Once again, I find myself baffled and challenged to help my husband figure out which bazillionth, stupid thing is causing his headache, nausea and weird shaking. And no, it isn't coffee.
The challenge doesn't just come in the mystery trigger, but also in the shopping, planning, preparing, and cooking of meals. I am the grocery CEO and chef so the burden of managing this portion of our lives has fallen so kindly on me. And I am tired. I have days where I hate food.
For roughly two years, we have been creating a color-coded, beautifully crafted spread sheet of what food items cause awful symptoms. This includes a dinner menu, slash grocery list so wifey here doesn't kill her hubby with food.
My spouse (the sweet, special one) has food allergies to oats, chocolate (that is SO wrong), many preservatives and is gluten-intolerant so cooking is rarely ever convenient. If food comes in any packaged, boxed, or canned form, it must be inspected, scrutinized, analyzed, criticized, and often snubbed.
If you need a vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, raw, or grain-free recipe-I'm sure I have one.
Yet, there is more to this story than frustration...
I have risen to these challenges. We eat more whole foods in there natural state and we all feel better. Not that we never eat junk food. I have just had to learn to look at food differently, have had to cook more items from scratch and it does taste better, but most importantly...
I have found God faithful as always...providing strength and ingenuity. I have grown immensely in planning, organizing and executing in ways I did not before and my compassion, patience and gratefulness have deepened for my husband. I find myself getting better at serving others instead of myself. I know that is because of God's work in my family and in me.
Changing because of God's doing is always beautiful, but more often than not-painful. I have had to hand over a TON of insanity-sick-of-it moments, but God has exchanged these with periods of peace, joy, laughter and bonding. So even though I still sometimes loathe dealing with food, I know that this is more about his work in my family and me and less about the food.
P.S. I will always miss the convenience of eating out. It is rarer these days and yes, I know that is a spoiled luxury we have in this country.
Linking up at : MamaKats
Wow. Allergic to chocolate. That IS so wrong. But I know how you feel, not because anyone here has allergies like that, but because there are so many of us here and my husband is always concerned about health. I do get sick of food - especially shopping - because I always have to imagine what my husband would say if I bought this or that. But yes, I thank God too, for bringing him into my life. It is because of him that I'm probably not overweight with high blood pressure and diabetes - because Lord knows those things run in my family! So yeah. I hate it and am thankful for it at the same time. Complicated emotion, no? ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by! I so agree, food should be enjoyable and yet, we can't escape the truth that food can be both an allie and an enemy.
DeleteThat is a challenge! I hope you can figure out what is causing your husband's headaches. Stopping by from Mama Kat's.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with migraines myself. Luckily they started to go away on their own, or they at least lessened, when I got pregnant. Now that I have had our daughter they seem to be coming back on their own a little bit. I hope that you can eventually find what your husband needs to be able to figure them out. They're really tough to deal with!
ReplyDeleteI found you through Mama Kat's writer's workshop, so I thought I'd stop by to say hello!
Thank you for stopping by! I hope your migraines are only hormonal.?
DeleteLove this post. So real. Food issues are terrible to have. My friend is a type 1 diabetic who has had terrible acid reflux issues she's finally getting a handle on through diet. She spent two weeks on a acid-food free diet to clean her throat out of residual peptides and is working what doesn't bother her back into her normal eating now. Sorry your hubby has so many challenges. Eating is so central to our lives, it's rough when the innards don't make it enjoyable. (Hubby and I are missionaries on staff with the Christian organization called the Navigators working with young military people at the local base helping them walk with Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. I am gluten intolerant, can only eat small amounts of citrus, drink small amounts of pop, coffee. My husband has difficulty digesting pork, allergic to msg and topically to propylene glycol. He has issues digesting dairy but continues to consume it. We all have eczema and psoriasis. I am just glad his allergies/asthma are not as bad as when he was a child.
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of pressure! Sometimes I feel like nearly everything we eat is tainted. I've tried to improve our diets here, but bad habits always creep back in. Your husband is lucky to have you as committed as you are. A spreadsheet? Now that's love!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it crazy how so many people have to deal with food issues? Many of you have your own story or know someone struggling...it is nice to know we are not alone.
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