Low Impact Activities Give Me Balance

A morning walk after a few days of HIIT workouts felt pretty good, especially with views like this. I walked the hilly route yesterday for my low intensity sustained state workout and enjoyed every step.

When I got back, I spent some time outside with my SIL's dog. I'm trying to teach her how to take selfies like Booney. She's a little camera shy.

It was so nice outside that I decided to do some backyard yoga. Earlier in the week, the weather forecast said it was going to be grey and rainy all week. I wasn't going to spend an extra second inside if I could help it!

My look: tank and pants and flip flops

My backyard yoga flow focused on poses that give me a good stretch and open up my hips and shoulders. Then I did some poses that are challenging to me. They challenge my flexibility and my balance. My left heel is still bothering me (so I have to say on my toes), but I can still move through my go-to yoga sequence without much pain.

Not wanting to go inside, I helped my SIL out by watering the new lawn. It's amazing how fast the grass is coming in.

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Yesterday was the kind of morning that runners wait all summer for. I would be lying if I said that I didn't miss it. I found myself thinking about it a lot on my walk yesterday. But I've also come to really enjoy taking walks and I do a lot more yoga than I ever did pre-knee issues. Walking and yoga give me a feeling of balance that I think was missing from my fitness before.

Balance: An even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady. Stability of one's mind or feelings. 

My workouts ---> high intensity and low intensity combined make me feel balanced both physically and mentally. During HIIT workouts I'm in the go, go, go frame of mind and pushing my body to its max. There's no room for reflection. Even when I was running, I was always thinking more about the distance, the time, my body. LISS workouts let my mind and body rest. I'm able to connect with myself more emotionally. I feel more aware and STABLE doing both types of workouts.

Speaking of awareness...October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I'm joining up with FitApproach and AfterShokz to get #AwareWithPink and I challenge you to join in too!

Until October 31st, AfterShokz is donating 25% of proceeds of every unit sold on aftershokz.com to Bright Pink, a nonprofit organization specializing in breast and ovarian cancer awareness and education. AND every time #AwareWithPink is used on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, AfterShokz is donating an additional 25 cents to Bright Pink! So get to hashtagging, sweeties!

All month long you can help spread the #AwareWithPink message. Follow FitApproach on Instagram and Twitter and look for the weekly prompts every Wednesday and Friday and help raise BCA awareness.


How do you find balance?
How will you challenge yourself to raise BCA?

Interval Run, a Water Bottle and on a Booty Roll

When I woke up this morning I had a feeling that it was time to go for a run. It had rained over night, but Mother Nature was on my side and kept the skies dry. I set up my interval timer with a goal to do 25 intervals doing 25 seconds run/25 seconds walk.

The run went pretty well. I had to stop after the 20th interval because I had a little pain on the meniscus side of my knee. The sidewalk near my SIL's house has some pretty good dips that may have aggravated it. But I ran/walked almost 2 miles. I'm happy with that.

Oddly I didn't know what to wear today. It was 50 degrees, which in the past would mean tank and shorts (no brainer). My body doesn't always warm up as much doing run/walk intervals. In the end I opted for a tee, but could've done the tank. Oh well.

Even though my runs are short nowadays, I still carry my water bottle with me. It's been a while since I talked about my water bottle. This bottle is designed with a hook shape to be carried hands-free. It hooks onto the back of running bottoms (which should be tightened to hold up to 13 oz.), running belt, a pocket, or even a sports bra.

The first time I ran with this bottle (4 years ago!!), I actually FORGOT that it was there! That's how simple it is. And it's made in the USA!! If you are interested in getting one for yourself, let me know...I'm a member of the Run Team and have a DISCOUNT CODE! PS - this is not a sponsored post. Just a shout out because I love this bottle that much!

More info on the Simple Hydration website

After my run I was reading blogs about running (you do that too, right?) and Amanda reminded me that I need to make sure my glutes are awake by taking a couple of tests. Since I had that little knee pain during my run, I thought it was perfect timing. After taking the tests (which I think I passed), I went ahead and did the recommended exercises plus a few more. Check out her blog post here.

