The Teenage Diet: Staying in shape in China + Weekly Workout Schedule

When you're traveling in a foreign country, it can be difficult to keep up your regular workout routine. But I'm not going to repeat what dozens of people have said about staying healthy while traveling, because I've always found those tips to be too vague. And often non-applicable to traveling in Asian countries.
In many countries, especially Asian ones, food is an expression of love. In China, the first thing you hear if you see a friend on the street is- 'have you eaten yet?' It's rude to turn an offer down, and plus most of the time you know the food's going to be good :)
So I'm going to cut to the chase; here's a list of tips that are pretty specific towards traveling in China and that I'm definitely going to utilize once I get there. BTW I'll be boarding my plane on Friday!!! (If you didn't catch my last post.)
ALSO: although I will try my very best to update this blog frequently while I'm there, I'm not positive if I'll be able to access Blogger in China. So if I don't update for around a month, then pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease check for updates around July 13th!!! I'll be back on the 12th and would love for y'all to stay loyal. Thanks a billion!

STAYING IN SHAPE IN CHINA

Be sure to sample the local cuisine, but if you're invited to a generic restaurant meal, keep yourself in check. Chinese food is generally healthy but as with everywhere, restaurant food is much greasier and higher in calories than home-cooked meals.
If you're eating at a restaurant where you know the food isn't fantastic, ask for steamed "qing zheng" veggies (broccoli or califlower is the most widely available) and don't be embarassed to ask the chef to "gan chao," or stir fry without oil.
Skip the rice. Gasp! I know, I know- it's sacrilege. A form of glutinous carb comes with everything; rice, noodles, flat bread etc. Don't get me wrong- I'm not asking you to go carb free. But if you're already having carbs in those dumplings, why make it a double with rice that is just a chaser for veggies? I adhere to the no "tasteless carbs" rule- I don't eat rice or noodles that are just there as a filler, but consume as many carbs as I want IF IT TASTES FANTASTIC. Unless you really love it, don't waste calories on generic rice you can just as easily buy in the U.S.
Make a workout schedule, preferably in the morning. Most parks have jogging tracks, but do make sure to keep an eye on the ground for dog poop. It's kinda like San Francisco in the '70s; people tend not to pick up their poop in public places.
Walk everywhere. Enjoy the scenery. Plus you'll save the cab fare, so you can spend it later on some Beijing pastries or a porcelain knicknack. I've saved a good amount of workouts on my ipod, so I'm going to combine the TT program with plenty of outdoor and/or jumprope HIITs.

Enjoy yourself and sample lots of local foods, but you'll feel so much better if you're in shape and not worrying about how those skinny little asian girls view you.

To conclude: