Dukan – Day 188 – You’re Giving Two Speeches

Posted on February 23, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Today was a PP day.

Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg (4th day in a row that I’ve had 0.4 lb loss, strange!)
Total Weight Loss: 72.2 lb/32.81 kg

So off to work I go this morning… no confrontation at the tea egg line, this is a good thing for me and you can see the relief on the lovely, smiling faces of the tea egg ladies 😀

After morning rounds I am told that I’m going to help with bathing babies as they are short of staff (for new comers, I’m the Quality Manager for a maternity hospital in China, helping them improve to international standards and I’m a midwife by trade, not practicing here (or at least that’s what it’s suppose to be… LOL). Anyway, bathed a lovely baby boy while the marketing department snatched dozens and dozens of pictures of him for the parents. He also had a swim in the tank, settled when I sang him The Rose (my go to song to make babies stop crying) and then I gave him a lovely massage. Taking my time so I’d only have to care for one bambino!

After that, Kitty (my personal assistant) and I went back to our office and she comes into my inner office with a 4 page document to show me which events next month I have to attend and which ones I’m speaking at. Speaking at?? “Yes, she says, You’re giving two speeches”… “What do they have to be about”, I ask. And she replies, “Oh, don’t worry, they will make for you”… Lovely. So someone will write my speeches in Mandarin and then Kitty with translate them into English for me, then I will read them out loud in English and Kitty will translate verbally to the audience in Mandarin. I love this place. I am their marketing doll and I really do enjoy it! I have to do very little, but show up, look pretty, speak and smile. I imagine this is kind of like being a beauty queen 🙂 Kitty has informed me that this is all in honor of our hospital being open for 1 year and we will be celebrating from March 3 – April 4th… The Chinese know how to party it up!

Lunch at my desk, 2 tea eggs and 3 slices of ham.
Dinner… funny thing, I forgot to take meat out of the freezer, something I rarely do, and ended up stopping at the street vendor on the way into my apartment complex. She sells what looks like chickens and I thought I’d get one, sans the head (they serve it with the head here), and have that for dinner. She explains that they are free range ducks, this is why they are smaller than what I’d be used to from the U.S.. Well, ducks and Dukan don’t go together because of the fat content, but I need to eat so I buy one. She expertly shaved the meat off the bone and presented it to me in 2 little containers. It.Was.Yummy!!! Really yummy! But my tummy felt heavy for about an hour after I ate.

I went for a run, did 35 minutes and 17 seconds in the pouring rain, but I’m really starting to enjoy it. Kept up my 7 mins. run/2 mins. walk ratio and it seemed easier this time around.

Yogurt with bran and splenda for snack and off to bed… trip to Shanghai on Friday!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: “Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness” -Edward Stanley

Dukan – Day 178 – At least it’s warming up!

Posted on February 13, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Today was a PP day (Pure Protein).

Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total Weight Loss: 67.1 lb/30.51 kg

Woke up in a bit of a funk, but happy to see that the temp was actually over 40 degrees!!! Yay! After the walk to work and handover, I had 2 tea eggs for breakfast. I also drank nearly 1000mL of water with grapefruit Crystal Light in it. I’m really enjoying having the flavored water. I find I can drink down half the 1.5 Liter bottle and refill with water and it’s still tasty!

Meeting with the CEO mid-morning and then a walk to the halal restaurant for lunch. Beef slices with cilantro and garlic stems with chili pepper… phew they were hot!

Afternoon filled with writing policies and PowerPoints and then on my walk home I decided to walk to the mall to pick up a few items at the grocery store. I was in the elevator, having an OVERWHELMING urge to pop into the PIZZA HUT for a pizza… seriously, this is the FIRST time I’ve craved carbs in nearly 6 months!!!! when my iPhone rings and it’s Velina and she’s inviting me to dinner at the Mexican restaurant… divine intervention, for sure! So I walked the further 1.3 miles down to the restaurant to meet them… I had Beef fajitas with extra onions and without the fajitas… crisis diverted. I know it’s about wanting comfort food, and DAMMIT I will not fall into that trap! I’ve been gluten free since August 20th and plan on staying that way 😀

Power walk back jamming to lots of different tunes, mood lifted, feeling a bit better, shower and facebook and bed… Things are looking up 🙂

Ciao!

Quote of the Day: A photo quote…

Dukan – Day 175 – Back in the Swing of Things

Posted on February 10, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Friday was a PP day 1 of 4.

