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 🙂

Yoga and Endurance Training

Posted on September 5, 2012 by flamidwyfe

😀 I’m going to start with that silly grin because right after typing that title, I had a good chuckle. The thought that I’m actually writing a POST on a BLOG about Yoga AND Endurance Training, has me giggling… even as I typed this sentence 🙂

So most nights when I’ve come in from either a doing a 5K run, interval training or walk I do about 30 – 40 minutes of yoga, pilates, stretches and tension band work. Nothing formal, just my favorite stuff from each of those disciplines.

The yoga and the pilates help center me and strengthen my core and the stretching during those help my muscles after a good workout. It feels great and I usually do it jamming to Lady Gaga and Bon Jovi. Funny combination!

I found this post in my inbox this morning and I am even more dedicated to doing yoga in a more formal way after reading it, as I’m planning on doing a triathlon next August with 3 bloggy friends… Anna, Sandra and Cindy. It’s going to be a blast! I can’t wait to get home and start my formal training!

Here’s the link and I hope everyone is having a fabulous week!

http://m.usatriathlon.org/about-multisport/multisport-zone/multisport-lab/articles/benefits-of-yoga-for-endurance-090412.aspx

The first two paragrahs

Why Yoga Can Benefit Endurance Athletes

By Kellye Mills

Yoga is most often associated with benefits such as flexibility, stability and strength, all of which are very important. However, it’s not as often associated with endurance, which is yet another wonderful advantage to be gained from yoga classes. Endurance athletes spend countless hours training their neuromuscular and metabolic systems in an effort to increase their endurance so that they may race efficiently for extended periods of time. However, the hours spent using their bodies to swim, bike, and run can often lead to injury and burnout.

These exercises require a great amount of strength endurance in order for your muscles to repeatedly produce and sustain maximal power output over the course of the activity. Certain types of yoga classes are designed with strength endurance in mind providing opportunities for your body to repeat exercises requiring a great amount of strength with little to no rest. This creates a similar effect to that of the training we usually endure without the added stress on our bodies from too many miles of swimming, biking and running….

Ciao!

Fitness – My August RunKeeper Stats

Posted on September 4, 2012 by flamidwyfe

I am really enjoying my walks and runs. That said, I was in Guangzhou for 17 days in August and pretty much unable to run due to the fact that there was nowhere safe to run 😦 The streets are full of people from 6 a.m. to midnight, so in order to safely run you have to get up and be out the door by 5 a.m.!

Needless to say I didn’t pound the pavement as much as I’d have liked this past month, although I got plenty of walking in. Here’s my August stats:

And here’s my stats since March:

I’ve nearly walked, run and hiked 700 kilometers/435 miles in 5 months! This is the breakdown:
Walking: 468.2 kms/290 miles
Running: 195.4 kms/122 miles
Hiking: 26 kms/16 miles

Staying active is key to losing weight and keeping it off. Just moving 30 minutes a day, even if it’s just walking, will benefit you in amazing ways!

What was your active movement on Monday?

Ciao!

Dukan Diet – Pure Protein Thursday

Posted on August 31, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Thursday is alway a Pure Protein Day. This Thursday was Consolidation Day 112 🙂 Dr. Dukan recommends that followers of the program in Consolidation pick Thursday as the one day a week you have a pure protein day and for the most part, I have.
Today’s weight: 147
Goal weight: 155

Before I could eat, I had my annual physical at work. It included blood work, EKG, chest X-ray, breast thermography (instead of mammogram, no radiation), ultrasound of my liver (no longer fatty… Yay!!!), pancreas, kidneys and spleen and a look over by the TCM doc. Waiting on the blood results, but everything else was perfect! It took less than 40 minutes for everything and cost $0! How awesome is that?

Breakfast: 2 Tea Eggs from the shop downstairs…

Lunch: A small plate of roast beef

Afternoon Snack: A tea egg

Dinner: 1 Chicken breast, roasted in that toaster oven, with a roasted 1/2 red onion. I marinated the chicken in 1 Tbs coconut oil, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cumin and a dash of salt for 30 minutes in the fridge. Shook the container up and put it on the pizza pan to cook, pouring the marinade over it and the onion. Cooked in oven for 40 mins at 350 degrees F.

I then went for a 4K run and finished with about 20 minutes of stretches and yoga.

Bedtime Snack: Fat free Greek yogurt with 1 Tbs flaxseed meal and Splenda

What did you eat on Thursday?

Ciao!

