Cura Romana recommends that we don’t use our normal mint toothpaste during the first three week hcg+foodplan part of the protocol.

This seems a little strange to many people but I believe it is because of the nature of the homeopathic form of hcg which can be overwhelmed by strong flavours.

So – I went to my local health food shop and bought a tube of Weleda Calendula toothpaste to use for these three weeks. It doesn’t foam as much as usual toothpaste and it was weird not having that ‘minty freshness’ yet I grew to quite like the taste of calendula.

But – I was always going to go back to ‘proper’ toothpaste as soon as I could.

That was until I went for one of my quarterly hygienist appointments at the dentist’s in the last week of consolidation.

She was amazed. I was amazed.

Not only were my teeth free from ordinary staining but there was almost no plaque/tartar at all.

‘Yippee’ – I shouted. ‘No prodding and poking me with your vicious, screaming instruments!’

Needless to say – I didn’t go back to MacCleans. I’m using the Calendula toothpaste and my teeth are still lovely and clean.

What a nice side-effect

SMILE!

A quick update -

It is now more than three weeks since I finished Cura Romana and I’m very pleased to report that I am still the same weight  that I was at the end of the first three week hcg+foodplan phase.

I lost no more weight through the 6 week consolidation phase where you re-introduce other foods back into your diet and I’ve kept to a good, healthy but in no wise restrictive way of eating ever since.

This is so unlike any other ‘diet’ out there where you cam almost guarantee a rebound weight gain within a very short time of finishing the programme.

On Cura Romana your body is truly transformed. And so is your life.

Very happy!

Tigger

We are as the flute, and the music in us is from thee;
we are as the mountain and the echo in us is from thee.

We are as pieces of chess engaged in victory and defeat:
our victory and defeat is from thee, O thou whose qualities are comely!

Who are we, O Thou soul of our souls,
that we should remain in being beside thee?

We and our existences are really non-existence;
thou art the absolute Being which manifests the perishable.

We all are lions, but lions on a banner:
because of the wind they are rushing onward from moment to moment.

Their onward rush is visible, and the wind is unseen:
may that which is unseen not fail from us!

Our wind whereby we are moved and our being are of thy gift;
our whole existence is from thy bringing into being.

I have been away for a while on a business trip.

My husband and I have just been to Pakistan and I’m amazed at how this visit has changed my view on life.

Seeing such extremes of beauty and poverty hand-in-hand and side-by-side is eye-opening and humbling in the extreme.

I was very homesick for my two boys, our dog, the four cats, our home….but Ramadan began the day before we left for home.

From Wikipedia —

Ramadan (Arabic: رمضان‎) (also written Ramazan, Ramzan, Ramadhan, Ramdan, Ramadaan) is the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until dusk. Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, modesty and spirituality…During Ramaḍān, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. As compared to solar calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving forward about ten days each year.

At the end of Ramadan there is a festival called Eid. It is a holiday, a festivity to celebrate the breaking of the fast and the women celebrate with mendi.

Mendi are henna tattoos (for want of a better word) and I was lucky enough to have a local mendi artist decorate my hands and feet in the traditional way. Beautiful.

The biggest things I will take from this visit – the memories I’ll always hold – are the vast and unconditional friendship we were given, and the absolutely unconscious, the utterly truthful beauty of the women.

Myriam de Mahé has very kindly allowed me to post about the hCG Homeopathic residential courses she runs in France.

Set in the isolated mountains in Auvergne, Myriam’s place, La Bastide Haute, is a 17th Century house with original features and an outstanding view over the valley.

Miryam is a therapist who experienced the Cura Romana Protocol in 2008. She says…

‘I used it personally and lost 12 kg in 3 weeks. I haven’t regained any weight since…Hcg has transformed my life. It’s more than a slimming method. It’s an inner journey where we go back to our blueprint.’

For more information – please visit HCG FRANCE

Leslie Kenton has filmed a new series of Cura Romana videos. You can access them all via the Cura Romana Twitter site (link in the blogroll to the right)

Or via one of the links below.

Secrets of the Cura Romana Homeopathic hCG Journey

Can hCG help prevent breast cancer?

