One of the main struggles of having a chronic illness is the eating restrictions that come with it. Sometimes, it is harder to deal with these restrictions than others. For example holidays at someone else's' house or when eating out at restaurants. With Easter being this past weekend, I wanted to write my tips and tricks to eating out and eating at other peoples' houses in hopes that it may help you with future events!
Pack your own food- I always make sure to cook myself a meal and pack it like a school lunch. I don't necessarily take it into the person's house, but I have it in the care just in case. Then, if I don't eat it, I have a meal for later in the week.
Look up the menu- when going out to eat, I always make sure I look at the menu to make sure I at least have one option that I can eat before agreeing to eat there.
Don't be afraid to take food from a different place inside- one of the hardest things I have had to learn is that it's okay to take food into a restaurant from a different place. For example, yesterday my roommates really wanted Zaxbys, so we stopped somewhere on the way to get me something else and I ate it inside Zaxbys with them.
When traveling, stay somewhere with a kitchen- this takes away the stress of having to eat out, check menus, and praying you don't get sick due to cross contamination or any other factors that can play a role in eating out with a Chronic Illness.
Don't be afraid to ask the server multiple times to make sure your trigger food is not in your meal- for example I personally cannot have gluten anymore. My family and I went to a Vietnamese restaurant that had a gluten free menu, however the gluten free meals came with soy sauce. I asked to make sure the meal was the gluten free version, and asked again to make sure the soy sauce was gluten free. If I hadn't asked I would have gotten "glutened" because the soy sauce did have gluten in it.
Keep snacks on you that you can eat, just in case it will be a while before you can eat.
I hope these help in your future endeavors and you have a great week.
Yours Truly,
Kaitlyn
@trusting.my.gut