My Surgery

Posted on May 14, 2012 by flamidwyfe

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.

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!

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…

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..

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

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!

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…

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

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

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!

Saturday, May 12

Then BACK to the train station to go to Taizhou!

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! 🙂

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.

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…

Here’s the wall banner for the event…

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…

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.

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…

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!

Recipe – Dukan – Pan fried Tilapia – Day 263

Posted on May 8, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Monday was a PP Day 🙂

Daily Weight Loss: 1.1 lb/0.50 kg
Total Weight Loss: 91.8 lb/ 41.71 kgs

Well, back to where I was last Friday (my lowest weight). We’ll see what tomorrow brings. This is a recipe post, so here we go!

Pan Fried Tilapia
Serving Size: 1
Total time spent in kitchen… Less than 15 minutes.

Ingredients:
2 lovely Tilapia fillets
PAM pan spray (I used 2 TBS coconut oil, which is not Dukan)
2 TBS bran meal or flax seed meal (I used flax seed)
1 TBS Italian seasoning
Salt to taste
2 large leeks, cut in chunks
1 smallish red onion, cut in chunks

Ingredients

Put bran/flax seed meal and Italian seasoning in flat plate. Stir to mix.

Coating

Heat pan to medium. Coat both sides of fillets until well covered and place in hot pan.

Sizzlin’ hot!

Cook for 3 minutes and then flip over carefully.

Mmmm, Mmmmm Good smells in the kitchen!

Cook for one minute and then add the onions and leeks to the pan and cover. Cook for 3 more minutes.

I’m not on a DIET… I’m on a LIVEIT!

Remove the fish from the pan and plate. Continue to saute the veggies for a couple more minutes.

I pinched a piece off while waiting for the veggies… YUMMY!

Plate the veggies and eat… This is the first time I’ve tried using the flax seed meal like this. I usually get my fiber in by stirring it in my yogurt… I’m disappointed that I waited all this time to try it! YUMMY! Enjoy with those you love… I did!

Wonderful dinner!

Went for a run after dinner in the pouring rain, which was awesome! There was practically no pedestrian traffic in my complex and no smokers, which just kills me when I run through a cloud of smoke (yes, I’m one of those ex-smokers!). AND… I GOT MY FIRST RUNNERS BLISTER! LOL. I know this wouldn’t make most people happy, but darnit, I feel like a real runner now! WOO HOO! 😀 I now know to wear my wool socks if I’m going to run in the rain… lesson learned. I run two different programs while I run. Bridge to 10K (B210K) and Runkeeper. The B201K to coach me through the run and the Runkeeper to track my total workout and be able to map it with the GPS. Runkeeper is also tracking my daily, weekly, monthly and annual distances! Since March I’ve run/walked/hiked a total of 201.6 miles!

Bridge to 10K

RunKeeper

RunKeeper Map

And this is me… at the end of the B210K run… I still had about 7 minutes of cool down to do, but couldn’t resist stopping for a shot… the high from running is better than any drug. Seriously… why the hell didn’t I do this a long time ago? Elation – that’s what it is 🙂

Happy, Wet, Elated, Satisfied, Amazed, Accomplished… etc 🙂

That’s the Monday report!

Ciao!

Dukan – Days 261 & 262 – Epiphany

Posted on May 7, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Well, it’s been a couple of days since I wrote a post. Mostly because it’s very difficult to write posts on my iPhone… which I have to do at my flat. C–hina has a problem with ba—-logs and 😀 -book 🙂 And blocked my V — P — eN on my home IP. So the only place I can use it is at Werk 🙂 Talk about paranoid… hehe. So on my days off I only have access through my iPhone. Anyhoo…..

Saturday was a half day at work and a PV Day 🙂
Sunday was a day off from work and a PV Day 🙂

Over the course of those two days I GAINED 1.1 pounds/0.50 kgs
Total Weight Loss: 90.7 lbs/41.21 kgs

Not worried. I ate everything right, so it wasn’t that. And I’ve gotten plenty of exercise, so it isn’t that… I think it’s just a fluctuation. I do have to say that these last 10 pounds are going to be the hardest to lose… oh wait… i’m getting the fat sucked out this week… YAY! 😀 Liposuction is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, I have to do a marketing event for the hospital in Wenzhou in the morning… gotta “pay” for that free plastic surgery.

So, after Thursday morning’s weigh in, I won’t weigh myself for 10 days. I don’t want to freak out. I know that with the natural inflammatory response of surgery, I will gain, that is the bottom line. Kitty (who will be with me throughout my surgery and recovery, bless her heart) has already said I want the fat that they take out of me WEIGHED… LOL. Kitty will also be taking pictures through the entire surgery and after AND she’ll write the post for Friday and possible Saturday… with pics. She’s such a good doobie!

The bad news 😦 Sadly, May 15th will be Kitty’s last day with me. As per Chinese tradition, she is “old” at the ripe age of 25 for not being married. Her mother is making her go back to her village and hook up with this guy she met over Chinese New Year. She promises me she won’t marry him if she doesn’t fall in love with him… and I believe her. She’s a smart girl and has learned a lot from her American momma (me)… LOL I am going to miss her like crazy. Vivi (not to be confused with Vivien aka ViviMokaLaka) is my new personal assistant. Nice girl, lots of experience, rolls her eyes at my sarcasm, because she gets it… she’ll fall in love with me… they all do 🙂

Saturday… INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE MIDWIFE. Since I was being a right shit about the fact that the Director of Nursing canceled our activities, I boycotted morning handover and rounds, did some PowerPoint work and left at noon to go hang out at the Vineyard with ViviMokaLaka and watch Aussie Football. I am a Geelong Cats fan, by association. And I really enjoy watching the game. I’ve stopped yelling things like “offsides” and “that was holding”… because those silly rules DO NOT APPLY!

Me on International Midwives Day:

I AM A MIDWIFE 🙂

I spent so much time at the Vineyard on Saturday that I ended up having lunch and dinner. Reuben, the chef, is from Boston and he reminds me of my son Nick. He also makes me whatever I want to stick to the Dukan Diet, which is awesome. I had an amazing grass-fed steak on a bed of gorgeous greens for lunch and then for dinner he made me a hamburger with sauteed mushrooms and onions and a wee bit of low-fat mozzarella… YUM!

**Added after post was completed, but before I published it… Ironically, while previewing my post, Reuben and his wife came in to my office! So we took a pic:

Notice the Chinese soda in his hand… he didn’t bring me anything 😦

Sharing lunch with the Vineyard cat:

She lives in the restaurant… I think it’s pretty cool… other people, not so much.

It’s all about the presentation… look how gorgeous this burger plate is!

Simple burger… plated perfectly 😉

Made it home around 830 and went out for a 35 minute run… in bed, sound asleep by 1030!

Sunday was my day off. I woke up bright and early at 535 a.m… WHAT THE HECK??? Tried to tell myself that this was a day off… we could sleep in until like 630, but nope, I was up. I hit the ground running. Made a cup of coffee and went nuts in the house cleaning. I finished up organizing Lucy’s boxes, which she is shipping back to Dubai, put my refrigerator magnets and pictures back on my fridge, LOL. Packed up two big suitcases full of stuff I don’t need here in China, to take back to the States in June when I’m home on vacation, cleaned out my closet… AGAIN… I barely have any clothes left, NOT COMPLAINING, did every piece of laundry in my house, including the sheets on both beds and remade with fresh “summer” linen (anyone want to come hang out? There’s clean sheets on the bed!!), packed up for my trip to Wenzhou this week (most underwear and PJ’s since I’m going to be down… and hey, PJ’s on the train ride back are appropriate in this country… lol). I also packed up my wok and the stupid hot plate I used for the first 4 months I was here, until I realized the gas stove worked… lol. I will use these to cook for myself in the hospital in Wenzhou… yes, I’m sticking to my damn diet! I swept, mopped and wiped everything down… and that was all BEFORE 9 A.M.! I slipped down and bought a few tea eggs from the tea egg lady and went back upstairs to check emails and FB. Phew! What a morning. In the afternoon my groceries were delivered from Shanghai and I separated out the meats, cut them into chunks for stir frying, and packaged up some for taking to Wenzhou. And at 430 Kira and Dan came over for a visit with the kids and Velina and Robin popped in with their baby, too. Kira and Dan are headed back to the States in a few days and I’m trying to get my fill of them before they go! Soren totally wrecked my immaculate house, lol, but he’s so stinkin’ adorable, I don’t care… here he is after drinking down his 2nd yogurt of the evening…

So cute I could eat him!

