Tag Archives: perseverance

Blogger Awards – Part 2

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So this is the 2nd Blogger Award that I was nominated for this past week. It is called the Very Inspiring Blogger Award and looks like this:

I searched for nearly an hour for the origins of this blog award and could not find anything. So I’m going to tell you what it means to me. To be a Very Inspiring Blogger you write posts that inspire others. Pretty simple, if you ask me. I was nominated by MJ at emjayandthem … thank you, MJ… MJ told me that my blog inspired her to begin the Dukan diet this week… how awesome is that?!?!?

There are 2 things you must do if you ACCEPT this award: 1. Tell 7 things about yourself that others may not know and 2. Nominate 7 people that inspire you. So here goes:

1. I am a midwife that is tired of being up all night waiting on babies 🙂

2. I am a mom to 3 terrific kids Nick, Jenni and Tiffany… I wasn’t the best mom, but I did the best I could and they’ve turned out to be pretty awesome adults! I also have an “adopted” daughter, Ashley, who I love like my own kids and who lived with us for a time in her teens, she’s a pretty awesome adult, too!

3. I am the “Momma” to 2 grandchildren from Jenni, 3 from Tiffany and 2 from Ashley. I am only 48 😀

4. I actually look forward to turning 50 years old in 21 months. I keep getting better with age!

5. I took up running in December and LOVE IT… “Run” was NOT in my vocabulary 7 months ago.

6. I adore my mother… she is my biggest fan in ANYTHING I do… I thank God on a daily basis for giving me to her or her to me… either way I am BLESSED!

7. I have 4 sisters and 2 brothers… most of whom I don’t communicate with… LOL That is balanced by the fact that I have some of the very best friends a girl could EVER have and I am so fortunate that most of them still live in my home town. They are closer to me than most sisters and brothers!

Now for the 7 people I am nominating and why. They are not only inspirational to me, but they will be inspirational to YOU. I encourage you to take the time to click on every single one of their blogs. Here we go…

1. Mel at http://wwangel.wordpress.com/ Mel is a runner and a Dukaner… she is just a couple of kilos from her goal weight and even though the scale has been up and down for her the past month or so, she keeps plugging along!!! She doesn’t give up. Her posts about running give me the inspiration to lace up my Brooks and go out for a run… now if I only had a dog as cute as her Millie!

2. The DukanDietress She lost over 100 pounds on the Dukan Diet and looks TERRIFIC! She is in the Consolidation Phase (Phase 3) of the diet and her insight is invaluable! Lots of very inspiring before and after pics on her blog!

3. Cyn at the ChunkyGoddess. Cyn tells it like it is and I like that. She’s awesome, she’s close to her WW goal and she’s raisin’ hell. Her brutal honesty is refreshing!

4. Sonia at My Dukan Diet . She has lost 83 pounds and is doing GREAT! Her posts inspire me to keep going and they’ll inspire you get started!

5. Brett at NoTimeToW8. Brett has lost 64.8 lbs and is still going. He is also doing the C25K and has just finished Week 3… WOO HOO!!!

6. Russell at TheEaglesNest. Russell has lost 96.4 lbs on Weight Watchers… he is now a mentor to many… his blog is incredibly inspiring to me!

7. And Pat at i~Nurse Educator. Pat is a Nurse (obviously) and an educator and an advocate and a dieter. He’s lost 23.4 lbs so far and his advocacy for nurses is one of the things that drew me in. Go Pat!

So there you have it… 7 more very deserving bloggers getting an award. I have 2 more to pay forward this week… maybe tomorrow 🙂

Ciao!

Dukan – Day 213 – Dukan Recipe – Chicken with Olives

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Monday was a PV day 🙂

Today marks the 7th month since I started this life changing journey on August 20th.
Here are the stats: (you have to read all the way to the bottom to get the final stat) 😀

Aug 20, 2011 / March 20, 2012
Chest: 42 / 36
Waist: 45 / 33
Hips: 56 / 42 (LOL, my HIPS are smaller than what my WAIST was!)

Daily weight Gain: 0.4 lb/0.2 kg
Total weight Loss: 79.0 lb/35.91 kg

😀 I knew that would happen… LOL… 2 steps forward 1/2 a step back… Hakuna Matata, I had a pretty good day. Worked 1/2 a day to make up for working all day on Sunday.

