15 Minutes of Fire and Breaking in New Shoes

Tuesday's workout was 15 minutes of FIRE!!

Haha, not kidding. I should have known that Head Trainer Le was going to bring the fire to her Kettlebell workout. She always does. This workout had every single muscle shaking and completely dead in 15 minutes.

There were three pods

Each pod had 2 sets

Set 1 was 3 minutes of EMOM

Set 2 was 2 minutes of endurance

Here are some screen shots of some of the moves. To see videos of my workouts, you can follow my IG stories.

OMGOSH! Those were the longest 3 minutes and 2 minutes!!

It was the toughest FASTer Way workout for me so far in 2021 and I love it!

I love being part of a program that continues to challenge me. As I told my VIP clients this week, if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. I might not have finished all the reps each time, but I know that in this program I will continue to get stronger and grow. I’m proud of that!

The weather was so much better (if you missed it, Monday I wore pants), so I was able to get in a walk for my LISS. Best part, I broke in my new shoes! I know they are running shoes and I don't run anymore, but after walking over 15 miles last week, I need shoes with cushion. This is my first pair of Brooks and I figure run happy, walk happy. Same, same.

I only had time to walk to the Lanikai Monument and back before getting home to eat and get cleaned up for client calls. The monument turn around used to be my long walk. I love going down the hill to the lava rock to look for honu (turtles) and enjoy the view. No honu today, but the view was spectacular.

Do wear different shoes for your workouts (HIIT, strength) from your running/walking?

Supersets with Tempo and a Booty Challenge

Today was our first strength training day following the new programming for July: Supersets with Tempo. We are going to be focusing on doing two exercises at a time back-to-back. One will be straight reps and the second we will vary the speed to increase the time under tension, aka max out the muscles!

I was really liking the mixed pyramid sets we were doing in June, but I know that in order to see change, we have to mix things up. That is why I love being in FASTer Way VIP. I get the perks of a personal trainer without the price!

This month we are also doing a Booty Challenge. So a couple of days a week we get bonus content to build our lower body strength. Today was day 2 and let me just say that things were on fire!

After my workout I did a cool down walk. It was a stunning day here in Hawaii with great trade winds, so I took advantage and headed toward the Lanikai Monument. This monument marks the entrance to the Lanikai neighborhood. 

The monument is my turn around spot, but I like to walk down the hill to the lava rocks and take in the view first. If you follow my Instagram stories you will see that I am here a lot! mrC and I love to sit and enjoy the breeze while looking for turtles. We came here almost everyday when the beach was closed at the beginning of the COVID quarantine.

I just love looking at the amazing view of Kailua Beach and the Kailua blue water from here. We truly are blessed to have this as our playground.

One reason I love this walk, is because it is all sidewalks and walking paths from our apartment (unless we take a side street which has very little traffic). The walking/bike path goes right through Kailua Beach park.

I spent the rest of my day working a little, chatting with my Functional Medicine Practitioner and eating! BreakFAST was one of my favorites: egg, tuna, avocado and hummus on gluten free, dairy free toast. The bread is made locally here on Oahu and is the best GF bread I've ever had.

While I was working, I had a 3 pound turkey breast cooking in the crockpot, so dinner was turkey breast, steamed broccoli and sweet potato chips. Turkey is my new chicken!

I got a bit of a game plan from the FMP today to help with my gut health and cortisol spikes. More on that in my next post.

Do you mix up your strength training workout programming or does someone do it for you?

Motivation Monday: FASTer Way 5K in Kailua, Hawaii

We moved to Hawaii over a year ago and I am still in awe over how beautiful it is. One of the first thoughts I had was, how amazing would it be to run here!

While it is a bummer that my knee can no longer handle running, that is not stopping me from logging the miles and enjoying the scenery. In fact, we have gotten into the habit of walking almost daily to the beach which is about 3 1/2 miles round trip!

For Motivation Monday, I am taking us back to November. Back in November, we officially walked a virtual 5K with the FASTer Way community for our traditional Thanksgiving Day activity. We looked for a local event to join, but there really wasn't any planned for the actual day and sadly, the ones that were did not have a walk option.

