Dukan – Consolidation Day 73

Posted on July 23, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Wow! 73 days! I can’t believe it. And you know what? My weight has been between 144 and 147 each and every morning for about 6 weeks now. Woot!

Daily Weight: 146 lbs/66.22 kgs
Goal weight: 155 lbs/70.5 kgs

I’ve been eating very well. Mostly 3 egg omelets for breakfast, meat and veggies for lunch and dinner. I’m loving all the veggies and a sweet potato 3x a week. I’m doing a PP day once per week and a celebration meal.

I’m on week 2 of being in Guangzhou working, so eating out more than I like, because I’m not suppose to cook in my room. And I’m on my 2nd 2 day trip to Hong Kong in as many weeks. Hong Kong is a $20 train ticket and only 1 hour and 45 minutes away from Guangzhou. It is heaven. Although maybe not right now as you’ll see from these pictures…

About 10 minutes after arriving in Hong Kong yesterday, I stripped off my clothes, put on bathing suit and headed to rooftop pool… It is a small pool, just 15′ x 4′. I was perplexed as to why the wooden chairs and table weren’t there, but laid out my towel and took this glorious picture…

About 25 minutes later I noticed an abrupt change and looked up to see this…

And then the rain started… So inside I went. While waiting for the elevator I noticed this…

So WTH does that mean you ask? This…

So, I went from this…

To this…

Pretty quickly. But that’s OK because I still got a good walk in last night and a run in this morning and I’ve been forced to RELAX by just chilling in my room here at the hotel, which saves me money because it’s too yucky to be out shopping 😀 So all’s good!

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Ciao!

Travel – Hunań Dinner

Posted on July 19, 2012 by flamidwyfe

So, I’m working in Guangzhou for 2 weeks and my personal assistant asks me the other day if I like spicy food. I say yes…. In China spicy = burn holes in your mouth. This I learned last night! 😀

Last night Rose and her boyfriend Jack took me to Hunań Home Restaurant for dinner. I immediately knew it was going to be spicy simply by coughing the minute we walked into the restaurant because of the pepper in the air… Whew boy!

Hunań cuisine is also known as Xiang cuisine, in Chinese 湘菜. Xiang cuisine is known for its liberal use of hot chilis, shallots and garlic. And boy did we have a lot of all of those! It is also known for changing the menu to suit the season. In the summer they start you out with cold dishes that have the hottest chilis and then milder dishes towards the end. Hot Pot is served more in the winter.

We were served a very “earthy” tea. Grown in Hunan.

My dinner companions Rose & Jack…

And food in the order it was brought out… Spiciest first!

Spicy Black Fungi (aka mushrooms). These were AMAZING and HOT… Spicy, spicy hot. Those little teeny red peppers in there… Whew!

Next up, Spicy Shrimps… Yes, with an ‘s’. They were nearly as spicy as the fungi and had their skin still on, but I got used to the crunchiness 🙂

And then the cauliflower. Spicy, but not too HOT. These were yummy!! Notice the whole garlic cloves… Mmmmm Mmmmm Good!

After that the short ribs arrived, covered in rice. They were steamed… OH MY, NOM, NOM!!! I shooed the rice off…

And to finish the meal off, Fried Pumpkin 😀 Very naughty, lol. BUT… They used rice flour, not wheat flour, so no tummy troubles… YAY!!

After dinner we took a 4 km stroll along the waterfront, in the rain. It was a beautiful night with boats and ferries floating down the river.

This is me and Rose.

And Rose and Jack… Who really is a delightful guy… He just doesn’t smile for pictures 🙂

It was such an honor to share dinner with them. Jack is the first boyfriend I’ve met here in China. It’s usually just the girls who go out. I had a fabulous time getting to know Rose even more and meeting her boyfriend, who is perfect for her 😀

Ciao!

