Self Love Exercises – Part 7

Posted on August 29, 2012 by flamidwyfe

From the Feel Good Tribe:

7. I’ve said it before & I will say it a million more times: write a gratitude list every morning. It really is the best way to start your day. The simple act of sitting down & making a few notes on what you’re happy about builds up so much positive energy that you can’t help but do something amazing with it!

OK, so I started doing this a couple of weeks ago and it is working. Aside from the “postal” incident, I’ve had more positive days. I have also gotten more accomplished in my daily life.

Today’s Gratitude List… posted on my bathroom mirror:

I am grateful that I still have a living parent… MOM ♥ ♥ ♥

I am grateful that I am going home in 22 days!

I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to travel.

I am grateful for all of the people that support me through encouragement!

I am grateful for the friends that I have met through my blog and the amazing cheering squad that I have, of people I’ve never met in person, but feel I really know!

So… that’s today’s list. I wrote it when I first got up this morning. What are you grateful for today???

Ciao!

Not on my list, but I was certainly grateful that my roast turned out far better than my turkey!

Oh my the flat smelled amazing and the roast was so tender!

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 86 – Sunday Runday

Posted on August 7, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Sunday was an awesome day… food wise, Dukan wise and exercise wise!

Daily weight: 148 lbs/67.2 kgs
Goal weight: 155 lbs/70.5 kgs

I started my morning early with a half hour of yoga and some housework. Then at 0900 out for a walk/run. It was HOT! Here’s how hot…

Feels like 101F… bring it on!

So I did this route… which the GPS is off a bit… I walked along the little river, across the bridge and back… so just move my route (in your head) down a bit… LOL

And these are the scenes along my walk…

The path leaving my complex going towards the river.

The construction site has taken over 1/2 the Buddhist Temple and torn it down… they moved the Big incense burners across the walking path to the river side.

The construction site hasn’t taken the temple half… yet… I sure hope they don’t!

A real working lock!

Guarding the lock.

I could smell a funky smell, like manure, and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from!

This lovely lady was fertilizing the lush greenery along the river walk… Thank you! You make my walk much more beautiful!!!

Continuing on…

I then crossed over the river to come back on the other side.

Incoming barge… an old way of transport with all new construction in the background!

Close up of the wake from the barge.

As I crossed over the bridge once more, I got wolf whistled at… LOL. That made me feel good and gave me the energy in the melting heat to finish…

Out of the 1:20 I only ran 35 minutes. It was just too darn hot… but it gave me the chance to slow down and enjoy the scenery!

Food:
Brekkies: 2 tea eggs… good protein fuel to get started!
Snack when back from walk/run: 2 ounces of an amazingly good aged cheddar that crumbles when you bite it… Mmmmmm and some Jerky… thanks, Suzanne for bringing that!
Dinner at 430 p.m. at Surbhi and Andy’s… OH MY GOD!!! My very favorite Indian dish, Palak Paneer, made just for me! Yummy, authentic Indian food. I am SO grateful for the people I have met on my 4 years of living abroad! I also had a little bit of rice, dal and aloo! Of course this was a celebration meal 😀

When I got home from my 1 hour 20 minute bus ride… standing (now that must have burned some calories) and dancing to my own tune (Rocking out to Rock of Ages soundtrack in the bus… smiling and dancing, sure makes the locals give me a little space) I opened my email to this picture…

Yummy, juicy, delectable Helena… who is almost 5 months! I am SO lucky that I get to be there when these little cutie patooties are born! Can’t wait to make a trip to Boston to cuddle you!

And before bed a pot of 2% Greek Yogurt with Splenda and flax seed meal. Yum!

Awesome day all around… How did your weekend go?

Ciao!

Dukan – Consolidation Day 85 – Aussie Football Rocks

Posted on August 4, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Wow… 85 days on Consolidation! And you know what… I’m sticking to the plan and my weight is stabilized… I will be in Consolidation for a total of 500 days so I’ve got 415 to go!
Since starting in Consolidation I went from 155 down to a low of 144. I have consistently been between 144 and 148 for nearly 2 months now. Awesome! This morning 146.

Breakfast: Cream cheese pancakes ** without syrup, not able to find sugar free here! Ate them in bed with a cup of coffee before getting ready for work.
This is Titters, my cat, wishing I’d share some of that pancakey goodness with him…

He put his back to me because I wouldn’t share!

Lunch: A yummy salad with red cabbage, cukes, tomatoes and bacon and edam cheese!

Before I carnivored it up 🙂

Afternoon Snack: 2 tea eggs
Dinner: Philly cheese steak without the bread and a small side salad.

Exercise:
Walked to and from work twice as I walked home for lunch.
Ran 5K in record time the night before… loving that I can breathe again. It’s been 12 weeks since my surgery and I’ve only been able to take full breaths for the last 2 weeks… general anesthesia is the culprit, me thinks.

After work I went with Vivien to an Aussie friends house to watch Australian Rules Footie… I am totally into it and the commentary during the game from those watching is great fun and instead of running 10 feet and having a time out, they just keep going and going and going… it’s going to be hard to go home to the States and enjoy the NFL… lol! The end of this game was AMAZING!!! Tom Hawkins (Tomahawk) #26, kicked the winning 6 point goal with 0 seconds left on the clock!!! Bringing them to their 9th victory in a row… I guess Cats really do have 9 lives! So, Rory, my partner in fun for the guest running blog I wrote a few weeks ago, presented me with my official fan Geelong Cats T-shirt! I totally feel like part of the gang now 😀 Thanks, Rory!

