Dukan – Day 139 – Bye, Bye Lucy

Friday was a PP Day #4 of 4.

Daily weight loss: 1.3 lb/0.6 kg
Total weight loss: 59.9 lb/27.21 kg

Oh so close to 60!!! I’m very happy that the 4 days of Pure Protein kicked me back into gear. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times, this Dukan program WORKS, but only IF you stick to the program.

I received 3 private messages yesterday about my weight loss. 2 from fellow Dukaners and 1 from a friend asking how I have been able to stay on this program without venturing off the path, especially during the holidays. It’s simple… I set my mind to doing it and that is that. We ALL have willpower, it’s called CHOICE, and every minute of our days involves choice. The choice to be happy or not, the choice to make others happy or not, the choice to drink that glass of wine or smoke that cigarette or eat that carbohydrate laden donut… OR NOT. I choose not to.

When I quit smoking in 2005, I was at the Sydney airport getting ready to fly to Vanuatu on a medical mission trip for 29 days. In my backpack, 35 packs of Marlboro 100’s in the box. I was in the smoking lounge, chain smoking because I had a 5 hour flight and God forbid I go that long, and I kept counting the packs over and over and over again… Totally freaking out that I smoke 2 packs a day, but only have 35 packs… After the 5th or 6th time of counting the packs and worrying whether or not I should buy ANOTHER CARTON with my limited amount of money I had an epiphany and dumped the packs on the table and walked out. I never smoked again, ever! Even now, 6.5 years later I’m still shocked that I did it… It’s the same for food addiction.n

Early on, maybe even my first day, I found the web site of an amazing person named Charlotte, and her blog about the Dukan diet. She created a progress chart which I use religiously every morning to enter the days weight and get my stats.. It has been the most helpful tool! Additionally, she taught me Moonday’s Philosophy (a fellow Dukaner) who basically says: “I need to make one more comment today, about what we shall all henceforth know as Moonday’s Philosophy. In one of her comments on this blog, she was talking about self control. She said that she never regrets not having eaten something bad, after having resisted it. She never looks back and says “gee, I really should have eaten that cookie/icecream/crisps/pizza.” But by the same token, she finds (as we all do!) that we look back with regret on the things that we DID eat that we maybe shouldn’t have.

So when faced with the choice of eating the cookie or not eating the cookie, she asks, “will I regret not eating this cookie?” – not “will I regret eating this cookie?” This is super-powerful – instead of dwelling on the negative of having future-regret for present action, she dwells on the positive effect of present action. It’s also more powerful than “will I feel good about myself for having resisted?” because that kinda implies a lost opportunity. I find lost opportunities to binge eat really frustrating, if I’m honest. At least, I do at the time. But after the fact, I don’t regret having not binged, if that makes sense.” – this is quoted from Charlotte’s blog, but it is Moonday’s True That Philosophy!

So the bottom line is SELF CONTROL. I like what I see in the mirror… I still have 30 pounds to lose to reach Dr. Dukan’s true weight for me, but I’m 2/3 of the way there. I get my ass out of the house and WALK, that’s it… Sometimes I do the C25K, most times I don’t. It’s cold, I’d rather sit on the couch, chat on the computer and be wrapped up in a blanket, but that isn’t going to help me lose weight. Lucy and I met friends for hot pot dinner Thursday night. They ordered dumplings and some yummy looking mushrooms and other stuff that are totally not on a PP day… The dumplings looked divine… I didn’t eat them or the mushrooms. I got my own hot pot to dip my meats in and stuck to it. Tempting? Yes! Worth not seeing positive movement on the scale! NO! And what I really loved is that Robin went 2 blocks down the road to buy me a Coke Zero 😀 I love that I’m surrounded by people who aren’t trying to get me to eat their stuff 🙂 This same couple brought Dukan friendly cabbage stew for Christmas dinner, it was DELICIOUS!

Other things I’ve done to continue doing well on this program… I am “Following” 12 blogs of fellow Dukaners. Their ups and downs are inspiring. Most of them are “Following” my blog. The encouragement from their comments inspire me more than you can know. Kathy, a former Dukaner, gives the best advise! And comments from my friends and family help, too! My MOM is my biggest supporter… She rocks!

I also take the reading advise from fellow bloggers and the best book recommendation of this year so far has to be “Wheat Belly” by William Davis, MD. I downloaded the book based on the recommendation of w_w_angel, a fellow Dukaner who runs 90 minutes a day and still battles weight issues… But I think this book has the answer!

And most importantly… Being true to myself. This morning when I entered my weight and it said 59.9 I just wanted to say 60, but it’s not 60, it’s close, buts it’s 59.9. Being honest to ME is the best thing I can do for myself.

You CAN lose the weight. YOU can discover SELF CONTROL, you can DO THIS, you just have to REALLY want to. If you do, you’ll find the strength to JUST SAY NO, to throw out the crap in your cupboards (and don’t buy it for your kids, because it’s CRAP, and it isn’t good for them either! Fat parents breed fat kids, bottom line. My kids are overweight, I didn’t set a good example for them… Start now 🙂

I’m off my pedestal 😀

Ciao!

Quote of the day: “Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt

Pics of the day: I built a bookcase yesterday… Without instructions because they were in Cjinese, LOL… It appears i did it correctly 🙂
Before:

20120107-095335.jpg

After:

20120107-095429.jpg

Edited late in the day… I named this post Bye, Bye Lucy for a reason… Lucy left in the afternoon and I was a mess! It’s so nice to have friends from all over the world… Especially ones that will come hang out for 5 weeks! I’m going to miss my friend… Fun times! Safe travels, Luc! See ya soon.

Dukan – Day 138 – Walking this way

Thursday was a PP Day #3 of 4

Daily weight loss: 0.7 lb/0.3 kg
Total weight loss: 58.5 lb/26.61 kg

Thursday was a bit less thrilling than Wednesday, thank God! I started my day out with the 1 mile walk to work. Breakfast was 2 tea eggs, 500 mL water and a cup of coffee. I was then video taped by our marketing team for our 2012 promotional video 😀 I said my lines correctly the very first time and that seemed to please them!

Stayed at my desk for lunch and had a couple more tea eggs and a nice piece of beef jerky that Cathy brought me.

Afternoon was policy writing and taught a class on patient safety. I really love teaching!

Then a 6 mile walk to dinner, from work. Hot Pot was the dinner of the night. Because I’m doing 4 days of Pure Protein I stuck to the basics. I had beef, tofu and garlic… The restaurant didn’t have onions, if you can imagine!

Then the 5 mile walk home… It was actually quite nice and good exercise! All in all a pretty good day 🙂

Ciao!

Quote of the day: “I think the key is for women not to set any limits.”
— Martina Navratilova

Pic of the day: in a city garden in Hong Kong last week…

20120106-210452.jpg

Dukan – Day 137 How To Save A Life

Wednesday was a PP day… Day 2 of 4

Daily weight loss: 0.7 lb/0.3 kg
Total weight loss: 57.9 lb/26.31 kg

Well I certainly had a busy day! I started off with my 1 mile walk to work in the freezing 31 degree air… Certainly wakes ya up. Morning rounds and help with breastfeeding and met a lovely local girl, in early labor, who lived in the States for several years. Then off to bath babies, 5 of the little squirmy things! You give them a bath, they float in the tank for 15 minutes and then you give them a head to toe massage and then dress them… The midwives do this here at the hospital I work at, and I have to admit I enjoy it. They play classical music in the background and it’s nice and warm and you get to snuggle with babies… Great job 🙂

