Category: Recipes

EOM Fitness for April 2015

April 30, 2015

This month certainly went by fast! I cannot believe that tomorrow is the first of May. As far as my workouts go I kept up with a schedule of working out five days a week, alternating cardio and weight workouts with yoga.

The workouts I used this month were from two different dvd sets I own. The one is the newer Cathe Friedrich Ripped with Hiit and the other was an older Cathe workout series that I have had for a few years called Low Impact Series. Both of these sets are great and if you are looking for low impact workouts that give you an excellent workout without too much jumping and impact I would check out her Low Impact Series. It is a set of nine dvd’s and a couple of them are yoga workouts.

On days I did not do a cardio or weight workout I did yoga using my Shiva Rea dvd’s, Exhale Core Fusion, or Yoga Journal magazine sequences. Did you know that you can get some workout and yoga dvd’s on netflix? I recently checked out Shiva Rea’s Sun Salutations from netflix and used it for a few of my yoga workouts. I think I own most of her other ones except that one. Checking out a dvd from netflix or the library is a good way to try it out and see if you will like it and want to buy it.

I have also been reading some other health and dietary books this past month that I have checked out from the library. One of them is an older book but still has useful information called the Prescription for Dietary Wellness by Phyllis A. Balch. I really like the format of this book as well as the useful information on how to eat properly for optimal health. There are lots of recipes in this book as well, that I have tried and liked.

Some of the other books I have checked out from the library are more about cleansing and dietary plans for your health to overcome health problems and feel great. To be honest with you the more I read some of these books the more confused I get on how to eat or what to eat. It seems that if you compare some of these “plans” that are out there they are somewhat conflicting in what they tell you you should or shouldn’t eat and drink for better health. I am reading them but using my own judgement with things.

I have been making more smoothies lately and not really using my juicer too much this past month. I think I got burned out on juicing so I am taking a break from that for a little while. I also notice that smoothies fill me up more. I have even gotten two of my three sons drinking some healthy smoothies for breakfast at least a few times a week.

The above photo is a smoothie I recently made and I thought it was really good – it is kind of thick and super creamy.

Maca Mango Raspberry Smoothie

1/2 c. fresh or frozen raspberries (I used fresh)

3/4 c. frozen mango

1 container raspberry greek yogurt

2 bee pollen capsules opened

1 tsp manuka honey

1 tsp maca powder

1/2 c. vanilla soy milk

-Combine all the above ingredients in a high speed blender and blend 1 to 2 minutes.

For the month of May I will probably start out the month doing some Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s along with my exercise ball book and yoga. I have decided to get some of my fitness books out and use them this coming month instead of just my dvd’s. I will also be going to a 4 day workout week schedule since I am now getting outside more to do some gardening and plan to start riding my bike to the store again.

I hope you had a great month!

-Kimberlee

Hormone Help Using Essential Oils

February 12, 2015

I recently made up a couple of essential oil blends to help with my hormonal issues. Any woman in their 40’s knows what I mean when I mention hormone issues. So far these blends have proven effective for me and my needs and I wanted to share them on my blog.

Hormone Balance Blend from Kimberlees Korner

Hormone Balance Blend using Geranium – 20 drops, Clary Sage – 14 drops, Palmarosa – 8 drops – in a base of jojoba or grapeseed oil

The first blend is an oil that I have been using topically in the morning and at bedtime on my neck, lower abdominal area and on my spine and sometimes my feet – the inner side (like the arch area) which is the reflex point for the spine. I call the blend Hormone Balance – as you can see from my lovely handmade masking tape label in the above photo – it is getting kind of worn out after using it for the past month.

