Thailand & Dukan – Day 89

Posted on November 18, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Thursday was a PV Day

Daily weight loss: 0.44 lb/0.2 kg
Total weight loss: 39.58 lb/18 kg

Well I am sore as hell this morning! Yesterday was a super busy day!

Started off with an omelet with onions and some bacon.

Then private tour van to a crystal clear lagoon with little waterfalls and rushing water coming into it. We trekked about a kilometer into the forest to get to it, but worth every step!

Back in the van for a ride to the hot springs, we trekked 1.2 kms into the forest to get to it, again worth the hike! Hot water, running down the rocks to form pools to sit in. Nature is indeed awesome.

Then back in the van to head for lunch. It was Thai food, of course, but everything was in heavy gravies, so I ordered a burger. Absolutely the worse burger I have ever tasted in my life. Obviously frozen, microwaved to thaw and thrown in fry pan… Blech! Really, though, the only disappointing meal of the trip.

After lunch we headed for a Buddhist temple where we were given 2 hours to explore. There was a steep climb (1200+ steps) up the mountain to a temple that I attempted. I got up just under 300 steps. It was like climbing a ladder and the height and steepness were freaking me out… LOL The steepness, I’m sure are why my quads are a bit sore this morning!

I wrote my name on a gold leaf, said a long prayer of thanks for prayers answered and a good life 🙂

Then the icing on the cake… The BEST trip got even BESTER (I know that’s not a word,I get my vocab from my youngest child who has made up some great words over the years!). WE RODEA HUGE ELEPHANT INTO THE RAINFOREST! After impressing us with the amazing size of his, ahem, manliness….

We climbed aboard for a 50 minute adventure into the rainforest. At first we sat on the bench and unlike the rest of the mahouts, our elephant’s mahout did not get on him. He walked next to him, ahead of him, hid behind trees from him and chatted quietly with him. They were very in-tune to one another. You could tell our mahout loved his elephant! Our elephant is 35 years old and the mahout has been working with him for nearly 11 years.

After 10 minutes of trekking, the mahout told Cathy to get off the bench and get on the elephant’s neck to ride bareback. The joy on her face made me so happy! It is amazing to experience life long dreams with people you love. Cathy had been waiting for this opportunity since childhood. I feel so blessed to have shared it with her!

The mahout took Cathy’s camera and shot tons of pics, asking at one point if he could have the camera, we said sure… Give us the memory card and the elephant and it’s yours… He gave us back the camera…

Then it was my turn to ride bareback. Riding bareback reminded of late night horse back riding in my teens, with my Palm City friends, only on a much larger scale! The powerful muscles of the elephant’s neck can be felt by your legs. You don’t feel the need to hold on for dear life (at least I didn’t). He slowly strolled through the rainforest guided by the gentle voice of the mahout. My hands, lightly placed on the top of his head, felt the soft skin with his little black, bristly hairs. His soft ears flapping lightly, to cool himself off, would occasionally hug me gently. THAT was so cool, to feel these ears gently pressing against your legs… Wow, wow, wow! Too soon we were back to the village and our amazing ride was over.

We then fed him bananas, but instead of giving them in his trunk, we were allowed to put them in his mouth… Again, WOW! It is amazing how gentle an animal of this size can be. His powerful, HUGE tongue coming out to take the banana. What an experience!

Then back to the resort for a one hour massage and then Mexican for dinner! I had fajitas without the tortillas 🙂

What a fantastically, amazing day… Shared with some amazing friends!

Now off for my morning massage!

Ciao!

Thailand & Dukan Day 88

Posted on November 17, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Today was a PV Day.
Lost weight, but don’t have the stats… they are on iPhone.

Breakfast of scrambled eggs with onions and bran, bacon and sausage, while listening to monkeys chattering and birds chattering… Blissful way to start the morn.

We then headed out on a 3 hour trek through the rainforest. It was awesome… rugged,hilly, rocky terrain. It was challenging, yet fun! The trees that make up the canopy of the rainforest soar 150 feet over your head. We were surrounded by amazing, lush greenery and the sounds of birds and monkeys and rushing water of the creek we crossed, many times on teeny bamboo bridges.

