Five Friday Favorites

The countdown to our annual family vacation in the USA is picking up speed! The good news is that we are less than one week from our departure. The bad news is that getting things organized is distracting me a little from blogging.

To make up for a couple missed FWTFL posts, I'm breaking it down into Friday Favorites:

1) Running - I'm loving the fact that I can now add running as an official option for my strength training warm up. It's a short little run, but I can do it without intervals. I've seriously come to appreciate all the small running moments because last year I thought my running days were o-ver. So, these little runs are super exciting for me right now!

2) Supersets - Strength training days are all about these lately and I love it (I talked about them in this post). My workout feels like it takes half the time, but my muscles feel like I was working out for hours! I'm also loving that the weight I'm using on the leg extension machine is not bothering my knee. Crossing my fingers that my quad muscle is getting stronger in that leg to help my knee even more.

3) 24-Hour Fast - The goal of a one day fast is to make it at least 18 hours, but 24 hours if you can. I started my fast at 6PM on Tuesday, after I enjoyed my last meal of the day, and made it to 22 hours. I broke my fast a little after 4PM on Thursday with a snack while I was making my favorite buffalo chicken quinoa dinner. This was my longest and best fasting day so far. If you haven't tried intermittent fasting, here is a great video from Yuri Elkaim, the author of The All-Day Fat Burning Diet:





And if you've been wanting to sign up for the FASTer Way To Fat Loss program, use my link to join and start carb cycling with me! 

4) National Smoothie Day - I did not have a smoothie on Wednesday (June 21) because I was out of spinach and Greek yogurt. I did make an acai bowl today for a belated National Smoothie Day celebration. I happened to find acai super green pre-made packs at our local Just Green shop, so I whipped up a bowl for me and a bowl for mrC. Today's toppings were granola, almond butter and goji berries. I'm still working out how to get the consistency just right, but this was my best one so far.

5) MY new dress - As in designed by me! I took a dress design that I like to a tailor in Shenzhen to have a new dress made. I picked out the fabric and told her what I liked. She did all the work and I'm thrilled with the final result. This dress is all about comfort, which is 100% me.

Other OOTD details sunglasses (here), shoes (here) and purse (here)

What are you loving this week?

I'm linking up with Lacey and Meranda and Rachel for the Friday Five 2.0!

And also with Nicole for the Fit & Fashionable Friday link-up

Hiking: 3 Best Parts of the MacLehose Trail Section 2

The SWIC hiking group from Shenzhen came over to Hong Kong to hike so I made plans to meet up with them. It was going to be an early start for me, so the night before I laid out everything including my hiking outfit. #flathiker

OOTD: shoes, sports bra, tank, shorts, long sleeve top, waterbottle, sunglasses,
(After checking and rechecking the weather, I switched to capris)

Since I live in Discovery Bay, I had to take the ferry to Central and hop on the metro there to meet the group at the University station on the East Rail Line. Having given myself plenty of time to get lost (and then not getting lost), I was more than early. I had plenty of time to use the toilets and buy myself some breakfast ---> a fancy version of a pop tart. I felt like I was 12 years old eating this thing, but it was good!

When the SWIC group arrived we jumped into taxis and headed to where we would jump onto section 2 of the trail. This part started with some rolling climbs, but we were distracted by the amazing views off to the right.

Instead of trying to explain the route of the hike and what we saw along the way, I thought I would just share my three favorite parts. This means that all that I am really leaving out are the long walks up and down in between. (Full disclosure, some of the ups were really UP!)

Three best parts to hiking Section 2 of the MacLehose Trail:

#1 The Beaches - It was picture perfect: blue skies, white sand, gentle melodic waves. When we arrived at the first beach it was as if we were all being pulled by a magnet out onto the sand. It didn't take long for us to start taking group selfies.

Sai Wan Beach

Ham Tin Wan Beach

#2 The Waterfall at Sai Kung Rock Pools - besides being just stunning (the water was really that blue), it was an adventure to get to them. About six of us braved the more challenging climb to really get up close. If it had been warmer, I bet I would have pictures of SWIC hikers swimming and jumping off the rocks.

#3 Lunch - ok, this is not about the food. Well, not really. I loved that we had to cross this seriously shanty bridge to get inland. It was as unsteady as it looks in the photos. On the other side were two snack shack type restaurants and public toilets. For those of us who did not pack a lunch, this place had sandwiches, rice, noodles, beverages, and ice cream ---> all the important stuff.

After lunch we hiked our way back inland to catch a bus and a taxi back to the metro station.

Although my watch died on the hike, here's what I know:

distance: 13.5km
time: 5 hours
Step total: 24,847!!

Other hiking posts I've written:

Exploring Chiwan, Shenzhen
Shenzhen International Garden & Flower Expo Park
Dragon's Back and Big Wave Bay
Shenzhen Botanical Gardens
Kuta, Bali: Mt. Batur Sunrise Trek
Hiking: Tai O to Tung Chung
Hiking Discovery Bay: Lookout Point Loop

What I Use To Work Out At Home

The most expensive piece of fitness equipment I own is a treadmill and my husband has an adjustable weights set. I really have no desire to make our basement a home-gym filled with equipment, so I try to use what I already have at home or buy gear that is multi-purpose. 

Today I'm sharing 5 pieces of fitness equipment for great at home workouts.

Paper Plates - Instead of buying gliders (aka sliders), I use paper plates on the carpet for a variety of exercises. Right now I use them to do reverse lunges.

Step Stool - Another item that I already have around the house, this replaces the typical fitness step up you might find in aerobics class. I've been using it to do weighted step ups as part of my rehab, but in the past it served as the elevated surface for squats and lunges.

Adjustable Weights - Like I said, I lucked out because mrC already had these, but I did look into getting my own and found these at Target. There are so many ways to use these. I also own a 2 pound pair for doing high rep arm workouts like you get at a barre class.

weighted reverse lunges with paper plate sliders

Balance Board - I actually bought this for littleC when she kept spraining her ankles during soccer. It's a great ankle strengthener. Now I use it as part of my knee rehab. It's not as good as a Bosu Ball, but it's a good option.

adjustable height to increase the difficulty

single leg balance exercise

Stability Ball - After using this in SurfnTurf classes and at PT, I decided it would be a good investment because you can do so many things with it. I focus on hamstring curls right now, but you can also use it to increase the difficulty of core work and bridges.

hamstring curls

Dressing for my at-home workouts requires layering as our basement (although finished) is not heated. It's actually perfect for working out. I just shed the layers as I go.

Top layer: Oiselle Spring Funnel Neck and Nike Athletic Pants

Oiselle Distance Shorts

Oiselle Scantron Tank

TGIF!!

Linking up with #FitnFashionable Nicole

and also Fitness Friday Jill and Cynthia, Courtney, and Mar for Friday Five