Dukan – Day 198 – Back in Hangzhou

Posted on March 5, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Monday was a PV day.

Daily weight loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total weight loss: 74 lb/33.61 kg

I have no idea how I lost weight while out of town in Taizhou. Having eaten pork intestines, pickled octopus and various and assorted other things… I was careful not to eat anything in gravy, and I even had half a piece of fruit that was like an apple and pear together… but the scale was kind to me… thank you scale!

Whirlwind couple of days on a trip that was a surprise… holding on to the fact that I caught 2 babies keep my spirits up. Coming back yesterday was challenging, I’m not sure which event launched me into a “Michael Douglas in Falling Down” mode, but I felt like a volcano ready to erupt… was it the guy hocking loogies in the restaurant? (everyone here hocks up loogies openly… loud and proud, and spits them on the floor, wherever they might be… men, women, children) or was it the fact that my employer forgot to pick me up at the train station and I had to get in a 1+ hour que to get a taxi… Or was it the lady in said taxi que that did the Haitian nose blow onto my FRIGGIN hiking boot… my reaction parted the crowd like the Red Sea and we moved right up to the front of the line 😀 Or, it could have been the fact that I couldn’t get a taxi to go to a friends house because they do shift change at 5 p.m. and it was GOD FORBID 4 p.m…. her flat is a 15 min. taxi ride… SO I WALKED THE 3.5 MILES… or it could have been witnessing, for the 1000th time, a kid who’s grandmother is hovering her over the sidewalk while she craps, then wipes her and leaves the tissue on the sidewalk… Yeah… FALLING DOWN… argh!
I also walked the 3.5 miles back to my flat… so I think I got my exercise in for the day!

So the sun is TRYING to peak through the pollution, and it’s time to walk to work and confront them about the fact that they sent me on a 2 night trip, with no extra clothes or panties AND forgot to pick me up at the train station… should be a fun mornin’ 😀

Ciao!

Dukan – Day 196 – To Shanghai For Boxes

Posted on March 3, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Friday was a PP Day.

Daily weight loss: 0.2 lb/0.10 kg
Total weight loss: 73.5 lb/33.41 kg

So I’m sitting on a train writing this. Taking an impromptu (at least I wasn’t aware) trip to Taizhou to be the guest speaker, presenter and media darling for the opening of their water birth room. This is what Kitty is doing…

Dukan – Day 195 – Cruisin’ Along

Posted on March 2, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Today was a PV day.

Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total Weight Loss: 73.3 lbs/33.31 kgs

Just cruising along here. Little tiny bits at a time. When I’m out running I imagine it all flying off of me and getting fitter and healthier.

It’s been a rough week, but I’ve hung in there. Usually when I hit a rough patch I eat things that aren’t good for me. That was the old Sandi… the pre-August 20th Sandi… I am so proud that I haven’t back slid into the bottomless pit of feeding my rough patches. To be honest, it feels good not to do it!

Overheard, by me, while running last night… “You’ve got this girl”… “Woo Hoo, that’s 5 minutes!”… “You WILL be fit and healthy”… “Yes, Yes, Yes… I think this is the last patch of run for the night”… “oh wait, nope… this one is… ugh”… “Put on your big girl panties and get on with it”… and finally, “Yes… I DID IT!” When the C25K lady tells me “1 minute to go” I rejoice and last night shed a few tears, during the cool down… last night I was pounding it out in the pouring rain in my waterproof jacket and a crocheted hat that Sandy O’Connor Huntley made me and loved that I was soaking wet. Running in the rain is cathartic… as I passed the gym in my complex for the 3rd time and the people were in the heated room on treadmills I thought, “girl, they ain’t got nothin’ on you”… LOL A bit cheeky I am these days.
So awesome workout… I preceded my run last night with a 20 minute yoga routine on the wii and 20 minutes of balance exercise, then a kick ass game of wii bowling… I scored a 172 🙂

Breakfast: 2 Tea Eggs (what else would I have??)
Lunch: 3 ham slices and a tea egg
Dinner: Pollo Saltado… damn was THAT good… I’ll do a recipe blog while on the train tomorrow night… don’t ask… part of my rough week b.s.
Snack: Didn’t get my yogurt in… it was too late when I realized it and I wasn’t hungry
Water: 2.6 liters… woot!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: “Put on your big girl panties” ~ First heard by me years ago by my midwife friend Deb Wage of Nashville.

Dukan – Day 194 – Well, now, that’s better!

Posted on February 29, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Wednesday was a PV day.

Daily weight loss: 0.9 lb/0.44 kg
Total weight loss: 72.8 lb/33.11 kg

Well, that has me feeling a little bit better! I was beginning to think that I was going to be in a plateau for a week or two. Phew!

