Shred Day 2: Sprints, a Nail Salon Adventure and Free Food

Low carb days always make me feel really good.

But today I'm feeling amazing! Not because of low carbing, but because I ran my sprints outside. It was the same workout as yesterday: 20 sprints at 20 seconds on and 20 seconds off. I used a run/walk combination.

Our hotel is located in the Saint-Laurent neighborhood of Montreal, very near the airport and about 15 minutes from downtown. It is a thriving little area with shopping, restaurants, and entertainment just a block away. This morning it was a perfect place for me to run.

After showering and some breakfast, I went on a nail salon adventure. I walked back to the shopping area where I ran my sprints to get my nails done. That salon was closed, so I returned to the hotel to grab the car keys and drove to another location about a mile away. The street was lined with shops and the parking signage was in French, so I continued back to the hotel. I finally found a salon in a shopping mall on another block near where we are staying. At the end of the adventure, I'm loving my new nail colors. 

What I ate on low carb day 2:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs and ham, pb&j plain rice cake, coffee

Lunch: veggie burger, salad, diet dew

Snack: celery, hummus, diet dew

Dinner: salmon, salad, diet dew

Before dinner mrC and I walked to the attached hotel to check out the restaurant. On the way we found some FREE FOOD! The hotel set out fresh cookies for the guests, so we grabbed some for dessert!

Macros: I did really well on my carbs again today: 34 net, but I was under in calories again. I really don't know how to hit them on low carb days. 

Tomorrow is feast day and I've already decided that I will be going to the hotel buffet for breakfast. I saw some waffles there the other day and they just sound really good!

What is your favorite breakfast item?

30 Day Shred Begins

We're going to be hanging out in Montreal for a few weeks for mrC's work, but we have some pretty nice digs at the hotel. Since I'm starting 30 Day Shred, another carb cycling and intermittent fasting program, I was excited to see that the room had a little kitchen area.

What is 30 Day Shred?

After watching the introduction video from Amanda, here is what I learned:

• Takes the best parts of Carb Cycling Level 1 & 2 
• Uses a CUSTOMIZED IIFYM (if it fits your macros) plan
• Puts less emphasis on being GF and DF (no more guilt over cheese and yogurt!)
• Uses an optional shortened feeding window to get in your daily calories
• The workouts: speed, strength training with focus on lower body, and running (this should be interesting for me and my knee) 

During the program we will be using two APPS:
OTR (On The Regimen) - to set custom macros and use with MFP
MFP (My Fitness Pal) - to log food/workouts and track macros

My OTR custom macros look like this (training = regular calorie day and rest day = low cal day):

Then using the customized macros, I input into MFP. I also upgraded to Pro and created goals for each carb cycling day, although I think my low carb day needs tweaking.

I started day 1 bright and early in the fitness center doing an elliptical sprint workout. We jumped right into intense with 20 intervals of 20 seconds on and 20 seconds off. I was secretly hoping my knee would give me another sign that it was up for an outdoor run. Maybe tomorrow.

We missed the shopping window when we arrived yesterday (stores close early here on Sunday), so after mrC went to work I found my way to both Walmart and a local grocery to stock up on some breakfast and lunch items.

Best find of the shopping trip was sweetener for my coffee and tea. Liquid stevia is the best!

I saw this postal box on our after dinner walk and think Canada has way better taste in mail than the USA. What do you think?

I want to stay on track during the 30 Day Shred, so I'm back to blogging every day. My first round of carb cycling was a huge success and I attribute a lot of it to the fact that I blogged EVERY day about my workouts and what I ate.

What I ate on low carb day:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs and Canadian bacon (what else, right?), coffee
I'm out of practice and almost forgot the plate photo ;)

Lunch: veggie burger, salad with parmesan cheese, ranch dressing, celery and hummus, diet dew
Can you believe all that food is only 370 calories? It's crazy how full I feel when I eat well.

Dinner: another salad, tuna, some green beans, and diet dew
I completely forgot the meal pic, so I compensated with a shot of the unprepared items ;)

Snack: Around 3:00 I satisfied a little sweet tooth and hunger with an low carb bar. These things are seriously sooooo good!

MACROS: Low carb days on MFP always confuse me because the app doesn't calculate net carbs (carbs minus fiber). My net carbs were 34 (yay), but my calories were 523 short (not good). The crazy part is that I feel satisfied and had plenty to eat.

Ever been to Montreal?
What tricks do you use to stay on track with your nutrition?
What Apps do you use to track your fitness/nutrition?

