Friday was a PV day.

Daily weight loss: 0.4 lb/0.2 kg
Total weight loss: 62.3 lb/28.31 kg

Started my day off with a lecture to the staff at work about the importance of putting ID bands on babies… Seems I take it a bit more serious than some people 🙂 I’m thinking a few people were not happy with being called out in front of their peers! I accomplished pissing off the first group of people of the day, i was on a roll!
I had a tea egg at my desk and then headed off with the marketing department and Kitty to a community center about an hour from the hospital. We set up in a multipurpose room and they were playing the movie The Apple of Your Eye. A 2011 teen love story… In Chinese, of course, but early in the movie the kids are reciting Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech in their English class. I thought that was very cool and especially poignant given that his birthday is January 15th. Watched the whole movie, Kitty stunned by my ability to translate what was going on… It was teen angst, not hard to figure it out and it didn’t have the ending I wanted it to have!
Then off for a quick lunch at a local Chinese restaurant.. I had fatty pork and a couple of bites of cabbage, brushing off the rice that you simply aren’t allowed to refuse. I also had a tea egg and 500mL water.
Here’s where I pissed off/freaked out the next set of people 😀 I specifically said several weeks ago that I wasn’t going to do anymore marketing events if the men kept smoking in the van. Smoking is a NATIONAL SPORT here. You aren’t a REAL man unless you smoke. I’ll also interject here that I smoked, like a fiend, for 25 years and I’ve been nicotine free for 6.5 years and I’m one of THOSE ex-smokers 😀 Anyhow, the driver comes to pick us up in the COMPANY van and he’s smoking a cigarette WITH THE WINDOWS UP!! I proceed to scare the crap out of him by open palm banging on the window while simultaneously yelling “PUT THAT *^%#*+% CIGARETTE OUT”!!!!! Kitty of course is yelling at the same pitch and with similar inflection in Chinese… Bless her, she really is the best Personal Assistant/Translator in the world. He freaked out and burned himself trying to get the cigarette out the CLOSED van window, which then made me erupt into an evil laugh like, “Muhahahah, that’s what ya get for smoking in the van”. Needless to say, we rode back with the windows down and it was 42 degrees, did I mention they hate cold air? I think they were trying to make up with me, because they played American rock music most of the way back to the hospital 🙂
Back to the hospital and Vivien and I took a picture together…

Which got me thinking… I wonder if I could do a before and after from when I was in China in May… Couldn’t find a pic of Vivi and I, so had her send me one from her phone and here’s the side by side comparison…

I swear to God I will never, ever, NEVER be that fat girl on the left again… Did I say NEVER!?!? The best compliment I got was from a friend in Abu Dhabi, Caroline, who said she showed the picture to her husband and he said it didn’t look like the same person in the 2 pics! They’ve both been doing the Dukan and are looking great as well…

Took the long way home again and cooked up Curried Tofu and veggies for dinner.

Block of FIRM tofu, cut into bite sized chunks
1 Tbs
3 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 onion chopped
6 whole garlic cloves
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin
1 pinch cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
6 ginormous mushrooms 🙂
A handful of garlic stems (I would have loved this to have been asparagus!)

I marinated the tofu in the olive oil, garlic cloves, curry powder, cumin and cinnamon for an hour. Shaking the container gently every 15 mins. or so.

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I then put a tsp of olive oil in the wok (you could substitute with cooking spray) and turned the heat on medium and sautéd the onions for 2 minutes and then added the garlic cloves for 2 more minutes.
I then turned the heat up to medium-high and threw in the tofu, stir fry 2 minutes.
Then add the mushrooms, continuing to stir for 2 more minutes, then toss in the garlic stems, turn the heat down to low, cover with lid and simmer for 3-4 minutes.

I eat my food on a side dish plate (measures 7″ across) what doesn’t fit goes in the fridge for breakfast or lunch the next day… I had lots of leftovers!

It was a yummy meal!

All in all a good day… I’m not usually such a tyrant, but I sure got my grouchiness spread all over today! I was also worried about my Mom. She was having back surgery as I slept Friday night and I was thinking about it all day (she’s fine, thank God) and I think the stress from that might have contributed a little bit to my crankiness… Can’t wait to get home! 2 more days of work and then I fly! WOO HOO!!!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: if we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we are not really living, growth demands a temporary surrender of security ~ Gail Sheely
From me: Change requires growing up… Physically, emotionally and spiritually, it’s time to grow up.