Does Cura Romana work for both men and women?

‘Sometimes I say to myself, “There is no reason why other people should take as long a time as I have taken. I have made so many mistakes, surely I can help them not to make the same mistakes.”

But it is the same as with our children whom we want to save from making all the mistakes that we are now able to see.

It does not work out like that.

Everyone has to learn for himself, from their own experience.

There are some things that are useless – and I have known it all along – for me to try to convey to you.

Nothing but the bitterness of one’s own experience and the joy of one’s own experience can convey it.’

Centuries before the birth of Christ, a race of people lived on the coast of what is now Western Turkey. The were called Phocaeans.

In 540BC they were driven from their homeland by the Persians and came to settle, eventually, in Southern Italy.

The Phocaeans were adventurous, clever and wise and in the 7th century before Christ they discovered not only that the world was a sphere but that it had five zones. The hot equatorial with two more temperate zones, one above, one below and also two areas of extreme cold at the top and the bottom of the world.

One Phocaean explorer set sail through the Straits of Gibraltar and turned left. We know he reached Senegal on the west coast of Africa – he may have gone further south.

Another set sail through the Straits of Gibraltar and turned right. He came to Britain, to Ireland, to the North of Scotland and even further. He touched the North Pole.

These travellers measured and mapped the stars and kept meticulous records of all the things they had seen and experienced and this information was lodged in the Library at Alexandria.

But – from the start they were ridiculed, abused, called liars and tricksters, no one could quite believe any of it. And this despite the fact that the naysayers checked the astronomy for themselves and the heights of the sun and the workings of the tides.

They checked but never experienced. They never actually moved outside their own world – the Mediterranean.

It is easy to travel side to side in our own familiar zone with its familiar tides and familiar seasons.

It’s much harder to travel up and down towards and through and out the other end of areas we never knew existed.

Once you have

touched it

there is no

division: no tearing

your heart away.

For it knows

no separation.

Fuseli - Silence

Well, it’s been slightly longer than 9 weeks but I’ve just sent my last report off to Leslie Kenton and have now officially finished Cura Romana.

I’ve been feeling a little sad that such an amazing journey has come to an end and then I realised that, yes, this stage is over BUT -

To use a modern analogy, I’ve spent the past 9 or 10 weeks reprogramming my SATNAV for a whole new journey that begins right now, today.

Weeks ago this machine had the wrong software. It used to send me down dead ends, over hair-raising junctions, across freezing mountains and blazing deserts and, more than once, I ran out of fuel.

The SATNAV has new software now. It’s primed and ready to go.

IT’S A WHOLE NEW WORLD….

Where shall we travel?

I’m coming to the end of Phase Two of Cura Romana and have spent the last week experimenting with the carbs/starches that we can add back into our diets during this phase. 

First off – I have to admit to being one of those people who must learn the hard way – by personal experience. No matter what I’m told!

So there I was, happy in my experiments. One day rice, one day pasta, a bit of bread, a few potatoes etc etc. 

And then – CRASH.

By the end of the week all that glorious energy had vanished and the dreaded late afternoon slump was back. And even worse – my spirits had gone south too. Chores were chores again. Mole hills were mountains. Mood swings crept back. This blog wasn’t updated. Even the weather changed for the worse!!

Not good. 

Stupid?

Maybe. But stupid in a very, very valuable way. 

Carbs and I don’t get on.

We have a very false, destructive friendship. 

I’d always been aware of it…in my mind…but now I KNOW for sure. 

See. I have to learn the hard way. Sigh.

Carbs are now restricted to the bare minimum. And the change is measurable. 

I’m back on form and very happy  to be there

Update:

I’m coming to the end of my first three weeks of consolidation. 

‘Life-changing lean forever’

This period has been very interesting and truly inspirational. To know your body and its wants and needs in such a mindful way is revolutionary. 

I’ve had very few problems with any of the foodstuffs that have been re-introduced into my diet. But then again – my way of eating has changed so much that this is not surprising. 