I figured I was on a booty roll, so I did a few more exercises using the resistance bands. I don't think I was over-doing it because these also worked my other leg muscles.

WIA:

How do you solve your what to wear to a workout dilemmas?
Ever test your glutes?
Favorite meal in the fall? ---> I made my favorite crockpot chili (leftovers pictured above)

30 Day Shred Begins

We're going to be hanging out in Montreal for a few weeks for mrC's work, but we have some pretty nice digs at the hotel. Since I'm starting 30 Day Shred, another carb cycling and intermittent fasting program, I was excited to see that the room had a little kitchen area.

What is 30 Day Shred?

After watching the introduction video from Amanda, here is what I learned:

• Takes the best parts of Carb Cycling Level 1 & 2 
• Uses a CUSTOMIZED IIFYM (if it fits your macros) plan
• Puts less emphasis on being GF and DF (no more guilt over cheese and yogurt!)
• Uses an optional shortened feeding window to get in your daily calories
• The workouts: speed, strength training with focus on lower body, and running (this should be interesting for me and my knee) 

During the program we will be using two APPS:
OTR (On The Regimen) - to set custom macros and use with MFP
MFP (My Fitness Pal) - to log food/workouts and track macros

My OTR custom macros look like this (training = regular calorie day and rest day = low cal day):

Then using the customized macros, I input into MFP. I also upgraded to Pro and created goals for each carb cycling day, although I think my low carb day needs tweaking.

I started day 1 bright and early in the fitness center doing an elliptical sprint workout. We jumped right into intense with 20 intervals of 20 seconds on and 20 seconds off. I was secretly hoping my knee would give me another sign that it was up for an outdoor run. Maybe tomorrow.

We missed the shopping window when we arrived yesterday (stores close early here on Sunday), so after mrC went to work I found my way to both Walmart and a local grocery to stock up on some breakfast and lunch items.

Best find of the shopping trip was sweetener for my coffee and tea. Liquid stevia is the best!

I saw this postal box on our after dinner walk and think Canada has way better taste in mail than the USA. What do you think?

I want to stay on track during the 30 Day Shred, so I'm back to blogging every day. My first round of carb cycling was a huge success and I attribute a lot of it to the fact that I blogged EVERY day about my workouts and what I ate.

What I ate on low carb day:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs and Canadian bacon (what else, right?), coffee
I'm out of practice and almost forgot the plate photo ;)

Lunch: veggie burger, salad with parmesan cheese, ranch dressing, celery and hummus, diet dew
Can you believe all that food is only 370 calories? It's crazy how full I feel when I eat well.

Dinner: another salad, tuna, some green beans, and diet dew
I completely forgot the meal pic, so I compensated with a shot of the unprepared items ;)

Snack: Around 3:00 I satisfied a little sweet tooth and hunger with an low carb bar. These things are seriously sooooo good!

MACROS: Low carb days on MFP always confuse me because the app doesn't calculate net carbs (carbs minus fiber). My net carbs were 34 (yay), but my calories were 523 short (not good). The crazy part is that I feel satisfied and had plenty to eat.

Ever been to Montreal?
What tricks do you use to stay on track with your nutrition?
What Apps do you use to track your fitness/nutrition?

Backyard Workout and Random Fun Stuff

My body is still working its way through my 12 time zones journey. Today I slept until 7:30 (which never happens!), but I finally felt refreshed when I woke up.

I grabbed some weights, my iPad, and a towel and hit the backyard for my workout.

Today I was feeling spunky, so I choose a Jillian Michael's workout video. It's called an ab workout, but it is really for your whole body. Even she says so. The hardest exercise is a side plank knee twist move. It works the obliques and the inner thighs. My inner thighs need A LOT of work.

My favorite exercise today was a reverse lunge. Normally lunges and squats are uncomfortable for my bad knee, but today they felt ok. I think that doing the workout on grass may have helped.

