Category: Exercise

Working Out Week 28 of 2014

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Another week has gone by and I was able to get back into my normal routine of working out each morning now that the ceiling renovations are done and I am feeling better.

  • Monday – Cathe – LIS (Low Impact Series) Cardio Supersets – 41 min
  • Tuesday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 32 min
  • Wednesday – Cathe LIS Turbo Barre – 52 min
  • Thursday – Ride Bike Walk + Yoga – 35 min
  • Friday – Cathe LIS Afterburn – 54 min
  • Saturday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 35 min

I decided to do my Cathe Friedrich Low Impact Series workouts since I was still only about 70% better at the beginning of the week.  The LIS workouts are still challenging but not as hard or intense as some of her other workouts.  Cathe Supersets Workout

 

After completion of Cardio Supersets

As you can see by the workout photos above and the post workout photo of all the sweat that the low impact workout does not mean easy.  These workouts are still challenging but less intense and not so hard on the joints – a lot less jumping but it still gets your heart rate up.

On the days in between doing LIS I rode my bike and came home from riding to do a little outdoor yoga on the back patio.  I went out on Tuesday to a very flat tire on my bike so I pumped it up, rode anyhow and kept checking behind me to make sure it was holding air.  When I went out to ride on Thursday the tire was completely flat again so I decided to walk instead and not risk riding on the bad tire.  I discovered we had another tube to replace it so my husband fixed it for me Friday night and I was able to ride again on Saturday.  I did enjoy walking for a change though on Thursday.  It is nice to have variety – keeps me from getting bored of exercising.

Cathe Turbo Barre Workout

On Wednesday the LIS workout I chose to do was the Turbo Barre workout.  I have not done this workout is quite a while and really like it.  The workout is done in bare feet and uses minimal equipment – just a chair, or a barre if you have one, some light dumbbells and a loop band – and your cat on your chair!  My cat loves to sit on the chair during this workout.  It is over 50 minutes so I think he left for a few to go eat his food – then he was back.  This workout offers total body conditioning with a primary focus on the legs, hips and butt.  I have decided to try and incorporate this in my weekly routine at least once a week for the next month to see the results.  I like how it lengthens and defines the lower body.

Cathe Afterburn Workout

Afterburn was the other Cathe LIS workout I used this week.  It is a total body cardio and conditioning workout that offers a lot of variety using the slide and glide discs (that my cat loves), some dumbbells and dixie cups as markers or props for the workout.  Again it is low impact but not easy and you will sweat a lot.

I also made a new granola recipe this week.  It is one I found on another blog a couple of months ago and had pinned it to one of my pinterest boards.  It is a white chocolate cranberry granola.  I changed the recipe a bit to have a little less brown sugar and used oil in place of the butter.  One of my son’s loves it and he is usually kind of picky.  He saw me putting in the coconut and didn’t think he would like it but he said it smelled really good so he tried it and had two small bowls when it was still warm from the oven.

White Chocolate Cranberry Granola with blueberries

The photo above of the granola is with some fresh blueberries added to it and some soy milk.  That was my breakfast this morning.   My son didn’t want the dried cranberries in his so I am just storing the granola and adding in what I want as I eat it.   This is really good if you warm the granola a little bit and then add a few of the white chocolate chips and they sort of melt onto the granola.  It would also be good with dark chocolate chips, I think.  I will probably try that out next.

I hope everyone has had a great week.  Tell me about your workouts or any new recipes you have tried by clicking on Leave a Reply.  Also, for future post and updates you can follow my blog via bloglovin, email or RSS – all icon are in the right sidebar.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Food Recipes

Working Out Week 27 of 2014

Well, this past week I got in a minimal amount of workouts compared to my normal schedule.  The reason being one;  ceilings still being redone the beginning of the week, and two;  I came down with some type of respiratory virus as of last Sunday and was not feeling too great.

