Travel – Blogging from 37,000 feet

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I am blogging from the skies! I’m somewhere between Miami and NYC. When I checked in the lovely American Airlines lady told me I had a yucky middle seat and she’d change it. She then said she gave me an “awesome” seat. When I boarded I discovered a free upgrade to Business Class. My leg room is so big I can extend my leg without bending my knee, lol 🙂 OK, I’m short, but it’s still awesome leg room!

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I promised myself in January I wouldn’t PAY for upgrades anymore, to save money. I’ve had 3 flights upgraded for free so far this year and I upgraded 1 with miles. I think it’s good Karma 🙂 Lucky girl I am and grateful.

Missing home already!

Ciao 🙂

Travel – Weekly Round-up!

Well, what a week! Going to do a breakdown with pictures.

Current Weight: 149
Goal Weight: 155

Sunday, June 3 – flew Guangzhou to Hangzhou. Flew between the clouds…

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Went straight to hospital and saw 3 patients, rushed home, had reunion with Tits the Cat…

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threw clothes in washer, started to unpack, knock on door… It’s….
KITTY!!!

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I also got to hang out with Velina, Robin and their gorgeous baby and show off the beautiful necklace that Sheila, Greg and Lily gave me…

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Finished repacking, went to bed…

Monday, June 4
got picked up by driver to head airport. Hangzhou to Beijing, Beijing to JFK… Here’s a shot from over Siberia… It really is frozen tundra!

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Get into JFK pretty much on time, only to wait 1 hour and 40 minutes for my bags. Major panic, get through customs, race to airport train to go to AA building, still need to check in, recheck bags, get through security and they are already boarding… Major panic… People get me through quick, I’m trying to breathe, and I get on 2nd to last… Phew! Then we sat on the Tarmac for one and a half hours! Argh! Finally up, up and away and this gorgeous sunset off the coast of NC…

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Finally got to Miami and Miri’s smiling face there to pick me up!

Tuesday, June 5
Up before the crack of dawn and out for a run… I love my hometown!

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Then I had a haircut and color…

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And sushi with my niece, Amanda 🙂 Then off to visit the kids and grandkids, then a run/walk with Michele and Michael and dinner.

Wednesday, June 6
Up early, breakfast with Tiffany and then out to Okeechobee to visit my friend Julia, who is not only a super awesome friend, but is hands down the best massage therapist in the world! Two hours of myofascial therapy, craniosacral therapy and some lymph work. Lunch with her son at Golden Corral and then back to her office for another hour or so of traditional massage. It was all amazing. Then back to Port St Lucie to pick up Sydnie for the night.

Thursday, June 7
Breakfast with Sydnie…

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And dropped her off to school. Then back to motel and Jenni, Sadie, Tiffany and Joey came over to spend time in pool with me. Wore a bikini, LOL… That seems weird to me.

I then headed 90 miles south to check out a 1973 Airstream Land Yacht… I bought it!

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Then raced back up to home to pick up Sadie from camp so we could go to Jammin’ Jensen with my friends… Just writing this makes me feel like I haven’t had a holiday, lol! Here’s some pics from the awesome time I had with my friends…

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Then over to our friend Denise’s house, since she had neck surgery and couldn’t come out to play, we took the party to her…

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Then off to bed with Sadie, so I can get up early to head 5 hours north in the morning!

Friday, June 8
Up early, drop Sadie to her mommy and hit the road. First stop, 2 hour drive to Daytona to see Shauna, Mouna and Fiona. Lovely visit. Then another 1.5 hours to Ocala to register for the 5K and get my BIB… How exciting! My first BIB!!

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Then another hour drive up to get my mom and an hour back to Ocala to meet my friend Teri, who came down to support me 🙂 Dinner Outback, visit with my nephew and his wife and kids and then to bed!

Saturday, June 9 – RACE DAY!

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What a rush! My friend Gail told me I’d start out to quick and she was right… My first kilometer was in 7:12… I slowed my pace, walked some, ran, met a lovely lady named Trisha, picked up discarded cups (I know, I know) and finished. It was awesome.

Then breakfast and back to hotel to pack and hit the road… 9 hour drive to North Carolina with my mom to her best friend Sandy’s house. This is the lady I was named after 🙂

Sunday, June 10

Beautiful , cool, rainy morning in North Carolina. Mom, Sandy and I met Eric for breakfast and then Eric and I went for a hike up Mt. Pisgah.
Hike Statistics
Difficulty: Moderate
Total Length: 3 mi
Trail Tread Condition: Moderately Rough
Climb: Climbs Moderately
Lowest Elevation: 4980 ft
Highest Elevation: 5730 ft
Total Elevation Gain: 750 ft
Trails/Roads Used: Mount Pisghah
Hike Configuration: Out-and-back
Starting point: Mount Pisgah Parking Area, Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 407.6
How to Get There: From Asheville, take the Blue Ridge Parkway south to the Mount Pisgah Parking Area, on the left, at milepost 407.6. Park at the second parking area; the first is for the Buck Springs trail.
Great hike!