Here is the blend:

Geranium essential oil – 20 drops
Clary Sage essential oil – 14 drops
Palmarosa essential oil – 8 drops
Jojoba oil or grapeseed oil – 4 tsp

Blend all of the above listed oils in an empty 15 ml bottle – shake lightly before each use. Use 2 to 3 times a day on abdominal area, lower back, spine, neck, wrists and feet. Note: all oils used are Young Living essential oils – those are the kind I prefer to use due to their therapeutic qualities. Also – I do not use the reducer dropper on the bottle – I just pour the oil onto my palm from the bottle.

I actually think this blend has a better and stronger scent to it if you use the jojoba oil but I have also used the grapeseed. I like the fact that this blend works to help my hormones and it also smells nice – I had it on the other day and a friend of mine commented that I smelled good. Some blends I have made up do not always smell so great but I use them for therapeutic purposes – not always to smell great. It is nice that this one has a pleasant scent.

The other blend I made up about two weeks ago is a spray. The spray can be used on your body, clothes, in the air in a room or on your bed linens or a pillow. I am calling the spray Hormone Happy Spray. In a 4 oz. glass bottle combine:

Geranium essential oil – 8 drops
Clary Sage essential oil – 6 drops
Elemi essential oil – 3 drops
Fennel essential oil – 2 drops
Add 1 tsp witch hazel and top off with filtered water

Again, I have my really fancy hand written masking tape label. I am constantly changing blends or using the bottle for other things when one runs out so I hate to invest in printing labels – also those seem harder to get off the bottle and the masking tape comes right off. This is just for my personal use anyhow so it is fine for my needs. Again all the oils used in this blend are also Young Living.

These two blends seem to be providing me some relief from some hormonal imbalances I have been experiencing – the joys of getting older! Please note that I am not a doctor and I am just sharing with you what has helped me. Everyone is different and sometimes you have to try some different oils or blends to figure out what will work for you and your body.

Young Living also makes some of their own blends like Dragon Time, Lady Sclareol, and Sclar Essence that also help with female hormone issues. I have tried Sclar Essence and it also works well but I think my new blend is working better for my needs at the moment. Sclar Essence is a blend of clary sage, spanish sage, peppermint and fennel and it has a pleasant scent. It can be applied topically, diffused and also be ingested – I have drank it as a tea.

I have recently ordered Lady Sclareol and I will write more about that one after I have tried it out for a while. I like to use things for a little while before I decide if I like them or if they are working for me.

If you are interested in learning more about Young Living please contact me via email kkg@kimberleeskorner.com Also, if you are interested in signing up for a Young Living account you can click on the highlighted Young Living link or the button in the sidebar.

Have a great day!

-Kimberlee

Healthy Smoothies with Goji Berries

January 28, 2015

A year or so ago I learned of a new berry called goji berries. Apparently they are poplular in Chinese medicine and considered to be a fruit of longevity. These little dried berries are a real superfood that can aid the immune system.

Blueberry Smoothie with Goji berries

The little bright red dried berries – pictured in the photo above – can be eaten by themselves, kind of like dried cranberries, or you can add them to other foods like a smoothie. That is how I prefer to have my goji berries – in a refreshing fruit smoothie.

The other superfood ingredient I have recently rediscovered and am using in my smoothies is chia seed gel. Chia seed gel is really simple to make. To make the gel you take about 2 Tbls of chia seeds or I use Spectrums ground chia seeds and then add about 3/4 to 1 cup of filtered water and stir, allow it to sit for 20 to 30 minutes and stir again – it should be a gel. I put mine in a mason jar and label it and date it – I usually use it within a week in my smoothies or even yogurt or oatmeal. I like adding this gel to my smoothies to thicken them a little and to provide extra fiber and antioxidants plus omega-3’s.

Today I am going to share a couple of my recent smoothie creations using goji berries and chia gel. To make these smoothies it is best to have a high speed, good quality blender, like a Ninja blender which is what I use.

The first one is Blueberry Goji – this one is super healthy with the blueberries and rhubarb plus the goji berries and the chia gel. This is great for breakfast or for a snack.

