Shake it Up - Full Moon is Here!

 

Today at 11:42 a.m. a full 'blue' moon reaches its climax. You may be wondering what to do... Or what not to do? And why such a buzz? I love moon phases myself – I cut my hair and do my house cleaning and gardening according to the moon phases. You just feel more naturally part of the Universe when you move with its rhythms.

With the Full Moon, the basic principle is that everything, good and bad, is amplified – including creativity, our emotions, the effects of alcohol or drugs, even the intensity of our thoughts and intentions.. And during the full moon we also tend to bleed more – whether it is a period, or just a cut in the finger. So be very careful if you're using a knife :)

Here are my top 4 tips for making the best out of the full moon.

Tip #1 – Enhance your brain power – concentration, focus, memory, creativity. Simply do things differently around the full moon to shake things up a bit. Like - writing and stirring coffee with your left hand, putting on your left shoe first, going to a different shop for groceries, using an alternative route for walks in the park... anything counts.

During this Full Moon, drop any notion of the way things “ought to be” or what you have always done in the past. Acting differently creates its own energy and makes new neural connections in the brain. You have to think harder when using your left hand for a change even if it's something as simple as using a sponge in the shower. And you have to think and notice new things when choosing a different route to work.

Do this and you will enhance your creativity and feel more alive.

Of course, you can do this on any day, but I like doing it on the Full moon because the cognitive functions then are naturally amplified and the effects may exceed your expectations.

Tip #2 – It is believed that the full moon is a great time for diets. The reason for this is that because of these big external processes, the metabolism of our bodies also changes – specifically, the speed and distribution of water and minerals. Google “Moon diet plan” or “Christian Durafour lunar diet” for more details.

I don't do radical diets myself but my sister has been doing one day diets on full moons for 20 years and is as fit as a flea with about the same fat content. But what is interesting - the advantage of a single day diet is that it breaks the usual diet and “shakes up” the body, helping the body to make full use of the provisions of the enzymes necessary to digest food and absorb nutrients. It is also a great time to do some exercise to release the excess energy which can accumulate at this time.

Tip #3: try not to overindulge in anything that has the potential to harm you. The harm may be worse than usual – even moderate overeating could create more fat or result in larger weight gains than normal. Over-drinking at this time can lead to people doing very silly things while under the influence and is certain to result in a massive hangover. And if you feel the urge to pick an argument with a loved one, be aware that even a tiny difference of opinion may escalate into a huge row that will resolve nothing.

Tip #4 – Full moon amplifies everything – so for all your intentions, prayers, dreams, goals and visions, this is the time to give them maximum focus – they will have the support of a whole Universe behind them!

So enjoy the big blue moon whatever you are doing! The next one will be in 2018!

Why one-day rice diet?

Hi everyone, I'm back from my little holiday in sunny Latvia! 31 degrees and wall-to-wall sunshine. I'm told the weather was the same here while I'm away, but I have my doubts :)
 

Spending a few days at home with my mother's good food – all my old favourites: smoked chicken, Jubilee sausages, layered fish dishes and cheese salads prepared in my mother's very special style, I came back, I believe, with at least one or two kilos more than when I left here. In fact – I couldn't close my jeans on the way back home so I even bought some lovely new trousers with an elastic waist for comfort.

I arrived in Belfast, put on my elastic waist trousers the next morning and

decided that now was the time to act if I wanted to get back into my normal clothes again.

Thankfully, I knew exactly what was going inside my body and how to help get it back on track.

The thing is that it's so easy to gain some 1-2 kilos after particular feasts – like birthdays, Christmas celebrations lasting 3-4 days, my own holidays enjoying lots of meals made by mother, or any other lovely food overindulgences. In these situations, it is the water that has accumulated in the body during the festive times which creates those additional kilos.

Why has the water accumulated? Mostly, it's because the foods we eat during such over-indulences are packed with salt. Meats, some fish, chips, gravies, cheese, you name it. And where salt goes, water follows.

So to get rid of those couple of kilos, we simply need to get rid of the extra

water. How? There are many ways but my favourite is the short one-day rice diet. (This method is suitable for dealing with sudden weight fluctuations rather than long term weight issues.)

What is the rice diet about?

First, rice is very low in calories and, second, it contains good amounts of potassium which is like an anti-dote to sodium. The more potassium, the less sodium. Extra sodium gets excreted and when the sodium leaves the body, so does the water.

The procedure of the rice diet:

• Wash a glass of rice thoroughly to rinse off all the starch surrounding them. The water should be visibly clear. (The reason for doing this is that starch acts like white sugar – it creates an insulin surge and more appetite as a result.)

• Boil your rice (no salt) to 'al dente' condition. 
   
• Divide the rice into four or five portions
  
  
• eat only the rice during this one day and drink plenty of water to help wash away any extra salts
  
  
• Don't put salt into anything for that one day.

One day can be enough for you to wake up the next morning back to your normal self. Or maybe feeling even better.

But, if you're brave, you can make a two or three day salt-free, potassium-rich

rice diet, by including vegetables and fruits with high potassium content: bananas, avocados, green leafy vegetables. But my favourite method is still one single day of 'suffering'.

People who have some sugar fluctuations may find this diet quite stressful but adding a bit of a good lean unsalted protein – like boiled lean meat - can help address the sugar imbalances.

So try it – maybe just for fun to see how you feel after such a one-day extravaganza. As for me, I'm just feeling really happy to report that I've managed to fit back into my favourite jeans without any problem:)