On My Way, Home Sweet Home

I’m sitting in the airport hotel, dressed, packed, phones charged, coffee in hand excited to be going home.

It’s been a fantastic work trip that included some play time. Two adorable baby boys born 2 weeks apart in China, time spent getting to know 2 more families who I will love and cherish… So blessed to have been welcomed into their homes and be with them while experiencing the beauty of birth. It never gets old for me, no matter how many times I’m present at a birth.

I also traveled to Jinan, China (near Bejing) to teach staff at the hospital there about the importance of water birth and breastfeeding. Beautiful city, lovely people!

I also was part of a month long virtual race in June. Held by fellow blogger Tatjana, the Midsummer Sun Kilomathon was a great way to get in that much needed exercise. It was HOT here in China and Hong Kong, but I did it. In fact I completed 107 kilometers which is 66.5 miles!

I finished off the trip to Asia with a 5 day trip with my friend Lillian “Alice” Sanpere to Ubud, Bali. We stayed with Robin Lim who runs Bumi Sehat, a non-profit birth center where care for the locals is free. What a giving, loving, honorable woman. Doing so much to ensure that babies enter this world gently. Alice and I were invited to be part of a birth there and it was magical.

So, I’ll let the photos do the talking. I’ve got to call for the bell cart to get my stuff over to the airport.

Ciao!

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Dukan Diet – Update

I can’t believe it’s been 13 days since I posted. Caught another cute baby and did tons of clean eating and exercise while in Shanghai.
Still on track, down 11 pounds!!!
Just spent two days in Hong Kong with my friend Alice…

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And found a lovely running path this morning in Shenzhen…

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Pleased with my progress!
How are your summer plans going!?
Ciao!

Dukan Diet – Days 9 & 10 – A baby and an update on Tiff

Eating strict Dukan, feeling groovy! Feeling very good about the diet and the exercise. I set a goal to do 25 miles by July 1st, I surpassed that this afternoon! It’s the 11th! Woot!!!

The support I’ve had for Tiffany from family and friends, local and afar, has been amazing. I feel so blessed. Tiffany is feeling overwhelmed by the generosity. A reply yesterday from her had me in tears… My love, Tiffany, you DO deserve the love and support of all these people. TIFF had her heel set and she’s now in a cast up to her knee, no weight bearing for 6 weeks. Hard with four kids, but she’ll be able to do it with continued support. She had pain relief initially we the cast, but now that her swelling is going down, she’s actually having pain again. The doc will put on a smaller cast Monday, to support it more.

And…. A baby. A lovely wee boy slipped into my hands yesterday afternoon. This is my 2nd of the two babies I came to China to assist earthside. I’ve said it a few thousand times and will continue saying, I am so blessed to be present and in service to families at their births. I came home, had dinner and did 5K, faster than I had in a long time (which is slow for most, but fast for me… At least I’m out there, lol). A birth high… Feels so good!

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During this run I also restarted C25K because Jenni and Sadie are doing it (my oldest daughter and my granddaughter). They started yesterday, too. So when I get home, we’ll be up to speed with each other and can run together. We’re doing the virtual kilomathon together this month and a 5K near home together in September. Three generations running together… How cool is that?!?!

Dukan Diet Redo – Day 2 – Attack

Day 2 and all is well. Still no scale, but I’m sure I’m losing. I’m heading up to Shanghai this evening for 2 weeks, I love visiting familiar places, although I feel Shenzhen is familiar now!

Feeling good, no tummy troubles, eating perfectly 🙂

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs
Lunch: Pork belly, 1/2 onion
Dinner: big ole hamburger (lean)
Snack: yogurt with flax seed meal
Water: > 2000mL

I walked 4.86 miles yesterday & did a 75 minute yin yoga class. This is from one of my walks:

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Time to finish packing for my flight!

Ciao!

Dukan Diet Redo – Day 1 Attack

So here I am again 🙂 China, needing to lose weight, needing to exercise more. I’ve gained back 40 pounds of the 111 that I lost, IN 10 months! Many things contributed to this, but the bottom line is I lost my discipline and accountability. I continued to eat well this past year, but it’s so easy to eat out. A fractured foot on Labor Day also added some down time and on and on.

