Living in NYC with Psoriasis and one inspirational man!

The most amazing thing about living in NYC is definitely by far all the unique and absolutely delicious places you can go out to eat! You can go out to a different restaurant every night of the week for five years straight and still have a ton of places to choose from! Having said that, living in NYC with Psoriasis is both easy and hard at the same time. Let me explain by sharing 3 different experiences I had recently. 

First – I went to dinner with friends to celebrate a birthday and had no involvement in picking the restaurant. When this happens I simply look up the menu online in advance and see what my options are going to be. I like to be the most prepared when I’m dining out, so I don’t need 20 minutes dissecting the menu.  My first thought after looking at this small menu was “there’s literally nothing I can eat here!”

That wasn’t true, there was literally one dish, fish. So I knew that’s what I’d be getting. I was prepared to ask the waitress if they can cook it with a little olive oil and not butter, but prepared to make an exception worse case (like I do with my alcohol:)

Fast forward and the waitress says to me “honey there’s no avoiding butter in this place” I nicely said “no problem” and must tell you it was the most delicious piece of fish I’ve had in a long time! Man, I forgot how much butter makes everything taste good!

Second – I went to visit a dear friend of mine in his neighborhood in Brooklyn where I’ve never been.  He took me to what is the perfect brunch place (for someone without Psoriasis).  It was clearly a quaint little place and I can tell he was excited to take me there. One look at the menu and I honestly didn’t know what to do. They had salads, but they were covered in cheese, tomato, peppers, etc… I ended up getting a bed of greens with a side of olive oil and a side of black beans. Out of desperation I also got a side of scrambled eggs which I allow myself once or twice a week, lately not even. It wasn’t the most enjoyable brunch as I watched my friend inhale his huevos rancheros, but luckily the conversation was so good I wasn’t focusing on my bland meal. I’m very lucky that almost every restaurant in the city you can usually get away with ordering sides, but not at this place which was a first for me! 

Third – I planned a brunch date with an old friend and asked her if she’d be willing to try a really good vegan Restaurant. She was up for it and ended up enjoying it very much! That was a simple experience I wanted to share – great, healthy food and great conversation…no thinking involved:)

Living in this big, amazing city it can be so easy to eat healthy and mostly alkaline and it also can feel really hard. It’s easiest when I food shop and cook in my kitchen, but eating out is not so easy. It takes thinking and preparation, that’s not so bad I guess! I think I’m doing okay finding my balance between the two. It hasn’t even been a year eating this way, so I guess it takes time to get used to. After all, there’s no point living in this city if I can’t enjoy the best part! FOOD:)

There are a few things I learned having these experiences and I hope you do too. 

Biggest one – my health comes before pleasing people. I don’t know about you, but this is a tough one for me because I don’t want to be that girl who comes off like a diva! I also don’t want to be that girl who orders a salad on a date because that’s not who I am, I’m a woman with a big appetite and I want my future husband to see that:) 

Second – To prepare as much as I possibly can before eating out, this will save myself stress later. And when I say stress I mean any of those awkward, nervous, guilty feelings that are stressful on the body and mind! 

Third – My true friends really understand and are nothing but supportive. This is HUGE! Anyone who doesn’t support me in my Psoriasis journey will not be fortunate enough to dine with me anymore! 

Now for a little (a lot) of inspiration!

I’ve met such wonderful, loving people on the National Psoriasis Foundation forum. It’s such an incredible place to go for support and information! I met a man named Larry, who like me, healed himself through eating mostly alkaline foods and is still doing so.  Larry has lived with Psoriasis for 30 years and like most of us, followed the direction of his dermatologist, who doesn’t believe food can heal.  Him and his wife stumbled upon information about diet and the healing affects just 5 months ago and take a look at his progress! I can’t believe these cheesy words are coming out of my mouth right now, but…the proof is in the pudding! 🙂

Ps – sorry for the large photos, was having some difficulty with the sizing!

Month 1!

Month 2!

Month 3!

Month 4!

Thank you Larry for being open and allowing me to share your story! Your commitment and determination to heal your skin is nothing but inspiring! I look forward to writing about you again at month 12! 

Feel free to check out Larry’s full story at https://www.inspire.com/. His screen name is Lohall426 and you can find his entries by searching for him in Journals and/or Discussions.