Sunday, June 5, 2016

Sunday Sprints and Low Carb Meals

Low carb day = sprints day.

Over the last six weeks I've kind of started to love these workouts. They're tough. They make me seriously sweat. My heart rate kicks up to the 160s. My legs feel like jello. 

What's not to love?

I rode my bike to the fitness center because I was hoping to finish my workout and get home before it rained again. 


Today's sprint workout was the toughest, but we've been building up to it, too. Mentally these might have been harder because it was the first time I did a sprint workout solo. mrC has joined me for all the others (he uses the bike). And like running, just knowing that I was going to go longer may have messed with my head before I even started, too. 

10 minute WU on elliptical 
15 minutes of 20:20 sprints (which is 23 sprints) on elliptical 
30 minute CD on treadmill 

It wasn't that bad. The last three, the extra three, were the hardest. I was so ready to be done when I got to the last three. One thing that makes it easier is using my Gymboss interval timer. Not having to watch the clock helps.


It poured the whole time I was working out which also helped a little by giving me something to focus on besides my legs. At the same time I kept thinking I was going to have to ride my bike home in it.


My planks today were a little random. I tried to remember some of the harder ones from my 31 day challenge, but between the tough sprints and having to plank in the main room because the yoga room was occupied (by a Chinese lady who seemed to just be roaming the center today), I couldn't think.

I stuck with basic forearm plank, plank with reach, and plank with side twist. I did all for 40 seconds each. 


It stopped raining by the time I headed home. An interesting thing happens after it rains here: snails. They are everywhere and they're HUGE. I almost ran over this guy.


This afternoon, I rode my bike to the other side of town to say farewell to a friend who is moving to Hong Kong. It's not far away at all, but she will not be a part of the regular activities anymore. One day that will be me.

What I ate on low carb day

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs with ham, pb&j rice cakes, coffee


Lunch: salad, tuna fish, Coke Zero


Snack: pb&j rice cakes


Dinner: crockpot bbq chicken, green beans, Coke Zero 


Macros: hit my goal to be below 50g net carbs, but short on calories. I wasn't hungry though.


Did you workout today?
Any strange creatures come out to play when it rains in your neighborhood?








Saturday, June 4, 2016

Morning Yoga and Parm-Crusted Flounder

I needed an energizing yoga session this morning. mrC had an oh dark thirty pick up for his trip today and that interruption in my sleep left me feeling sort of blah when I woke up later.

When I want to do yoga at home, I always go to Yoga with Adriene. She has the best at home yoga video options and the best voice. Today I did the Energizing Morning Sequence and Yoga To Get The Juices Flowing.

It's been awhile since I've done yoga because my achilles was firing up when I went into downward dog, but today it felt ok. I didn't force the pose like I would have a month ago. Instead I focused on how my legs were feeling. They were a little tight.


The whole session felt really good on my muscles that were feeling a bit sore from yesterday's full body workout. 




The weather was not as soothing as my yoga session. This rolled in very quickly mid-morning and then hung around most of the day.


What I ate on low calorie day

Breakfast: the usual


Lunch: I wasn't that hungry (and didn't even eat all of the turkey), but felt like I should eat something. I always seem to have less of an appetite on rest days...unless it's fast day. Then I want all the food because I can't have it!


Dinner: parm-crusted flounder. This is such an easy recipe (see below) and I could eat it every other day.


Parm-crusted {fill-in-the-blank with your favorite fish} Recipe:

Drizzle each fillet with coconut oil
Cover with shredded Parmesan cheese
Sprinkle some Cajun seasoning, paprika, parsley flakes

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees on a cooking sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray.

Snacks: I snacked on some strawberries and dry Honey Nut Cheerios, too.

Macros: Low calorie day always makes me nervous, but then it turns out to be easier than I thought. I had room for more carbs and a few more calories, but I was content.



Do you use yoga for more than just a workout?
Do you eat more or less on your rest days?











Friday, June 3, 2016

Lower Body Exercises, a Survey, and Eats

I really liked the video workout combination I did on my last regular calorie day, so I did a repeat today. My hips and thighs still need some toning up and I like the exercises in the videos for the lower body.

Most of the exercises are combo moves. 

Side lunge with double jump in the middle. Switch to other side.


Skater jumps with reverse lunges.


The hardest exercise is a combo of warrior 3 and reverse tricep curl. It's really hard to keep my balance while trying to stay parallel to the floor.


I added on the same exercises I learned during PT again because they are good lower body exercises. I really felt these afterwards the last time I did them. I do three sets of lateral band walks. 10 steps one way, 10 steps back. 3x. Then hamstring curls on the balance ball (no picture).


I've been seeing a lot of surveys on social media lately and this one is my favorite because I love emojis!

Can you do it? Only emojis!

 Current mood: 😍
 Relationship status: πŸ‘«
 Kids: πŸ‘©πŸΌπŸ‘±πŸ»πŸ‘©πŸΌ
 Pets: 🐢
 Favorite color: πŸ’™
 Favorite food: πŸ•πŸ‰πŸ·
 Favorite Animal: πŸ•πŸˆ
 Favorite season: πŸ‘™☀️⛱πŸ•Ά
 Favorite holiday: πŸŽ„
 Favorite sport: ⚽️πŸˆπŸƒπŸ»
 Most Used emoji(s): 😘❤️πŸ˜‰
 Occupation: πŸ‘πŸŽπŸ“š

What I ate for regular calorie day

Breakfast: not as fun when mrC isn't here to join me.


Lunch: plus some sweet potatoe chips


Dinner: That was a bowl of chicken noodle soup...plus some Baked Lays potato chips



Macros: I did pretty well today, even with all the chip eating and the mini Oreos I snacked on. That's the thing about IIFYM (if it fits your macros) diets...you don't HAVE TO give up your favorite foods. You just have to eat in moderation.


Do you like to repeat the same workouts?
What was the last survey you did?



Wednesday, June 1, 2016

The Time I Forgot to Workout and It Was Ok!

Have you ever had one of those days where you have everything planned out perfectly so that you can get everything done and do what you want, but then it doesn't play out that way?

That was me today.

I started with some easy plank flow stretching for the next to last day of the plank challenge. I had time to do my full body workout but decided to do it before dinner (aka my biggest meal on feast days). 


I had an early meet up with the girls to head over to Hong Kong and spend the day at Golden Beach.


After a day in the sun, we stopped at Tuen Mun Town Center to do some quick and dirty (cheap) shopping for some of our favorite things before crossing the border back into China. 


The bus ride across the border, immigration, and two more buses all combined took about an hour to get back to the apartment where mrC had a delicious dinner and flowers (awe!) waiting for me in all my sweaty stickiness. 


It wasn't until after we ate, cleaned up and I was working on this post that I realized I completely forgot to do my feast day full body workout! Big whoops!!

I am so programmed to do my workouts in the morning, that even when I don't do them, my brain thinks I must have because I always do. Honestly, I was ok with it. I didn't jump up and rush to change into workout clothes and get it done. It's one day. I walked A LOT today. I carried over-weight grocery bags across the border of Hong Kong and China. In the 90 degree 94% humidity. It's ok.

Moving on, here's what I ate today

Breakfast


Lunch: packed a bunch of stuff for the beach, but only ate the pb&j rice cake sandwich. 


Dinner: TWO servings of gluten free spaghetti


Dessert: flourless cake (one of my favorite things to get in Hong Kong)


Macros: not enough calories overall, but a good job hitting goals.



What would you have done? Workout or pass?
Do you like the beach?










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