20120105-141048.jpg

Then after lunch I’m told that the lady in early labor is requesting me to be her midwife and she wants a water birth… I put my head phones back on to finish up an infection control policy that I was working on (my alleged real job here is Quality Manager) and the last song I listened to was The Frey “How To Save A Life”. Went over, patient on Pitocin, rockin’ and rollin’, and moving all over the tub (I will add here that International standards of care recommend that women receiving oxytocin for induction be on continuous fetal monitoring and not laboring in a birth tub!). BUT, I decided to follow the advise of Dear Abby from my quote of the day the other day and only work on improving MYSELF… Too bad I got Kathy’s Blog advise AFTER work about it not being relevant to my job where I’m suppose TO change others, LOL
Anyway… Beautiful water birth, flat baby who required 5 minutes of resuscitation. NOTE TO SELF… Don’t listen to How To Save A Life, when waiting to go to a birth!! Baby is fine, midwife has a few extra gray hairs! Here’s the little brute:

20120105-150606.jpg

And this is Li’an, the midwife who came into help with the resus…

20120105-150712.jpg

So a good outcome is all that matters… On the list, protocol for appropriate management of induction of labor… I could be employed here for a long, long time!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: “Thank you, baby boy, now I’m gonna smack you with a big old kiss!” ~ S. Blankenship-yesterday 🙂

Dukan – Day 136 Back on track!

Today was a PP day… Day 1 of 4 to counter the 4 PV days I had while in Hong Kong.

Daily weight loss: 0.9 lb/0.44 kg
Total weight loss: 57.2 lb/26.01 kg

So I started out my 4 days of Pure Protein in a good way 🙂 and I feel good!

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs 500 mL water, coffee
Lunch: 2 tea eggs and 4 slices of ham, 500 mL water, tea
Dinner: fresh pork from roadside stand (I know, I’m tempting fate), fresh onion from roadside stand and garlic stems
Snack: yogurt with bran and Splenda, 250 mL water, tea

I walked to work (I do this every day) 1 mile/1.5 kms
I walked after work to meet friends for coffee (I usually walk home) 3 miles/4.5 kms
I walked home from coffee 2 miles/3kms
For a total of 6 miles/9 kms. Not so bad 🙂

I did pretty well on the water and I’m happy about that.

I had practice at work today for the talent show we’re doing on Sunday. I’m supposed to perform ABBA’s Dancing Queen… My back up singers have thrown in the towel, but Kitty keeps telling me lying to me, “you sing beautiful, Sandi”… I’m sure a few people are having a good laugh about right now 😀

I hope everyone has a blessed day!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: “If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.”
— Margaret Fuller

Pic of the day: can’t wait to see the people in this picture and give them all a lotta love!

20120104-201534.jpg

Dukan – Day 135 HEY! Where did that come from?

Today was a PV day, because of the lack of choices at the halal restaurant.

Daily weight loss: +1.8 lb/0.8 kg!!! WTH?
Total weight loss: 56.3 lb/25.61 kg

So I have a pretty good idea why this has happened…

1. I only had 500 mL water
2. It was my 4th PV day in a row
3. The food at the lunch place yesterday was LOADED with MSG… AND the bloody bastards didn’t have my sliced beef with cilantro AND my only choice besides the thinly sliced celery blades was mushrooms that I’m now sure were made with a wheat flour base… Lunch was definitely an O.F.F.S., moment 😦
4. Although I walk a mile to and from work each day, I didn’t get in my extra evening walk.

So, what to do? Fix all that today (drank 550 mL before anything else this morning). This program WORKS and it works real well when you do the right things.

Plan: 4 PP days to balance out the 4 PV days I just had, limit 2 coffee/tea drinks per day (since I have<em to have milk in them, extra 45 mins. of walking at night and WATER.

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: See above
Dinner: Sirloin steak with onion and garlic stems
Snack: Yogurt with bran and Splenda

I hope everyone is off to a good start for 2012!

Ciao!

Quote of the day, posted on FB by my friend Danielle: Just for today, I will refrain from improving anybody but myself ~ Dear Abby ….. This is a tough one for me, I set my expectations of others too high, I'm adding this to the bucket list!