Dukan – Emotional Eating

Posted on July 18, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Emotional eating… Something most of us do at some point in our lives, but can easily get out of control. I emotional ate just now, for the first time since last August. It’s been an emotional few days. The 20th anniversary of my dads death, watching the first 11 episodes of Season 5 Grey’s Anatomy, topped off by my first headache in 11 months (I’m sure caused from crying… over both of the aforementioned things) and the cream on the cupcake? Hearing George Michael over the mall Muzak. Memories of my first birthday in Abu Dhabi flooded my memory. Oy!
So, I bought headache medicine (Bayer in the blue box), chased it with a double shot cafe latte and headed to the movie theater on the top floor and purchased a small container of popcorn. To make it even worse… It’s kettle corn! So sweet popcorn, yay!
It was good. I ain’t lying! And I feel better! Headache gone 🙂

Will I comfort feed again? Probably. Will I do it regularly? Nope. I love how I look and feel.

I will continue to eat good food, run 5 times a week and do yoga. I ran in Hong King yesterday morning, until a storm brought lightning! I love running in the rain, but not rain with lightning 🙂 Slow run since the ground was slick and I was being as careful as possible!

Want to end on a sweet note. My little baby from last week came in for a visit today…

Isn’t he a cutie?

Ciao!

Guest post for AGoodRun

Posted on July 16, 2012 by flamidwyfe

My guest post on AGood Run… Check it out 🙂

A Good Run

Written by Sandi Blankenship

The past 11 months have been quite an adventure for me. Last August, I went home to the States for my 30-year high school reunion and met with a high school friend who is a life coach. I was living and working in the Middle East, had been offered a job in China and weighed 255 lbs. I completely changed my lifestyle a few weeks later, moved to China in September, started running in January and lost 111 pounds! I ran my first 5K on June 9th and came in just past the middle of the pack. I’m now training for a triathlon.

My Run:
I started my run at The Vineyard. A restaurant in the West Lake District that is run by an American chef, Reuben, who gets my diet needs. I am so thankful for the food I’m served there and the friends I’ve…

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Dukan – Consolidation Day 65

Posted on July 15, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Saturday was Bastille Day and I chose it to be a Celebration Meal Day!

Daily weight: 147 lbs/66.8 kgs
Goal weight: 155 lbs/70.5 kgs
Weight still hanging in there… It’s amazing 🙂

Traveled to Guangzhou on Thursday. Will be here for 2 weeks.

Friday assisted a woman who wanted a water birth. The patient and her husband gave permission for our marketing department to film the event. Unbeknownst to me there was a reporter from a national online pregnancy magazine in the room as well, blogging live and uploading pics from her iPhone (apparently with the patients permission, lol). The funny thing is, I thought she was our staff and kept telling her to put her phone away 😀
This photo is courtesy of the magazine website…

Saturday was Bastille Day. So far this summer I have celebrated British Day, the 4th of July and Bastille Day all in China. We were invited by the French Chamber if Commerce to a huge beach/pool party at a local hotel. Goodie bags when we arrived included a bikini, that fit I might add! We had a great time. I decided that I would make this my weekly celebration meal. I had BBQ meat and grilled veggies and my celebration food was two teeny scoops of decadent French milled ice cream… Coffee (my favorite since I was an itty bitty) and BLACK SESAME… Holy scamoly! We danced the night away to a live band that played some awesome music and a had 2 glasses of French white wine that caused me to have a headache 😦

This is Rose (my Guangzhou Personal Assistant) and Liza who works in the Int’l Department at he hospital.

Sunday was a routine day in the office. On my morning break I wrote my guest post for AGoodRun. I submitted it for publishing tomorrow… How exciting is that?? And in the late afternoon we headed to the Bud Theatre for a marketing event. I did a water birth presentation for over 400 parents to be… It was awesome. Immediately following my talk there was a live theatrical performance of The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. I believe it’s a Swedish story… Hearing it in Mandarin made it even more fun 🙂

I also got to pass out the prizes that we awarded. After the show ended Rose, Liza and I went to the Oriental Palace Arabic restaurant for dinner… Again… Lol. I love the friendly atmosphere and the food is gorgeous!

I’m off to Hong Kong in the morning! So off to bed I go!

Ciao 🙂

Blogging From the Labor Room

Posted on July 13, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Sitting in a labor room here in Guangzhou, China. I’ve realized a few things…
1. I’m glad no one called me until 8 am, as I much prefer my sleep now.
2. As much as I love birth, I am totally ready to handover the torch. I’ve got my fill. I now want to educate about birth and handling the tough births, the business end and my new passion health and fitness!
3. I’m missing home and can’t wait to get there! Come on September!