So we planned our own!

It was always so important to pick out the right run outfit, so just for fun, the night before I laid out my 5K outfit.

In true 5K fashion, we headed out early, took #walkfies along the way and logged our walk route. It was perfect!

The FASter Way 5K was part of a challenge in the FASTer Way to Fat Loss VIP community. For 5 weeks the VIP community trained together, motivated each other and supported each other. I loved that we did this as a community. The veteran runners were able to go out and do their thing, the new runners leaned on each other through the training days and for those of us that walked, we were 100% embraced and recognized for our accomplishments, too.

One thing that I have learned through all this is that you have to keep moving forward. Even when there is change or injury or whatever road block might be put in front of you, you just have to do what you can, when you can. Feel good about that. Embrace that. Focus on what you CAN do, rather than what you can't. No excuses!

Happy Monday!!

Do You Travel with One of These? + Tight Muscles

mrC makes fun of me for carrying a tennis ball in my purse when we travel. But seriously, it is a mini-massage ball, a tiny foam roller, magic for making my muscles feel better when I don't have a masseuse...or a foam roller handy.

My legs felt pretty good after my run on Saturday, but I noticed that the range of motion for my left knee felt a little tight. I can usually relieve that with a good stretch session, but zeroing in on tight spots with the tennis ball has a much better result.

While mrC went off to play work in the simulator on Sunday, I took our dirty clothes to the laundry room. I walked on the treadmill while the clothes were washing. It was a rest day, so I kept my pace moderate and the incline only on 2.

I do not put my workout clothes in the dryer, so I took them to the room to hang up and have some coffee while the rest were in the dryer.

It was a cold and blustery day ---> perfect for some chicken noodle soup. It's been awhile since I had this microwaveable Campbell's soup and I remember it tasting better than it did today.

When mrC returned and had eaten, we went for a walk. It ended up being much shorter than I wanted because it was super windy and the wind was really, really cold! We explored the center next to the hotel and found a used books/movies/music shop. I thought it was such a great idea because you can buy and sell.

Before dinner I did a yoga video ---> Travel Yoga - Revitalizing Flow (I'm trying to bring back the yoga practice). I didn't really know it until I got going, but my legs had gotten a little sore, I guess from my run on Saturday. So the short and sweet session definitely felt good!

In the picture I'm doing wide leg forward fold with a twist and wow! I could feel this stretch in all parts of my leg muscles including the outside of my ankles up to my knees. It made me think about how many tight muscles I have in my lower body - a lot more than I realize.

We ordered pizza for dinner and then mrC did some more studying while I watched tv. It was a pretty relaxing day!

What do you carry when you travel that people might find strange?
How do you spend a relaxing day?

Weekly Wrap: My Effort

It's true what they say about effort and success...

I started the day with the goal of fasting as long as I could, which I hoped would be at least a couple hours longer than my normal extended fasting window. So if I made it to 2 or 3pm, I'd call it a success.

It would all come down to effort.

First of all, I woke up hungry (which is unusual). It's like my body knew what was about to happen. Like waking up right before the alarm goes off or getting a headache when a storm is coming. Needless to say it was kind of annoying that my stomach was rumbling and I hadn't even had my first cup of coffee. Like a good carb-cycler, I ignored the feeling and went about my morning.

It was going to be another scorcher (heat warnings were predicting temperatures at 94 with feels like above 110), so after doing some chores around the apartment mrC and I took a walk. This is always a good distraction from thinking about food. We were hoping to beat the heat, but the heat had an early start.

The first part of the walk was not bad. We cut through the trees and took the shaded steps down to the beach. There are two storms brewing out in the China Sea and they're bringing pretty nasty air quality to Hong Kong, but that hasn't stopped people from braving a day at the beach.

Despite the feels like temperature of 104, we saw runners, walkers, bikers and even full tennis courts.  People around here are way more hard core than we are. There is no shade or breeze on those courts.

