Tag: working out

Working Out Week 38 of 2014

September 20, 2014 kimberlee

It is September 20th already. I don’t know where the time goes but it seems to be flying by this month. My workouts this past week were:

Monday – T-25 Total Body Circuit + 2 Ab Moves on Ball – 28 min.
Tuesday – off/ Rode bike to store for groceries
Wednesday – Cathe CrossFire dvd – fitness blast & firewalker premix + 2 Ab Moves – 29 min.
Thursday – Shiva Rea Daily Energy – Solar Meditation & Chakra Namaskar sequence + 2 Ab Moves – 27 min.
Friday – T-25 Ab Intervals + Yoga Breathe For Joy Sequence from Yoga Journal magazine + 2 Ab Moves – 45 min.
Saturday – Shiva Rea Daily Energy – Heart-Air sequence + Core + 2 Ab Moves – 28 min.

For the next twelve weeks I will be taking Tuesday’s off or just doing a bike ride or light yoga in the evening that day. The reason being is that I am doing a group Bible Study at our church and it meets on Tuesday mornings – I don’t think I want to show up at that all sweaty and in workout clothes. I also don’t want to get up any earlier than I already do, 6:00 am, so I have decided that I am okay with taking that day off and just working out 5 days a week for the next few months.

Monday I did T-25 Total Body Circuit. I remember this one as being a tough workout and it still is for me. Lots of cardio and lots of planks and push ups in this workout. Tons of sweat at the end.

Look who was waiting to workout among the workout bands on Wednesday – my faithful workout friend. He sat there on and off during the workout.

The above photos are part of the Cathe CrossFire workout. I was able to catch some of the jump turn squat sequence in my photos. This is where you start out facing forward and then have to jump and turn 180 degrees to face the back into a squat and then repeat – many times. I really like the CrossFire workout. It is a total body workout. On this particular day I got up about 10 minutes later than normal so I only did one of the premixes that is about 27 minutes long instead of the whole entire workout that I think is over 50 minutes long. That is one thing I love about her dvd’s – lots of premixes so you don’t feel like you have to do a whole hour long if you don’t have the time.

The yoga dvd I used this week on Thursday and Saturday was the same one – Daily Energy from Shiva Rea. This dvd is set up with many different 20 minute yoga sequences that you can pick to do and also some core work, forward bend and some meditation segments to add on to one of the 20 minute ones. I really like this dvd and I love yoga days!

I am trying to continue with my weekly two ab moves after each of my daily workouts. This week I decided to use my exercise ball and do the two exercises with that – the cat approved.

I also watched this documentary dvd that I checked out from the library. I had seen the guy, Joe Cross, who made the movie on Dr. Oz a while back and I also had heard of the dvd. It was a really good and interesting documentary on his journey with following a strict juice cleanse to help himself lose weight and to get his health back as he had a debilitating condition that was causing him to have to be on quite a few medications. After watching this dvd I learned the following day that a sequel to this one was just released this week so there is now a Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead part 2.

The documentary really impressed me as to how juicing can really help you become and be a lot healthier. I had been thinking of getting a juicer a while back but decided not to since I had my Ninja blender. Well, after learning more about the benefits of juicing I decided to buy a juicer. I got a Breville one like the one in the dvd, I think. I had a 20% off coupon from Bed, Bath and Beyond so I used it to buy one. I am impressed with how well it juices fruits and vegetables and how easy it is to clean. There are kind of a lot of pieces but they clean up pretty fast.

So far I have made three different kinds of juices since Friday evening. I am amazed already at how I am feeling and how the juices seem to really fill you up, give you energy and make you less hungry. I was not having any hunger or snack attacks at the normal times I usually do – like around 4 pm. I am not sure I will do a full Juice only cleanse like many people do for a certain amount of time but I am considering doing a partial diet of juices for a few days – like for breakfast, snacks and lunch and then eat a sensible dinner with my family.

Weekly Fitness Tip: Don’t compare yourself to others

– Focus on your goals and realistic exercise programs and time frames not on what others are doing

– Fitness is a journey, not a race. It is okay to start out or go slowly, just do something and don’t give up

I hope everyone had a great week and you are getting a chance to workout and cook some healthy meals.

-Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Health

Tags: cardio workouts, exercise, fit tips, fitness, fitness tips, working out, workout routine, workouts, yoga

Working Out Week 37 of 2014

September 13, 2014 kimberlee

The 37th week of 2014 is just about over and we are about halfway through the month of September already! One year ago today I was attending the all day ShaunTervention conference here in Dallas, TX. What a great event that was and I am so glad I made the decision to go – even though it was kind of outside my comfort zone. I typically do not do workouts in public or in any type of group settings – I have always been a workout at home person. I also met some really nice people at that event along with Shaun T and the people in his vidoes, like T-25.

The workouts I did this week were:

Monday – T-25 Alpha Cardio + 2 Abdominal Moves – 28 min
Tuesday – Shiva Rea Creative Core Abs + 2 Ab Moves – 37 min
Wednesday – T-25 Core Speed + 2 Ab Moves – 28 min
Thursday – Shiva Rea Creative Core Lower Body + 2 Ab Moves – 25 min
Friday – T-25 Speed 1.0 + Yoga practice from Yoga Journal Magazine – 48 min
Saturday – Yoga – Shine On practice from Yoga Journal Magazine – 20 min

The above two photos are of the two abdominal moves I chose to do this week. They are yoga based moves that you hold for a count of 5 to 8 breaths versus doing lots of reps. I did pretty well getting them done every day except for Friday and Saturday, I forgot to add them in those two days. As you can see my friendly workout partner, the cat, approves of the moves.

I continued to do my T 25 workout dvd’s this week but varied the workouts I used. This week on Monday I did Alpha Cardio, again, then on Wednesday I did Core Speed. This is one of my favorites. It is really fast paced and there are some tough moves but I love it. You sweat a ton and feel like you have gotten an awesome workout when the 25 minutes are over. Photo above is of the one handed burpees that you do multiple times.

Speed 1.0 was another T 25 workout that I did on Friday. This one is cardio with each cardio move followed by a welcomed stretch. I had forgotten how I like this workout. It is another great sweat session with lots of stretching in between.

I also stayed with the schedule of doing my Shiva Rea yoga dvd’s on the non cardio days. The Creative Core Abs is great for your whole core.

The other Shiva workout I did was the Creative Core for the Lower Body. The cat of course joined me for part of this workout.

I made some homemade cashew butter this past week. After seeing how simple it is to make almond butter I decided that cashew couldn’t be that different or hard to make. For this I just heated about 1 1/2 cups of cashews in the microwave for 2 minutes. I then put them in the food processor and processed them for about 2 minutes – stopped the processing and then added 2 Tbls coconut oil and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and processed for about 2 or 3 more minutes. This stuff is really good – not quite as creamy as the Jif kind I have bought in the past but I really like it and the flavor it has.

Fit Tip of the Week: Simple daily exercise results in overall better health.

-Discipline yourself to get at least 20 minutes or more of some type of physical exercise every day

-People who stick with a daily exercise regime are more healthy and positive

-Daily exercise may not always be exciting or fun but the simple task of sticking with a routine is worth the positive results

Next week I will be continuing to do some T 25 and yoga- I may also throw in a Cathe video in the middle of the week. I hope everyone is planning to do some type of physical exercise in the week ahead.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Food

Tags: cashew butter, exercise, fitness, making cashew butter, T-25, weekly workout, working out, workout routine, yoga

Working Out Week 36 of 2014

September 6, 2014 kimberlee 10 Comments

This week was kind of short since there was the Labor Day holiday. I kept thinking Tuesday was Monday and Wednesday was Tuesday. Therefore when Friday got here I was wondering how the week went by so fast.

For week 36 I decided to pull out my T-25 workouts and alternate those with yoga. So my schedule was one day cardio and the next day yoga. This was similar to last weeks schedule but I used different workouts. I really liked my schedule this week and the workouts I chose.

Monday – T-25 Alpha Cardio + 2 Ab Moves – 28 min.
Tuesday – Shiva Rea Yoga – AM Energy dvd – bonus segment Heart Salutation from Radiant Heart + 2 Ab Moves – 22 min.
Wednesday – T-25 Ab Intervals + 2 Ab Moves – 28 min.
Thursday – Shiva Rea Yoga – AM Energy dvd Shakti Flow + 2 Ab Moves – 22 min.
Friday – T-25 Lower Focus + Find Instant Calm Yoga workout + 2 Ab Moves – 50 min.
Saturday – Ride Bike + yoga + 2 Ab Moves – 35 min.