A glimpse (with permission) into my Chinese world…

A supportive husband and classical music from the phone… All a woman needs.

Quietly encouraging poolside. Another thought, can’t wait for Dr. Viggiano to fix my arms. A contrast… Muscular from lifting and yoga, flabby from years of obesity.

I love the different colors in this picture 🙂

Here’s hoping for a fast, easy water birth!

Dukan – Consolidation Day 60 – Two Months!

Posted on July 10, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Wow! I can’t believe it’s been 2 months since I reached Consolidation Phase! Two months and I’ve actually lost weight, not just maintained. Which says a lot about this amazing lifestyle change… it’s for the long term. It doesn’t abandon you once the weight is gone.

A former colleague, Rachell, is on Dukan and has lost 19 Kgs (nearly 42 pounds). She looks AWESOME! One of the comments under the picture she posted that she was on Dukan and one of the people commented back, ” I must look into it, do you eat anything?”… This is the general mentality we have about diets… that you must not eat… well I’m here to tell you that on Dukan you eat and eat and eat… but you eat GOOD, HEALTHY FOOD. Nourishing food. It’s a lifestyle change and if you stick to it, it continues to keep you fit and healthy… while you eat and eat and eat! 😀

Daily Weight: 144 lbs/65.45 kgs (yes, mother, I know… lol)
Goal Weight: 155 lbs/70.5 kgs.

So, this is something interesting. When I started the Dukan Diet way back in August of last year, Dr. Dukan asks what you think your weight should be. I said 145. He said 165 was my True Weight based on age, # of pregnancies, menopause and other factors. So I agreed to set my goal at 155. Which is what I reached 60 days ago. I am now 11 pounds below that goal and just 1 pound below what I thought my weight should be. I feel good. I’m eating and eating and eating (you get the point)… but my exercise has increased from being a couch potato 10 months ago to running 5K five times a week, yoga 2x a week, mountain hiking on Sunday mornings, walking a mile to and from work every single day, etc. I have increased my calories, as well. Trying to match my motion burning energy 🙂 So, in all actuality, I’ve lost 111 pounds… what a cool number that is!

For a glimpse into my typical Sunday… here we go…

Up at the crack of dawn… no alarm, drives me nuts, as I’d love to sleep in just a little, teeny bit, but nope, my body goes to sleep at 10 pm and wakes up just before 6 am every morning, work or not!

Breakfast: FF Greek yogurt with Splenda and 2 Tbs. Flax seed meal, cup of coffee and 750 mL water with Crystal Light. Strap on my hiking boots and off I go to catch bus #900. Towards Guyuan Park, where I get off to walk to the entrance of the mountain hike.

Along the way to the mountain gate there are many paths to choose from to get there…

And then, as I came out of the park to cross the road to the gate, I encountered this…

No end in sight… but the construction workers waved me over, moved the walls and let me pass through… YAY!

More paths to choose from 🙂

There are 838 steps to get up to here…

West Lake in the background… the view is stunning in person. I drank another 750 mL water while on the hike.

And this is the path I take, thanks to Runkeeper!

838 steps up, 483 ft elevation… nice climb! I paused up at the top for pictures and about a 25 minute guided meditation.

After finishing the hike, I walked down to the first traffic light in front of the University to meet my driver Jerry and found Teresa’s… how in the WORLD had I not found this place in the past 10 months is beyond me!!! I texted Jerry and told him to meet me there and we had brunch… it was Mmmm Mmmm good. The iced coffees were a perfect way to cool off after the long hike!
Brunch: Avocado & Bacon salad. Two tea eggs (smuggled in). 2 Iced cafe lattes with splenda and about 500 mL water.
Groovy restaurant…

Then Jerry took me to the mall to do a little shopping… I was able to find 2 bras that FIT, which is a score here in the land of little women! And after a few hours of shopping, we ended up for a late lunch at The Vineyard… Jerry wanted to know how I could eat so much… YES PEOPLE… YOU GET TO EAT ON DUKAN!! WOOT!
Late lunch: Philly Cheese steak with grilled peppers and extra grilled onions, no bread please and no french fries… side salad instead and several glasses of water. Jerry had french fries… I sniffed them, no appeal, whatsoever!

