Weekly Wrap - It's Sunny in Hong Kong

We finally had some great weather around here and just in time for the weekend.

Work before play, Saturday was Leg Day! Before heading to the pool to soak up some vitamin D, we hit the fitness center. For my warm-up, I ran for 10 minutes on the treadmill. Normally I would have gone for the mile, but my knee was feeling little wonky, no pain, just off. I used to push through moments like this, but not anymore.

The rest of the workout was the same as last week, except the one-minuters were doubled up and I increased my weights. I could still only do one round of the finishers although this time I did some really slow lunge jumps. No one said they had to be fast, right? I was toast at the end.

One of my favorite things to do after a good and sweaty FASTer Way To Fat Loss workout is relax at the pool. I'm so thankful that our fitness membership gives us access. It's so nice to just change in the locker room and walk outside to this beautiful view. It feels so good to just sit in the water to cool off and then dry in the sun.

We took advantage of the sunny weather again today and took our SUP boards out for a couple of hours. It had been awhile since we had them out. Between rainy days and other workouts in the morning (it is way too hot even for the pool or SUP after lunchtime in my opinion), it just hasn't worked out. Until today. I forget how tall my board really is 10'6". We got our boards on Amazon and brought them to Hong Kong as checked baggage. My exact board is not currently available, but they have this newer version out now.

We paddled out and back and then out again. The second time I went around the corner of the little beach bay area further than I've ever gone before. Then I did a little SUP yoga - my version anyway. It was so peaceful laying there. I could have taken a nap.

After we put our boards away, we walked down to the other end of Tai Pak Beach to check out the Funtastic Summer event that has been set up for the month. For the kids they have big inflatable slides, mini powerboats and a couple of inflatable endurance games (like a mild version of what you would see on Wipeout). For the adults there are deck chairs with umbrellas and a big misting zone. This is provided by the company behind the development of Discovery Bay and it is all free.

The other big highlight of the weekend was making banana protein bars. I mostly make these to have for hiking, but I was in the mood to make them today. I changed the recipe a bit and used almond butter instead of peanut butter. Both ways are good.

Here's how the rest of my week looked:

Monday - Mixing sprints and Tabata

Tuesday - Outdoor HIIT workout

Wednesday - Bodypump ---> and revealing breakthroughs

Thursday - Strength training at-home workout

Friday - Easy run ---> my attempt at a heart rate run

I'm linking up with Tricia and Holly for the Weekly Wrap!

How was your weekend?

Any big events going on in your neighborhood?

Favorite DIY snack?

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Active Trigger Points, a Full Body Workout, and Regular Calories Day 2

After yesterday's workout, my problem knee was cranky. I think the cause is overuse of my quads. They've seen more squats and lunges this last week than in a long time. The overuse has activated the trigger points in my vastus medialis, probably because it's still a weak muscle.

I've had this happen before, so I know the self massage routine, (read about my pesky trigger point here) but this time I was also armed with peppermint essential oil. I rubbed it in and worked on my trigger points for about 5 minutes and then iced for about 20. I also found a great video with some vmo exercises. 

Fortunately, the knee pain didn't keep me from my full body dvd workout this morning. I replaced the high impact cardio portions with low impact alternatives and completed all the strength. I really liked it. The 45 minute workout looked like this: warm up, cardio, arms, cardio, legs, cardio, core, cardio, stretch. 

After the workout and some breakfast, we did some errands. My knee is still not happy when I walk, but I am totally happy with my linen dress from Gap. It was very comfortable and today it was near 85 degrees.

Regular calorie day 2 eats

Breakfast: protein pancakes, apple, coffee

I saw a picture of someone's protein pancakes online and woke up dreaming about them. So yea, pancakes (not dairy free...Greek yogurt). Soooo good.

Lunch: Kosmo toner smoothie, handful of grapes

We have been walking by this little healthy shop, Kosmo, for a year and were finally motivated to go in. The owner, "Alan" (he's Chinese) has been in Shekou for 15 years! He makes shakes, smoothies, and some food items. You can even buy protein in his shop. He modified the recipe to be dairy free: strawberries, soy milk, whey protein.

Dinner: chicken breast, green beans, water

I love a simple crock pot meal. Easy peasy and mrC cleans up!

While the chicken was in the crock pot, I decided to try a new recipe for peanut butter protein bars that I found on Run Eat Repeat.

Only I added two mashed bananas and 3/4 tbsp cinnamon Iike the recipe I already use (you can see it here). I could barely wait for them to cool off before having one. 

My calories and macros were pretty much on target today and other than my knee, it was a great day. I'm loving that I don't feel like I'm starving even though I'm eating less than I was a week ago.

Ever have active trigger points?