So now I’m in Shanghai. Nice 2 hour flight delayed by rain, but settling in.
Breakfast: Tea Eggs
Lunch: Roast beef and FF Greek yogurt
Dinner: Chicken breast, garlic scapes
Water: more than 1500mL
Exercise: 2.25 miles + tons of walking at airport!
I’m excited to be back in Shanghai. Looking forward to a visit in Hangzhou after this baby is born.
Ciao!
Well my first week of being 50 has been fabulous!
An old friend, Beryl, came to town from Georgia. She hadn’t been home in 7 years and we had a get together at Terra Fermata… one of my best memories of Beryl is that when I was so exhausted from being a new, young, single mom and working full time, she came over, packed up my baby and took him for an overnight. More than once! I cannot even begin to tell you how fortunate and grateful I was for that simple act of kindness.
Beryl’s welcome home party.
I also ran a 5K my first week of being 50. The Reindeer Dash. It was my first real run since fracturing my foot. I’ve done some minimal interval training, but no real running. I thought I was going to die! It is still hot and humid here in sunny South Florida! By mile one I was gasping for air, but I finished it! My friend Shannon and her daughter ran back to where I was and finished it with me. The support I have from my friends is nothing short of AMAZING! My friend Ed took first place in the mens 50-54 and Shannon took 3rd in the women’s 40-44. So super proud of them both! Elizabeth hit a PR and I think that Dana did too! This was 12 year old Breeze’s first 5K!
Done!
And my daughter Tiffany and I started the Attack phase of Dukan yesterday. I have gained back almost 30 pounds of my 100+ lb weight loss. I am eating well, but haven’t been MOVING or drinking enough water. It amazes me how fast it creeps on. But I will not be beaten! LOL… I am a fighter and just need to buckle down. I can make excuses all day long, but the bottom line is I am not making enough time for ME! I have spread myself out very thin and it is effecting my weight and my health. That stopped yesterday!
Attack Day 1:
Breakfast: 1 boiled egg, 1 FF Greek Yogurt, coffee
Lunch: Stir fry steak and onions
Snack: Boiled Egg
Dinner: Lean pork chop with onions, garlic and ginger
Snack: FF greek yogurt with flax seed meal
Water: 1000 mL (need to increase!!!)
Exercise: 32 minute walk with Tiffany and Kapone
So fortunate to be able to still be out walking on the waterfront in December in shorts and tank tops!
Tiff and I were suppose to fly to San Antonio Monday morning on a business trip for our billing business, but ice storms in Dallas prevented us from going. So we decided that Monday was the day to start, and we did! I’m down 1.5 pounds since yesterday morning 🙂
I hope everyone has a fantastic week! I sure plan on it!
Ciao!
I’m doing the Dukan dance 😀
I was up 17 pounds over my Dukan True Weight, 27 pounds over my goal weight and when I had to suck it in last week to put on those size 8 jeans I worked my ass off to get into, I took control and jumped back in.
Problem… been eating too many gluten free replacement foods. Like Mary’s Gone Crackers. Oh, and maybe a bag of Fritos Originals once a week, or so. And maybe a glass of wine or two a week. And it adds up… I maintained at the 148-152 for over 6 months and then I got complacent. And I don’t mean eating poorly… because I don’t eat poorly at all, ever… I mean adding in too many carbs and probably too much fat and not paying attention.
Funny enough, I’ve had PLENTY of exercise. Although I haven’t been running, I walk 4.5 miles 4x a week. And bike ride more than 10 miles on Sunday. And I gained 12 of those pounds above in Australia where I was more active than ever! Hiking, climbing, snorkeling and swimming nearly every single day. And walking each night with the family I was staying with after dinner. Carbs… they don’t like me.
Weights for the week:
6/17 – 82.5 kg – 182 lb
6/18 – 81.2 kg – 179 lb
6/20 – 80.6 kg – 177.75 lb
6/21 – 80.0 kg – 176.4 lb
Nearly 6 pounds off in 5 days… happy girl 😀
Food today:
Breakfast: 2 hard fried eggs and 3 slices lean bacon (yes, I know bacon isn’t Dukan… not giving it up!)
Lunch: 4 slices of london broil roast beef slices & 4 slices of low fat Cheddar rolled up together
Snack: 2 boiled eggs
Dinner: 7 oz. chicken breast stir fried with onions and spices
Snack: Fat Free Greek yogurt with 1 pkt Splenda and 2 Tbs flaxseed meal
Feeling better about things… back on track. Gotta look fab for my 50th bday which is a short 5 months away 🙂
How is everyone else doing?
Ciao!
Monday was a travel LOTS day 🙂
Drove the 70 miles to work after having a nice breakfast of 2 scrambled eggs with a half sauteed onion.
Angie took this pic of me… I need to get back out and run… thighs are looking a little thick!!
Work Monday 4/8/13
Lunch was 3 slices of rare roast beef… YUM! And a couple of cups of coffee.
