Category Archives: China

Dukan – Day 190 – Awesome evening walk

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Saturday was a PP day.

Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total Weight Loss: 71.7 lb/32.61 kg

Truly… the water makes all the difference in the world! I got in 2.5 liters of the stuff and I lost. Went into work 90 minutes later than usual, which was nice because I got a couple of loads of laundry done and the linens changed on my bed… left the house feeling as if it was fresher!

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs and 500 mL water.
Lunch: 2 tea eggs and 3 thin slices of ham and 500 mL water.
Snack: 1 tea egg (listen… I had my cholesterol checked and it’s lower than ever!!! LOL) and by the time it was 4 p.m. I had completed another 700+ mL water.

After work, I walked 2.6 kms (1.5 miles) to the MySweet cafe for coffee with Velina. I had 2. Which amped me up BIG TIME. On the way home I speed walked, with the Black Eyed Peas “I’ve Gotta Feelin'” blasting over and over and over in my head set for 61 minutes. I did just under 5 kms (according to my pedometer it was 3.03 miles). Not bad for a walk. The pedo says I averaged just over 3 miles per hour. I didn’t slow down for a second, and my pulse rate was 132 when I arrived home…. It felt great!

Dinner: Curried pork stir fry with onions and 300 mL water.
Snack: FF Greek yogurt with bran and splenda and a cup of tea.

Lovely day, I feel accomplished and happy. I hope everyone has a fab weekend! I’m off on Sunday… YAY!

Ciao!

Quote of the Day: Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
~ Dalai Lama
Take Action!!! ~ Sandi B.

Dukan – Day 189 – Shanghai with Kitty

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Friday was a PV day.

Daily Weight Loss: +0.9 lb/+0.40 kg… a gain 😦
Total Weight Loss: 71.3 lb/32.41 kg

So here I was up early on my day off to go to Shanghai. My friend Lucy shipped some boxes here and I needed to go clear them with Customs. I know, I know, I’m a glutton for punishment!

Driver here right on time at 730 a.m…. grabbed a couple tea eggs and then off to pick up Kitty. Kitty is my personal assistant (at work) and accompanies me to deal with paperwork because I have little patience to deal with stupid people (read: people who don’t want to do their job) and she keeps me out of jail 🙂 So here we are in the taxi, bright and early…

Hangzhou Taxi

It took us 45 minutes to get to the train station across twon here in Hangzhou (I might add that this is 3 minutes longer that it takes to get to Shanghai on the train 190 kms away!). Purchased tickets, got coffee and jumped on the train, as it was boarding when we purchased the tickets! Here we are in our 1st class seats. First class costs $5.71 more than 2nd class… worth every penny!

Kitty and Sandi

It took 42 minutes at 304 kph to get to Shanghai… I read my novel “The Wire In the Blood” by Val McDermid while Kitty napped… the girl can nap anywhere, at any time, it’s amazing!

Subway to our first destination and because Kitty is so amazingly efficient we got there without getting lost and she had all the paperwork ready, it was forthwith stamped (the Chinese stamp everything 457 times!!!) and money was exchanged and then we were cleared to go to customs.

But it was lunch time, so on to the subway to go to my favorite hamburger joint, The Blue Frog … woo hoo 2 times in 1 week! What a lucky girl I am. The server actually asked if I wanted what I had on Sunday and repeated it verbatim… am I really in China?!? I was pretty darn impressed, and yes, I wanted exactly what I had on Sunday 🙂

Lunch at the Blue Frog

Kitty had a HUGE burger, which she deconstructed and ate with a fork and knife. She also tried ketchup for the first time… and liked it… poor girl is getting Americanized by me.

After lunch a quick stop off at the City Shop grocery to pick up fat free yogurt (can’t get it in Hangzhou anywhere, and the City Shop online delivery warehouse didn’t have any last week. I got 10!

Then off to the customs office where the lady didn’t want to do her job (no big surprise) and as I wound up to start running my mouth, my sweet, naive, soft-spoken Kitty says, “I’ve got this” and lays into the lady, with a sweet smile on her face, but an angry voice and the lady did her job. We were in and out of the Customs office in under 30 minutes.

Back to the train station by way of 3 different Lines and train headed back by 436 p.m… The sad part, it took 1 hour and 17 minutes to get to my flat from the train station.

Dinner was stir-fried steak chunks with onions, squash and garlic stems.