So I figure I’ll start over where it all began! A challenge by Tatjana over at No Heels Just Sneakers started June 1, as well.

I have no idea what I weigh. No scale here. I do know what I weighed when I left home 2 weeks ago and feel like I’ve lost weight already, which is awesome! Lots of walking here in China. I will see if I can pop into a clinic and get a weight. But I’m back on Dukan, I’m doing 5 days of attack, and I’m committed to walking a minimum of 1 mile a day.

Yesterday morning before my first walk of the day, holding my bib. I had it laminated so it would last:

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And this is what I walked/ran (intervals of 60/30):

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Food:
Breakfast: Tea Eggs x 2
Lunch: Pork and garlic stems
Dinner: Beef stir fry with red onion chunks and garlic stems
Snack: Yogurt with 1 Tbs flax seed meal
Water: 1500 mL throughout the day

So that’s Day 1. Feeling great. Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Ciao!

China – Again :)

I’m back in China. This time for 6 weeks to be with two different birthing families. Baby number one was born this past Tuesday and he’s a keeper!

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Yes, that’s a chip clip on his cord. Sometimes you have to improvise 😀

Wednesday my friend Alice and I met up with my personal assistant Rose from Guangzhou. She brought along Jack (yes, Jack and Rose) and they are now married! We went to Splendid China and had a splendid day!

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We finished our day together with amazing, mouth numbing Hunan food!

Thursday Alice and I walked across the border to Hong Kong. Spent the day exploring and picking up things that Alice needed.

Last night I had dinner with Lotte, a midwife from Denmark. I wish our obstetrics were more like theirs! No competition for money = excellent care for women. The midwives take care of the 90% of women who have normal pregnancies and the OBs only take care of the complicated patients. Hmmm, what a concept. Their infant and maternal mortality rates are much better than ours. I wish we’d take the money out of medicine so all of us could receive better care!

I also signed up for a month long challenge (see yesterday’s post) and Tatjana sent me this very cool racing bib…

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And last, but not least, not only am I going to do the month long Kilomathon, but I’m going to do strict Dukan every day the month of June. I’m committed, going to shed those pounds that creeped back on 🙂

So here’s to a wonderful June… You ready?!?!?

Ciao!

Run or walk this June and earn a beautiful medal!

I’ve signed up and I’ve invited my Facebook friends to sign up… What a great way to get some exercise this summer and it’s for a good cause! I’m in China for most of June, so my walks will be here… Where will yours be?

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I loved my first virtual race so much that I thought I’d do it again! In April I raised over $1,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I would like to top this in June!

This June, run or walk 1k each night or run or walk a 5k any time in June to earn this beautiful medal (designed by Lahela Schoessler).

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How does this work?
You can chose:

  • Run or walk a 5K fun run any time in June and enjoy the midnight sun! Take your kids, your spouse, your best friend and run or walk together!

Or:

  • Run or walk 30K in June. Run or walk 1K every evening and enjoy the midnight sun or break up the 30K any way you like. 30K is 18.64 miles.

How much will this cost?
$25 entry (profits will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). $30 for participants outside…

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BUSY WEEK!

Wow! So, Merry Christmas! It’s been a few weeks. I really miss blogging!!! I have so little time to do it, but I must get better at posting.

I have 3 jobs… yes THREE! So I have very little time to do much else but work and squeeze in some exercise!

I’ve fun two 5Ks this month and begun doing Galloway Half-marathon training. This week we ran 6.34 miles so 10K +!!! I actually did it. I’m definitely feeling it today, lol, but the joy of actually finishing surpasses all of that!!!

6.37 miles which is a little more than 10 kms!

6.37 miles which is a little more than 10 kms!

This morning at church, my friend Natalie took photos of the families… this is the one she took of my clan…

Front: Jose, Sofia, Shane & Sadie Back: Joey, Tiffany, Sydnie, Me & Nick

Front: Jose, Sofia, Shane & Sadie
Back: Joey, Tiffany, Sydnie, Me & Nick

After church my son and I decided to take a bike ride to breakfast….

On the way to breakfast!

On the way to breakfast!

And then a different route home…

Bike ride home from breakfast.

Bike ride home from breakfast.

