I saw this saying today and it really struck a chord! It is so easy to give up and much tougher to see the light at the end of the tunnel and stay on track.
Months ago I would think “Well, I’ve lost 25 pounds, but I still have 65 to go” and think of excuses to not carry on. But I persevered and kept going and today I’m proud to say I’ve lost 67 pounds and ONLY have 23 pounds to go! Don’t make excuses! Don’t give up! You are 1 pound closer to your goal and tomorrow you’ll be even closer!
February Photo-A-Day Challenge – Day 14
Dukan – Day 178 – At least it’s warming up!
Today was a PP day (Pure Protein).
Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total Weight Loss: 67.1 lb/30.51 kg
Woke up in a bit of a funk, but happy to see that the temp was actually over 40 degrees!!! Yay! Β Β Β Β Β After the walk to work and handover, I had 2 tea eggs for breakfast. I also drank nearly 1000mL of water with grapefruit Crystal Light in it. I’m really enjoying having the flavored water. I find I can drink down half the 1.5 Liter bottle and refill with water and it’s still tasty!
Meeting with the CEO mid-morning and then a walk to the halal restaurant for lunch. Beef slices with cilantro and garlic stems with chili pepper… phew they were hot!
Afternoon filled with writing policies and PowerPoints and then on my walk home I decided to walk to the mall to pick up a few items at the grocery store. I was in the elevator, having an OVERWHELMING urge to pop into the PIZZA HUT for a pizza… seriously, this is the FIRST time I’ve craved carbs in nearly 6 months!!!! when my iPhone rings and it’s Velina and she’s inviting me to dinner at the Mexican restaurant… divine intervention, for sure! So I walked the further 1.3 miles down to the restaurant to meet them… I had Beef fajitas with extra onions and without the fajitas… crisis diverted. I know it’s about wanting comfort food, and DAMMIT I will not fall into that trap! I’ve been gluten free since August 20th and plan on staying that way Β π
Power walk back jamming to lots of different tunes, mood lifted, feeling a bit better, shower and facebook and bed… Things are looking up π
Ciao!
Quote of the Day: A photo quote…
February Photo-A-Day Challenge Day 13
Dukan – Day 177 – Trying to Shake the Blues
Sunday was a PV Day. It was suppose to be Day 3 of 4 of PP days, but I had lunch with friends at a restaurant… More on that later π
Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total Weight Loss: 66.7 lb/30.31 kg
Morning started off better as I slept until 5 a.m. And that made me happy π I had a pot of yogurt with bran and Splenda and a cup of coffee to start my day. Then off to work in this lovely (not) rainy, dreary, cold weather. A stop to pick up my daily allotment of tea eggs. My 1 mile/1.5 km walk is now down to about 12 minutes. When I started walking everyday to work, nearly 5 months ago, it took 17 minutes. I work on the 4th floor of my building and after clocking in I take the stairs up. I realized yesterday that I’m no longer out of breath AT ALL by the time I reach the top… How awesome is that?
After morning rounds I did some lactation consulting (just when I give up on helping women here breastfeed, there always seems to be a couple of women who request it, funny how that works… I’m not a quitter, but so passionate about breastfeeding, that sometimes I must take a step back, throw in the towel and not allow the circumstances here consume me!). Both ladies were very grateful for the help.
I then had a lovely 6 hour prenatal visit with Velina and Robin π Just like the old days when I was a home birth midwife. They came at 10, we lunched from 12 – 2 and they left around 4. It filled my day with some sunshine π Lunch for me was T-bone steak, broccoli , cucumbers and raw red cabbage.
Then the bad news of the day – Whitney Houston died. She’s MY age, born a few months before me, how does this keep happening? What demons cause these remarkably talented people to head down the path of drugs, alcohols and bad behavior?? I sobbed watching the video of her singing The National Anthem at the Super Bowl in 1991. What a waste of amazing talent.
Dinner: Chicken chunks stir fried in soy sauce with cumin and garlic cloves.
To bed at 9, trying to shake the blues, fighting the urge to pack up and go home, come on sun, I need ya buddy, the grey skies are wearing thin and I need some sunspiration.
Ciao!
Quote of the day: I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. – Whitney Houston
Pic of the day: Robin, Velina & Me
February Photo-A-Day Challenge Day 12
Dukan – Day 176 – Jet Lag and Walking on Thin Ice
Saturday was a PP Day 2 of 4
Daily Weight Loss: 1.1 lb/0.50 kg
Total Weight Loss: 66.2 lb/30.11 kg
Happy to see the scale continuing to drop. I’ve been drinking more than 2 liters of water the past 2 days to help flush out the water I’m retaining from 21+ hours of flying.