Naturally, and quite unconsciously, I’ve been choosing simple meals with only two or three elements. Steak and peas, chicken and salad, a soft boiled egg. 

The plate is no longer loaded with five or six different things like beef, chips, peas, sweetcorn, mayonnaise and bread and butter on the side etc. I feel no need now for meals like this.

This first phase has been without sugars and starches. These will be re-introduced in a couple of days but the meals, I’m sure, will stay simple and healthy.

In the past three weeks my weight has stabilised within a pound or two of the final hcg+foodplan weight as Cura Romana tells us it will.

And I swear that I’m still losing inches. 

Reaching this stage has shown me that there is now a new ‘normal’ to my life. It’s normal to wake full of energy, to carry my spirits high, to see my skin glow, to laugh every day, to radiate strength and health and delight. 

I think a part of me feared, at the beginning of consolidation, that the energy, the high spirits, the overall sense of well-being would somehow dissipate, evaporate. But this is not the case. This is very far from the case. If anything they have strengthened and levelled and, as I’ve said, become just Normal. 

This is an outstanding aspect of Cura Romana. Not only does it transform, it transforms on a truly fundamental level and with a depth that makes it life-long. 

Phase Two of Consolidation starts on Thursday. Bread and potatoes and rice and sugar can be added back slowly. 

Again – I’m looking forward to this new stage and all the lessons it has to teach.  

A Vision of Angels

We were very lucky last year to have our first ever family holiday —  in New York. 

What a great place – even with two teenage boys!

One evening we went out for a meal and my eldest son and I chose French Onion Soup as a starter. 

It was amazing. 

Today – as said eldest son and I are on our own for the next week – I decided to try and make this soup at home. Ooooh! Recipe for disaster or great success?

As I’m into my third week of consolidation now, a recipe of onions, butter, stock and garlic is very permissible. Although not really the flour. 

Maybe you know the author Joanne Harris  - of Chocolat fame – well, she has written a lovely cook book called The French Kitchen.

The following recipe is taken from there.

Soupe à l’oignon

Serves 6

50g butter

750g onions

3 cloves of garlic

25g flour

1.5 litres beef or vegetable stock

200ml white wine

1 bay leaf

sprig of thyme

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

curly parsley

1/2 baguette, cut into 1cm slices (not allowed at this stage for me)

100g Gruyere cheese, finely grated

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onions and cook for 50 minutes on a low heat, stirring frequently.

The onions should turn a golden brown, be very soft and begin to caramelise, which gives the soup its rich golden colour and deep flavour.

Add the garlic and flour and mix well to allow the flour to absorb the excess butter, making a roux.

Slowly pour in the stock and wine, stirring frequently, then bring to a gentle simmer.

Add bay leaf, thyme leaves (stripped from the sprig), salt and pepper, cover with a lid and leave for 40 minutes on a low heat.

If allowed - toast the bread and cheese and serve them floating on top of the bowls of soup 

from The French Kitchen: A Cookbook by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde

***

I used rosemary sea salt and  garlic pepper instead of the herbs and 1/2 litre of chicken stock mixed with the beef stock. I also omitted the flour – having cooked the onions a little longer so that all the excess butter was absorbed. This makes as lightly  thinner soup than the norm.

Success?

You bet. Great Success.

Almost – almost as good as the French Onion Soup we had in Rosie O’Grady’s.  

This post has been a while in the making. I’ve been thinking hard about the depth and the forms of transformation experienced during these past six weeks or so. Here are some of my own, very personal, first-hand lessons learned. No theory, no supposition, no wish-fulfillment. 

I love words. I love their etymology. 

A quick look at the verb – to transform – gives these definitions…

Mmmmn!

None of them fully reflects my experiences with Cura Romana. There are extra elements – discovery and permanence

Sophia Released

I feel that this process is female in essence. 

And by that I don’t mean that it is only for women. Men have full and equal rights here.

The changes that come to those who embrace the many rich and deep aspects of Cura Romana seem to be those that were once associated with the Dark Mother, the Goddess, the feminine principal. These are the forces of birth, transmutation, death, rebirth. Essential, unremitting, and not always pleasant. These are the forces that many of us shy away from, we fear and distrust them. Sometimes, no matter how imperfect our own personal present is, it is safe and familiar and much easier (in the short term) to hold on to.