I’ll tell you where the 0.9 lbs came from… I had NO WATER, at all. I had 1 cup of coffee in the morning, 1 latte in the train station in the morning, 2 diet cokes with lunch (something I rarely drink anymore, and don’t miss to be honest), a latte at the Shanghai train station, and 2 cups of yellow label tea at home. NO WATER… it makes a huge difference. And I noticed my urine was concentrated last night… hmmm, do you think that could be from drinking no water!?!? 😀 I also didn’t get in my yogurt and bran. I had no appetite for it last night.

Exercise… Kitty and I walked up and down every single stair there was in the subway system. We didn’t take the escalators, even with my back pack full of yogurt and a few other groceries, I climbed the stairs. It felt great and accomplished… Kitty, ever the trooper, went along with it, but told me on the train that her legs were tired. Bless.

All in all a good day. Here’s one last pic… a family sculpture in Shanghai that we passed, and as my driver Jerry reminds me FAMILY = Father And Mother, I Love You… pretty cool, huh?

FAMILY

Ciao!

Quote of the day: “You don’t always get what you wish for, you always get what you work for”

Dukan – Day 188 – You’re Giving Two Speeches

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Today was a PP day.

Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg (4th day in a row that I’ve had 0.4 lb loss, strange!)
Total Weight Loss: 72.2 lb/32.81 kg

So off to work I go this morning… no confrontation at the tea egg line, this is a good thing for me and you can see the relief on the lovely, smiling faces of the tea egg ladies 😀

After morning rounds I am told that I’m going to help with bathing babies as they are short of staff (for new comers, I’m the Quality Manager for a maternity hospital in China, helping them improve to international standards and I’m a midwife by trade, not practicing here (or at least that’s what it’s suppose to be… LOL). Anyway, bathed a lovely baby boy while the marketing department snatched dozens and dozens of pictures of him for the parents. He also had a swim in the tank, settled when I sang him The Rose (my go to song to make babies stop crying) and then I gave him a lovely massage. Taking my time so I’d only have to care for one bambino!

After that, Kitty (my personal assistant) and I went back to our office and she comes into my inner office with a 4 page document to show me which events next month I have to attend and which ones I’m speaking at. Speaking at?? “Yes, she says, You’re giving two speeches”… “What do they have to be about”, I ask. And she replies, “Oh, don’t worry, they will make for you”… Lovely. So someone will write my speeches in Mandarin and then Kitty with translate them into English for me, then I will read them out loud in English and Kitty will translate verbally to the audience in Mandarin. I love this place. I am their marketing doll and I really do enjoy it! I have to do very little, but show up, look pretty, speak and smile. I imagine this is kind of like being a beauty queen 🙂 Kitty has informed me that this is all in honor of our hospital being open for 1 year and we will be celebrating from March 3 – April 4th… The Chinese know how to party it up!

Lunch at my desk, 2 tea eggs and 3 slices of ham.
Dinner… funny thing, I forgot to take meat out of the freezer, something I rarely do, and ended up stopping at the street vendor on the way into my apartment complex. She sells what looks like chickens and I thought I’d get one, sans the head (they serve it with the head here), and have that for dinner. She explains that they are free range ducks, this is why they are smaller than what I’d be used to from the U.S.. Well, ducks and Dukan don’t go together because of the fat content, but I need to eat so I buy one. She expertly shaved the meat off the bone and presented it to me in 2 little containers. It.Was.Yummy!!! Really yummy! But my tummy felt heavy for about an hour after I ate.

I went for a run, did 35 minutes and 17 seconds in the pouring rain, but I’m really starting to enjoy it. Kept up my 7 mins. run/2 mins. walk ratio and it seemed easier this time around.

Yogurt with bran and splenda for snack and off to bed… trip to Shanghai on Friday!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: “Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness” -Edward Stanley

Day 187 – Still Runnin’ In the Rain

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Wednesday was a PP day.

Daily weight loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total weight loss: 71.7 lb/32.61 kg

Well it was still raining… hard, when I left for work. The walk was a bit challenging, but more challenging was wrestling with a lady, armed with an umbrella in the tea egg line. One of the problems I have here is the inability to accept that these people simply have a. NO MANNERS and b. NO COMPREHENSION OF QUEING IN LINE! Seriously. I am Ms. Manners! And I’m not afraid to say something to anyone not following very basic, civilized rules of life. Like not blatantly cutting in line in front of someone. I asked her politely to move to the back of the line. She actually uttered the ‘F’ word and TOUCHED ME. Oh, touching me, not so good! I whipped my umbrella around to block her access to the tea egg lady, who was watching in utter fascination as to whom was going to win this battle. In the end I DID… MUHAHAHA. As I usually do, when it comes to manners and queing, and in the process of winning, she actually got taken care of 4 people after she would have, if she’d just gotten in line. I marched off, in the pouring rain, feeling like a champion 🙂

Oh, just a small glimpse into what I call my “China Moments”. I could go on for days, but it would bore you and you’d be asking yourself, “Why in the hell does she stay there?”… As I do, daily… but it’s a good paying job and I like the work and the people I work with (most days, like the rest of you).

