Wednesday started out as a PP day.
Daily weight GAIN: 0.7 lb/0.3 kg
Total weight loss: 85.8 lb/39.91 kg
Oh, where to start… I’m probably being WAY harder on myself than I should!
Breakfast in my room: 2 boiled eggs
Lunch: A beautiful bowl of chicken and veggies, lovely presentation, but maybe 1 ounce of thinly sliced chicken, which being a PP day meant all I could have…
Those slivery, garlic looking things are from the lotus plant. I only ate the chicken.
I then taught a 90 minute child birth Ed class and a 60 minute staff development class. This pic is from the staff development class. The little old bitty with the word ‘LOVE’ over her head wouldn’t shut her pie hole , errr, wouldn’t let me get a word in edge wise when talking about water birth… I asked her, “exactly how many water births have YOU conducted” she said, “none and I will never”. I said, “that’s, OK because the patients prefer midwives to do their deliveries”… She didn’t speak another word 😀
I can always tell by body language who is there to learn… The midwives took pics of every slide and 2 of them recorded it. They asked questions for nearly 40 minutes afterwards!
I want to give a shout out to my amazing daughter, Tiffany LeAnn and her hubby, Joey. I use their very intimate pictures from Jose’s birth (with their permission) in my presentations. The 2nd PowerPoint I use is just pics from their birth with the song “I Can Only Imagine” playing. They may not know the words, but the music does its wonder and brings tears to most people’s eyes. Joey and Tiffany… You are contributing tremendously in educating the women and midwives of China in normal birth and water birth… Thank you SO much for allowing me to teach through your experience!
And then my epic fail… OK, epic is an exaggeration… LOL, but it felt epic! We went for Arabic food. Just being in the restaurant made me miss Abu Dhabi… I swear sometimes I miss Abu Dhabi more than home in the States! I’m actually tearing up as I write this… Anyway, the place is run by 2 Arabs a Lebanese guy and a Syrian guy and it was DAMN GOOD ARABIC FOOD!!! My intent was to only eat the Mixed Grill and extra Chicken Shish Taouk, but also had the Lamb Kofta smothered in a sesame sauce and fattoush and hummus. Too much food, but no wheat or sugar… BUT, the Tabbouleh was to DIE FOR… Seems innocuous, but their is bulgur in Tabbouleh. And Bulgur is a wheat product and wheat is like friggin’ HEROIN to me. Not to mention it makes my tummy bloat and hurt and causes lower GI stuff!
Here’s a pic of the dinner… It was glorious, alhamdilallah! Notice the star of the show is the heroin Tabbouleh.
So, I’m feeling groovy, happy, speaking Arabic with Mohammed our waiter, getting winks from the Syrian co-owner who sends over a heavenly tea pot of yummy mint tea, when it happens… He sends over THE DESSERT PLATE… Nope, not gonna do it, not gonna rmrmrmmaamrm… Sigh, sorry, had chocolate in my mouth… What was I saying?!? EPIC FAIL… And MOONDAY … I totally could have used you whispering your philosophy in my ear, but the drugs wheat and sugar were talking too loud! I had a piece of chocolate something or other and some rice pudding with coconut and felt guilty about that. Which is GOOD, because it made it a negative event… Not that I shouldn’t EVER enjoy sweets, but I’ve sworn off wheat because of what it does to my body! And it did! I was bloated, my tummy ached AND I WAS DIAPHORETIC!!!
Here’s the shameful sweets dish… Keep in mind I shared all the food with teeny little Chinese girls who ate 3x what I ate… How the hell do they do that??
Afterwards, I did some retail therapy. I was too bloated to try anything on, but I bought a pair of jeans Size 12, 2 pairs of long shorts Size 10. 3 Banana Republic tops in Medium… All for less than $70 USD 😀
The jeans are too big!! The shorts fit perfect and so do the tops… I was delighted this morning when I tried them on… It cheered me up about the weight gain. In regard to that… I’m nearly sure the scale will not be my friend tomorrow morning, as it usually takes a day or two for the effects of cheating to show up… I’m doing much better today… Eating the leftover meats and nothing else!
Also didn’t get my run in last night. There are too many people On the sidewalks and no safe place to run…. I’m off to Hong Kong tomorrow and will get a good uphill run in there, then back to Hangzhou on Sunday…
Hope everyone is having a good week!
Ciao!
Flamidwyfe's Blog 
Loving your blog! Don’t worry about a little hiccup! I know you will be right back on track x
Thanks, Rachell! I’m behaving myself today! 😀
Sandi you are doing fantastic! Sending big hugs!
