Shred Day 23: Workout Favorites, Backbends, and Yoga for Good Posture

I'm beginning to like my weight lifting days as much as my cardio days. The old me, before the bad knee got worse, didn't really focus on strength. I did a little at SurfSet and did some at home workouts like this one, but the Carb Cycling and Shred programs have really shown me what it means to lift weights.

Today's workout ---> 10 minute walking warm-up on the treadmill, upper and lower body strength training using dumbbells and machines (back, biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings, glutes), 10 minute walking cool down on the treadmill.

There were a lot of exercises today, so I'm just going to share my favorites.

Upper body: I'm loving the whole row machine thing. It feels like it challenges my body differently than doing standing rows with dumbbells.

Lower body: I'm excited to see some progress in my left quad muscle after dedicating some solo time on the leg extensions.

It's National Yoga Month and Fit Approach is hosting a month long celebration featuring a different yoga pose each week. Last week it was side planks and this week it's bridges. After getting warmed up, I practiced my backbend poses because it feels so good to open everything up.

Side note: I have been living in my trekkie joggers (see them here). They're super comfy (like sweatpants) but have more style than a pair sweatpants. I actually got them to hike in, but have been lounging around in them in the hotel room and wearing them to breakfast.

Then I remembered this video with yoga poses to help improve your posture. The poses definitely make my upper body feel better!




My eats for feast day:

The main part of my lunch and dinner was quinoa and tuna. It's been a while since I made it, but it's really easy and one of my favorite meals.
Quinoa and Tuna Recipe:
1 cup cooked quinoa 2 cans tuna in water 2 tbsp Greek yogurt 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
After cooking the quinoa, mix all the ingredients together. That's it. Super easy!

Have you embraced a new workout lately?
Do you like to wear sweatpants?

Shred Day 19: I'm Getting Stronger

Today was a good day.

It started with a nice breakfast buffet with mrC at the hotel and then spending some time together before he went to work. When he left I headed to the fitness center to do my strength training workout.

My workout ---> 10 minutes warm-up walking on the treadmill, upper body weight exercises: back, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and chest, some planks, lower body exercises: leg extensions and hamstring curls, then a 10 minute cool down walk on the treadmill.

I've been pushing myself to use heavier weights and it is paying off. I'm feeling stronger and liking what I see when I flex my muscles.

 I decided to do some yoga to stretch out my muscles. First of all, yoga just feels amazing and my muscles are ALWAYS happier after. Second, this happened when I decided to practice headstands...

Yes! I did some #yoga after my strength training workout and decided to practice my #tripodheadstand. I've struggled to push my legs up using just my core and not the wall, but today it happened!! Never doubt what you can achieve with dedication and hard work. Never give up on your goals! #sweatpink #fitfluential #nevergiveup #pybcye #workhard #fitness

A video posted by AmyC (@runningescapade) on Sep 2, 2016 at 10:50am PDT

I have been trying for at least 6 months to do that! I am definitely getting stronger.

Today was feast day, so I was all about food, food, food.

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Dinner: I ate every last piece of seafood, but only about 1/3 of the pasta.

Snacks: the chocolate Shakeology was my favorite snack

How do you measure your strength?

Can you do a headstand?

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? 

I'm Over the Rainy Weather and Final Feast Day

The weather has been literally raining on my fun parade.

Instead of riding my bike in the rain to the fitness center, I did my final full body workout here in the apartment. It's nice that I can do it at home, but I'm starting to enjoy my gym time.

The full body workout had two circuits: arms and legs. I still have to modify both. I can't yet do 10 sets of 10 push-ups. I can do 5 and then I go to failure each time. I modify some of the leg exercises so I don't aggravate my knee. I also add a couple of my PT moves at the end. 

I even did my cool down inside (just like it said on the first picture). I just walked around the apartment for 10 minutes. I posted a video on snapchat (I'm on there now). You can find me @runningescapade

After my workouts, I spray my gear with an eco-friendly, gluten free sports spray. It freshens and deodorizes my gear, like my Saucony Jazz, so that they smell like jasmine instead of a gym. It's very nice.

What I ate on my final feast day

Breakfast: Big. Protein pancakes, one apple, and 2 eggs with half a slice of ham.

Snacks (no lunch): I was craving some Honey Nut Cheerios (yes I use a measuring cup for my serving) and I splurged on some cheese and crackers. I also had another apple.

Dinner: leftover bbq chicken, green beans, and some rice.

Macros: Even though it feels like I ate a ton today, I still had room for more calories to meet the feast day goal of 50% more and I was a little low on the net carb goal of 200g. 

I did not like ending with a feast day. Eating all that food when I didn't fast the day before is making me feel bloated.

Tomorrow I will take my measurements for the official end of carb cycling update. Up until today I've been feeling really good about my body, feeling leaner, and toned. Today is just an off day or nerves about the results.

Stay tuned!

The Time I Forgot to Workout and It Was Ok!

Have you ever had one of those days where you have everything planned out perfectly so that you can get everything done and do what you want, but then it doesn't play out that way?

That was me today.

I started with some easy plank flow stretching for the next to last day of the plank challenge. I had time to do my full body workout but decided to do it before dinner (aka my biggest meal on feast days). 

I had an early meet up with the girls to head over to Hong Kong and spend the day at Golden Beach.

After a day in the sun, we stopped at Tuen Mun Town Center to do some quick and dirty (cheap) shopping for some of our favorite things before crossing the border back into China. 

