Blogger Awards – Part 2

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

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 Recipe – Citrus Pork & Onions

Well, I find myself with another 1/2 day of work… this is because I worked all day yesterday because of a birth and they owe me 😀

Anyhoo, found myself at home deciding lunch should be more fun than 2 tea eggs and some ham slices, so this is what I whipped together. I’m eating it while I type and it is yummy!!

Citrus Pork & Onions

4 oz. of lean pork, cubed
1/2 large red onion, cut in big chunks
1 TBS olive oil
1 lime
1 tsp garlic powder (I have a grinder… see pic)
1 tsp Trader Joes Lemon Pepper seasoning
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Prep: Put garlic powder and lemon pepper seasoning in a small dish, by doing this you don’t get too much moisture on your grinders and end up with grinders that don’t work… a lot less frustrating! Also, roll your lime before you cut it between your palm and the counter top… you will get more juice!

Put olive oil in pan or wok and heat to medium/high. Place pork cubes in and place lid on for 2 minutes. Sprinkle half of the seasonings on the meat and replace lid for 1 minute.
Place your onion chunks in with the meat and add the rest of the seasonings.
Squeeze the juice of the lime onto the meat and onions and give it a stir.
Throw on the mustard, give it a stir, replace lid for 2 minutes.
Plate up!
Oh my is it good… the sauce at the bottom of the bowl is yummy!
Enjoy!

My Ingredients:

Yum!

Nutrition Facts… I put this recipe in at FatSecret.com and this it what it came up with:
Calories – 321 Protein – 27.05g Fat – 16.37g Carbs – 16.68g (3.2 dietary fiber)

Enjoy!

Dukan – Days 211 & 212 – Whooshing

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??

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!

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!

20120317-170752.jpg

Dukan – Yummiest Pork – And a Day Trip

Thursday was a PP day 😀

Daily weight loss: 0.4 lb/0.22 kg
Total weight loss: 76.6 lb/34.81 kg

Went in to work for an hour before embarking on a lovely day trip… left home at 0730 and didn’t get home until after 11 p.m…. late for me, but worth it!

My amazing driver Jerry showed up promptly (as usual) at 0900 to take me, Dana & Jenni (Steve’s family) and Tracy (Steve’s assistant) for our day trip. First stop the Taoguang Temple near West Lake in Hangzhou. We had a steady rain fall to deal with (all day) but I had on my water-proof hiking boots from Chaco and a rain jacket.

Best hiking boots ever!

Dana & Jenni

The first of many Buddhas we saw.

After spending about an hour exploring the temple and lighting incense and praying for the safe journey earthside for my two babies that I am waiting for, we headed over to Tea Mountain. This is an area on the north side of Hangzhou where the local green tea is grown. I only got one picture because it was raining too hard to get out of the car 😦

Tea leaves in the mist.

From there we took a 1.5 hour drive north to the town of WuZhen. It is known as the “Venice of China”. The homes are on the water, they use Chinese gondolas for transportation and it really was quite quaint. The BEST thing about visiting here was I had the YUMMIEST PORK EVER in this little village!! OMG was it to die for. The pork is wrapped in lotus leaves and tied up and then steamed in a soy sauce that is infused with Star Anise, Cardamon and Cloves. I can’t even begin to tell you how yummy this dish was!!! There was a lot of meat and I left most of the fat… I have to admit I ate two pieces, lol, soaked in that amazing sauce… nom, nom, nom!!!

Yummiest Pork Ever!

We also had Chrysanthemum Tea… hot water with little chrysanthemum buds in it… it’s quite tasty.

Chrysanthemum Tea

There were 4 or 5 museums and active manufacturing in WuZhen… the wood carving museum, the bed museum and the rice wine distillery were just 3 of the places we popped into.

Carved into a piece of petrified wood.

Clay vats for wine distilling.

Working with silk...

Soaked to the bones in the Bed museum.

Not sure what the squeezer was... but the sign is over massive bags of rice... I love the signs I find all over the world!