Soren… Momma Sandi’s gonna send you the Ayi bill for this week, buddy 🙂

After they left, I checked emails once again before bed… I had 2 emails from people who follow my blog (I AM SO AMAZINGLY HUMBLED THAT YOU ALL FOLLOW THIS BLOG). One of them was asking advise and the other one thanking me privately for a “put on your big girl panties and stop making excuses” comment I put on one of their blog posts. And this, is what I went to bed thinking about… excuses. And a long-time friend talked about starting her hcg injections AGAIN and I told her to start eating and stop using injections. And then this morning, a fellow blogger MJ, from emjayandthem, wrote this quote on a post from a couple of days ago: “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always had.” And then one of my favorite momma’s I delivered a million moons ago had this to say on Facebook:

Edited…. Sue sent me this link to the article that this quote comes from:

“Fat looks on the surface as though it is about a failure of restraint. It isn’t actually any more an issue of restraint than it is for many thin or medium-sized people. Most eating problems don’t show. Fat, which may or may not mean an eating problem, does. That doesn’t make it immoral or contemptible. It doesn’t mean the fat individual has faulty judgment or inferior leadership skills. It certainly doesn’t sanction discrimination. What it does demonstrate is that cruelty and stupidity arises when we are pressed to make our bodies into uniform shapes. This creates widespread body anxiety, and makes us search for a scapegoat to feel secure. We know from other forms of discrimination what a fruitless and lousy deal that is.”

And my reply was this:

“I have to disagree with this, Sue. Having lost more than 90 pounds over the past 8 months from learning restraint, I have to say that fat is just that… FAT. It comes from improper eating and from improper movement. When I started my journey to get rid of the fat I walked just 20 minutes a day. I hear people use the excuse all the time, that they don’t have time… my answer… shut off the computer for 20 minutes and take a walk. That was MY answer. My friend John is a life coach, we had a serious talking in August, before I started my quest to lose the fat and the one thing that I took away from his teachings is that we just use excuse after excuse for the way we look… how unhealthy we are. Fat is Fat… Fat is not healthy. A certain amount of fat is healthy, but not obesity. We get fat from poor choices. And once we stop making excuses and recognize obesity for what it is, instead of coddling each other to make us feel better, our nation will get healthier. Love you and hope you’re feeling better soon ♥”

And collectively that should be an epiphany to all us… FAT IS NOT HEALTHY. OBESITY IS NOT HEALTHY… STOP MAKING FRIGGIN’ EXCUSES AND DO JUST TWO SIMPLE THINGS… EAT BETTER AND MOVE! It really is quite simple! The first person who really, really pointed this out to me was John Geraghty, in August, during my life coaching session with him. And at the time it made sense… but now… 90+ pounds later… IT MAKES SENSE! REAL SENSE!

The bottom line is you have to realize that being fat and obese is not healthy and stop making excuses… NOPE, it’s not your thyroid, NOPE, it’s not your diabetes, NOPE it’s not PCOS or any other malady you have… it’s your life style. It’s the crap you eat and the fact that you aren’t MOVING. And if you simply… SIMPLY change those two things, it will make all the difference in your world. Stop saying you DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME to cook… I cook every single meal in UNDER 15 MINUTES… stop making excuses you DON’T HAVE TIME TO EXERCISE… get off your butt and walk out the door and get in 20 minutes… that’s ALL you need. 20 minutes… Turn off your computer and go do it… that is after you’ve finished reading my post… LOL.

SIMPLY…. STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND GET HEALTHY!

Ciao!

I’ll leave you with this quote from Mel at wwangel… she inspires me to get off my ass and run… Thank you, Mel for pushing me harder than you probably know you do 🙂 I am proud to know someone who is running the NYC marathon this year… You Go my Kiwi Friend!

S.T.A.R.T.!!!

Dukan – Day 260 – West Lake Hike

Posted on May 5, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Friday was a PP Day 🙂

Daily Weight Loss: +0.2 lb/0.10 kg
Total Weight Loss: 91.8 lb/41.71 kg
Stubborn last 10 pounds… LOL

I have Friday’s off and typically try to get out of the house early. I got out the door about 845, which is late for me, given that I’m up before 6. The sun is up very early here, around 530 a.m., and I’m a “be awake while the sun is up” kinda girl!

