Inconsiderate family members..

[EAMom]

I agree that it is sometimes easier to say "I'm allergic". However, it seems folks accept certain types of allergies (peanut, shellfish) more easily than others. Shellfish/peanut allergies are well-known, mainstream, in addition to being life-threatening. Gluten intolerance, has more of a potential to be perceived as more of a "fad" .

 

Re. not eating meat. That is even tougher for many people to accept (esp. in the mid-west I would think). A lot of meat eaters (esp. those of an older generation, who might be less accepting of vegetarianism) might see not-eaing-meat as being overly picky, a silly lifestyle choice, or even as some kind of an insult to those who do eat meat (themselves).

 

I agree with Peglem. Try to understand/forgive their "lack of understanding", clearly they are coming from another, less enlightened place. Go, there and and be your awesome, intelligent, charming self...and show them up! You are better than them.

[EmersonAilidh]

Well well well. Guess who got to the barbecue place only to discover that it was closed down? Must say, I felt pretty vindicated walking into P.F. Chang's.

I understand what you mean about not expecting people to accommodate me. I would have been fine with eating a salad/sides (I did just that at the family dinner on her first day in town) if when I asked her to change the restaurant her response was something polite instead of "Well, I'm craving barbecue, soo.."

 

Also, P.F. Chang's gluten-free menu is AWESOME. It's got an entire page on their menu! Says "Gluten-free" right at the top. Yummy & filling. They even had a little dessert, but I was way to full to try it. I also read online that Olive Garden has some gluten-free pasta. Just trying to spread the word, haha.

 

& my vegetarianism isn't entirely for animal rights reasons. I stopped eating meat when I was nine (six years ago. I ate it chicken once six months in but that was it). I used to be sick ALL the time. It wasn't even so much "being sick" as just randomly feeling bad & vomiting. My Dad's side of the family (who don't believe much in modern medicine, & consequentially P.A.N.D.A.S.) are all about home remedies & things of that nature, & they were the ones to initially suggest cutting out meat, although I had already been interested in it for a while (cows have always been my favorite animal. Couldn't stand eating them, haha). When I stopped eating meat, I stopped vomiting. To such a dramatic extent that.. I haven't vomited a single time in six years (even when I had the swineflu). I think that's quite a feat even for someone who wasn't dealing with what I was before I dropped meat.

In all honesty I can't remember how I felt before I cut out meat too terribly well since I was so young & my appendicitis ordeal was RIGHT before I went veg. But even though I still have stomach pains, cutting out meat, by no exaggeration, eliminated ALL of my vomiting.

 

Now that that little shpiel is over.. Thank you all for your kind words! So encouraging, I swear. I'm still new to being on a restrictive diet, so I'm hoping it'll get easier. Mom's taking me to Whole Foods tomorrow to buy some "snacky" gluten-free things. I am so excited!

[EAMom]

I'm glad everything worked out!

[EmersonAilidh]

I'm glad everything worked out!

 

Thank you! I am too.

[pixiesmommy]

I haven't been around the board for awhile, but this thread caught my eye because we deal with this constantly. My daughter is almost 10 and we have made very drastic changes in our life that revolve around mostly diet for her. First we went dye-free and then to organic food, then to the Feingold diet (which is about removing salicylates or aspirin-mimicking substances from your diet) and now we have eliminated gluten, refined sugars, and most kinds of dairy. We do still eat meat, but she doesn't have a problem with it that we know of. I am proud that we did this as a family. If she can't eat something, neither do we. There have been less than a handful of times that we have "sneaked" a food after she is in bed or whatever, but it is really really rare. We share her diet because we want to support her, and it's not fair for us to have things in the house that she can't eat (and that stuff isn't good for anyone anyway! )

 

All of this to say, I'm sorry you aren't getting support for your diet in your own household! That really stinks. Stick to your diet though, if it is making a difference. I had a boyfriend in high-school whose sister was vegetarian because meat and meat products made her very ill like you describe. She was eating something once and got this panicked look that I will never forget and asked her mom if there was meat in it (it was at their house) and her mom kept reassuring her there wasn't. We went through everything and could not figure out what in the world was making her sick that was in the meal, and finally realized that there was gelatin in something- like powdered plain gelatin, and it is made from cow's hooves I guess. Even that tiny bit of something that wasn't even meat, but still an animal product upset her stomach so badly! I think that was the moment her mom finally realized that her daughter wasn't making this stuff up or doing it to get attention- it was a REAL issue for her. She is actually vegan now and very healthy.

 

I think what diet works for you really depends on what is going on health-wise with you. I would not recommend that anyone eat gluten or processed foods, but for some of us meat saves us and for others it could really harm. Trust your gut- literally!

