Somebody turned the navigation of this body over to a nimrod.

No hurts or aches. Full range of motion. Sure, there are digestive/heartburn issues that are being worked on, but other than that … things were working. Pain free.

Until …

That nimrod flexed her muscles and, in a fit of pouting, declared she wanted just a smidge of normal life.

Normal, meaning eating gluten.

That Oktoberfest I recently wrote about? Well, whoever took over my body ate two – TWO – pretzel bites full of gluten – dipped in that delicious German mustard – while we sampled various Oktoberfest-ish beers, for a total of probably one whole, gluten-filled, yet fermented beer.

Fermented foods can often blunt the gluten factor. I occasionally eat Sourdough bread because it’s fermented.

But, you can’t fool Mother Nature.

So, here I am at Nimrod’s Anonymous:

“Hello. My name is Deidre, and I am a nimrod.”

“Hi, Deidre.”

“I ate and drank gluten, and I had to pay a terrible price. My hips hurt so badly, I could hardly walk. I powered through an evening stroll in slow motion, hoping I could iron out the pain if I just went slow enough.”

… and so, my confession continued as I explained how returning to the gluten-free life for three days of ‘purity’ has, so far, blunted the hitch in my step, but has not taken it totally away. I am, at least, not reaching for the Aleve anymore.

Several years ago, when I was teaching my first Designed for Health class, an attendee remarked how staying away from gluten had revolutionized her well-being. The swelling in her knuckles had gone down and she was able to, once again, wear her rings. Her other health issues were improving as well.

A person does not have to be deathly allergic to gluten to benefit from giving it the boot.

If you have hurting joints or a sense of things being ‘off,’ take thirty days away from gluten to see how you feel.

It has a lot to do with the kind of wheat grown in America. It’s a dwarf variety, not your grandmother’s wheat, and very high in gluten.

In fact, a friend of mine who is gluten sensitive, recently returned from a cruise in Europe. She ate ALL the breads and desserts while on vacation! You see, in Europe, they grow a different kind of wheat – the old kind which is more user-friendly.

Certainly, someone with Celiac Disease could not do that; but those of us who are gluten sensitive might give European baked goods a try.

Book me a cruise on Viking, please! Now!

In the meantime, I must admit to having feet of clay. Sigh.

Pain is a great teacher.

I will remember this pain next time that nimrod starts whispering in my ear.

In health –

Deidre

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There’s a great hack for frustration.

I learned about it while being a caregiver and I teach it to caregivers in my presentations and books – but the application of this idea is universal.

You see, frustration is often borne of lack of control. Whether we are waiting on others to do their part or are feeling trapped in circumstances that are changing without our input, we long for control and want to push back.

But we can’t, because we are not in control.

So, what’s the hack?

While we may not be able to hurry someone or something up, and we cannot change the circumstances that we are in – we can lessen our frustration level by finding something we can fully control.

I’ve been doing a lot of that lately; and controlling a home project from start to finish has done me a world of good in lowering my frustration level.

Is the source of frustration still there? Yup.

But concentrating on what I can control is a great way to channel that frustration.

And it’s an excellent way to get vinyl flooring installed in my attic/closet and organize my craft and gift-wrapping supplies into drawers I also assembled.

The feelings of accomplishment far out shadow the frustration.

Nothing gets your mind off your troubles more than sticky fingers. Man! The adhesive backing on vinyl tiles is crazy sticky! Everything I touched got sticky. Pen. Cutter. Ruler.

Go glad my neighbor had Goo Gone! She came over by chance the other night, just at the right time. My digits were so sticky that I had to wrap the pen I used to sign her document to avoid ruining it!

Please note: My hands may have been relieved of all stickiness using Goo Gone, but the original formula is not recommended to use on skin.

The Goo Gone company says:

Our Goo Gone Bandage & Adhesive Remover can be used on skin. Our original products are skin irritants.

So, when getting unstuck, grab the appropriate Goo Gone or use GOJO natural orange pumice hand cleaner.

Whew! Glad I still have fingerprints and intact skin!

So, yes, get your fingers sticky with home improvement, or gooey in bread dough, or anything else to kick that frustration out of town!

But get Goo Gone first.

In health –

Deidre

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People talk about all kinds of strings.

• String theory.
• Beware of any strings that may be attached to what seems to be a good deal.
• Zing went the strings of my heart! Note: There really are strings in the heart called chordae tendineae.

And then, we speak of pulling strings …

… to get something by calling in favors from influential contacts.

… on a sweater … not a good idea if you want to keep your sweater from unraveling!

Then, there’s that invisible string that we all need to pull every morning.

I learned about this string when taking a creative movement/dance class in high school. Our instructor reminded us to pull that invisible string at the very top of our head to assist us in standing up straighter, lifting our chins, aligning our shoulders, and raising our chests up high.

Little secret: Going through the physical motions of ‘pulling’ on this invisible string helps.

There is power in body language – not only as how others perceive us, but also as how our body language is the reflection of how we view ourselves.

“The mind believes what we tell it.” Ex: I can do this!

Our body language can tell us a great deal as well.

Having a hard day? Not feeling great?

Are you in what I call “the trudge”? – you know, varying degrees of slumping, being bent over, shoulders rounded.

PULL THAT STRING!

The trudge sucks power and energy out of us! Listen to Amy Cuddy’s TED talk for an inspirational review on how our body language can change the very hormonal chemistry of our blood. See below:

If you want to give energy, you must be an open vessel to receive it. Confident people are confident because they have the body language of confidence.

Fake it until you make it? Absolutely! If that’s where you are starting from, do it!

Confidence will not replace preparation, but many well-prepared people lack confidence – possibly because of imposter syndrome, whereby they feel like unqualified fakes.

Whatever life has in store for you, ‘pull that string’ to bring your best self to the new day.

Then, take two full minutes in your power pose! Two minutes. It takes that long to reset hormone levels.

I did this once as a body reset while in Denver International Airport. We were waiting for a connecting flight back home and I was starting to slump with feelings of coming down with something.

Off to the restroom I went where, in the privacy of my stall, I pulled my invisible string and struck the power pose for two minutes.

My last flight home was comfortable.

“The mind believes what we tell it.”

“My mind believes what I tell it – and show it!”

In health –

Deidre