Ode to Allergies

Anyone who suffer's from food allergies this blog is for you.  I have suffered from food allergies ALL my life and it seems the older I get the worse They get.

As a young girl I do not know how I survived a household that valued food as if it were manna coming from heaven.  In other words it was our life's blood.  Having seven children and one hungry husband my mother took her food serious.  There was no throwing it away no ma'am she counted every meal and meant that was the amount of food to be ate.  Having lived through the great depression and her mother having fifteen children, food was the one subject not to be laughed at.  Both my parents were food fanatics and there would be NO changing that.  If my mom heard the refridgerator door open in the middle of the day she was hollering to get out of the food.

So when we ate certain things and my entire face would swell, but my parents never connected it to food causing such a horrible reaction.  They were not alarmed they would just tell me to stay out of the grass; nightmarish.  This would happen in the dead of winter and I would get the same scolding.  I would look at my little sister and we would laugh because then Colorado winter's were real.  We couldn't go outside but my parents never realized it was the fish we just had for dinner.  Somehow I survived from this all my childhood.

I also had milder attacks and some I did put together as foods, like oatmeal for breakfast and red kool-aid made me vomit.  Then I would be sick for the rest of the day with flu like symptoms.  My brothers and sisters were not nice to me and would laugh at my plight.  They started calling me a hypercondriact saying I was just lazy not sick. When I finally realized what it was, I was in college and another girl said she had the same reaction to FISH and it was an ALLERGY.  I told my parents they chuckled and told me they was so sorry and the meant it so no harm no foul I lived through it.

Currently here is the list: (in order of allergy degree)
Fish all kinds
Seafood
Peanuts and nuts
Eggs
Bell pepper
Mushrooms
Molds - yogurt, blue cheese
Strawberries
These are all allergens that would require immediate action if ingested, such as antihistamine medication in severe cases I have had to go to the hospital for injections.

List of foods that I am sensitive to that are not emergencies but cause feelings of illness or migraines.
Oats
Bran
Wheat
Pinto beans

I have learned to live by avoiding all these foods or if I do eat them then I have to make myself feel better by taking medication to stop the reaction.

Here in lies the problem most of these foods are considered HEALTHY FOODS.  Another problem is going to certain restaurants and eating foods that many of the foods I am allergic to are served on the dishes or cooked in the same pots.

My fish allergies are so sensitive I can not touch fish or eat foods cooked in the same pots.  The dilemma is so real I carry benadryl with me everywhere I go.  I know the sensation that begins an allergic reaction before it gets out of control so I just crush the medicine in my mouth and just stay alert to make sure it is working and the reaction is subsiding.  (I do not recommend this for anyone else, please follow your doctor's order and take care of yourself). I have been doing this all my life so I am really in tune with my body and have talked this over with my doctor who feels comfortable with me handling it in this manner.

So the million dollar question is how do you lose weight and go natural with my hair with so many food and environmental allergies????  Stay tuned I will answer all these questions and share my progress!!!!

Much Love
Bholli

WELCOME TO THE BEAUTY OF LIVING NATURAL with allergies.

Hello!

My name is Beverly and i have recently jumped onto the Natural lifestyle.  I have always wanted to start a blog and kicked around a few ideas, until my daughter started one about going natural with her hair.  See I have several things to talk about and going natural was just the tie that binds.

My difference is that I will write about all of them at the same time.  Being a black woman I have always had issues with the relaxing and straightening of my hair.  That is not just the only issue.  More pressing in my life is dealing with the ability to go natural as in living a more healthy life but doing it with serious food allergies.

I have so much to say regarding going natural and loving the products, no longer being a slave to having straight hair.  The best part is it leads to better living.  Once you begin taking great care of one aspect of your life you want it all.  So no more fried foods, eating only the leanest cuts of meats.  No longer getting up out of the bed to eat fried greasy foods but to have a healthy smoothie and start my day.  Awesome!!!

A few years ago actually five years ago, I and my family stopping eating pork.  Never looked back it was an awakening of sorts and I will cover that enlightenment later.  I did this for major health reasons having been diagnosed with high blood pressure and then after being followed by a group of cardiologist being told I had type 2 heart block and received a  pacemaker to live.  I tried everything to lose weight to gain energy and to feel better.

Not much worked until I surprisingly participated in the Daniel's Fast in January 2010, did I get a hint of what would help me to live BETTER!!!!! The struggle as has been my entire life is FOOD ALLERGIES and all that it entails.

With this blog I will help those who are looking to live a healthy life but are dealing with allergies.

Here we go!!!!!