Monthly Archives

January 2021

Main courses, Recipes

Millet balls with sauerkraut

27. January 2021

Millet, the queen of all grains, is at the center of this recipe. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, millet porridge protects and heals digestive systems, promotes us to pee and it soothes morning sickness. It is naturally gluten free and actually tastes great even without salt.

The popular Slovak probiotic a.k.a. sauerkraut is full of vitamin C, vitamin K and folic acid. However, pay attention to the list of ingredients. Choose one without preservatives, i.e. cabbage, salt or pepper. No additives are needed.

Once in a while you can add a piece of bacon to your meal. I just wanted to add that before you start cooking this simple quick recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup millet
  • 2 cups water, pinch of salt
  • 3 smaller or 2 bigger eggs
  • Gluten free flour as needed

To make the sauerkraut even better:

  • Little bit of bacon
  • 2 smaller onions
  • 500g sauerkraut

METHOD:

dance in the meantime or sing along your favourite song. It is OK if the millet gets mushy. Let it cool down.

In a big pot heat water with a pinch of salt.

While you wait for water to boil, prepare the balls. Mix millet with eggs in a bigger. Add just enough flour to make a compact dough. I used a combination of corn and buckwheat flours. Feel free to use any kind that you have on hand.

Make the balls, that you then put in the boiling water and wait for them to float.

Roast the onion on bacon and add the cabbage. I didn’t wash it, I wanted it sour. Add a little black pepper and paprika. After about 10 minutes of roasting, I poured water over the cabbage and let it evaporate.

Done. Enjoy!

Fatigue, Lupus

10 principles to help you sleep better at night

25. January 2021

You probably know there is something called sleep hygiene. This can be defined as the principles you should follow when you want to sleep well at night.
The results of my unscientific, spontaneous survey show that even though you sleep more than 8 hours a night, it is not always a good night’s sleep. The reasons differ: children wake you up at night, children wake you up early in the morning, you have bad dreams, you generally sleep poorly. However, the causes were often also due to bad sleeping habits: you can’t get to bed early enough, you watch TV before bed, you fall asleep with a mobile phone in your hand, you fall asleep in front of the TV and then you can’t fall asleep again when you get to bed.
Experts recommend working on proper sleep hygiene to increase the quality of your sleep. I have to admit that when I don’t sleep well, I’m tired, I am irritate, I don’t perform well, I make a lot of mistakes, everything seems to take me a bit longer.
I will share some techniques hat could help you sleep better at night. Maybe you’ll find out things you didn’t know about. I’ll comment on them from my own perspective because I’m far from perfect and I don’t follow all of the principles. You can choose what suits you best. But it is important to start following them if you want to improve the quality of your sleep. I will say one thing here: decide on one new habit that seems simple and you will easily be able to implement it into your daily life. Don’t choose more things. You can feel distressed when you are unable to follow through. Pace yourself 🙂

  • Try to go to bed and get up at the same time, even on weekends and holidays. This is something that I work on and I can say that I am successful. I specifically plan to be in bed by 22.00. That means getting ready for bed around 21.00 – turn off my computer, TV, take a shower, walk my dog sometimes. Most of the time, I fall asleep with a phone in my hand. That is because I read ebooks mostly. I have a yellow light with limited intensity on so it doesn’t stimulate me too much.
  • Learn to cope with stress – easier said than done. I realise the importance of coping with stress and there are some strategies that work for me (I’ll share them in future posts) but this is something I struggle with. However, I try no to stress myself about things that I can’t control or change. It is something like my mantra. Maybe you can try it, too. Write it down and place it visibly at your desk. Whenever you’ll start feeling under pressure, repeat the words. It may be helpful.
  • Exercise regularly, but do not exercise before bedtime. This one is easy. This is something that I have no problems doing 🙂
  • Do not eat at least 2-3 hours before bedtime. This one is also easy. I actually can’t lie down after a meal.
  • Limit drinking fluids before bed so you don’t have to go pee in the middle of the night. Yep, this one is tricky. I try only taking one of my medications with a sip of water in order to avoid mid-night trips to the bathroom. This one is work in progress.
  • Limit or omit caffeine, alcohol and cigarettes before bedtime. These are stimulants that prevent you from falling asleep. I know my body, so I know not to drink coffee or black/green tea after 14.00. And I don’t smoke, so no problem there.
  • Take a hot bath 1-2 hours before bedtime. As your body gradually cools down, you become sleepy. This one is interesting. I haven’t tried it in a long time.
  • Go to bed when you feel sleepy. This is so true. When I miss this window of opportunity, it takes me forever to fall asleep. You can see how important it is to listen to your body. It asks for everything.
  • Your bedroom should be a place of rest. You should look forward to going to the bedroom. If you can and your apartment/house is big enough, do not turn your bedroom into an office. I don’t even have TV in my bedroom.
  • If you wake up at night and can’t fall asleep, try to stop the flow of thoughts. Mindfully stop the train of thought and take deep breaths. This usually helps me fall asleep again faster.