Then Jerry dropped me off at home. And around 730 p.m. I made the deviled eggs from yesterday’s recipe and while making them, I had salmon shashimi with wasabi & gluten free soy sauce (Tamari). I also ate 6 halves of the deviled eggs… YUM! Drank another 500 mL water and took a 2 mile walk around the complex after dinner and then fell into bed at 10 p.m…. wonderful day. I love being so active!

What do you do on your days off from work???

Ciao!

Dukan – Consolidation Day 56

Posted on July 6, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Thursday was a stressful day 😦

Daily Weight: 147 lbs/66.8 kgs
Goal Weight: 155 lbs/70.5 kgs

I sure don’t like stressful days. Makes me want to nosh around on food… thank goodness I only have healthy choices around me, but even too much of a good thing can be a not so good thing!

My stress centers around changes to my work schedule without consulting with me. They just toss me to the wind sometimes and see where I land. I am about the easiest going, “fly by the seat of your pants” kinda gal, but when it seems to be changes made with the wrong intent, it gets my hackles up.

Then after the schedule change stuff, I went on morning rounds and had to stop due to the stress of dealing with people who give misinformation. Formula (baby poison in MY humble opinion) is passed out like candy here. Women being told that they don’t have any milk in their breasts… it does my head in.

So… two things I’m concentrating on to get me out of my funk…
1. My job ends here in 10 weeks and 5 days and I will go home, for good… maybe, at least for now… and…
2. I won’t be doing birth work full time when I go home. I will be starting my own diet and fitness business. I am very excited about this.
Oh… and a 3rd thing… because they’ve changed my schedule to go to Guangzhou July 12, I will be near Hong Kong and being near Hong Kong means I can go to a movie theatre and watch ROCK OF AGES… now THAT will make me happy and get me out of this funk… I saw it in the States last month and I want to see it again! I’m listening to the soundtrack to ROA as I am typing this post!

After work I walked to the grocery store to pick up some veggies for the dinner I made for Vivi and Olivia. Vivi is my new personal assistant, having replaced the amazing Kitty, and Olivia is a translator in our office. I wanted to have them over for dinner for helping out with Tits the Cat while I was at home on vacation. Their request… an American dinner. So I made them steak, carrots with splenda and cinnamon and mashed potatoes with aged cheddar… I didn’t eat the carrots or the potatoes… although they both appeared to be big hits, given the fact there was nothing left over! I also made a nice salad with greens, red cabbage, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.

Vivi and Olivia

An American dinner for my Chinese friends 🙂

While the carrots and potatoes were boiling, I showed the girls how to use the wii for bowling. Neither had bowled before. They did pretty well for their first game. While I was finishing up supper, they bowled their second game and Vivi scored a 201! She did almost as well on game 3… note to self… stop teaching people how to play, they’ll beat you! LOL

All in all a very nice night. The girls cheered me up. I walked them down to the corner and got Vivi in a taxi home. I then did a walk around the neighborhood.

Food:
Breakfast: 2 tea eggs, coffee
Snack: 10 almonds
Lunch: left over pork from the dinner out with Jerry… when I heated this up in the staff canteen here at work, the chef came over with chop sticks and had a few bites… lol. I’m working REAL hard on the lack of personal space… real hard!
Snack: 1 ounce aged cheddar and 10 almonds
Dinner: Steak w/ onions, salad and a tea cup of wine
Water: 2.5 liters
Exercise:
10 minute morning flow yoga, Walk to work (1 mile) Walk from work to grocery then home (1.9 miles), walk around neighborhood before bed 1.2 miles)

So… deep breaths, positive outlook, awesome soundtrack, meditation… in and out… 10 weeks, 5 days… ahhhhhh

Ciao!

One last pic… my little baby from Tuesday… his mommy IS exclusively breast feeding… that’s a rare thing here! 🙂

Cute lil thing!

Dukan – Consolidation Day 55

Posted on July 5, 2012 by flamidwyfe

I am really missing my daily blog posts! I still don’t feel like I’ve caught up from my vacation!