I took the city bus and finally found West Lake (by bus, that is… I’ve been there many times by taxi). My plan was to map out a running track for a guest blog post that I’m doing in July over at A Good Run.

I ended up meandering through some beautiful pathways, not really running safe, though. Which was fine. Because after the week I’ve had, I needed some serenity and I got it! You’ll see that in the pictures below.

After about a one hour walk, I found a Starbucks I didn’t know about, tucked in the trees next to the lake! I wasn’t planning on stopping there, my plan had been to hike about another 1/2 mile to the NE tip of the lake and have a coffee at that Starbucks. But I was drawn by the veranda overhanging the lake, so in I went.

Ordered a Venti Iced Latte w/Skim and headed up the winding stairs to the balcony. As I approached I noticed 3 local people sitting out there. As I opened the door an older man says, with a huge smile on his face, “We’ve been waiting for you all morning!”. At first I was surprised at his English, but managed to say immediately, “Well I’m glad you saved a seat for me!”.

It is challenging, dear readers, to live in a country where you do not know the language and a good deal of the people don’t know yours. I have what I call “China Moments”… not said in a positive light, LOL. But this was a wonderful China Moment. We sat and chatted, the 4 of us, for over an hour. The older man was quite a character, teasing us. What was amazing is that no one knew each other before walking on that balcony!

I needed that moment and God and the universe knew that. I really, really needed it. Funny how things work like that 🙂

Here’s a sampling of the beauty I saw along the way…

Sign at the head of the trail.

There are temples and gardens and even huts that you can rent for the night.

View over the “Little” lake. There are 2 lakes with walking causeway between them.

Stone bridge that crosses one of the many brooks that run through the park.

Cute little guy!

Gorgeous sculpture!

In her hands…

Quiet & easy to meditate in these gardens.

Been here 8 months… this is the first squirrel I’ve seen 🙂

Friends

Walking bridge over the connecting between the “little” lake and the “big” lake.

Path along the “big” lake… sorry for the finger in the shot… using my iPhone 🙂

View from the balcony at Starbucks.

One last pond as I exit the West Lake walk.

My route.

After finishing my walk, I took the bus to Kira’s to hang for a while… okay, well for a long time, LOL. But worth it. She’s moving back to the States on Wednesday and I’m going to miss her and Soren and Dan and Helena… a lot. I won’t miss their cat, Brooklyn, AKA “Tits”, because he’s moving in with me. I’ll have a wee piece of them here with me as a remembrance 🙂

Breakfast: 2 egg omelet with onions & garlic (I know, don’t fall off your chairs… ALERT! Sandi didn’t have tea eggs for brekkies!) Thanks for the idea Mel 🙂
Lunch: 2 tea eggs and 2 ounces of Edam
Dinner: 1/2 broiled chicken and grilled onions
Snack: pot of FF yogurt with bran and Splenda

Exercise:
2.76 mile walk along West Lake in morning
3.38 mile walk home from Kira’s in the evening

Ciao!

Dukan – Day 258

Posted on May 3, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Wednesday was a PV day 🙂

Daily Weight Loss: 0 – stay the same day
Total Weight Loss: 91.8 lbs/41.71 kgs

I’m going to keep this short… my momma always said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”… LOL

Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: 1 tin of tuna and 1 tea egg
Dinner: Shrimp with mushrooms and garlic stems with cumin and curry powder
Snack: pot of FF yogurt with bran and Splenda

Exercise:
1 mile walk to work
1.5 mile walk from 35mm coffee house to home
3.66 mile/5.97 km run in the evening…

May 2nd run… B210K Week 1 Day 2

And as easy as that, my blog is done for the day. Here’s hoping the week ends on a high note!

Ciao!

Dukan – Day 257 & Liebster Award

Posted on May 2, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Tuesday was a PP Day 🙂

Daily Weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.2 kg
Total Weight Loss: 91.8 lbs/41.71 kgs
**yesterday’s daily weight loss should have been 0.7 lbs, not 1 lb… I must have put transposed the numbers, so if anyone is following that, there has been an adjustment 🙂

Tuesday was May Day… May 1st and it is apparently a public holiday here, so I had the day off… paid. That was nice!