The bus ride across the border, immigration, and two more buses all combined took about an hour to get back to the apartment where mrC had a delicious dinner and flowers (awe!) waiting for me in all my sweaty stickiness. 

It wasn't until after we ate, cleaned up and I was working on this post that I realized I completely forgot to do my feast day full body workout! Big whoops!!

I am so programmed to do my workouts in the morning, that even when I don't do them, my brain thinks I must have because I always do. Honestly, I was ok with it. I didn't jump up and rush to change into workout clothes and get it done. It's one day. I walked A LOT today. I carried over-weight grocery bags across the border of Hong Kong and China. In the 90 degree 94% humidity. It's ok.

Moving on, here's what I ate today

Breakfast: 

Lunch: packed a bunch of stuff for the beach, but only ate the pb&j rice cake sandwich. 

Dinner: TWO servings of gluten free spaghetti

Dessert: flourless cake (one of my favorite things to get in Hong Kong)

Macros: not enough calories overall, but a good job hitting goals.

What would you have done? Workout or pass?

Do you like the beach?

Feast Day: New Ab Exercise and Eating All the Fruit!

Today I rode my bike to the fitness center prepared to do the killer full body feast day workout. It was shorter than the previous feast days, but it still challenged me. Today I was able to do ALL of the push-ups. Upper body strength is my weak area.

Day 25 of the plank challenge and I'm getting better at challenging myself. Really focusing on keeping my body still makes the planks harder and I'm feeling the work. Which is the point right? 

Ab vacuum exercises. I first heard of this when I attended the Shenzhen Health and Wellness Fair 

last year and took part in a Body Flex session. The instructor mentioned this type of breathing being good for weightloss and I thought she was crazy. Now I'm thinking, why not? It's only 1 minute of my day.

Why are these abdominal vacuum exercises so hard for me tonight?!?! Maybe it's because I'm 2200 calories and a gallon of water deep for the day? Or maybe I just need to do them more often!! 😩 What are vacuum exercises? When done properly they can help SCULPT and SHRINK the size of your waistline in just weeks. How? By engaging some of the most neglected muscles in the body: the transversus abdominus and the lumbar motifidus. These are the muscles BENEATH the rectus abdominus and the obliques (the muscles we tend to work!), and I will venture to say they are THE most important group of ab muscles to work! The how-to is actually simple and can be done nearly anywhere. Simply inhale deeply, and exhale COMPLETELY. When all air is deflated from your lungs, draw your belly in as far as possible. Try thinking about pulling your belly button in towards your spine. Then HOLD. I will vacuum in front of the mirror with @realchrispowell, in the car while stuck in traffic, in bed at night, standing at the counter paying bills...you name it, I've vacuumed doing it. Try 3 sets of 20 seconds to start with, and build up to set of 40 and even 60 seconds. Your waistline will thank you!! #MyKindOfVacuuming #CouplesThatVacuumTogether #AbdominalMuscles #Abs #swolemates

A photo posted by Heidi Powell (@realheidipowell) on Mar 29, 2016 at 10:14pm PDT

What I ate: it was all about the fruit today!

Breakfast: 

We totally took advantage of the buffet at the Hilton again. No cooking, no clean up, the view, the fruit.

Snack: 

I love loading up on carbs with sweet potato chips!

Lunch:

Left overs and more fruit. 

Dinner:

Went out with friends to a new place in Sea World, Baia Burger. It was so good and I love sweet potato fries.

Dessert: 

Chocolate almond protein shake. Recipe --> 1 scoop chocolate protein, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1/2 cup almond milk, and ice. Oh, wow. This hit the spot.

Macros: I splurged a little today on gluten and dairy. It is a lifestyle choice for me, so when a GF/DF option is not available I'm not always going to pass on the food. I did a pretty good job consuming the carbs, but feel short of the goal mark by about 40g along with fewer calories than I'd like for feast day.  

Ever tried abdominal vacuum exercise?
Favorite fruits?

Sweaty Saturday Workout and New Feast Day Treats

The gym is a good place to be on a rainy day. I started my workout by catching up on my #ultimateplankchallenge. The full plank heel lifts are tough.

My main workout can be broken into three parts: arms with body weight only, arms with weights, and legs with cardio.

The first part, arms with body weight only, is actually the hardest for me. There are three exercises to do 10 sets of 10: push-ups, forearm plank push-ups, and tricep dips. I've been doing these one at a time to completion, but today I did a circuit hoping it would make it go faster and be easier. Nope. Still hard.

What I ate on Feast day

Breakfast: fruit, French toast, and hash browns 

As a treat, we decided to have the breakfast buffet at the Hilton after our workout. With our membership, we get a 10% discount and well, I was too tired to think about cooking when we got back to the apartment.

Snack: GF "cheetos"

A new gluten free snack created by Luke, who has Celiac's disease, that I found in Hong Kong yesterday. 

Lunch: smoothie bowl and turkey slices

This will always be a treat!

Snack: crackers and cheese

More treats from my Hong Kong shopping spree. Mary's Gone Crackers are gluten free (so happy to have found them) and the port wine cheese is a favorite from time spent with my grandparents. 

Dinner: quinoa pizza bake and green beans

Sadly that was the last of my favorite pasta sauce brough here from Cincinnati.

Dessert: strawberries 

Macros: today was a good day. A couple hundred calories short, but I did very well on my carbs. 

This carb cycling plan encourages participants to do a gluten free and dairy free diet for six weeks. I admit that I think I'm seeing positive effects from staying away from dairy, but I'm weak. I love my cheese! 

Do you prefer circuits or completing each exercise one at a time?

What is your food weakness?