A person goes cruising through life enjoying nice meals, wonderful desserts, drive-thrus on the run, taste-tempting regional cuisine, a little wine from the vineyards, and then one day the test results comes back and it all comes to a screeching halt.

Welcome to my world of food allergies. The real challenge is how to travel while eliminating preservatives and soy from my diet. That old adage, very carefully, applies. Hopefully the doctor is right and over time, it will be possible to return to my wild and perilous ways, albeit on a limited basis.

Before I could get back on the road though, I headed to the grocery store and started reading labels. I probably could have done this using the Internet, but didn’t. The number of food products that contain soy is incredible. It’s actually easier to list what doesn’t contain this product - fresh vegetables and fruits; nuts in shells; basic, uncooked grains and farm raised meats and fish. In essence, about two corners in the store, plus one-quarter of an aisle. Forget anything that is obviously convenient, chocolate, baked or from the dairy. Salad dressings and oils are pretty much out too. I was completely amazed at what I’d been consuming. Oh, and put the bottle of multiple vitamins back on the shelf too because it contains Vitamin A (soy).

I found, that in most cases, if the content label was difficult to read without a magnifying glass or couldn’t be pronounced, it was removed from my pantry and my life. The trickiest part is the little phrase “less than 2 percent or not a significant source of Vitamin A.” This fine print, usually located somewhere on the package away from the ingredients, translates, for my purposes, to trouble. And while I thought chicken was a safe bet, most pre-packaged chicken contains this lingo.

Now when traveling for fun, the cooler is as much standard equipment as a map. It is filled with sliced apples, oranges, grapefruit, grapes, grilled chicken breasts, carrots, celery sticks and bottled water. Take the water and freeze it before leaving home. That way you can keep food items cold at the beginning of the trip and later they’re filled with nice cool water for drinking.

Pistachio nuts are a great travel companion, as well as almond butter, which is similar to peanut butter. Canned tuna is an option, providing someone remembers the can opener. Be warned - brand name tuna includes soy.

All this healthy eating will shed pounds, if you have it to lose. Too many carbs (fruit, veggies and pastas) need to be balanced with protein (chicken, fish and nuts) and fat. But how do you add fat to your diet when it all seems to be comprised of some kind of soy? After some searching, I found dry milk that has zero percent Vitamin A. One-third cup of cold water with one tablespoon of powder and I had milk. As a bonus, it was easily transportable!

While many hotels feature complimentary continental breakfast, much of it is filled with foods I can no longer eat. If I’m in the South, I can add water to pre-packaged grits and make them in the microwave. When warm, I mix in a little of my homemade milk. This along with a banana or an orange and I’m in good shape for awhile. Regular restaurants offer poached eggs, fruit (some out-of-the can fruits feature the “less than 2 percent” phrase) and plain old oatmeal - just make sure the latter is made with water and not milk or a smidge of butter.

I have determined that I can have a salad but only with true balsamic wine vinegar, which can be very dry. A real treat is finding a restaurant that offers this. To be on the safe side, request that the dressing be on the side. Some do add oil and you’ll immediately be able to see the little bubbles.

Because I’m a Type A personality and burn a lot of energy each day, and because I don’t have the ability to make food from scratch while on the road, I schedule one good meal out each day. When possible, I make it a late lunch, as it seems to hold me the longest. Most national restaurant chains are willing to clean the oil off their grill and prepare a nice piece of salmon, along with some fresh, steamed squash sans the butter, when asked. Not all wait staff know what to do with people like me, so I inevitably speak directly with management. Most will readily provide customers an ingredients list to review before they begin preparing a meal. I have found that they will go out of their way to accommodate people with allergies.

There are a large number of well-intentioned front line food service personnel that will tell you a particular food does not include soy. But when you question them further about the actual preparation, they say, “Oh, it’s got vegetable oil in it.” This is precisely the problem. As cynical as it may sound, the only person I really trust is myself. The closer I am to the natural food product the better a chance I have for a non-reaction.

While I would like the food allergy to go away quickly, I do understand that this issue did not happen overnight. It’s been building for years. While I’ve been itching to travel, my boss has been extremely supportive, as have my in-town clients, who want to get together for lunch.

Since I’ve been behaving for several months, I have been able to get on the road a little. Even when I’ve strayed a bit, I know what the consequences will be. However, the reaction has not been as severe as when first diagnosed. I’m amazed at how much I’ve learned about good nutrition and look forward to a day when I can travel and worry less about my diet.