Daily weight: 147 lbs/66.8 kgs
Goal weight: 155 lbs/70.5 kgs

Things weight and goal wise are going very well. I have to remind myself often that I am no longer in the Cruise Phase and can add a few things into my diet! Today (Thursday) is a PP day and so far I’ve stuck to that. On the Consolidation Phase (which for me will be 500 days long) you get to add some stuff back in to your diet, you get to have one celebration MEAL (not day) a week and you still have one PP day a week. Dr. Dukan suggests Thursday as that day, and I’m going to stick with that.

On Tuesday morning I got up early and went for a 2 mile run at sunrise. I then came back and did Chaz’s YOGAmazing 10 Minute Morning Flow workout. The combination of the two is a great way to start my day! Chaz has some amazing short yoga workouts that are easy to fit into your day and he also has workouts that focus on specific areas of your body, which I really love!

I then headed to work by walking and within the first hour was told I was being requested for a water birth. All day labor, difficult birth, as the baby was face up instead of face down, but this momma pulled energy from the universe and after nearly 3 hours of pushing had a gorgeous baby boy with a funny looking head… lol (it’s looking much better this morning!)

On Tuesday evening Alice came back for a night stay over. We went out to dinner with her son, Leon. Alice and I had the salmon with horseradish appetizer and we all three ordered mixed grill. The meat was DELICIOUS!

The waitress that took pics for us kept tilting all of our cameras… so none of us have a straight shot, lol!

Alice and I then headed back late to my flat and I was in bed at 1 a.m. (gasp!!! that is SO late for me!). And we were up at 6 a.m. to get a ride to the train station. Alice had a noon flight to Hong Kong.

Wearing Red, White & Blue on the train to Shanghai in honor of America’s birthday!

So off we went to Shanghai on Wednesday morning… the 4th of July. Not only is this America’s Independence Day, but it is also my little sister Nannette’s birthday!

Alice and I were suppose to be on the high speed train to Shanghai, which usually takes about 42 minutes, but we somehow got on the slow one… so between that and the subway ride on Line 2 from one end of Shanghai to the other to get to the airport, it was cutting it close… good Lord I was glad it was Alice traveling and not me, as we all know how bad my travel anxiety and time goes! We, of course, got there with plenty of time and from the pics that Alice posted on her Facebook wall of Hong Kong, she got there in one piece!

Bye Alice!!! It was fun hanging out!

I then got back on the subway and found my way to the grocery store that I shop at in Shanghai and found a restaurant that I hadn’t eaten in before. Sat down at a table with a lovely gentleman named Stern from New Jersey, in China teaching for a year, and had a wonderful conversation over lunch… we’re Facebook friends now 🙂 and then I got a little shopping done… mostly a backpack and sack full of groceries to sustain me through the week. I then took the subway back to the train station for the ride back to Hangzhou. I called Jerry, my driver (I love saying that… he’s a very cool dude!) and asked if he could pick me up… he said yes and told me to keep an eye out for the special way he was going to display my name at the train station…

You see MY driver uses an iPad instead of cheesy paper! 😀 Thank you, Jerry, for making me feel so special and important and for being environmentally friendly!

He then informed me that he was taking me to dinner to thank me for all the referrals that I gave him. He was taking me to the “best Chinese restaurant in town” and inquired about what foods I could and could not eat… the man pays attention! Too bad he’s married with a kid, lol! Just joking, his wife is one lucky lady!

So, he takes me to Nongtangli Restaurant near West Lake and he was not kidding… it was the best Chinese food I’ve had since I’ve been here! I decided right then and there that Wednesday, July 4th, was going to be my Celebration Meal of the week. Not that I ventured too far… I don’t do wheat, rice or potatoes… here’s what we had…

Spicy Black fungi and to die for pork… nommy, nommy pork, melt in your mouth, fall off the bone, better than sex pork 😀

And pumpkin with a creamed coconut sauce… now this was yummy!

And I had juice, which is something I haven’t had since August! It was fresh juiced green apple and grapefruit… cool and refreshing on this hot summer’s eve!

Awesome dinner, awesome dinner companion. Jerry then took me back to my flat and didn’t charge me for the pick up… such a great guy!