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: Citrus Pork and Onions (recipe posted yesterday)
Dinner: Chicken with Olives – recipe posted below

Water: 2 liters
Exercise: Walk to and from work 2 miles roundtrip
C25K run: 2.13 miles

RECIPE: DUKAN CHICKEN WITH OLIVES
This recipe comes from my favorite Dukan recipe blog Hapa Couple. I changed it up a little bit to make it Dukan Cruise friendly and because some of the items on their list are not necessarily available here in China. Additionally, I don’t have an oven, so mine was cooked on the gas burner. Also, their recipe is for 4 Servings.

Servings: 2
Ingredients:
1 Tbs Olive Oil
2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts – cut into strips or cubes
1/2 large Red onion – I cut mine chunky
5 cloves of garlic – minced
1 green pepper – I cut mine chunky
1 14oz can of whole tomatoes – chopped
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth (mixed 1/2 c hot water with 1 cube and stirred)
2 Tbs of Skim milk mixed with 1 tsp corn starch
8 – 10 whole green olives (stuffed) *couldn’t get these, so I sliced mine off the pit

Place 1/2 Tbs Olive oil in pan on med/high heat and add chicken. Brown on both sides, remove to a bowl.

Place 1/2 Tbs Olive oil in pan on medium heat and add onion, garlic and pepper, cook for 3 minutes.

Add tomatoes to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.

Pour in chicken broth, stir and cover for 2 minutes.

Add cooked chicken into mix and reduce temperature to low. Simmer 7 minutes.


Pour in the cornstarch mix stir, Add Olives, stir. Simmer 2 minutes.
Enjoy!

You could put this over zucchini pasta it’s zucchini cut to resemble pasta and parboiled… OR you could put this over shiritaki noodles.
We ate it as is, kind of like a stew and it was delish! I also prepared a fresh, organic green salad that had the yummiest combination of greens in it… and a splash of olive oil… Yum

Delish dinner!

And the final stat that I promised at the top. I haven’t mentioned on my blog my starting weight OR my current weight at any point. Few people knew (up til now) how much I weighed when I started on Dukan.

WEIGHT:
AUGUST 20, 2012 = 255
MARCH 20, 2012 = 176

I still have 11 pounds to reach Dukan’s True Weight of 165 lbs and 21 pounds to MY goal of 155.

I can’t say it enough times… the support I get from all of you; my family, friends and new blogger friends has been the key to my success. I am humbled by your kind words and cheering!

Blessings and Ciao!
Sandi

Dukan – Days 211 & 212 – Whooshing

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Well, I had a blog break yesterday due to a momma calling in labor while I was typing out the morning blog 😀

Saturday was a PP day on purpose
Sunday was a PP day because I was at the hospital until 9 p.m.

Two whooshes have me elated, yet worried… LOLl
Saturday:
Daily weight loss: 1.3 lbs/0.60 kg
Total weight loss: 78.1 lb/35.51 kg
then Sunday:
Daily weight loss: 1.3 lb/0.60 kg
Total weight loss: 79.4 lb/36.11 kg

Saturday food:
Breakfast: 2 tea eggs, coffee
Only worked 1/2 a day so had a yummy lunch: I stir fried 2 tea eggs, 1/4 onion, 5 garlic cloves and 3 slices of bacon with some Italian seasoning… life doesn’t get better than that (I trimmed most of the fat from the bacon, and only allow myself bacon 2x a month… it’s my favorite food GROUP).
Dinner: Chicken breast stir fried with onions and garlic stems
Snack: 2 egg omelet with 2 TBS bran and diced onions

Water: 3 liters
Exercise:
Walk to work 1 mile/1.5 kms
Walk home from work 1 mile/1.5 kms
Walk to 35mm for 2 cafe latte’s with skim milk: 1.61 miles/2.6 km
Walk home from cafe the scenic route along canal: 2.6 miles/4.18 km
C25K run: 2.14 miles/3.44 km
**I think I got my exercise in on Saturday 😀

Sunday food:
Breakfast: 3 oz of steak and 2 eggs (I ate instead of blogging, once the patient called!)
Lunch: 2 tea eggs
Very late dinner: Chicken leg and 2 tea eggs (patient’s hubby got for me)… Spicy!
Snack at 11 p.m.: 2% Greek yogurt… My food order came from Shanghai and they didn’t have fat free in stock, so sent 2%… in all actuality, the 2% has less carbs than the fat free… I’ll sacrifice!

