Some of my favourite exercises

Moves that give you the best bang for your buck

(in my humble opinion)

If you’ve only got a few minutes to spare then here are some of the best moves to get a worthwhile mini workout.   Heart rate goes up and big muscles get worked - money.  These exercises were always included somewhere in the hour when I taught classes at the gym and are some of my favourites - at least when I have the motivation to get up off my tired butt and do them.  

Hope you enjoy!

Basic crunch 

I know the crunch gets a bad wrap sometimes but if done properly with thoughtful technique it can pack a good punch.

Knee taps 

 side plank on elbow

twist it down

side plank on hand

  twist it down (this one is harder)

V-sit (you can make this one more challenging by stretching your knees) 

Plank with leg lifts

Mountain Climbers

Stuff with the ball

Getting onto it is a total workout in itself.

 Reverse Jack-knife


Brazilian butt-lifts (with a baby doing the superman)

 Burpees

Weighted lunges

Pushups...

This is really the only way I enjoy doing this exercise.  He makes it fun…

STRECH!

cuddle and play...

I can’t say working out happens everyday, but it happens most days.  I'm trying hard not to have excuses even though I'm two kiddos deep.  If I'm being totally honest, I don’t get changed all the time -  sometimes I just do it in my everyday clothes.  But today, I got those gym clothes on and did some serious core.  As you can see, I got a little done without the baby, and then someone decided to wake up after a MICRO NAP and join me for a little ab work.  I just grabbed him, brought him out and kept going.  That’s what I just have to do!  Thankfully Scarlet stayed down or it might have been a micro workout.  It was super fun working out with Will and he made some of the moves WAY easier (pushups are more fun) and WAY harder - he’s gotta be at least 18 pounds by now.  

Hope everyone has a fantastic day and finds a few minutes to focus on themselves today.

Kate 

XO

Weekly workout

Its Wednesday and it's time for me to start getting back into daily workouts - even if it means 15 min a day.  That's basically all the time I have for it at this point anyway.  Here's this week's workout!  Everyday, once a day, anytime of day.

Kate 

XO

Body Confidence after Babies

If you had sat me down at the end of my last pregnancy and said: ‘Kate, in four months you're going to post front and back shots of yourself in a bikini on the internet’.  I would have laughed, cringed a little internally and then said ‘Wanna bet?  There’s absolutely no way’.  But when there’s a will (haha, no pun intended) there’s a way.  Here we are four months after his big birthday and wammo - I’m posting front and back shots of myself in a bikini on the internet.  Why???  Well, let’s see here.  Why am I doing this…

I guess the hard and fast answer is that I like my mama curves and battle scars.  They're little reminders of how strong I was and how difficult pregnancy and childbirth are, but that I got through it all.  I know I’m not perfect physically, but I really don’t care.  I did, once, a while ago, before kids when I was still dancing, but I’m realizing there is

SO MUCH MORE TO LIFE!!! 

I really don’t want to get wound up in the freaky thin ‘ideal’, (which I find pretty disturbing anyway).  I just want to keep this confidence after what my body has been through.  I want to keep working out to be healthy and feel good.  I want to keep eating well to be healthy and feel good.  I want to keep living life outside to be healthy and feel good.  If that’s on a beach in Mexico in a swimsuit, then dang nab it I want to be feeling healthy and good - and lately I have been.

Even before the trip, I bought a one piece BLACK bathing suit because I was still thinking to myself, ‘well, I could stand to loose a few more pounds and my measurements aren’t where they were before the pregnancy, and my scar is still lumpy and bumby’ and then one day all four of us were out shopping and Nate encouraged me to try on a cute new bikini. I was like ‘Heck!  Why not?!  I don’t want to care anymore about having the ‘perfect’ bod cause there is no such thing!!!’  

So although the fitness and food will continue to be a focus in my life it will be a healthy focus.  Anything positive, like body shape or weight loss, that comes after that is pure icing (bad comparison I know…).  But really, I’m proud of where I am today.  I want to continue to feel this confidence and work towards more health in my life.  That’s what it is - a journey, not a destination.  So happy healthy living friends.  Hope this weekend will be a feel good one for you too!!!