The workouts I managed to get in were:

  • Monday – Ride Bike 2 miles to store and yoga in the evening – 30 minutes
  • Tuesday – no workout
  • Wednesday – Ride Bike + yoga-stretching – 30 minutes
  • Thursday – Yoga – 15 minutes
  • Friday – Ride Bike  couldn’t ride bike as planned – felt terrible!
  • Saturday – Yoga – 20 minutes

Monday and Tuesday they were still working on our ceilings but I did feel okay enough on Monday to ride my bike to the store and do a little yoga in the evening in our bedroom (living room was still a mess with plastic).

Wednesday I actually thought I was feeling better – rode my bike in the early morning and did a little yoga-stretch when I got back from that.  Then, I got busy with the task of getting my house back together since they were done with the ceilings.  I washed walls, counters and baseboards of dust.  I then got out the carpet cleaner and cleaned the dining room and living room carpets.  They had covered them but I just wanted everything really clean after all the work they did.  The ceilings look so much better and nice and clean – see photo of before and after below.

Before After ceilings redone in dining room

 

I also had laundry to catch up on since they worked in the laundry room, and I couldn’t do  laundry while they were working, so I did about four loads on Wednesday.  Well, I guess I over did it Wednesday and relapsed into this virus – or it just hadn’t shown it’s full ugly self yet.  I did not feel very good Thursday and even worse on Friday, the 4th of July.  I rested a lot on Friday and feel somewhat better today.  I managed to wake up and felt like doing a little yoga.  Between the house being under construction of sorts and my virus I feel like I have lost a week of time.   Even my husband commented on how disruptive the ceiling remodel had been.  We would like to do the upper level of our house – our bedrooms – but I don’t know if I can go through another week of displacement and mess again.

I will say again though how much better our ceilings look and even my kids commented on how it seems like the ceilings look higher with that popcorn texture gone.  I am enjoying looking up in my living room when I am on the floor working out and seeing the popcorn removed and the brighter, freshly painted ceiling.  Below is the photo of my living room ceiling aka my workout room in the mornings.

Living Room Ceiling after popcorn texture removed

I am hoping to start my week off next week with a workout schedule of alternating cardio one day and yoga the next.  I think if I take it easy today and tomorrow I will feel like myself again and hopefully be over this virus.  So far no one else in my family has gotten it and I hope it stays that way.

I hope everyone is having a great 4th of July weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Health

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Working Out Week 26 of 2014

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This week marks that we are halfway through the year – can you believe it?  I was able to workout for a few days this week but not the entire week like usual due to our ceilings being redone.  Our house was built in the early 1980’s and we have those horrid popcorn ceilings in most of the house.  We decided to hire a company to remove them from the lower level and that meant my workout room, also our living room, would not be able to be used for several days – which looks like now it will be five or six days.

Living Room covered in plastic for popcorn ceiling removal

The photo above is what my workout room aka living room looks like the past few days – the objects in the middle are our furniture covered in two layers of plastic.  This is a really messy process and I will be glad when it is all done.

ceiling scraped from popcorn texture

 

The photo above here shows the ceilings scraped of the popcorn – its hard to get a good photo as the windows are covered in plastic and they have removed all the light bulbs.

I was able to workout the beginning of this week since they started working on Thursday morning.  I did a couple of my Cathe Friedrich dvd’s and rode my bike one day.

  • Monday – Cathe X10 premix X41 – 41 minutes
  • Tuesday – Ride Bike + exercise ball routine for abs – 33 minutes
  • Wednesday – Cathe Lean Legs and Abs premix compound legs+bonus barre+core – 50 minutes

Cathe X10 workout

I love the Cathe X10 workout – tons of variety and lots of sweat with this dvd.  It is a combination of cardio and weights and lots of creative and fun moves.  The cat is supervising my moves, as usual.

Today, Saturday, I am hoping to ride my bike this afternoon or evening if it doesn’t rain.  The ceiling workers were here until about 1pm – they get here early like at 8:30am so I am not able to get up and get in a workout before they come unless I want to get up before 6 and I don’t.  I like to at least have a cup of coffee and breakfast and do my daily scripture reading before the workers get here.  They are also working in our kitchen so I have to be out of there by the time they show up.

