Self Love – Positive Starts – Part 1

Posted on September 18, 2012 by flamidwyfe

People always tell us to start our mornings with a good breakfast, and having been through this amazing journey, I couldn’t agree more. But there are other things we can do to start our day off on the right foot!

In her book What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, Laura Vanderkam writes, “Seizing your mornings is the equivalent of that sound financial advice to pay yourself before you pay your bills. If you wait until the end of the month to save what you have left, there will be nothing left over.

Here are some things that I do to get my day going in the right direction:

1. I get up early. I don’t have to be at work until 8 a.m. and it is a 15 minute walk to work. Having the experience of jumping out of bed and dressing and running to a birth in the middle of the night, I could totally wake up at 725 a.m. and make it to work on time 🙂 Instead, I wake up at 615. Go into the kitchen and get the water boiling for a cup of coffee or tea and weight myself. I then get my cup and I’m back in bed by 620, curled up with my iPad and stick to 20 minutes checking mail and catching up on Facebook. Then I shut it down and get ready for work. I’m usually out the door by 715 and at work by 730. This gives me 30 minutes of silence in my office before the staff comes in.

It took me awhile to wrap my head around getting up an hour earlier for work, but it relieves me of any anxiety about being late and starts my day off just right!

2. Review your goals… the early morning, when you have a little extra time, is a nice way to review your goals that you’ve written in your journal. These goals are the ones we talked about last week… personal goals, work related goals and dream goals. Envisioning them first thing in the morning can help you work towards those goals and have a positive mental attitude throughout the day since you HAVE goals!

Have you started your “vision” journal yet?

Ciao!

Recipe – Low Carb – Veggies Steamed in Coconut Milk

Posted on September 18, 2012 by flamidwyfe

So the other night when I made the Coconut Flaxseed Bread that I posted about, I had this half a can of coconut milk left over and had no idea what to do with it… then it hit me… why don’t I pour it in the veggies that are steaming… Mmmm Mmmm Good!

steamed vegetables, coconut milk, vegetables steamed in coconut milk

Thai inspired steamed veggies!

VEGGIES STEAMED IN COCONUT MILK
Total time: 20-25 minutes
Serves: 6

1 head of broccoli
4 medium carrots
A big handful of asparagus
1/2 c water
1 c coconut milk

Cut veggies into bite size pieces.
Put carrots into pan and pour water over them.
Simmer on med-low for 10-15 minutes (until they are just becoming tender)
**Add a little more of water, if needed
Add the rest of the veggies to the pan and pour the coconut milk on top.
Stir well.
Steam for 5-7 minutes.
Serve.
Enjoy!

Per serving: 74 Calories, 5 g protein, 2 g fat, 13 g carb

Dukan – Sunday Celebration and weekly wrap-up!

Posted on September 17, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Consolidation Phase Day 128 of 500!
Weekly Weight: 146-149
Goal Weight: 155
So Consolidation DOES work 🙂 I can’t believe it’s been 128 days since I met my goal weight! This summer has flown by! I am very consistent with my weight, still weighing every morning and still VERY happy with the results!

This past week has been busy! I am moving back to the States on Thursday after living abroad for 4 years. I have been packed for over a month 🙂 I know, a bit OCD, but what to say. I’ve got 2 large suitcases and a large box as checked luggage (things I didn’t want to risk never seeing again if my shipped boxes disappear into the stratosphere or something.) It’ll be worth paying extra for the peace of mind.

Exercise this past week included running 4-5K 3 times. Walking 4-5K the other 4 nights. I also did 30-45 minutes of yoga 4 times the past week. I hiked the mountain 1 time this past week and hope to do it Tuesday morning as one last hurrah 🙂

I met Hanna and Diana and Jacob (next photo) on the street a couple of weeks ago. They are from Sweden and here to attend the University just down the block from my flat. Jacob had on a Miami Dolphins hat, so of course I stopped them 🙂 They’ve been to dinner a few times and I wish I had met them sooner!

Jacob

The weather in Hangzhou has been PERFECT this past 4 days. Sunny and a cool breeze. I’ve had the flat windows opened and the whole place is fresh. The summer heat was oppressive! So it’s a nice break.