I AM A FAN!!

The Tomahawk

At the end of the night my local daughter, Vivien, walked me downstairs and I talked her into a self pic… lol… I’m going to miss this girl when I move home!

ViviMokaLaka – August 2012

I look a little different than I did a little more than a year ago when I took this pic…

ViviMokaLaka – April 2011

Ciao

**I bought the amazing cookbook from this blogger. Her recipes are awesome and easy to follow! I highly recommend the book and can’t wait to get in a REAL kitchen with a REAL oven and make more of the stuff in the book!

Recipe – Dukan – Pan-Fried Moroccan Pork

Posted on August 2, 2012 by flamidwyfe

This recipe is for Consolidation Phase. You could make this with chicken or beef, as well.
To make this cruise compliant leave out the orange… it’s that simple 🙂
It is also Paleo, Whole30 and Atkins compliant.

PAN-FRIED MOROCCAN PORK
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 chilli, seeded and diced
1 tsp chilli powder (I used medium heat)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp lemon or lime juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS coconut oil
1 lb. pork, cut into strips
1 orange, 1/2 sliced, 1/2 for juice
4 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped

In a large bowl place the olive oil, chilli, chilli powder, garlic, limon juice, cinnamon and cumin. Mix well.
Place the strips of pork in the rub mix and put lid on and shake, shake, shake to coat. Put in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes.
Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan and cook the pork on medium heat for 3 minutes.
Flip the pork strips over, squeeze the juice of 1/2 the orange on top of the meat and add the slices from the other half. Cook 3-4 more minutes, until the pork is done.
Stir in the chopped parsley and serve.
Enjoy!

Dukan – Recipe – Steak Stir Fry

Posted on August 1, 2012 by flamidwyfe

I had some veggies in the fridge that needed to be eaten so I threw this little dinner together!

STEAK STIR FRY (sorry, I live in China, have a teeny kitchen and a wok, stir fry is what it is!)
Serves 2

1 pound steak (500 grams) – cut in chunks, strips, however you like it!
1/2 large onion – chopped
1/2 carrot- sliced thinnish
1/2 red pepper – chopped
Asparagus- chopped
2 Tbs Coconut Oil (see the * from yesterday’s post)
2 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt & Pepper to taste

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Put 1 Tbs of coconut oil in pan. Put in onions and carrots, sprinkle with Italian seasoning and cook on medium low for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Put your steak on top, add the rest of the coconut oil and stir. Put on the lid and simmer for 6 minutes. Stir occasionally. Take lid off and stir fry the red pepper and asparagus in with the rest of it… Stir fry for 3 minutes. Put lid on for 2 minutes. Serve. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Sautee those carrots and onions gently!

Throw that meat in there!

Add in the rest of the veggies!

ENJOY!

Ciao!

Dukan – Recipe – Curried Stir Fry – Pure Protein Meal

Posted on July 31, 2012 by flamidwyfe

I’ve had a lot of requests for recipe ideas lately. Tonight I made a beef steak curry stir-fry. I make really quick & easy meals because I’m limited on what I can do in my little Chinese kitchen.

BEEF STEAK CURRY STIR-FRY

Serves: 2
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. Coconut Oil*
5 cloves garlic, smashed, chopped, diced, however you like it
1 large red onion, chopped (I like mine chunky)
Ginger, about the size of your thumb, chopped or diced
16 oz (550 grams) beef steak, cut into 1″ pieces
2 Tbs. curry powder, more if you like!
1/4 tsp Cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste

Ingredients

Place coconut oil in wok or frying pan on medium and toss in onion. Put 1 Tbs. of curry and the cumin on the onions and stir for 1 minute. Add the meat and stir for 30 seconds then add the rest of the curry, stir and turn down to med-low for 5 minutes, cover. Then add the garlic and ginger. Stir every once in a while for 3-4 more minutes.
Serve.

See… easy peasy 🙂

*Coconut oil is NOT part of the Dukan Diet. No oils are. However, I used olive oil and coconut oil nearly daily throughout my 10 month weight loss journey and still lost 111 pounds. It is up to you whether or not you want to use it. In 1 Tbs. of coconut oil you will find: 0 Protein, 0 Carbohydrates, 13.5 mg Fat… worth it, in my humble opinion! As with anything, use in moderation.

Enjoy!

Site to check out: Cooking Traditional Foods… she has great recipes and ideas on her site for eating healthy!

Winning – Saturday Sayings

Posted on July 28, 2012 by flamidwyfe

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve failed or if you’ve been beaten. All that matters is that you learn something, get back up, and try again. Because winning is a good feeling, but winning when nobody else thought you could is an awesome feeling.” ~ Marc and Angel Hack Life

How important is it for us to think this way in all aspects of our lives? Getting back up, brushing ourselves off and starting over is the ONLY way to succeed. I was SO fortunate to have the support from family, friends and fellow bloggers on my continuing journey of better health.

I see so many people that aren’t being encouraged, as well. I see it on Facebook pages when someone mentions that they are losing weight, eating well and exercising, their friends tell them to lie down and have a cookie. What kind of support is that? That is your fat, unhappy friends discouraging you from being better than them. Or your skinny, unhappy friends that like that you are the fat friend, it makes them feel better about themselves.

So, my friends, go out there and WIN today! Stick to that program you are on. Get in at least 30 minutes of some type of moving… even if it’s just walking… and WIN.

WIN for YOU!

Ciao!

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!