All posts by Kim

I am a 44 year old wife, mom and athlete. I started running in high school and have loved it ever since. As I got older, I had to stop running every day so I added in weight training and all sorts of fun work-outs like Insanity, P90X and Turbo Fire. I'm a certified personal trainer and I love all aspects of fitness.
Chili, Crock Pot, Recipes

Crock Pot Chili

I have been making this chili recipe since before Jordan was born, maybe longer.  (14.5 years ago).  I started with a basic recipe and tweaked it until it was just the way  we liked it!!!

Once, when Jordan was still little & Hunter wasn’t even born, I made a batch of it and there was so much left that I sent a crock pot to work with Chris the next day.  He plugged it in the break room and left it while he went to fly.  Well, he didn’t realize it (for some weird reason???) but they were having a chili cook-off  that day.  He came back from flying and our chili was gone (I’m pretty sure he had some from someone else!!!). Crazy thing??? – I WON!!!  Left-over chili took home the prize!!!

OK…the recipe for Kim’s Crock Pot Chili

  • 2-3 lb lean ground beef (I always use 2 – it is very lean – we buy a 1/2 side, have for years!! – I never even have to drain it after browning!!)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • chili powder, your preference
  • Cayenne pepper, your preference
  • Season salt, your preference
  • 1 can or bottle Tomato juice
  • 2 envelopes chili seasoning
  • 1 can Kidney beans, drained
  • 1 can Pinto beans, drained
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 can chopped green chilies
  • salt & pepper to taste, if desired (I never add any)

Brown beef with onions and bell pepper.  (Drain, if necessary.)

beef, bell pepper, onion
beef, bell pepper, onion

In crock pot, mix beans, tomatoes, green chilies, and season packets.

other ingredients
other ingredients

Add meat mixture to beans.  Pour in tomato juice and add the extra spices to taste for your desired level of heat.  Mix well.

all mixed up
all mixed up

Cover.  Cook on high 1-2 hours or low 3-4 hours (or until heated through).

set timer and walk away!
set timer and walk away!

You could change this and make it with ground turkey if you prefer.  You could also drop the meat to 1 pound and add in extra beans and tomatoes.  Just depends on how you like it.

And…. I’m still a Texan even though I like beans in my chili!!!!

 

Cardio, Fitness

Why I Blog

12 Comments

Today for my daily 43, I took another move from one of my Combat work-outs!  This one is just plain fun!!!

The move is actually a combo:

  • upper cut
  • upper cut
  • jab
  • jump-kick
  • 4 jumping jabs back

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9V6QEFw-24′]

(This might be my most uncoordinated looking demo yet!!!!)  And, quite frankly, I don’t think it matters which arm does which punch – just pick a way and go with it!!!  Then, switch sides and do 43 (or whatever # you choose  :Happy:) more.

Check out my cool Combat gloves:

combat gloves - make you feel powerful!!!
combat gloves – make you feel powerful!!!

Wearing them makes me feel like a true combat fighter!!!

The rest of my work-out today was – wait for it… Les Mills Combat.  Combat 30 was up for today – this one is short (30 minutes) but pretty intense!!  Good news – 8 more jump kicks on each leg!!!

Screen shot 2013-02-09 at 9.46.04 AM

I have been blogging for almost 5 months and for some reason the past 2 nights I have laid in bed wide-awake(for way too many hours!!!) thinking about my blog.  Here’s what my sleep-deprived mind came up with:

  1. I started my blog because I thought that this year in addition to running my age on my birthday (as I have for a few years now), I would carry the age thing a step further.  I thought (still think, actually) it would be fun to pick a different exercise/move and do the # of  reps = to my age (43 as we all know by now!!!).
  2. I thought sharing them on a blog would do a couple of things.  First, it helps keep me accountable!  Second, I thought it would be a great way to share the idea of doing something active every day.  I realize that 43 is sort-of extreme for some (and not enough for others) but 5-10 is doable for everyone!!!
  3. When I first started the blog, I thought I would only post about the daily 43.  However, I realized after a short time that I actually really enjoy writing other stuff, too.  I like looking for silly pictures or funny quotes.  I love having a place to record little parts of my day (hence the name – daywithkt)!
  4. I think that there is a true blogging community (as evidence by the fact that I see the same names over and over on lots of the blogs I enjoy reading).  At some point I hope to be a bigger part of the growing community of fitness bloggers!
  5. I have been told that blogging is “self-indulgent” and I think that to a large extent it is.  But it is also nice to have a place to share thoughts and ideas on a particular topic.  For me, it is almost like a public form of my work-out log (and I’m OK with that!).

Writing out this little list has helped remind me why I started blogging – it had nothing to do with having lots of readers (although I wouldn’t mind that), lots of comments (also something I wouldn’t be opposed to) – I needed to remind myself to enjoy blogging and not become consumed by it.

Screen shot 2013-02-09 at 10.17.37 AM

 

I also need to remind myself not to compare my blog to any other blogs – defeats the point of my goal with blogging!!!Screen shot 2013-02-09 at 10.17.55 AMSo, I hope that taking the time to write all of this down will help me sleep better tonight help me stay focused on why I wanted to do a blog in the first place!!!

Happy Saturday – look I made a special treat for the boys breakfast!

Saturday morning treat for the boys!
Saturday morning treat for the boys!