It looks like the ceilings will not be finished until Tuesday of next week so I will only  be working out half of next week as well, unless I can do some outdoor activity in the evening.  I will be really glad when we get this project finished and our house back together.

I hope you had a great week and got in some exercise.  Have a good weekend!

Kimberlee

 

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Working Out Week 25 of 2014

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This past week my workouts were a mixture of biking, cardio and yoga.  It seems like every summer I tend to do more outdoor activities like biking and swimming as it gets warmer and I also like to alternate with some yoga.

Schedule this past week:

  • Monday – Ride Bike + exercise ball routine – 33 minutes
  • Tuesday – Yoga – Yoga Life Magazine Core Curriculum routine – 20 minutes
  • Wednesday – Cathe To The Max dvd, Less Impact Premix – 39 minutes
  • Thursday – P90X3 – Isometrix – 30 minutes
  • Friday – Ride Bike + exercise ball routine – 33 minutes
  • Saturday – Yoga Life + Yoga Journal Magazine routines – 25 minutes

Every other day was yoga this past week.  The yoga routines were a mixture of magazine routines and my P90X3 Isometrix dvd, which is one of my favorite dvd’s in the X3 series.  I had not used this dvd in about three months and forgot how challenging it is – you hold each pose for 45 seconds.

P90X3 Isometrix workout

The other yoga routines I did were from a Prevention magazine called Yoga Life that I bought back in 2010 from Sams, I believe.  There are some really good yoga routines in this magazine so I have kept it and pull it out from time to time to use it.  I also used a Yoga Journal magazine this past week that I checked out from the library.  I took my kids there earlier in the week to check out books for their summer reading and I also checked out a couple of Yoga Journal magazines.

My cardio dvd this week was Cathe Friedrich’s To The Max.  I did a 39 minute premix that was a little less impact but still very challenging and gave me a great workout.  This workout uses the step for parts of the workout and it seems my cat loves to hang out on the step when I am not using it as seen in the photo below.  The core with upper body weights session of this workout is tough and one of my favorite parts of this dvd.

To The Max workout

I also rode my bike again a couple of mornings this past week on my neighborhood route.  I really like being out early and riding in the fresh morning air.  After my riding I usually come in and do some light stretching and some core work with my stability ball.

This coming week I will only be working out for a few days of the week and not my usual six days.  We are having some work done to our house and will have people here working for a few days.   There is also a possibility that I will not be able to do my post next week if they are still here finishing the work on Saturday – we’ll see.

I hope everyone had a great week and you are enjoying warmer weather and some outdoor activities and workouts.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

 

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Working Out Week 24 of 2014

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This past week I decided to follow my same workout routine as the previous week doing cardio, biking and yoga.  I did cardio on Monday and Thursday, biking on Tuesday and Friday and yoga on Wednesday and Saturday.  To change things up from the previous week I used a different workout dvd, different magazine routines and my Flat Belly Yoga book – my schedule was as follows:

  • Monday 6-9 – Cathe Cross Fire dvd, Circuit Blast premix – 36 minutes
  • Tuesday 6-10 – Ride Bike + Foam Roller Stretch routine – 30 minutes
  • Wednesday 6-11 – Flat Belly Yoga Book – 20 minutes
  • Thursday 6-12 – Cathe Cross Fire dvd, Fitness Blast/Plyo Tabata/Core premix – 33 minutes
  • Friday 6-13 – Ride Bike + exercise ball abs routine from magazine – 33 minutes
  • Saturday 6-14 – Flat Belly Yoga Book – 15 minutes

I kind of took it a little easier this week and didn’t do any really long workouts.  I am really enjoying getting outside more and riding my bike early in the morning and I also rode my bike to the store on Wednesday for a few groceries, so I got a little extra workout in that day.

Kimberlees Korner

I really like the Cathe Friedrich Cross Fire dvd.  I did a couple of the different premixes on the workout this past week and even though they are only a little over 30 minutes you get a great workout and sweat a lot.  The core workout on this dvd was really good and had some new moves to work your abs.  The speed skater with weights is part of the cardio in this workout and challenging since you are adding 3 pound weights to the move.