Snack: 2 boiled eggs
I then raced north to get Sydnie from after school care and picked her up dinner then raced back south 35 miles to teach a class at a hospital. Had a great time meeting a few couples that are now more prepared to have a good birth experience!
Then the drive home at 9 p.m…. forgot to eat dinner!!! So I had a FF Greek yogurt with splenda and flax seed.
I then went out for a quick walk before bed.
Water intake: 2700 mL
Exercise: 25 minute walk 😦
Weight Friday: 168
Weight Monday: 167 Argh!
I did take a 6 mile bike ride along the ocean road on Sunday morning and it was glorious… perfect weather! Glad I’ve got the bike in working order.
Ciao!
I am really enjoying my time in Adelaide. I’m staying with a lovely family, who are healthy and active and I’m eating good, fresh, organic food and getting tons of exercise!
I’ve met up with several people from MeetUp Adelaide and have done some amazing hikes in the mountains, beachside cliffs and national parks. Here are some stats and pictures…
Waterfall Gully up to Mount Lofty. Very steep!
Belair National Forest… Lots of Roos and koalas!!!
And yesterday a beachside cliff hike and swimming and a 90 minute reef snorkle (my calves are red!) and then another hike… Wonderful day and only one pic! LOL, my hiking companion took a ton of pictures so hopefully will have some to upload soon!
So, lots of exercise, good food and sunshine! I hope everyone out there is getting at least a 20 minute daily walk in! Get off the computer and go out now 🙂
Ciao! xoxo
It’s been a busy week! I started out with my typical day off and spent all of Monday cleaning house after having grandkids there all weekend! 😀
On Monday (or was that Sunday? Sheesh, I can’t remember!) I managed a walk with a friend over the bridges that I posted about last week…
Walking the bridges! Around the 3 km mark there is a dock that goes out over the water!
Then Tuesday and Wednesday a commute to job 1… the Center Director at an amazing birth house. Upside… I work with some crazy and fun people. Downside… it’s an hour drive each way and for only 3 days a week, which doesn’t pay the bills 😦
It’s been a grey kinda week! Grey dress, grey hose, grey shoes… at least the sun is shining!
Then on Thursday I started a new, every once in a while job, teaching at a college about 20 minutes even further from my home… Not complaining, as it supplements my income!
Then on Thursday afternoon I drove another 35 miles south to do some admin work for a midwife friend of mine who is converting her practice to electronic medical records. I spent the night at her house, so I could get an early start (and not waste time and money on driving!) and had this yummy breakfast…
Chicken sausage, mushrooms and eggs. Mmmm!
Here it is finished…
Breakfast plated. I love adding avocado!
I then set out for a long day of data entry and scanning. Totally worth it. As it could all be done via wifi I sat outside on the deck next to her pool and worked all day! The Vitamin D was welcome! BeBe loved it too…
BeBe loves being a Florida dog!
Janice came home just as I was cooking this for dinner…
Stir fry: Omaha steaks with scallion, garlic, mushroom and asparagus! OH MY!
I have found myself in a bit of a rut and a little down the past few weeks. My plan was to come home, work PT at the birth house and take time to get my health and fitness business up and going. Part of the problem with feeling down is that I COMFORT EAT 😦 I have caught myself reaching for things (mostly dark chocolate or Fritos) when I’m feeling sorry for myself. Two significant things happened yesterday to kick me back on to the right path.
One… I spoke with Jamie, my amazing logo designer, about getting my web site for the business going. She is so encouraging and gave me an assignment to get the text going. So do know that I am committed to getting the site up by FEBRUARY 1st (I say this more for me than anyone else, lol)
Two… I got a message on Facebook in my “other” folder, while on the phone with Jamie! I opened it and found these words (I’ve not posted the whole message)…
I just wanted to let you know what an inspiration your Dukan journey has been for me. I started Dukan on August 20th of this year and so far have banished 50lbs. I have about 35 more to go. Not sure how I came across your blog, but I have finally got caught up to date with your journey. Soooo many times I have turned to read a few days of your blog when I was battling cravings etc and the words spoke right to me!
Towards the end of the message the letter writer encourages me to write more posts, and I need to, and thank you for encouraging me to do that! This weekend I am going to write out a blog post schedule and STICK TO IT! Ironically, she and I started Dukan on the exact same day (a year apart) with the exact same weight to lose! How cool is that!?!!
I need to find myself. I need to take the time to immerse myself in solitude and write and write and write my business goals out, again, once more, so that it becomes clear again. I need to keep writing out my vision boards and focus on making them a reality. And I need to respect who I am, what I’ve achieved and continue to feed my body GOOD.CLEAN.FOOD! Because I look and feel better than ever!
How do you make sure that you turn your visions into reality? How do you keep yourself on track?
Ciao!
I set a goal at the start of the month to walk, run and hike 150 kms the month of September, and I met that goal… More than met it AND 7 miles (11.26 km) aren’t on here from my mountain hikes in NC last week. So here are the results…
160 kms + 11 = 171 kms!!
I’m very pleased with meeting this goal. Goal for October 165 km with a minimum of 60 kms of running 🙂
Ciao!