(French toast – not my thing but they really like it!!!)

Kim

Core, Fitness

Twittering, Tweeting, Hashtag………What?????

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Today I took a move from Core Attack (Les Mills Combat) and turned it into my 43.  It not only worked my core, but my arms and hip flexors as well!

You can use a dumbbell if you want (I just used a 5 pound one) or do the move without a weight and still get a good work-out!!  Start by crunching in with your upper and lower body (knees at 90) – extend your arms over your head and your legs out straight (not touching the ground) – bring arms and legs together in a V-sit – extend long = 1 rep.  Repeat for 43.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SScXCGBOaQ&feature=youtu.be’]

You can see I struggled a little with my balance – that’s because this move kicked every part of my body!!!!

The rest of my workout was Les Mills Combat – Combat 60 which we all know I love!!!  This week was a nice break – no HIIT Combat work-outs!!!  Those things are brutal!!

So….. I finally joined this decade the  Twitter world!Screen shot 2013-02-08 at 8.21.05 AM Too bad I don’t really have a clue how to do it – do you twitter,  do you tweet?  When do you # and when do you @?  I feel old and out of date!!!  I better enroll in Screen shot 2013-02-08 at 8.05.11 AM

We’ll see if I ever use it figure it out!!!!  The really weird thing (to me, anyway) was that when I signed up it (whoever that might be!) suggested I follow people like Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber, Lebron James – why?!?!

This morning on my way home from taking Jordan to school, I heard Kiss by Prince.  I love the song because it reminds me of a scene from one of my favorite movies of all times – Pretty Woman!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkHVcGWDTWI’]

So many scenes I love from that movie!!!

Last night Chris and I went to our favorite Thirsty Thursday place – always fun.

real clothes on occasion!
real clothes on occasion!

Plus, a good reason to not wear work-out clothes!!!  And, don’t let the sock-less feet fool you about the weather – I thought it was warmer than it was – the wind was arctic!!!

Happy Fun Friday!!

Kim

8th day of February – 8x 1 minute wall sit – DONE!!!  (so far I’ve done them every day!)

 

Cardio, Fitness, Running, Treadmill

Kale Recipes, Anyone???

14 Comments

Today’s 43 was all about cardio.  I did a right shuffle (4 shuffles) – touched my right hand to my right foot then reversed direction for 1 rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMCtlTJIl7s’]

Thanks, Hunter, for doing this demo (even without shoes!) – wish the lighting had been better.  (I’m pretty sure that is due to user error!!!)

It was fun to do a simple, cardio based 43 for a change.

After the 43, I tried the Plank Ab-Burner that the Fitnessista posted yesterday.  If you haven’t been over to her site and checked it out you should – your core will thank you (later!!!).  It is only a 4-minute routine (good thing, too!) but it will challenge you the entire time!!!

For the rest of my workout on this rainy day in Kansas,

finally some rain!!!
finally some rain!!!

I hopped on my treadmill and did some incline work.  I kept the speed down (6.5 miles in 60:30) but the incline at 10% for mile 1, 12% mile 2, 15% mile 3, then 12% for miles 4-6.  YIKES!!!  I think I need to get in more hills!!!

Enough work-out talk!!!  Onto food – namely Kale.  Last night, for the first time ever, I made some kale.  This is the final product (after we had all taken a serving because I forget to get a picture before):Kale Chips

I’m not sure if it will make a return appearance at our table or not.  I think I need more ideas for making it (or just to perfect the one I tried).

I keep reading about kale and all the benefits from it so I bought some and thought I would try to make kale chips.  First off, I have no idea what it means to massage the kale!!!  I washed it really well and tore it into bite size pieces.  I tried to dry it but I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that very well.

Then I spread (more like piled) it on a large stone baking sheet, sprinkled (more like poured) some olive oil on it and sprinkled with season salt.  I think this is where I really messed up – it looked like such a huge amount that I probably put way too much oil and salt.

Who knew that it would cook down to almost nothing?  (not me for sure!!!)  It didn’t get as crispy as I thought it would (I’m guessing the oil & not drying it enough had something to do with that).

The verdict:  Hunter said it was a bit strong (I think he meant too salty!!!), Jordan said it was OK, and Chris didn’t really comment (which means not his favorite but he doesn’t like to say negative things about my cooking – he’s super smart!!!).  I liked it fine but I think I need help if I’m going to try it again!

I googled some of the benefits of kale and found out the number 1 benefit is it can keep you looking attractive!!!!  Screen shot 2013-02-07 at 10.36.38 AMAnother benefit is anti-aging!

So I think I better practice up on my kale techniques!!!

Any recipes or suggestions would be welcome!!!

Happy Thursday!  In factThirsty Thursday

Kim

Recipes, Side Dish, Vegetables

Rice with Squash

adapted from Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook

  • 1/2 c chopped onion
  • 1 T butter
  • a can chicken broth
  • almost 1 c rice
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 yellow squash, chopped
  • 1 zucchini, chopped
  • grated carrots (a generous handful)

In a large skillet, cook onion in butter until tender.  Stir in broth, rice, salt & pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 13 minutes.

Stir in squash, zucchini and carrots.  Cover and simmer 6-10 minutes longer or until the rice and vegetables are tender.

colorful dish
colorful dish

This was super easy and made a great side dish – veggies and carbs all cooked together!!!