Water: 1.5 liters
Exercise:
Walk to work: 1 mile/1.5 kms
Supporting a woman in labor for 10 hours (walking her, massaging her, supporting her… it’s work!)
Ran with 2 year old in arms about 50 yards to hail taxi at 9 p.m., with my backpack and his overnight bag on my back!!! I’d say this was more exercise than running a 5K … lol

Lovely baby girl born at 535 p.m., all happy and well and then Soren’s mommy came in with some tummy trouble and I took him home with me for a few hours so she could be treated and I could have fun! We played games on the iPad and read… as stated before, he’s a pretty cool 2 year old to hang with!
Here he is playing Animal Safari, you can see Bert and Barbie the bunny snuggling behind him…

So… that was my 2 days… going in an hour late this morning since I worked all day and then some on my day off and I have a bit of a headache 😦 The weather is getting better, for the most part… it is raining out there this morning, but in the last 7 days we’ve had 4 sunshiny days, and that makes me a wee bit happier!

Ciao!

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
~ Maria Robinson

How Did That Happen??

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Tonight, while on Facebook a pic popped up on my friend Michele’s Timeline… it was a pic with both of us in it, taken by our friend Bernadette… This was Sunday, August 7, 2011, 13 days before I started the Dukan Diet… I will never, ever look like this again… How the hell did I get that big?? That’s a rhetorical question, by the way… I was lacing on my running shoes when I saw the picture and it gave me even more incentive to run tonight!!! Here it is…

Ugh!

And me mountain hiking last Sunday, March 11, 2012… 7 months later… yeah, I like this ME much better!

Much Better 🙂

What’s your incentive to stay on your program???

Dukan – Day 210 – 30 weeks and still losing!

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Friday was a PP day 🙂

Daily weight loss: 0.2 lb/0.10 kg
Total weight loss: 76.8 lb/34.91 kg

An up and down week weight wise, but had a net .6 kg loss, so I’m happy with that! I had several meals out entertaining guests of the hospital and I’m sure that contributed because I can’t control that like I can the food I make.

I can’t believe it’s been 30 weeks since I embarked on this journey. Along the way I’ve lost weight equivalent to:
1 baby llama
The average Irish Setter
The average 11 year old
6 American Bald Eagles
245 iPhones
6825 US nickels
720,000 million human sperm
4800 cups of popcorn

I think that’s pretty impressive 🙂

Additionally I have gained a lot of friends through other blogs. Wow what a support group I have! And I am following a few dozen blogs. And read each and every one of them.

My family (especially my amazing Mom) and my friends have helped me get this far by cheering me on and keeping me accountable.

So I keep plugging on… To reach my True Weight established by Dr. Dukan I only have
13.2 lbs/6.0 kgs to go. I’m going for 10 pounds less than that.

AND… I signed up to run my first 5K while home on vacation in June. I was nauseous for the hour after I clicked the “Send” button on the registration! Memories of finishing last in swim competitions fill my head, but memories of my mom and dad encouraging me and telling me how awesome I did push it back… A little. The 5K is in Ocala, near my Mom! So I’m hoping she’ll be there cheering for me at the end 🙂

Friday Food:
Breakfast: 2 tea eggs, 1 coffee
Lunch: 2 tea eggs, 3 slices ham
Dinner: Grilled chicken with lime juice squeezed on and cracked black pepper and onions and garlic stems
Snack: A 2 egg omelet with 2 TBS bran, garlic powder and 1/2 diced garlic stem… Yum

Friday Exercise: Walk to work 1 mile/1.5 km
Walk home from work, same, same
Run: 2.5 km run, 3 min walk, 1.5 km run, 25 min walk… Felt great 🙂

Ciao!

I thought Friday was St Patty’s Day and was so excited to put on the green… LOL. Didn’t realize it was only the 16th… 😀 I love this top! And Happy St Patty’s Day!

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Dukan – Day 208

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Wednesday was a PV day.