Dukan – Day 134… The forgotten post

Sunday was a PV day.

Daily weight loss: a wee bit
Total weight loss: a wee bit more 🙂 (not admitting I forgot to write the figures down to bring to work with me!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2012 is finally here and it’s going to be great! I will continue on this Dukan journey until the weight is off and keep it off. According to Dr. Dukan, I should reach my goal weight by April 2nd. That would be very cool 🙂 I am resolved to do this for ME, for my health. As of this morning I’ve lost 58 pounds… FIFTY EIGHT POUNDS! And I feel great!

I’m also coming home for a holiday and conference for 3 weeks and I can’t wait. As much as I love traveling, working overseas and experiencing the world, home is truly where my heart is. I’ll bring a piece of home back with me so I won’t miss it so much 😀

I rang in the New Year’s morning with a brisk 20 minute walk and some coffee at McCafe. Then Lucy and I explored the Ladies Market and then had, of all things, pork chops and a salad for lunch… YUMMY! No black-eyed peas to be found anywhere, but I truly believe if you are good to others your karma will be good to you… I’ll have black-eyed peas next year!

Then back to the hostel to pick-up our bags and a mad dash to the airport, where Lucy’s bag was completely emptied and searched, while I had a panic attack over getting on the plane on time!! We walked up to the gate and boarded, me, heart pounding, Lucy smirking… LOL, we are definitely yin and yang!

Back in Hangzhou, Kitty and KaKa waiting to get us just outside customs. It always feels so nice to have people waiting for you when you arrive at the airport! Home by 8 pm and unpacked by 9! Now time to repack for my trip home… 15 more sleeps until I get on the plane! CAN’T WAIT!

Ciao!

Quote of the Day: In too many instances, the march to globalization has also meant the marginalization of women and girls. And that must change ~ Hillary Clinton

Pic if the Day: Lucy, cool as a cucumber on the subway while I’m freaking out that we’ll be late!

20120103-091640.jpg

Starting off 2012 with memory loss! Dukan – Day 134

Well, this will be a short blog! I typed up a whole blog this afternoon on the work computer (during lunch) and forgot to email it to myself, so you’ll get two tomorrow 🙂

Short version… Lost .2 lbs, had pork chops for lunch in Hong Kong, flew back to Hangzhou in the evening.

Bucket List resolutions kept and/or worked on today: #6, #7, #13, #14… not bad!

Ciao!

2nd quote of the day: Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean ~ Maya Angelo … Lucy said I needed to add working on my anger to my bucket list… Maybe I don’t, I prefer to be clean 😀

Pic of the day: Sadie, Aleisha & Sydnie… Paris 2009

20120102-180740.jpg

20120102-180913.jpg

TRAVEL – HAPPY 2012 NEW YEAR!!

Dukan Day 133… PV day, no weight change. Happy New Year, Everyone!

I thought about doing a wrap-up post, but you know what… The past is the past, I’m going to leave it there… All in all I had an amazing year, visiting with friends and family, reconnecting with old friends, holidaying with friends and chatting endless hours on Skype (thanks to Cathy!).

This post will be all about my posts last year! Hot off the ‘word’ press, my stats for my blog in 2011. To start, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has stopped by to read and a BIG thank you to those that comment. Your words all mean so much to me! In the next few days, my blog will have over 11,000 hits, which isn’t a lot compared to some blogs I read, but it is for me. 🙂

I would also encourage you to read the blogs of others. I am currently following 19 blogs. Most of them arrive in my email inbox and I click on the link to read on their site. I usually either “Like” it or leave a comment… I know how much those comments and “Likes” mean to me!

So, here is the summary of my blog 2011:

To kick off the new year, we’d like to share with you data on your blog’s activity in 2011. You may start scrolling!

Crunchy numbers
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 8,300 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

In 2011, there were 101 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 112 posts. There were 200 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 69mb. That’s about 4 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was August 24th with 299 views. The most popular post that day was Spring Cleaning in the Heat of the Summer.