Blueberry Goji Smoothie Recipe

The other smoothie I recently made and love the taste of is Peaches n Cream Smoothie. This one is also great for breakfast or a snack – the frozen peaches make it really creamy along with the peaches n cream greek yogurt.

What kinds of smoothies do you like to make? Let me know in the comments – I am always looking for new smoothies to try.

Have a great day!

-Kimberlee

Working Out Week 43 of 2014

October 25, 2014

This week I switched up my workouts and chose to do my Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s and some Shiva Rea yoga. This was also a really busy week with a lot going on so I feel like the workouts I chose to do worked well with my schedule.

Monday – Exhale Core Fusion – Abs & Arms – 40 min,
Tuesday – yoga in evening – 15 min.
Wednesday – Exhale Core Fusion – Lean and Toned – 20 min.
Thursday – Shiva Rea Surf Yoga Soul – 30 min.
Friday – Exhale Core Fusion – Body Sculpt – 40 min.
Saturday – Shiva Rea Surf Yoga Soul – 20 min.

Here is the cat – all ready to workout on Wednesday morning. He was scared to get on the new rug I bought in the past but he seems to be okay with it now.

I had not done the Lean and Toned dvd in a while. I really like this workout. I only had a few minutes to workout that morning but 20 minutes of this dvd was awesome! The core pretzel part that I did really worked deep into some core and glute muscles that had me feeling it well into the next day.

The yoga dvd I used this week was Shiva Rea’s Surf Yoga Soul. I think this was actually one of the first of her yoga dvd’s I ever bought. I have not used it in a while and forgot what great yoga sequences are on this program. As you can see my cat really likes her dvd, too. He didn’t even want to move off the mat at the beginning as seen in the one photo of me bending over him.

I also created a new smoothie this week. It is a “green” smoothie and I thought it had a really good flavor to it. I also felt quite energized after drinking it. Below is the smoothie and the recipe:

I am also continuing to make juices in my juicer and try to drink one or two per day. I have found that the juices or the green smoothies are a perfect mid afternoon snack that give me energy. One of my knitting friends has also now pulled out her old juicer and bought the same juicing book I bought and mentioned in my post last week – Juicing. You can read more about that book and a few of the recipes I have made from it in my Week 42 workout post.

This week I am not going to do my Fitness Tips. To be honest with you I have not prepared anything for that part of my post that I have been doing lately and I am too tired to think of something right now. We spent half the day over in Fort Worth at the Alliance Air show that my husband wanted to attend. It was nice and we saw some neat planes and planes flying and doing tricks. Today was very hot here though for October and the heat made the whole event less pleasant – and there was not a cloud in the sky today (which is good for an air show) or a speck of shade to stand in at the air field. I am glad we got to go though and spend time together as a family.

Have a great weekend!

– Kimberlee

Working Out Week 41 of 2014

October 11, 2014

This past week I got back on track with my workouts. They were all Cathe Friedrich workouts I own and some yoga at the end of the week.

Sunday – rode bike to store for a few groceries
Monday – Cathe – Hiit – Double Wave Pyramid – 30 min.
Tuesday – off
Wednesday – Cathe Hiit – 30/30 – 30 min.
Thursday – Cathe Ab Circuits – Stability Ball Abs – 20 min.
Friday – Cathe Low Impact Circuit – Premix Upper Body Sculpt – 31 min.
Saturday – Yoga – Find Instant Calm routine from Yoga Journal Magazine – 20 min.

The cat and I were so glad to be able to do our regular workouts again now that the wood floor is done. I like working out on it for the cardio. I chose to do my Hiit dvd- high intensity interval training – for the purpose of testing out how cardio would be on the new floor. It is a little hard on your back for the ab workouts, even with a mat. I am thinking I will have to invest in a thicker mat for ab workouts or yoga.