The cat and I have missed Shaun T and his T-25 workout. I forgot how much you can sweat in just 25 minutes! I did the entire workout last year from August to October – the whole 10 week schedule with my facebook fitness group. Most of it is written about in my past blog posts. I also attended Shauntervention here in Dallas last year around this time. It was an awesome all day event where I got to meet Shaun T and learn more about him and his positive motivation.

Tuesday we (the cat and I) did the Shiva Rea AM Energy dvd that I own. This one contains three different 20 minute segments plus one bonus 20 minute segment from the Radiant Heart dvd. We did the bonus Heart Salutation and it felt awesome after the fast paced cardio the day before. I love the Shiva Rea style yoga and have many of her dvd’s. I guess the cat missed doing her yoga too as he was around on and off my mat for most of the workout.

Ab Intervals was the second T 25 workout of the week. This one is a combination of floor abdominal work and then some cardio in between. A great session for the abs and the back to strengthen the whole core.

The photos above are from my second session of Shiva Rea’s AM Energy dvd. This time I did the Shakti Flow session. This one has a free flow yoga dance at the beginning and then goes into the yoga poses. Another great workout the day after T 25 and my lower abs were really feeling it after Ab Intervals the day before and the core work in this yoga workout.

Friday I did T 25 Lower Focus, a combination of leg cardio and toning moves. Another sweaty workout session. After this I did a 20 minute yoga workout from a Yoga Journal magazine called Find Instant Calm. This was a good way to stretch out and “calm” down after the cardio.

The entire week I also included these two abdominal moves at the end of my workouts. You can see the cat liked those as well. I found these two moves from a popsugar video last week and decided to make it a goal to do 20 reps of each every day this past week. I almost forgot to do them yesterday but got them in – even though it was a couple hours after my finished workout.

Last Saturday I made some really good sourdough bread using some starter I made earlier in the week. My oldest son has discovered he likes sourdough bread for sandwiches so I decided to make the dough in my bread machine and then bake the oval shaped loaves in the oven. It made two loaves so I was able to freeze one. Everyone has decided (all 5 of us) that the bread is really good. I will be making it again in the near future.

Weekly Fitness Tip: Endurance, Discipline, Determination – Keys to Daily Success

Starting an exercise program and then sticking with it are one of the keys to becoming more fit and healthy – Endurance
Getting your workout in regularly is not always easy or enjoyable but the end results are worth it – Discipline yourself to Just Do It and you will be glad you did
Remember that exercise daily repeated over time will get you results – Determination

-I think that once you begin a regular exercise regime and stick with it that it becomes part of who you are and what you do. There are days I wake up and feel tired (didn’t sleep well) or just not very motivated to do my scheduled workout – but I choose to get up, get going, and get it done – which makes me feel so much better afterwards.

I hope everyone had a great week. The weather here is still hot so I am not sure about getting ready for fall yet but it looks like I need to start thinking about it. I have started stocking up on cans of pumpkin to try some of the new recipes I recently found on pinterest. I also need to make a new fall wreath so I will probably work on that later this coming week.

Take care,

Kimberlee

Categories: Baking Exercise Food Health

Tags: baking bread, baking sourdough bread, exercise program, exercise routine, fitness, fitness motivation, fitness tips, T 25 workouts, working out, workouts, yoga

Working Out Week 35 of 2014

August 30, 2014 kimberlee 14 Comments

I am not sure if it is because it is the end of summer approaching or what but the last couple of weeks have gone by so FAST! I feel like I was just posting about week 34 and now it is week 35.

This past week I chose to vary my workout schedule with some Exhale Core Fusion workouts, Cathe workouts and riding my bike. The change in the schedule was just what I needed.

Monday – ECF (Exhale Core Fusion) Power Sculpt dvd – 40 min
Tuesday – Cathe X-10 dvd – 42 min
Wednesday – Ride Bike + Exercise Ball book – 36 min
Thursday – ECF Lean and Toned dvd – 40 min
Friday – Cathe X-10 dvd – 38 min
Saturday – Ride Bike + Jump Rope + yoga – 35 min

I went back to using some of my Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s this week. I haven’t used them in a couple of months. I have mentioned before how I love the set up of these dvd’s. Each one contains five 10 minutes segments that work a different part of your body. Monday I did the Power Sculpt dvd and did four of the five 10 minutes segments. All of their workouts are done in bare feet and give you excellent toning over your whole body. They are a nice change from the high rep weights I have been doing the past couple of weeks.

