Episode Details

Do you feel like your vegan diet or food allergies make you “difficult” at restaurants and social gatherings? You’re not alone. And you deserve better.

In this World Vegan Month episode, I (author, trauma therapist, senior accredited supervisor etc, Eve Menezes Cunningham) share some of my journey from being an “awkward vegan” with a severe bell pepper allergy to (more) confidently advocating for my food needs. Learn how to:

✨ Ask for what you need without shame

✨ Use somatic techniques to feel empowered when ordering

✨ Navigate social situations where you’re the only vegan

✨ Recognise which people and places truly support your needs

✨ Turn advocating for yourself (stating dietary requirements) into self-healing

Whether you’re vegan, have food allergies, sensory issues with food or any dietary requirements, this episode validates your experiences and provides practical tools for feeling safe, welcome and nourished.

Perfect for anyone with trauma, ADHD, or AuDHD who struggles with the extra layers of complexity around food choices.

🎙️ Feel Better Every Day Podcast Episode 85 Host: Eve Menezes Cunningham Next week: Special guest Tracy Otsuka, author of “ADHD for Smart Ass Women”

📚 Free resources and full transcript: selfcarecoaching.net

#VeganLife #FoodAllergies #ADHD #TraumaHealing #SelfCare #Neurodivergent #WorldVeganMonth

CHAPTERS

(0:00–1:25) Asking for what you need and embracing awkwardness

(1:25–3:50) Power poses, confidence, and feeling worthy of good things

(3:50–5:44) Compassion for yourself when being vegan feels awkward

(5:44–7:15) Sensory needs, boundaries, and finding your people

(7:15–9:01) Speaking up for yourself and healing old wounds

(9:01–11:24) Food, co-regulation, and making socialising easier

(11:24–13:24) EFT tapping, tenderness, and trauma-informed care

(13:24–16:10) Rippling kindness outward and staying idealistic

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Do you ever feel like being a vegan makes it hard for you to enjoy food out with friends, loved ones or even at home?

Do you ever feel like you’re being too awkward if you have any kind of food allergy?

This episode for World Vegan Month is for you and I want to encourage you to acknowledge the accommodations that you need and deserve and to help you ask for what you need with less shame.

I’m nearly 50 and I am much better at it than I used to be but I used to call myself an awkward vegan for many years because I’m also allergic to bell peppers and they’re in so many vegan dishes.

The older I get, I mean I say the older I get, a couple decades ago I was writing for an allergy magazine about the pepper allergy and it was before I went vegan but about the difficulty. It’s not one of the big 14 [allergens].

Back then there was a big 10 and there’s more awareness around allergies but I guess the relevance for this episode is recognising the special needs needing to be accommodated like it could kill me. And it is very stressful a lot of the time and also I love food and I want to enjoy it, I don’t want to be off of the salads.

Welcome to episode 85 of the Feel Better Every Day Podcast. I’m your host Eve Menezes Cunningham and every Tuesday I share a new episode where it’s helping people with trauma, ADHD and AuDHD take better care of yourself, create a life you don’t need to retreat from and help build a world in which everyone feels safe, welcome and loved.

This here is Mighty Meadbh and if you haven’t already subscribed you’re very welcome to and you can find out more information at the Feel Better Every Day Podcast and that will lead you to the book and all sorts of free resources as well as ways of working with me.

For the Feel part of the Feel. Love. Heal. framework today, I want to encourage you to get into your body to empower yourself. It might be that you fe