I woke up at 545 a.m. on my day off… UGH! Although I had been sleeping for nearly 8 hours I really, really wanted to see if I could stay asleep… yeah, no. So up I got, jumped in the shower, made a french press carafe of Peet’s Coffee… yum, and laced up my hiking boots with the intention of hiking up the mountain again. Then, while on the bus I decided I wanted to hike around West Lake. The lake is beautiful, it was early morning, shouldn’t be too much foot or bike traffic yet. So I got off the bus and according to my trusty GPS on my iPhone, waited for bus 81. And waited and waited. I finally figured out there was no such thing as Bus 81 😦

So I started walking towards West Lake. I got to a sweet little park and had a couple of tea eggs. I thought I’d need the energy for the 9 mile walk around the lake… while I sat there I got a text from Kira and decided I needed some Soren love, and headed her way, instead!

On the way, I stopped at Pacific Coffee and picked up an iced latte w/skim milk. And took this picture of myself…

Gotta work on that pooch!

I had a fantastic day hanging out with them… ALL DAY! Sat on the couch, cuddled with Soren, pet the cat, chatted with Kira, helped her pack up Soren’s bedroom and watched about 14 episodes (I’m not kidding) of Steven Seagal: Lawman. I actually enjoyed it! Dan brought us iced lattes in the afternoon and then we had Arabic food for dinner…. yum! An all around fun day!

I then walked the 3.41 miles home. That’s 5.48 kms 🙂 Nice walk. Here’s the results…

Nice walk home. The weather has been pretty decent the past few days, temp wise. After I got home I finished reading The Last Lecture and followed up on some emails… chatted with my daughter, Tiffany and off to bed at 10 p.m. I hope everyone is having a good week so far!

Ciao!

LOL… I forgot about the Liebster Award… 😀 My blogging friend Anna nominated me for this award and had this to say about it:

FIVE BLOGS THAT ARE ‘LIEBSTER’ TO ME…

1-Flamidwyfe’s Blog https://flamidwyfe.wordpress.com/ Sandi blogs about her adventures and spectacular success on the Dukan Diet while living in China and being a midwyfe. She is an awesome example of putting your dreams out there and living FULLY!! Also, I wouldn’t even be a blogger if it weren’t for Sandi xo

Five facts:

1. Each of my kids thinks that I favor the others over them… and at various times through their life cycles I have favored them. They are all VERY unique individuals. Right now my favorite is my “baby”, Tiffany LeAnn. She is an amazing human being on many levels and I am most proud to be her mom.

2. I consider myself Evangelical AND and from the Christian Left… some think that’s an oxymoron 🙂 I also love the teachings of Buddha!

3. I’ve been divorced for nearly 19 years… he’s a friend on Facebook. He’s the 2nd husband, who wasn’t a jerk and is still alive, thank God!… LOL. It’s important for people who divorce to put their kids FIRST… I think we mostly did that (there will always be a screw up or three along that path!)

4. I miss living in the Middle East more than I ever could have imagined! Everything about it.

5. I’ve done quite well with removing toxic people from my life and keep them out. It makes for a much cleaner living 🙂

5 blogs I nominate:

1. http://inspiringandhealthyrunninginlondon.wordpress.com/ … her running all over the world inspires me to lace up my shoes!

2. Mel at http://wwangel.wordpress.com/ My first runner’s blog… she ROCKS and is so encouraging to me… thanks Mel!!!

3. Abbi at Lil Monkey’s Mama… today’s post was especially thought provoking!

4. http://lipomachia.wordpress.com/ … a woman who has taken control of her diet after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Not only has she gained control over her blood sugar, but has lost weight to boot! She’s amazing and I’m in awe of her transformation!

5. And http://notimetow8.com/ … his weight loss and his running of his first 5K are spurring me on to keep training for MY 5K… Well done!

If you have been nominated, here is what you do to keep it rolling:

Each Nominee Should:

Choose five, up and coming blogs to give the Liebster award to. Blogs must have less than 200 followers.
Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
Post the award on your blog.
List the bloggers you gave the award to with links to their sites. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know they’ve received the award.
Share five random facts about yourself!

Dukan – Day 255 – Mountain Hike

Posted on April 30, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Sunday was a PV Day 🙂

Daily Weight Loss: 0.7 lb/0.30 kg
Total Weight Loss: 90.7 lb/41.21 kg

Well thank you to the scales… I was pretty happy to step on them this morning and see a loss!

