Intense Circuits and Magazine Covers!

Since I didn't pass out while doing a portion of my workout outside yesterday, I thought I would do it again today. I knew it was going to be warm. The weather has been nothing less than intense here lately. However, I was hoping to find some amount of relief from a breeze because I was going to do my workout right outside our building at the windiest spot in Discovery Bay.

Except today there was no breeze. At all. mrC joined me and as soon as we stepped outside, it was like we walked into a sauna. We decided to tough it out. Behind our building is a play area with some benches. It's next to what can best be described as a side street although it's mainly used by golf carts.

The FWTFL workout was basically three parts:

Part 1 - HIIT circuit: four exercises (burpees, jump squats, push-ups and mountain climbers with a twist) broken up by 30 seconds runs repeated 3-5 times. We used the benches to do the exercises and then ran the 30 second runs on the street. It really worked out perfectly ---> minus that whole no breeze thing. We did three rounds and called it.

Part 2 - Ab circuit on steroids: 5 sets of weighted Russian twists, 5 sets of ab bicycles, and 4 sets of leg raises. We went inside for this part because I cannot lay down outside on the dirty ground. I was literally sweating from every body part including my knees! This part was tough and I wondered if I would make it through. I said something to mrC and he replied, "two more sets." And that kept me going.

Part 3 - The cool down: low intensity cardio. We went back outside for a walk. We ended up walking a mile loop. There still wasn't a breeze to speak of, but it felt good to be outside moving slowly. We practically had the streets to ourselves except for the occasional dog walker and one guy whizzing by us on his bike.

All of my workout gear was completely soaked in sweat when we stopped including my cute tropical shorts from GAP. I was less than thrilled that the windiest spot on DB wasn't windy at all. But, just like yesterday, it felt good to finish a tough workout. Tough by design and tough because of the heat.

In other news, the magazine article about the DB Ladies SUP group came out. It's a great article, but I didn't expect to see myself displayed on the cover! It's very weird to walk past this magazine stand at the entrance to our building and see myself.

We made the crazy decision to go out in the afternoon heat to pick up mrC's dry cleaning. A short walk to the plaza had us dripping in sweat and seeking refuge in the grocery. Ironically if you stay inside too long, you'll freeze by air conditioning. We had some time to kill before an unexpected appointment for a quick checkup with the doctor and there was finally a breeze blowing, so we relaxed at the plaza tables.

Low carb day 2 - the meals

Broke fast around 11:00 - I was hungrier today than yesterday.

Lunch - I have to admit, it was hard to resist adding Swiss cheese to my roll-ups.

Dinner - a little leftovers from last night plus a big salad

Do you ever use outdoor public areas for your workouts (besides running)?
What words motivate you to keep going during a tough workout?
Ever been on or in a magazine?

Today I'm linking up with Patty, Erika, and Marcia for Tuesdays on the Run! 

There's Just Something About Mondays

Sprint ladder and Tabata. I have to admit I was looking forward to my FASTer Way to Fat Loss® workout when I read the schedule for today. The last two weeks I had to miss my low carb speed burst workouts for one reason or another. There's just something about starting the week with a good, tough workout.

After Skyping with my dad and stepmom, I headed to the fitness center. mrC had some errands, but he walked me there. I jumped on a treadmill for the first part of the workout: sprint ladder

I was going to do this outside on the promenade, but thought it would be too hot. It wasn't so bad on the treadmill. It probably would have been harder outside, but it felt good to sprint. After the last sprint, I continued an easy run for about 10 minutes more. I was surprised at the end to only see a total of 1.56 miles, but I did walk the rest between sprints. It gives me a goal for next time to try to run the rest breaks. 

I looked around the fitness center for a place to do my Tabata workout and came up empty. It's really my only complaint about the place. I wish they had a separate room for floor exercises or yoga. I headed outside thinking I would try to find a space or go back to our tiny Hong Kong apartment and do it. I texted mrC to let him know that I was attempting to do this part outside and if it was too hot, I would go home. I found a great little area just around the corner from the fitness club front door that looked promising.

Ironically, I ended up doing the whole Tabata workout outside. The bench was a perfect spot. I could put my bag and water there while the Interval app on my phone guided me through the exercises.

At the end I was so sweaty that my hair looked like I had just stepped out of the shower and I had my typical very red face. I wish I had braved the warm weather and done my sprints outside, but now I know that I can. Other than that, I was feeling pretty awesome about today's workout.