For those following the visa saga… it looks like I’ve been granted a 30 day extension. I will get final word next Wednesday, and that’s good enough to get my 2 ladies to their due dates. Everyone is very relieved and a little less stressed 🙂

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs, coffee, lots of water
Lunch: 3 slices of ham and a tea egg, lots more water
Dinner: Stir fry steak chunks with zucchini and onion
Snack: FF (Fat Free) Greek yogurt with flax seed meal and splenda

I did 30 minutes of yoga and 25 minutes of bowling, both on the wii. It was pouring down rain last night and I didn’t want to get soaked while running… hopefully it’ll be drier tonight!

Dinner recipe:
Sauteed 1/2 a red onion and 1/2 a zucchini in 1 tsp sesame oil (ran out of olive oil 3 days ago, none to be found in the little shops, will get some on my trip to Shanghai tomorrow). I added Italian seasoning, ground garlic and cumin. I sauteed for 2 minutes.

Sautee onions and zucchini for 2 mins. in 1 tsp of oil

I then placed those to the side and stir fried steak chunks for 5 minutes, about 2 1/2 minutes each side. I didn’t add any more oil, I did shake on a little Italian seasoning.

I then tossed the veggies back in, simmered together for 2 minutes and done!

Fast, simple, tasty and Dukan Friendly!

Total time to prepare: less than 15 minutes!

I hope you all are having a good Leap Day!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement ~ Brian Tracy

Final word: RIP Davy Jones… you were the silly Monkee 😀

You Deserve Love

Posted on February 28, 2012 by flamidwyfe

So, I’ve had a crap day at work… LOL. I know, not my usual optimism, but I really have had a crap day at work. It has to do with yesterday’s post in regard to being “someone else’s world”. The good news is tomorrow I see if I can get an extension on my visa, so it’s not an issue of going out of town.

So, what am I doing this evening? I’ve had a lovely dinner, a cup of tea and I have all of the lights out and the candles burning all over my flat. I have love songs on… the last, one of my favorites; Joe Cocker singing just to me, “You Are So Beautiful”. And I’m loving it. And loving MYSELF and remembering that I deserve My love and attention 🙂 I’ll do this until 8:00 p.m., then I’m going to love myself even more by going out and running!

The Sunshine Award

Posted on February 27, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Words cannot even express how humble I feel by being nominated for the Sunshine Award by Olive. Olive is a brilliant writer and can her blog can be found here http://olivetwist.wordpress.com. I found her site recently and work myself through a couple of posts an evening. Her writing is from the heart and I love that!

As part of accepting the nomination I am required to post the answers to the following questions 🙂

Favorite colors: Purple and Green (ironically those are also Olive’s favorite colors!!)

Favorite Animal: Cat

Favorite Number: 13

Favorite Non-Alcoholic Beverage: Skinny Cafe Latte

Prefer Facebook or Twitter? FACEBOOK

My passion: Lowering infant and maternal mortality through education

Prefer getting or giving presents: GIVING

Favorite Pattern: Circles

Favorite Day of the Week: Pajama Day 😀

Favorite flower: Gerbera Daisy

And now the hard part… choosing 10 bloggers to pass this on to. Oh My! I read SO many amazing blogs! This is a real tough one for me… I didn’t like to have to pick teams on dodge ball!

http://wwangel.wordpress.com/ Mel keeps me motivated to get out and run.. and she has an adorable dog to boot!

http://charlottesdukandiet.com/ Charlotte is the first Dukan blog I followed… I love reading her quippy posts and her honesty about struggling to stay on this program!

http://dukandiet-journey.blogspot.com/ Moonday’s Philosophy is permanently attached to my fridge!

http://soniadukandiet.blogspot.com/ Sonia has done an amazing job on the Dukan diet!

http://dukandietress.blogspot.com/ I also follow this amazing blogger who has great advise about Dukan and her success!

http://thechunkygoddess.com
Cyn tells it like it is… I’m new to her blog, but loving it! She says what we’d all like to say, but are afraid to say it… LOL

http://lipomachia.wordpress.com
She has some fabulous recipe ideas on her site… her Mega-Power omelet is amazing!

http://apetcher.wordpress.com/ Have Bag, Will Travel
Lots of great travel writing and PICTURES here!! I have just started to enjoy this blog and I’m glad I stumbled upon it!

http://thesandytongue.wordpress.com – Warning, some may find his stuff offensive… I find it raw, funny and he speaks his truth!

http://hapacouple.blogspot.com/ And although they haven’t posted in a couple of weeks, this blog has some of the best Dukan friendly recipes on it. The pictures, descriptions and instructions make cooking delicious Dukan foods easy!

Olive… again, thanks!

Today… Give Up

Posted on February 26, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Let Today Be

I referred to myself today as still being in the “fat girl” mindset. Even though I see this newly emerging woman in the mirror, I still have the mentality of the fat girl I used to be. I put on a T-shirt this morning and questioned if it was too form fitting. After turning around in the mirror a few times I realized I don’t have the fat hanging over the sides of my bra anymore, and as my friend Velina said, my back has really thinned out! When the heck did that happen?

