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Charlotte Chatelain Syna says

    February 27, 2018 at 8:47 am

    Dana – I really liked this article. It holds such good advice for so many situations. Not just food allergies. I love the empowerment concept. So good to teach our kids about – well, EVEEYDTHING! And it also helps give us a new language when conversing with our friends with allergies. Thank you! I love the Just vibe articles.

    Reply
    • Dana Robinson says

      February 27, 2018 at 11:13 am

      Thank you for reading, Charlotte, and for your encouraging reply. We will try to keep up the good work on our end :).

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

#JustVibe Columns

Real Stories Houston


Table For One


Summer Stories


Houston at Home

Explore #JustVibe

  • Good Advice
  • Good Business
  • Good Events
  • Good Expression
  • Good Finds
  • Good Food and Drink
  • Good Fun
  • Good Health
  • Good Neighborhoods
  • Good News
  • Good Style
  • Good Vibes
  • Houston at Home
  • Real Stories Houston
  • Summer Stories
  • Table For One

Footer

About Just Vibe

Eating, sleeping, breathing, just vibing throughout Houston. Providing a constant flow of good stories and highlighting the writers who tell them.

Just Vibe Houston tells Houston stories by Houston storytellers.

Latest Posts

  • Bread Bags
  • Cycling Through The Apocalypse
  • THINK OF ME OFTEN
  • On Turning 90 This June
  • Earned It?

Popular Posts

Sorry. No data so far.

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Copyright © · Just Vibe Houston · All Rights Reserved · Web design by RKA ink