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.

Recipes, Soup

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup for my Sick Boy

January 12, 2013 Kim 4 Comments

Jordan is sick -BOO!!! He is like me and rarely ever sick – probably 3 years since the last time he was sick!!! He has a terrible sore throat (yeah for texting so he doesn’t have to talk!!!), cough and low grade fever – I hope it doesn’t turn into the flu!!!

I made him chicken noodle soup tonight to soothe his throat and speed the recovery!! I hope it helps!

This is the first time I have ever made homemade chicken noodle soup – who knew it was so easy?????

Chicken Noodle Soup for the Sick

1/2 c onions
2 T butter
about 1 1/2 lb diced, cooked chicken breast
6 cups chicken broth
dried basil – I just sprinkled it in
dried oregano – I just sprinkled it in
2-3 c uncooked egg noodles (I used the smallest size)

Saute onions in butter until tender. Add everything but the noodles and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the noodles and simmer 20-30 minutes until noodles are cooked.

Eat and get well!!!

I forgot to take a picture until we were done eating – fortunately, I had enough left for a full bowl!!!

I hope this combined with a day of rest and a good night’s sleep help Jordan bounce back to his normal self!!!

Butt, Fitness

Ball Butt Blaster & Banning Bright Bulbs

January 12, 2013 Kim 3 Comments

Today, like the past 120 days or so, started with a daily 43. For today’s move, I used a stability ball. I started face-down with my fingers and toes touching the ground.

Then I bent my left leg to 90 degrees and flexed my foot.

Now for the real work – squeeze your butt and push your foot up to the ceiling.

I did 43 with each leg and my butt was definitely burning!!!

The rest of my work-out was back to Les Mills Combat. Today I did the Combat 30 again. I am really enjoying the Combat program with the Les Mills crew – always a great work-out and the time flies by!!

I don’t know about everyone (or really anyone for that matter) but I have ~~a few~~ ~~several~~ LOTS of sleep issues! One of them is I like it to be dark!!!

Well, some nights this never seems to happen. We have a big window, way up high, in our bedroom:

Some nights lots of light comes through this window – if someone drives in the cul-de-sac in the middle of the night (or parks with headlights on) – I see the light! Some nights the moon is just wrong in the sky and shines straight in. I think I need a remote controlled blind system for that window or something!!

Another source of light in our bedroom some nights (last night – all night long!!!):

Bright (I have no idea who those people are - default picture 7+ years later!) — Bright (I have no idea who those people are – default picture 7+ years later!)

This clock has 4 levels of brightness and at night it should be on the dimmest:

However, this is Chris’ clock (not mine!!!) and therefore on his night stand. Last night it was like a flood light shining in our room all night long.That is a lot of light for someone who wants/needs pitch blackness to sleep!!! This morning I told Chris that if he left it on bright again at night I was going to kick it and then throw it!!! His perfectly rested response, “Why didn’t you just wake me up and ask me to turn it off?” Where is the fun in that? I much prefer kicking and throwing things after I gripe about them!!!! Duh!!!!

Happy Saturday – hopefully a sunny day and a dark night ahead!!!

Kim

Back, Core, Fitness

Friday = Funday!!!

January 11, 2013 Kim 6 Comments

5 straight days of 5:00 AM alarm – YUCK!!! But it’s Fun Friday!!!! And, no alarm for the next 2 days!

Today for the 43 I worked my core and my upper back! I did a Kayaker move: Position yourself in a V-Sit (legs extended if possible) and hold that for the entire time. Holding a body bar (mine only weighs about 5 pounds), row – pull the bar toward you and squeeze your shoulder blades then extend your arms and push the bar straight in front of you.

The row wasn’t too bad but holding the V-Sit for the entire time….made it through all 43 even though I was shaking by the end!!!

See - Exercise IS fun!!! — See – Exercise IS fun!!!

This picture is just because those 2 are so very silly!!! I’m not exactly sure what Jordan was doing in the background of these pictures but Hunter seemed to think it was funny!!! Look – he is still keeping his legs up while he laughs – double core bonus!!!

After the 43 I did Les Mills Combat – HIIT Plyo. High intensity for 30 minutes!!! I really liked this one even though it meant more burpees!! (I’m not sure why I hate those so much but I keep doing them because I know they are good for me!)

