Memories of Europe & Sea Salt

Posted on April 8, 2013 by flamidwyfe

Yesterday morning I was grinding sea salt onto my breakfast and realized that my grinder was almost empty. I was flooded with the memories of the trip that brought that container of Spice Islands Sea Salt my way.

In the summer of 2009 (yes, nearly 4 years ago) I was living in Abu Dhabi and was meeting my son in Amsterdam for a 3 week EuroRail vacation. I asked him to bring a shaker of Spice Islands Sea Salt with him, since I couldn’t find it over seas… he brought 2 bottles…. This is what is left of bottle number 2:

Spice Islands Sea Salt

It has reminded me of the amazing trip we had… so much fun traveling with my son… He’s so UNNEEDY and a foodie, so we ate well… here’s some pics…

Nick and me in Bruges.

Roma

I’m also reminded of how much weight I’ve lost 🙂

I think 2 bottles of Sea Salt in 4 years isn’t so bad… and the memories of how they got to me are awesome… Nick… mom needs another bottle of salt!

Ciao!

Dukan – Consolidation Day 330

Posted on April 6, 2013 by flamidwyfe

Friday was a travel south day. I went to my friend Janice’s to help her out with some office stuff and to get filled up on friendship. I love hanging out with her. I got a lot of work done.

I also chatted via IM with Cathy and we’re going on a conference cruise next February. I’m DUPER excited about that. It will be our 3rd cruise together.

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, bacon and coffee
Lunch: shredded pork and a handful of jalapeño cheese cubes
Snack: Cottage cheese with flaxseed meal
Dinner: Arabic food: mixed grill (chicken, lamb, filet Mignon) Yummy dinner!

Then home at 11 pm and to bed.

Weight, same as yesterday 168. My friend Cathy is pulling ahead!

Ciao!

Dukan – Consolidation Days 328 & 329

Posted on April 5, 2013 by flamidwyfe

The week is going well!
Wednesday is a workday in Delray… Commute of 70 miles. I listened to a couple running podcasts while driving for some inspiration.

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with ham. 700 mL water, coffee
Mid-morning: 500 mL water, coffee
Lunch: 1 boiled egg, chicken breast, 500 mL water
Afternoon: 20 Oz Coke Zero
Dinner: Eggs and bacon (Sydnie requested)
Evening Snack: FF Greek yogurt with Splenda and flaxseed meal
45 minute fast walk at 8 p,

Thursday a day off. Spent the morning at Panera’s and catching up with friends by phone. Spring cleaning of my apartment and finished a novel in the afternoon. Nice and relaxing.

Breakfast: Fried egg and bacon
Lunch: 3 slices roast beef and FF cottage cheese
Dinner: Pork shoulder steak and onion with curry powder… Yum
Snack: FF Greek yogurt with Splenda and flaxseed meal
Total water: 2 liters

Dinner…

I hope everyone is having a great day!!

Ciao!

Edited… Forgot the weights, lol
Wednesday: 169
Thursday: 168
Down 5 pounds from Sunday 🙂

Australia Wrap Up & a Dukan Update

Posted on March 31, 2013 by flamidwyfe

So, we’ll start out with my wild adventure down under 🙂

I stayed 3 full days after the baby was born. On Saturday I went snorkeling with a group from MeetUp.com. And had an awesome time. Great way to wrap up 4 weeks in Adelaide.

I then rented a car and started out on the Great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Melbourne. It was a long, but lovely 700 mile drive.

Fun things to see…

Then I got to Melbourne and stayed a few nights with Kay. A Scottish midwife I met in Abu Dhabi. We went for a long walk and lunch down by the water…

The second night we met Melissa a Kiwi midwife I met in Abu Dhabi and Jax, a friend of a friend for a Thai fusion dinner…

Then it was off to Malua Bay to see Gen, Dean and Gracie. I met this lovely family in Abu Dhabi, as well…

We hiked, went to the zoo, BBQd breakfast at the sea, hiked some more, burned a bonfire, FUN!

