A Happy Heart

February 20, 2014 Kim 1 Comment

Today’s 44 is one of those moves that looks like it’s no big deal but after you do a few you will feel it for sure!!!

Start with weights in each hand and arms in an upright row position –

From this position, flip your arms out and up over head –

Roll your arms back in front of you to the start to complete the first rep. I started with 8 pound dumbbells but dropped down to 5 pounds after the first 22 because I could feel myself trying to swing the dumbbells. 44 of these were a challenge!!

Today is the 4th day of 100 jumping lunges – not my favorite but such an effective move – thanks, Taylor for really challenging me!!!

And, another day on the treadmill – always a happy thing!!! Today was a quick 7 miles (1.5% incline – 47:51) and then 1.5 easy miles to finish up.

Some days my heart is happy to the point of overflowing!! Today is a happy heart day for sure!

This week has been a week of exciting new things for both of my boys.

Hunter has really been busy with cello stuff this year – school, Youth Philharmonic, private lessons, group…..In early January he submitted an entry to the Topeka Young Musician Awards. Only 4 sting instruments (from all the 7th graders in Topeka) advance to the next level. We found out Saturday that Hunter is one of those 4!!!

picture from last year

Hunter is nervous because this will be his first big solo in front of a large audience but he will be great. The winner gets $200 and 2nd place $100 – he’s hoping to get his first cash prize!!!

Jordan did something at the beginning of this week that is completely outside of his comfort zone – he auditioned for a play with the Topeka Civic Theater. Jordan is very quiet outside of our home except with a few good friends but a friend who has been acting for years talked him into it because it is his favorite book, movie…..

We found out yesterday that he has a couple of roles in the play!!!! I’m so proud of him for even trying out and now he will be doing something that makes him nervous but that he is excited about!!!

I’m proud of both boys for even trying these things and I’m proud of them for being willing to push themselves outside of their comfort zones to perform in front of others!!!

Every day these guys make my heart happy!!!

Happy Thursday!!!

Kim

Butt, Core, Fitness, Hamstrings

Dallas Buyers Club and The Biggest Loser

February 19, 2014 Kim 80 Comments

Today’s 44 really worked my hamstrings!!! I did a single leg dead lift (starting with the right leg) followed by a right kick. About the time my right leg was jelly, I switched to the left for a second set of 44!!

Yikes – I should have sucked in my stomach during this move – oops!! I used 15 pound dumbbells for this move and I know that I will feel this in my hamstrings and butt later!!

Still trying to juggle Michelle Bridges with other workouts. I’m pulling out parts of some of the daily MB workouts to do in addition to other workouts and that is working well for me. Today I did TaeBo – Extremely Ripped. This is 60 minutes of fast pace TaeBo with weights for the 2nd half!!! I started with 8 pound weights but because of the fast pace had to drop down to 5s!!

The other day Chris and I watched this movie. It wasn’t at all what either one of us were expecting!!! I truly thought the premise of the movie was gambling – WRONG!!!

The basic premise is that Matthew McConaughey’s character has AIDS. He is given 30 days to live – goes to Mexico finds a DR that is using medicine that hasn’t been FDA approved yet and 3 months later has improved. He sneaks the drugs in and instead of selling the drugs/vitamins he sells monthly “memberships” to the Dallas Buyers Club with access to unlimited meds.

Beyond the movie itself, I think what really got me was the drastic weight loss that McConaughey underwent for this role. Depending on what source you read he lost approximately 38 pounds and went from being fit to a skeleton.

He is about 5’11” -6′ (again depending on the source) and went from 170ish pounds down closer to 130 for this movie.

Actually, several of the actors in this movie underwent drastic weight loss to play their roles.

Here is my problem – actors do this kind of extreme weight loss (or weight gain) for roles fairly often and aren’t criticized by the media. In fact, often they are praised and rewarded by nominations for awards.

However, for 2 weeks now, Rachel from the Biggest Loser has been blasted by the media for her weight loss. Whether she lost too much or not isn’t up to me to judge – I think that she played a game (because that is what The Biggest Loser really is all about) to win and she did just that.

I don’t think she looks any worse than McConaughey and he lost the weight much quicker than she did!!

I guess my whole point is that the extreme weight loss happens in lots of areas and while I don’t think it is ever healthy, I don’t understand why in one case the person is overly criticized and in the other case they are praised.

Have you seen The Dallas Buyers Club?
Do you think that it is more acceptable when actors go through extreme weight changes (very quickly) to play a role than when other people do the same thing?

Happy Wednesday!!

Kim

Fitness, Running, Squats, Treadmill

My Top Tip for Productivity

February 18, 2014 Kim 91 Comments

I used 2 of my new mini wobble balls today for the 44 –

I decided to just do a basic squat while trying (key word!!) to stay balanced!!

This was a fun way to get in some squats (44 of them) – the balance challenge makes it completely different!!!

Today was also a running day (gotta watch The Bachelor so I kill 2 birds at the same time!!!). 1.5% incline – 9 miles – 63:31

Watching mindless TV (like The Bachelor) makes the time go by very quickly!!!

I think that we all want to be as productive as possible (at least most days) but there are times when we are completely overwhelmed by everything we need (or want) to do.

My #1 way to increase is by making lists – lots and lots of lists!!!

I have tried making lists on my iPad with different apps but those lists just don’t give me the same satisfaction as a list on a plain note-pad.