 

Here is my food blog too, if you are interested in seeing what we eat, especially if you like to cook any. We make a lot of homemade gluten-free snacky things and desserts sweetened with honey or fruit: www.chickiepea.wordpress.com There are lots of great websites out there with recipes for gluten-free food and how to deal with going to restaurants, etc. too.

[EAMom]

Hi pixiesmommy...how is Pixie doing?

[EmersonAilidh]

I haven't been around the board for awhile, but this thread caught my eye because we deal with this constantly. My daughter is almost 10 and we have made very drastic changes in our life that revolve around mostly diet for her. First we went dye-free and then to organic food, then to the Feingold diet (which is about removing salicylates or aspirin-mimicking substances from your diet) and now we have eliminated gluten, refined sugars, and most kinds of dairy. We do still eat meat, but she doesn't have a problem with it that we know of. I am proud that we did this as a family. If she can't eat something, neither do we. There have been less than a handful of times that we have "sneaked" a food after she is in bed or whatever, but it is really really rare. We share her diet because we want to support her, and it's not fair for us to have things in the house that she can't eat (and that stuff isn't good for anyone anyway! )

 

All of this to say, I'm sorry you aren't getting support for your diet in your own household! That really stinks. Stick to your diet though, if it is making a difference. I had a boyfriend in high-school whose sister was vegetarian because meat and meat products made her very ill like you describe. She was eating something once and got this panicked look that I will never forget and asked her mom if there was meat in it (it was at their house) and her mom kept reassuring her there wasn't. We went through everything and could not figure out what in the world was making her sick that was in the meal, and finally realized that there was gelatin in something- like powdered plain gelatin, and it is made from cow's hooves I guess. Even that tiny bit of something that wasn't even meat, but still an animal product upset her stomach so badly! I think that was the moment her mom finally realized that her daughter wasn't making this stuff up or doing it to get attention- it was a REAL issue for her. She is actually vegan now and very healthy.

 

I think what diet works for you really depends on what is going on health-wise with you. I would not recommend that anyone eat gluten or processed foods, but for some of us meat saves us and for others it could really harm. Trust your gut- literally!

 

Here is my food blog too, if you are interested in seeing what we eat, especially if you like to cook any. We make a lot of homemade gluten-free snacky things and desserts sweetened with honey or fruit: www.chickiepea.wordpress.com There are lots of great websites out there with recipes for gluten-free food and how to deal with going to restaurants, etc. too.

 

Thank you so much for all of your kind words! I live with my Mom & my stepdad. My stepdad has been around since I was two & a half, so basically my whole life. I love my "parents" to death for everything they've done for me, but I know that they would never cut out meat or gluten, much less both. I don't expect them to, either. Avoiding meat has become second nature after all these years but being gluten-free has proven to be much more difficult. My family doesn't cook at all, unless it's just "firing up the grill", so it's been really difficult for me to eat well. I think it was you that just posted on my "Vegetarian gluten-free diet" post so I'm trying not to repeat myself here, haha. I have a cookbook but we haven't gone to the store yet to buy anything for it, & even when we do I'm pretty scared that I'm gonna be expected to cook for myself. I'd love to have sit down family dinners.. But that's just not going to happen anytime soon. I'm proud that I even got them to taste things like rice macaroni & cheese (thank you very much, Amy's Kitchen!), I'd never dream of having them join me on this diet, no matter how awesome that would be. All I'm trying to do right now is get them to at least help me a little more, because I've seriously gone through two boxes of mashed potatoes this week (don't recall the brand, but made sure they are gfree) & I know that's not healthy.

[pixiesmommy]

I hope you didn't think I was shooting your mom down for not being on the diet with you... just saying I think it's easier when everyone eats the same things because then you are all on the same page and kind of FORCED to come up with ideas for meals. It has brought us together as a family in different ways.

 

I totally understand the non-cooking parents. Mine were the same way. I was basically making myself oodles of noodles suppers after school at 9 yrs old. Probably the best things you can do at this point are to learn to do some simple things. If you can even make the change from boxed dried potato flakes to an actual baked potato, then you are doing yourself a big favor because you're getting a whole food versus one that has had the nutrients processed out of it.

 

How are you with fresh veggies? If you like ranch dressing, you could make some up yourself and cut up some veggies and have a pretty healthy snack or meal.

 

As far as the Omega 6's, you are getting those probably without trying- any cheese that isn't grassfed, nuts, etc. will have the omega 6's. It's the Omega 3's you should seek out. Taking flax seed oil is a great start. The rule of thumb for good fats is to eat as many as you think you need, then eat 2 tablespoons more! Your brain needs lots of fat to function, and right now when it's "politically incorrect" to eat fats, we are all getting far less than we should.

 

Hope this helps!

Manda