Feast Day and Peng Chau Island

My morning workout today focused on lower body strength with some mountain climber sprinting (my modification) at the end.

I followed up with my plank challenge: 5 sets of 20 second holds in reverse table top. Oh my hamstrings could really feel this. 

After a quick shower and some breakfast, I headed to Hong Kong with some girlfriends. 

Peng Chau Island: after getting to Hong Kong, we took the ferry from central pier number 6. It was about a 30 minute ride to the island.

We arrived smack dab in the middle of the island, which is home to only 6000 residents and measures less than one square meter.

There are walkways along the outer edge of the island. The Heritage Trail will lead to several historical sites.

The main drag, Wing On Street, located though the center of island is lined with shops and fresh markets, teahouses and seafood restaurants serving up seafood.

We visited Tin Hau Temple in the center of the island.

We made our way to the main beach, Tung Wan, and discovered that Hong Kong's effort to clean it up is lagging (although we did see three women raking the garbage debris into piles). This spot has so much potential, but I definitely wouldn't recommend taking a swim here.

Off one end of the beach was a great little rest area. We found it to be perfect for having our lunch.

Then, to work off our meal, we made our way over to climb Finger Hill. Known for its panoramic views of the Hong Kong islands and island vistas, the highest point on the island is also in need of some TLC. Most of the view is currently blocked by overgrown trees and shrubs.

What I ate on feast day

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with ham and pb&j rice cake

Lunch: turkey slices, sweet potato chips, apple

Dinner: banana pancakes. yes, all the goodness again!

Dessert: strawberries 

Macros: not a very good feast day. I did not eat all my calories or hit the carbs goal. Hopefully I won't pay for it tomorrow while fasting.

Happy Hump Day!!

3 Ways I Get Motivated in the AM and Feasting

I know it's not always easy to get up early for a workout. When I was working, Saturdays were reserved for those since my weekday workouts were after school.

To help make sure I got myself out the door, I developed a couple tricks to increase my odds of staying motivated.

I pack my gym bag the night before so that no matter how slow I'm moving in the morning, at least that part is ready to go out the door on time.

As soon as I get out of bed, I put on my workout clothes. Even though I might just be enjoying a cup of coffee, I feel ready to go. Eventually.

My favorite way to stay motivated in the morning is to read inspiring blog, Instagram, and Facebook posts. Nothing like seeing what you have been up to all day while I was sleeping in China to get me in the workout mood.

The workout for today was total body strength. The arm exercises are seriously killer for me (except maybe triceps dips) and with a bum knee, I have to modify some of the leg exercises. But I get it done and it feels good.

After breakfast mrC and I rode bikes to do some errands. I got a mani and pedi while he went to the bank. Then we rode to Charlie's, an international grocery here in Shekou, where I scored big. The best find was some granola (you'll see when you check out my lunch), but we got a bunch of goodies there.

What I ate on FEAST day

First, let me say that this was my best food feast day so far. It makes a big difference to feast at home.

Breakfast: banana pancakes, grapes, and coffee

I researched lots of recipes, pulled a little from one and a little from another, and crossed my fingers. They were really, really good. I can't wait until the next feast day to have them again.

Recipe:

1 mashed banana (I did not mind having some lumps)

2 whisked eggs

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/4 vanilla

Combine all ingredients.  The mix is very liquidity. I used approximately 2 tbsp scoops to make smaller pancakes. It was pretty easy to flip them this way. They cooked just like regular pancakes, about 1 minute per side.

The next time I might add some protein powder and see how they taste.

Lunch: leftover quinoa pizza bake and smoothie bowl

I've been thinking about this bowl ever since our weekend in NH with the girls. I just made my regular smoothie then added the toppings. Yum!

Dinner: gluten free spaghetti and meatballs, salad, water
mrC makes really good pasta. I wanted to be hungrier so I could eat more, but by this time I had nearly eaten my daily calories.

Macros: It was the most carbs consumed on feast day and I went over my calories, but not by 50% as is the goal.