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Then back to Sandy’s and I grilled steaks and leeks for dinner…

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So, that’s the wrap up! I’ll try to be a better blogger and update again tomorrow 🙂

Ciao!

Travel – In the States

Short update… After 28 hours of travel, my friend Miri has deposited me at my motel in Stuart. I’m exhausted and shattered.

First two flights were flawless, on time, interesting people to chat with, crap food! LOL

Then when I landed at JFK, it took 1 hour and 40 minutes to get my luggage, go through customs and then found out that the AA domestic building was a 10 minute walk plus a 5 minute train… Panicked, I ran (in heels!) and arrived in check in 42 minutes before my connecting flight! They rushed me through security and to the gate… Second to the last person to board! Talk about an anxiety ridden 2.5 hours! Then, we sat on the Tarmac for 1.5 hours because the computer system wasn’t working! LOL

Arrived an hour late into Miami and Miri swooped me up and the 1.5 hour ride north to home… HOME,,, glad to be here! Off to bed I go!

Ciao!

Sunset on the flight, somewhere off the coast of NC…

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A Quick Bedtime Poem

I left my flat 26 days ago on a journey for lipo, then travel and marketing and more marketing. I arrived back this afternoon… A poem inspired by my return… Although brief stay at my flat, since I fly in 10 hours to Florida…

I missed my cat…

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I missed my flat…

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But I really don’t miss,
That extra fat!

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Nice flight from Guangzhou to Hangzhou this morning… Love sailing between the clouds…

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Sheila and Greg stopped in with Lily for a post natal check and gifted me this gorgeous necklace!

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And the end of my day was complete by Vivien bringing Kitty over. She stayed an extra day just to see her American Mother… We cuddled and had a less drama filled goodbye than the one at the airport 3 weeks ago when I was an absolute mess from surgery…

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Thats it, off to bed… Flight in 10 hours! Sunny Florida… Here I come!

My Surgery

Phew… it’s been a helluva week. It is Sunday night, I THINK, and I’m on a flight from Hangzhou to Hong Kong. I boarded this plane less than 72 hours after being under general anesthesia for liposuction. I feel like crap! And that’s putting it mildly.

Just want to pre-warn that there will be some pictures of during and after my surgery. So stop right now if ya don’t wanna see… Hey! Don’t scroll down, you have to read first! 🙂

Wednesday, May 9 (Happy birthday Charity… I love you and I’m a shitty aunt for not sending you birthday wishes)… Kitty and I leave at 615 am for the train station.

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Four hour train ride to Wenzhou, where we get checked into the hotel and go to hospital for 2nd consult with cosmetic surgeon. He and the Director of the Cosmetic Surgery department make me feel at ease, discuss what will be done on Thursday, go over the informed consent thoroughly and the papers are signed. Nice dinner out with the hospital admin and the guest speakers for tomorrow’s events. I had wine. I deserved it, lol 🙂

This is where I’m going to answer the question that 3 people have privately emailed me this week… Why did I have liposuction? Quite simply, at 48 years old, having been obese for most of my adult life, and having lost nearly 100 pounds in 8 months, I had fat that wasn’t going anywhere. It had settled in a few places that I didn’t like. Most noticeably to me was the inner aspect of my knees. About 6 weeks ago I noticed that my legs were getting so toned from running that my thighs no longer touched… WOO HOO… But my knees still did. I did tons of research on what kinds of exercise would get rid of it and the bottom line is none. I didn’t like it. In clothes (SIZE 10!!!) I looked great. But naked, not so much. I’ve been doing yoga 2x a week, running 5+K 5x a week and using the stretch bands 2x a week and it wasn’t budging. Not that it matters, because I had liposuction because I wanted it 🙂 And that is what is the most important.

Thursday, May 10 (Happy Birthday, Sydnie Renae, momma sent your mommy a text message, thanks for the response back)… Up early for a marketing event at the hospital. My job, stand on stage with the other dignitaries and support the company’s cross-straight relationship with Taiwan with a new IVF clinic using the latest technology. Very exciting for our Wenzhou patients!

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My surgery was originally scheduled for 10 am, after the event, but was postponed until 2, so Kitty and I headed back to the hotel for a rest. It was around noon that I found out that my blog had been suspended… I wrote about that yesterday, but I was more upset about that happening than the surgery! I wasn’t nervous about the surgery, because I felt completely confident with my decision and completely confident in my surgeon. At 2 pm Kitty and I went to the 7th floor to see the surgeon and get drawn on.

