Butt, Core, Fitness, Plyo, Running, Treadmill

One Kind Act Is Worth More than 100 Acts Done out of Resentment

January 4, 2014 Kim 48 Comments

Last night I asked Hunter for some suggestions for today’s 44. He came up with one and it was rough!!! I’m not really sure what to call it – HARD?

The move consists of a jump in the air – roll (fall, whatever) back – crunch – pop up (hardest part for me!) – jump – repeat x 44!!!

I asked Hunter if he would do the demo and he agreed even though he had already taken a shower (so sweet!).

I decided to get in another run today. Since I ran nice and easy yesterday, I bumped it up today.
1.5% incline – 5 miles in 30:52 (then some easy miles!)

The other night at dinner I told Chris and the boys that I was going to try to make kindness a bigger part of my daily life.

I decided that for the month of January (and hopefully longer), I would try to make a purposeful effort to do something kind each day.

I know it’s only been a few days but in that short time I’ve discovered something – the act of kindness is all about the attitude!

Yesterday’s act of kindness was something that I would have done anyway but by changing my attitude and wanting to do something kind I actually enjoyed it so much more than if I had just done it and felt resentful for having to do it at all!!

I think that I’m going to enjoy being more purposeful about seeking out ways to be kind and I can already tell that this is one of those things that is going to make my life that much happier!!!

There are many times that I do things but resent it the entire time – my hope is that by choosing to look at some of these things as an act of kindness the resentment will fade and it will become more natural for me to look for ways to be kind!!!

I think that in the big picture I am the one who will benefit the most from choice to try and perform more acts of kindness!!!

Happy Saturday!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Running, Treadmill

Well, the Break Is Over but There Is Still Plenty to Enjoy!!!

January 3, 2014 Kim 78 Comments

Today for my 44 I worked my abs! I didn’t think the move would end up being much of a challenge but I was wrong!! I did a scissor move with my legs while keeping my head and shoulders off the floor.

ready to start - I like to lay in the sun like a cat! — ready to start – I like to lay in the sun like a cat!

right leg down - crunch to left — right leg down – crunch to left

I counted dropping my right leg then left as 1 rep and did this in a fairly slow controlled way. The hard part was keeping my shoulders lifted, legs up and straight(ish).

I also ran again – a total of 5 miles at a nice easy pace (on my treadmill because it is cold)!!!

The boys have been out of school for 2 weeks and I decided to give myself a break for most of that time, too. Now we are down to the final weekend and then we get back to our regularly scheduled programs!!!

OK – it was a little more than 15 minutes but it sure went by in a hurry!!! It has been so nice to ditch the alarm clock and just take care of the things that have to be done but let everything else go for a short time.

I’m actually thinking that a couple days like this built into every ~~week~~ month would be a really good thing – days spent hanging out, playing games, eating snacks and left-overs and just enjoying life!

Oh, well – I really like my normal life, too. I like the routine and am always happy to have my workout (and daily post) done by 7:30 instead of just starting to get up and around at that time!!

So, we will enjoy these next few days (I even convinced the boys to come with me today when I go clean the venue for tomorrow night’s event!!!) and be thankful that we were able to relax and regroup as long as we did!!!

And, instead of living for the next break, I plan to live each day to the fullest and enjoy all of the little things (like cleaning!!!) as much as possible!! Plus, I’m sure that a day spent cleaning and ironing will help me get in plenty of steps!!!

Do you ever find yourself just putting in time until the next big thing – break, holiday, vacation, etc?

Happy Fun Friday!!!

Kim

Butt, Fitness, Quad

The FitBit Force

January 2, 2014 Kim 86 Comments

Today’s 44 was all about hold and control! I held a chair pose and did alternating side tap-outs.

Because I had to take my own pictures using the mirror reflection, I couldn’t hold both arms up. However, when I did the actual move, I really did keep my arms up the entire time!!!

So, even though the pictures are awful, you can get the basic idea!!! I counted a right tap out and a left tap out as 1 rep.

I think this year I’m going to work my way through all of my workout DVDs – that should be a fun way to mix things up!!!

This morning I did Jillian Michaels Hard Body – Level 1. This is a 45 minute workout that incorporates strength training and cardio – my favorite!!!

Yesterday I mentioned that I scored a major deal on a FitBit Force. I have been wearing it every day this week and so far it has been good as a pedometer but that is about it.

Above is a screen shot from yesterday. I think the steps are probably right (sadly all but about 2200 of them were during my run and then I was a slug!!) but nothing else is accurate.

I ran 8 miles hard yesterday and then did another 2.5 miles (10.5 miles total) – and the mileage for the entire day doesn’t even show 6 miles?!

Also, the active minutes isn’t accurate – yesterday I was on the treadmill for a total of 95 minutes. Right now (after my workout, 44 and other moves) the active minutes is showing 1. Really?!

I know the calorie count is way off which is fine because I don’t really pay attention to that anyway.

The part that is the most disappointing is the sleep tracker. I thought it would really show how much I’m awake and sleep patterns but it doesn’t. Because it is on your wrist, you have to be moving that arm a LOT for it to realize that you are awake. I usually try to lay still even when I can’t sleep so basically the entire time I’m in bed it records as sleep time.

I’m going to keep wearing my FitBit and trying to really increase my daily steps but I’m very happy that I only ended up spending a couple dollars on this since it is really just a pedometer at this point.