I also love doors!

Cabbage Truck 🙂

So that was the end of our day trip… I then had the absolute pleasure to go hang out with my 2 year old buddy, Soren. His mommy is 4 days past her due date and was achin’ for some alone time with her hubby, so they went out to dinner and I hung with the love bug. He’s a very cool 2 year old.

First, he had me sit on his little Big Wheel and pushed me around… LOL

Getting pushed around by a munchkin!

We then played with cars and trucks, read 4 books and sang Baby Beluga 3 times… I recorded it and I’m hoping the upload works 🙂 Oooops, nevermind… need a “space upgrade” to do that 😦 It was cute though!
Here’s another pic of the little man…

Long, exhausting but fun day!!! Now I’m off for a run!

Ciao!

Repost from Hapa Couple – Chicken with Olives

Hapa Couple is one of my favorite sites and she had this recipe on their blog today. Please visit their site for more amazing Dukan meal ideas AND the gorgeous pictures that they take of their recipes!
This recipe is NOT Attack or Cruise friendly… but definitely ideal for Consolidation or Stabilization.
To MAKE this Cruise friendly you can make this zucchini “pasta”… Which I have made and it is YUMMY!!! And substitute the white wine for low-sodium chicken broth… going to TOTALLY make this on the weekend!!!

Dukan Chicken with Olives

Chicken with Olives
We loved this recipe. It reminded us of a southwestern inspired pasta. (BTW, we love Flamidwyfe’s blog and noticed she like a lot of other food bloggers post pics of their dishes during various cooking stages…so when possible, we will try to do the same!)

It was another busy weekend, but we were able to try two new recipes from two of our new food blog finds! Our uncle is coming to town and he’s staying with us so we spent a good part of Sunday prepping his room and doing some spring cleaning.

We chose these recipes because a storm system which brought chilly weather, amazing lightning displays, a lot of rain (as in some areas were flooded and received over 30 inches of rain within a matter of a few days) and even marble sized hail…we wanted something warm and “comfort foodish”.

This first recipe by the Pioneer Woman went well with whole wheat linguine but would also go well with brown rice, quinoa or by itself! We definitely had to Dukan this recipe as the Pioneer Woman cooks with a butter, etc.

Onions, bell peppers and garlic cooking
RECIPE:
Serves 4-6
Prep Time: 15 minutes (or more if you’re removing a lot of fat from your chicken)
Cook Time: 1 1/2 hours (most of the time is baking time)

1-2 T. olive oil or non-stick spray
6 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, fat removed (if you’re feeding big eaters, 8 pieces would be better)
1 medium red onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced (recipe calls for large pieces, but the male half doesn’t like them in large pieces)
1 – 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, juices squeezed out and minced (recipe says chopped, but again, the male half won’t eat tomatoes like that)
1 c. dry white wine (or low sodium chicken broth)
kosher salt and pepper
1/4 c. non-fat half and half with up to 1 T. cornstarch mixed in (depending on how thick you like your sauce – we used 1 t. since we didn’t want it too thick)
1 c. whole green olives (stuffed)
12 oz. cooked whole wheat linguine, cooked al dente

Tossing chicken with pasta
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. We don’t own an oven proof skillet, so we made ours in our non-stick pan, then transfered the food to a square pan for baking. Heat 1 T. oil in pan over medium high heat. Add chicken and brown on both sides. Transfer chicken to your baking pan. Add more olive oil to the pan if needed, reduce heat to medium and add bell peppers, onions and garlic. Cook for a couple minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour in wine and stir. Pour sauce over chicken, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove pan from oven, remove foil, add olives and half-and-half mix. Shake pan gently to mix, cover and bake for another 15 minutes. In the meantime, cook your pasta. We tossed the chicken sauce with the pasta before serving.

This could be adjusted to fit into Cruise if you use the chicken broth and no pasta.

Enjoy…we sure did!

Dukan – Day 208

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!