Cathe Cross Fire - Speed Skater with weights Kimberlees Korner
Speed Skater with weights – Cathe Cross Fire workout

For my yoga days this past week I chose to go back to using my Flat Belly Yoga Book by Kimberly Fowler.  I really like the exercise routines in this book and how the use of light weights are incorporated into the yoga moves.  The exercises are well explained and all the photos are in color.  When I did the 20 minute session on Wednesday I decided to take it outside again and do my yoga on the back patio.  I am really enjoying being able to workout outside on some days of the week.

Flat Belly Yoga book

This past week was the first week of summer break for my kids.  It was nice to have a less hectic week and not worry about getting kids off to school, packing lunches and picking them up at a set time every afternoon.  My oldest son is working this summer and has a lifeguard job at a local pool so that is keeping him busy.

I hope everyone had a great week and you have some workouts planned for the upcoming week.  I was planning my schedule for next week this morning and will share them again next Saturday.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee

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Working Out Week 23 of 2014

Wow – the first week of June has already gone by.  This past week was also the last week of school for my kids and now they are on their summer vacation.  I am looking forward to having a less hectic schedule with them being out of school for a while.  I also try and do a little more variety in my summer workout schedule, more outdoor activities like biking and swimming.  This past week I began my outdoor workout activities by adding in some biking and outdoor yoga.

  • Monday 6-2 – Amy Bento Ross Body Box dvd Short & Sweaty premix – 50 min
  • Tuesday 6-3 – Ride Bike – 22 min + Exercise-Medicine ball magazine routine – 15 min
  • Wednesday 6-4 – 21 Day Yoga Challenge Magazine routine – Go With the Flow – 20 min
  • Thursday 6-5 – Amy Bento Ross – Body Box dvd  All Cardio premix – 52 min
  • Friday 6-6 – Ride Bike – 22 min + magazine routine – 15 min
  • Saturday 6-7 – 21 Day Yoga Challenge Magazine routine – Sitting Pretty routine – 20 min

This past week I did a routine of cardio, biking + toning exercises, and yoga.  I really liked this schedule as it was a change from my normal dvd routine or doing an exercise book.  I also took it outdoors with the biking and I even did my two days of yoga out on my back patio at 6:45 am.  It was nice and peaceful outside in the early morning and a great way to begin my day.

Outdoor Yoga Kimberlees Korner

I did use one dvd this week.  It is actually a new dvd that I bought about six weeks ago and had not done it yet.  It got pushed aside when I decided to do the Betty Rocker Spring Challenge in May.  The dvd is called Body Box by Amy Bento Ross.  I have a couple of her older kickboxing and weight training dvd’s and thought I would enjoy this one, too.  So far after using it twice this week I am not sure if I like it as well as I like her older Kickbox Xtreme dvd.  It is a good overall cardio workout but some of the routines are kind of hard to keep up with for me.  There are intervals that can be done between kickboxing combos and I really like those intervals – they are body weight type of exercises.  Overall it is a good workout but I think you need to have kickboxing experience to keep up – I do but it is still not easy to get all the combos down the first time.  I guess that is true for a lot of new advanced type of workout dvd’s though.  I usually have to do them a few times to figure out all the moves.

body box workout Kimberlees Korner

I really enjoyed riding my bike a couple of times this past week on my neighborhood route that I do.  I wore my sport watch and set the stopwatch and it takes me about 22 to 23 minutes to do the route – I am not sure how far it is.  I try and ride at least half of it in my hardest gear which is 3 since I have a 3 speed bike.   When I got home from the ride I would do a routine from my binder of fitness routines I have ripped out of magazines I have subscribed to over the last 10 years.  I have them organized in a 3-ring binder and divided with tabs as to the type of workouts.  I have not used them in a while and got a couple of them out this past week.  One of them was with an exercise ball, a medicine ball plus weights and the other was total body toning with 8 and 5 pound weights.

Workout Cat Kimberlees Korner

As you can see my workout buddy was present for the exercise ball routine.  When not exercising he likes to sit on the exercise mat bag as seen in the other photo.