We did a a one mile loop and that was enough for us. The final stretch is all uphill and mostly unshaded. We hung around outside for a few minutes because living at the top of the hill has the perk of being what we call the windiest spot in DB. In other words, it's a great place to cool off, most of the time.

After the walk, I tried to distract myself with laundry and even put on one hour express teeth whitening strips, but by 12:30 I broke.

I was hungry and I knew I had left-over buffalo chicken quinoa. (Have you tried this recipe?)

I did not give 100% effort today.  I knew my 24 hour fast would not be successful and I'm ok with that. I adjusted to what would work for me, today. Carb cycling and intermittent fasting does not mean that I must do a 24 hour fast or I fail. That's why this program works for me. I can modify it to my needs and still be successful. Maybe I didn't complete my fast for as long as I originally planned. I still fasted. My body still experienced the benefits of an extended fast and that's what matters to me.
**Want more information about carb cycling and IF? Click here for FASTer Way to Fat Loss® info.

Here's a look at the rest of my workouts from the week. I think my overall effort is excellent!

Monday - Laser hair removal day - took a walk

Tuesday - took a walk

Wednesday - strength training

Thursday - Bodypump

Friday - Bodystep

Saturday - strength training

Linking up with Tricia and Holly for the Weekly Wrap!

How would you rate your effort this week?
Can you think of any other examples of when our bodies seem to know something?

Workout Recap - Going Hard-Core

Going hard core sounds dramatic. It might imply extremism or craziness. It actually describes anyone who is dedicated, committed, active. Someone like me and you. This week I was all hard core in hiking, fitness, and experiencing Hong Kong.

Here's a closer look:

Monday - My SWIC hiking friends have created a Hard Core Hikers group and decided to work on hiking all 78km of the Wilson Trail here in Hong Kong. We hiked the first two stages (recap coming eventually) ---> about 11.4km and the equivalent of climbing 284 flights. My legs were SORE!

Tuesday - I like to keep busy on my fast day, so mrC and I went on a quick trip to Central and did a bit of walking around. Then I decided to do some online window shopping because I'm not loving my hiking shoes after all and I need a new pair of good walking around shoes. I really like these Adidas trail shoes (below), but I also like these, these, and these (more for running/workouts though). I also like slip-ons like these, these, these, and these. I also have my eye on this North Face backpack for women and this cute everyday bag from Sherpani. My wishlist is pretty long, right?

Wednesday - I started the day with some Bodypump. It wasn't my best day (my legs were still sore from my big hike), but I pushed through.

Thursday - I met up with my Foon Ying group in Central where we learned some great tips about shops/restaurants and how to get around on the elevated walkways ---> they're like a maze but can keep you out of the street traffic.

Friday - I did a bit of walking on a historical tour of Kowloon City with AWA and saw remnants of an old walled city. It's amazing to see old and new like that.

Saturday - An early session of Bodypump got my day started. It was a better workout and I got some great form tips from the instructor during and after class. I'm super excited to be keeping up with my twice a week goal.

Sunday - This week I increased my intervals to 25 seconds run: 20 seconds walk. I'm feeling good but still planning to make my progression a slow one. It might only be a mile, but it's my pain-free mile!

In what areas do you consider yourself hard-core?
What's on your shopping wishlist?

Bodypump, Active Recovery, and Planking

On Tuesday I joined some of my new friends and went to my first Les Mills Bodypump class at The HIT Room. Bodypump is an interval barbell workout and it is definitely high intensity! I think Wesley (the instructor) said we did 800+ reps of squats, lunges, rows, and lifts. CrA-ZY!

After class I was given a try-to-forget-we-tortured-you welcome gift which I thought was a nice touch.

From class I stopped into IMI, Integrated Medicine Institute, to see an Osteopath. Osteopathy can "correct a wide variety of muscular and skeletal complaints and offer excellent nerve-balancing support" and I am hoping it can cure my heel stinger. My first visit was pretty standard with lots of questions and a thorough body assessment followed by my first treatment. Diagnosis: a pinched nerve. The nerve could be pinched in my ankle, behind my knee, under my gluteus or in my sciatica. My first treatment was a combination of adjustments, stretching, and trigger point release. 

