I still contend that giving up soy is the best decision I've made regarding my health. I took control, and I'm going on 3 weeks pain free. I think people who feel good most of the time take it for granted. It's amazing to feel 'normal' again, after so many months of pain. But I digress.
Despite all of the rainbows and unicorns that come with a pain-free life, there are still some things I miss:
Being able to eat on the fly. This is the biggie. I have to meticulously plan my meals ahead of time. I've always carried my lunch to work, but now I have to make certain that I carry enough food for the entire day. If I underestimate or end up working longer than planned, I end up starving because running over to the student union is no longer a viable option. I actually have a bag of dried fruit that lives in my car now for this reason.
Spinach artichoke dip. I haven't found a way to make it homemade yet, because sour cream and cream cheese both contain soy. Bummer.
Eating out. We don't eat out often anyway, but we've only eaten out once since I started this and it was a failure. See my falling off the wagon post. It was good, and there was just a tiny bit of pain, but still. I realized then that restaurant food is probably mostly soy with different flavorings and color added. Of course, I can always eat a vegetable-only salad with oil and vinegar dressing when we eat out, but I think Brint feels guilty at this point for suggesting this as a meal option.
Not having to read the ingredients list. I'm not going to stop doing this anytime soon, if ever. But it makes grocery shopping take 10X longer than it used to, because there will inevitably be some amount of soy in the item on my original shopping list, so I then have to A. find a suitable replacement, B. figure out how to make it myself or C. do without. It's just a time consuming process.
I'm sure these things I miss are familiar for anyone with a food intolerance or allergy, especially parents of a child with a food intolerance or allergy. In the end, it's worth the extra effort. But it doesn't make me not miss glimpses of my former life.