Any thoughts on the FitBit and ways to make it more accurate overall?

Happy Thursday!!! 3 degrees with snow covering the ground here – pretty sure I need a beach!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Running, Treadmill

2014: New Year with New Opportunities

January 1, 2014 Kim 77 Comments

Today I did a crunch with a punch for my 44. A pretty basic move but clasping my hands and punching between my legs forced me to come up higher on the crunch part.

This was a fairly simple move but I always need to work my core!!

(Yes, we still have up our Christmas trees – we always leave them up through New Year’s!!! I will undecorate this weekend.)

I’m fixing to head down and hop on my treadmill for a nice easy run to kick off the new year. This has been a tradition of mine for years – even last year when I had a stress fracture in my hip I broke the no-running rule and ran on January 1!!!

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions – they don’t work for me.

However, I do have a list of things that I want to try in the new year. This list will probably grow as the year goes on but a few of the things include:

1. Quinoa – I have seen so many tasty looking recipes for this that I am finally going to try it!!!

2. Spaghetti Squash – This is something else that I have never had (don’t be shocked!) and plan to try out this year.

3. FitBit – I had a special offer savings at Best Buy and a couple of gift cards so I ended up getting a FitBit Force this week for $2.44 (can’t beat that!!). I’m going to try tracking my daily activity and sleep patterns. In the past 2 days I have already seen how inactive I am – gonna work on that.

4. Reconnecting – This past fall I have done a horrible job staying in touch with many of my friends and I am going to make more effort this year to stay connected!

5. Experimenting – I love making new recipes but they are often just a variation of something I already make. This year I want to be more adventurous in the kitchen. One year I tried cooking from other countries and I’m going to bring that back!!!

6. Growing our Business – I’ve had 4 months now to get my feet wet as a business owner. Now ~~I think~~ I’m ready to try to expand the business.

7. Living every day to the fullest!!! Above all, I want this year to be enjoyed. I want to spend time with my boys and Chris having fun and appreciating all of the little things that come along every day!

I’m looking forward to 2014 and everything that this new year has to offer. I’m hoping it will be fun of new adventures for all of us!

Happy Wednesday and Happy 2014!!!

Kim

Butt, Fitness, Thighs

An End and a Beginning

December 31, 2013 Kim 58 Comments

Today’s 44 was another fun one with my resistance band. I stood on the band and crossed the handles to make the resistance greater. Then I stepped out with my right foot, out with my left and back in with each.

In the video you can see that I switched lead legs while doing this move – I’m not sure my hips could handle 44 each side. (now I sort-of feel like I should go do another set!!)

I pulled out one of my favorite workouts today – Les Mills Combat – Ultimate Cardio Fighter. 60 minutes of sweating while kicking, punching and jumping = awesome!!!

Looking Back at 2013:

I have seen similar posts to this and decided that it would be a fun to end 2013 with a recap of the year.

January:

I finished up a long-term sub job at an elementary school library – super fun!
Packing away Christmas was a bit of a disaster –

Another shopping trip and a little assembly later, the problem was all solved!!!

February:

I decided to do a little personal challenge during the month of February. In addition to my daily 43 and my regular workouts, I did 1 minute wall-sits to correspond to the day of the month – so by the 28th, I did 28, 1-minute wall-sits!

March:

We had a special Hobbit themed meal to go along with the DVD viewing of the movie. This was mostly Jordan’s thing but I enjoyed planning the meal with his help and then fixing the meal with the help of both boys!

April:

The biggie from this month was more of a huge mistake and learning experience on my part. I had vein surgery on April 24th and feel like I’m still paying the price for that decision!!

May:

Chris and I celebrated our 17th anniversary!

June:

The boys and I went to Texas and enjoyed what would end up being our last summer visit with my Poppa!

July:

We took a great family trip to Florida!!! The driving (22 hours each way) wasn’t really my favorite part but lots of great memories were made!!

August:

The boys started another school year – Jordan went to high school and Hunter to middle school.

Jordan kept busy with marching band!

I made a quick trip to TX to pay tribute to my wonderful Poppa.

And, our lives completely changed when we became business owners!!!

September:

More high school football games and plenty of middle school cross country meets.

Hunter walking through the end of the chute

I celebrated another birthday with another birthday run – and started doing daily 44s.

October:

HaHa – I couldn’t think of anything from October and then I remembered – the epic fail!!! I attempted my first ultra – not pretty!

November:

Hunter started his wrestling career.

Sam, Stacy, Isabel and Hays came up from Texas to spend Thanksgiving with us!!December:

We hosted our first (probably annual) Christmas Day open house at the Governor’s Row House.

We have enjoyed a much needed family reset time while we celebrated Christmas and prepare to start a new year!

Tonight we will have our yearly New Year’s Eve party (we started doing this after Jordan was born so that we could have a family oriented way to celebrate the start of the new year) and tomorrow we will wake up ready for a great new year!!!

Do you have big plans to celebrate the start of 2014?

Happy Tuesday – the final day of 2013!!

Kim

Day With KT

One Kind Act Is Worth More than 100 Acts Done out of Resentment

Well, the Break Is Over but There Is Still Plenty to Enjoy!!!

The FitBit Force

2014: New Year with New Opportunities

An End and a Beginning

Fitness – Food – Fun