After yesterday's strength session, my osteopath treatment plus a big hike I have coming up tomorrow, I decided to take it easy today with some active recovery. It was a perfect day for LISS, so I laced up my walking shoes and set out to explore the marina side of DB. Some residents live on the boats (the big ones).

It was a beautiful walk and fun to see a different view from the island. 3.5 miles later I was at the beach enjoying a little break and soaking up the beautiful day.

My favorite Athleta pants

When I got back to the apartment, I did my plank workout. I am still loving the intervals app that I found. 1) It is so easy to personalize my workouts and 2) I can use my phone or my watch to start a workout.

It was good to get my legs moving on the walk, but I started feeling some DOMS sneaking up on me from Bodypump. My stretch session was a little bit relief and a little bit painful. (side note - my goal is to get my bum down on the floor)

Just for fun I thought I'd share my new blogging spot ---> the view, the natural light, a smoothie, Netflix...I don't know how I'm able to finish this post! 

Have you tried Les Mills classes? 

Ever been to an Osteopath?

If you blog, what does your work space look like?

Scenes from our Newport Weekend

I know it's Wednesday, but I still wanted to share a little from our trip to Newport, RI over the weekend. 

It was a little rainy Saturday morning when we crossed over the Pell Bridge into Newport. Crossing that bridge will always bring back fun memories.

We killed some time indoors at the Navy Exchange until the drizzly weather had passed. Wanting to soak up as much of fall as I can before we go back to China, I took mrC to the Newport Harvest Fair. It was the perfect place to pick up some gifts from the arts and crafts vendors while enjoying little tastes of autumn.

After a late lunch/early dinner at The Red Parrot and dessert at Kilwin's, we did the traditional Ten Mile drive and checked out the Newport mansions at night.

On Sunday, instead of going to mass at Chapel of Hope on base (where we were married), we decided to go into town and attend mass at St Mary's. It's a beautiful church. JFK and Jackie were married there, so a lot of people visit. I've walked by MANY times, but this was my first time going inside.

Fun fact ---> mrC and I met in church in Ohio (true story) and pew 42 has special meaning for us. We noticed that we were sitting across the aisle from it during mass.

After church we walked to The Franklin Spa, an old-school diner popular with the locals, for some off the grill breakfast. It's moments like this that make Newport one of my favorite places.

mrC promised to take me to the top of Newport, so we climbed up to the Miantonomi Park Memorial Tower. The 100 foot tower was built in 1929 as a memorial to veterans of WWI and is located on the highest natural point in Newport. The tower is only open twice a year (Memorial Day and Veteran's Day) so we did not get to climb to the observation deck...this time.

On our way out of town, we saw a sign for an Open House and played House Hunters. It was fun to see the inside of the old Victorian and check out the renovations. It was a cute house with a nice front porch, a great deck and backyard, but it wasn't OUR HOUSE. Needless to say, it was easy to drive away and start thinking about our immediate future of apartment hunting in Hong Kong in just a couple of weeks. 

So far this week, I've been sticking to low intensity workouts. After another relaxing weekend, I was just getting the feeling that my body needs a little break. 

Instead of fast paced HIIT workouts, I've been enjoying some restorative yoga sessions. My darn heel is still bugging me, but I can stay on my toes and get through most of the poses without aggravating it.

 And daily walks. Every morning feels colder than the last, but my hilly route still feels amazing when I'm done. I only walk my SIL's dog around the yard when I'm done because she's a loner and not a fan of her furry neighbors. We rocked a little pink for #WearPinkWednesday to support BCA.

PS ---> my new yoga pants are also great for cool morning walks.

Apparently Saturday was National Walk Your Dog Day. I hope all the dogs out there got at least a walk around the yard. I know my favorite dog gets lots of love from the retirement village down the road when he goes on his daily walks with his adoptive family in Hopkinton.

On a walk ~ April 2016

How's your week going?
How was your weekend? (better late than never)
Where did you meet your spouse?
Did you celebrate National Walk Your Dog day?