Let’s see… what did I eat this week. Lots of tea eggs, as per usual. Lunches consisted of leftover roasts (both pork and beef), salad, cheddar cheese and almonds. Dinners were steak stir fry, pork roast, beef roast, shrimp stir fry and my new favorite way to cook veggies; veggies (broccoli, asparagus, carrots and garlic stems) steamed in coconut milk… OH MY you have no idea how good THAT is… a must try! I also had a dinner out with friends at a local sushi restaurant and a hot pot dinner… guests for dinner almost nightly, trying to cook up all the food in the freezer AND say good bye to friends, new and not so new.

Pork roast… Mmm!

Out for sushi with Baby Milva!

Out for dinner with Joe, Chiara and baby Nunu!

You throw in the meat and veggies and it cooks in the hot pot… the liquid on the left is spicy, spicy!!! Mmmmmm!

And I did my last water birth lecture in front of a hundred people or so in a nearby town. I hope my message got across to some folks and they have gentler births!

Me and Liang… on our way to my last water birth lecture. She’s the lead midwife supporting water birth at Hangzhou AIMA.

So, that’s my wrap up! How did your week go? Is it cooling down where you live?

Ciao!

Creating a Powerful & Inspiring Vision for your Life – Step 3

Posted on September 15, 2012 by flamidwyfe

And now Step 3 from the powerful ideas of The Wellness Warrior…

Sit down and meditate on your vision. Call it in.

What does this mean? Sounds real “froo froo” as I like to call it. But, from a positive point of view this is an excellent way to envision what it is that you want to inspire and create.

I dedicate time to do this 5 days a week. I actually have it in my iPhone calendar to ensure that I am reminded to do it. This is time that I sit quietly, with no distractions like TV, podcasts, Facebook, etc and simply think deeply about what my vision is. Nearby is my trusty Blue Sparkly Notebook, ready and waiting to take down ideas. If it’s in the evening, I light a few candles, close the curtains in the room I’m in and make sure I have a nice cup of tea (Earl Grey is my preference!) sitting next to me. Also, for some reason I like to sit on my yoga mat while I’m meditating/thinking about my vision.

By taking this time, creating this space and meditating on what I want, things are coming to fruition in regard to my health and fitness business. I can truly see them taking shape and I can see myself hitting the ground running once I arrive home next week.

It is sometimes difficult to just take the time to sit and think. Or sit and meditate. Or sit and envision what it is that YOU want for your life. However, the rewards for that 5 minutes of time, even if only once or twice a week are astounding!

Do you give yourself quiet time every once in a while to just sit and ponder your vision in life?

Ciao!

Positive Affirmation: I am attracting EVERYTHING I desire!

Creating a Powerful & Inspiring Vision for your Life – Step 2

Posted on September 13, 2012 by flamidwyfe

I came across this blog while clicking through links on a different blog The Wellness Warrior. Her post about the 3 Steps To Creating a Powerful and Inspiring Vision has me filling out pages and pages in my journal! So here goes Step 2 of that process. Perhaps it will inspire you to create a vision!

Step 2 – Write it out.

To give you an idea of how I am working this, in regard to volunteering in Sierre-Leone to lower maternal mortality this is what I’ve written in my journal:

What is your vision of what you want?

I would like to do a 3-5 year program in Sierra-Leone that focuses on reducing maternal mortality. It would include educating the maternity care providers, the community about the importance of prenatal care AND bring in the necessary tools needed to enable the maternity care providers to care for women in the region.

What would that look like?

A small room set up in local hospitals with educational dolls and books and videos. Clinics in out-lying areas that have the necessary tools for delivery if not able to get to a hospital. The staff would be trained to deal with life threatening issues like post-partum hemorrhage and would have the adequate medication and emergency life skills to fix the problem.

If you were living your dream life what would you be doing?

I would be organizing the program from the States, from writing for grants, holding fundraisers and training volunteers. Then I would take my band of volunteers to Sierra-Leone and begin the long process of making a difference.

What would be happening? Write it down.

Benefactors with BIG hearts would contribute the money needed to buy supplies (both education and medical) and to fund the project. They would commit to this being a long-term project. Once the implementation of training began, hundreds of healthcare workers and parents to be would sign up for the classes.