So then on the days after doing the ECF workouts I did a tough cardio plus weights workout from Cathe Friedrich called X10. This workout is also kind of set up in segments where you can pick and choose what one or how many you want to do. Usually I do the premix ones that are two workouts combined to make a longer workout. You can do them single if you are short on time and need a 27 minute or less workout. On Tuesday I did the X42 premix which is Hi-Lo plus Fat Burning Circuit. On Friday I did the X38 premix which was Low Impact plus Step. Both of these workouts also have a nice warm up and cool down that is the same. I was very sore on Friday after the step session. I woke up kind of sore in my legs and hips from the ECF workout from Thursday and this workout added to that soreness. It is a good sore though – means I know it is transforming my body.

It is a little harder for me to ride my bike in the mornings with having to make sure the kids get up and off to school. I managed to do one day during the week and then another on Saturday. It wouldn’t be quite so bad if it was light out a little earlier. I can’t really go until 6:45am because it is dark before that. So, for now I am just going to be riding one or two days per week.

I did my jump rope workout once this week. I am getting more stamina with the jumping rope. I found a good workout video on YouTube that is from popsugar for a 10 minute jump rope workout. I also found some other really good workouts on their YouTube channel.

I also did some food prep on Friday (yesterday). I like to buy really large packages of chicken breasts and divide them up and freeze already cut up or marinated so that part of the prep work is done. It is a good way to save some time – that way when you thaw the chicken out it is already marinated and ready to be cooked in the oven, grilled or stir fried. I have been doing this for several years. I also have begun using this meal prep book again for some recipes. The book is above in the photo and is called Once A Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg. I bought this book several years ago from Sams. There are one month meal plans in the book with shopping lists and the directions for all of the recipes. Some of the recipes are pre-cooked and then frozen and others are just marinated or seasoned and then frozen to cook on the day of, as the ones in my photos. The book also offers tips on making menu plans and shopping lists.

Weekly Fitness Tip: Eat Healthy – one of the best things you can do for yourself, in addition to regular workouts, is eat healthy.

– try eliminating all or most processed foods or pre-packaged foods and replace them with fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts and seeds. A friend of mine once told me if you stick to shopping the store on the outer parts where the produce, dairy and meats are you are less likely to buy the processed, boxed items. Of course we all need a box of cereal, some olive oil or flour so that method doesn’t always work for everything. One thing I try to do though is not go down the chips and soda aisle at Walmart.

– learn to prep some foods and meals so you will have healthy choices available and be less tempted to go through a “drive thru” for a quick meal. Remember “failure to plan is planning to fail” I know that if I take an hour or two each week to get some meals prepped and in the freezer or just prepare some healthy snack options I am more liking to stick with healthy eating.

I hope you had a great week and have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

-Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Food Health

Tags: cardio workout, exercise schedule, fit tips, fitness exercise routine, food prep, food prep cookbook, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, working out, workouts

Working Out Week 31 of 2014

August 2, 2014 kimberlee 4 Comments

This week was a shorter workout week for me. We went on a three day trip down to San Antonio, Texas to see the Alamo and stay in the Riverwalk area and do a few things with the kids before school starts back. It was a nice trip and a beautiful area but I am also thankful and glad to be back and home and in a routine.

My workouts this week were:

Monday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 38 min.
Tuesday – off – driving to San Antonio – walking once got there to Alamo and 1 mile to eat dinner
Wednesday – a lot of walking around San Antonio
Thursday – off – driving back from trip
Friday – Jari Love – Ripped and Chiseled workout – 40 min
Saturday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 33 min.

The middle of the week I didn’t do any set or scheduled workouts but I did a lot of walking on Tuesday and Wednesday around the Riverwalk in San Antonio. We stayed right down on the Riverwalk so everything was close by and in walking distance. The first day there we walked down to The Alamo which was about two or three blocks away and I think we had to walk almost a mile one way to eat dinner that night. Lots of complaints from the kids on that one but I told them this way we could walk off our dinner on the way back to the hotel.