To cool off after the workout I jumped into the pool again. I've been searching for a new tankini to replace the one I've had for four summers now and yesterday I found one at Dick's Sporting Goods when we were picking up a bike rack for the rental car. It's from Calia by Carrie Underwood and it's super cute. The description fit me perfectly: "Keep it casual and classic this swim season with this flattering design. The CALIA™ by Carrie Underwood Solid Strappy Tankini Top has all of the swim-ready features you need without sacrificing style"

All good workouts should be rewarded, so I helped myself to one of my SIL's gluten free muffins before enjoying some scrambled eggs prepared by mrC.

Other fun moments from the day...

I voted absentee in the primary!

I picked up some gifts at Giftology while mrC was at Verizon.

And then I booked my tickets to Orlando and Cincinnati! I can't wait to see my parents and more of my family.

Get After It

Feast day is a fun day...for eating.

The feast day workout is not my favorite. It consists of an arm circuit and a leg circuit. The arm circuit is hard 10 sets of 10 pushups, plank pushups, and tricep dips. I can do all the tricep dips, but I have to modify the other two. I usually do 5 sets of 10 and then 5 sets of 5. I do what I can to get through it.

The leg circuit is easier, but my knee is not a fan. There are lots of squats and lunges. I power through as much as I can and modify where necessary.

Feast day means I can eat all the fruit and knowing that helps get me through the feast day workout. I'm taking full advantage of my sister-in-law's Ninja blender and enjoying the new Bob's Red Mill protein powder. I named today's recipe Bob's Protein Berry Smoothie.

We store our bikes in my SIL's garage, so while mrC was at work I took a two mile ride down the road to Wilbraham Monson Academy campus. It was a really nice ride, even on a warm summer day, and I ran into my nephew who is working on campus this summer.

The ride back was much harder mostly because it was uphill, but I'm pretty sure I stink at putting air in the tires, too. The thought of jumping in the swimming pool was enough to keep me going.

PS - I'm loving my new bikini!

After a refreshing dip in the pool, I made myself some lunch. I've been using the dairy free cheese that I picked up recently and honestly, I'm undecided. I have cut back my cheese consumption while on the carb cycling program and feel pretty good as a result which is what made me try this. 

And then I ate all the gluten free cheese pizza at dinner. 

What's your least favorite workout?

What gets you through a tough workout?

Have you tried dairy free cheese? 

Friday Favorites: USA Edition

After a long day of travel, we arrived in the USA late Tuesday night. The first couple days of our return always seem a little crazy with that running on fumes feeling. It's totally worth it though. We are visiting mrC's family (crashing at my sister-in-law's house) until we go to the Cape for a family vacation and this weekend we headed to Newport.

Today I'm sharing some of my favorite things about being back in the USA.

Hanging out with LittleC. She drove in from Boston to hang out with us on her day off. It was short and sweet, but we will have her for two weeks on the Cape soon. (what I'm wearing: tank and shorts)

Roaming around the grocery to see what new things are on the shelves is super fun. We discovered some dairy free cheese that I've been wanting to try. It smelled terrible to me when I opened the package, but it tasted just like regular cheese sprinkled on my salad.

Easy to make smoothies. I make smoothies all the time in China, but nothing compares to a Ninja blender. I was also excited to use more of the new line of Bob's Red Mill protein powders. It was really good.

My sister-in-law has a pool and even though I didn't swim (just got my hair cut and colored), I love just hanging out with my feet in the water while everyone else takes a dip.

Morning workouts outside. I've been missing this a lot lately. It's just too hot in China to do outdoor workouts. This morning I fired up the iPad and did a Fitness Blender video right there on my SIL's patio. It was awesome!

Newport. One of my favorite places. It's where we got married. I love coming back here. Today we went back to City Hall to get a certified copy of our marriage certificate for our Hong Kong resident permit applications.

We ended the day on sunset watch at Castle Hill. Some much to love here: cocktails, Adirondacks, and gorgeous views. I appropraitely wore my pineapple tank since I'm in the city of hospitality. Shop my look here, here, and here.

Our weekend plans include sailing and bike riding. We shall see!

Dairy free products: yay or nay?
Can you do outdoor workouts where you live?
Does your city have an official symbol?