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs, 500mL of water
Lunch: 1 tea egg, beef slices, 500mL of water
Dinner: Stir-fried beef with onions, seasoned with curry… YUM!
Snack: Yogurt with bran and splenda
Total water intake of the day: nearly 3 liters!

I went for a 30 minute run after dinner and before the yogurt. I stuck with the 7 minute intervals, will try to move up next week to 8 minutes. I hope everyone is having a good evening!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
Vince Lombardi

I really wish it would stop doing this…

Rain, Rain PLEASE GO AWAY!

Dukan – Day 186 – Running In the Rain

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Tuesday was a PP (Pure Protein) Day.

Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total Weight Loss: 71.3 lb/32.41 kg

Well, the sun was a short lived adventure here in wintery south China! Woke up to a downpour, the good news… It’s was 41 degrees! Woo HOO! And it warmed up to 48… I feel spring is in the air. Vivien & Kitty promise me there is no where more beautiful on Earth than Hangzhou, China in the spring… I’m looking forward to that 😀

Coffee while getting ready for work and picked up tea eggs on my 1 mile walk in the drizzling rain. Another cup of coffee after handover and then I by noon had more than 1 liter of my 2 liter water bottle already in.
Lunch was a tea egg and beef slices. Then another tea egg around 3:30.
1 mile walk home with Velina and her mom and then I made Dill Encrusted Pork with Onions. I basically chopped fresh dill and put it in a small zip lock Baggie. Cut 5 oz. pork into bite sized pieces and threw those in the bag and added some dry Italian seasonings and shook the bag. I then put 2 tsp. olive oil in a pan and sautéed a half of a large red onion for 3 minutes, stirring often. Remove onions from pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, turn heat up to medium high and throw in the pork. I let the pork sit for 1 minute and then stir frynit for 3 minutes, add in the onions for another minute and it’s done! Yummy!!

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I then went out for a run. It ended up being a short 25 minutes because it started lightning! It was pouring down rain, and I have to add here for me to RUN in the rain is HUGE! I am terrified of screwing up my knees, but there was no fear at all! That is until the lightning, LOL. I was able to do 3 runs of 7 minutes with short walk intervals in between. That’s a first for me.

Came back, ate yogurt with Splenda and flax seed and off to bed at a decent hour. All in all, a pretty good day.

Ciao!

Quote of the day:

Remember that being a success without happiness is meaningless.
– Richard Denny –

Dukan – Day 184 – Six months in and Feeling Awesome!

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Sunday was a PV day.

Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total Weight Loss: 70.9 lb/32.21 kg

So it was six months ago today that I began my Dukan Diet journey. And I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am that I did! By sticking to this diet and by not straying (with the exception of a rare few times) I have managed to nearly lose 71 pounds in 6 months. I feel GREAT! Great doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel. My knees don’t hurt. I bound up and down the stairs at work. I use the stairs everywhere I go (like in the Shanghai subway yesterday). I walk 1 mile to work, clock in and take the stairs to the 4th floor. In August, I would have been winded before getting to the 2nd floor. Now… no problem!

Yesterday I woke up early, caught a ride to the train station and spent the day in Shanghai. It’s a 42 minute bullet train ride and worth it. I had lunch with Federica and Will and did a little shopping. Picked up a couple of pair of jeans (one size 12, one size 14) and then coffee with them and the trip back. Makes for a long day. Makes for a short night of sleep, but through the yawns this morning I feel as if it was worth it. Worth it for my mental health and worth it to get a couple of pairs of jeans in normal size for a bargain 🙂

Speaking of jeans… I promised before and after butt pics. This first picture was what really made me realize I needed to do something immediately about my weight. This is at my 30th Class Reunion in August 2011, a couple of weeks before I started the Dukan Diet… I’m in the purple sweater… Good Lord!

Oh My!