Even though you didnt stick to the food plan you have, you didn’t binge, you haven’t allowed that little slip to make you go off the rails and its not an everyday occurence that you get the opportunity to eat well made arabic food. There are so many positives to take from this experience, dont beat your SIZE 10 self up about it!!!!!! 🙂
Just Maybe you could have changed to a P&V day when you saw how little you could eat at lunch, if you are hungry your food choices will always be different, especially when there are temptations at hand.
The ‘love lady’ picked the wrong person to mess with, she looks like a bit of a battle-axe, look at her body language! Don’t think she could fold those arms any tighter! LOL.
Thanks, Sonia… I’m working at not beating myself up. There’s an old midwives saying about women like that doc… “she’s so damn uptight you won’t get a speculum in” 😀
I have such great memories of my water birth (almost a year ago now). What was the pie-hole ladies problems with them?
I wouldn’t call what you ate today an epic fail… I hope you enjoyed it. Everyone needs a day or two off every so often!
ZG, aren’t water births THE BEST… The biggest problem I’m running into about water births here are the cultural beliefs. Traditionally Chinese women don’t bathe, wash their hair or even brush their teeth for 30 days after a birth… Only God knows why, I still haven’t gotten a clear answer. The more educated young women are moving away from that culture, the old fuddy duddy doctors can’t imagine it… Most frequently asked question is how do they cut an episiotomy if the woman is in the water… Lots of work to do here! That said, the docs in MY Hospital in Hangzhou have fully embraced it… Took about a year, but they recommend it 🙂
You are doing great Sandi, sounds like your day went well bar that woman – forget about her she isn’t worth it! The meal sounds amazing, I love middle eastern food. You have worked so hard and being so good that one meal isn’t going to ruin it for you. You are nearly at consolidation so you soon will be able to have a meal like that once a week:) x
Oh, Meg… Thanks… Consolidation… It is close… Woo HOO!
Like Rachell said, a little hiccup won’t hurt. Who can resist Arabi food. I know I loved it.
I totally couldn’t resist… Lol
oh sandi we are soulmates in our quest to lose weight & get healthy — you sound JUST like me with the EPIC fail over one rather small falter in the big scheme of things.
and size 10 shorts — w00t w00t!!!!
i was feeling so bad about my over-eating this past weekend but then i put on my size 10 pants and all was well with the world…lol!
i try to not make it about the numbers but that 10 is just so beautiful!!!
you are amazing — i admire your travels & the wonderful work you do!
xxoo
Thanks, Cyn xoxoxo It’s been since the 80’s that I’ve been in a 10, lol…. It did kind of put things in perspective… I’m happy to report its 1033 pm here in China, and it’s been a Pure Protein day 😀
I preach better than I practice at times myself … 🙂 The Easter weekend wasn’t the best, food (and, ahem, drink wise!). I am still undoing the damage with extra good behavior this week!
Yeah, but your preach has really helped me through the last 7.5 months! I have it written out on an angel card, stuck to the fridge… It traveled from Abu Dhabi, where I started this journey, to China, where I’ve moved while on this journey, to Thailand while on a holiday there and to the US for holiday there… Attached to my fridge in Hangzhou… Should have brought it on my business trip 🙂 on the top in BIG LETTERS it says MOONDAY’S PHILOSOPHY… So I think of you each time I open the fridge 🙂
So get back up on that horse and ride on… AND don’t look back!
Yes, ma’am! Back on and ate perfectly today!
Like my leader tells me in my Weight Watchers meetings, tommorow is another new start. Learn from your mistakes and do your best going forward. That food did look awesome, though. It makes my ham wrap look like nothing.
I love Arabic food! I have to say I’m proud I didn’t sniff or eat any Arabic bread, which I love loaded with hummus!
don’t be too hard on yourself! I know, when the kids aren’t around, we’ll do something like order pizza or dessert… but before we eat it we ask each other, are we gonna regret this? And we usually say yes. Because man, wheat is no good on the tummy! Bloated doesn’t even begin to describe! Yuck!
Yuck is right!
Moonday’s Philosophy is, “Will I regret NOT eating this”. Of course, the answer is always NO, lol… I’ve lived on that Philosophy for over 7 months and it has really made the difference.
I may have to add that sign to my forehead! lol
UM…so NOT a fail. You’re back on track today and that’s what matters most. For a minute there I was thinking you’re a superhuman willpower machine 😉 Stumbling aint the same as falling! Love that you had a yummy flavorful trip down memory lane of delicious tastes and times in Abu Dhabi.
XO*anna
Its like you’ve known me forever… It was a lovely trip 🙂
XO spirit finishes what IT starts… lifetimes are mere bookends OX
Sandi, you are too hard on yourself. It wasn’t an epic fail — it was a (very) slight detour, and now you’re back on track. You’re doing awesome! 🙂
thanks, Vicki! How are you? Missed you around these blogging parts 🙂