It's crazy to think that just a couple of weeks ago, this was my normal day. Everyday. No wonder I wasn't seeing any changes even though I was working out everyday. Learning how to fuel my body has been nothing but positive, except of course, trying to be dairy free :)

How do you get moving for a morning workout?

Ultimate Plank Challenge and Feast Day

I was awake extra, extra early today. After failing to fall back asleep, I decided to knock out my workout so that feast day could commence.

Last night I came across the #Ultimateplankchallenge and you know how I love a daily challenge. So this morning I jumped in and completed days 1-3: timed plank, 3x30 second forearm planks, and 3x15 crunches. 

The feast day workout had to be modified so I could give my knee a rest. I was able to complete the arm circuit using lower reps (I can't do 100 push-ups!!), but I opted for a leg workout without any squats or lunges. How? I used this routine from Amanda Miller and added mountain climbers at the end. Then I took my cool down outside. They're working on the boardwalk, so I walked in the courtyard of our apartment complex.

I worked on the active trigger points again and brought out my secret weapon. The tennis ball is small, but it can find knots in places that the foam roller and stick can't get to. Warning: if you've never used a tennis ball to roll out knots, it hurts. Just a heads up. 

My knee is better, but still not a happy camper. It's as if my knee cap is not tracking properly. This happened in the past and it turned out to be my IT band, so that's where I went with the tennis ball. There was definitely some knotting/tender spots in there, so I'm hoping this will be the answer.

What I ate on feast day #2

Breakfast: protein pancakes, watermelon, and coffee

These pancakes are awesome, but actually have twice as much protein as carbs. I think that defeats the purpose of carb loading on feast day. They were really good though.

Lunch: quinoa and tuna, grapes, pb banana protein bar, water

Left out the dairy from my regular recipe (see it here) and it wasn't bad. I was stuffed!

Snacks: (not pictured) more watermelon, some Baked Lays chips

Dinner: leftover quinoa and tuna, water, pb banana protein bar

I was 100% NOT HUNGRY, but knowing how bad I felt on the last fast day, I made myself eat.

Macros: 

Admittedly proud of my eating work today. I was still 500 calories under the goal of eating 50% more than regular calorie days, but my carbs were better than last feast day.

Let the fasting begin!!

Full Body Workout and My First Feast Day

The theme of our stay in New England has been rush, rush, rush.

Wednesday was no exception. We just try to squeeze in way too much and end up feeling frazzled. Then the whole day feels like we are playing catch up and we never really do. To top it off, I didn't really get to enjoy my first feast day.

It was past 1:00 when we finally made it to the gym to do the full body workout. I was excited for this workout until about the third set of push-ups. I realized I needed to go into modification mode on the arm portion. I ended up doing 10 sets of 5, instead 10. My lower body did much better, except my knee didn't like some of the lunges, so I modified the type a little. After the 10 minute cool down, I knew I had better stretch or I wouldn't be able to pull my suitcase to the airport in the morning.

What I ate on feast day #1

Breakfast: eggs, gluten free toast with peanut butter and jelly, watermelon, coffee (the muffins were for my in-laws)

This meal started the whole day of running behind. We had good intentions when we declared we would be making breakfast and ran to the grocery, but it just caused us to get a late start on everything including feast day. Side note: I wanted to get an acai bowl which would've been a better choice, but we changed our minds.

Lunch: chili, water

Not a stellar post-workout meal on feast day at 300 calories, but it was already 2:30 and we had dinner plans at 5:30. However, it was the best gluten free chili I've ever had.

Dinner: grilled shrimp and chicken, corn on the cob, wild rice, watermelon, water

Not a ton of carb loading happening here, but we love to grill out. We are going back to China in two days and couldn't resist the beautiful weather and a chance to have corn on the cob (even though it's a bad carb).

Overall, not a great first feast day. The goal is 200+ carbs and 1 1/2 your normal calories. I didn't even hit my normal calories. It'll be easier once I'm not living out of a suitcase and running all around. (I hope!)

My amazing niece is also doing the program, so I can always bug her for information, ideas, and support.

Wish me luck on my first day of fasting!!

Do you fast?