Dukan – Day 130

Posted on December 29, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Wednesday was a PP day.

Daily weight loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total weight loss: 56.6 lb/25.71 kg

So as the day progressed things got a bit better… Poor Kitty was a good sport taking my bad day and smiling through it… She’s such a trooper. I had a very productive meeting with the CEO and finally got my OWN office, with the room to put all the manuals that I’m creating with new policy, protocol, clinical safety guidelines and competencies. YAY!

I also got a new work coat today, because my other was baggy… Pic below!

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: 2 eggs and the last of the leftover turkey… Tempted to make another just for the leftovers!
Dinner: pork stir-fry with onions and garlic stems

I had a nice walk/run circuit… 4.5 kms (3 miles) in 35 minutes… I know I’m not going to win any races, but I’m winning my own 😀 And boy was it a great way to erase the rest of the stress I had from the last 2 days… That and a nice long Skype chat with someone who cheers me up 🙂 Stress all gone!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: It’s my life, it’s now or never, I ain’t gonna live forever… I just wanna live while I’m alive… It’s my life! ~ Bon Jovi … Sorry into music this week… I crank this up when I’m running!

Dukan – Day 129

Posted on December 28, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Tuesday was a PV day.

Daily weight loss: 0.0 lb/0.0 kg
Total weight loss: 56.1 lb/25.11 kg

No loss is better than a gain. What an amazingly long day in the midst of a long week without enough sleep. I’m pretty cranky this morning, taking it out on my poor personal assistant Kitty and have Snow Patrol blasting Chasing Cars in my ear phones… Stress relief.

So Lucy, Silin (our amazing translator) and I took what we THOUGHT was a 2 hour train ride to Wenzhou in the morning. Well, apparently (this is a word I use when I’m grumpy) there was a train collision a few months ago on this route so they decided that slowing down the trains might lead to less fatalities the next time… So the frigging trip is now FOUR HOURS… EACH WAY!!! Apparently this makes sense, some how… sigh. So, up at 545 am, picked up by driver at 630 am, train at 745 am, arrived at Wenzhou at 1150 am, lunch from 1220 to 200 pm, because they take 90 minute lunch breaks here. Toured the hospital in a whirlwind 25 minutes, met with the CEO and head physician for about one hour (they are trying to woo Lucy here to work), got buzzed as hell off the local green tea that the CEO made traditionally for us (coolest thing about China is the way they serve tea, it’s awesome… That’s about the only positivity in this blog today run with it LOL) and then back in the van for the pot hole filled ride back to the train station at 330 pm, train at 451 pm, back to Hangzhou at 955 pm, delight to find KaKa waiting at the correct train station (we arrived back at the station as far from my flat as humanly possible in this city) and home at 1005 pm. O.F.F.S. what a long, exhausting day! We didn’t really get to see Wenzhou at all to make a fair evaluation og whether or not it would be a nice place for Lucy to go to. What we did see, however, made me very happy that I’m in what is APPARENTLY considered the greenest city in all of the great land of China.

I did eat some weird stuff today and ended up with an allergic reaction to what I believe was gluten.