Then off to Sydney to meet up with Gail. Gail was my trainer in Abu Dhabi and my neighbor. And she is one of the funniest people I know. She invited me up for “tea” one night and so I ate dinner and went up to her flat only to find that “tea” is dinner. She’s called me Dickie since then… I’m sure it’s derogatory, but she says it with sarcasm and love at the same time 😀

We drove from Sydney to The Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane, in 16 hours… Long ass day, but wonderful company! She lives about 30 minutes from Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo!! We went with Gail’s daughter Olivia and her wee little man, Angus. What a fun day!

And after cuddles and see ya laters, it was time for my 6 week Australia Adventure to come to a close. I flew out of Brisbane with ZZ Top, no kidding. On my second favorite plane…

And, no, I didn’t get pics of ZZ Top, I try to think how I’d feel if people were interrupting me for pics.

And now I’m home a week. It’s Easter. I had a lovely day with my mom and Tiff, Joey and ALL the grandkids at church and then a wonderful dinner at Jenni and Chris’ house.

Now my update. I’ve gained 18 pounds since I’ve come back to the States in September. 9 of them in Australia. The first 9 creeped up. I’m freaked out. My clothes still fit, but are snug. I noticed my undies were snug last week and couldn’t imagine what was up. Then I got on the scale. I have stayed gluten free. In Australia I logged more miles on my RunKeeper app than any other 6 weeks in the past year. I hiked almost every single day! i swam and snorkeled. I climbed a freaking mountain!!!

I’ve done a few things that I need to rein in… 1. Too much full fat cheese. 2. Replacement foods (in Australia I splurged on GF pretzels, muffins, crackers… One night I ate GF crackers with organic honey!!!) 3. Wine. I’ve had a couple glasses a week, which is a lot for me. Moscato… Damn you, Cathy Cook! LOL

So, starting tomorrow, I’m doing 4 days of attack and then alternating PP (Pure Protein) and PV (Protein Veggie) days until it’s off. And I’m going to blog EVERY.SINGLE.DAY… To hold myself accountable and to get the support I need from all of you.

So, I’m back… Daily posts. Looking forward to getting back on track!

Ciao!

International Women’s Day

Posted on March 8, 2013 by flamidwyfe

Today, March 8, 2013 is International Women’s Day. A day to celebrate women and from the International Women’s Day web site…

Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women’s Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women’s rights and participation in social, political and economic processes.

They have a theme each year and this year it is:
2013 Theme: THE GENDER AGENDA: GAINING MOMENTUM
Over time and distance, the equal rights of women have progressed. We celebrate the achievements of women while remaining vigilant and tenacious for further sustainable change. There is global momentum for championing women’s equality.

In celebration of IWD I caught a baby in Australia. Birth is an arena where women’s rights are still being trampled, all over the world. Women aren’t given the choice of where and with whom they want to deliver. Often, what is perceived as a high risk (and many times it is) precludes a woman from having choices. For most OB practitioners it is their way or the highway. Sadly, women don’t feel supported in certain settings. So they choose to birth at home where things turn out fine. As they did today. Trusting in the body’s innate ability to do what it was designed to do. Trusting that the woman and her partner know what is best for them. Trusting your own instinct as a practitioner that you will make the right decisions and seeing absolute joy and self empowerment on the women I serve is the epitome of celebrating women. Internationally. Respecting. Trusting Birth. This is what I do. This is what has sent me to 5 different continents to serve women and their families. This is why I feel so honored and blessed today…

Happy International Women’s Day!

Almost Heaven

Posted on March 2, 2013 by flamidwyfe

What’s better than organic, nitrite free bacon and eggs for breakfast? This…

Bacon and eggs fried with leftover turkey skin from the organic bird I cooked two days ago. OMG GOOD!!

Dukan – Pure Protein Thursday

Posted on February 22, 2013 by flamidwyfe

Consolidation Day 286 😀
Weight: 151 lbs/68.5 kgs

Thought I’d throw a Dukan PP day out there! I’m still going strong. Sticking mostly to the Consolidation plan.

Breakfast: 2 eggs fried in coconut oil, 250 mL water
Mid-morning: 4 slices of the yummiest bacon and a cafe con leche
Lunch: 2 big slices of roast beef, 500 mL water
Dinner: 3 pieces of baked chicken. Baked the chicken in a TBS coconut oil and sliced 1.5 onions and 4 cloves of garlic… Delish! 500 mL water
Before bed: Fat free Greek yogurt with chia seeds for fiber
Will finish the night off with another 500 mL after my run.

