Core Work and A Carb Cycling Update

After a late night of travel back to Shenzhen and a little extra sleep, I got right to the core work today. I was a little behind on the plank challenge I'm doing because of my trip to Bali, but by putting together all of the days I had a tough core workout. But I did workout in Bali too.

Before I get to today, I have some catching up to do. It was not easy to be on a getaway while doing the carb cycling program, but I switched around some of the days and made it work as much as I could. 

Sunday: Low calorie day = rest

This made traveling easier. I had breakfast with mrC before being picked up for my ride to the airport, lunch was a protein bar and dinner from the room service kid's menu (on a Winnie the Pooh plate!).

Monday: Low carb day (originally feast day) = sprints on the elliptical 

Super easy at the hotel and restaurants in Bali. Eggs made to order at the hotel, chicken satay by the pool and dinner at Tony Roma's.

Tuesday: Feast day (originally fast day) = full body workout (or climb a volcano!)

We were served breakfast on our hiking trip (one at the bottom and one at the top): banana pancake and banana sandwich. Another order of chicken satay at the pool and dinner at Fish Co. Dessert from room service was a strange yogurt and granola bowl (but not in the same bowl?).

Wednesday: Fast day (originally regular calorie day) = REST

Breaking fast on an airplane is not my first choice! A little bit of chicken and rice, some fruit, and pb& j rice cake when I got back to apartment.

Macros: I'm pretty excited by these. I kept my carbs up except on low carb day and ate more on feast day again which made my fast go smoothly.

Today: Low calorie day (to get back on track with the group, I skipped regular calorie day)

Breakfast: our easy go-to: scrambled eggs with ham and pb&j rice cake

Lunch: quinoa pizza bake, salad, and grapes

Thank goodness my favorite pizzeria sauce is gluten free and mrC brought some back from the states with him.

Dinner: Italian crockpot chicken, green beans, salad and watermelon 

Macros: not at all happy about these. Unless MFP is wrong, most of my fats today came from my eggs. Who knew?!? On the bright side, my calories were right at 25% less than a regular day though.

Here's to staying on track and getting things done on schedule!

Two Days in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia

Lots of pictures in this post!

When I looked up a little information on Kuta, Bali, here's what I found:

"Kuta Beach is located on the western side of the island's narrow isthmus and is considered Bali's most famous beach resort destination."

"Kuta is the best known tourist resort area on the island of Bali in Indonesia..."

"Kuta boasts the best beaches in Bali, a five-mile stretch of clean sand that is a magnet for surfers and sunbathers."

"One of Bali's first tourist developments, it's best known for its Indian Ocean surfing and party-centric atmosphere."

Sounds perfect right?

We were only there for two full days, but that was enough time to learn that I probably won't be back to this part of Bali anytime soon. Having said that, I'm really glad that I went.

Kuta, Bali is a fast paced, crazy busy place.  Our hotel was situated right in the heart of a maze of narrow streets clogged with shops, tourists, motorbikes, and cars. It wasn't so different from any back street here in Shenzhen or Nha Trang, Vietnam. I expected the village-side of Kuta to look tired, shabby, even dilapidated and massive amounts of motorbikes to take up the roads based on my experiences in Asia.

I didn't expect the beach to be lined with souvenir stands and frippery. Since Kuta Beach was only a 15 minute walk from the hotel, it was where we planned to spend some quality time. It was a big let down to see the state of things. Half of the beach was lined with vendors (all those umbrellas in the picture below) willing to sell you time on the chair, beverages, food, massages, gaudy souvenirs. What remained of the beach and that wasn't pounded by the surf, was debris filled sand. 

The best part of Kuta Beach was watching the surfers and the sunset over the Indian Ocean. Two parts of the descriptions that were actually accurate about this place.

Since the beach was less than we were expecting, we retreated to the hotel roof top pool. It was a refreshing shallow pool and we enjoyed lunch pool-side both days.

The main highlight of the trip was our Mt. Batur Sunrise Trek with Pineh Bali Private Tours. Mt. Batur is an active volcano (last erupted in 2000). Our hike began with a 1:30am hotel pickup. At 3:00 we were at the Pineh Colada Bali, Bali coffee plantation and organic farm, having banana pancakes for breakfast. We climbed 1717m (2.73 miles) in 1:52:29 in the dark to watch the sunrise! Our second breakfast was a banana sandwich and boiled egg at the top. On the climb down we got to see all of the things we passed in the dark including the monkeys! We were all finished by 9am! 