I also made a couple of more salads this week with some green leaf and romaine lettuce I grew in our little garden out back.  This is only the second time I have tried to grow lettuce and the first time at actually being successful at it.  The first time a lot of bugs got to it before we did so we didn’t get very much.  It is really nice to be able to go out back and pick some lettuce for a salad to go with dinner.

Lettuce from my garden Kimberlees Korner

This past week I also preordered the new Cathe Friedrich dvd’s that are to be released in the fall.  The new series is called Ripped with Hiit.  All of the workouts are high intensity interval training and if you preorder you get free shipping, too.  You can read more about it on her site Cathe.com if you are interested.  I have used her workouts for years and they are all great and worth the money.

I hope everyone had a great week!  Let me know what your workout plans are for the week coming up by clicking on Leave a Reply.

Kimberlee

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Working Out Week 22 of 2014

Another week has come and gone and today is the last day of May.  This past week I completed week 4 of the Betty Rocker Spring Challenge and I also did some Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s and a bike ride.  Below is the past weeks workout schedule:

  • Monday 5-26 – Betty Rocker Challenge Wk 4 Day 2 + Foam Roller Stretches – 40 min
  • Tuesday 5-27 – ECF dvd – Yoga Energy Flow – 3 segments – 30 min
  • Wednesday 5-28 – Betty Rocker Challenge Wk 4 Day 3 + Foam Roller Stretches – 40 min
  • Thursday 5-29 – ECF dvd Power Sculpt – 3 segments – 26 min
  • Friday 5-30 – ECF Cardio dvd Pure Intensity – 3 segments – 30 min
  • Saturday 5-31 – Bike Ride + Foam Roller Stretches- 30 min

I really enjoyed the Betty Rocker Challenge for this past month.  The exercises are all body weight exercises that she sends you each week.  There are seven exercises and you do three rounds of the seven exercises.  It takes approximately 30 to 35 minutes to complete a full three rounds for me.  I thought this final week, week 4, was the most challenging and had a lot of hard exercises compared to the other weeks.

Betty Rocker Spring Challenge Week 4 Kimberlees Korner

One of my favorite exercises from this week was called Sit Outs – seen in the lower left photo.  It was tough but a great core workout.  I would challenge myself to see how many I could complete in a minute – I think the most I got up to was 32.  Typically I could do 30 in a minute.

I decided to go back to doing some of my workout dvd’s this past week.  The previous two weeks I had been using some of my workout books instead of dvd’s.  This week I used a few of my Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s.  I love these workouts and I think I own all of the dvd’s in this series.   They are done in your bare feet and are a combination of yoga and pilates moves.  They really transform your body – especially the ab-core area – with some targeted moves that don’t look hard but when you try them you find out they are more challenging than they look.  They also have great exercises for toning the arms and legs, too.

Power Sculpt from Exhale Core Fusion Kimberlees Korner

Another thing that I really like about the Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s, and I think I mentioned this before in a previous fitness post, is that the workouts are divided into 10 minute segments and you can choose which ones you want to do.  There are typically five or six 10 minute segments on each dvd.  I usually pick three or sometimes four so I do a 30 or 40 minute workout.

Today I did a little bike riding through the neighborhood on a route I like to take that I mapped out a couple of years ago.  It takes me about 20 to 25 minutes to complete the route and then I come home and stretch a little while waiting for my coffee to brew.  It was nice to be out early this morning and enjoy a peaceful bike ride.  I saw a half a dozen or so people walking and it was nice to say Good Morning as I rode by.  I am definitely ready to start incorporating more bike riding in my fitness routine.  I have been riding my bike to the store some but have not been doing my regular biking in the mornings like I did last summer.  It is time to start that again and enjoy being outside in the fresh morning air.

I have also been able to enjoy making salads with some fresh romaine lettuce from our garden a couple of times this past week.  I have not been too successful in the past with growing lettuce but this year it has done pretty good.  It is nice to eat something that you have been able to grow yourself.

What was your workout routine for the week?  Click on Leave A Reply to let me know about it.

I hope everyone had a great week!

