adjusting to allergies

When the allergist told me that I would need to give up dairy, egg, and peanut because Nathaniel was allergic to them and I was nursing, I initially thought he was crazy. It would not have been the first time I had received gross misinformation about breastfeeding from the allopathic community. So I spent the weekend still eating eggs and butter and cheese, and researching a million things on breastfeeding kids with allergies.

Alas, the allergist was correct. I SHOULD eliminate those foods from my diet. Here are some helpful links that led me to that conclusion.

La Leche League on Allergies and the Breastfeeding Baby
Random page where someone asks about dairy allergies in relation to breastfeeding

And the most helpful one of all that I need to keep handy for reference, Life without milk! And other things. This website has a list of food you can still eat that doesn't have dairy in it. SO HELPFUL!

Now, to make my new dietary issues even more superfun, I've been feeling very strongly in the past month that I need to give up sugar. In college, I did this once for Lent, and cut out everything with sugar in the top 5 ingredients. It was awesome. After breaking the addiction to sugar, that is. That took a good two weeks. But after that, it was great. I felt great, lost weight, and basically my body was just happy.

But back then, when I couldn't just have a granola bar for breakfast or something, I would have eggs (out!) or a peanut butter sandwich (also out!). Now my options are much more limited. I'm discovering that I need to plan all my meals ahead of time, to be sure they don't involve any ingredients I am trying to avoid.

I told Carl last night that I didn't want to be That Person who goes out with other people and has really crazy dietary needs that are practically impossible to fulfill.

"You already are that person," Carl told me, not because I'm super picky or something (I'm not), but because as of Friday, I guess I AM that person. For Nathaniel, I have to be that person.