Kitty and I on our way back to hospital for operation…

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I then put on jammies for the walk down to the OR. I was able to walk in and get on the OR table myself. The anesthetist introduced herself and the Chief anesthetist came in and introduced himself. I was unbelievably calm. My heart rate was 57 bpm. Kitty was by my side. And as they gave me he “put you to sleep medicine” I looked over at Kitty and asked her if that’s what they gave me… I woke up 3.5 hours later. Here’s a peek at what happened in the OR.

Getting the fat sucked out of tummy..

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This is my surgeon proudly displaying jar #1… There was a second jar with 700mL… And yes jar #1 is full to the top 🙂

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I woke up a little panicky, but then Kitty reassured me she was there and I calmed. I was shivering u controllable. I kept trying to clear my throat because it’s hoarse from being intubated. I was on a heart monitor and kept asking for my glasses so I could monitor my vital signs 🙂 For some reason I was fixated on my oxygen saturation rate (it would drop to 89% and I’d take deep breaths to get it back up… lol). Kitty never left my side. When everyone left the room she told me that they sucked out 2500mL of fat and 400mL came from my knees. She’s such a good Doobie! I vomited 7 times. They had me on a drip of Fentanyl and no anti-emetic available. Something we’ll talk about at the follow-up. I turned off the fentanyl, since it hurt worse to puke.

Friday, May 11 (Happy Birthday, Sadie Rose! Momma loves you and I sent a message to your mommy… I’m sure she gave it to you!) My daughters gave birth 22 hours and 35 minutes apart 8 years ago, giving me to gorgeous grand-girls!

Around 400 a.m., my bladder starting bothering me, the foley was pulling, the bag was full. Kitty couldn’t fine a nurse, so she got me out of bed and I went in search for a syringe, so I could remove it myself! Which I did!

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Kitty lovingly went back to the hotel to bring me yogurt for breakfast. And the news that the Taizhou CEO really, really wanted me to go there for their Sunday water birth event. He’s a really nice guy, I laid out the terms of what would need to be done to make it happen and within in an hour it was settled… Kitty and I were leaving Wenzhou to go back for one night in Hangzhou. So off we went… Less than 24 hours post op… Before we left Kitty took these lovely pics of my bruising…

Bruise over upper abdomen, over liver area…

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This is the right side of my body… Wonder why I feel like I’ve been hit with a Mack truck?..

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Here’s the sun setting at the Wenzhou train station…

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Into Hangzhou late… Straight to bed, repack early in the morning and I walked to work with Olivia. Nice slow walk. Kitty got all my medicine together and I had my daily dose of antibiotics. Not a big fan, but this is China and I teach infection control… ‘Nuff said 🙂 while sitting there getting my IV, my CEO sends me a big bouquet of flowers…

Warning… Bad hair moment!

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Saturday, May 12

Then BACK to the train station to go to Taizhou!

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Beautiful room in Taizhou. I make Kitty and I dinner… Now listen here folks… If I can haul my little stove, pan, spatula, meat and onions 3 hours on a train, 48 hours after surgery and stay on my diet… Then SO CAN YOU! 🙂

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About 3 minutes after we finish eating, we get a call that the car is downstairs to go to dinner with the CEO and guests for the next days events. We went and picked at the food. In bed by 9 pm and Kitty and I watched Big Momma, Like Father, Like Son… We laughed until we cried… Funny movie.

Sunday, May 13… HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

Up at 7 to go to hospital for IV infusion before event. I stir fried steak for Kitty and I and had a yogurt with Splenda and flax seed meal. While getting my IV I practiced my speech for the ceremony.

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Then downstairs for the event. I delivered the first water birth baby in Taizhou a couple months ago and the mommy was there with the baby…

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Here’s the wall banner for the event…

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Then lunch with the gang and back to the train station for the 3 hour trip back to Hangzhou. Long, sad ride knowing these were my last few hours with Kitty 😦 Her last day is Tuesday, so today was our day together. Kitty slept, as per usual…

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We get to the Hangzhou train station and my driver Jerry scooped us off and off to the airport… Geez oh Pete! Jerry put the front seat down, so I could elevate my legs on the ride… He’s awesome!

Hangzhou airport… Goodbye Kitty! You’ve been the best personal assistant over the past 8 months. You’ve grown and improved and probably learned more from me than you should have, lol. Through you I’ve learned patience. Kitty’s last cute quote as she wiped my tears away, “now stop crying, you’re smearing the eyelash make-up”… Love the girl.

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I look like crap in this picture… 5 cities in four days. This shot was taken less than 72 hours after I came out of surgery. Everyone keeps saying I’m strong. I think I’m stupid!

Flight to Hong Kong, uneventful… Here’s a shot while we were landing…

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So, to wrap things up…
1. Elective surgery hurts the same as non-elective surgery.