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs and coffee
Lunch: at fancy schmancy restaurant… DUCK TONGUE (it’s the specialty of Wenzhou and I felt compelled to at least try it… It tastes like pork… I totally just blanked on what it was I was eating and focused on trying not to get teeth or bones in my mouth, as it comes attached to the jaw… LMAO). I also had tofu, cucumber wedges and they made a hot pot that was suppose to be sans anything but meat and veggies and they add meat apparently coated with flour AND they through in pasta for good measure, which I didn’t see because they also put in these super skinny long mushrooms that I so couldn’t wait to eat. I’m sure they also threw in a pound of MSG because within a minute of taking the first bite my lips and tongue were tingling, I had hives on my chest and arms at 3 minutes and I was fighting panic… Thank God for anti-histamines! Not sure exactly which of the culprits in the hot pot caused the reaction, but it was a bummer 😦 I finished lunch by eating a tea egg, made me feel better, lol.
Dinner: PEANUTS, I’m not kidding. We thought we’d be home at SEVEN pm!!! So I ate peanuts on the train… I’m not sure that was a really Dukan friendly dinner.
Lucy kindly made me a cup of Earl Grey and yogurt with bran while I sulked on the couch, too late to make phone calls home, too tired to move and not hungry enough to eat a real meal. It’s so wonderful having a friend like Lucy… Gonna miss her when she goes back to Dubai!
Then off to bed for a much deserved sleep. I hope the rest of you had a better day… I promise tomorrow will be a brighter day… After I bonk Kitty on the head a few more times for the 4 hour train ride in 2nd class EACH WAY!!!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Forget what we’re told… Before we get too old. Show me a garden that’s bursting into life. ~ Snow Patrol “Chasing Cars” … Feeling much better after listening to this while typing (pounding the keys) to the beat.

A couple pics from the day…

This is a dad with 3 kids on the scooter. I affectionately refer to this as the Chinese Minivan!

Anyone want a SHIN rejuvenation?

The shitty road back to the train station made even worse by this guy pulling carts cutting us off!

Dukan – Day 128

Posted on December 28, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Monday was a PP day 🙂

Daily weight loss: 0.9 lb/0.4 kg
Total weight loss: 56.1 lb/25.11 kg and 4 Stone!

Well, back to work and back to normal routine. Super long day because I got to bed at 2 and up at 640. It used to be easy to do that, not so much anymore! It’s a short work week because Lucy and I are going to Hong Kong for New Years on Friday.

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: 2 tea eggs and leftover turkey 🙂
Dinner: Stir fry with Turkey, pork, onions and garlic stems
Snack: Yogurt with bran

Thats about it. Holiday fatigue and letdown, me thinks!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You! ~ Dr, Suess

Dukan – Day 127 Christmas Day!

Posted on December 26, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Christmas day was a PV day.

Daily weight loss: +0.4 lbs/+0.2 kg
Total weight loss: 55.2 lb/25.11 kg

Merry Christmas! What a long day Sunday was! I gained less than half a pound, so I think I did pretty well 🙂 I stuck to Dukan with the exception of about 3 oz. of yummy white wine. I didn’t, however, leave my house at all, so I got no exercise in today and I didn’t get my water in, either (maybe 500 mL).

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs and 3 slices of ham

Then off to the baking. First recipe on the list today, Dukan friendly Pumpkin Pie Crisp that I got from Jamie at LosingCurtandJamie… I also made Dukan Cocoa/Espresso cookies. I will upload both of my versions of these recipes this week from my laptop… Too much to do from the iPad. Here’s some pics from both desserts. Warning, the cookies don’t look that great, I thought no one would eat them, they were GONE IN MINUTES!!!

I used real pumpkin 🙂

A thumbs up on the Pumpkin Pie Crisp 😀

I then had lunch: a can of tuna in brine with my homemade mayo (Dijon mustard mixed with FF cream cheese) and added diced onions and celery.

Play time with Alessandro…

And then time to start the turkey! My turkey is very simple… 1 bird. Stuff with 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped apple (wedge size chopped), 1 chopped pear, 10 crushed cloves of garlic and some chopped celery… That’s it. I then hand coat the bird in olive oil, grind on some coarse sea salt and pepper and stick it in the oven at 350F for 15 minutes per pound. I don’t bag it, cover any parts in foil, just put the naked bird in the oven…

A very small oven!

And about 30 minutes before the bird is done I turn on the broiler to really brown the top. I am always pleasantly surprised when my turkey turns out juicy and yummy 🙂 Check out this hot bird:

I didn’t even have to make gravy… It made it’s own. Mmmmmmmm!

So dinner for me was: Turkey, cauliflower, cabbage stew brought by Velina and made totally Dukan friendly (just for me!), green beans and a teeny wedge of parmesan.
Dessert: Dukan Pumpkin Pie Crisp… It was delicious and everyone gave a big thumbs up.