Kimberlee

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Working Out Week 21 of 2014

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Another week has come and gone.  The past two weeks have gone by really fast for me for some reason.  Maybe it is all the end of the year activities with my kids and their schools or something.  This week was week 3 and the beginning of week 4 of the Betty Rocker Spring Challenge and I also decided to use another one of my exercise books on the days I was not doing the Betty Rocker workouts.

  • Monday 5-19 – Betty Rocker week 3 workout + foam roller stretches – 40 minutes
  • Tuesday 5-20 – CORE book – Global Workout – 30 minutes
  • Wednesday 5-21 – Betty Rocker week 3 workout + foam roller stretches – 40 minutes
  • Thursday 5-22 – CORE book – Warrior Workout – 30 minutes
  • Friday 5-23 – Betty Rocker week 4 workout + foam roller stretches – 40 minutes
  • Saturday 5-24 – CORE book – Lower Ab workout – 20 minutes

Betty Rocker Spring Challenge Wk 3 Kimberlees Korner

The Betty Rocker workouts were tough body weight workouts this past week.  I actually thought week 3 was a little easier than week 2 – but not much.  I really liked the Hindu Push Ups – (top left photo) and the Grasshoppers (lower right photo).  As you can see I had my personal trainer monitoring my moves once again.  He has a new scarf on for the Memorial Day holiday – it is red with baseballs on the fabric.  My kids thought he needed a new scarf.  He has now learned how to remove it so he is constantly taking it off and we find it various places around the house.

Core Workout book Kimberlees Korner

Core Book Warrior Workout Kimberlees Korner

This past week I choose once again to use one of my workout books that I own instead of my dvd’s.  The one I used this time was CORE by Hollis Lance Liebman.  I got this book last summer from Half Price Books.  I used it quite a bit last summer and really like the routines in the book.  The photos in the book are all color and each exercise is explained in detail along with photos.  The back of the book contains various routines that are anywhere from 8 to 20 exercises per routine.  You can see the book and one of the routines in the above photos.  All of the exercises concentrate on the core and use either no equipment, an exercise ball, medicine ball and some dumbbells for a few exercises.   I also really like how each of the exercises lists the areas of your body it benefits and what areas it is working and it gives you a skill level like beginner, intermediate or advanced.  Once again my cat is present to make sure I am doing everything correctly.

I also decided to start drinking my green drinks and smoothies again.  The one I made this week and drank a few times for lunch was a recipe I found in my Ninja blender book.  I actually changed a few things in the recipe like the ginger and the amount of agave or honey.  They said to use fresh ginger and I only had some crystallized and I added less agave than what it called for.  I think their recipe said 1 to 2 tablespoons of agave or honey and I only use 1 or 2 teaspoons to cut back on the sugar as the crystallized ginger also has sugar in it.

Green Juice Kimberlees Korner

I did a green smoothie challenge back in January of 2014 where I drank one per day for the whole month.  I think I have only made a few since then.  I think one of the reasons is it was cold out (winter time) and I don’t care for really cold drinks in the winter.   I forgot how great drinking these juices or smoothies can make you feel and look.  I will say they are kind of an acquired taste but once you get past the look of it and realize the health benefits it is worth the effort to make it and drink it regularly.  I plan to make it a goal to have at least three per week.

Next week I will be finishing up the Betty Rocker Challenge with week 4.  I have not decide yet if I will be using another workout book or go back to some yoga dvd’s in between the BR workouts.  What workouts are you currently doing?  I would love to hear about them – click on Leave a Reply to let me know.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Kimberlee

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Working Out Week 20 of 2014

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Well, I usually try and get my weekly workout post done on Saturday.  I am a day late this week because of a pipe fiasco that occurred yesterday at our house.  We had a little gardening to do out front of our house and I went out there around noon to help my husband till up the front flower beds and add in some new dirt.  I figured this would take a couple of hours and then I would come in and do my blog post.  Well, I was out there for about six hours instead.  You see – right after I got out there my husband was digging and chopping through some roots from our big Magnolia tree that he thought were causing our front walkway to crack (which they are).  In the process of doing this he hit a pipe that goes to our outdoor sprinkler system and it cracked and started shooting water everywhere.  So, off goes the water for many hours and lots of digging and trips to Home Depot (like 3 or 4) to fix this problem.  Broken pipe in process of repair Kimberlees Korner