2. I had the following done:

a. Inside aspect of knees
b. Above the knee
c. Inside upper thigh
d. Upper abdomen
e. Two spots on each side of my back

3. No one tells you how shitty you really feel after liposuction. I’m here to tell you that you feel like:

a. You’ve been hit by a truck
b. You’ve been run over by a train
c. You’ve been dropped from a 20 story building
d. You’ve run full on into a brick wall
e. You’ve been beaten with a baseball bat

4. Hard to find pictures of what you look like after liposuction, I’ve shared them here. You look battered. You LOOK like you’ve been beaten with a baseball bat. I guess a lot of people don’t want to say they’ve had work done, and that’s OK, but I really would have liked a little insight!

5. I would suggest a bit more rest than I’ve had. That said, I’m vegging out in a hotel room in Hong Kong. I’m suppose to get on a train to Guangzhou today, but I’m thinking I’m not going to do it. I need ME time. They have a lady who is wanting to be the first water birth in Guangzhou and they are waiting for me… She’ll have to wait… This momma is going to take care of herself today… Babies can wait 🙂

Ciao!

Travel – Flying’ to Hong Kong & Sex Trade

Sitting at the airport in Hangzhou thinking about a few things.
First, how fortunate I am to be able to freely travel wherever I want FREELY (you’ll see why I emphasize that shortly)
This is my 8th flight since January 1. and I’ve literally been around the world.
Hong Kong to Hangzhou- Jan 2
Hangzhou to Osaka – Jan 16
Osaka to Seattle
Seattle to NYC
NYC to Ft Lauderdale
Then
Miami to London Feb 7
London to Shanghai
And now
Hangzhou to Hong Kong
Crazy 🙂

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Now about the sex trade… There have been 3 stories in the last couple of days. News stories bring awareness. I was sitting behind the old white guy and the Asian guy in pink shirt just now, waiting for my flight. The old white guy was speaking in English very disrespectfully to the young Asian guy. I suspect the young guy is more than likely a victim of the sex trade. What would you do if you saw this? BE HONEST and put yourself in my place. I’ll tell you what I did after I get some responses.

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Ciao!

Dukan – Days 219 & 220 – Dukan Recipe Cuban Flank Steak

Monday was a PP day 🙂
Tuesday was a PV day 🙂

Monday:
Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.2 kg
Total Weight Loss: 81.2 lb/36.91 kg
Tuesday: No change – same, same

Tuesday food (since I have no recollection of yesterday… LOL, I DO know it was PP)
Breakfast: 2 Tea Eggs
Lunch: Green leafy salad and tin of tuna
Dinner: Cuban Flank Steak… recipe below.

I have to say, this is YUMMY!!! And if you leave out the mushrooms and only add onions, it’s a PP meal.

I got the recipe idea from although I didn’t use flank steak and mine come cut in chunks already, which is how I have to eat them, given I don’t have an oven or a grill.

Serves 1

8 oz. of Top Round, flank steak or in my case Chinese Beef Top – Cubed
Marinade:
Juice of 1 large Lime
1/8 cup of Olive Oil
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
**To make this Whole30 compliant use Coconut Aminos**
1/2 tsp favorite hot sauce or chili powder… I used Daddy Mac’s Awesome Sauce (my son-in-law makes this with his home grown habanero peppers!)

With dinner:
1/2 Large onion chopped in chunks
And if a PV day, handful of mushrooms

Prep time: 2 minutes
Put meat in bowl or zip top baggie.
Put the rest of the marinade ingredients in there.

I thought about this marinating in my fridge ALL.DAY.LONG!

Shake, shake, shake and put in the fridge for 8 or more hours.

Cook time 11 minutes
Remove marinated meat from fridge.

When I took the lid off… yum… the smell was incredible!

Put 1 Tbsp Olive Oil in skillet or wok.
Heat to Medium-High.
Put the meat in and cook for 5 minutes.

Turn meat over.
Put the onions in and cook for 3 minutes.

Notice that lime is still in there 🙂

Toss the mushrooms in, if you’re making it a PV dinner, and cook for 3 minutes. I used Enoki mushrooms which are kind of like al dente pasta when cooked… sorta. And they basically have NO CARBS!!!

Plate and Enjoy!

My pics may not be stunning or artistic, but you can tell this food is GOOD!

I’m off to Hong Kong for 3 days tomorrow (Weds – Friday) to renew my visa and get a little R & R. I’ll try to keep you updated from there!

p.s. C25K is moving right along… I am running 2 nights on, 1 night off and not having any problems with it… I’m enjoying it! 😀

Ciao!

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!

Dukan – Day 198 – Back in Hangzhou

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!

I Make Small Steps

“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 🙂