What a lovely day spent with new friends from across the world. Merry Christmas 🙂

Reena, KaKa, Kitty, Joe with Alessandro, Velina, Lucy, Chiara, Me and Silin.

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Life happens fast! What are you waiting for?

Dukan – Day 126 Christmas Eve

Posted on December 25, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Saturday was a PP day (I had to stop and think!)

Daily weight loss: 0.4 lb/0.2 kg
Total weight loss: 55.7 lb/25.31 kg

Happy Christmas Eve! I had to work today… mainly because they schedule Childbirth Education for Saturdays when more people can come… only 3 came 😦 But I enjoy teaching it anyway. It truly is my favorite part about being a midwife… that and snuggling babies!

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: 2 tea eggs and a tin of tuna
Dinner: Stir fried sirloin with onions, garlic stems and garlic cloves…
I said to Lucy, “I could eat this every night!” and her response, “Actually, you do!”
LOL… well I do use different spices… hehe
Snack a teeny, runny yogurt with bran and splenda… couldn’t find any greek yogurt.

Shopped for the rest of Christmas Dinner. There will be 11 of us. A motley crew made up of Americans (me), Brits (Lucy and Robin), Bulgarians (Velina), Italians (Chiara) and Chinese (Silin, Vivien, Kitty, KaKa, Joe) and one itty bitty Chinese-Italian (baby Alessaundro)… should be a fun Christmas dinner!

Well off to finish prepping while the house is still quiet!

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, 圣诞快乐 , Buon Natale, Весела Коледа!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Breathe in Joy and Strength… Breathe out Wisdom and Peace ~ Unknown

Dukan – Day 125… I DID IT!

Posted on December 23, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Friday was a PV day 🙂

Daily Weight Loss: 0.7 lb/0.3 kg
Total Weight Loss: 55.2 lb/25.11 kg

Woo hoo! I hit my mid-January goal… this morning!!!! I wanted to be down 55 lbs before going home on vacation and I’ve done it. If I didn’t worry about hurting myself, I’d be doing cartwheels 😀

I’ve been working on getting this last 5 pounds off since December 5th, so 19 days ago, and this just goes to prove that it does comes off… perseverance is the key. And it doesn’t melt off, you’ve got to work it!

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: I made a tuna salad for myself and 2 friends… Tuna in brine, “mayo” made with dijon mustard and fat free cream cheese with a teeny bit of water and diced onions and salt. I mixed all that together and then placed it on the top of a small handful of mixed lettuce greens. Sliced a tea egg (each) into quarters and dressed the bowl with a drizzle of olive oil (it’s the one thing I haven’t given up, and I’m not giving up).
Dinner: Sashimi with the hottest damn wasabi I have eaten in my life! Seriously!
Snack: FF Cottage cheese with bran… BLECH! I’m out of yogurt and this was the only thing I could think of to put it in…. not recommended!

I had a WONDERFUL day off. Slept until about 715 (my body just won’t sleep later, dammit!) but stayed in bed until 1130… I even went downstairs to the tea egg vendor in my jammies (with a coat of course) and my flip flops which warrants you quite a few stares when it’s 37 F outside. I then climbed back into bed and had breakfast and a cup of coffee. Stayed there reading the news online, catching up on all the blogs I read and writing my own. It was AWESOME!

Then Chiara came over and joined Lucy and I for the lunch I described above. Chiara and I then walked 30 minutes to the hair salon, recommended by my friend Velina. I had the following done:
Hair wash, head massage (20 minute), hair consult (in Chinese with lots of pointing and sign language and showing my pics of my previous highlighting job in Shanghai) then a cut, a blow-dry and then the assistant WRAPPED MY HAIR IN SARAN WRAP to high-light it… ummm, I was a tad nervous and thought I’d play it out before calling a “Time-Out”. What ended up happening is amazing… he gently and expertly pulled my hair through the Saran Wrap, without hurting me (at Toni & Guy I was in pain and ended up with a friggin’ scabbed head!) and then he applied the high-light solution. Afterwards they rewashed my hair, gave me a 5 minute head massage, the stylist dried and styled my hair with goop and I walked out very happy. My hair came out really good, better than the expensive cut and high-light at Toni & Guy ($221.00) I PAID JUST… $31.58 for all of this. I am a happy camper and will post a pic in tomorrow’s blog.