And a few pics to round things out…

Color Vibe earlier this month!

Color Vibe earlier this month! Elizabeth, Linnea, Me and Michele!

 

My new bike!

My new bike!

Saw 50 Shades the Musical (which was HYSTERICAL!!!!) with my girlies!

Saw 50 Shades the Musical (which was HYSTERICAL!!!!) with my girlies!

And a night out with friends that turned out to be quite profitable for Sadie and her rubberband bracelet sales!!!

And a night out with friends that turned out to be quite profitable for Sadie and her rubberband bracelet sales!!!

We had Christmas dinner at GOLDEN CORRAL! Can I tell you how much fun it was not having to cook and clean?!?!? And it was WAY cheaper than Thanksgiving! We had a fantastic waitress named Natasha who took very good care of us and we got to eat all we wanted to!!

I also had 2 out of town business trips this month! One to San Antonio, TX and one to Tallahassee, FL (which even though it’s in my state, it’s a 7 hour drive!) And assisted on a couple births, one a water birth 🙂

 

So that’s my December wrap up! It’ll probably be next year before I get another blog post in! LOL

Ciao!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning Run

Up at 0504, out the door at 0513. Lovely watching the sun come up while walking along the river.

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Our poor rivers are being contaminated by release water from man-made Lake Okeechobee. I actually stop and apologize to the birds and fish. This water is usually clear 😦
Praying the Army Corp of Engineers stop this.

And on a happier note, this was the scene in the Livingroom yesterday morning on my daughter’s side of our house…

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Re-blog – 18 Things Nobody Told Me About Running

This is spot on! I’m so happy to be back running!!

Re-blogged…
18 Things Nobody Told Me About Running

Hey, hey, it’s Guest Bloggers’ Week , which means we’re bringing you some of the best and most inspiring posts from writers around the web! Click here to see all of the great guest posts that inspire, push us to get fitter, make us think in new ways and crack us the heck up! 1. It’s hard…like, really hard. But just like relationships, parenting and figuring out your new iPhone, it gets easier with time. You may even– gasp— start to like it! 2. Clipping your toenails will take precedence over plucking your eyebrows some days. 3. In spite of your childhood hatred of “weird food,” your pantry will be filled with running superfoods you’re not really sure how to pronounce, like quinoa , chia , spirulina and acai. 4. At some point, you will see other runners peeing in public. You will wrinkle your nose at them: EWWW, GROSS! 5. At some point, you, too, will pee in public. You will never judge again. 6. Ditto for snot rockets. 7. When you first start, four miles seems like a lot. One day, you’ll catch yourself telling someone “I only ran four miles today.” Try not to smile smugly when that happens. 8. You’ll wince at a pair of high heels with a $100 price tag, but declare it a bargain if that same tag is on your favorite running shoes. 9. Your laundry basket will smell like a boys’ locker room. You won’t really notice (or care). 10. You’ll geek out at the opportunity to run in the rain , because it’s just that awesome. 11. There will be stretches of days when you don’t feel like running at all. It’s perfectly normal, it’s not a failure, and a few days off does a body good. 12. Like Christmas, you will be wide awake at 2 a.m. on race morning, giggling. Also like Christmas, you will not be allowed to wake anyone in the house up until 5 a.m. 13. Without any prompting on your part, family members, friends and coworkers will take up running, too. They’ll ask all the same questions you had when you started—and this time, you’ll be the one with the answers. 14. The first thing you’ll do when you book a vacation or work travel is look for races and/or cool running routes in the area. 15. “Runger” is real, and it is marvelous. Only pregnant women and runners can truly understand strange cravings at strange times. 16. While running with your friends, you will talk about food, children, current events—everything but running. During cocktail hour with that same group, when you’re showered and wearing “real-world” clothes, all you will talk about, ever, is running. 17. The friends you make through running will become like family. 18. Anyone can do it . (Yes, you !) What would you add to this list of things nobody told me about running?
—Susan Lacke Susan Lacke swims, bikes and runs so she has a reason to eat, nap and curse. Though she’s finished marathons and an Ironman, she still whines when she has to make more than one trip to the car to bring in groceries. “Like” her on Facebook for her latest columns in Competitor , Triathlete.com and No Meat Athlete .