Daily Weight Loss: 2.4 lb/1.10 kg (the exact opposite of yesterday!) 🙂
Total Weight Loss: 65.1 lb/29.61 kg

So yesterday I completed Day 1 of 4 Pure Protein Days to kick start me back in to ketosis after a fabulous vacation. I had my first day back at work, and it was a breezy day, I saw snow for the first time in Hangzhou (the snow waited for my return!) and I went to bed, once again before 8 p.m…. UGH!

4 a.m. Small cup of FF yogurt with 1/2 TBS bran, 1 TBS flaxseed meal and splenda.

Early to work given I had been awake since 4 a.m. and had nothing else to do at my flat. Raining hard during the walk, but that just made me walk faster. I stopped at the tea egg vendor and picked up my 5 tea eggs for the day and was so excited I ate one of them while walking in the rain!

Handover and then bathed 2 babies… got to sing “The Rose” to one of them, as this was on the classic piano CD… the babies love my singing, as off tune as it is. Pretty much caught up on emails and planned out my education presentations for the rest of the month, and had my 2nd tea egg around 10. My darling personal assistant, Kitty, returns on Saturday… can’t wait to see her. Vivien and I had a quiet day in the office, and that was nice. At around 830 Vivien starts yelling for me to come out of my office… it’s snowing. Big, fat snowflakes. Nothing stuck, since it was just above freezing, but everyone in the hospital was happy to see it. I have no idea why… I really despise the cold and the snow… LOL Quite the contrast to the weather in Florida this past week.

Lunch at my favorite halal restaurant was sliced beef with cilantro and some garlic stems and a tea egg. Yum!

Slow afternoon… I had a hard time staying awake. Ate another tea egg for some energy and then left work to walk home in the SNOW. The SNOW! As I was walking in the SNOW I kept thinking that I couldn’t believe I was living where it SNOWED. Last year this time I was living in Abu Dhabi, where it’s WARM and SUNNY all the time. It’s quite a difference.

Skype chat and a catch up on emails, dinner was stir-fried pork seasoned with cumin, curry and lemon pepper (quite a nice combo I might add) and garlic stems.

At 745 I was tying up my running shoes and falling asleep while doing it. I thought if I went out for a run it might wake me up… instead, I took my shoes off and went to bed. There is no sense in fighting it.

Ciao!

Quote of the Day: The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
~ Lao Tzu

You have to look real hard, but you can see the fat snowflakes 🙂

Light Snow

Dukan – Day 147 – Packin’ and a WHOOSH!

Posted on January 15, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Saturday was suppose to be a PP day, but the leftover shrooms called to me!

Daily weight loss: 2.0 lbs/0.9 kg!!!
Total weight loss: 64.3 lb/29.21 kg

Wow! That’s all I can say about that! I have no explanation for that whoosh and I’ll be even happier if I stay the same and don’t gain for tomorrow morning’s weigh in. I got off and on the scale 5 times to make sure it was right. Took a battery out, put it back in, put my glasses on and then got back on… Same same.

I slept in until 804!!! Put on my yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt, slapped on my shoes and went straight out into the 42 degree air and did C25K. It was pissing down the rain, so I was cautious. But it felt good and there is no one around because they all leave the city and go to their villages for Chinese New Year. I picked up 2 pretty leaves on my path this morning… One is from the heart tree and the other one looks like a mini pot leaf, not sure what the tree is, but its tiny, too! Then back upstairs for hot coffee and warmed up left overs and a catch up on the computer.

Accomplished a ton of stuff during the day, finished packing, finished my first book of the year, “The Tenth Insight” by James Redfield. Got all my laundry done, ordered and downloaded books to my iPad for reading (going to try out Val McDermid and a detective series that she writes) and had enough time for painting. I’ve had a lot on my mind and painting was a nice distraction. I actually painted two today!

Lunch was yogurt with a tea egg. And late in the afternoon, so at dinner time I wasn’t really hungry and had a bit of dodgy tummy and a lingering headache. Made myself eat a quick stir fry of onions, mushrooms and cut up tea eggs with no seasoning and then crawled on the couch feeling even yuckier 😦 Cheered up by a couple of nice long chats with my girlies. To bed with some Tylenol on board, satisfied with all I got done… Still not sure why I whooshed 🙂

Ciao!