Dukan – Consolidation Day 108

Posted on August 28, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Monday was Consolidation Day 108 🙂

Today’s Weight: 146
Goal Weight: 155
Still lovin’ that 🙂

Back to work in Hangzhou. Kind of a frustrating day. Went to the bank to make a deposit and they wouldn’t let me because I didn’t have my passport… to make a deposit… sigh. Then I went to the post office to ship off the last 4 boxes to the States and the guy went through all my stuff to make sure it was packed well enough to not break anything and DROPS the package with my Chinese china!!!! Breathe IN, Breathe OUT… I flew off the handle… I couldn’t help it… I am not perfect, I threw a tantrum. They quickly finished me up, I apologized a million times to my driver, Jerry, who is the most patient person in the world (besides Kitty)… he smoothed things over and got me the hell out of there before, well before I got into trouble!

My granddaughter Sadie represents the 3rd generation of epic tantrum throwers 🙂
My daughter Jenni, however, was the Queen of them!

Then back to work where I managed to upset the apple cart by providing a not so glowing audit about hand washing that had the doctors doing better than the nurses. I was on a roll!

Went home and had me some dinner and felt better 🙂 I also am tutoring a Chinese midwife in Medical English and passing the NCLEX-RN exam. So we worked on that last night.

Sunday I got in a 5K run in under 40 minutes after not running for 9 days due to my bout of food poisoning, but I pushed myself and did it… which makes me feel so good 🙂 I then went up to my flat and did 30 minutes of stretching, yoga and exercise bands. I have SO much energy when I’m done running… it’s amazing!

I also got a few pictures from Rose, my personal assistant in Guangzhou from my multiple stays there this past 5 months. Here’s a couple I want to share:

Water birth training in April 2012. Guangzhou.

Grand Opening of the Water Delivery Center in Guangzhou Elizabeth Women’s Hospital – April 2012

I’ve been saying that I haven’t felt like I accomplished much in the past year. Maybe I set my expectations too high for myself… I’m a perfectionist. But when I look at these pictures I do realize that I’ve accomplished quite a bit. The hospitals keep referring to me as their International Water Birth Expert… and I’ve come to realize, I really am! I mean who better to be called that than someone who has delivered hundreds of babies in the water (all over the world, including on 4 continents!) and has taught water birth all over the world? The 5 hospitals here in China that I’ve done the water birth trainings in have collectively performed over 100 water births in the past year! I am proud of their accomplishments and that the midwives and doctors at these 5 hospitals have accepted water birth as a “normal” way for women to deliver their babies. And delighted for the women and babies who have experienced this amazing way of birthing!

Breakfast: 2 slices of bacon and 2 tea eggs
Snack: FF Greek yogurt with Splenda and flaxseed meal
Lunch: 3 ham slices with 3 slices of Pepper Jack cheddar… Mmmm!!
Dinner: Stir-fry pork with onions and asparagus (cooked in coconut oil).
Snack: Beef jerky… eeek that out a couple little pieces at a time to make it stretch (thanks, Suzanne for bringing me the 3 bags!!) ** Kira… Titters LOVES jerky!

I hope everyone is having a great week! I have 23 days until I fly home… for good… or for now… LOL
What type of exercise or movement did you do on Monday??

Ciao!

Update and Triathlon

Posted on August 26, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Quick update… Felt 100% today, first time since I got food poisoning exactly a week ago! My weight today was 145 and I did a 5K run tonight in 40 minutes.

The fun news is that exactly one year from today I will run my first triathlon with three fellow bloggers, Anna, Sandra and Cindy. I met them all through our blogs and we’ll be running, swimming and biking our way through the Danskin Women’s triathlon next August! SO, SO excited!

Off to bed… Work in the morning!

Ciao!m

Dukan – One year anniversary

Posted on August 21, 2012 by flamidwyfe

So this isn’t going to be the spectacularly huge post I promised 😦 I’ve had dodgy tummy for 2 days and I’m just not up to it. I think I drank some non-bottle water Sunday night and my normally iron stomach isn’t happy.

I did, however, go out with Rose and Jack yesterday for a spectacular touristy day, despite making a hundred trips to the bathroom! I’ll blog on that later in the week when I’m feeling better, as well.

I typed this up while riding the subway yesterday on the way to the Safari Park Zoo…

Wow! A year! A year since I took control of my life. A year where I changed my
body, my health, my job, moved countries, visited Thailand with friends, met the
most amazing friends in the blogosphere, found out who my true friends were,
learned to deal with resentment and regret, hosted a few expected and unexpected
people in my flat in China, cared for some extraordinary expats during their
pregnancies and birth, and realized finally that I CAN do anything and I’m
AMAZING!

A year where I lost 111 pounds in under 10 months. A year where I learned to run
and improve my yoga. A year where i participated in my first 5K. A year where I
committed to do a triathlon to celebrate my 2nd year of rebirth. A summer where
I’ve maintained that weight loss!

