Could a Gluten Allergy Be Making You Sick?

It's can be a challenge to avoid gluten in your diet, and it can be a heartbreaking to have to try.Some of you may be rolling your eyes or shaking your head as most of our favourite carbohydrates contain some form of gluten Currently experts estimate that over 40% percent of the population has some level of gluten intolerance; this means that it's a very real possibility you could be upsetting your gastrointestinal tract with just a slice of bread, crisp breads, battered foods, bread crumbed products and your next bowl of cereal or pasta.

What is gluten and where is found?

Gluten is a special type of protein and is found in abundance in wheat, rye, barley, and is typically ground into some type of flour and then baked into breads, crackers, and pastas. Gluten can also be hidden in foods you really don’t expect, are you ready? this may surprise you. Vanilla extract, certain sweets, packet soups, gravy mix, and some yoghurts. For people who suffer from celiac disease or even milder versions of gluten intolerance, eating just a few bites of gluten can disrupt their digestive systems or cause damage to their intestinal linings.

Here’s what the experts recommend you should consider:

-Watch out for symptoms. While food allergies may cause distinct, immediate reactions, the effects of a food intolerance may be more subtle. You may develop fatigue, weight gain, weight loss, bloating (especially in the face), and digestive issues like gas, heartburn, diarrhea, or constipation.

-Consider testing. Celiac disease is often diagnosed using either a blood test, stool test, or an intestinal biopsy — though it isn’t always caught right away. If you suspect that a gluten intolerance is causing your health issues, consult your GP or, if you'd like to look into it yourself, have a food allergy test or a specific celiac antibody screen.

-If you are not one for tests why not try out the gluten-free diet. These days, gluten-free versions of your favourite foods are more available than ever, including pastas and breads. 

-Consider taking a break from gluten for a month to see if your weight loss and your overall health improve. Do be aware that you will need to watch out for those  “hidden” gluten, found in things like modified food starches, thickening agents, caramel colouring, monosodium glutinate , flavoured coffees, and soy sauce. You may discover that avoiding gluten is your lottery ticket to feeling fantastic..

There’s nothing fun about making sacrifices.

However when it comes to your health, some of them are totally worth it. How important to you is good health and a strong body not matter what age you are? I found out I have a mild (I say mild if I indulge I pay the price with tummy ache, real griping pains, bloating, headache, lethargy and if I am really unlucky a trip to the toilet which can't wait !) gluten intolerance, and am fairly careful about what I eat . My energy is back and no more bloating or falling asleep in the afternoon. My food intolerances are yeast, and white flour I now avoid dairy including cheese which I love and pay the price for if I overindulge, yoghurt's bloat me up as does any white bread product, bran, wheat type breakfast cereals, granola, muesli crackers and crisp breads of any kind so now I just avoid bread white or brown. I have cut out caffeine and will have the occasional decaff coffee at my Mom & Dads I don't buy it at home. I have a guest jar of coffee stashed away for visitors.

You get over missing these foods.

Occasionally I fancy them, but giving up those indulgences is well worth the effort. I feel fantastic. You can do it, too and will have some amazing results and realise just how these foods affect your body.

Let me know how you get on going gluten free

Enjoy

Debs x

What Is Your Ego Standing In The Way Of?

Good Morning - Happy Thursday. Heating is on, radio on low, lap top fired up as I work on my content for my speaking at Brad camp in Bradford next Tuesday and prepare for my trip to London next week to see my business coach and attend The Business show at Olympia and distract myself from thinking about more pressing matters. Now if you are nosey like me, you may be thinking what is your more pressing matter Debs and you may relate to the word 'distraction' well I have learned I am good at distracting myself from things that take me out of my comfort zone. The word distraction is another word for avoiding, I am good at avoiding things that make me feel out of control, insecure and not approved of? Can you relate to this?

I am fortunate that I am learning to recognise these things when they occur, accept them and let them go. This week has been particularly poignant in my spiritual growth. I am not getting all mumbo jumbo on you. For me spiritual enlightenment is not about candles, churches and visions of angels wings. It may be for some and that's Ok. I am not knocking it, my own spiritual journey is about letting go of my ego and the need to be in control, feel secure and have approval from those I share my life with and meet along the way. It's a deep sense of knowing I already have these things, trusting myself and more importantly loving myself.