Met an amazing person today at the coffee shop. No seats available so I offered to share my table. I love when you two people wind up in the same place for a reason… I had a wonderful 3 hour conversation… SO NICE TO MEET YOU, STAR 🙂

Went for a walk in Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary. Sadly, this park is closing due to budget constraints. Got to feed and pet and hold hands with a couple of kangaroos and wallabies. So much fun!

Now I’m going out for a run!

Ciao!

Travel – Australia

Posted on February 21, 2013 by flamidwyfe

G’day Mates!
So I’ve been in Australia, on business, for 10 days and thought I’d share some of my pictures with you. I can’t express the happiness I have strolling through a park and seeing koalas hanging out in the tree. Not a zoo, just a national park. And the kangaroos and cockatoos and kookaburras and Galahs. Pretty awesome 🙂

The family I’m staying with eat all organic and mostly gluten-free which is wonderful. Good healthy eating, lots of hiking and fresh air! I met some people from Meet-Up here and have hiked a couple of times with them.

Here’s the pics…

Three koalas in a tree 🙂

Magpie… You lookin’ at me?

I made yummy gluten-free coconut muffins…

And another sunset…

So, that’s the first ten days… I’ve got a few recipes to post, hopefully in the next couple of days!

Ciao!

Recipe – Dukan & Paleo – There’s A Kangaroo in my Crockpot!

Posted on February 13, 2013 by flamidwyfe

I’m in the land of the Aussies and when in Oz…

I traveled here last Friday and what is wonderful about flying west is that you don’t have such bad jet lag. It’s the flying back east that does you in! It is summer here in Adelaide and the weather is glorious! I’ll do a post on the hikes I’ve been doing tomorrow, but today’s special is Roo!

We purchased the kangaroo in the market and to me it looks like beef…

I made a spice rub with chili, garum masala and cumin and rubbed it in all the crevices…

I then seared the Roo on both sides in 2 Tbs of coconut oil…

I chopped 2 onions and a nice piece of ginger and tossed into the crockpot, put in just enough water to cover the bottom, placed the Roo on top of that and poured the drippings from the pan on top of all of it…

Cooked on high 3.5 hours and bam…

Tender, falling apart meat! The onions cooked down nicely and the gravy was yummy!

Plated with an organic salad and this was a perfect meal 🙂 I also enjoyed a 1/2 cup of rice and those purple things are carrots!

I liked the meat. It wasn’t gamey at all. Reminded me of buffalo meat, but tastier and more tender. I would definitely try this again!

Have you tried something different? How did you like it?

The Common Cold versus The Flu

Posted on February 11, 2013 by flamidwyfe

So, it’s Tuesday, February 12 here in Australia. I’m here on work related business and the weather is perfect… More on that in the next post.

This post is about the Common Cold versus The Flu. I started getting “sinusy” on Friday night, FEBRUARY 1! I woke up Saturday morning with a full on sore throat and no voice, as discussed in the post about the sleepover at Momma’s. By Sunday morning, I was feeling even cruddier and praying this “flu” would go away before having to fly more than half way around the world!

By Monday I was back at work, a productive cough, feeling cruddy and still no voice and decided to look up info on “the flu” to see how long this crap was going to last and this was what I found…

I didn’t have the flu… Just The Common Cold and the previous 2 times since I’ve been back in the States, I also just had the Common Cold. And I believe that a lot of people who “think” they have the flu, just have the Common Cold. I am so glad I didn’t go get jabbed for nothing (I thank God I don’t have health insurance a lot, since it prevents me from unnecessary care!)

I took Tylenol Severe Cold. There are A MILLION choices out there…

And although its helped with the symptoms, I still have the Common Cold. It’s diminishing. Mostly fine throughout the day, crunky chest in the morning from sinusy stuff, I feel fine.

How has this cold season been to you? Have you had the Common Cold or the Flu? After reading the symptoms did you think you had one, when you really had the other?

Ciao!