A year of teaching water birth and international standards of care in China,
where at 5 hospitals women now have that option! A year where I decided it was
time to go home. Spend more time with my kids and grandkids, stay connected with
the birth community at home through eduction while developing my next career
move.

A year where I went from this:

To this:

A year with ups and downs and all arounds!

A FANTABULOUS year! Thanks, so much, for sharing the journey with me xoxo

Ciao!

Dukan Update

Posted on August 16, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Been a busy 24 hours and wanted to get a post out before bed.
Weight: 149, bloated and well, more on that later in the post.

I have a wonderful midwifery student with me here in China, Aisha Al Hajjar. Aisha is from the States, but is married to a lovely Saudi man and has 8 kids! I met her in the UAE last year when she came to interview me about water birth at my previous hospital job.

At the end of the day yesterday (433 pm to be precise), my personal assistant came to let us know that there was a lady in labor wanting a normal birth, so upstairs we went to the birth room. First time momma and she had her baby at 533 pm… Nice, quick, fast and an easy delivery. Here’s the little guy a few minutes after I caught him…

Today was packed with working on skills that Aisha needs to do for school and working on a PowerPoint presentation about International Standards of Care. I started my day out with a yummy breakfast…

I am in Consolidation and I’m eating more Paleo like. Still low carb, but added fat. This is pork chunks, onion and garlic powder. Two eggs fried with low fat mozzarella. I cooked it in Macadamia oil… Mmmmm!

I’ve only run twice in the past week. It is very difficult to do in a city of 17 million! Too many people milling about, but I’ve made sure I walk 5K every night. I also haven’t had any yogurt with flaxseed meal (I use that instead of oat bran, zero net carbs, 4g fiber per tsp, same as oat bran but has a nice nutty taste). Anyway, I’ve been a bit ~~bitchy~~ grumpy the last few days, as I’ve been gassy (never gassy on Dukan!!!) and the plumbing isn’t working as per usual. You can’t buy yogurt here in China at the shops and I usually get it in Hong Kong, but I haven’t had the time to go down there.

So today I kind of ~~barked~~ at asked Rose, my amazing personal assistant here in Guangzhou to find me a western grocery store!!! So off I went on the subway to find The Corner’s Deli (yes apostrophe s) in the basement of the Citic building. The kind customer service desk girl pointed the way. Through that door, turn right, go downstairs to BM Street… LOL, BM Street?!? I was sure I heard her wrong… Well, actually…

So off I go, down this quiet stairway and find myself dead end at a Chinese restaurant! I point, I show them the name and address and they take me through the restaurant to an underground shopping mall… It was bizarre! But, tucked around the winding walkway, all the way in the back was a western grocery with FAT FREE GREEK YOGURT!!! And COTTAGE CHEESE!!! AND SALAMI!!!! And MOVIE THEATRE POPCORN, EXTRA BUTTER!!!! Ok, I bought ONE package of that, for my celebration meal on Sunday 🙂 I thought I’d died and gone to heaven… A REAL grocery store!

So I’ve just gotten back from dinner at my favorite Arabic restaurant and dished up a plate of that yogurt with a Splenda and flaxseed… My tummy will be happy again!

And yes, I eat my yogurt with chopsticks… I’m in china 😀

Parting shot… This afternoon I shot a commercial for the hospital to promote water birth. They even recruited one of our nearly due patients! What fun. I decided I wanted to get a shot of one of the camera people…

Exciting life I lead… Ciao!

Dukan – Consolidation Day 93

Posted on August 12, 2012 by flamidwyfe

I can’t believe how long I’ve already been in Consolidation! Day 93 of 500. Nearly a fifth of the way to Stabilization!

Today’s weight: 148 lb/67.1 kg
Goal weight: 155 lb/70.5 kg

I’m working in Guangzhou for 2 weeks and have the pleasure of having my friend Aisha who lives in Saudi Arabia here as a student midwife. It is so exciting! Yesterday we worked on blood drawing and placing IVs (I volunteered to let her practice on me, as did her husband) and today physical exams and other fun stuff. She’s also working with one of our doctors here.

I ran 5k the night before I came to Guangzhou and I’ve been speed walking 5k an evening here. Hoping to run in the morning. I’ve been having some insomnia this week, for some reason 😦

I’ve also been doing a 10 minute morning yoga routine with YOGAmazing on my iPad every morning and a 25-45 minute routine of my own nearly every evening.

And lastly… I just want to say that I think it’s awesome that food like this is on my diet. No magic pills, no artificial hormones and starvation, just damn good food 🙂

Breakfast: Bacon, red onions, garlic, shaved, organic Parmesan, green apple slices