Am I Old?!

October 21, 2013 Kim 73 Comments

Today’s 44 was for the core – primarily the lower part of the abs. I did a single leg crunch with a leg extension.

This move is slow and controlled – extend the leg and hold, then crunch in. Of course, after I finished 44, I had to switch sides and start again!!

For my workout I did one of the 10 Minute Solution DVDs – Ultimate Boot Camp. I did all 5 sections for a great full-body workout.

Lately I feel like I’m sort of struggling with some of my workouts for some reason – maybe it is part of the “old” thing!!!

Most days I feel like I’m still in my 20s – well, maybe not but….I don’t feel OLD!!!

However, some days things happen that make me feel old.

The other day I went to a networking luncheon to meet other small business owners. This guy that I sat next to (he looked about 15!) kept calling me Ma’am. Really?! It would be one thing if he really were 15 but he wasn’t – he was a local business man!!

I felt old then!!!

Friday evening we took dinner to some friends who just had a baby. The new mom asked me if I wanted to hold her – – – YES!!!! While holding this tiny precious baby I realized that I’m closer to grand babies than when my own boys were babies – What????

A lot of times when I’m showing our venue to a perspective bride, I realize that I am old enough to be her mom!!

So, I guess I will just keep doing my daily 44s and be happy that even though I might be “old” I can still workout hard and keep up with some 20 year olds!!!

And – I do remember what it felt like to slam a phone shut after a conversation – so there is that!!!

Do young adults call you Ma’am or Sir?
Do you feel older than your age or younger?

Happy Monday!!!

Kim

Fitness, Push-Ups

Favorite Exercises

October 20, 2013 Kim 47 Comments

Today’s 44 was another push-up variation and it was hard!!! I used –

Step Stability Ball — Step
Stability Ball

To do the push-ups, I put my toes on the step and my hands on either side of the ball.

Just getting in this position was hard – I don’t think you can tell but my arms were shaking!!! From here, I just did normal push-ups.

I couldn’t get my chest all the way to the ball without killing myself so I went as low as I could. Using the stability ball for push-ups is always super hard for me!

It’s no secret that I like to workout and try new moves! Today I thought I would share

Push-ups: As few as 5 years ago, the only way I even attempted push-ups was on my knees. Quite honestly, I never even considered trying them any other way. Now I like to try all sorts of push-up variations. Here are just a few:

Alt. sides of the BOSU - walk over in between — Alt. sides of the BOSU – walk over in between

Squats: Squats have always been one of my favorites!! I used to do 100s of squats at a time way back in my 20s!!! There are so many ways to do squats but I’m just picking a few today!

lift and hold — Start on ball – lift, hover, hold before lowering back down

single leg squats – right toe is barely touching floor

Burpees: Burpees are one of those moves that many people hate. This is another move I used to dread. There was a time not many years ago that when I did workout DVDs and burpees were included, I used that time as a water break!!! Now, I have all kinds of fun with this move!!!

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

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thv3mJioVSA’]

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCSfRRoiuA4′]

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQT6e33BNuM’]

Burpees with rotating squat jump:

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtBPSB1xiDo’]

I could actually go on and on with my list of favorite exercises because I like to work every part of my body and there are really only a few moves that I still don’t like – JUMPING LUNGES!!!

What are some of your favorite exercises? Do you like to do different variations?

Happy Sunday!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Running, Treadmill

Running Because I Want to Not Because I Have to

October 19, 2013 Kim 50 Comments

Because I was so excited to do weighted burpees on Thursday, I didn’t do Nellie’s (Brooklyn Active Mama) Wednesday workout yet – so today I did 44 toe touches.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyo4p5cw-7c&feature=youtu.be’]

This is a move that you will feel after just a few!!! 44 of these were a challenge!!!

And – because it’s been a week since the last time I ran, I ran today. All week long I’ve thought about how far I would run today – I thought about doing 50 miles (on my treadmill, of course!) just because I know I have it in me. Then I thought about running 25 so that I could complete the 50 (over the course of a week but whatever….).

However, this morning, I ran the way I felt – because that is what running is all about for me!!! I did 7 miles in 45:43 (1.5% incline) and then another 1.5 miles at a nice easy pace to cool down.

I have realized that I am not a person who like to follow a running training plan at this point in my life. I just want to run for the pure enjoyment I get from running.

I know lots of people thrive on training plans and knowing exactly what each day will bring but when I run that way, I start to resent everything about running – and I hate that feeling.