Here the cat is above waiting to get going with the Hiit workout on Wednesday. He was all over and around the step when I wasn’t using it as seen in the below photos. I had to do a lot of those continuous kicks – at least 24 in a row per side and avoid kicking him at the same time – an extra workout challenge.

I love doing the abdominal workouts that use the stability ball. There are at least 5 or more different workouts on the Ab Circuits dvd and the stability ball one is a favorite for me.

I am continuing to use my juicer almost every day. I have checked out some other juicing books from the library with some good recipes and I also bought one on sale at Barnes and Noble a couple of days ago. I am really noticing a difference in my stomach becoming flatter and in less cravings for sweet foods since I have been trying to drink at least one or two juices per day. I also notice increased energy. One of my sons is also getting interested in trying some of the juices – mainly the fruit ones, no green ones for him yet.

I am also just finishing the second week of the green smoothie challenge that I mentioned in last weeks fitness post for week 40. I have created a recipe of my own that I am really enjoying and drank a couple of times this past week. There was one day that I forgot to drink my green smoothie and that was on Wednesday. I did have a juice that day though. The recipe I made up is below – I am calling it Peachy Green as it has spinach and peaches in it and is a really pretty green color. I think it tastes good and I can not tell there is spinach in it except for the fact that it is green!

Weekly Fitness Tip: Be Patient, Be Persistent, Have Perseverance

– Change takes time – you can not expect miracle weight loss overnight

– Keep at it – don’t let a set back or two get you off track and going back to your old bad habits. Look at how far you have come and how much better you feel.

– Realize that there will be ups and downs but stay committed to better health and you will succeed

In our weekly newspaper, The Dallas Morning News, there was and article on health and fitness on Wednesday. It was very inspiring about a lady who weighed almost 400 pounds when she was around 29 or 30 years old. She got some bad health news from here doctor a few years ago and decided to do something to take charge of her life – the article said she began walking as that is all she could do at the time. Within three or four years she lost over 200 pounds and has gone on to become a personal trainer who is now helping others. I thought that was such a great story about someone who succeeded in taking charge of their life and making a positive change.

Well, I hope everyone had a good week and you are enjoying your weekend!

-Kimberlee

Working Out Week 29 of 2014

July 19, 2014

This past week seemed to go by so fast! I can not believe we are more than halfway through the month of July! It has also cooled down here in Texas quite a bit the last couple of days and we got some much needed rain all day on Thursday. July is normally really hot so it is strange to be in the low 80’s for the high temperature of the day.

This week my workouts were as follows:

Sunday – Walk + Swimming – 45 minutes
Monday – Cathe Xtrain; All Out Low Impact Hiit, Step & Disc Cardio – 25 minutes
Tuesday – Ride Bike + Yoga outdoors on patio – 32 minutes
Wednesday – Cathe LIS; Turbo Barre, Upper-Lower Muscle Endurance, Legs with Band, Planks & Abs segments – 50 minutes
Thursday – ~~Walking~~ + Yoga – 20 minutes
Friday – Cathe Xtrain; Supercuts – 46 minutes
Saturday – Ride Bike + Yoga outdoors on patio – 32 minutes

Normally I take Sunday’s off but this past Sunday I decided to go for a late morning walk and in the afternoon I swam some laps in our pool. It was really hot that day and a great day to go swimming.

I decided to do some Cathe Friedrich Xtrain dvd’s this week. This dvd series is a couple of years old. There are some great cardio and weight routines in this series.

All Out Low Impact Hiit workout

Monday I did All Out Low Impact Hiit. I only did a 25 minute premix of the step and disc cardio that day as I was having some issues with a pesky sinus headache that came on Sunday evening and carried over into Monday. I was determined not to let it interfere with my workout schedule though. My cat showed up at the end for the stretch – apparently he wasn’t into working out that day either.