What does any of the above have to do with a weight loss programme?

The list of benefits given for Cura Romana include:

increased energy and vitality without hunger
an end to food cravings
better skin tone
improved body shape and weight loss from problem areas
normalization of blood pressure
blood sugar stabilization
lessening or complete disappearance of aches and pains
restoration of better hormonal balance
a decrease or disappearance of hot flushes and period problems
an end to ravenous hunger
a beautifully sculpted body
deeper sleep
normalized appetite
a new fat setpoint
a need for less sleep
greater self esteem
an end to addictions
great emotional balance
weight loss with ease
an end to emotional eating
improved metabolism
life transformation

I came to the protocol with the ‘greater self esteem’, ‘emotional balance’ and ‘Life Transformation’ factors to the front of my mind. Yes, weight loss was very important but secondary.

To lose weight, to gain a beautiful sculpted body are the external manifestations. The changes that can easily be seen by other people. I was looking for something much more internal, something far less easy to ‘look’ at. 

And I found it.

Yes, there has been fear. It has been uncomfortable. It has challenged and stretched my perceptions in many different ways.

But – and here is a quite unexpected surprise and delight – everything has happened in a gentle, nurturing, light way. 

If physical injuries have the ability to distort our bodies, then mental and emotional injuries have an equal affect. Perceptions get skewed. Opinions harden and set. Moods rise and fall with increasingly erratic regularity. Reactions become ingrained. Actions become unfocussed and unproductive. Negativity becomes the norm. We ignore. We medicate. We mask with addictions. We try to buy our solutions. We blame everyone from our parents to our governments to complete strangers.

We even have surgery.

Everyone of us will have done at least one of those things. Some – like me – may have tried them all (apart from the surgery. Too scary!)

The one place too few people look for those answers is – inside.

And this is what Cura Romana has taught me about transformation. Everything we need is already inside of us.

It feels like I have a new skin. One that needs to be worn for a while – like new shoes – before it becomes comfortable enough not to notice.

The lessons learned so far and all those yet to come will not only be a part of my life forever – they will be a part of ME.

How great a gift is that?

*   *   *

By this means you will acquire the glory of the whole world, and so you will drive away all shadows and blindness.

For this by its fortitude snatches the palm from all other fortitude and power. For it is able to penetrate and subdue everything subtle and everything crude and hard.

By this means the world was founded…

Excerpt from The Emerald Tablet.

I’ve been a bit lax posting these past few days.  I can blame Cura Romana for that.

Let me explain.

We go into the programme knowing that one of the benefits is an increase in energy. Being aware of our energy levels and recording them day by day is an important part of the consolidation phase.

Great, I thought at the beginning. This is just what I need. I’m sick and fed up of being TATT….tired all the time.

Bring it on.

Well. I have energy now and more. 

On top of all the jobs, home and work wise, the garden, the children,one dog, four cats,  preparing for guests etc etc etc, this past week I’ve also painted and decorated two separate rooms, changed the dining room into the study and vice versa, moved a zillion books (plus bookcases) and got to the bottom of the ironing basket for the first time in forever.

I have energy

What did TATT stand for? Mmmmn –  I’ve forgotten.

A quick look in the dictionary gave me these definitions for the word – Consolidate.

• make (something) physically stronger or more solid 
  
• reinforce or strengthen (one’s position or power) 
  
• combine (a number of things) into a single more effective or coherent whole 

What a brilliant word!

Today is my first full day on consolidation. 

The Cura Romana Website says…

Consolidation begins now. This is just as important as your rapid weight loss period. In many ways these six weeks are even more important when it comes to making your weight loss permanent. During this six week period your body integrates the positive shifts and balances it has created during the HCG+FOOD PLAN. Consolidation consists of two three-week periods which stabilizes the weight you’ve lost, strengthens your body, creates a new awareness and relationship to the foods you eat and sets the pattern for maintaining your new body size permanently.