Last Day at the Cape & Boardwalk Beach

Yesterday we enjoyed our final full day on the Cape.

After a morning workout that involved a RUN, we had some breakfast and then headed to Old Silver  Beach.

Another test run success. One step at a time. #capecod #falmouth #easyrun #running #athletacontest #mymizuno #sweatybands #flystyle #sweatpink #fitfluential

A photo posted by AmyC (@runningescapade) on Aug 12, 2016 at 7:03am PDT

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We headed back to the house for lunch and to cheer on the US women's soccer team. We were so sad that they lost, so to distract ourselves we decided to explore a little more of the Cape and headed to Sandwich to check out Sandwich Boardwalk and Town Beach.

I read about the marsh lands, lazy river, and most importantly, the popular plank boardwalk, but nothing compares to seeing such unique scenery in person.

We loved walking the boardwalk and reading the messages on the planks. This was my favorite.

It was later in the afternoon when we arrived (low tide meant no one was jumping off the boardwalk) and the beach looked a bit deserted, but it seemed to go on and on. Plenty of room for everyone.

We loved the rocks. Rocks add character to a beach and make taking walks more fun.

mrC dipped his toes in the water and thought it was colder than Old Silver Beach even though it is on the bayside of the Cape.

Like my look? Shop here! 

Oh, and we received our family photo session album and we are thrilled with how they turned out. Here are some of my favorites. I highly recommend Stacey Hedman | Photography.

Today we are returning to mrC's hometown for a brief visit before we drive to Montreal tomorrow for his work. I will be looking for adventures while I'm in Canada with him. Send me your suggestions!

5 Workout Scenes from the Cape

My off-Cape family and friends have been melting in the heat and humidity, but we've been spoiled here on the Cape. The weather has been pretty much perfect for outdoor workouts during our two week stay.

In addition to some group activities, we kept up with our regular daily workouts making use of what was around us.

There was lots of morning yoga in the side yard.

Biking on the bike trail.

Slow sprints in the 'hood.

Weight training in the backyard.

Slow running in the 'hood.

It's going to be hard to leave in the morning, but we have more adventures coming our way!

How I Mix Workouts with Fun on Vacation

If you know me at all, you know that I like to workout.

Not everyone is into fitness, so I try to find things to do that others will enjoy but that will give me my often much-needed workout.

There are plenty of fun activities to do in Falmouth. Believe me, I have a list of favorites that gets longer every time I'm here. But I love to try new things, too.

Last year I tried SUP Yoga for the first time with my friend Danielle and loved it. She's working on her Masters Degree this summer, so she put me in touch with her friend Amy of Peace Love SUP. I was thrilled that the whole family wanted to join me. Our group of six met Amy at Great Pond for a fun afternoon session on the water.

The girls and I had a challenging SUP Yoga workout. I'd love to say that I conquered crow pose on the board, but this is really just Amy catching my one second hold. She did not catch when I fell off the board trying to do side angle pose.

The boys kept to SUP even though we tried to talk then into joining us for some yoga.



W had a great experience with Amy on the SUP boards and several of us were even a little sore the next day.

A new activity for us this year was Bottom Fishing with Patriot Party Boats. Bottom Fishing pretty much guarantees that everyone will catch a fish because they park the boat on top of schools of fish.

Even though I just went along to watch and cheer on the group, I ended up giving fishing a try. It's a lot of work bringing a fish to the surface! I'm pretty sure you can call it a workout, especially if you catch a lot of fish. I think littleC caught eight!

My new found enjoyment of hiking led me to The Knob on Quissett Bay Harbor near Woods Hole. The Knob is really a sanctuary that was donated to the people by Cornelia Carey. She wanted people to enjoy the woods, the birds, and the sea.

There are two walking trails to get to the area known as The Knob lookout. The main trail is well maintained, wide, and takes you straight to the end. We took the Harbor Cliff trail which overlooks the inner harbor in spots but is narrow and not as maintained.

Off the main trail is also access to Crescent Beach on Buzzards Bay. Many people were making a day of it, but we just enjoyed a quick dip to cool off.

One of our favorite activities in Falmouth is the Shining Sea Bike Trail. The trail extends just over 10.5 miles from North Falmouth to Woods Hole. There are several trail heads so you can jump on and off at different places.

Of course there is always swimming at Old Silver Beach. We like to walk the .50 mile there and then spend a couple of hours in and out of the water. There's also a water sports rental shop right on the beach.

Do you like to workout when you're on vacation?
How do you get others to workout with you?