A Day in Kennebunkport

One perk to traveling is the hotel breakfast. It's a quick and easy way to fuel up for a day of adventure. I'm a big fan of scrambled eggs.

We rounded up the girls and their buds, and headed up the coast to Kennebunkport to show them the summer home of our 41st POTUS. 

Our first stop was to view Walker's Point. According to the locals, George H. W. is a pretty good neighbor. The Mrs. is often spotted walking on the beach with her walker. There's always a flag flying when they're in residence, but not today.

Then we took some pictures.

We headed back to town and had lunch at Ports of Italy. We were all stuffed so afterwards we walked around and enjoyed the downtown area. We all agreed it was like a small Newport, RI.

The cloudy skies never seemed to break and while the kids got some Ben & Jerry's, mrC and I opted for some hot chocolate.

It was another great day with the girls. 

Don't forget to check out my book giveaway here.  

Weekend Wrap-up

The weather was absolutely gorgeous in Shenzhen all weekend. These are the days you wait for all winter and after a week of rain, they were so needed.

We enjoyed a morning walk on Saturday. We sat and warmed ourselves in the sun for awhile. I can understand why cats seek the sunshine for a little nap.

We hiked Nanshan Mountain on Sunday. It was a busy place, but we were there early enough to beat most of the crowd.

On Sunday evening, we went for a sunset walk and enjoyed some people watching. The skyline has changed a lot since we arrived almost a year ago and more new buildings are still hiding behind the old ones.

30 Day Pilates Body

Day 25: guest (inner thighs)

Loved this workout!! The crossing of my legs really made me feel my inner thighs working. 

Day 26: pick a favorite 

I picked day 25 to repeat. Why not use a good thing when you have it at your fingertips? My inner thighs need the work. 

21-Day Arm Sculpting 

Day 17: 15 reps!!

Had to channel my TI Fitness peeps to get through this one.

Day 18: rest

#RunnersLoveYogaFlow

Day 5: standingL

These are tough. Balance, flexibility, and strength all in one.

Day 6: revolved half moon.

Seriously tough. I tried to make it fun by doing it on the side of the mountain. I entertained the little Chinese ladies doing their tai chi. 

We had dinner out on Saturday and picked up some Easter flowers on the way home. 

I hope all of your baskets are filled with happiness and peace today and always!

How To Avoid DOMS

Yesterday's HIIT class was (not surprisingly) a shock to my body. I did more jumps, squats, and lunges (with weight) than I have at one time in a lonnnggg time. I knew that if I didn't get proactive, I was going to be suffering from delayed onset muscle soreness something fierce. No fun.

Here are some of the ways that I have learned to beat DOMS:

Stretching
All day long. As soon as I got out of bed, I started stretching. The more I moved around, the more I stretched. During our morning walk, when my muscles were warmed up, I stopped and did some deeper stretches and held them for longer.

Staying Active

After the walk, I did some yoga. Yoga Camp day 25 focused on strength poses, but like all good yoga sessions, I came away feeling looser.

30 Day Pilates Body. Day 4. A HIIT workout. Oh, the irony. This 8 minute video was actually not that bad. Making my muscles work helped push out some of the soreness by getting my blood pumping. 

Foam rolling 

Owwwww. This was by far the most painful method of the day, but an easy way to release the tension in those sore muscles.

Protein 

Consuming extra protein is said to help our bodies recover faster. Breakfast: eggs and yogurt. Lunch: Quinoa and tuna leftovers. Hemp hearts on my salad. Berry spinach protein smoothie. 

How do keep DOMS away??

A Killer HIIT Class

I'll try almost anything once, and sometimes I'll want to go back for more even if I got my butt kicked.

But first. 30 Day Pilates Body Challenge 

Day 3 - booty
Lots of bridges, but the most intense variation? Feet together (not pictured) activates the glutes, hamstrings, and inner thighs! 

My goal for this challenge:

Keep up and keep in touch. Simple, right? It should be since the workouts are 10 minutes or less.

So today I tried another new fitness center and class. I left the apartment with plenty of time to walk to Vitality Fitness Center. Thank goodness they have a nice lounge area because I arrived for a 10:00 class that actually starts at 10:40. Oops. I was super early, but entertained by the videos playing and the Zumba class that looked like a group of professionals.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) Class was the epitome of intense. The instructor (who had just led the Zumba class BTW) gave us a fierce mix of exercise circuits.  Squats to shoulder press to skaters. Mountain Climbers to pushups to jump squats. Jump rope to dead lifts to plank. Crunches, crunches, crunches! We never stopped moving.

My body. My legs. I'm pretty sure I haven't had a workout that intense since SurfSet and Boot Camp in the fall. I got my butt kicked and then I bought a 10 class pass.

When I got back to the apartment, I tried to keep my lunch healthy. Pineapple berry protein smoothie with quinoa and tuna. On the side I added one cup of dry Rice Chex cereal. I have a need for crunchy.

I was exhausted. And I loved it!

Do you like HIIT workouts?

Practice, Practice, Practice!!

mrC and started the day with a walk before he had to go to work. Sometimes the environment just invites me to strike a pose. Even though I was just playing around, I noticed right away that doing this pose was A LOT easier than it was a couple of months ago. Consistent yoga practice really does work.

Speaking of yoga practice, I went back to my regular studio for a Flow with Alignment class. This studio has more space than the new one I found across the street. I tried to take a picture of the removable wall they use to open up the room when the class fills up, like today. I decided to get another pass even though it is more expensive, because sometimes I like to just be a part of the crowd. 