Quote of the day: If you can’t make it better, you can laugh at it ~ The divine Erma Bombeck
I adored Erma Bombeck!

Dukan – Day 143 – Pajama Day

Posted on January 11, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Tuesday was suppose to be a PV day, but ended up being a PP day.

Daily weight loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total weight loss: 61.4 lb/27.91 kg

What a fun day off. I switched to a day off because I was suppose to make a run to Shanghai for a friend, but that got cancelled and I slept in!! To 708 a.m.! Slapped on my running shoes, pulled on my wool coat OVER my jammies and went out and did C25K. I knew if I didn’t get my butt out the door first thing, it wasn’t going to happen! When I was done I grabbed my daily allotment of water from the little shop and had a pajama day 😀

Even though I schlepped around in my PJ’s the entire day, it was pretty busy. I checked emails and responded, read all the blogs I follow and commented, did 2 loads of laundry, finished all the packing I could do for my trip next week, cooked more tea eggs and wrote my blog. I chatted with a few people on Skype and had a TWO HOUR IM chat with my wonderful daughter, Jenni. I have no idea when she became smarter than me! Her sage advise was amazing and her love felt across the world, thanks my child… You’re pretty awesome 🙂

I also watched The Hangover. The first one. Oh my… I laughed so hard my sides hurt! I love stupid comedy, and looking at Bradley Cooper ain’t so bad either 😉 The pictures at the end were the best, I’m glad I watched this at home where I could laugh with abandon and not have to worry about stuffy people in the theatre!

Breakfast: Left over pork chunks and onions from last night… Even yummier in the morning reheated! 500mL water and a coffee.
Snack: Cup of milk tea (yellow label tea with skim milk and Splenda)
Lunch: I took a can of tuna, finely chopped a small piece of onion, chopped up a tea egg, grated on a tsp of curry and 1.5 Tbs of fat free yogurt and mixed together. Delicious! Thanks wwangel for the reminder that tuna is a yummy Dukan friendly meal! 500mL water, Coke Zero
Snack: Cup of milk tea (Earl Grey with skim and Splenda)
Dinner: Beef chunks sautéed in olive oil with onions, edamame and curry seasoning. I’ve been asked to describe how I cook my dinners, so here goes. Prep & Cooking time tonight 8 minutes! I put 2 Tbs olive oil in my wok and allow it to heat slowly while I chop 1/2 large onion. I like my onions chunky and toss them in the wok. Add some curry powder and sauté for 2 minutes. While that is cooking, I wash my meat (I live in China) and then cut it into bite-sized chunks. Toss that in, toss on some more curry powder, stir well and let simmer for 4 minutes. I then turn the gas up on high for one minute to brown the meat and put in the bowl. Yum! The curry, meat juices and olive oil make a lovely gravy.

I have no veggies in the flat, besides onions… So my PV day ended up being a PP day. I will walk through the fresh market on my way home from work to pick up some veggies.

And lastly… Over 200 people read my blog on Tuesday. The only other time that happened was in August when I was selling my furniture. It was very exciting to track the stats through the day! I also reached 60 followers, meaning that 60 people receive an email whenever I post a blog. I am humbled beyond words. I keep this blog about my diet to track my journey and my main motivation 5 months ago was to hold myself accountable, it is so much more than that now. Thank you 😀

Ciao!

Quote of the day: You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.
– Beverly Sills

Pic of the day: My Curried Beef and Onions…

Dukan – Day 142 – It’s Funday Monday… and a WHOOSH!

Posted on January 10, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Monday was a PP Day.

Daily Weight Loss: 0.9 lb/0.4 kg
Total Weight Loss: 61.0 lb/27.71 kg

I have no idea where the whoosh came from, but woo hoo! 😀 I am 6 pounds less than the goal I set for Jan. 13th! I am very happy with that! I was just reading the blog I linked to earlier in this sentence and had lost 34 pounds at that point, it was Day 64… I couldn’t even fathom having lost 61 pounds. In fact, I’m saying it out loud and having a hard time believing it! This diet really works!