What are the characteristics of your dream job, your dream man, your dream body?

LOL… I could write a book on the 3 of THOSE choices! But I’ll stick with the first one.
1. Successful reduction of maternal mortality resulting in…
2. Successful reduction of infant mortality
3. Immense satisfaction in seeing the community empower themselves with knowledge

What would it feel like when you had this? Write it down.

AMAZING

What would an ideal day in your dream life look like? What time would you get up, what would you eat, what type of work would you do, where would you be, who would you be with, what would you be wearing? Write it down.

Up at the crack of dawn… some yoga and meditation to get the day started. Review of what training would be done that day, what clinic or hospital duties that day, review or audit of success or failures. I would eat lots of meat and veggies. I would be in or around the Capital Freetown. I would be with local healthcare practitioners, volunteers from the program (I’d love to have a nice mix of med students, midwifery students, nursing students, anthropology students and people that had graduated from those types of programs or ANYONE who enthusiastically embraced the philosophy of reducing maternal mortality in this region). I’d be wearing whatever I was comfortable in, of course respecting the culture of the people I am around.

So, what say you? That is A LOT to think about! If you were living your dream life what would YOU be doing?

Ciao!

This is a powerful slide show: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1993805,00.html

Sad, yet real truth about maternal mortality 😦

Creating a Powerful & Inspiring Vision for your Life – Step 1

Posted on September 12, 2012 by flamidwyfe

I’ve been doing a lot of blog reading these past few weeks and listening to a lot of podcasts. I am researching ways to better my life and have a positive impact on starting my new business when I get home in EIGHT DAYS!!! I know, I’m not excited about moving home AT ALL! 😀

I came across this blog while clicking through links on a different blog The Wellness Warrior. Her post about the 3 Steps To Creating a Powerful and Inspiring Vision has me filling out pages and pages in my journal! So here goes Step 1 of that process. Perhaps it will inspire you to create a vision!

The first question is why is it so important to have a vision? Well I am a firm believer in what you put out into the world happens. Kind of a “if you build it, they will come” kind of thinking. BTW, I love that movie! When you envision something as happening, it often will. I often go to sleep thinking about what I’d like to see in the future and then dream about it. I am able to manipulate my dreams (not sure how that works, but it works for me) and come out with multiple endings to my visions. I have been creating intentional dreams the past couple months of how I’d like to see my business work out and often wake up and write ideas down in the Blue Sparkly Notebook. Otherwise, they are lost forever, or at least until it springs back up in my mind and I’d rather not miss the opportunity. Not to get too far off track, but I am also able to wake up, write things down, go to the bathroom and lay back down and resume my dreams… When my mom would come to wake me for school when I was a little girl, I used to tell her to give me 5 more minutes so I could finish my dream, and I would!

So, Step 1 is: Get clear on what you want. I used a simple formula that my friend John posted on his Facebook wall a couple months back… I’ve been using this nearly daily while writing out my plans:

This is a very simple formula, but it laid the foundation for me to start thinking about where I wanted to go with my plans AND my life.

After you’ve answered those questions, you dig deeper…
If I was not afraid, what would I do?
If I had all the money I needed, what would I do?
If I knew I would be loved and supported unconditionally, what would I do?

I’ve taken these questions to heart and written them out in my journal… each one has a WHOLE page dedicated to the answers. I also have 2 subcategories for the answers:
LIFE & WORK!
Here’s a couple notes I’ve made next to these:
#1: Jump feet first into the black water called “a new business and career” and not have any qualms about it (WORK)
#2: Go to Sierre-Leone and devote 3-5 years to lowering the maternal mortality rate (LIFE & WORK… or is that LifeWork?)
#3: Dance barefoot and naked in the rain (LIFE)

And then you dig even deeper…
1. Why do I want what I want?
2. What do I think this will give me?
3. What qualities do I want to experience on a daily basis?
4. How do I want to feel?

These have been more difficult for me to write out… as you must be very open to ideas you may find absolutely impossible… and I’m a concrete thinker! You also have to think from a “self” point of view, instead of thinking about how you will be helping others, you have to think about what it is YOU want to get out of it.