Some days I want to run 5-9 miles at a quick pace just because – so I do!

Some days I feel like doing some intervals – so I do them!!

Some days – the idea of running for 3-5 hours is my idea of a good time!!!

Some days I don’t want to run at all – so I pick a different workout and I am completely OK with it.

Today, I decided that I don’t have to prove anything with my running – I just want to continue to enjoy it!!! And one day, that might mean lacing up my shoes and running 50 miles just because I want to!!! (today was not that day!)

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Calves, Fitness, Thighs

Sometimes I Need a Filter

October 18, 2013 Kim 81 Comments

Today a did a dancing inspired move for my 44. (Relax – I didn’t actually dance – that would be scary!!!) I did a plie to a releve – sounds fancy, huh?

This was actually a nice 44 – I kept a slow steady pace through the motions and really enjoyed it.

I went old-school today for my workout – The Firm – Bootcamp Maximum Calorie Burn. I have always been a fan of the The Firm workouts and this one is great – 50+ minutes of toning (fairly light weights), plyo moves and cardio segments.

Filters are useful for keeping the “bad” stuff out!!! Sometimes I forget to use the filter that controls things I say or even things that I write.

Yesterday in my post about writing like you talk one of the comments was to the effect that in writing it is easier to go back and edit things. So very true – unless for some reason you don’t. A lot of times when I’m telling Chris something about my day, I add a lot of thoughts that I didn’t really say out-loud but I sure did think them!!!! Other times, I slip and say something that if I had taken a few seconds to think through would have never come out.

When I comment on blogs, I try to really think about what I write. My goal is never to be negative or snarky on someone else’s blog.

The other night I totally blew it!!! I wrote something on impulse (no filter), clicked publish (or whatever the button is) and immediately regretted it. The sad thing is, you can’t delete a comment on someone else’s site. (I did go back and type a reply saying that I was sorry and should have never left the comment I did but still…..)

I love the little reminder about thinking!!! I try to always keep it in mind especially when I comment on other blogs because I really believe that everyone is entitled to write whatever they feel/believe on their site and it is not my place to judge or be rude.

Have you ever left a comment and then immediately regretted it?

Happy Fun Friday!!! I’m off to replace my filter!!!

Kim

Chest, Core, Fitness, Shoulders

Do you Write Like you Talk?

October 17, 2013 Kim 84 Comments

Today for my 44 I did weighted burpees!! Sounds fun, right?! I held 10 pound dumbbells while doing these super fun little gems!!!

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

Not gonna lie – these were hard!!

I also had Garage Boot Camp. I thought about just winging it today but decided that would require way too much thinking on my part so I did a version of my very fist boot camp from the summer – 10 x 3 but today I surprised them and we did 10 x 5!!

Jordan got back his first high school English paper yesterday and said he didn’t think his English teacher liked the way he wrote based on the comments he gave. Some of the comments:

This doesn’t make sense here. Jordan – it made sense to me. Yes but you aren’t the teacher.
Don’t use quotes unless you are actually quoting something. Jordan – I was using them like you do when you talk and do finger quotes. Yep -makes sense to me but not gonna fly on an English paper.
No run-on sentences or fragments. Jordan – I was just writing the way I talk. Dude – I get it – I’m the queen of using dashes instead of ending my sentences. However, once again, this will not work on an English paper.
Don’t bold a word. Jordan – it was to show emphasis. Yep – makes sense but I don’t think that is the way to do it on an English paper.

Basically, I told Jordan – writing is all about creativity and self-expression EXCEPT when you are still in school writing English papers. Then it is about following ALL the RULES.

Listening to him talk about his writing and the fact that he was just writing the way he talked made me think about the way I write.

I totally write the way I talk. The never ending run-ons with dashes – just the way my thoughts and words flow. The constant use of (_____) to add that little extra thought – exactly how I think and say things (hard for me to stay on topic all the time).

When you think about it – the whole writing mold that is taught all the way through school is rarely followed later in life (and I mean no offense to English teachers because I understand that it is an important thing to learn!!!).

Look at some famous authors that have very unique writing styles:

E. E. Cummings – no caps, no punctuation and yet he was published numerous times. Pretty sure that wouldn’t pass even the most basic English class.

When the boys were little we read lots of Junie B. Jones books – Chris hated it because the grammer was so poor – I tried to explain that it was written from the point of view of a first grader but…