I was up at the unGodly hour of 303 a.m., having crashed around 800 p.m. Friday night. This wouldn’t be so bad IF I didn’t have to work and think. It’s nice getting up 4.5 hours before you have to work, I got a lot done π
I had a pot of yogurt with bran and Splenda before I left for work and picked up tea eggs at the vendor downstairs. Before getting dressed in the morning I always check the temp outside to see how layered I’m going to have to dress. This was the forecast this morning…
Shouldn’t there be a rule that you update the weather when the low is actually 5 degrees lower than the forecast?!?
I then picked up my tea eggs and took this picture of the dreary morning…
I then promptly fell on my not so cushioned anymore ass! See the black shiny tile? What a great way to start my morning! π At least is was a graceful fall and I didn’t hurt myself, nor was it witnessed by anyone… LOL
Work was work, bathing babies, seeing prenatal patients and assisting women with breastfeeding.
Lunch at the halal restaurant with some friends was sliced beef with cilantro and a couple of mushrooms and a tea egg.
Afternoon creating a power point, posters and policy for reducing the risk of falls (ironic given my fall this morning!) and at 3 pm I felt like I had hit a brick wall. Jet lag is no fun, seriously! I did some yoga and jumping jacks to infuse some energy and finished the day with a walk home in the cold rain.
Dinner was beef stir-fry with curry and cumin and garlic stems. I have no onions and miss them. I will order food online for delivery on Thursday and be stocked up, once again.
I busied myself with downloading iOS 5 update for my iPad and went for a walk to keep me up until at least 9. Bed at 915, left the update running π Still working on getting my bearings again. Missing home a lot after this visit for some reason. Trying to reason savings plans for the future vs. being at home with family… I’ll be better when the sun comes out, inshallah π
Ciao!
Quote of the day: Picture Quote…
February photo-a-day Challenge Day 11
What’s on your playlist?
Name 5 songs on your play list in the comments, I might add them to mine!
Here’s 5 of my favorites, currently on my play list:
1. How To Save a Life – The Fray
2. One and Only – Adele
3. Numb – Linkin Park
4. Conspiracy, Time To Reflect & Endurance – Trevor Jones – G.I. Jane soundtrack
5. Chasing Cars- Snow Patrol
Come on… Tell me what yours are π
Dukan – Day 175 – Back in the Swing of Things
Friday was a PP day 1 of 4.
Daily Weight Loss: 2.4 lb/1.10 kg (the exact opposite of yesterday!) π
Total Weight Loss: 65.1 lb/29.61 kg
So yesterday I completed Day 1 of 4 Pure Protein Days to kick start me back in to ketosis after a fabulous vacation. I had my first day back at work, and it was a breezy day, I saw snow for the first time in Hangzhou (the snow waited for my return!) and I went to bed, once again before 8 p.m…. UGH!
4 a.m. Small cup of FF yogurt with 1/2 TBS bran, 1 TBS flaxseed meal and splenda.
Early to work given I had been awake since 4 a.m. and had nothing else to do at my flat. Raining hard during the walk, but that just made me walk faster. I stopped at the tea egg vendor and picked up my 5 tea eggs for the day and was so excited I ate one of them while walking in the rain!
Handover and then bathed 2 babies… got to sing “The Rose” to one of them, as this was on the classic piano CD… the babies love my singing, as off tune as it is. Pretty much caught up on emails and planned out my education presentations for the rest of the month, and had my 2nd tea egg around 10. My darling personal assistant, Kitty, returns on Saturday… can’t wait to see her. Vivien and I had a quiet day in the office, and that was nice. At around 830 Vivien starts yelling for me to come out of my office… it’s snowing. Big, fat snowflakes. Nothing stuck, since it was just above freezing, but everyone in the hospital was happy to see it. I have no idea why… I really despise the cold and the snow… LOL Quite the contrast to the weather in Florida this past week.
Lunch at my favorite halal restaurant was sliced beef with cilantro and some garlic stems and a tea egg. Yum!
Slow afternoon… I had a hard time staying awake. Ate another tea egg for some energy and then left work to walk home in the SNOW. The SNOW! As I was walking in the SNOW I kept thinking that I couldn’t believe I was living where it SNOWED. Last year this time I was living in Abu Dhabi, where it’s WARM and SUNNY all the time. It’s quite a difference.
Skype chat and a catch up on emails, dinner was stir-fried pork seasoned with cumin, curry and lemon pepper (quite a nice combo I might add) and garlic stems.
At 745 I was tying up my running shoes and falling asleep while doing it. I thought if I went out for a run it might wake me up… instead, I took my shoes off and went to bed. There is no sense in fighting it.
Ciao!
Quote of the Day:Β The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
~Β Lao Tzu
You have to look real hard, but you can see the fat snowflakes π












