Tag Archives: yoga

Dukan Diet Redo – Day 2 – Attack

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

Feeling good, no tummy troubles, eating perfectly 🙂

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

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

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Time to finish packing for my flight!

Ciao!

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Dukan – Consolidation Day 451 of 550

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Monday was a PV day.

I commute 70 miles one way to work on Monday and Wednesday. I’m dedicated to the work that my fellow midwife Miriam does, and therefore have a part-time job as the administrator there. It’s fun, hectic, crazy, loud, beautiful, frustrating and awesome there.

Breakfast: Dukan pancake and cup of coffee
On drive: 500 mL water
Lunch: Spinach & arugula salad with chicken chunks, 500 mL water
On drive: 1000 mL water
Dinner: 2 lean pork chops with broccoli
Snack: FF Greek yogurt with splenda and flax seed meal

Exercise: 25 minute walk + 20 minutes of yoga

Today is a work at home day and lunch with a friend. I hope everyone is having a good week so far!

Ciao!

Happy 2013!

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Wow… what a CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY year! 42 Take offs and Landings… 91,000 air miles logged. From huge airplanes (Boeing A380) to a small 9 seater. China, Hong Kong, U.S., Japan and the Bahamas.

I completed the Dukan diet in May, having lost 111 pounds! And for the most part have kept it off. I bounce up a few pounds, readjust and it comes back off.

I went from not being able to run for 45 seconds to running 5K and completed one. I am now training for a triathlon next August with bloggy friends Cindy, Sandra and Anna and can’t wait!!!

I’ve also done yoga and a program called D.I.R.T. regularly… D.I.R.T. kicks my ass!

Last year I brought New Years in with my dear friend Lucy in Hong Kong…

New Years Eve in Hong Kong Dec 31, 2011. With Lucy Rowney.

New Years Eve in Hong Kong Dec 31, 2011. With Lucy Rowney.

Crazy how much has happened in the past 12 months! Crazy how blessed and fortunate I am to have the people in my life that I do. Crazy how lucky I am to have an amazing job with two crazy women that I adore and love working with!!

December 2012Lorie, Me and Miri

December 2012
Lorie, Me and Miri

The next adventure? Planning a conference for birth workers in Ecuador for July this year and planning my own little trip into Peru to visit Machu Picchu afterwards. It’s going to be an amazing trip!

What are your plans for 2013?

I hope all of you have a blessed, amazing, healthy and prosperous 2013!

Ciao!
Sandi 🙂

 

Day 3 – National Health Blog Post Month

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Todays’s blog prompt… “I don’t know about this, but I’d like to.”

The effects of a high protein-low carb diet on running, exercise and training for a triathlon.

There is A LOT of conflicting information out there in regard to eating a Paleo/Primal diet and how it affects your body during and after high impact exercise. Even some of the most hard core Primal supporters like Mark at Mark’s Daily Apple says its nearly impossible.

Mark says:

So, how does an endurance athlete go as “primal as possible”? Here’s my take. When you go for endurance training, you face (among other physical strains) the necessity of increased carb intake and all its negative results (e.g. inflammation, AGEs, impaired immune function, etc.). Myself, I had a half-gallon of ice cream, loaf of bread and cereal habit going to refuel every day for years. At the time, I didn’t see an obvious impact on my performance, but I later realized I was causing long term damage. A better, more Primal approach to a training diet includes meals full of veggies (universal recommendation, yes) as well as the judicious use of fruits and tubers for added “healthier than grains” carb sources. (Of course, your diet should include a hefty supply of protein and natural fats.)

So his suggestion is to add tubers, lots of veggies and fruits to boost the carb intake during events and training. I’m going to work on that this week.

What health info would you like to know more about? Or what health info would you like featured here? Working on doing research everyday to continue improving my life 🙂

Ciao!

My colleagues went to Bali and all I got was this very cool outfit…

On a side note, I am 3 pounds over my “5 pound window”, which is 143-148. I was 151 this morning… ACK 😦

I totally know what caused this, lol! Halloween and Disney. They should both be banned! Going to do 3 PP (pure protein) days to knock it out. I’ve also not been getting in my flaxseed meal (I use that instead of oat bran) on a daily basis, so need to be more mindful of that! I’m back to running and it feels so good and I’m back to near daily yoga, even if its only 10 minutes!

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Day 1 – National Health Blog Post Month

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So, this month is National Health Blog Post Month and I’m going to attempt to put out two posts a day for this month 🙂

The first assignment – “Why I write about my health”

I write about my health because I began my amazing journey 15 months ago by starting the Dukan Diet. I decided to post daily to hold myself accountable to myself, my family and friends and it has grown to so much more!

I’m most proud to say that I’ve maintained my weightloss within a 5 pound range for SIX MONTHS!!

Do you write about your health? If so, why?

Ciao!

Here’s a few pics of my amazing week I’m having…

Yoga on the beach, photo by the Amazing Mona

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Halloween Day at work…

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Me and Angie Z…

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Me and BeBe…

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Dukan – Sunday Celebration and weekly wrap-up!

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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!

hot pot, hangzhou

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!

midwife, china water birth

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!

Yoga and Endurance Training

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😀 I’m going to start with that silly grin because right after typing that title, I had a good chuckle. The thought that I’m actually writing a POST on a BLOG about Yoga AND Endurance Training, has me giggling… even as I typed this sentence 🙂

So most nights when I’ve come in from either a doing a 5K run, interval training or walk I do  about 30 – 40 minutes of yoga, pilates, stretches and tension band work. Nothing formal, just my favorite stuff from each of those disciplines.

The yoga and the pilates help center me and strengthen my core and the stretching during those help my muscles after a good workout. It feels great and I usually do it jamming to Lady Gaga and Bon Jovi. Funny combination!

I found this post in my inbox this morning and I am even more dedicated to doing yoga in a more formal way after reading it, as I’m planning on doing a triathlon next August with 3 bloggy friends… Anna, Sandra and Cindy. It’s going to be a blast! I can’t wait to get home and start my formal training!

Here’s the link and I hope everyone is having a fabulous week!

http://m.usatriathlon.org/about-multisport/multisport-zone/multisport-lab/articles/benefits-of-yoga-for-endurance-090412.aspx

The first two paragrahs

Why Yoga Can Benefit Endurance Athletes

By Kellye Mills

Yoga is most often associated with benefits such as flexibility, stability and strength, all of which are very important. However, it’s not as often associated with endurance, which is yet another wonderful advantage to be gained from yoga classes. Endurance athletes spend countless hours training their neuromuscular and metabolic systems in an effort to increase their endurance so that they may race efficiently for extended periods of time. However, the hours spent using their bodies to swim, bike, and run can often lead to injury and burnout.

These exercises require a great amount of strength endurance in order for your muscles to repeatedly produce and sustain maximal power output over the course of the activity. Certain types of yoga classes are designed with strength endurance in mind providing opportunities for your body to repeat exercises requiring a great amount of strength with little to no rest. This creates a similar effect to that of the training we usually endure without the added stress on our bodies from too many miles of swimming, biking and running….

Ciao!