Lunch was BBQ pork rolled in fresh cracked black pepper, turmeric, sea salt and garlic… Heaven! Everyone else ate that and coconut milk soup and scrambled eggs, which would have been perfect for me to eat, until the cook through in sugar 😦 For dessert they had shredded coconut with sea salt, sugar and sticky rice… For me, the pork was good enough… Succulent and tasty, right off the barbie!

We then trekked 30 minutes back to Elephant Hills to pack up to move on to the beachside town of Krabi. The 3 days in Elephant Hills was AMAZING! It will be hard to get better service or accommodation or food… If you go to Thailand, it is a must do on your list!

Two and a half hours in a luxury van brings us out of the jungle and into a beachside touristy town called Krabi. We are staying at the Tipa Resort for 2 nights and we are on our own until tomorrow. Cathy and I got caught up on emails and Dominique and Karen met up with Dom’s friend Emma, who is on her honeymoon. Cathy and I had a yummy dinner in e resort’s restaurant. I had grilled chicken with onions, the presentation was gorgeous and a bowl of Tom Kah Gai soup, because it’s the one thing I won’t be denied while on this holiday!!! I literally slurped the broth to get as much of the flavor as I could… Exquisite flavors! Long walk through town, then a blissful sleep…

Life is good!

Ciao!

Thailand and Dukan – Day 86

Posted on November 15, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Monday was a PV Day because of the limited choices while on holiday in Thailand.
Daily weight loss: GAIN- +0.2 lb/0.1 kg
Total weight loss: 41.5 lb/18.9 kg

Woke up to the beauty and mist of the mountains back in Kuraburi Lodge. Surrounded by the sounds of nature… Ahhhhhhh

Breakfast of hard fried eggs and bacon and a cup of coffee, then back to the room to pack for our next adventure.

About an hour and half on the road we arrived at Elephant Hills Resort and after a brief meeting about what we would be doing, we were led to our luxury tent rooms… And are they luxurious! Wow! Mattresses with memory foam, softest pillows in the world, amazing bathroom… just Wow!

After unpacking, we went to lunch buffet with delicious Thai food and then to our elephant experience! We walked down a mud track to an area where 13 elephants were brought in by their mahouts and we were given lessons about the difference between Asian and African elephants, about what they eat and how the mahout is with the elephant for life. The elephant hook is used the same as the reins on a horse to guide the elephant.
We then prepared a meal for our elephant, cutting sugar cane, chopping water melons and pineapples, preparing pumpkin and cucumbers and a special packet of tamarind, rice and sea salt wrapped in a banana leaf.
We then got to feed them… Oh it was wonderful! They reach in with their soft, delicate, yet powerful trunks and gently take the food from you. They cradle it in their trunk, near the “hand” (which, by the way, has one finger, versus the 2 that African elephants have), and then swing it in their mouths. Their tongues are huge! They really connect with you while feeding them.

After caring for the elephants we had a little snack break and then walked down to the Sok River for a one hour canoe trip. We each had our own canoe guide who did all the work. We had tea on the embankment and then continued on. We saw snake, gorgeous birds and a monitor lizard! Great afternoon!
Movie about elephants, Thai dancing by some adorable local children and buffet dinner, with a pad thai cooking demo, and a nice cup of coffee ended our day… Slept like a baby with the tent windows pulled back…. BLISS!

I’m off to the shower… Ciao!

Dukan – Diet Day 80

Posted on November 8, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Tuesday was a PV Day.
Daily weight loss: 0.2 lb/0.1 kg
Total weight loss: 39.8 lb/18.1 kg

Tough for me to calculate by hand! I’m so used to using the spreadsheet Charlotte created, but won’t have that with me for the 2 weeks I’m in Thailand. What in will have with me is my scale, my container of bran granules and my pee sticks 🙂 crazy, I know, but dammit, that scaler keeps you in line. When I gained a couple of days ago I knew I had to evaluate what I did wrong to gain, fixed it and got back on track… So yes, I’m bringing the scales. Bringing the pee sticks to make sure I remain in ketosis. I think one of the meat dishes I ate over the weekend had some carbs, maybe the pork balls I was scooping out of the soup… This also keeps me in line.