I put everything on lists – simple things (workout, blog, pay bills…..), projects, ideas for my daily 44, grocery lists, recipes to make in the upcoming week or two – pretty much all of the stuff that clutters my mind goes on a list.

I know that some people think it wastes time to write stuff down before you do it but for me it helps keep me focused and I find it very rewarding every time I can cross something off!!!

And, there have been many times that I’ve done something and then added it to the list just for the privilege of marking it off!

Are you a list maker?
What is your top tip for productivity?

Happy Tuesday!!!

Kim

Cardio, Fitness, Plyo, Push-Ups

Racing – Then and Now

February 17, 2014 Kim 1 Comment

I decided to do another burpee for my 44 today. I tried a new one – a burpee jack. Jump back to plank but jack your feet out as you do your push-up. Jump in and do a standing jack. Repeat x 44.

This was a great move for really getting my heart rate going!!!

I followed the burpees up with 100 jumping lunges for the February challenge with Taylor.

Then I did a 10-minute Solution DVD – Kickbox Bootcamp. I know that I haven’t been doing Michelle Bridges every day – it just works better for me to do it a few times a week!

I don’t race much anymore for a couple of reasons.

I have trained for a few marathons and every single time I ended up with a DNS because of a stress fracture.

The 2nd reason I don’t race much anymore is more because of the changes that have taken place in the past 20+ years since the time when I did race a lot.

During grad school and for a couple of years after, I raced all the time – mostly 10Ks but I did other distances, too. The longest was a half marathon.

I used to pick a race almost every week and just go run on the weekend. There was no true training, no taper, no fuel plan – just me and my running shoes!!

If you won (sometimes just 1st place, sometimes top 3) overall male or female you got a medal –

The top finishers in age groups usually got a ribbon –

I have a box of medals and ribbons from those days but that was never why I raced. I just did it because I loved competing and pushing myself to go faster each race.

I think we usually got a T-shirt as part of our entry fee – just a basic T (usually they were men’s – ugh).

The good news – I think that $20 was the most I ever paid for a race. Most of them were only $10-$15!!!

Now, I don’t think any race is under $30 and most are MUCH more!!

Truthfully, I enjoyed the act of racing and didn’t need any swag or even a medal at the end.

It has been interesting to watch the evolution of racing from what it was 20ish years ago to what it has become. Racing is very expensive and all finishers get an award.

I would still prefer to have races be relatively inexpensive and not receive a bunch of stuff just for signing up. And, I don’t need a medal just for running. (Don’t hate me – it’s just my personal thoughts!!)

I think I mentioned that Hunter wants to run a half marathon this spring since he is turning 13 in April. I’m all for him running (of course) but I asked him if he wants to just train and run the distance or run a race.

He wants to run a race so he gets a medal –

We are going to do a race because this is his thing but I don’t totally get the idea of running for a medal as opposed to just running to run. (BTW – I know that I’m in the minority and I’m not trying to stir anything up because this is just my personal running opinion and I’m not trying to judge anyone – just sharing my thoughts on racing.)

Why do you run?
Would your run a race if you knew that only the top finishers would get an award?

Happy Monday!!

Kim

Fitness, Push-Ups

I Love the Olympics but I’m not Loving the Coverage

February 16, 2014 Kim 64 Comments

Yesterday Chris and I went to Dick’s to get a new pull-up bar since ours was worn out. (The boys, especially Hunter use it a LOT and the handles had lost all padding – good problem to have!!) Anyway, while we were there, I saw a box with these 4 balance balls –

looks how great these are — looks how fun these are

and felt like I NEEDED them!!!

I decided to use them this morning for my 44. I thought push-ups with each hand and foot on one would be a great move!!!

This was definitely a challenge!! I can’t wait to incorporate these fun little gems into more moves!!!

And, the 44 push-ups this morning put me at a nice round 450 push-ups for the week for Taylor’s February challenge. The goal this week was 400 push-ups and in 6 days I did 450!!! Glad that we are going back to lunges next week – lunge jumps actually!!!

I also did a quick Turbo Jam workout – 3T (Totally Tubular Turbo). This is toning with a resistance band – I can tell I haven’t done much with bands lately!!!

I’ve written about the Olympics a couple of times in the past week because I love watching them!!!

However, I have to say that the 2014 Olympics have not been my favorite and I think it is because of how very little is being shown on TV. I think that NBC has done an awful job with the coverage this year.

Clearly, I’m not the only person who feels this way!!!

Just yesterday, the entire morning on NBC Sports Network was devoted to hockey. It was fine during the United States vs Russia game (way to go U.S.!) but then they kept showing other teams. Why didn’t they use any of the time to show the other events that are going on?

Then during the prime time coverage on NBC, the first 30 minutes were devoted to a replay of the last part of the hockey game after the announcers already told us exactly what had taken place.

And, I’m disappointed that we aren’t getting to see any medal ceremonies. I have had the Olympics on a LOT in the past week and I think I’ve seen 1 medal ceremony. I love watching the athletes receive their medals and sing along to whatever their National Anthem is.

Have you been watching the Olympics?
Are you disappointed with the coverage?

Happy Sunday!

Kim

Day With KT

Monthly Archives: February 2014

A Happy Heart

Dallas Buyers Club and The Biggest Loser

My Top Tip for Productivity

Racing – Then and Now

I Love the Olympics but I’m not Loving the Coverage

Fitness – Food – Fun