Sources:
The Lupus Encyclopedia, Donald E. Thomas, Jr., M.D., FACP, FACR
https://www.vyspimesa.sk/article/sk/pravidla-spankovej-hygieny
My own strategies

Podcasts

Episode 1

22. January 2021

When an Internet browser has to make you angry in order for you to realise that you are actually tired.

Self-help, Stress

The one thing that is keeping you from achieving whatever you want.

3. January 2021

Wasn’t 2020 the best year to change? What better reason to set your priorities straight than the year the world pandemic started?

What did you resolve to start doing last year? Did you start sourdough baking? Did you start meditating? Did you start your own business? Did you start valuing your health more? Did you go for all your annual checkups? Did you exercise more? Did you take up yoga? Did you start reading more? Did you call your family and friends more? Did you learn a new IT skill? Did it last until 2021? Are you able to continue doing to what you set your mind to?

If yes, good for you.

If not, I hear you. Do you wonder why it is not working out for you? Do you wonder why some people succeed and you do not? Do you wonder what they do differently than you?

The answer might surprise you. The answer is actually super easy. It is all in perception. Whaaat?

It is all in perception. It is how we perceive change. Do you say you MUST change your diet? Do you say you MUST exercise? Do you say you MUST engage more on social media if you want to build a successful business? Do you say you MUST meditate to calm down? Notice the pattern. It is soooo difficult to change when the change is forced. It is soooo difficult to change if we HAVE TO restrain ourselves.

What if, just for the sake of an argument, before you decide you MUST change, you actually stopped for a moment and thought about what it was that you really wanted.

Let me give you an example: People say you MUST meditate to calm down. So when people say it, it must be true. You start and you realize that your thoughts are running like crazy and you can’t seem to get ahold of them. People say when your thoughts start running, just start over. So you start over and over again and it is just not working. Now you start thinking why meditation isn’t working for you. How come everyone does it and you can’t seem to grasp the idea?

If you stopped for a moment and inquired what it is that you really want, you might actually find out that meditation may not be for you at the moment. You actually calm down much more when you go out for a run.

Let me give you another example: You realize that you are an emotional eater. You MUST change your habit otherwise you will never face your true issues and on top of that you may end up fat. Just thinking about changing this habit is making you anxious.

If you stopped for a moment and inquired what it is that makes you actually want to reach for that extra cookie or go to a fast food restaurant, you may realize what your true issue is. You may find out that you usually eat when you’re stressed out from work deadlines and you feel you’re behind.

Let me give you one more example: You want to stop smoking. You MUST stop smoking. It is just bad for you. You are having a really hard time because some members of your family smoke, some of your friends smoke, some of your colleagues smoke. When you are stressed, you just go for that cigarette.

If you stopped for a moment and inquired what it is that is actually making you go for that cigarette, you may find out that it is just a social addiction and you actually don’t like the taste of cigarettes.

It is all about perception. It is all about how you perceive your truth about the particular habit. When you look deep down, you may find out the actual reason why something is not for you at the moment, or why something isn’t working out for you.

I know, easier said than done. BUT practice makes perfect J The more you are mindful of everything you do, do more you do it, the easier it gets.

Dr. Jud Brewer’s research inspired me to write this article.