Sometimes our lives are so hectic, time is so short, that the foods we eat and the way we eat them are one of the first things to suffer. 

Food shopping – Ugh. Not one of my favourite activities but a necessity for all of us. It takes time. It takes effort. And – if you are like me – it takes more time and effort than necessary because there’s invariably something that gets forgotten first time round!

Preparation and/or Cooking – another necessity. Again time and effort are needed. Also ongoing creativity to stop us getting bored with our meals. 

But…

For me anyway – things are now very different. No, I’ll never enjoy supermarkets but shopping for food at the open market, or the greengrocer, or the local butcher can be a real pleasure and not a chore.

The preparation and cooking too are now much more…how to phrase it?…Mindful. Enjoyable. Creative. Experimental. Thoughtful. Honest. To be truly involved in the process is a great and beautiful thing.

Meals are no longer the first, easy-to-cook ‘thing’ grabbed from a shelf and thrown in the oven, bolted down and cleared away to make time for those other Really Important Activities. 

They  are a sensual, sharing, enhancing time to be savoured and shared. 

And here’s another strange but wonderful Cura Romana side effect that I’ve experienced. I no longer feel the need to cook enough to feed an army and then some. 

Consolidation – another path on this exciting journey.

I’ve been a little snowed under with work these past couple of days but have dealt with it the Cura Romana way – serenely

So – this makes today my last day on the 3 day intermediary stage of food plan without the hcg. I have been feeling a little hungrier than when using the hcg but nothing too stressful.

Tomorrow begins the first three weeks of consolidation where there are no restrictions on portion sizes but care is still needed in the choice of foods eaten. I’m really looking forward to this stage. Here is where you find out * exactly* what is beneficial to you and what is not.

Knowledge is power!

The time has come to move forwards to consolidation, methinks.

I’m still three pounds away from ‘my goal weight’ but the plateaus and the up and downs maybe are telling me that this is a good time to change. 

Also the inches are now perfect. Couldn’t be happier with that. 

So today is my final day on hcg+foodplan. The next step is three days of foodplan without the hcg spray to prepare for the exciting phase of consolidation. 

I will continue to post about my progress and all new experiences.

Wish me luck!

Good News

• Have had a few difficult days that put me on that darned see-saw… but now the weight is going down again. Yippee.
• Only about 3 lbs away from the goal.

Bad News

• Those three pounds seem like thirty pounds right now. Sigh.

A change of format today. No good/bad news but a few thoughts and comments on some of the things learned during this past month on My Cura Romana Journey.

I came to the protocol primarily with the personal/spiritual development aspect of it in mind.

Yes – I wanted to lose weight. And to see those extraneous pounds and inches disappear has been wonderful, along with all the other pleasures to be gained from looking slimmer and feeling healthier.

But -

If you are ready and willing to grasp hold of it, there is very much more to this programme.

I blithely stated at the outset that I was more than prepared to embrace the deeper cleansing. The cleansing of spirit and soul.

In retrospect, to be so certain was naive. And as for being prepared….!

Having made the statement above, I must add that despite the various moments of anxiety, the whole experience has been (and will continue to be) exhilarating, moving, enlightening, transformative and completely NECESSARY.

Life-changing is a phrase made trite by over-use but it describes the programme perfectly.

Life-Changing

From the Physical…

Have you noticed just how many adverts there are on the TV for women with ‘bladder-problems?’

My mouse’s bladder has been a standing family joke for many a year. Any journey, from two to two hundred miles, would see me asking to be excused almost before the end of the road.

Now, despite – or more properly because of -  the need to drink from 2 to 3 litres of water every day, the bladder is no longer mouse-sized but normal.

Strange but true.

From the Emotional…

Far too many of us live our lives riding that emotional see-saw. Up. Down. Down. Up. Stuck in the middle going nowhere.

What sets it tipping?

Well, for me, many things. I have my list and you will have yours. Both will contain common, universal points of movement and both will contain unique and very personal ones.

To find the happy medium, to step of this infernal contraption, to live fully yet serenely – some search their wholes lives and still never find their ‘ground-perfect.’