I had a little more time so I pulled out one of my 10 Minute Solution DVDs – Blast Off Belly Fat. I did 2 sections – Belly Fat Blaster and Ab Ripper. The first section was all standing core work – awesome!!! The second one was a mix of standing, crunches and plank work! I like these little 10 minute programs because they are nonstop for the entire 10!

Today in the library we are doing inventory – every single book will be scanned by the end of the day!!! Gonna be fun, fun, fun!!!Sponge Bob – I’m pretty sure that my boys (Chris included) can quote every line of every episode!!! Awesome, huh?!

A friend had this quote on Facebook and I borrowed it because it is exactly me!!This quote pretty much sums things up – all of the challenges I do are to try and improve myself not to show-off or compete with anyone else.

Some library humor in honor of the day ahead!

Happy Fun Friday!!!

Kim

Cardio, Fitness

Is it Play or is it Exercise???

January 10, 2013 Kim 1 Comment

My 43 (entire work-out actually) involved this piece of equipment:

Would that count as true exercise or is it just child’s play? I’m going to say it was a work-out!!! (BTW – if you look at the picture closely you can see how beat up my little mini-tramp is. I have had it since college – 20+ years!!)

I got up (at 5:00am) planning to just do 43 star jumps on my little mini tramp – no big deal!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGLDTKwF-z4′]

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

(You get to see both boys because neither wanted to be left out of the fun!!)

Anyway, a couple jumps in I decided that 43 would be way to easy!!! So, I did what anyone would do and did 43 sets of 43 jumps with 43 little jogging steps on the tramp in between each set. By the end I decided that even though it was mostly fun – it was definitely exercise and a great work-out. In fact, it was interval training at it’s finest!!! For the star jumps I really pushed my arms out and up which helped get my heart rate up. The little jog was enough to recover slightly but not drop my heart rate entirely.

Things I learned during this play/exercise session:

All those big jumps at my age are a little scary!!
If I watched my reflection in the black TV screen it helped me keep my balance!
Play can be a great work-out!
43 sets of 43 jumps = 1849 total star jumps!!!
I can do things like this without falling off and breaking any bones (at least on this particular day!).

I’m happy that I changed my original plan and turned this into an interval work-out! Fun times!!!

Yesterday after the funeral for Chris’ aunt we went to the hospital to see another aunt and uncle of his. His uncle had heart surgery on Monday. He had one of his heart valves replaced with the valve from:

Yep – from a pig!!! Crazy!!! He is still in the CCU but hopefully not for much longer. His kids, Chris’ cousins (and their spouses) were full of pig jokes!!!

The wonders of modern science!!! I’m still trying to wrap my head around having part of a pig in your heart.

On that note – Happy Thursday!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

Exercise Fun with My Boys!!!

January 9, 2013 Kim 4 Comments

Today’s 43 was a true breeze (compared to yesterday!!!) It was a great exercise to really work deep into the abs – the especially obliques!

The move: sit on a stability ball with hands clasped behind head. Alternate opposite knee to elbow (like an oblique crunch on the floor but you have to work harder to maintain your balance on the ball = bonus core work!!!). I counted 1 rep as a right knee lift and left knee lift – 43 each side!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4olEhbnJlRg’]

Here’s Jordan’s best attempt – you can hear Hunter cackling in the background – not sure why he was laughing so much at Jordan trying the move since he had even more trouble!!! Funny boys!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-rWAhx7MPg’]

The boys were silly for sure – the longer they tried the move the more they laughed. I just kept filming them because I love when they are having fun and laughing (especially the true, deep gut laughs)!!! Plus, they were getting extra reps with each demo!!! (sneaky Mom)

I did another day of Les Mills Combat – Combat 45. This one was fun – I will like it more when I learn it a little better and when I’m back to being able to do all the moves at the highest impact level!!!

This afternoon we will see a lot of Chris’ family – sadly it is for a funeral. (One of Chris’ aunts passed away Sunday evening.) It’s always good to see his extended family but I like it better when the occasion is a reunion or graduation party or some other fun event.

Off to a 1/2 day at the library – sad when they need a sub for the sub!!!

Happy Wednesday!

Kim

Day With KT