I had a conference to go to in NYC for four days. Admittedly, I was nervous. Whenever I eat out, there’s a possibility of being glutened and then I’m sick for at least a week, if not longer.

The conference I was attending said they would take care of me as far as food. Each day they were providing breakfast, lunch and snacks. So I figured I only had to be concerned with dinner.

When I arrived, I walked down to a natural foods store and Whole Foods to get a few snack things and what would end up being my meals for the next few days – a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter.

The first night there was a reception. I wasn’t expecting much and I was right. I had the choice of any kind of alcohol and lots of gluten filled appetizers. I left there and went to Ted’s Montana Grill and ordered a steak with plain baked potato. I pretty much begged the waiter to make sure my food was dairy and gluten free. He was so concerned, he actually came to my table after I ate and asked me how I was feeling!

Thank goodness, I felt fine! Day one down.

The next morning I went downstairs at the hotel hoping they would at least have hard boiled eggs as part of their continental breakfast. No dice. But I could have had all the gluten I could have ever wanted! I probably could have asked for something but I figured I could eat at the conference so I wasn’t concerned.

I put a few pieces of bread and a jar of peanut butter in my purse, just in case, and left for the shuttle. When I arrived, they gave me special meal tickets to hand to the workers. So I went down to the food area and only saw pastries, yogurt and apples. Guess they figured I could eat an apple for breakfast?

Fruit is a no go for me because of interstitial cystitis so I ate my first peanut butter bread meal. I figured I would just need to hold out until the morning snack. When that rolled around, it was a repeat of breakfast.

Then it was time for lunch. They had a special table set up for food allergies and they were serving the food to you. Problem is that some who didn’t want to wait, scooped their own salad and touched their pasta filled plates with the spoon. Luckily I was standing there when it happened so I knew not to eat that.

I asked what was gluten and dairy free and she looked confused. She called the chef over and he said he would call to ask. They had meals of baked chicken and a baked potato individually wrapped and they were kosher and gluten free. Stupid me…..I said I don’t know what kosher means?! He said they can’t have dairy and meat prepped together so I would be safe. Sweet!

The afternoon snack was all sweet stuff. For dinner, I couldn’t find a place on Yelp that was gluten free that didn’t have a review about people getting sick. So more peanut butter bread.

The next morning, breakfast was the same so you guessed it! More peanut butter! At lunch, they were having fajitas. Score! Until I found out the fajitas at the allergy table were flour. Really?! Was it that hard to serve corn instead? And they made all of the food vegan. So I had about a half cup of beans and rice. It was good but I was still hungry.

That night I hopped on the subway and went who knows where to a gluten free bakery. I bought a few snacks and had those with my peanut butter bread for dinner.

The next morning, well I bet you can’t guess what I ate?! Haha! I went over to the “special” table for lunch and the only thing that was gluten and dairy free was quinoa. I hate that stuff. I saw people walking away with baked chicken but she said no, they had added BBQ sauce and it wasn’t safe. Um, ever heard of putting stuff on the side?!

So more peanut butter bread. By this time I’m starving. I’m probably averaging about 700 calories a day….maybe. It was the last day and my flight was that night. I couldn’t wait to get back home and go to Chick-fil-a!

As I’m going through security at the airport, they flagged my bag. She asked me if I had anything sharp and I said no, I just have plastic knives (for my peanut butter). She said no, that’s not an issue. So she’s digging through my bag and pulled out my beloved jar of peanut butter.

She said it wasn’t a solid so I couldn’t have it. She could tell I was annoyed but I was trying so hard to be nice. She asked if I wanted to check it and I said no, it’s okay, I’ll just starve. Peanut butter is all I’ve basically had for the past few days so I’ll live if I can’t have it again. She felt really bad but rules are rules!

I was thrilled when my plane landed and I knew where to go to eat that was safe! I have GOT to come up with other plans for traveling because this eating peanut butter for days on end is insane!