Don't Let Your Goals Drift Away on Summer Weekends

The holiday and weekend are wrapping up, but let's face it. Summer weekends are just getting started.

With get-togethers in full swing, don’t let your goals drift away. It’s easy to let a treat turn into a whole day of snacking or binging if you're not paying attention. Be mindful of consumption, especially empty calories in drinks, and plan out meals in advance as much as possible! You can still have fun and take steps towards your goals!

TRY THESE SIMPLE BBQ SWAPS:

• Choose a lettuce wrap instead of hamburger or hot dog buns
• Slather on mustard instead of mayo
• Try crispy roasted sweet potatoes instead of potato chips
• Satisfy your sweet tooth with summer berries (blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries) instead of cake or ice cream
• Bake a healthier treat without refined sugars/grains/dairy instead of a typical cake or cookies
• Drink sparkling water with citrus fruit instead of soda
• Make a big side salad full of colorful veggies instead of pasta salad
• Turn your regular burger into a yummy burger bowl! Ditch the bun, serve over a bed of lettuce, and add all your favorite burger toppings! (This is one of my FASTer Way favorites!)

Healthy weekends don’t have to be all about deprivation, because let’s be honest, that isn’t much of a weekend, right? Here’s the secret. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can find a balance that works for real life...even on summer weekends!

How To Do Summer in Hong Kong

Let's face it, summer is hot, humid and sticky and in Hong Kong it is worse than anywhere I've lived before. For someone who loves to be outside, it is hard to accept that you are always, and I mean always, going to be hot and sweaty (unless you never leave your apartment).

After three years of living in China, I think I have finally come up with a fool proof plan for surviving the summer heat. Today I'm sharing my plans for the summer as part of the Tuesday's on the Run topic link-up. Check it out:

Spend as many days as possible on junk boats (which just means hired boat). This popular activity is a great way to escape the city, cruise around the islands, enjoy good friends, good food and go for a dip in the refreshing China Sea. I went on a day junk a couple of weeks ago and I can't wait to do it again!

Go to the pool and swim, swim, swim. Since swimming has replaced my running, I want to swim as much as I used to run which was usually three days a week. With running, it took a lot of miles for me to feel comfortable and confident. The same is true for swimming. I've got a lot of laps to swim and learning to do.

Enjoy our iSUP. This is the time of year to get the boards out more. No worries about jelly fish and the water feels so nice (even if I like to stay on my board because I'm not a fan of deep water). I hope to be on the water for active recovery days and any other time that sounds good.

Travel ---> get out of the city. I'll go anywhere (hint, hint mrC), but the trip I am most looking forward to is our family vacation to the Cape at the end of August. Our goal every year is to get all three of the kids there with us at the same time. Crossing my fingers that this is one of those years.

What are your summer plans?

See what others are doing by checking out the link-up with Patty, Erika, and Marcia for Tuesdays on the Run! 

Friday Five: Kicking Off Summer

It turns out that living out of my suitcase for nearly a month took it's toll on me. As much as I wanted to jump right back into my normal routine of fitness and blogging when we got back to Hong Kong, my brain just wasn't ready.

Has it really been a month since my last blog post???

Today it finally felt like it was time to catch up and write a Friday Five post about what's been going on around here.

1. We were blessed with some incredibly nice weather when we got back from the states and I did some swimming and walking.

2. I researched a lot of different juices until I found a favorite ---> Happy Apple <3

3. mrC and I got dressed up and went to our first Chinese wedding celebration in Macau. If you think their celebrations are over-the-top, you are right! It was a lot of fun.

4. And then little C arrived for a kick off the summer two week visit ---> just as Hong Kong was having record-setting hot weather.

We went to Stanley Beach to show her one of Hong Kong's most popular sports and cheer on the AWA Dragon Boat team.

We got nice and sweaty hiking at Cape D'Aguilar and then cooled off with a swim at Shek O Beach.

She and I got to spend the day on a junk boat cruising around Hong Kong Island while her dad was working.

5. We played on our SUP boards.

A couple of weeks of living up to my 2018 goals, I felt refreshed and energized. In my next post, I will tell you about the two week fitness challenge I took.

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

Did your summer weather kick in early?

Tell me something you have been up to lately!