So, I’m off on my next big adventure! This holiday (or vacation as we call it in the states) is going to be very adventurous! Today I meet my friend Cathy, from Illinois, at the Shanghai airport and we overnight in Shanghai, take her to see the sights tomorrow. Then a late night flight to Phuket, where we meet my friends Karen and Dominique who are Brits who live in Abu Dhabi. Should have a great time… 4 midwives from all over the world, traveling to Thailand 🙂

So, stay tuned. I’ll be doing weight loss and holiday updates from there.

Ciao!

Dukan – Day 62

Posted on October 22, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Yesterday was a PV day
No change in weight loss, which was a little disappointing because I’m right at the crux of reaching a goal and I thought I’d surpass it, maafi mushkila or as the say in Chinese ma watea (no promblemo).

Still felt a bit crappy in the morning, but had that lovely birth so it balanced it out.
Breakfast: boiled tea egg
Went home at 900 am to try to sleep from being up all night, not happening… Construction in flat above me, kid screaming in a neighboring building, new business must have opened because fireworks going off outside (this happens day & night, in fact it happened at 545 this morning, thank God I was up preparing for my flight!), then the kids at the school were outside doing calisthenics and marching. So, I got up and did laundry.
Lunch: Kath’s bran crepes x 2 eggs.
Back to work to teach class to nurses… Exhausted to the point of nausea 😦
Snack: boiled tea egg
Finished office work at 430 and walked home, stopping at halal Chinese restaurant to pick up dinner, shaved beef with cilantro and green beans and mushrooms with red hot chili peppers. They have finally stopped offering me rice 🙂
Up early for this mornings flight to Hong Kong.
So now I’m on a flight to Hong Kong on what is called a border run. I’m on a 6 month visa to china, but have to exit every 30 days until I get my residency visa, so I have to do an overnight stay and fly back tomorrow. Plan on doing some hiking in the hillsides of the city both days and will have pics to post in my next blog.
Ciao!

Hello friends and family!

Posted on December 22, 2009 by flamidwyfe

Me, Jenni & Tiffany

Me & the new baby

Well… where do I begin? I’ve started this blog to share with family and friends my journey of living overseas, dieting and travel.

I started the Atkins Diet 2 days ago. My plan is to upload recent pics and to upload pics monthly, on the 22nd of each month, to show my progress.

As many of you know, I lost 45 pounds last year, with the help of James and Kim in Miami. I cut out bread, pasta, potatoes and rice and started seeing James 2x per week for personal training.

I moved to Abu Dhabi in Nov of 2008 and kept it off until this past summer, when I started adding that bad food back into my diet and wasn’t exercising as much, because it was hot here…. like 122 degrees Fahrenheit hot! So in 5 short months, I gained 18 of those pounds back… now they are coming off and MORE!

I have bought myself a wii and have committed to working out at least 3 times a week on it. My friend Lucy and I have used it for bowling and tennis and boxing (recommend one be in better shape than me to do the boxing… LOL).

Lucy and I will be walking the Camino di Santiago from April 23 to May 27 (or so). This is a 750+ km walk crossing the Pyrenees mountains from France into Spain and then the entire… yes, that’s ENTIRE length of the upper part of Spain. I must, MUST be in better shape by the time we leave in order to be successful. You can see where I am going to walk by going to this site: http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/el-camino-frances/

And to finish off this, my first blog, I’ll tell you that after 13 months of interesting work on a ward at this busy hospital I work at, I moved to the delivery unit this week and had my first delivery yesterday afternoon. A little girl, weighing 3365 grams, who came out not only in the caul (the bag of waters), but with a nuchal hand up by her left cheek, held there by her nuchal cord (for those not in the know, that means her hand was against her face and held there by her umbilical cord, this is unusual, to say the least). She was also in a bag of meconium (baby poop) and had a true knot in her cord… oh for the love of midwifery. She did great, mom did great, midwife is happy 😀 Life in Abu Dhabi!

So off I go… need to make a grocery store run… Happy Holidays everyone!

xxxx

Sandi