The Pineh website describes this experience as a once in a lifetime and it was! Our guide, Rapi, gave us GREAT support getting up and down the mountain. It was challenging and got even more challenging the higher we went. Without him literally holding my hand, I would have fallen many more times than just once on the way down.  

It was short and sweet, but as usual we tried to get as much out of an opportune trip as we could. 

Have you ever hiked at night?

Getaway Essentials and Low Calorie Day

My Saturday started with the hardest plank ever. Have you tried this? I did 3 sets on each arm holding for 20(ish) seconds each time. This really is the #ultimateplankchallenge!!

I hit up the chiropractor for another adjustment. Whatever he's doing has helped my knee. Obviously it's an alignment issue. 

The rest of the day I focused on PACKING FOR BALI!!

mrC has a trip there and since the flights are so affordable from here, I'm meeting him for a couple of days. I love being able to experience new places. 

From my previous trips to Vietnam and Maldives, I've learned to pack the essentials for a quick getaway like this. 

Swimwear: I love doing mix and match options.

Fitness wear: again mix and match goes a long way. mrC packs my running shoes for me (super lucky)!

Everyday wear: light and simple options, but variety too. Tanks, short sleeves, and one long sleeve.

Dress: of course one dress is needed!

What I ate on low calorie day

Breakfast: eggs and pb&j rice cake

Lunch: turkey slices, pb&j rice cake, pb banana protein bar

Dinner: bbq chicken breast, green beans, sweet potato fries

Snack: watermelon (my favorite) and then I had an apple

Macros: still trying to figure out the carbs, but I was also dealing was limited supply since I'm headed out of town. 

Have you ever been to Bali??

6 Mile Hike and Regular Calorie Day

It was SWIC hiking day. Today we traveled about an hour by metro and bus to the Botanical Gardens where we walked a lot!

We covered nearly 7 miles checking out the main features in the park.

Fairy Lake

Hongfa Buddist Temple

Petrified Forest

We climbed to the top of this Pagoda.

Lots of pretty things to see.

Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs and pb&pjs rice cake

Made a point to eat well knowing it was going to be a long morning.

Hiking snack: Fuji apple

Lunch: leftover quinoa and tuna, and (not pictured) pb banana bar, pb & j rice cake

Late lunch (about 3pm) and once I started I almost couldn't stop. Ugh.

Dinner: chicken salad and green beans
Better meal than my lunch and I didn't eat all of the chicken salad. Seriously spicy!

I'm disappointed that I overate at lunch. Everything just sounded good! I need to have a plan for those times when I am hungry like that. Ironically, I was still below my calorie goal for day.

Tomorrow is another day...

What do you do to prevent over-eating?

3 Awesome Yoga Poses and Breaking Fast

Morning yoga. My muscles love an easy stretch session the day after a good workout.

There are lots of traditional (common) poses that feel good: downward facing dog, lunge pose, pigeon pose, even child's pose. 

Here are 3 poses that feel REALLY good to me in the morning, especially after a full body workout the day before:

Supine spinal twist: this feels so good after a leg and arm workout. It really opens up the chest muscles and stretches the glutes.

Revolved fan: another pose that feels good all over plus stretches another large leg muscle group. Those hamstrings.

One legged arcing dog: This pose can feel awkward, but I love the stretch I get in my quads and hip flexors. 

As a distraction, I walked to the chiropractor. In addition to getting an adjustment (including on my knee), I also picked up a new foam roller. My old one was deformed which is the number one sign it needs replaced.

More distractions = a stop at a flower market on the way back to the apartment.

What I ate on fast day

Breakfast: water, coffee

Lunch: water and herbal tea

Breaking Fast (aka dinner): leftover quinoa and tuna, Fuji apple, and pb banana protein bar

I'm so excited that I completed my fast this time and I wasn't miserable. It did help that a friend stopped by and stayed longer than expected right before time to eat. 

Macros: I think I did a good job selecting my break fast meal. Just over 300 calories and very filling!

What's your favorite non-traditional yoga pose?

If you fast, what is your favorite meal to eat when you break it?