I was up at the crack of dawn Sunday morning, had an omelet with onions and green peppers for breakfast and slid on the Chaco hiking sandals and headed out the door. It has warmed up here and I wanted to get my hike in before it was too hot. It had rained the night before…

The path leading up to the base of the mountain.

So I wanted to be very careful. I also took my time. I am still having some shortness of breath while climbing, which is frustrating me to no end, given I can run 40+ minutes without stopping… WTH??? Anyway, I kept reminding myself to slow down and took a slow and steady pace up the mountain.

Some of the stones have writings on them.

I like walking on the rough path because I think it helps with balance. You really have to concentrate (or at least *I* do) to stay balanced. A lot of the walkers go on the dirt paths on each side.

After walking/climbing for 1.6 miles, I turned around and headed back. I came upon this group and offered to take a pic of their group… they refused and asked me to become part of their pic 🙂

The guy in the blue shirt helped me out about 25 minutes later 🙂

I’m working on trying to get toner… I actually really don’t like my arms in this shot! I want to thank my friends, Teri and Terri for pointing out that I was wearing SANDALS and not my HIKING BOOTS… Anyhoo, I continued on my hike back… it’s really wonderful walking on the ridge of a mountain. Here’s the route…

It's a nice route up and down the ridge and back.

And as I was walking down the steps to the base, and actually… at THAT MOMENT, thinking about how well my Chaco sandals worked on the slippery, rainy stones, I fell on my ass! HARD! Having had multiple surgeries on my knees, I’m a PRO at falling. I seriously am 😀 A fact I am proud of. Falling on your ass, instead of putting the weight into your wrists, prevents fractures… EXCEPT MY ASS DOESN’T HAVE ANY PADDING ON IT ANYMORE! Or at least it’s greatly reduced! OW! And this is what your butt looks like with a big, deep, ouchy bruise on it…

LOL... you only live once... ViviMokaLaka is the best buddy you can have for documenting your life on film and YES, I have tats... more than a few and my mom has seen all of them.... Oh... and my ass is much smaller than it was 9 months ago... I never would have posted a bruise on THAT ass!

So, going back to the man in the blue shirt sitting next to me in the group shot. He ran up the steps, quick as lightening, to help me get up. I thought that was very sweet. And then he yelled at me, in Mandarin for hiking with sandals on… I showed him the bottom of the sandal in a plea for understanding, but he wasn’t having any of it! He then gave me HIS walking stick and told me (in Mandarin) to follow him the rest of the way down and to walk sideways so I wouldn’t fall again. What a sweetie 🙂 I made it down the rest of the way without any trouble… LOL

Here’s how the hike went:

Nice hike! I know that 909 feet isn't a huge climb up, but it's pretty impressive to me 🙂

So, that was my hike. I then met a couple of friends at 35mm Coffee shop for an iced latte, then went home and showered. I then walked to the hospital to give baby Lyla a bath and some lovin’. Just as I was leaving, Reuben from The Vineyard, was bringing a special request dinner into the room… He’s the guy that made me the special dinner on Saturday night to keep me PP for the day… he’s an awesome chef… reminds me of my son, Nick.

Reuben with Olivia

After seeing that yummy food, I went home and had a pan grilled chicken breast with onion, anoki mushrooms, regular mushrooms and garlic stems. Yummy!

Since I had done the hike, I didn’t run… instead read a little more than half of “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch. Awesome book, lots of wisdom.

So that’s it… nice, fully Sunday. Great way to end the week. I’m really enjoying my Sunday hikes!

Ciao!

Dukan – Day 248 – I DID IT :)

Posted on April 22, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Sunday was PV (Protein/Veggie) Day 😀

Daily Weight Loss: 0.9 lb/0.44 kg
Total Weight Loss: 90.2 lbs/41.01 kgs

So in 8 months and 3 days I’ve reached Dr. Dukan’s True Weight for me.
I also COMPLETED COUCH 2 5 K last night. So I reached TWO goals in less than 12 hours! 😀 😀 😀 😀

Breakfast: Bacon and egg omelet with bran
Lunch: Green salad with grilled chicken breast
Dinner: Ground beef, onions and mushrooms cooked Vietnamese lemongrass sauce. YUM!

