About Me

Wow… I just realized I haven’t updated this “About Me” in 5 years!

I moved home to Florida in September 2012. Since then I have traveled to more than a dozen countries as a traveling midwife, delivering babies for expats living in countries where they may not get an optimum birth. That’s where I come in 🙂

I successfully completed the Dukan Diet and lost 111 pounds and kept that weight off for 23 months and then started back-sliding when a broken foot and other “life” issues happened. I have since gained back 80 of those pounds 😦 I am working towards the goal of going back on Dukan in September. Keeping weight off for some of us is such a hard thing to do.

I now have a 7th grandchild, Steele, who is nearly 3 years old. And I’m now 52. And I plan on walking the Camino again next summer.

So that’s the update and I’m sticking to it! 🙂

-Sandi

September 2011
I am midwife and I was working and living in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. I moved there from Florida in November 2008 and left in September 2011. I’m now working in China.

I’ve traveled extensively, and especially these few last years. I, like so many other people, battle with my weight… I set up this blog to not only share my life and adventures, but to share my triumphs 😀 (2011 Note… Adkins didn’t work out.. LOL)… (2012 Note… Dukan Diet is working very well!)

I am mom to Nick, Jenni & Tiffany, who somehow have all turned out to be really super cool adults! And grandma to Celeste, Sydnie, Sadie, Shane, Sofia and Jose. I’ve been fortunate enough to “catch” all 6 of them… Celeste in my birth center and the rest are all home born babies! Sadie and Jose were born in the water.

I’m 48 and know that I need to be in optimal physical shape on the up climb to 50.

I walked the Camino de Santiago in April and May of 2010 and blogged from the trail during that time… taking my trusty iPhone with me and hoping for wireless internet every once in awhile! (been there, done that, it was awesome, for the most part!)

So take this walk with me and enjoy… comments appreciated!

Update April 2011… still fighting the with the weight! LOL

Update October 2011… on Dukan Diet for 7+ weeks, much success!

Update February 2012… On Dukan diet for 177 days now and I’ve lost 66+ pounds!

xxx

71 thoughts on “About Me”

  1. I am so proud of you, Mom! I love you with all my heart and I am so happy that you have taken charge of your life! oxoxoxoxox

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  2. Hey. I’m a student midwife who is just qualifying. I finished my first camino over the easter weekend this year and am going back in september-can’t wait. I just wanted to say I loved reading your blog-it’s been amazing. thanks for the placenta picture as well-i’ve never seen a velamentous insertion into the membranes and kind of hope i never do!!!
    I’d love to hear from you, about you job and your experience on your camino.
    Becky. XXX

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    • Hi Becky… congrats on qualifying as a midwife… it is such a rewarding career! Also, congrats on your camino! We have 2 things in common! I will go back in the spring of 2012, when I am finished working in Abu Dhabi. I want to go back with no time restrictions.
      I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the blog… the velamentous insertion is SCARY!!! I’ve had about 5 or 6 since I started in the delivery unit here in Abu Dhabi… I only saw one in 12 years of home births.
      I work in a maternity hospital that does around 10,000 deliveries a year, busy delivery unit. I’m the only American midwife there, the rest are from all over the world, but predominantly the UK, Australia and NZ and South Africa.
      My Camino experience was awesome, I learned a lot about myself on the walk. I did a lot of meditating while walking and learned that walking the Camino on your own is the best way to do it. I wouldn’t want the experience I had to be any different, though.
      Tell me a bit about yourself! If you are on facebook, I am Sandi Sandelier Blankenship there.
      xxx
      Sandi

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  3. JUST FOUND THIS TODAY–12/4/11…This was a great idea..I hope all is well with you.. Where will you be spending the holidays???

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  5. Hi, thanks for visiting my blog and liking my Cauliflower-Salsa Bean bake. Your family and life adventures sound very awesome, and congratulations on your weight loss. Been there and am still working at it!

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  8. I admire your work and your unique voice, and I have nominated you for the Sunshine Award.

    If you wish to accept it, there are three steps: post a thank-you and link to my site, answer the seven questions that I answered in my post, and nominate 10 other bloggers you admire. Then enjoy the award on your blog!

    Thanks for your efforts. Peace & Grace, “Sister Olive”

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  9. Congrats on the weight loss and your graduate degree! Both are significant achievements and you should be proud of your accomplishments…

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  10. 66+! That’s awesome! I was a personal trainer for many years (exercise phys. degree) before coming to China to teach English and that is tough stuff! Great job. I’m fascinated with home births and widwives (sp?). I hope to give birth as naturally as possible someday. Keep it up!

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  11. Hi found this amazing blogg when searching for a Dukan recipe for lemon chicken. Wow your an interesting and fabulous woman. I live in Wales Uk and recovering from Breast Cancer and a knee replacment, Dukan is keeping me motivated in my goal to be fitter and fight the health issues that have affected me….Inam stronger than Cancer and will succeed.