How did they find you?
The top referring sites in 2011 were:

facebook.com
dukanblogging.blogspot.com
charlottesdukandiet.wordpress.com Following
dukandiet-journey.blogspot.com
thedukandietandme.blogspot.com

Some visitors came searching, mostly for flamidwyfe, dukan blog, velamentous insertion of the umbilical cord, and sandi midwife dukan blog.

Where did they come from?
Most visitors came from The United States. The United Kingdom & United Arab Emirates were not far behind. (AM I SEING A UNITED FRONT HERE???)

Who were they?
Your most commented on post in 2011 was Dukan – Day 100 – Wow!

These were your 5 most active commenters:

1 nancy sandelier 88 comments
2 kathlucky 72 comments Following
3 Moonday 26 comments
4 Vicki C. 23 comments
5 caroline 20 comments
Perhaps you could follow their blog or send them a thank you note?

Attractions in 2011
These are the posts that got the most views in 2011. You can see all of the year’s most-viewed posts in your Site Stats.

1 Spring Cleaning in the Heat of the Summer 5 comments July 2011
2 I CAN DUKAN 15 comments August 2011
3 I CAN DUKAN T-1 and counting 7 comments August 2011
4 For the Love of Children 6 comments June 2011
5 Dukan – Day 2 Attack Phase 12 comments August 2011

THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE REALLY COOL, SPARKLY AND COLORFUL VERSION OF THIS SUMMARY, COMPLETE WITH FIREWORKS!!!

Click the button below, or paste this link into your browser:

https://flamidwyfe.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php?yib=2011

HAPPY NEW YEARS… I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be an amazing year!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: So go ahead. Fall down. The world looks different from the ground.
Oprah Winfrey

Pic of the day: lunch at Dan Ryan’s… Last lunch of 2011 🙂

20120101-102825.jpg

Dukan – Day 132 Hong Kong Bound!

Friday was a PP Day.

Daily weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.2 kg
Total weight loss: 57.8 lb/26.31 kg

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!!!

My friend Lucy and I are in Hong Kong to celebrate the New Year. They have a Times Square here, so we’re going to watch the ball drop and then the fireworks over the harbor… should be a great time!

We were picked up by the driver, Jerry, at 1030 and he brought my coat that he picked up at the tailors… Fit like a glove! So nice to have a coat made just for you. The tailor also knows that I’m losing weight and said he’d be able to alter accordingly 🙂

My gorgeous new coat!

20111231-182224.jpg

Then off to the Hangzhou airport for the 2 hour flight to Hong Kong. Plane took off late due to mechanical issues and we arrived in Hong Kong at 530 and headed to our hostel. As part of my New Years resolutions, I’m going to travel on a tighter budget and this was a good way to start that off… LOL. Here are some shots of our room, some of them taken from OUTSIDE the room, since it is so small! The room is 12 x 6′ and the bathroom less than 3 x 3′, but functional and what do you need a fancy room for anyway?? (this is what I’ve been saying to myself over and over… I will eventually buy into it!)

Our jail cell hostel room door.

20111231-182327.jpg

The SSS bathroom… Have to say the water pressure was amazing!

20111231-182348.jpg

Then out for a quick bite to eat and then we found the Pause Cafe in the building we’re staying at… Total dive, but awesome coffee! We’re totally going back to play darts Saturday night, before going to Times Square!

Shooting darts at Pause Cafe

20111231-182450.jpg

Lucy made me open my eyes for a pic!

20111231-182552.jpg

Then off to bed for a rest up for Saturdays fun-filled day!

HAPPY LAST DAY OF 2011, my friends… It’s been a crazy year for me and I don’t regret one minute of it!!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Make new friends, but keep the old, some are silver and the others are gold! (changed to my liking!)

One last pic… The “hotel” across the street from ours… Who only sleeps for an hour??