I was going to walk back to the apartment (which means up a very big hill), but the bus came just as I was walking by the bus stop. I figured it was meant to be and took the bus. After a shower, I spent the rest of the morning working on my Hong Kong Host duties and then watched Big Brother.

PS - I re-read my workout schedule and the sprint ladder had been removed from today's workout! 

Low carb day - the meals

Broke fast about 12:30

Dinner -

Snack -

Do you look forward to your Monday workout?

Where would you workout: small indoor space or warm outdoor space?

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?

My First Stride Rate Test and Leg Day

Saturday mornings mean leg day at the gym.

We like to walk to the gym. It's a good warm-up, but today I also wanted to run on the treadmill. I usually run for 10 minutes using some form of intervals, but today I went for a full mile without stopping.

While I was running, I started thinking about my stride rate. I read a Runner's World article this morning that talked about how to be a more efficient runner. 

I also read somewhere that more efficient running will help decrease injuries. I probably should have thought about this a long time ago, but figured it's never too late to make improvements! For two minutes, I counted my steps. Both times I came to 95. There is probably a difference between treadmill and outdoor running, so I will do another stride rate test the next time I run outside, but I'm happy with that number today.

My FASTer Way to Fat Loss® leg day workout was organized into three parts: 

One-Minuters: wall sit, plank, and mountain climbers for one minute each. Mountain climbers for one minute pretty much stink. I had to take two breaks mostly because my arms needed it. 

Weights: This is the part I enjoyed most. leg press, leg curls, front squats, deadlifts, lunges. No problems with any of the exercises and I felt good about my weight choices.

Finishers: Curtsey lunges, side lunge with squat, squat jumps and lunge jumps. My knee hates curtsey lunges and lunge jumps. Instead I used the adductor machine and skipped the lunge jumps.

I love that the fitness center has a pool. Cool downs are just so much better there.

We spent the rest of the afternoon indoors. We went to 6:30 Mass and it was still super warm. We took the bus to try and stay cool.  Then we had trouble finding the temporary location and ended up walking around getting hot and sweaty. Ugh. 

Regular Calorie Day - the meals

Broke fast about 12:30 - turkey breast rollups, celery, hummus, and Cheez-its

Lunch - protein fruit smoothie and PB&J apple cinnamon rice cakes

Dinner - leftover buffalo chicken quinoa. This stuff is so good!!

Snack - My first Siggi's vanilla yogurt. On the fence about this. It was strong? Not sure the right word for it. I didn't hate it, but I couldn't eat the whole container either.

Have you ever done a stride rate test?

Do you like Siggi's yogurt?

Not My Typical Low Calorie Workout

Fridays are low calorie, active recovery days. This means taking it easy, letting muscles recover and low intensity workouts. I started the day very low key. While my coffee was brewing, I foam rolled and stretched out my sore muscles from yesterday's Bodypump class. This time my legs were feeling it.

Since I already had the yoga mat out, I played this silly how-to-get-thinner-legs-even-if-you're-lazy video that I saw on Facebook. It was quite amusing and surprisingly, not all bad!

On Monday I missed the cardio party, so I made up for it by doing Bodystep class today. It didn't really fit the FASTer Way to Fat Loss® workout plan for the day, but I figured it was ok since I had two extra rest days at the beginning of the week. No over-use problems to worry about.

The class was AWESOME! How do I know it was awesome?

1. I burned nearly 600 calories in the hour long class (598 according to my Apple watch).
2. I was so sweaty at the end that I could barely hold onto my legs during reclined pigeon stretch
3. My hair was so wet you would think I had showered.
4. My face was bright red even after riding the bus back to the apartment.
5. It was a super fun cardio party!!!

mrC and I ran some errands after lunch and I was quickly reminded why people stay indoors in the afternoon around here. It is seriously hot!

 Low calorie day - the meals

Broke fast before class again (about 9am). One PB&J apple cinnamon rice cake.

Brunch around 12:30: two scrambled eggs with ham (topped with my favorite seasoning) two PB&J apple cinnamon rice cakes and orange juice. 

Snack - mini bag of Cheez-its

Dinner: left over buffalo chicken quinoa and corn. Followed by a bowl of watermelon.

I was about 200 calories over --- probably the Cheez-its, but my macros were almost perfect!

I'm linking up with Lacey and Meranda and Rachel for the Friday Five 2.0!

What is your typical active recovery workout?

Ever skipped your recovery day for something awesome?