So my 4th of July food was:
Breakfast: 2 tea eggs, coffee at train station
Lunch: Salad greens and a poached salmon steak
Snack on the train: about 2 ounces of aged cheddar that was crumbly and sharp!
Dinner: See above… Yum!!
Snack before bed: FF Greek Yogurt with Splenda and flax seed
Water: About 3 liters
Exercise: 1 mile walk after dinner and 20 minutes of meditation

So how was everyone else’s 4th of July??

Ciao!

Dukan – Consolidation Day 52 – Monday Weekend Round-Up!

Posted on July 2, 2012 by flamidwyfe

I can’t believe I’m already 52 days into Consolidation! My weight is holding steady and I’m super excited about that. I’ve not had a moment to breathe much less blog since I’ve been back in China. Here’s the stats…

Today’s Weight: 146 lbs/66.36 kgs
Goal Weight: 155 lbs/70.5 kgs

Last Thursday my friend and fellow Florida midwife, Alice called and said she was still in Hangzhou… could she come hang out… ABSOLUTELY! Nothing like staving off the “just returned from home vacation” blues like having someone to hang out with on my after work hours! We’ve had a good time playing catch up and eating some yummy food. Alice follows a Paleo life style, so our foods work well together!

Friday food:
Breakfast: 2 tea eggs, 500 mL water*, 1 oz of Edam cheese
Snack: 10 almonds, cup of coffee
Lunch: 3 slices of beef, 1 tea egg, 500 mL water
Snack: 500 mL water, a few more almonds
Dinner: Alice made a duck soup with: duck (duh), broth made from the bones of the duck, carrots, garlic, ginger and red cabbage… YUMMY!!!!!!!!! She also made a very delicious salad with red cabbage, cukes and apple slices! We also had a plate of duck meat.
Snack: FF yogurt with splenda and flax seed meal and a pinch of cinnamon
Exercise: Walk to and from work x 2 (went home for lunch) Total: 1 mile/1.5 kms
Neighborhood walk in evening: 1 km with Alice
**I put a packet of Crystal Light in my 1.5 liter bottles (1 pkt is suppose to be for 16.9 ounces) It helps me get all my water in!

Duck Duck Soup

Gorgeous Salad

So good!

My guest chef, Alice!

I worked on Saturday and had a pretty good day at work. They are trying to get me to come up with a plan to continue working here after my contract is up. So discussions about that a lot of the day.

Saturday food:
Breakfast: 2 tea eggs, 500 mL water
Snack: 500 mL water, 10 almonds, 1 ounce cheese
Lunch: Walked home and pan friend Tilapia coated with flax seed meal and Italian seasoning! Yummy! FF greek yogurt. 500 mL water and a Coke Zero (Alice is a bad, bad influence on me!!! LOL)
Snack: 500 mL water.
Dinner: Bus to the Mexican restaurant where I had a big bowl of guacamole mixed into my beef fajitas, minus the tortillas. Spicy as all get out tonite!
We then walked to 35mm Cafe for a cafe latte…

Mmmmm

We then had a nice walk back to my flat!

Sunday… off work and a planned run/walk with my friend Rory. I am writing a guest post on the blog AGoodRun, due July 16th and I needed to map it out and take my pictures for the post. Rory was kind enough to volunteer. We ended up not running at all, since it was 98F and 88% humidity. We had a lovely fast walk, with breaks to take pics and one break for water and refreshments at Starbucks… nearly 15 kms in 3 hours… it was AWESOME!

Hot but GORGEOUS day to walk along West Lake.

My walking buddy, Rory.

Bamboo forest… the point of A Good Run’s blog is to show thankfulness. So, You will see me holding a sign that says Thank You in both English and Mandarin.

This was the halfway mark… My goal was to go to the bull sculpture and back… and we did it!

We started and finished at The Vineyard, my favorite place to eat in town. I love it there because the chef Rueben a. Reminds me of my son, Nick and b. Cooks food to my order, so it’s gluten and sugar free… he’s awesome!

My favorite chef in Hangzhou!

I had a Chicken caesar salad without the dressing and some hot chicken wings, without flour and a gluten-free ranch dressing for dip… plus lots and lots and lots of water!

So, that’s my weekend round up! How did everyone else’s weekend go?

Ciao!