In answer to #1 I’ve written that I want to focus on health & fitness because I feel amazing and want to share that amazing feeling with others. I have also written that I want to find a sustainable career that will help others while helping me continue on my plan for eventual retirement.

So I’ve given you a lot to think about with this exercise 🙂

If you had an unlimited resource of money, what would you do?

Ciao!

Life – Happy Birthday, Baby

Posted on September 11, 2012 by flamidwyfe

My baby turns 27 today… 27! How is that possible? I’m only 48! She is, and always will be, called “The Baby”. And she is the most amazing adult a mom could ask for!

Tiffany was born on September 11, 1985 by planned cesarean section. Early in my pregnancy I was diagnosed with a Class IV pap smear which back then was considered cancer of the cervix in situ (meaning just there). It was recommended at the time that I terminate the pregnancy and receive treatment. I didn’t give that a second thought. I knew in my heart that she was sent to me for a reason. So on with the pregnancy we went.

I was hospitalized several times during the pregnancy, but loved every minute of it. Tiff was due on Friday the 13th and I wouldn’t have minded having her that day, as 13 is my favorite number… but Dr. Holder said he didn’t want me to risk giving birth normally and scheduled me for the 11th. In addition to having Tiffany delivered by c/section I also had a hysterectomy, as that was the only treatment option available at the time. It was a rough recovery period and I am ever so grateful to my mom and to my ex-mother-in-law Pat for their help while I recovered. Pat came to Florida from West Virginia for a couple of weeks and stayed with us… my mom lived next door!

Tiffany has grown into an amazing woman. She’s been married for 8 years and has blessed me with 4 gorgeous grandchildren!

Sydnie (8), Jose (2), Shane (6) and Sofia (4)… this was halloween a couple years ago.

All 4 of her babies were born at home and into my hands. I feel so fortunate that she trusted me with that.

She is now pregnant with surrogate twins. She is amazingly selfless. She works hard assisting teenagers with disabilities and raising her brood. I’m so lucky to be her mom!

Happy Birthday, Baby… I love you and can’t wait to see you in 9 days!

Tiffany and Jenni 1992 West Virginia

Tiff and me after Sofia’s birth.

Tiffany and Sydnie with Sofia who is 1 day old.

Me with Tiffany… 2009, pregnant with Jose

2009 the moment Jose was born.

Ciao!

Bucket List Update

Posted on September 10, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Bucket List 2012

3rd quarter update. I didn’t do a 2nd quarter update, so this is from April to now! The updates are in BOLD!