The photo above is of the mug I got from the Alamo gift shop and the beads I got in the clearance bin for $2.00 a strand at a little shop in the other direction from our hotel. The shops were called the Shops of LaVillita and they were these cute small little boutiques and art galleries that you don’t see in the mall or just on any street corner. I thought I would make some knitting stitch markers with the beads or maybe a bracelet. I really like the mug as it is a nice shape and I like the art work and wording on it – it says Remember the Alamo on the bottom and the year 1836 on the mug and the handle.

The two photos above are of me and my oldest son – this was our little shopping trip to the Shops at LaVillita on Wednesday. He found this hat in one of the shops and wanted it. I told him he could get it if he intended to wear it more than twice. He says he will. He is driving now so I told him it could be his driving hat. The other photo is of me in front of this pretty little fountain in front of a quaint cafe. I wanted to take my sons photo in front of the fountain but getting him to have his picture taken is difficult. I barely got the one in the hat. He will probably be mortified when I tell him I put it on my blog…

The above photos are of the Riverwalk area. It is really neat how all of these hotels, restaurants and shops are on either side of the river. You can take a river boat tour which takes you on a 30 or 40 minute ride with a guide but we didn’t end up going on that. My one son observed that it might be costly for the five of us and also the boats don’t go very fast and you could probably walk along side one and hear what the guide says, is what one of my 13 year old son’s told me. He is kind of right. I really enjoyed just walking the area and seeing the ducks and other birds and all of the green foliage that borders the sides of the river. It is pretty open and easy to get around during the day but it gets pretty crowded in the evening with everyone going to eat at the restaurants.

So back to the regular routine of workouts on Friday. I decided to do an older Jari Love workout that is called Ripped and Chiseled. It is a weight training workout and it is very high reps. I had forgotten how hard this one is and the results you feel later on in the day and the next day, too. The whole dvd is about 60 minutes and I choose to do about 40 minutes of it. The reps are high but you don’t get too bored with the exercises because she varies the count and does single, 2 -2 count, 3 and 1 count and 4 and 1 count. My legs, arms and upper back are feeling this today.

I have decided that with my weekly workout post I am going to start including some tips for success in working out on your own, or anywhere really. These are tips from me, a real person and mother of three sons – I am not nor have I ever been a professional fitness trainer or belonged to a gym. I just choose to be healthy and workout and do my workouts at home – on my own – making my own schedule.

Fitness Tip for the Week – Commit to exercising starting now!

-Schedule you workouts for at least 4 days per week for 30 minutes or more per day and you will see results – maybe not overnight but within 3 to 4 weeks.

-Start out small in the beginning – just go out for a walk or ride your bike or do some stretches or yoga. There are lots of free videos on You Tube or you can go to your local library and check out dvd’s or books on working out – that is how I started out years ago – by utilizing what my library had to offer. There are also lots of great routines and information on workouts on pinterest.

Well, I hope everyone is having a good weekend. It looks like it is going to be a pretty nice day here today so I may be doing some swimming this afternoon for a little extra workout.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Vacation

Tags: exercise, fitness, fitness tips, Riverwalk, trip to San Antonio, working out, workout with weights

Working Out Week 29 of 2014

July 19, 2014 kimberlee 7 Comments

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

Categories: Exercise Health Recipes

Tags: at home workouts, exercise, fit mom, fitness, health, smoothie, Smoothie Recipe, working out, workout routine, yoga

Working Out Week 26 of 2014

June 28, 2014 kimberlee 2 Comments

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.

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.

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

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

Categories: Exercise

Tags: ceiling work, ceilings redone, exercise, fitness, working out, workout dvd's, workouts

Working Out Week 25 of 2014

June 21, 2014 kimberlee 2 Comments

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.

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.

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

Categories: Exercise

Tags: Cathe workouts, exercise, exercise schedule, exercising, fitness, isometrix, working out, workout routine, workout schedule, yoga, yoga routines

Working Out Week 24 of 2014

June 14, 2014 kimberlee 4 Comments

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.

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.

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

Categories: Exercise

Tags: Cathe workouts, exercise routine, exercise schedule, exercising, fitness, flat belly yoga, working out

Working Out Week 21 of 2014

May 24, 2014 kimberlee 6 Comments

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

Categories: Exercise Recipes

Tags: Betty Rocker Challenge, betty rocker spring challenge, CORE book, Core workout, exercise, exercise books, exercising, fitness, green drink, green drink recipe, green smoothie, weekly workouts, working out, workout routine