And this was this morning… We took a couple of shots from a distance but because I’m wearing all black, they just didn’t show anything. Vivien insists I use this one… it’s a close up, but I’m loving my waist definition. And… in the pic above my hips were 56″ (cringe)… they are now 44″… that’s TWELVE INCHES LESS! And my waist has gone from 45 1/2 inches to 35 1/2 inches… TEN INCHES LESS… All I can do is 😀 So here’s my close up… LOL…

Dukan Diet = Smaller ass and waist 🙂

I have received so much encouragement from family, friends and fellow bloggers that I am amazed and humbled on a daily basis. It really is what has pushed me to continue down this amazing path of wellness.

Again… thanks for all the encouragement and for those of you on this journey… YOU CAN DO IT!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect it’s successful outcome ~ William James

Dukan – Day 182 – 70 POUNDS GONE!

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Well, it took me 7 extra days to get to the goal, but I DID IT! Not too bad given that I spent 3 weeks home on a super fun vacation 😀

Friday was a PP day.

Daily Weight Loss: 1.1 lb/0.50 kg
Total Weight Loss: 70.2 lb/31.91 kg …. 5 STONE!

I’m doing the happy dance! Seriously… the happy dance burns even more calories 🙂

I was off today and slept until 7! That is the first morning I’ve slept so late in over a month! Got some blogging done and threw in laundry. Then off to catch a taxi to Kira’s house for breakfast. On the way, the sun peeked through the ever present haze/smog and I snapped a shot…

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This picture was taken at 927 a.m…. the weather is still crappy and cold, but I did get to see the sun and that’s all I needed to cheer me up!

Breakfast was a crustless quiche, made especially Dukan friendly just for me… THANKS, KIRA! And I was so busy playing with the amazingly adorable Soren that I didn’t get any other pictures besides this one, which I thought was particularly artsy…

I present… Soren’s Spoon Art

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It’s a little blurry, but you get the point… It’s skippy peanut butter on a demi-spoon. He stuck it there because I didn’t want to “taste” it… LOL

Anyway… long walk to the bank to open an account with an American company (CitiBank)… treated like a VIP and it was the least painful banking experience I’ve had thus far in China… WOOT!

Then home to have a very accomplished afternoon of laundry, boxing unpacking and repacking, setting out candles all over my flat to raise and lift my mood, burned nag incense to make the house smell good, organized my office room as an art studio and cooked myself a yummy Curry Stir-Fried beef with onions.

All in all a good day, capped off by a wonderful, happy inducing weigh in this morning!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Remember, that being a success without happiness is meaningless.
~ Richard Denny

Dukan – Day 181

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Thursday was a PV Day.

Daily Weight Loss: 0.44 lb/0.20 kg
Total Weight Loss: 69.1 lb/31.41 kg

This one is going to be short. Normal day here in China, still grey, cold and rainy, but my mood is lifting. I’ve taken to “sunning” in my guest bathroom under the UV lights for an hour a night.

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It’s toasty warm and makes me feel good 🙂

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: Beef slices w/cilantro, garlic stems and sautéed mushrooms
Dinner: Stir-fried pork with onions and mushrooms

Had my groceries delivered from Shanghai today, got some fresh organic veggies that I’m going to use in some recipes.

I hope everyone is having a fun Thursday… The weekend is almost here!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then begin by realizing that you are the author and everyday you have the opportunity to write a new page
– Mark Houlahan –

Be In It For The Long Haul

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When I started the Dukan journey on August 20, 2011 I didn’t think that I would be nearing the 170’s in February. I thought about what a daunting task losing 90 pounds would be. And that 90 pounds would only bring me to Dr. Dukan’s “Ideal Weight” for me, not MY ideal weight.

But, start I did. And what a fabulous journey it has been. I’m down 67 of those 90 pounds already. That is more than 30 kgs! I’ve lost more than 25% of my body weight in less than 6 months. And I’ve done it by eating WELL and eating RIGHT. That is one of the things I love about the Dukan diet over any other program I’ve been on. It’s a LIFE TIME plan. It doesn’t take you to your ideal weight and leave you there. It’s a change in your life style and it helps to get you there and stays with you. It is also healthy eating. Low fat and low carb. A perfect life time diet for me, as I’m committed to staying off of wheat and gluten for the rest of my life.

So no matter what your future plans are… losing weight, learning something new, taking on a gym program, complete the Couch 2 5K… the year will pass anyways, whether you start and/or accomplish your goal or not…. So take a chance and be in it for the long haul!

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