Exercise:
2.15 mile mountain hike in the morning
3.11 mile run in the evening

I wanted to upload a couple pics, but the internet here in China is NOT cooperating 😦 I’ll see if I can upload them directly from my iPhone…

Bigger and better update coming soon with lots of before and after pics from the past year… should be fun!

Ciao!

Quote of the day: I’m determined to not die with millions in the bank, but memories in my heart! ~ Sandi Blankenship, in response to MJ 🙂

Pic I couldn’t upload earlier…

Dr. Dukan's True Weight met 🙂 I'm going 4.5 kgs less (10 pounds), as my own goal, but reaching this... AWESOME!

Dukan – Day 242 – Back on Track

Posted on April 18, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Tuesday was a Pure Protein Day… #2 out of 3 🙂

Daily Weight Loss: 1.1 lb/0.50 kg (that’s actually from 2 days)
Total Weight Loss: 86.3 lb/39.21 kg
Still 100 grams over my lowest weight which was last Tuesday.
I have 3.74 lbs/1.7 kgs to be at Dr. Dukan’s True Weight… but I’m going to drop 10 pounds below that, so I actually have 13.74 lbs/6.2 kgs to go… so doable 🙂

Breakfast: 2 Tea Eggs
Lunch: 2 Tea Eggs and a tin of tuna in water
Snack: 2 ounces of low fat cheddar
Dinner: Stir fried Chicken breast with onions and garlic cloves, seasoned with curry powder… yum!

Exercise:
0730 – 1.5 km walk to work
1200 – 1.5 km walk to home for lunch
1315 – 1.5 km walk back to work
1715 – 1.5 km walk back home
2015 – 5 km run around neighborhood in 43:27… my best time… I haven’t been able to get this number under the 44 minute mark! While doing this I completed C35K Week 8 Day 1.. just 2 days to go!

Finished a FABULOUS book called HeartSick by Chelsea Cain… recommended by my friend, Betsy… thanks Betsy!!!! I’ve already started on her 2nd book SweetHeart.

Sound asleep by 1015 p.m…. the weather has been very nice in Hangzhou!

Ciao!

Quote of the Day: “Learn to listen, instead of desperately wanting to be heard” ~ Ma Jaya

From RunKeeper iPhone app:

I had to keep reminding myself to pace...

My gated condo community has a loop road that just happens to be exactly 1 mile/1.5 km... how convenient 🙂

Dukan – Day 233 – Easter

Posted on April 9, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Sunday was a PP day 🙂

Daily weight loss: 0.2 lb/0.2 kg
Total weight loss: 85.8 lb/39.01 kg

Back to my normal weight loss 🙂 Still plugging along. I had the morning off for church and had a great time. A few things to note… people think that China is an atheistic country, when in fact, most people here are religious. The largest percentage being Buddhist. It is estimated that there are over 50 million Christians in China. And I have to say the church was rockin’ Easter Sunday morning. And yes, it’s a REAL church with a big ole cross on the top of it… just across the street from the Buddhist temple 🙂

The music was gospel with a bit of reggae and blues... totally awesome!!!

The really awesome thing about attending church outside of my home country is the diversity of the fellow church goers… you don’t see that so much in churches in the U.S…. it was the same in Al Ain… people from all over the world in church with you… it makes it so much more fun!

The kids group... rockin' the house at Easter services.

I then walked 2 miles to the bus stop for Bus 900 to take the 1 hour and 18 minute ride to work. Wasn’t too bad… I love people watching.

I then had another marketing event to ~~live through~~ smile through 🙂 Steve, Romina and I got up and sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”… the crowd loved it and the kids sang it in Mandarin… pretty cool.

I then went home and got another run in… I’m really trying HARD not to overdo it, but I love it so much! I can’t explain it better than that… took my time, worked on pacing, since I am now running for longer periods without stopping… I think I’m doing pretty well…

http://www.runkeeper.com

Breakfast: One baby bell low fat cheese roundy thingy, 2 tea eggs
Lunch: 1 tea egg, tin of tuna
Afternoon snack: 1 tea egg
Dinner: Stir fry pork loin with onions and garlic cloves… yum

Exercise:
1 mile walk to and from work
2 mile walk to the bus stop
2.98 mile/4.79 kms Run

I hope everyone had a nice Easter Sunday or Passover weekend!

Ciao!

Parting shot… PJ’s AND high heels in the tea egg line this morning!