Today is Christmas Eve already here in China…. 645 a.m. I am working today and doing what I love to do the most… educating women and their partners about pregnancy and childbirth… should be a great day!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: FAMILY – Father And Mother I Love You ~ quoted by Jerry, my driver here in China… he doesn’t know the source, but I love it… never thought of the word like that before!

Dukan – Day 124 iDesk discovery!

Posted on December 23, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Thursday was a PP day… Technically should have been a PV, but no veggies in the flat.

Daily Weight Loss: 0.9 lb/0.4 kg
Total Weight Loss: 54.6 lb/24.81 kg

So close to that 55 mark I can see it. My goal was to be down 55 pounds by the time I went home mid-January, but I think I just might surpass that goal 🙂

I had a great day at work. Started off with a big smile from my personal assistant Kitty…

Then a hug from Vivien…

I’m the mother to everyone, LOL… Whoever told me that Chinese don’t like being touched was wrong, either that or everyone loves Sandi 😀 Here’s a smiley pic of ViviMokaLaka and me…

I then went for morning handover and patient rounds and then went to the outpatient department where I got to play with my new APP… iDesk! OK, it’s not perfect, because I haven’t figured out how to send a format to my lap top so my assistant can translate to Chinese, but it gives me work to do when I’m away from my desk in the International Medical Care center. This is the workflow I created yesterday… What I love about it is the freestyle writing that turns into lovely shapes and the absolute EASE of connecting the boxes!! Even Kitty had a go at it 🙂 Here’s the chart…

I also downloaded DocsToGo Premium, and now I can share my Word, Excel and PowerPoint docs with my iPad and edit… My world is supremely better.. LOL Until now, my iPad has been an expensive email and Internet tablet… Now it’s a workhorse!

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs & 2 thin and small pieces of ham
Lunch: 2 tea eggs and 4 slices of that ham… Worked from desk during lunch
Dinner: Sirloin stir-fried with onions, garlic stems and garlic cloves
Snack: FF Greek yogurt with Splenda and bran

Lots of water, 1 coke zero, 2 cups of coffe and a cup of Earl grey tea.

Enjoying a day off today… It’ll be hard to motivate me to get out of my pajamas, get dressed and get moving 🙂

Ciao!

Quote of the day: If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory. ~ Unknown

Dukan – Day 123 Long Dinner Out!

Posted on December 22, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Today was a PP day 🙂

Daily weight loss: +0.4 lbs/+0.2 kg
Total weight loss: 53.7 lb/24.41 kg

Have NO idea where that 1/2 pound came from… but hakuna matata! Had a chilly, but nice walk to work, temp was 38 when I set out, but I’ve learned to layer and it’s not so bad. I’m burning calories shivering 😀 I got to bath babies again this morning for an hour… It really is a lot of fun and relaxing!

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: A broiled fish with garlic and onions and peppers on top (i pushed off the peppers) this lunch was YUMMY!
Dinner: Mexican! I had fajitas minus the tortilla and green peppers… so basically meat and onions, but it was yummy.
Snack: FF Greek Yogurt with bran and splenda… had a panic attack because I only have one container of bran left and I don’t fly home for 3.5 weeks… calmed myself down by remembering that the other two containers lasted an ENTIRE 4 MONTHS… LOL. I think I freaked because I can’t find it here, at all. I will have to make sure I stock up on it when I’m in the States in Jan/Feb because it isn’t available here… anywhere!
I got in all my water and had 1 2 coke zero(s) and 2 cups of coffee. A long 40+ minute walk home from the Mexican restaurant where Lucy and I had dinner with some new friends who are just awesome to hang out with…. I looked at my phone and couldn’t believe 4 hours had gone by!!!! Very long, but enjoyable evening!