Nice walk to work in the morning… we had a warm up and it was 46 when I left for work! I wore my boots, though I’m not going to be able to wear them much anymore. They are, alas, too big 😦 I am very distraught over this… how do your feet lose weight!?!? These are expensive boots, dammit! I had on my stirrup leggings (no comments!!! they are in fashion here!) and TWO pairs of thick wool hiking socks to prevent the sliding that happens when I wear the boots now and I nearly twisted my ankle. So, I will wear them for looks, but no trekking the mile to and from work in them 😦 Breakfast was 2 tea eggs. I made some of my own and here is how I made them:

Ingredients: 8-10 eggs, 1 tsp. Salt, 3 cups of water, 1 TBS soy sauce, 1 TBS BLACK soy sauce, 1/4 tsp Salt, 2 TBS black tea leaves (you can get this in bulk), 2 pods Star Anise, 1 cinnamon stick.

In a large saucepan I placed the eggs and 1 tsp of Salt. I then covered it with cool tap water and brought to a boil, then turned down and let simmer for 20 minutes. I then put them in a colander and let them drain and cool for 10 minutes. When they are cool I roll them VERY GENTLY across the counter to form little cracks… DO NOT PEEL 🙂

In a large saucepan mix all the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the eggs. Bring that to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 3 hours. You then turn off the heat and add the eggs. Let them steep over night, at least 8 hours. You can reuse the liquid. I put mine in the fridge in a tight sealed bowl and bring back to a boil and let the eggs steep again. I have reused this liquid 3 times, then tossed. Also, you can store the eggs up to 4 days in a tight container as long as you don’t peel them. Mine NEVER last that long, lol, I eat 5 a day.

Tea Eggs Cooking

Tea Eggs finished

The recipe is easy! The eggs are yummy! If you can’t find Black Soy Sauce, you can use 2 TBS of regular soy sauce. The Black Soy Sauce is a bit thicker… nice for sauteing beef and pork in… yum 🙂

Lunch I wandered over to the hospital canteen. They serve some yummy food in there but it’s all laden in gravies and MSG… I had 2 tea eggs and a couple of bites of tofu that was in a spicy chili sauce.

For dinner I sauteed pork chunks seasoned with Trader Joe’s Lemon Pepper seasoning with onions and the last of my garlic stems 😦 I discovered through an expat here that you can actually order groceries on line that are delivered from Shanghai to your door. The delivery charge is 20CNY, which is like $2.60! LOL I was able to get some lovely meat and fat free yogurt!!! I also got some organic milk… My life has changed dramatically with this new found information! Anyway, they were out of garlic stems, but had everything else, so tomorrow I will have to hoof it down to the fresh market for garlic stems. I had so much food, that I only ate 1/2 and boxed up the rest for Tuesday. Being on this diet, your appetite is way less than before. I eat a small bowl of food. Anything more than what is equivalent to the size of my fist, makes my tummy hurt!

Fat free yogurt with Splenda and bran for dessert and a nice finish to the day. I have a few people on my mind today, my friend having shoulder surgery today and my mom having back surgery on Friday… here’s a prayer that the surgeons heal you and you’re both up and active in rapid time 🙂

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Your journey has molded you for your great good, And it was exactly what it needed to be. Don’t think that you’ve lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now… is right on time! – Asha Tyson

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 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!

Danee and Charity... hanging with Dana 🙂

Ciao!

Quote of the day: “If you wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” ~ Toni Morrison

Dukan – Day 115

Posted on December 13, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Tuesday was a PV day.

Daily Weight Loss: -0.7 lb/-0.3 kg
Total Weight Loss: 51.1 lb/23.21 kg

Well… I seem to be stuck in a rut! I’ve been playing with the same 1 pound for a week! This morning I am evaluating what it is that’s going on and I think it’s a combination of a few things… I’m still consuming more coffee and tea than usual (Lucy is visiting and makes me a cup… how can I say no??). And I am not getting in enough water. Otherwise, my food intake has been great, as has my exercise.

The one thing that I really like about the Dukan Diet is that you weigh yourself daily and this gives you the opportunity to reflect on what could be affecting your weight and you can correct it.

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs, coffee
Lunch: Fish and garlic stems, tried to get water, but it had sugar in it 😦
Snack: Coffee
Snack: Earl Gray (when I got home from work)
Dinner: Stir-fried tofu, broccoli, onion and garlic stems.
Snack: Pot of FF Greek Yogurt with Splenda and bran, Earl Gray tea (anyone seeing a pattern here???)

So today I’m going to commit to one cup of coffee this morning and a cup of Early Gray tonight and that’s it… the rest is water… wish me luck 🙂

Ciao!

Quote of the day: Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
Dalai Lama

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…