Thankfully my husband is handy and can figure these things out and fix them himself – although I am sure that is not how he planned to spend the entire Saturday afternoon.  There was a point in time, around the third trip and at about 4pm, that he said he may have to call someone – but with some more hard work, a few prayers from me and another trip to the Home Depot he got it repaired and our water was back on.  I was able to finish the garden work while he dealt with the problem and made multiple trips to the store.  We have a rain barrel and I was able to use water from that to get my flowers planted.

So, now on to the workouts I did the past week.  I am still doing the Betty Rocker Challenge and it was week 2 and the beginning of week 3 workouts.  In addition to those I decided to do a dvd free week and use one of my workout books instead.  On the days I was not doing the Betty Rocker exercises I did my Flat Belly Yoga book routine.  Below is my schedule for the week:

  • Monday 5-12 – Betty Rocker challenge wk 2 exercises + foam roller stretches – 40 min
  • Tuesday 5-13 – Flat Belly Yoga book – 20 min
  • Wednesday 5-14 – Betty Rocker challenge wk 2 exercises + foam roller stretches – 40 min
  • Thursday 5-15 – Flat Belly Yoga book – 20 min
  • Friday 5-16 – Betty Rocker challenge wk 3 exercises + foam roller stretches – 40 min
  • Saturday 5-17 – Flat Belly Yoga book – 15 min

Flat Belly Yoga workout Kimberlees Korner

I really like the Flat Belly Yoga book by Kimberly Fowler.  So does my cat as you can see.  He is all dressed up in a scarf my sons have decided he needs to wear – I don’t think he really likes it that well but puts up with it.  This book is an excellent book, in my opinion.  I got it back in the fall of 2013 and used it for a while then.  I decided this week to get it out again.  All of the routines concentrate on the core and most of the exercises use light hand weights of 2 or 3 pounds.  The exercises are great for strengthening your stomach and back and really lengthen your whole body.  All the exercises are explained well and it is an all color photo book with multiple photos of how to do one particular move.  I like books like that.

Betty Rocker Challenge wk 2 exercises Kimberlees Korner

Betty Rocker week 2 and the beginning of week 3 challenge was a “challenge” for sure!  There is this skinny sumo move in week 2 that I could hardly get through all of those for one minute.  One minute of doing one particular move does not sound hard until you actually try it.  I really like how this challenge is all body weight exercises and requires no equipment.  I like using my weights, step and other things but sometimes it is a nice change of pace to not have a lot of things to lug out and put away.

I also tried a new healthy muffin recipe this week from Pink Recipe Box.  The recipe is for Healthy Double Chocolate Oat Bran Muffins.  They were really good – made with oat bran and some whole wheat flour so they have lots of fiber.  My oldest son liked them, too.  I also took my friend Karen one when we met on Friday at Starbucks to knit and have coffee and she liked them as well.  I will probably make them again this week.  You can click on the highlighted link and it will take you to the recipe for them.

I hope everyone had a great week and you are able to get in some fitness time for yourself.  I would love to hear about your workouts – you can click on Leave a Reply and tell me about them.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee

Categories: Baking Exercise

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Working Out Week 19 of 2014

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The past week my workouts were a little different than previous weeks.  I mentioned last week that I decided to do the Betty Rocker Make Fat Cry Spring Challenge so instead of doing all workout dvd’s like I normally do I did three days of the Betty Rocker workouts.  The challenge is running from a Thursday to Thursday so I did two days of week 1 workouts and one day of week 2.  My schedule for the past week is below:

  • Sunday 5-4 – rode bike around neighborhood – 15-20 minutes
  • Monday 5-5 – Betty Rocker wk 1 workout + foam roller stretch – 35 to 40 minutes
  • Tuesday 5-6 – Shiva Rea AM Daily Energy Yoga dvd bonus Radiant Heart sequence – 20 minutes + rode bike to store for groceries approx. 2 miles
  • Wednesday 5-7 – Betty Rocker wk 1 workout + foam roller stretch – 35 to 40 minutes
  • Thursday 5-8 – Shiva Rea – More Daily Energy dvd Evolution Heart Flow sequence – 20 minutes
  • Friday 5-9 – Betty Rocker wk 2 workout + slide and glide disc stretch – 35 minutes
  • Saturday 5-10 – Shiva Rea Creative Core Abs – water and spontaneous core sequence – 18 minutes

Bicycle photo - Kimberlees Korner

Last Saturday I was getting my sons’ bikes out and putting air in their tires and decided it was time to start riding my bike again and use it to go to the store to get some groceries.  I usually try and do this every Spring and Summer as it is a great way to get some exercise and be outdoors and it saves on gas, too.  There is a Walmart that I ride to that is about a mile away and they have a bike rack for me to lock my bike up.  I really enjoy riding to the store.  It also kind of limits what you can buy so you only buy what is necessary and not all those extra things that tend to catch your eye.  I can usually get three bags of groceries – large bags that I made myself from fabric – on my bike.

Betty Rocker Spring Challenge Kimberlees Korner

The Betty Rocker Challenge was a pretty good “challenge” this past week.  All the exercises are body weight exercises.  There are 7 exercises that you do for one minute each and repeat them three times.  I definitely worked up a sweat every day I did those exercises.  My faithful workout friend was usually present to supervise me (my cat).

Week 2 of the Betty Rocker challenge began for me on Friday.  The exercises were similar to last weeks but with some add ons to make them more challenging.   They were definitely more challenging for me.  Especially this one called skinny sumos – by the third round on those I had to slow down to make it through.

Quote from the Betty Rocker Challenge:  “Fit is not a destination – it is a way of life.”  I really like this quote as that is how I look at fitness – as part of my daily routine so therefore it is a part of my life.

foam roller stretch Kimberlees Korner

After a couple of the Betty Rocker workouts I did a foam roller stretch routine.  I mentioned a month or two ago that I had gotten one of these.  I really like it for lengthening and stretching out the muscles after a workout or even just in the evening while I watch a TV show.  The quad stretch in the upper left photo is great and I also really like the upper back roll out in the upper right corner photo.  The middle photo is a glute stretch – another good one.

ShivaRea AM energy radiant heart bonus routine from Kimberlees Korner

The yoga workouts I chose to do were really good ones.  I didn’t realize it until after I did the Thursday session that both the Tuesday and Thursday routines were “heart” related sequences.  On Tuesday is was the AM Energy Radiant Heart which is actually a bonus on this dvd as it is from the Radiant Heart dvd (one I do not own).  Thursday the session from the More Daily Energy dvd was called Evolution Heart Flow.  Both of these routines had some great heart opening poses and some good hip openers, too.

I made a new smoothie this past week that I just kind of threw together in my Ninja blender.  It was really good in my opinion.  It is made with rhubarb and strawberries.

strawberry rhubarb smoothie Kimberlees Korner

 

To make this smoothie you will need:

  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup frozen rhubarb
  • 1/2 cup frozen or fresh strawberries
  • 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 1 cup vanilla soy milk
  • 1Tbls Spectrum ground flaxseed with mixed berries Omega-3 & Super Fruits

Place all the above ingredients in a high speed blender and blend 1 or 2 minutes until smooth.  If you use both frozen rhubarb and strawberries this is almost like a strawberry milkshake.

I really like how this smoothie tasted.  It wasn’t too sweet and I love having the rhubarb in it.  I guess if you wanted to sweeten it a little more you could add a spoonful of honey or agave to it.

Rhubarb is really good for your digestive system as well as keeping your skin from premature aging.  It is a good source of vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, potassium, oxalic acid and fiber.  I have been buying it frozen from Kroger.  It is one of the few places I was able to find it last summer.

Let me know how your workouts are going by clicking on Leave a Reply.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a Happy Mother’s Day!

Kimberlee

 

Categories: Exercise Recipes

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