Daily weight loss: Stay the same
Total weight loss: 76.1 lb/34.61 kg

Hmmmmm, tap foot… I guess no gain is better than nothing, LOL. Two nights dining out might be the reason and the fact I still haven’t, well you know 🙂

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: 2 tea eggs and 3 slices of ham
Dinner: Steak fajita w/onions and pepper and a TBS of guacamole & beef soup with carrots and zucchini in clear broth

Water: 2.3 liters
Additional fluids: 2 cups of coffee
Exercise:
Morning- 1 mile/1.5 km walk to work
Evening- 2.1 mile/3.2 km to dinner at Panchos
After dinner- 1.2 mile/1.7 km walk home
And then- 2.31 mile/3.7 km run in the neighborhood

I think I’m getting enough exercise 😀

I floated a napkin across the top to try to sop up some of the fat... it was still yummy!

Dukan – Day 207 – Scales up!

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Tuesday was a PV day.

Daily weight GAIN: 0.9 lb/0.40 kg
Total weight LOSS: 76.1 lb/34.61 kg

Well, after 4 days of a half pound weight loss each day, I’m up nearly a pound today. Not worried, it happens, but I did begin to question my own caloric intake and went to fatsecret.com and put in my food intake for Monday and it was quite low (less than 900 Kcal)… so I think I need to take my own advise and eat a little bit more!

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs, coffee, 500mL water
Lunch: 2 tea eggs, 700mL water
Snack: 1 tea egg, 500mL water
Dinner: Chinese restaurant… steamed fish w/ garlic and ginger, broccoli and a salad, that had yummy sesame oil dressing on it (and probably shouldn’t have had!) And a Coke Zero, my first in weeks!

No yogurt or bran in on Tuesday, although I probably could have used it, given I haven’t had a good poo in a few days 🙂 Not feeling constipated, at all, but a little “full” feeling.

Had a great walk/run, 3.21 miles, average 14:33 pace per mile, found out that I’m probably running a little too fast and need to learn to pace myself… as this may be the reason I’m getting winded so easily… will try that tonight.

I got a lot done at work today, created a comprehensive audit of the entire hospital system that will be done twice monthly and still waiting on 2 little babies to come earthside… Here babies, babies!!!

Ciao!

Doing It Your Way

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Every day, even here in China, I have at least one person tell me I’ve lost enough weight. Why is it that people can’t just let you be in regard to weight loss? I still have 12 pounds to be at Dr. Dukan’s very generous “True Weight” for me of 165 and 22 pounds to be at the 155 I set for myself.

My other favorite is people who tell me I shouldn’t be running… I’m going to tear up my knees… I got news for ya peeps… I’ve had 2 surgeries on the left and one on the right… I’ve got 2 screws in the upper part of my right tibia… I saw the orthopedist in January while I was home and he said my knees looked better than before! And encouraged me to keep running… he even said HE COULDN’T BELIEVE he was saying that… So I’m going to keep running, because it makes me feel good! 🙂

I feel so lucky to have the support from my family, friends and fellow bloggers. But there are a few people out there that have private messaged me (you know who you are…LOL) to tell me that enough’s enough. What the hell?

Do you have people in your life that try to derail you from accomplishing goals? Do you find that these are typically people that don’t achieve their goals and therefore aren’t happy to see others in their lives succeed?

Onward I go! Ciao!

Dukan – Another milestone Bites the Dust

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Wednesday was a PV day…

Daily Weight Loss: 0.9 lb/0.44 kg
Total Weight Loss: 75.3 POUNDS! 34.21 KG

OH MY GOD! I screamed out loud on the scale… I got on, I got off, I got back on, I got off, I got BACK on and it said the same thing… I rushed out to my trusty weight loss spreadsheet created by Charlotte and put it in and there it was 75 pounds… GONE 😀

I am also under 180 pounds for the first time since 1988 AND I put on a pair of Size 12 pants that I have been holding off trying on… and they SLID RIGHT ON! I’m so happy I have no other words… glad I told you guys what I ate by posting recipes 🙂 I will say that it has washed the raining for a month blues away… I hope that lasts! So happy, I’m going to run extra tonight!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Fall seven times, stand up eight. ~Japanese Proverb I’m standing up for good!

Vivien took some shots of me and my happiness today 🙂