Traveling With An Auto-Immune

Food for me is such a serious subject. Because of my auto-immune, I react to most foods. I stay completely away from the ones that set off immediate headaches, stiff joints, & bloating. Some of the food intake causes  cumulative reactions which show up days later. Most days, I eat off of a list of about ten foods. I juice an apple, zucchini and celery for my morning drink. This sits easily in my morning tummy. Mid-morning, I like to get some protein from either an egg, beef or chicken. Maybe a salad. I cheat all the time because it is impossible to only eat foods that cause minimal reactions.

I bring this up because I am off traveling this summer to Sweden & Finland for over two weeks.

This is my bad google search map. I am going to have to scan in a better map because I had a difficult time getting internet images to do what I want them to do. We are starting in Goteberg (Gothenberg) on the west coast of Sweden and making our way eastward to Stockholm, Aland Islands, Turku, Helsinki and possibly Rovaniemi (north part of Finland).

It is difficult to manage my auto-immune but not impossible.
Key to my health management is what I call my emergency food stash. I have had to use it quite a bit this week as my new boss keeps asking me to work longer hours - at the last minute. This kit is always in my car for when I need help - due to circumstances- stabilizing my blood sugar and energy levels.

I have been juicing and blendering veggies and fruit since late last summer. This helps out my auto-immune in a number of ways. The smaller particles of food are easier for my body to extract nutrition from. I am also eating more which translates into energy. How am I going to do juicing while traveling?

My niece (with my two practice grandkids) showed me a product that is going to be another tool in my arsenal. They take up nearly an entire aisle at Target. They are at other stores -- in the baby food area.
Usually organic, heavy on veggies, they don't taste half-bad. Well - it's like drinking your veggies, but the apple helps sweeten it up.

I plan on taking these pouches in my checked bag. I am flying domestic and int'l  and what with gifts for the  people I am staying with and my emergency food, I will have to check one bag. For Ireland (two years ago) I used  only a carry-on but we were gone just the one week. This trip is much longer but is anchored by staying with a friend in Goteberg at the beginning and another dear friend in Helsinki at the end.

You have to be at least 4 years (months!) old to enjoy this.

Quite a few contain Chia Seeds - for protein - which causes me to bloat up almost immediately. My 'favorite' is the broccoli and apple pouch. Simple & effective.
I am not sure about Rutabaga - when's the last time you ate this root?


They are for the most part made shelf-stable by the packaging (excessive and not recycling-friendly) and ascorbic acid + lemon juice. For the most part, they taste like what I am throwing in my blender. For traveling, this is a good way to make sure I am getting some bonus calories for the energy expended walking around and seeing the sites.


I am excited about this trip and love that this new product will make my energy easier to manage.

The Brazen Head

Eating in Ireland

I keep running into this conversation where the person I am talking to knows this other person who is so vegan, so allergic, so *insert trendy food disease* , that the afflicted person cannot travel out of their comfort zone.
Despite my dietary restrictions, I am choosing not to be so constrained.
Because of my job that often requires me to work over the course of 12 hours, I have found several foods that are always with me - just in case. Those are the foods I took with me to Ireland for the week. Fresh Cameo Apples, fruit roll-ups,  fruit & nut bars and my dairy-free, soy free chocolate.
I chose to think of the food I was bringing not only as insurance but to create a empty space in my bag to bring home treasures and souvenirs.
Bear in mind that it's not easy. My goals to try and eat 1000 cal. every day and to work on identifying when I am hungry are very serious. Food made me sick for so long that I have lost the ability to tell when I am hungry.

I had such a day when we traveled to Galway on the west coast of Ireland. We had probably walked over 20 miles each of the previous two days in Dublin -looking around and being tourists. We got distracted finding a place to eat breakfast. When we did, the only protein they had was yogurt. We then met up with my daughter and friend and got more distracted, then we hopped a 2.5hr. bus to Galway. Getting there with about an hour or two left of daylight, we decided to explore the town. I let myself get tired and I did not watch my protein intake. I was stopping and looking for somewhere to eat but my sister wasn't hungry yet. I was too tired to insist on eating and then it went too far. I shut down, going back into survival mode. I was only able to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. No street signs in Galway meant we didn't quite have our bearings - where was the hotel? I finally got what my brother-in-law had said about my sister making little bee stings.

But I have been to survival camp before. Albeit, its been over 10 months. Am I really that close to being there again? Have I not made progress? All-in-all, a somewhat frightening concept.
Looking around and finally being able to vocalize that I needed food, now the irrational part took over and rejected this place at 25 euro as too expensive, this place - nothing I could eat, this place - yet another salad. I needed protein and preferably warm.

Finally eating (warm mediterranean salad (chicken)), we were just a few blocks from our room. I went straight to bed and could remember those survival times when I was so tired I would go straight to bed without eating anything. I did get some serious sleep. Luckily, the hotel included breakfast and they cooked to order so I had some bacon (like our Canadian Bacon) and scrambled eggs. I felt better immediately and we were able to continue on our way - taking the great tour with Desmond to the Cliffs of Moher.

Lessons learned: I have to pay attention to eating on a schedule. I am not well enough to get distracted.
It is possible to travel easily to another country where the fish & chips (breaded and potatoes) are everywhere. One can also travel and not go on and on about your particular health maladies.
Get out of your rut - test the waters. 

One evening (in Ireland) with my daughter's friends, we ate at the Brazen Head - the oldest pub in Dublin. Here's my meal - roast of the day. It looked to be the most edible for me. I had already tried the fish &chips and a half-glass of guinness earlier in the trip and was terribly bloated the next day. I stuck with whiskey as the distillery process takes out more lectins than the guinness process. All that guinness barley is -sad. Really. :(
Here were the vegetables - peas with all of their starchy lectins and carrots which are more moderate for me.
The pork was good. I left the gravy and potatoes.