OAS-Oral Allergy Syndrome

Yesterday I found out that I have OAS- Oral Allergy Syndrome. OAS usually occurs in older children and adults. It's called OAS because it usually affects the mouth and throat. OAS is an allergic reaction to certain proteins in fruit, vegetables and nuts. Although rarely fatal, it does cause a 'tightening' in the throat, itching, burning and in some cases, hives. Once the foods are heated up, the proteins change and are no longer a problem for allergies.
This means that unless I want hives all over me as well as an itchy throat and mouth, I can't eat fresh fruits and veggies. Any nuts I eat have to be roasted. The longer the fruit and veggies are out, the better they are for me. Banana's have to be extremely ripe and apples have to sit out for a few days before I can eat them.
I feel like this is a huge obstacle in my path. I know it's something I can work around, and I'm thankful it's nothing too serious. I would be lying if I didn't say my first thought was that someone (or something) was trying their best to sabotage my efforts. Lucky for me, my common sense kicked back in and I figured, as long as it doesn't kill me, it'll only make me stronger. I will lose this weight with, or without, the help of fresh fruit and veggies. If I have to bake all my fruit before I eat it, or steam all my veggies, then so be it. I've used enough excuses in my lifetime to know that that's exactly what I was looking for here. I was looking for a reasonable excuse to stop trying to lose weight. An excuse to take the easy way out. An excuse to quit.
Last night Nat and Steve invited us over for dinner (surprise, surprise). Steve had marinated the chicken breast with his own (secret) healthy marinade. They had done mixed veggies steamed on the BBQ and potatoes. The veggies we're amazing! They did zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, onions and bok choy. It was such a good dinner, but after my sweet tooth was aching. I really needed something sweet to kick the craving, but I didn't want to ruin the day by running to DQ. Instead I took a shot glass and filled it with my dad's maple syrup. It was delicious. I felt guilty. Today I looked up the nutritional facts on pure Canadian Maple Syrup:

Maple Syrup has the same 50 cal/tbsp as white cane sugar. However, it also contains significant amounts of potassium, calcium, small amounts of iron and phosphorus, and trace amounts of B-vitamins. It's sodium content is a very low 2mg/tbsp. Maple Syrup can be declared a good source of 3 essential elements - calcium, iron and thiamine.

Last night I had about 150 calories worth of pure sugar delight - along with 18% of my daily Calcium, 15% of my Iron and 18% of my Thiamine .

Go Amanda!