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    • Hi Kathleen!! Thanks for stopping in. With an attitude like yours I can see that you are stronger than Cancer! Eating a healthy diet is one way of taking control! Keep winning! 🙂

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  12. HI Thanks for stopping by my blog! What is Dukan? I will have to look that up, I have been eating Paleo for a few months, still working on portion control, and with training I am hungry ALL the time…Great job loosing 66 lbs!! Good luck in China. A friend of mine is getting her Midwife Cert. She hopes to be able to some missions work. Have a great day.

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    • Hi! Dukan is a low-fat, low-carb diet program that works 🙂 Similar to Paleo in many ways w/o the fruit in the first 2 phases. I’ve actually now lost 77 pounds! And I’m approaching Phase 3, which is consolidation.

      Good luck to your friend. Midwifery is a rewarding and exhausting career…LOL

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  13. Yea! Congratulations on your weight loss. It’s so much harder the older we get. Stupid aging processes! 🙂 Looking forward to stopping back and seeing more recipes, if nothing else!

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    • Thanks for stopping by, Sandra! It is more difficult the older we get, but on my climb to 50 I decided I better take action! And I did. I hope you enjoy the recipes 🙂

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  15. Hello Sandi, I bunny hopped onto your blog from the discussion on facebook about babies born asleep 🙂 love that story by the way. I’ve read some of your posts and all these comments here on your ‘about’ page. Love the fact you supported all your children/grand babies at birthing – how good is that! I supported my beautiful daughter and two grand girls too. Aren’t we blessled? Now that I’ve met you, I’ll follow your story. Good on you for managing your weight. I like the fact you were able to run to work for that lovely labour. How amazing. Talk again later. bye now.

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  16. I also just found you. I was looking for Dukan pancakes in HK and came across your blog. In Paris they sell them in the supermarkets, so I thought I would give it a try here.
    I had a lot of success with Dukan also, and try to do it while I travel . We have very different lives but we both are story tellers. My blog is BeverlyFeldmanshoes.com blog something like that. I give birth to shoes, they are my babies.
    Keep up the good work. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels. And believe it or not too much or unsupervised exercise can be dangerous to your body, especially after a certain age. Walking is just as good as running. Running is damaging to your whole body, as I read you just found out. I also had a tummy tuck, in ny. And it was one of the best operations I had. I am big on cosmetic surgery.
    Take care. You have a good heart.
    BF.

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    • Thanks, Beverly! I’m going to head over to your blog and check it out. Difficult to stick to Dukan while traveling and living in China, but I’ve done it and that’s a fact I’m proud of! It’s easier to get things in HK than in Hangzhou where I live, but I keep it interesting by using different spices and meats every night.
      I am so grateful to Dr. Dukan and his amazing book!

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    • Hi Beverly! I dont know if my previous message came through… Having a challenging week with the VPN here at home… China doesn’t like blogging for some reason. Thanks for stopping in… I’d love to knw more about our tummy tuck experience. If you don’t mind sharing my email is flamidwyfe1@aol.com 🙂

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  17. Hello,

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    • Kerry… unfortunately, I’m not able to add the widget 😦 I will write a post about it later and insert the info. What a great idea! I think daily ideas on my site would be very valuable. I will see if there is another way to add it, maybe an image with your website link. Thanks!

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  21. I leave Phoenix June 17, which probably means that I arrive in Shanghai June 18. Sometime during the next week, the others in my team are taking several days to see the Terra Cotta Warriors; I elected to stay in Shanghai to work on my presentations, to take pictures, and to relax. I will contact you via email with the name of my hotel (which is in the French Concession on Shantax (of Shantex) Road. I would love to meet you. ~Mona

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  25. You know I appreciate the heck outta you Sandi, and here’s a little bloggy love to show you 🙂 I’ve nominated you for the reader appreciation award. x0x0
    *anna

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  26. Hi there,

    I’m so glad I stumbled accross your blog 🙂 now I have I feel the need to follow and take my time to join you on your path 🙂

    BTW, I too live in China, I’ve been here for around 12 years now, if you have time please take a look at my blogs http://reflectionsofchina.wordpress.com and http://moreimagesfromme.wordpress.com the first is for images all in China and the second for images I take in other countries during my travels. I do hope you have a chance to take a look.

    Regards

    Mark

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    • Good Morning, Constance 🙂 thank you! I’m trying out your hair style, working on blow drying technique! Looks like your restart is going well, I know you’ll succeed! xo

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  33. Sandi, a friend & I are looking into walking the Camino de Santiago in two years (when we both will have a bit more money). I figure that if I get on a regular exercise & walking routine now, I might be able to make part of it, even though I’ll be 66. What do you think? ~Ramona

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  35. Just read you update and saw where you are returning to Dukan diet. I have started low carb, hi fat medium protein diet in late August. So far lost 10 lbs. I just could not deal with all that protein. I am feeling much better on this. See butter Bob on you tube “how butter made my pants fall off”. Dr Jason Fung has lots of good science stuff. The science makes much more sense. And it is easier. And simple. Diet doctor is a good website. Good luck with whatever you do.

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