Today marks the end of my contract here in Hangzhou, China AND my last day of work. I fly home to the U.S. tomorrow and I am more than ready and SO excited!
I took the east sidewalk today… I would say that 80% of the time I take the west side. It depends a lot on the traffic lights 🙂 The darker tile is the Blind Person walkway, it is on every sidewalk in China that I’ve walked on. And the lane next to the sidewalk is the bicycle, e-bike, scooter lane. They have their own lane separated from the car traffic.
Last year I walked on my first day of work. I was a month into the Dukan Diet and I weighed 236 lbs/107.5 kgs. I was walking every day in Abu Dhabi for the prescribed 30 minutes. On that walk to work which is 1.5 kms/0.92 miles I decided that I was going to walk to and from work EVERY SINGLE DAY for the whole year of my contract. AND DAMMIT… I DID! I walked every single day to work for 12 months. My estimate (taking into consideration vacations and trips to work in other cities, where I also walked to work) is that here in Hangzhou I walked to work approximately 200 times. That’s 200 miles! Woot!
I have to admit that there were days that I was SO tempted to hail a cab or take the bus (it’s a .35 km walk to the bus stop, then it’s just one bus stop up)… there were 7 weeks in February and March where EVERY SINGLE DAY it was 41F and raining and it sucked… but I walked, because you set goals and you reach them and you feel like I do right this minute! 😀
I also walked home 90% of those days. The only days I didn’t was days that I was going into the city for groceries or dinner and caught a cab or bus. So my best guess is that I probably walked to and from work about 380+ miles over the course of this past year.
Did you get in your 30 minutes of movement today???
Ciao!
Consolidation Phase Day 128 of 500!
Weekly Weight: 146-149
Goal Weight: 155
So Consolidation DOES work 🙂 I can’t believe it’s been 128 days since I met my goal weight! This summer has flown by! I am very consistent with my weight, still weighing every morning and still VERY happy with the results!
This past week has been busy! I am moving back to the States on Thursday after living abroad for 4 years. I have been packed for over a month 🙂 I know, a bit OCD, but what to say. I’ve got 2 large suitcases and a large box as checked luggage (things I didn’t want to risk never seeing again if my shipped boxes disappear into the stratosphere or something.) It’ll be worth paying extra for the peace of mind.
Exercise this past week included running 4-5K 3 times. Walking 4-5K the other 4 nights. I also did 30-45 minutes of yoga 4 times the past week. I hiked the mountain 1 time this past week and hope to do it Tuesday morning as one last hurrah 🙂
I met Hanna and Diana and Jacob (next photo) on the street a couple of weeks ago. They are from Sweden and here to attend the University just down the block from my flat. Jacob had on a Miami Dolphins hat, so of course I stopped them 🙂 They’ve been to dinner a few times and I wish I had met them sooner!
Jacob
The weather in Hangzhou has been PERFECT this past 4 days. Sunny and a cool breeze. I’ve had the flat windows opened and the whole place is fresh. The summer heat was oppressive! So it’s a nice break.
Let’s see… what did I eat this week. Lots of tea eggs, as per usual. Lunches consisted of leftover roasts (both pork and beef), salad, cheddar cheese and almonds. Dinners were steak stir fry, pork roast, beef roast, shrimp stir fry and my new favorite way to cook veggies; veggies (broccoli, asparagus, carrots and garlic stems) steamed in coconut milk… OH MY you have no idea how good THAT is… a must try! I also had a dinner out with friends at a local sushi restaurant and a hot pot dinner… guests for dinner almost nightly, trying to cook up all the food in the freezer AND say good bye to friends, new and not so new.
Pork roast… Mmm!
Out for sushi with Baby Milva!
Out for dinner with Joe, Chiara and baby Nunu!
You throw in the meat and veggies and it cooks in the hot pot… the liquid on the left is spicy, spicy!!! Mmmmmm!
And I did my last water birth lecture in front of a hundred people or so in a nearby town. I hope my message got across to some folks and they have gentler births!
Me and Liang… on our way to my last water birth lecture. She’s the lead midwife supporting water birth at Hangzhou AIMA.
So, that’s my wrap up! How did your week go? Is it cooling down where you live?
Ciao!
I am really enjoying my walks and runs. That said, I was in Guangzhou for 17 days in August and pretty much unable to run due to the fact that there was nowhere safe to run 😦 The streets are full of people from 6 a.m. to midnight, so in order to safely run you have to get up and be out the door by 5 a.m.!
Needless to say I didn’t pound the pavement as much as I’d have liked this past month, although I got plenty of walking in. Here’s my August stats:
And here’s my stats since March:
I’ve nearly walked, run and hiked 700 kilometers/435 miles in 5 months! This is the breakdown:
Walking: 468.2 kms/290 miles
Running: 195.4 kms/122 miles
Hiking: 26 kms/16 miles
Staying active is key to losing weight and keeping it off. Just moving 30 minutes a day, even if it’s just walking, will benefit you in amazing ways!
What was your active movement on Monday?
Ciao!
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