Kate 

XO

Workout for the Week!

Last week I kinda slacked off so my goal is to work a little harder for the next seven days.  I'll aim to do this set everyday, once a day if I can as consistently as I can.  

Have a happy Wednesday friends!

Kate 

XO

Not to get crazy about it, but...

Ok, the last four pregnancy pounds are coming off whether they like it or not.  Here's what I'll be doing this week everyday and those four pounds can EAT IT!

I know they won't all come off in a week but I do expect to see some progress sooner or later here.  Next step after this - building muscle, tightening and toning.  Let's face it, just cause the number on the scale says one thing doesn't mean anything if there isn't the fitness and strength to back it up.  

So here's the plan:

Have a fantastic day friends!

Kate

XO

Weekly Workout

ANYTIME.  ANYWHERE.  EVERYDAY.

It's how I plan on getting that BOO-TAY back! 

#BOOTYLUV

Here’s my workout for the week!  I’ll do this challenge twice if possible whenever possible at least once per day.  

Happy Hump Day Friends!

Kate

XO

Weekly Workout

Everyday. Anytime. Anywhere.

Here’s this week’s workout. 

Since I’m down to the last four or five annoying baby weight pounds, I wanted to amp up the sweat a little - I know they’ll be very resistant to leave.  So, I plan on doing the daily challenge twice per day (instead of once) and I’m going to cut out dessert on most but not all days of the week.  

Hope you can join in this week too!  Let me know if you are and we can encourage each other often.  I find it's so much easier with a workout buddy.

Kate

XO

This Week's Workout

Wednesday Workout for the week!

 Once a day.  Anytime of day. Everyday this week.
It's how I'm getting my bootay back!

Hope you're having a great day friends.

Love,
Kate
XO

How I'm getting my BOOTAY back!

Workout of the Week   

EVERY DAY THIS WEEK!

Join me if you like!  Whenever you can, wherever you are, whatever time of day - just once per day.  

Step one for me:  Look up 'Diamond Push Ups'

HAHA!

Have a great one friends 

Kate

XO

How I Plan On Getting My Body Back!

Confidence.  That's what this is about.  It's not about being skinny - for me, it's about the FEELING you have when you walk into a room and know that others are thinking to themselves; 'DANG! She looks super happy (and kinda hot)'.

That being said, it's a new year and I'm going for it.  I found these great little daily ‘challenges’ on Instagram.  Every week I’ll post a new picture that I’ll do everyday that week!  Quick, easy, cheap and doable.  This is how I plan on starting to get my pre-pregnancy body back!  Get excited friends. 

Kay first off, I had no clue what a Froggie was...  Yes, this Goodlife Step, Jam and Attack instructor had to look up what the heck that was!  So...off to a great start.  But I digress.  

Today, I did this sequence of movements and it took a total of ten minutes from start to finish (I did a little dress run before I start this thing for real tomorrow).  Ten to fifteen minutes is really all I seem to have these days so I'm really happy it's super quick.  

When I was pregnant, I was often told that breastfeeding would help immensely with weight loss - and I can’t lie, it did.  But unfortunately for me (as badly as I wanted it to happen) I wasn’t one of those girls where the weight just ‘melted’ off in a few weeks like you so often hear about.  I actually really had to work at it, and work HARD.  Especially for those last ten stubborn pounds to disappear.  Even when all the baby weight came off, my measurements were still not back to my healthy normal which was also frustrating. 

So now, after receiving the exercise OK from my OB, my plan of action (and for at least two months until I can pick up the intensity) is to do these really quick and easy ‘challenges’ at some point, any point, during the day, every single day.

With two babes this will be manageable for me and something I can do without leaving the house.  The timing seems about right as well considering its the start of a new year.  If you like, feel free to join me and leave me a comment or a message and we can do it knowing and supporting one another!  I know it’s always a bit easier when you have a buddy doing it too.  

Getting my 'fit' back in 2015!!!

Kate

XOXO