So I started the migraine diet a few weeks ago, and while I’ve had a few cheats, I’ve mostly been pretty good about it. Don’t know if it’s really helping me yet, but I suppose it doesn’t hurt.
Anyway, this past weekend was my first weekend away from home since starting the diet (I was at my parents house). Let me say, it is extremely hard to follow the diet when you dont have your usual food available! I felt like the only things I could eat were the fruit and crackers I brought with me! I’m already picky about what I eat (organic, nonprocessed), but being on the migraine diet makes things just that much harder.
What do you do when you are out, and there’s nothing to eat but foods on the “no list”? Do you bring your own snacks from home with you? Do you find a place to go grocery shopping? Do you just give up and eat whatever is there, even if it might make you feel worse? As if having MAV doesn’t make me enough of a social outcast, now I feel like I can’t even enjoy a meal with other people!
After trying the diet STRICTLY for many many mos with no success I haven’t been as strict. I agree the only way to do it right is by buying your own food. My problem these days is that I’m too ill to cook most nights and end up ordering food, as that’s the only way I can eat. I’m sure when I order things they cook with wine, vinegar, citrus, etc., but it’s better that I eat.
So I started the migraine diet a few weeks ago, and while I’ve had a few cheats, I’ve mostly been pretty good about it. Don’t know if it’s really helping me yet, but I suppose it doesn’t hurt.
Anyway, this past weekend was my first weekend away from home since starting the diet (I was at my parents house). Let me say, it is extremely hard to follow the diet when you dont have your usual food available! I felt like the only things I could eat were the fruit and crackers I brought with me! I’m already picky about what I eat (organic, nonprocessed), but being on the migraine diet makes things just that much harder.
What do you do when you are out, and there’s nothing to eat but foods on the “no list”? Do you bring your own snacks from home with you? Do you find a place to go grocery shopping? Do you just give up and eat whatever is there, even if it might make you feel worse? As if having MAV doesn’t make me enough of a social outcast, now I feel like I can’t even enjoy a meal with other people!
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I take food with me when I go away from home. I do not think I can depend on going to others homes and them not have the trigger foods there…I do not go often but when I do I take my food with me.
It took several months for me to see a difference with the diet and to me it has made a big difference. not that I am by any means cured or close but the diet helped me especially with the headache portion. And then with the MAV part after that …I would not just eat what is there for fear it would set me off into a direction I do not want to go again.
It may not work for some but it did make a difference for me. So hang in there and be strict with it and give it a chance to work before you give up on it.
I make things ahead and freeze them and i offer to bring something when i go somewhere and i research online things so i know what i can have a fast food places like mcdonalds i can have most salads no dressing ice cream cone, fries, Wendys i can have bake potatoe, vanilla frosty, so that i can at least have something untill i get home chinese steam vegtables and meat with rice and dipped in some duck sauces pizza places are the hardest and diners are the easiest just try your best when in doubt stick to meat vegtables and fruit as plain as possible i also bring fruit snacks, tubs of applesauce, pudding, bag of msg free organic popcorn, plain rice cakes and bags of dry cereal to work and in the car
Easiest I find is jacket potato with something on the menu that agrees. If nothing, then just with salad, maybe bit of cheese. Fish is anothe option for me.
I’ve had this trouble over the last 5 days really. Flew out to Winnipeg to see a friend and off to the local restaurant. Everything on the menu looked great but was either dripping with cheese, had some house spice mix all over it or was drowning in a vinaigrette dressing. I didn’t even dare to try the back ribs because they were “coated” in BBQ sauce. MSG city I bet.
So then we arrived at another mate’s place in Chaska, Minnesota and up came the steaks and salad. All good apart from the fact that the steaks had been marinated in some sauce and the salad covered in croutons and a bottled dressing. In this situ I just go with it knowing I’ll get a hit. It was just too hard to make a fuss. I picked out the croutons and tried to eat as little of the dressing as possible. No alcohol either of course … I was just too loaded with triggers.
I really hate going to a restaurant and having to eliminate 95% of the options. Gone are the days when I could eat anything I wanted. At least I’ll never get fat – both of my highschool buddies were huge.
we regularly eat out with another couple who are very good friends. One is a coeliac and has to have totally gluten free, the other is completely allergic to peppers and then there’s me with the migraine triggers so we make a difficult group to please.
However, we just bite the bullet and ask what ingredients are used and request salads without dressings, no cheese, no MSGs etc.
We have found a lovely Indian restaurent in the UK which caters for all our needs quite happily and are willing to make things without trigger ingredients. When on holiday a couple of weeks ago at a huge holiday park with half board catering in a huge cafeteria style setting. I rang ahead to speak to the chef. On the first day of my holiday he sat down with me and went through each days menu eliminating the trigger foods. He offered to specially cook me something every day if I wanted, poach eggs instead of scrampled etc and provide soya milk. So I knew in advance what I could eat. The problem was that it was so busy, noisy and had artificial light that I had minor attacks anyway. But I felt more confident about the food aspect.
I have found that many restaurents in the UK these days are used to people with dietry needs and are willing to accomodate. It won’t be perfect but it means we can have a social life so just bite the bullet and ask.
Really sympathize with you all.
I have become a nightmare person who asks a million questions about what is on the menu. I try to avoid eating at anyone’s home unless I know them so well that I can tell them what I can eat and what not. A lot of people seem to think I am being picky and pedantic for the sake of making a fuss.
Hidden MSG is always a problem.
Eating out is always grilled chicken or grilled fish ,no sauce… salad, no dressings, steamed veg with olive oil. Most good restaurants are prepared to talk things over and avoid the triggers, but yes it is boring as hell and I am eating so much chicken I am growing wings. I re design every dish if I am eating out.
I stay well away from all fast food, I don’t trust what is in that stuff.
Good luck, it is worth it when you start to feel it is making a difference. I continued eating butter and eating ice cream through the first 2 months of diet but have been much better in the last 3 weeks without them both…sad !!
I miss chocolate so much.
Good luck to you all.
Penny
Thanks for your responses everyone, I got some really good ideas!
Fortunately, it hasn’t been too much of a problem yet, but I have a feeling that as the holidays approach and there are more events and family get-togethers, it’s going to get even harder to follow the migraine diet!