Food allergies suck

[MaggieTheCat]

I'm just venting and ranting. Feel free to ignore.

I have a number of food allergies. The ones that I know/can think of offhand:

bananas
cherries
apples
peaches
kiwi
mango
avocado
carrots
celery
soy
most nuts

I am allergic to most of these when they're raw, but usually okay if they're cooked. (for example, raw apples are a no go, but applesauce is fine.)

So, I'm trying to eat healthy and lose weight. I've tried on and off for years to lose weight but it's hard, especially when people tell me to eat things like carrot and celery sticks and apple slices, and I can't. I'm once again getting together a list of healthy snacks/light meals that I can make, and looking online at resources has me a little disappointed. So many suggestions I see are along the lines of "Frozen bananas! Avocado deviled eggs! A handful of almonds! Carrot sticks with hummus! A smoothie with mango and soy milk!"

Sure, there are plenty of things out there that I can eat. I'm just sad there are so many easy snacks like veggie sticks that I miss out on. I am going to try bell peppers and hummus, though...I like red bell peppers pretty well.

[Lyse]

That has to be incredibly frustrating even when you aren't trying to change your eating habits!

[ralerin]

I'm allergic to

Soy
Brown rice
Milk and dairy (though I can tolerate aged cheeses wel, just not cheddar and most "fresh" cheeses)
Chocolate
Caffeine
Mint
Most of the most major cereal grains (rice, wheat, barley, corn, oats, buckwheat, barley). Though with this it differs. I can tolerate wheat based buns, but not processed refined corn syrup, for example.
Sugar
Cashews (ties in with a latex allergy)
Chilis
The nightshade family (peppers, potato, though I can tolerate a bite of pepper or potato chips)
Raw bananas (depends on my allergy load, more in a minute).

I've found that I can tolerate things depending on my allergy "load". Pretend I'm on a seesaw, me at one end and my allergies on the other end, with my immune system acting as the lever. If my allergy load is low, say, for example, I have allergies to pet dander and my immune system is handling the pet dander well, then I can enjoy a hamburger bun or a slice of pizza with little to no adverse Effects, and I'm balanced on the seesaw. But if I have a cold, then my immune system has to fight that cold, the stress of having that cold and the pet dander. If I have some cheese or a glass of milk then my immune system interprets that dairy product as a threat and I feel like crap.

Also, allergies tend to be like a fire. If I go for four days without eating milk then I can have a glass of milk with little adverse effects provided my immune system is keeping everything in balance. If I continually have a glass of milk for a week, then my immune system flares up and I become sick. I have to wait at least 4 days before having a glass of milk, because that's usually the amount of time it takes for any allergy causing substance to work its way out of my system.

[Seshat]

So, I'm trying to eat healthy and lose weight. I've tried on and off for years to lose weight but it's hard, especially when people tell me to eat things like carrot and celery sticks and apple slices, and I can't. I'm once again getting together a list of healthy snacks/light meals that I can make, and looking online at resources has me a little disappointed. So many suggestions I see are along the lines of "Frozen bananas! Avocado deviled eggs! A handful of almonds! Carrot sticks with hummus! A smoothie with mango and soy milk!"

The trick is to replace.

Replace frozen bananas with frozen berries.
Take the 'avocado' out of the 'avocado devilled eggs'. It's only there to provide a binding oil and a flavour, so replace with any other healthy oil - and use herbs and spices to provide whichever flavour you want.
Replace 'a handful of almonds' with 'a handful of any fruit, vegetable, grain or legume that you like raw'.
Replace the carrot sticks with, as you suggested, capsicum (bell pepper). Or cucumber. Snow peas or string beans work as 'veggie sticks' too. Walk around the grocery store looking at fruit and veg, and keeping 'veggie sticks' in mind.
Replace the 'soy milk' with 'low fat cow's milk'. Replace the mango with any fruit you can have.