I hope everyone is gearing up for the holiday! It’s very Christmassy here in China!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: If your dog is fat, you’re not getting enough exercise. ~Author Unknown

Dukan – Day 122 Come On… Almost There!Any

Posted on December 20, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Today was a PP day 🙂

Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.2 kg
Total Weight Loss: 54.1 lb/24.61 kg

I had a blast today at work. Today was bathing babies day (I get to do this one per week) and I had to take care of 3 babies… yes, totally crazy that I’m there to do Quality Assurance work and they pay me good money to do this, but I LOVE it! They have Bach and Beethoven playing in the background, you bath the baby, put it in the tank for swimming then give it a massage before dressing it… takes about 25 minutes per baby.

Good thing I love babies 🙂

Anyway, it’s a great way to do audits on Infection Control, baby banding, etc…. so I get to bath babies, listen to Bach and do Quality Assurance work… Nice 🙂

Lucy started Dukan on Sunday and Tuesday was Day 3 Attack for her. She has to do 4 days, so I’m doing them with her. Yesterday she asked me if I was starving all the time, um, no… for some reason when you reduce your food intake AND are on lots of protein, you just ain’t hungry between meals… she snuck a few Skittles!!! Gasp! Anyway, tomorrow is the last day, I’m hoping she’ll be happy… come on, Lucy… you can do it!

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: 3 slices smoked ham, 2 tea eggs
Dinner: Sirloin stir-fried with garlic and onions and generously sprinkled with curry seasonings… YUMMY!
I didn’t get my snack in.. I just didn’t have the desire to eat when I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t get my bran… I’ll make sure I get it on Wednesday.
I had over 1.5 liters of water, only 2 coffees and 1 coke zero

After dinner I went for what was suppose to be a walk, because it’s cold AND rainy, and I’m terrified of messing up my knees. I strapped on my iPod and head phones and started out with GI Jane soundtrack… 3 songs in Conspiracy came on… that just gets me going… so I started doing the circuit running that I do on C25K… I did 2 mins. of running, 4 mins. of walking for 42 minutes… I’m getting a little bit more comfortable running on wet surfaces.

Well, off to work I go! I hope everyone is having a great week!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Your vision will become clear, only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens ~ Carl Jung

Dukan – Day 121

Posted on December 20, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Monday was a PP day 🙂

Daily Weight Loss: 0.0 lb & kg
Total Weight Loss: 53.7 lb/24.41 kg

So no change on the scale which is fine by me… staying the same is better than gain! Back to work today and don’t feel like I had a weekend off. Because of a schedule change I had 1/2 day Friday, worked Saturday and off on Sunday… but I had running around to do, so after the massage I was off to the mall and didn’t get back until nearly 6 p.m…. then my next day off is Friday!!! Anywho… it was a nice day at work. Got 3 policies written and edited and sent off to Kitty for translation, so I feel accomplished 😀

Breakfast: You got it… 2 tea eggs
Lunch: Beef slices with cilantro and garlic stems and a bowl of CHICKEN SOUP… oh my gosh was it yummy and oily… LOL I left the carrots and ate the rest. The broth was so good!

Chicken Soup from the halal restaurant

Dinner: Stir fried sirloin with onions and garlic stems and I threw in 1/8 cup of low-fat mozzarella… it was kind of like having a philly cheese steak w/o the bread!
Snack: FF Greek Yogurt with Splenda and bran

All in all a good day. A couple things in there that may have influenced my lack of scale movement, but I’m not worried. I drank 1.5 liters of water and walked to and from work (a mile each way). The best part of the day was getting a picture from Danee Daniels with her and my niece Charity in it… I have no idea where they were or what they were doing, but they were together (with Dana, as well) and those have to be 3 of my favorite midwives in the world 😀 Thanks for posting, Danee!