‘It’s not what happens to you but how you react to it,’ is another over-used but absolutely true statement.

To react to everything that life sees fit to hurl at you with grace, sympathy, understanding and dignity is a goal worth searching for.

From the Spritual…

 How many of us are rightly proud of our honesty?

It is a much admired virtue.

We glow with righteousness and self-satisfaction when we practise honesty.

YET -

How many of us Honest People cheat on, lie to, sidestep, misinform and generally disrespect our own spirit?

Aha! There’s a question and a half!

My hand is raised. I admit all the above.

I’m a writer by nature. Words are my preferred medium, my route to self-expression. In theory, this has never been a doubt. In practise, I’ve denied it too many times to remember.

You are a —————- by nature.

Fill in the blank and I’m certain there will be many words and commas there because we are all multi-dimensional beings. But far too many of us have allowed our life-story to dampen and maybe even completely eliminate our own essential nature. Our Reason For Being.

One last question…

How many of us greet ourselves in the mirror the way we greet much loved family and friends…even total strangers?

There is little lovelier in the day than to be gifted a smile of genuine pleasure. To know that there is someone (or two or three) in our world who is completely delighted to see us.

Try it, please. Then you can be guarenteed that pleasure every single day.

Good News

• It does not feel like 28 days since Karen and I started our Cura Romana Experience. Time has flown. Much has been learned.
• The inches are melting away even though…

Bad News

• A pound crept back on again.

Good News

• The power of words….I joked yesterday about wanting the extra quarter pound that has stuck for three days to disappear tomorrow. Well, tadah, it went along with another 2 lb.
• I’m only 2lb away from the goal weight and so consolidation.

Forget the bads news today.

Good News

• Every day just gets better and better.
• A years old knot in a muscle in my left shoulder has finally loosened. It’s a revelation. No more pain.
• The inches are disappearing very satisfactorily.

Bad News

• First off – I missed out a day somehow so I’ve put the two days together here as they have been much the same. I’m back on that plateau. But the level is better than another rise. We’ll see what tomorrow brings

Good News

• I have been clearing out my wardrobe. It’s a very satisfying task. Gone are the tatty ‘fat’ trousers I used to hide in.
• Every day on Cura Romana allows you to uncover long forgotten or even unacknowledged strengths. You find yourself doing and saying those things that you used to wish you’d done or said long after the fact.

Bad News

• Someone or something came in the night and stuck a quarter pound back on me. A mystery.

Group Hug

Being only a few pounds away from my goal weight has made me decide to continue with the hcg + food plan for a few days more…until that goal is reached.

When you go beyond the allotted 23 days, you still get daily support from Leslie. The only thing you need to do is replenish your supply of hcg if necessary.

Fingers crossed, my recent 3/4 pound loss a day will continue and the goal will be reached in just over a week if I’m rigorous and careful.

Going back to the jeans theme – I have another pair of much loved and much used jeans that I’ve not been able to wear for a loooong while. I put them on about 6 months ago and lasted half a day. The boggling eyes and blue tinge to my face let me know that they were far too small and verging on the very-dangerous-to-one’s-health-and-well-being.

I’d set myself a goal of trying them again only when I had lost a stone in weight.

Well, that day has just arrived and yes….they fit me again. There is a slight tightness but this has only spurred me on.

You can’t separate a girl from her favourite pair of jeans.

Happy day.

Good News

• Another three quarters of a pound gone.
• Another early morning ramble round the garden with the dog. I’m waking much early than I use to and I’ve tried to stay in bed but the urge to get up and start another exciting day is just too strong!

Bad News

• The smileys are just getting sillier.

Chorus Line

Good News

• Another three quarters of a pound gone!
• The spiritual changes are gentle but full of impact. Every day there is proof of how far I have come in such a short time. Unlike many other journeys, these chnages are fundamental and I’m certain they will prove to be life-long.

Bad News

Bad dreams

One day you will look back and laugh at yourself.

You’ll say, “ I can’t believe I was so asleep!

How did I ever forget the truth?

How ridiculous to believe that sadness and sickness

Are anything other than bad dreams.”