Yes. I am mourning my morning eggs. I am not sure how long the grieving process will take, but I do know they have to go and I am a little devastated (ok, so I am a lot devastated).

As anyone going through an illness or addressing some health issues knows, there are times where you just don’t feel well, you are not hearing positive news or the latest test results aren’t the greatest. Healing ebbs and flows, it’s stormy or clear skies, and you learn to accept it (though I totally give you permission to sometimes have a complete tantrum and cry while eating a gluten free, dairy free vegan cheesecake because you have to watch out for all the other things you can’t eat).

A little side note I do want to say though and it is something I try to remember, is anyone, illness or not, will have stormy weather. Just because you have a health bump in your road, makes you no difference to anyone else, it just means you make different choices.

But when the clouds come rolling in, and you are having one of those days, you have to try and regroup and try a new tactic. This is exactly where I was a couple of weeks ago – cloudy with a good chance of rain with an afternoon thunderstorm. And for me it was a stormy day with my autoimmune disease. Latest test results weren’t flash, I had a weird skin rash thing going on over my whole body, and just not feeling crash hot.

Gotta love that Hashimoto’s – Not!

Though I did make a vow to myself when it comes to my autoimmune disease - I wasn’t going to rely on medication the rest of my life. Knowing what I know about the disease, I know I will never be completely rid of it, but I can put that sucker into remission! If there is inflammation in my body, I am going to find it! And un-inflame it!

So given I was living clean, eating organic, being really diligent about what I put on and around my body, I decided I should really have a food allergy test just to make sure there wasn’t anything I was eating that my body just didn’t like. And I have to admit because I had taken the biggest irritants (the bread and the milk) out of my diet already, I wasn’t expecting anything too major to show up.

I was wrong!

There were some big hitters in the results! Eggs! Peanuts! Yeast! Tomato! Dairy! Rice! Say what!?! Eggs! I think they are the things I have been mourning the most! But who am I kidding, I will miss the joys of chocolate and peanuts together, or generously piling chunky salsa on a corn chip.

Since I (with the help of hubby) have been eating and creating gluten free, dairy free, grain free and sugar free meals for a while, adapting didn’t scare me until the reality of breakfast kicked in. What am I going to eat for breakfast? WHAT AM I GOING TO EAT!! BUT EGGS MAKE ME HAPPY!! And the funny thing is, that is exactly what I said about sugar, and gluten and dairy when I cut each out. I will find joy again (laughing at myself as I write those words).

I know those of you reading this and tackling ingredients you need to exclude from your diet will totally understand - Food allergies suck! Gone are the days you can just rock up to a new café or restaurant and order anything from the menu (and man did I love being a bit of a good food snob, reading reviews and going to the newest café who had some new amazing dish). Gone are the days you can go to a celebration like a wedding without making sure you have eaten a big meal first (or packed snacks) because there is good chance you can’t eat anything that will be served. And gone are the days where you go to a dinner party without having to ask ahead of time what is going to be served (unless they know and are happy to cater for what you can’t eat of course).

Food allergies really do suck!

Until you move past the suckyness of what's on your list of No's and revel in the Yes's!

So what happens now that I have possibly discovered a big part of my inflammation puzzle? I cut those foods out and do more work on healing my gut (gut health is really where it’s at). But more importantly I discover the joys of baking without eggs, find other yummy accompaniments for chocolate, and make other kick ass dips for my corn chips!

Ok, its not seeming so sucky now :)

We are also going to up our game and broaden the allergy friendly recipes here on the site as well as showcasing allergy friendly goodies at the markets. We are going to work towards specialising in allergy friendly food, because we (well me) know how tricky it is to navigate. We will be looking to cater for the most common allergens which include milk, eggs, nuts, fish/shellfish, soy and wheat/gluten.

We will always come from a place of whole foods no matter what, with the end goal of functioning at your best.

Let us know what food sensitivities you might be facing, and we can take them on together (or at least help where we can).

Mourning (Morning) Eggs & Food Allergies Really Do Suck!