Life is always teaching us if we choose to learn from it's many lessons. Life's lessons are here to guide us - I wrote on facebook on Monday 

'I give thanks for the gifts of love I have been given over the last 44 years of my precious life, this body is loaned to me as I flow freely along this wondrous journey. Following the sad news I was passed today I celebrate that I have been touched by the person who relinquished her body this weekend aged 44. Be free Mrs P Im smiling at the jokes we shared'

In the moment of writing this on Monday I had the overwhelming urge to have a cuddle with my Mom.

As old as I am I often get these urges and never act on them. This got me thinking and I had a complete moment of clarity, why when I have a Mom, do I not take advantage of these moments?! EGO is the answer, I am a 44 year old woman, strong, fiercely independent and making my own way in life. When I look at my ego, it is driven by FEAR, how could you be scared of your own Mother? I am not scared of my Mom, I am fearful of her rejection which creates insecurity in my thoughts, fearful of her ridicule which makes me feel disapproved of, and fearful of the feelings I have just mentioned as they make me feel out of control. In writing this I make my own Mother sound like a monster, which she is not. So why would I feel this way? Like I said my ego tells me I am an adult and pride stands in the way of me asking for the love I sometimes need, and there is an air of expectation that my Mom should know I still need that love, as I did when I was a child. How do I overcome this?

It is much simpler than you think

By acknowledging and then accepting I am loved, I have her love and approval, I am secure and in full control. I can let go of the pride and sadness inside and allow my ego voice to quieten down and allow myself to love in this moment, in loving my Mom unconditionally free of the ego, I love myself. So on Monday when I thought about all this and released all the emotion, I set my intention that I would accept my Mom loves me and I would accept I love her freely, and in doing so I love myself with no expectations. I let go of the emotion of courage I felt too and felt an inner peace I haven't felt for a while.

On Tuesday I popped to my Mom and Dads as it was my Dads birthday.

I sat next to my Mom and I cannot tell you the love I felt for her. We briefly chatted before she fell asleep as she has been a little unwell of late and I watched her, and felt grateful this incredible woman had breathed life into me. At that moment I saw a mirror image of my older self, a 67 year old woman, strong, fiercely independent and probably as fearful as me of being rejected by her eldest daughter. In this moment of realisation I touched her face as she slept, it was soft and warm and she smelled of 'my Mom' you know Moms have that distinct smell all of their own. I felt unconditional love, all warm and squiffy.

Yesterday I popped back over to Mom and Dads to help dye my Mom's hair.

We did have a giggle when her white roots went ever so slightly pink and I must admit for a while I was a little anxious this could all go wrong! She however trusted me enough to laugh about it and had an inner resolve that it would be OK. You know what? it was OK and a crisis was averted. Whilst sat and talking to her about this and that I watched and listened to this lady, who had given birth to me, then my brother, then gone through a tragedy no parent should have to face, my brothers death at 6 months old on New Years Eve! Then followed the birth of my sister and twin sisters after that. I have watched her have a bowel operation, face cancer of the skin near her eye, be diagnosed with Osteoporosis and Diabetes, have a triple heart bypass, (she doesn't do things by halves my Mom), lose precious family members and friends along her life's path, including her best friends husband to a tragic road traffic accident and watch her best friend of all lose her battle to ovarian cancer and I thought to myself, not once have I heard her feel sorry for herself, seen her acting like it was all too much and she couldn't carry on. Even if inside she has felt like crumbling and it was all too much she remained positive and powered on.

There is the underlying joke for a man marrying a woman you know the one.

Take a look at the mother in law and that is how the daughter will turn out. As I said to my hubs last night, WOW take a good look at my Mom because if I am half the woman she is by the time I am 67 I will be grateful. What is even more powerful is that in this realisation over the last three days, it is my Mom who is my other half, the mirror image that completes me and makes me whole and I know no matter what the peace I feel inside is like a storm that has been raging suddenly silenced - bliss.

Today my Mom with her newly coloured hair went for a investigative colonoscopy.