This class felt good. I was feeling a little sore from yesterday's yoga and Pilates workouts, but I felt strong. It also felt good to know what I was doing most of the time and I was able to keep up just by watching since the class was ALL in Chinese!

While scrolling through my Instagram feed, I came across a new challenge. I've been talking about Pilates a bunch lately and I believe that everything happens for a reason, so I took this as a sign that I was meant to do it. 

What new challenges are you taking on lately?

Twisted Yoga Benefits

I love a good twisted yoga pose. Especially first thing in the morning and today my yoga camp video delivered.

Twisted yoga poses have lots of benefits. This is good to know because some poses are downright uncomfortable! Now, whenever I feel like bailing out of a pose, I try to think about how good my body and mind will feel after.

Half Twist Pose:

This one challenges my bad posture. I have to work hard to hold a straight back and open shoulders. It's good for your chest, spine and back. It strengthens core muscles and encourages internal organ activity.

Thread the Needle (Revolved Child's Pose):

One of my favorites because it just feels good. Good for upper chest, opens shoulder muscles, and gets blood flowing to upper body.

Revolved Lunge Pose:

There is so much going on in this pose that it feels good when I hit it. The lunge part of the pose both strengthens the quad and stretches the hip flexors. Adding in the twist engages the core for balance and stimulates those internal organs. I also feel a good stretch in my upper body because I have tight shoulders.

One of the best ways to celebrate a good yoga session? Go on a sunshine walk.

Morning walks are just so much better with skies like this.

What is your favorite/least favorite twisted yoga pose?

Full Day and Full Body Workout

I could not get the China Internet to cooperate, so I missed my morning yoga session.

There was no time to dwell about it though. We hopped on the ferry and headed to Hong Kong for a little belated bday shopping!!

My bday gift from mrC!!! Of course the watch that I got had no charge...had to wait until we got back to the apartment to play with it.

Back at the apartment, I got in a full body afternoon workout. Abs, legs, arms.

3 minute Ninja abs. Still a favorite.

10 minute butt and thigh video. I'm liking this one.

Dirty Dozen interval style. 40 seconds work, 5 seconds rest. I did it this way since I have lighter weights, I could push the reps.

We made crockpot chicken for dinner and then went for an evening walk.

I can't wait to play with my watch!!!

What kind of sport/activity/running watch do you have?

4 Reasons Morning Workouts Rock!

Another morning of working out is in the books. I love getting back to my routine. Not that I don't love a trip to the Maldives (I may mention this in every post for awhile, you've been warned!), but when I'm not on vacay it feels good to start the day with fitness.

Today I grabbed the iPad and got warmed up with Yoga Camp. The intention for day 18 was I Surrender.  I kept this on my mind during all of my workouts.

During yoga I tried to let go of my obsession to make every pose perfectly aligned. I surrender my need for perfection.

During the Fitness Bender: Butt & Thigh video, I pushed through the squat jumps even though my legs were burning by that point. I surrender feeling intimidated by shaky legs.

I learned about Fitness Blender from my friend Nicolasa. They have a ton of free workout videos.  I followed up my leg workout with Upper Body Workout. I surrender to the power of weights.

Finally I did a 5 minute ab workout from Popsugar. The last move was so hard, I had to stop twice. I surrender feeling inadequate for taking breaks.

Yoga, legs, arms, core. I was busy this morning and I love it! I'm sure there are lots of reasons why working out in the morning rocks, but here are some of mine:

1. Great way to wake up - getting moving always shakes off the sluggishness.

2. Sweat-n-shine then I'm ready for the day - I definitely have more energy to take on the day.

3. Rumor has it we work out more in the AM - for me this is so true.  Life gets in the way if I try to workout later in the day. It's easier to get it done first thing.

4. Starts the calorie burning furnace for the rest of the day - I don't know how this works, but it's ok with me if it's true!

After all that working out, I took my sweaty self for a walk to cool off and look who came out to play. My shadow! I haven't seen sunshine in about 5 days and wow, I missed it.

When do you workout?

Banana Peanut Butter Protein Bars

I'm not a fan of bananas. True story: a friend once chased me around the dorm lounge trying to make me touch the mushy fruit inside. Totally freaked me out.

Now that I'm miles away from that silly college girl, I love to use them in my homemade protein bars.

Making the protein bars was an excellent follow up to a morning climb up Nanshan mountain. It's been cold and cloudy in Shenzhen since I got back from the Maldives (yes, I love saying that!), but we made it to the top without getting rained on.

Banana Peanut Butter Protein Bars are one of my favorite homemade snacks. I haven't been making the best food choices lately, so I checked the ingredients for my recipe and figured I could still make them here in China. And they're still gluten free.

Here's my recipe:

2 cups quick cooking gluten free oats

1 cup protein powder (I use vanilla)

1/4 cup organic buckwheat flour

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 cup nut butter (I use almond butter)

1/4 cup honey

2 mashed ripe bananas 

1 tbsp cinnamon

Mix together. Spread about 1/2" inch thick onto cookie sheet lined with cooking-sprayed wax paper. 

Bake 350 degrees 15 min. 

Remove from wax paper. Let cool and cut.

I always have a couple right away. 

After the hike, I met mrC at the salon. He got a haircut and I got my nails done. They were seriously overdue. 

On our walk back to the apartment, I saw this scooter and now I think I want one. Except it would put a dent in my Fitbit stats. 

We didn't do the souvenir thing on our trip. We bought some incidentals: post cards, a disposable underwater camera, sunscreen. It was enough to earn a free gift and tonight we put it to use while making dinner. I love it!

Do you make your own snacks?
Souvenirs or no souvenirs when you travel?