One of my favorite readers talked yesterday about being self conscious wearing clothes that “fit”… I think this is part of that mentality that we hold on to. If we wear looser clothing, no one will notice how fat we’ve become. I am wearing clothes that fit and I know when there has been a slight change in my weight, based on how they fit. It makes sense to wear clothes that not only “fit”, but look and feel good to wear.

I vow that today I give up who I’ve been! And love who I’m becoming ♥

Dukan – Day 190 – Awesome evening walk

Posted on February 26, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Saturday was a PP day.

Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total Weight Loss: 71.7 lb/32.61 kg

Truly… the water makes all the difference in the world! I got in 2.5 liters of the stuff and I lost. Went into work 90 minutes later than usual, which was nice because I got a couple of loads of laundry done and the linens changed on my bed… left the house feeling as if it was fresher!

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs and 500 mL water.
Lunch: 2 tea eggs and 3 thin slices of ham and 500 mL water.
Snack: 1 tea egg (listen… I had my cholesterol checked and it’s lower than ever!!! LOL) and by the time it was 4 p.m. I had completed another 700+ mL water.

After work, I walked 2.6 kms (1.5 miles) to the MySweet cafe for coffee with Velina. I had 2. Which amped me up BIG TIME. On the way home I speed walked, with the Black Eyed Peas “I’ve Gotta Feelin'” blasting over and over and over in my head set for 61 minutes. I did just under 5 kms (according to my pedometer it was 3.03 miles). Not bad for a walk. The pedo says I averaged just over 3 miles per hour. I didn’t slow down for a second, and my pulse rate was 132 when I arrived home…. It felt great!

Dinner: Curried pork stir fry with onions and 300 mL water.
Snack: FF Greek yogurt with bran and splenda and a cup of tea.

Lovely day, I feel accomplished and happy. I hope everyone has a fab weekend! I’m off on Sunday… YAY!

Ciao!

Quote of the Day: Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
~ Dalai Lama
Take Action!!! ~ Sandi B.

I Make Small Steps

Posted on February 25, 2012 by flamidwyfe

“I make small steps daily toward the vision for my life. You may not notice the change now, but over time it will be undeniable” ~ Marc Payan

April 2011 AND December 2011

When you start out dieting, especially when you’ve dealt with obesity for most of your adult life, you don’t envision yourself at your goal weight, or close to your goal weight. I started out in August because of a lunch meeting with a former classmate and a picture of me at my 30th class reunion, from behind. Not a glimpse you get very often. I had pretty much “accepted” myself, as is. I could not have been more wrong. A series of events occurred while I was home in August that showed me how wrong it was to “accept” me for who I was… who I had become was obese, sluggish, out of breath and not healthy. My lunch meeting with John Geraghty was an eye opener. He set me straight on the fact that it’s not OK to accept yourself as unhealthy. THANK YOU, JOHN!!! What I loved about our meeting is that John LISTENS, and he listened to me and let me reason myself into reality. I took notes, I bought the books he recommended and I took what he told me to heart and brain.
Then the reunion and the picture from behind… of my BIG behind. And then THE BOOK. My friend Lucy encouraged me to buy the Dukan Diet book in Abu Dhabi, and I did, and I threw it in my luggage and IGNORED it for my entire time at home. Then I saw the picture of my big behind and put the book in my carry on. I read the book on the flight from Miami to London EVERY.SINGLE.WORD. And then I read it AGAIN on the flight from London to Abu Dhabi… it was like a light bulb went off!
Then I started doubting myself… was I setting myself up for failure? Then my brain kicked in and said, “um yeah… HEART FAILURE!”… So I did it… starting August 20, 2011… and took small steps… one step at a time, one day at a time… and it took a while to notice the changes… but now…
THEY ARE UNDENIABLE 🙂

Dukan – Day 2 Attack Phase

Posted on August 23, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Well I found out a lot about myself these past 2 days… I really don’t like plain yogurt, I really, really don’t like non-fat plain yogurt, fromage frais tastes the same as non-fat plain yogurt, but… I can eat it if it means losing 7 pounds in 4 days!!!

Today’s menu included eggs, more eggs and even more eggs… LOL. It also included a oat bran pancake (Dukan gallette), Luc Lac Beef… which after marinating all night in garlic, fresh ginger, soy sauce and oyster sauce was DELISH! I had non-fat yogurt mixed in with the juices from the marinade and TONS of water.

Tonight I had 2 small sirloin steaks, stir fried in a teeny amt of vegetable oil and with onions and garlic thrown in at the last minute… I am STUFFED!

One thing I have noticed is that I am not having any upper abdominal bloating and discomfort since I am not consuming any gluten products. So, even though I’m stuffed, I’m not uncomfortable.

I consumed more than 1.5 liters of water today in addition to 2 diet cokes, a cup of coffee and a cup of Earl Gray tea. I can’t believe I’m actually drinking as much water as I am! It’s been tough for me to adhere to drinking water rules in the past, the result is hourly trips to the bathroom, but I realize this means I’m flushing bad stuff out!

So that’s the end of Day 2 of the Attack Phase of the Dukan program. I’m feeling great! Now I’m off for a nice 20 minute walk…