Traveling and Fasting

Fasting. I have only fasted a small amount of times in my life on holy days. They were never easy.

Today was my first fast day as part of the carb cycling/intermittent fasting program I'm doing. The purpose of doing the the plan is to reset my body and let go of some of the bad cravings I've developed, along with extra inches (haha)!

Breakfast: lots of water

Of course I woke up feeling hungry. My unsuccessful feast day plus the workout caught up to me. Lots of water seemed to help. Side note: It's also my monthly cycle.

Lunch: red raspberry herbal tea, more water

In between legs and after sleeping most of the one hour flight to Dulles, I made some tea. I'm not a big tea drinker, so I added a squirt of Stevia. This seemed to help with the hunger, but I was starting to feel hangry.

BROKE MY FAST: popcorn, water

I was a couple of hours early, but I was feeling bad, very tired (I slept on the second leg too) and I had a headache. I thought the popcorn was a pretty good choice given I was limited to what was in the hotel snack shop. 

Dinner: Shared nachos (with mrC and BFF), Laredo steak, broccoli, baked potato, water and coke. 

My BFF picked us up at the hotel and took us to Max & Erma's for dinner. Hunger, on top of knowing that we will be leaving all the amazing food options in the US made me over do it. The coke was the worst decision of all.

I thought I would do some yoga before bed, but honestly I was exhausted. Traveling, fasting, my monthly and a big meal was too much for me.

Today I return to China. My regular calorie day should be interesting and who knows what day Ill be on when I get there?!?

See you in 24 hours!

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? 

Substitute Hill Workout and Low Carb Day 2

I slept until almost 8:00 which is something I never do, so I must have been tired from running around three different states in the last two weeks.

I sweet talked mrC into going to a gym since it was raining after his work meeting. We ended up at Best Fitness in East Longmeadow after Western New England University (where several of mrC's family members have gone/currently go) insisted that a member be with us in the gym. Well, that doesn't work.

Best Fitness not only accommodated us with a two day pass, but also did so at no charge! We were obviously thrilled and even more thrilled by the facilities. It was huge!

I thought I'd be brave and try to do the sprint workout on the treadmill. My knee did not like even one 10 second sprint. Instead I cranked the incline to the max and alternated every 30 seconds for 10 minutes for a serious hill walking workout. In the future I will stick to the elliptical or bike for sprints.

What I ate on low carb day #2

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs without milk and black coffee

My mother-in-law made them and is such a sweetie for trying to understand what I'm up to.

Lunch: Honey turkey breast slices, celery sticks, classic hummus, and half of a Berried Up To Here smoothie. 

We got the smoothie from My Main Squeeze, a popular juicery and smoothie shop in East Longmeadow. It wasn't my favorite, but I think that was because I used pea protein (to stay dairy free) and I'm used to whey. Ingredients: blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, almond milk, spinach, kale, chia seeds, hemp seeds, pea protein.

Dinner: salmon, asparagus, and baked beans

The best part was that my sister-in-law and niece who are also doing the program joined us for dinner. 

The goal on low carb days is to stay under 50 grams. I was over. Although, if I figure the net carbs, I might have been under 50. It was the fruit smoothie. I guess I will be saving those for other days. 

I'm still learning my way around MFP and I have a lot to learn. For example, I don't understand my macro percentages based on my grams consumed. 

Time to enjoy feast day! I hope I can eat all the calories :)

Speed Workout, Low Carbs, and A Dog

I've started a carb cycling, intermittent fasting program and yesterday was a low carb day.

First, I put on some workout clothes and did the scheduled workout: 10 minutes speed work followed by 30 minutes low intensity. I chose to do mine on the elliptical, but part way through I was worried that I was doing it wrong. There are just too many options on those machines and sometimes it feels like I'm not working hard enough. Side note: I tested my new "indoor only" workout shoes that I bought for China. They were a hit even without socks!

We had to say goodbye to the girls, but only for 95 days! Then we will be back for our Cape Cod vacation.

Here's what I ate on my first low carb day:

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, no milk and one cup of black coffee. 

That wasn't too bad.

Lunch: garden salad and Cajun chicken breast, raspberry vinaigrette, water

I've always been a Ranch dressing kind of girl, but the raspberry vinaigrette was tasty

Dinner: salad, balsamic vinaigrette, cauliflower, grilled salmon, and water 

I really wanted to, but I did not eat the extremely yummy looking mashed potatoes!

I'm using My Fitness Pal to track my foods and have my calorie goal set at 1370 since I want lose one pound per week. I was under my goal, but my macros were on target for low carb day.

Yesterday was visit the dog day and it was the best. Booney is still my little lover boy. I loved that we were able to hang out with him and go for a walk. Hard to believe that he has been in my life for 13 years!

What's your favourite low carb food?

Sweet Sunday

We walked to morning Mass. I love when we are able to attend when we are traveling. This church was absolutely stunning inside. If I lived in Portsmouth, I would really enjoy services here.

We were given a walking tour from missD. We saw her office, Prescott Park, and most of downtown. 11,000 steps. 5+ miles. 

She took us to Popovers for lunch (great gluten free options there) and then showed me her favorite place to get essential oils.

I picked up some sport spray for my fitness equipment and peppermint oil. I read a comment from an ultra runner that peppermint oil helps with tendinitis. 

We ordered dinners from the Juicery. The girls and I all got acai bowls. It was my first one. Why haven't I tried these before???

We finished the evening with a trip to UNH to see missG's dorm room (I can't believe she is almost finished with the first year of college!!) and watch her soccer game.

Today we are saying goodbye to girls and then we are visiting some friends before heading back to Springfield. I'm looking forward to seeing this guy the most.

Have a great day!