1. ~~Reach Dukan “True Weight” of 165 – Getting SO close!~~ Met on April 23
2. ~~Reach “My True Weight” of 155~~ Met on May 8
3. Nurture relationships – DOING, Ongoing
4. ~~Fix my tummy~~ – consult April 6, Lipo May 9
5. Run 5k without stopping – I’ve done this twice in the past week! Signed up for my first 5K for June 9th in Ocala – Ran the 5K, continue to run 5k+ 5x a week
6. ~~Enjoy my job more – DOING~~ – Quit the job, last day Sept 19
7. ~~Accomplish teaching the 6 IPSG’s to the staff~~ – DONE
8. Accomplish 100% compliance on at least 4 of the IPSG’s! – This one is a toughie! I did get a 100% on Handwashing at the Guangzhou Hospital.
9. Accomplish teaching the 13 JCI Standards to the staff – First class in 2 weeks – Got through 5 of them
10. Visit the Philippines
11. Visit Singapore
12. Visit Thailand… Again
13. Continue my daily random acts of kindness, blog it – trying… Sometimes it’s just a smile or a nod – Ongoing, had 3 univ students, new to Hangzhou, over for dinner 🙂
14. Blog everyday, can be challenging if VPN goes out – I’ve posted more blogs than days of the year, so far! – I’ve missed a day here and there, but have more posts than days of the year, so I’m on track.
15. ~~Get rid of all the “stuff” I don’t need… In my storage unit AND in my flat!~~ – Gave away more than 10 bags of stuff from my storage unit when I was home in January AND threw out 6 bags of stuff. Reduced my stuff in my China flat from 9 boxes to 3 boxes! I’m barely bringing any stuff back from China!
16. Live as green as possible – Hard to do in China, but I walk EVERYWHERE! The only exception is if I am going to train station or airport. I even walk to and from my friend K’s house a couple times a week (3.57 miles each way!) Still doing this, and my housekeeper recycles the plastics.
17. Start an indoor herb garden – had some basil, lasted a few weeks, planning on container gardening when I get home in a couple of weeks.
18. Run 10k without stopping!
19. Read 100 books – I’ve read 6, on my 7th, most have been on iBooks. – On book 39!
20. Start yoga classes by March 1st – difficult in Hangzhou, doing wii yoga, took class that kicked my ass, but was fun, in Hong Kong. Will go back to studio in a month on my next visa run. I joined YOGAmazing online and download my sessions from there.
21. Take yoga at least once per week – Doing it on wii, 30 mins/3 times a week – gave wii to my driver Jerry for his daughter and to thank him for taking such good care of me while I lived here 🙂 I am doing YOGAmazing 3-5 x a week on my iPad.
22. Run at least 3 times a week – I’m running 2 days on and 1 day off, so definitely meeting this goal – running 5x a week
23.save 25% of my annual income… This will be challenging given my propensity for travel I accomplished this with my February pay and my March pay, managed about 17% through August.
24. Travel coach – Yup! I’m actually sitting on my 9th flight of the year, in coach… Although I did get a free upgrade on 2 flight segments going home in January… And I used my British Air miles to fly back to China from Miami in February… Only had to pay taxes – I haven’t paid for an upgrade. Got another free upgrade on my way back to China in June. Customer loyalty and dressing p for flights pays off!
25. Plan a 50th birthday cruise for my mates and aim to get at least 100 people to go! – Cruise planned… Not sure of the numbers – Planned, about 25 people coming
26. Get another tattoo.
27. Attend a rock concert
28. Paint 2 big canvases and complete my little canvas series – painted a medium and 3 smalls since March.
29. Surprise someone I love by giving her the series (I’m pretty sure she doesn’t read my blog… But she’d totally guess it was her, if she did) – Did this, she was pleased 🙂
30. Start my own blog site with help from Charlotte, one of my Dukan buddies. – work in progress
31. Try not to send emails or make phones calls on the nights I take sleep medicine – So far, so good – So far, so good
32. ~~Celebrate a holiday that I don’t usually celebrate!~~ – Chinese Spring Festival, British Day, Bastille Day and Ramadan
33. ~~Figure out how to set up my wii again~~… I love the yoga and the boxing – DONE
34. ~~Take 2 backpacking trips~~ 1 down, one to go, DONE
35. ~~See more of China since I live here!~~ – been to Taizhou, Wuzhen and I’m going to Guangzhou next week! I’VE DONE A FEW NICE TOURS.
36. ~~Take an overnight train in China~~… – DONE – IT WAS HELL!
37. Open up my heart and take some chances – Yeah, not in China, this one will have to wait, unless someone amazing pops up.
38. At least 80% of my quotes of the day will be by women I respect – most of my quotes have been by women
39. ~~Send in my absentee ballot for the Presidential election~~ – going home, will vote in person!
40. Drink 1.5 liters of water per day – DOING – usually 3+ liters
41. Weigh myself every day – DOING
42. Get a minimum of a 30 minute walk in per day – DOING
43. Take my bran every single day – DOING switched to flaxseed
44. Pray and meditate for good health each day, purposefully – DOING
45. Pray for the health of those I love, purposefully – DOING
46. Continue reading john shore.com and Pastor Bob every time they post a blog… Their wisdom fills me up. – DOING
47. Don’t make excuses – I haven’t allowed myself… I’m really proud of thus far meeting this goal – DOING
48. Work on being less angry – Um, I AM working on this, still working on this
49. Just for today, I will refrain from improving anybody but myself. – DOING

Recipe – Low Carb – Roast Dinner

Posted on September 10, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Last week I met 3 Swedish students that are here in Hangzhou to study a semester at the local university. I’m an extrovert (I’m sure most of you figured THAT out by now!) and the young man in the group was wearing a Miami Dolphins cap, so of course, being the Dolfan that I am, I said hello! By the end of the conversation I had invited Jacob, Diana and Hanna to my flat for dinner on Friday. Tatiana, one of my colleagues, also joined us.