20111231-182832.jpg

Dukan – Day 131 last work day of 2011

Today was a PV day.

Daily weight loss: 0.9 lb/0.40 kg
Total weight loss: 57.4 lb/26.11 kg

Much better day today emotional wise. I have 18 more sleeps before I go home for a vacation and tomorrow Lucy and I fly to Hong Kong for the weekend. I spent some time today putting together a collage of a pic from each month. Doing this was an emotional journey for me. I started 2011 off at home in Florida, between jobs in the UAE. I brought my mom back with me for a few weeks to Abu Dhabi and I was so excited to be starting my new position. My weight had been stable for about 6 months at that point, and then my nightmare began at my new job. Without rehashing it all, I will say that *I* see the changes in me. Not just the 25 pound weight gain in 5 short months, but the unhappiness in my eyes and the forced smiles in some of the pics. I’m an emotional eater… In the past food comforted me, it was my friend during the hellish 8 months I went through, working for a sociopath. I’m glad that ordeal is over for me (and many of my colleagues!) and you can see the light back in my eyes in the pic from August, because I’m home and with people I love and the in September when I moved to China… And although this place has it’s problems, they are normal problems and I’m, in general, happy. Miss my family and friends, of course, but happy.

The other thing I worked on today was my bucket list for 2012. It’s a list in progress, but this is what I have so far.

Bucket List 2012

1. Reach Dukan “True Weight” of 165
2. Reach “My True Weight” of 145
3. Nurture relationships
4. Fix my tummy 🙂
5. Run 5k without stopping
6. Enjoy my job more
7. Accomplish teaching the 6 IPSG’s to the staff
8. Accomplish 100% compliance on at least 4 of the IPSG’s!
9. Accomplish teaching the 13 JCI Standards to the staff
10. Visit the Philippines
11. Visit Singapore
12. Visit Thailand… Again
13. Continue my daily random acts of kindness, blog it
14. Blog everyday, can be challenging if VPN goes out
15. Get rid of all the “stuff” I don’t need… In my storage unit AND in my flat!
16. Live as green as possible
17. Start an indoor herb garden
18. Run 10k without stopping!
19. Read 100 books
20. Start yoga classes by March 1st
21. Take yoga at least once per week
22. Run at least 3 times a week
23. Save 25% of my annual income… This will be challenging given my propensity for travel 🙂
24. Travel coach 🙂
25. Plan a 50th birthday cruise for my mates and aim to get at least 100 people to go!
26. Get another tattoo.
27. Attend a rock concert
28. Paint 2 big canvases and complete my little canvas series
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)
30. Start my own blog site with help from Charlotte, one of my Dukan buddies.
31. Try not to send emails or make phones calls on the nights I take sleep medicine 😀
32. Celebrate a holiday that I don’t usually celebrate!
33. Figure out how to set up my wii again… I love the yoga and the boxing
34. Take 2 backpacking trips
35. See more of China since I live here!
36. Take an overnight train in China…
37. Open up my heart and take some chances
38. At least 80% of my quotes of the day will be by women I respect
39. Send in my absentee ballot for the Presidential election
40. Drink 1.5 liters of water per day
41. Weigh myself every day
42. Get a minimum of a 30 minute walk in per day
43. Take my bran every single day
44. Pray and meditate for good health each day, purposefully
45. Pray for the health of those I love, purposefully
46. Continue reading johnshore.com and Pastor Bob every time they post a blog… Their wisdom fills me up.

So here are the pics… I welcome comments, in fact, encourage them…

20111230-001229.jpg

20111230-001359.jpg

20111230-001438.jpg

I like the last me the best 🙂 more the year in wrap up fromHong Kong… I’m off to sleep so I don’t break rule #31 🙂 Goodnight!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Just because you don’t see the results after a day or even a week, don’t give up! You may not see changes, but every smart choice you make is affecting you in ways you’d never imagine. ~ Unknown