Blog #7 | January 28, 2024

Do you ever have “pinch me” moments? You know those moments where you cannot believe what’s happening in your life and you clock a moment of gratitude right then and there?

That happened to me this morning.

If you would have seen me a year ago, you would have seen me at my lowest. I had no idea what to eat and how to fuel my body without sending it fully into shock. I was so tired of thinking through exactly what to eat and what my 10-minute plan would be if I had a reaction to a food. Just a year ago I was asking, and not as a joke, for a babysitter to help me figure out what to eat and how to deal with reactions as I had them. I couldn’t see an end to being in pain and afraid all day long.

As you may imagine, that makes thinking about ~literally~ anything else nearly impossible.

Yet nearly a year later, I’ve started training for a half marathon. Can you imagine?

Looking back, the state of depression around food and how reactive my body was to everything would have made running a few miles nearly impossible not to mention trying to run many miles back-to-back.

So, as I jogged this morning around my new city, I couldn’t help but notice the "pinch me" moment.

I know what it feels like to have healthcare answers feel far away, potentially non-existent. And I know that health is a journey. I don't have everything figured out and I’m still experiencing many food reactions today. But I can say if you’re going through this journey that there is always a light to figuring out our bodies and a hope to dream for something bigger.

Always with you on this journey, thanks for joining me.

With love,

Blog #6 | January 25, 2024

With a new year comes the ability to start again. Last year I made some big promises about this blog to keep myself accountable on my food journey in an effort to be open, honest and hopefully encourage a safe space for others going through their own food allergy/sensitivity journeys as well. Obviously, I fell flat, but I’m giving myself some grace to start this back up again. And if anyone is out there, I hope you continue with me on this journey.

What no one tells us about experiencing an intense food journey is that it has extreme highs as well as lows. Around June of last year, my food journey was in a great spot. I was trying new foods, healing my gut, losing inflammation quickly and had lost so much brain fog. Feeling this good allowed me to start to lean into what I called the “season of joy” which essentially meant doing things that brought me joy without letting my food journey consume so much of my brain space. This season then brought skills like learning tennis, writing more, acting and packing up my entire life to move across the country to begin grad school.

Starting grad school is its own separate journey, but it prompted a lot of new experiences around meeting new people and introducing them to me and my food journey. Because we know that food journey is a huge part of who we are, regardless of how excited we are to take it along with us, right?

The stress of moving also caused crazy weight fluctuations and hormone changes which are never ideal to add to any big life change. But that’s where I find myself today. Learning how to love my body regardless of where it is on the journey. For me, having a body that’s strong, that digests well and one that isn’t trying to kill me is considered a win. But that’s easier said when you look in the mirror and recognize your body.

So, as we begin 2024, I’ll still be taking you along my journey with tips and tricks on how I’ve learned to work through food allergies and sensitives, but I’ll also be in the process of discovering how to love my body regardless of its overreactive nature. If you have tips on this journey, as always, I’m all ears.

Always with you on this journey, thanks for joining me.

Blog #5 | Is this thing on?

Have you ever pushed your body to “not be sick” for just one more day to get through a big event? Or cut a cold short because you were “fully recovered” (not really) to make that big presentation?

We tell our bodies how to feel. All. The. Time.

Regardless of how much we don’t want to admit it. Often, I pretend that I can control my body and each of its reactions to everything around me. I probably lived in that space of telling my body what, when and how to feel for over 20 years. And around year 25 it was clearly done being bossed around. It wasn’t feeling well, and it needed me to know that.

So strong warning shots like blacking out after eating a banana were fired. Okay, I got it.

Another great tip I learned earlier on in my journey was to stop and listen to my body. A clinic shared with me that my body is constantly telling me things, regardless of if I choose to listen. I could only choose to dismiss the messages for so long before the messages stockpiled and something would stop me in my tracks.

Most of my not listening was around reactions to food like dairy or uncooked veggies. Because honesty butter is just so good and it’s hard to cut it out even with tummy aches. But my body sent other messages too that I dismissed around my stress, anxiety level and odd moments like ringing ears after eating certain foods.

Being fully transparent, I still don’t listen to my body as often as I should. There are days I’m having a reaction to food and I just push through. Sure, there are times pushing through doesn’t work. But every now and then if I’m really tired of by body controlling my days, I’ll go to that concert or have that coffee date. And after my body usually shares its opinion on that decision.

The journey with food allergies and intolerances is a truly moment by moment journey. Some days you don’t think about your body much at all, she feels good and so life moves along swimmingly. Other days, it is the primary thought throughout the full day.

Listening to my body is definitely not easy or something I wanted to do this much in this life. But it’s becoming a daily habit. If you’ve been on this journey and have some tips on how to do this better, please let us know.

Always with you on this journey, thanks for joining me.

With love,

Ashley