On the menu:
Roast (this one was a prime rib hunk of love!)
Spaghetti squash (that turned out to be pumpkin, lol!)
Roasted vegetables – Onions, yam (which ended up being Taro) and carrots **TARO IS *NOT* LOW CARB… just so you know.
Fresh salad

I cooked the roast for 3.5 hours in the toaster oven and it was PERFECT… I had to fight the urge to not consume it before the guests arrived! The meat fell apart with the fork. In the container with the roast I added the onions, taro and carrots.

I also put the “spaghetti” squash I cut in half, cut size down in a different pan and added the balance of the onions, taro and carrots and baked in the toaster oven (after the roast was done) for 50 minutes. This is when I realized that the “spaghetti” squash wasn’t and went to plan B 😀

Plan B was removing the flesh from the pumpkin, mashing it, adding in 4 pkts of Splenda, a Tbs of ghee and a tsp of cinnamon… OH MY GOODNESS was this yummy!

I threw the salad together and welcomed my guests… we had a lovely dinner! Here’s the pics!

After everyone left I did a quick clean up and then went for a short 3 km run around the block… perfect way to end the evening!

Hunk of prime rib love… Mmm! You should always brown each side of the meat before roasting in the oven.

Just browning this made the house smell delish!

Carrots, celery, taro and onion… perfect compliments to a roast!

Seasonings… keep it simple!

Taro in all it’s purply glory… It’s quite starchy, but has a lot of bang for it’s buck… it’s full of fiber and tastes a bit nutty.

Ready for the toaster oven!

My Un-spaghetti squash… it was yummy anyways!

Falling apart with a fork!

The veggies after I removed from the roasting pan… Nom!

Making Mashed Pumpkin

Mixed Salad… I love adding purple cabbage for color and taste!

Dinner ready for the guests!

Hanna, Tatiana, Diana and Me… Lovely dinner companions!

One of the awesome things about living abroad is the people you meet. We have choices in life. We can go about our business and walk around with our eyes averted or we can keep our eyes open and look for new friendships. I choose the latter. I have met so many amazing people from all over the world these past 4 years living abroad… treasures, every one of them and lots of stories I have of my journey, as I head back home for good in 10 days.

Do you extend yourself to strangers?

Ciao!

p.s. added a pic of my Blue Sparkly Notebook to the last post 🙂

Self Love Exercise – Part 10

Posted on September 8, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Take time to write in your Radical Self Love Journal… & be sure to carry it around with you!

There’s no better feeling than carrying around a notebook full of your dreams, goals, prayers & wishes. Journalling has been going on for a long time for a very good reason: it helps us realise who we are.

This has been a fun series to write about! It has brought about self-awareness for me and expanded my way of thinking. One of these is that I carry around a note book that my former personal assistant Kitty called the “blue sparkly note book”. I keep it in my back pack and pull it out when an idea or a thought occurs to me. I have horrible short-term memory so it helps me to also remember little things I’ve promised to do and have a place to jot down when it’s done.

I am starting a new business when I get home later this month (I fly 1 week and 5 days!!! WOOT!!!) and my blue, sparkly note book has been a great place to journal my hopes and expectations for the business, business ideas that POP into my head, business ideas that I get from friends and family and bloggy friends.

I also use the journal to write down how I’m feeling about myself. It’s a great place to pat myself on the back, write down affirmations and gratitude. I also write down prayers, hopes and blessings for those around me. Prayers for friends on trips, helping others, going through surgery, running races, going through triumphs and trials… they are all written in my Blue Sparkly Note Book.

self love, self esteem, self confidence, journaling

Until we LOVE OURSELVES, we cannot properly LOVE OTHERS.

Do you keep a journal? What is the last thing you wrote about in it? Mine is a blessing for a fellow blogger who is running a triathlon today (Saturday)… good luck Sandra 🙂

Ciao!

Edited to add a pic of my Blue Sparkly Notebook 🙂