Melissa Goerke On the Quest for Human Happiness and Self Improvement

In my quest for human happiness and fulfillment I read a ton of e-books.  I am always on the lookout for something that makes me jump up and say “wow!”  Honestly, it doesn’t happen as often as I would like.  This morning was different.  I saw that Jonathan Fields had updated his Facebook status stating that he was launching CareerRenegade.com, and releasing The Fire Fly Manifesto.  I have to admit the very names of both the site and the manifesto were a big draw for me.  I kind of like the idea of being a renegade and I have always been fond of manifestos in general.  So I just had to go check it out.

Three paragraphs into the manifesto I was pumping my fist, nodding my head vigorously and crying “yes, yes, yes” as I read.  I was truly blown away!  Jonathan’s words need to be read by as many people as possible in the coming months.  People who have already been laid off need to hear his message, and people living in fear of the pink slip need it even more.  If you can change the way you view the loss of a job, you can change your life. We are at one of those turning points in history and we can either choose to make some thing wonderful from it or we can cower in fear and get whipped by the winds of change.   Thousands and thousands of people are being given the chance to hit the reset button their careers and their lives.  The question is how many of them will see the chance for what it really is and dare to become career renegades?

Check out Jonathan’s The Fire Fly Manifesto and let me know what you think.  Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to pre-order Jonathan’s Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love due out in January of 2009.

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I had to put a qualifier on the title because in the month of November I have attempted to “cheat” on my gluten, dairy and diet coke free lifestyle.  As for gluten I can tell you that I will NEVER do that again!  Before I get into the details, let me update you on my physical status at the 77 day mark.

• I have lost 10 pounds (woo hoo!!!)
• Significant increase in energy…no late afternoon slumps
• Much more even keeled in the mood department
• Significant reduction in sinus headaches
• Increased ability to focus for long periods of time
• Most importantly - my digestive system appears to be in harmony with the rest of my body, finally!

Now back to my fall off of the gluten-free wagon. I went out two weeks ago with my boss for pizza at a place in town that we both absolutely love.  While it is a super thin crust pizza, it is most certainly full of gluten.  Well, it didn’t even take an hour for my stomach to rebel.  The swelling, bloating and cramping were back in full force.  Let’s just say it was not a pleasant afternoon at all!

What surprised me most was how long the effects of that crust stayed with me.  It was a full 7 days before I could honestly say that my stomach had returned to its now normally calm self.  That’s why I say I will NEVER do that again.  This weekend I attended a wedding and ate 3 crackers with three small slices of cheese and had no problems, but I suspect if I sat down for a serious cheese and cracker festival I’d regret that as well.

I should remind you that I am following the program in the book Eat Right 4 Your Type: The Individualized Diet Solution to Staying Healthy, Living Longer & Achieving Your Ideal Weight by Dr. Peter D’Adamo.  Although that program recommends eliminating dairy, it allows for the eating of eggs, goat cheese, mozzarella and feta in moderation, which I do.  Other than that I avoid dairy. The one time in Disney World I attempted to eat some ice cream I discovered that even Lactaid tablets could not save me, LOL.  So no milk or ice cream for me!  I have been pretty good about my dairy intake, with the exception of that ice cream attempt.  Since I can eat some cheeses,  especially my absolute favorite, goat cheese, I’m pretty happy with the program on that front.  I do have the occasional lust for a big cold glass of milk with my gluten free cookies, but I just have green tea instead.

Diet coke free?  Pretty much.  In Disney I had two glasses of diet coke, both at restaurants.  I figured the ice would water it down.  I can say they were refreshing and I honestly didn’t notice any ill effects.  I also drank about 1/3 of a 20 oz bottle the last day we were there, but the un-diluted soda just tasted too strong for me.  Earlier this month at scrapbooking event I drank two cans of diet coke.  Those did taste quite good and since my stomach was still recovering from the pizza I couldn’t tell if they had any ill effect.

My overall avoidance of diet coke is based on my concern over the unnatural nature of the product. There is just nothing whole or natural about this beverage.  Heck even regular coke is made with high fructose corn syrup instead of real sugar (except during Passover).  I believe that my weight gain and inability to shed pounds is very much related to what used to be a large intake of diet coke.  I would drink between 2 and 3 20oz. bottles daily.  That’s a lot of chemicals, artificial sweetener and sodium to take in each day.  The sodium in diet coke has always baffled me.  When you read the ingredients for diet coke it never says sodium, so I’m guessing it comes along for the ride with one of the preservatives.  Here are the official ingredients:

• Carbonated Water
• Caramel Color
• Aspartame
• Phosphoric Acid
• Potassium Benzoate (protects taste)
• Natural Flavors (this one always concerns me…define “natural”)
• Citric Acid
• Caffeine

See, there’s nothing really good going on in there.  I have found so many wonderful all natural sodas in stores like Wegmans, Whole Foods and Target. My favorites are Boylan’s and their Black Cherry Soda is my absolute favorite!  Ingredients are carbonated water, back cherry juice and cane sugar.  Gotta love that! Bill loves their all natural Root Beer.  You can find Boylan’s in Target and I highly recommend them for that occasional carbonated treat.

Overall I would strongly recommend that anyone experiencing digestive issues and weight gain/loss problems give a gluten free lifestyle a try. Do it for three months to see what kind of effect it has on your body.  There are so many delicious alternatives that are 100% natural as well. Unlike other diets where you end up having to eat over-processed foods to get something similar to what you used to enjoy, this lifestyle is about increasing your intake of natural, whole foods.  You’ve got nothing to lose except some unwanted pounds and a long list of physical complaints!

Here is some great reading material for you to check out:

• Don’t Drink the Diet Coke by John McManamy
  • Very eye opening article about the truth behind Aspartame and the FDA.
• How Can Gluten, A Naturally Occurring Foodstuff be Harmful from the FAQ on Enterolab’s Website
  • A concise explanation of what gluten protein is and why it may be harmful to some of us.

Looking for Yummy Gluten Free Products?  Check out GlutenFree.Com. They’ve got some of my faves like:

• Glutino - Premium Sesame Bagels
• Honest Kids - Berry Berry Good Lemonade
• Gluten-Free Pantry - Decadent Chocolate Cake Mix
• Pamela’s Products - Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies
  • I cannot even begin to tell you how good these cookies are!!!!!

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