Wednesday I did the Low Impact Series from Cathe Friedrich – the Turbo Barre workout again. I am going to try and keep including this in my schedule once a week as I really like this workout even though its kind of long. It really seems to lengthen your whole body and strengthen and tone everything. This week I did a couple of the segments of the workout that I didn’t do last week. As you see the cat really likes this workout – he began it by standing on the floor behind the chair and jumping up over the back to get to the seat. Then he continued to jump around and chase his tail for a while. I guess that was his workout for the day.

I am also continuing to enjoy the warmer weather and ride my bike or walk in the mornings. This past week on Thursday I was going to walk again but it rained – thankfully as we really needed it. So, I decided to get out an old workout that I bought years ago. It is the Caribbean Workout Yoga For the Core. The show used to be on Fit TV and they also put out dvd’s. I think I got this on sale at Walmart. The dvd has three 20 minute segments on it. Both of my cats joined me that day for some yoga.

The other Xtrain workout I did was called Supercuts. I did the entire dvd which is 46 minutes long. It is a fun, fast paced and challenging workout that has cardio, weights and lots of core exercises. There are also several exercise that use the band with handles that are really great for the upper body and the core.

I made more granola this week since my one son ate most of the first batch I made last week. You can look at my workout post from week 28 to get the link to the granola recipe.

I also read a post last week on another blog I follow called the 100lb Countdown. The post was on smoothies and it gave me an idea to create this smoothie with carrots, orange juice and a nectarine.

I guess this smoothie came out more like a drink but I thought it had an interesting and pleasant taste. To make this you will need the following ingredients:

handful baby carrots
1 nectarine, cut up, pit removed, skin left on
2 spoonfuls plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water – more if needed
1/2 cup crushed ice

Place all of the above ingredients in a high powered blender like a ninja blender and pulse a few times then blend for about 1 to 2 min. on speed 8. You could also add a little honey if you wanted it a bit sweeter.

I have found that I like nectarines in my smoothies and have used them in a couple of my green smoothies as well. I recently read in a book I got from the library called The Juicing Diet that nectarines are good for detoxing, heart and bone health and for your skin.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Kimberlee

Working Out Week 28 of 2014

July 12, 2014

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Working Out Week 21 of 2014

May 24, 2014

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

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.

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.

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

Working Out Week 19 of 2014

May 10, 2014

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Green Smoothie Challenge January 2014

January 14, 2014

This is day fourteen of my green smoothie challenge for January. I believe I mentioned in one of my fitness posts a couple of weeks ago how I was participating in a challenge with my green smoothie group on facebook. The challenge is to have at least one green smoothie per day the whole month of January. I actually started mine on the 31st of December so I guess today would be my fifteenth day.

I will say that since we are now about half way through the challenge I am in a habit of having a green smoothie every morning. The green smoothies have not always been good – as I have tried out some of my own creative recipes and some were a success and others not so great. There was one I made with a cooked beet that looked so pretty and I just knew it was going to be awesome but it was hard to get that one down. It didn’t taste as good as it looked. It was a very large smoothie, too, and I was able to choke down about half and dumped the rest. I decided to cross that recipe off my list.

One of the recipes I created is very good. The smoothie is a pretty green color and it has a pleasant taste to it. I am calling it Tropical Green Smoothie. Here is the recipe:

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:13]

Another recipe that is sort of a stand by for me is to just blend the following ingredients for a simple green smoothie:

handful of spinach
1 Tblsp peanut butter
1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
1 Tblsp Spectrum Decadent Blend (optional)
3/4 c. regular almond milk
1/2 c. crushed ice

The recipe above is one I usually have at least once or twice a week. Adding the greens makes it a little more healthy but it does not have a pretty color – it tastes good to me though. Like a peanut butter and chocolate smoothie.

The benefits of having a green smoothie every day are noticeable to me. I seem to have more energy, brighter eyes and better skin tone. These are just some of the physical benefits I have noticed. I know that it is also doing great things internally as well.

What healthy changes are you trying to make this new year? Please click on Leave a Reply and tell me about them.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee