Dating and OIT

While I’m no dating expert, I did go on a few dates while doing OIT in collage, so I guess I can speak from casual lived experience.

Now, there’s always SOMETHING about ourselves we hold back from dates or significant others for fear of giving them the dreaded ick. But if you have a food allergy and haven’t graduated from OIT yet, your safety > the ick. I said what I said.

So is there a way to make your safety a priority without making allergies and OIT your entire personality? Glad you asked.

My first tip is to make sure they’re at least aware of the allergy. If you can, bring it up in casual conversation, maybe something like, “I love Chipotle so much, they were awesome making sure my food was dairy and nut free.”

You can also drop hints about your favorite non food activities like hiking or going to the beach.

In my experience, if they’re a good person, they’ll probably love a chance to care for you. They might work extra hard to find a safe restaurant or bake you a safe desert from scratch.

In summary, be transparent early on, provide hints or even offer to help with date planning, and trust that you are enough and that if someone doesn’t respect your allergy, you don’t need them in your life.

Hope this helps!