I found myself a nervous wreck at 9am, I suddenly had the 'what if' moment, you know the one. I had this once before when I lived In Germany and she was having her open heart surgery. The anxiety and fear that raged then suddenly reared its ugly all consuming head again. Thankfully this time I had the tools to deal with it and gave myself a good talking to and it settled in no time. But I felt compelled to write this blog. Dad called me about 11.20am to say all had gone OK and Mom was home. She came on the phone a little woozy, but hearing her voice was like a lullaby, comforting and soothing, I felt like a small child all over again, safe and loved. As the call ended I said 'I love you Mom' (tears are welling up as I write this I'm a soppy sausage) and she said 'I love you too. The feeling when I heard those words were better than winning the lottery and NO money can ever buy the feeling and sense of well being that is bought about by two people exchanging a gratitude for being in each others lives.

Life is TOO short to let FEAR and EGO stand in the way of loving yourself 

It is the most precious gift you will ever be given, self love means you have the ability to love others unconditionally and in return be loved living a life you love. This blog is dedicated to my Mom, you are AMAZING Mom and we have more happy memories to make, the hair dying is just the start of a whole new chapter.

If there is someone out there you need to connect with do it before it's too late. let go of the ego and enjoy.

Debs x

If you would like to get in touch please do I would love to hear from you.

How To Double Your Income

It has been a busy couple weeks as I put the final touches to my new website due to launch in a weeks’ time, having new central heating fitted and instructing the builder on fixtures and fittings as we have our bathroom refitted, our bedrooms redecorated and new carpets fitted.  Yesterday I thought to myself roll on Christmas, all my children will be home and we will be tucked away with our friends in a cosy North Yorkshire cottage. I don’t write these things to impress you but impress upon you that with hard work you can achieve the goals you set and have all you desire. However you must know why you are doing what you do to help you remain focused. But also balance that up with ensuring you are not just connected to your reason ‘why’, you are also connected to those that are supporting you along the way. 

It seems ages since I "let my hair down and just “lost track of time on holiday with my family. 

It is so easy to just carry on when you are driven to achieve a goal and become disconnected to those you share your life with, as you power ahead. And, after spending the summer planning and creating my new products and restructuring my business,  I’m looking forward to Christmas when I can set myself free for a couple of weeks.

I consider myself to be true to those I educate and inspire. 

It is a rare find these days to actually be given the truth about what it means to design, launch and manage a growing coaching business. There are too many false promises, ineffective over sold solutions, exaggerated results and "work less, make more, get rich quick offers" messages out there designed to get money out of the wallets of our blossoming coaches from coaches selling hope and certainty. I know I was taken in by a shark 3 years ago, but that story is for another blog. Today I want to share with you the truth, the truth that it takes committed and focused actions to build and develop a thriving, honest coaching business.

There's a popular quote I read on a blog recently by an unknown person

"Entrepreneurship is to live a few years like others won't, so you can live the rest of your life like others can't." 

Well, for me that about sums it up. I will do today what others will not, to have tomorrow what others cannot. This is a reason ‘why’ it's so important to ground yourself in your mission to succeed and a big ‘WHY’ for your business.. When you are tapped into your purpose and driven to create a change in the world, but more importantly in yourself. you can begin to redefine what "work" means for you. And, what’s more you cannot feel more motivated and passionate about your business, to the degree that you don't even notice, nor do you care, that you haven't taken a break in a few months for some a few years.

So, if you’re unclear about your mission and your big reason ‘WHY’ for your business.

Take a break from your other projects and get fully connected with your reasons ‘why’ you are in business. It is often NOT the reason you think you are doing what you do. My coaching clients are always shocked when I help them uncover the hidden reason 'why' they are in business, this realisation immediately has a transformational affect for them. Once you know your REAL reason why, then allow that to fuel you now, and beyond, to develop and grow your business with phenomenal results. Look out for my report, Fast Business Breakthroughs, 5 Ways to Unblock the Things That Stop Your Business Growth. It will be yours for free when my new website launches very soon. Applying the information inside this report will see you transforming your business, your whole life.

Do you know the real reason 'WHY' you are in business?

Create a Life you Love

Debs