Big Dog Necessities

Big Dog Necessities

by | Aug 9, 2017 | Has Affiliate Links, Non-Fitness

 

 

In honor of Duke “Chief” of Pierce turning 3 today, I thought I would share with y’all some “help suggestions” that come with having a big, high energy dog.

  1. Stunt Puppy Leash. I had a red one for Duke (my previous dog) and I have an orange one for Chief.
  2. Slobber Stopper. I put one in my kitchen, car and one at my mom’s house.
  3. E Collar. This was a GAME CHANGER. My only regret is not getting is sooner. That “s” stands for stubborn. I trained Chief. 5mins a day EVERY day.
  4. Seat Cover. I’m not brand specific, in fact I think I get mine at Marshalls or Home Goods. But something to this nature.
  5. Collapsable Bowls. If you hike a lot this will come in hand for your dog. This stays strapped to my camel back.
  6. Couch Covers. I let chief on the couch and bed. These are great, not perfect, but works. Bed is a different story.
  7. Raised Dog Bowls. My Dad built Chief a fancy one that stores food and holds food and water. Raising the bowls will prevent your dog from inhaling air when eating and make them slow down which prevents bloat (what I lost Duke to).
  8. Chuck It. Chief and I have a chuck it date every day (unless the backyard is too muddy) at 8pm after it cools off, kinda.
  9. Rubber Chuck It Balls. I heard once that the material on a tennis ball ruins a dogs teeth, so I buy rubber chuck it balls.
  10. Float Vest. Chief doesn’t swim….don’t ask. He CAN swim, but he would rather not. So when we go out on a boat I make sure to have his life/Float vest on him.

Top 3 Off-Leash Hiking Places We Frequent:

  1. Mary Moore Searight Park Off-Leash Trail
  2. Turkey Creek
  3. River Place
Welcome to K-Ln

Welcome to K-Ln

by | Aug 8, 2017 | Has Affiliate Links, Move

For some reason, its always a shocker to some people when they find out I have a gym in my garage. They are even more shocked when I can have a garage gym and I’m STILL be able to pull my car into my garage. Garage gyms are great if you just want to put some work in without a commute or you just need to do some alone work. It also takes away the excuse of not being able to workout. I can always do something. What a garage gym is missing is community. You don’t have the atmosphere of others, which is why I invite my gals over 🙂

Below is what is in my garage gym…also known as K-Lane because someone stole me a street sign back in high school that says Karen Ln. and It use to hang over my garage door, but honestly I’m not sure where it is.

NOT SHOWN: (on the opposite side of the garage from the equipment)

Stud Bar (pull up bar). This was installed the day after I closed on my house.

Rings. These get used A LOT for a variety of things! They hang from my pull up bar so I can do seated muscle ups, and all the drills.

  1. Hooks. These basic utility hooks are awesome and cheap! I got them at either Lowes or Home Depot. They use to hold my barbell on the wall but now as you can see they hold a variety of things.
  2. Strap for Sled. My sled can only be pushed so I store the sled and hang the strap.
  3. Shower Board. This is Shower Board from either Lowes or Home Depot. It comes in massive pieces and can be cut down. Its also WAAAAYYY cheaper than marker board.
  4. Mobility. This bag is full of a variety of different types of mobility stuff…balls, the stick, etc.
  5. Ab Mat. I cannot remember where i ordered mine from but you can find them on Amazon.
  6. Foam Rollars. I feel like I collect these…but only the short ones. I really want/need a long one. You can find/order these from just about any where. I’m pretty sure all of mine are Trigger Point.
  7. Air Dyne. CrossFit Beaumont was upgrading their bikes and so they were selling their old ones. I quickly jumped on it, thanks to my mom who notified me. It isn’t the BEST of the BEST, but it gets the job done. I want to say its something like THIS one.
  8. Med Balls. I currently have a 6# and a 14#. I really want a 20# and I thought I had one but I’m not sure where it went to. There are many brands out there, but I would HIGHLY suggest biting the bullet and paying for dynamax brand one. Yes they have come apart on me BUT not as fast as other brands. You can order them from just about any where.
  9. Sled. One of my friends was selling all his equipment so I purchased most of it and this came in the package.
  10. Jump Rope. I have my 2 favorite speed ropes in my gym bag but his is a mucho heavier one that stays here. I don’t know if I ever use it to be honest with you.
  11. Spin Shoes with clips. I use to teach spin and the bikes had clips so I have shoes that fit those clips and different shoe clips for my road bike. My spin instructors and follow cyclers know what I’m talking about.
  12. Bands. I have a few variety of bands for mobility and glute strengthening stuff, they came from Amazon.

13. Motivation. Yes I hung my little bitty swimsuit bottoms up in my garage for some motivation.
14. Stall Bars. My dad and I made these using THIS plan, but unfortunately the 4th dowels in the middle are not strong enough to hang from. One day we will go back and fix it.
15. Shower Board. Same as the other side, from a hardware store like Home Depot or Lowes. WAAAAY cheaper than a fancy marker board.
16. Women’s Bar. My friend was getting rid of his garage gym equipment so I bought a lot of it, this was one of the pieces.
17. Pearl. The Black Pearl to be exact. This is my road bike that I LOVE! Unfortunately I’m too scared to ride in ATX. I use to have her on a trainer in the garage but then I got the air dyne. I’m going to get her fixed up so when I go to Dallas I can bring her.
18. Plates. These came with the Friend’s package, but I have bought some 10# plates form Fringe Sport.
19. Squat Rack. Someone actually gave me this because they were upgraded theirs 🙂
20. Dumbbells. I would buy a set at a time. I have a 10#, 15#, 20#, 45#. I want a 35# and 55# set. I want to say I got these at Play It Again or Academy.
21. Grip Strengthen. This is something my client made for me to help work on my grip strength. I know exactly where I want to hang it I just think I need some professional (aka my Dad) to help me hang it since I will be hanging from it.
22. Rower. Someone from the gym was selling theirs and I jumped on it. These are VERY hard to find used. A great purchase though.
23. Bench. This also came from Play It Again.
24. Box. This came from Rogue Fitness. I bought mine already put together and highly recommend it. It can be 20″, 24″ or 30″. I had 2 boxes (20 and 24) which took up a lot of space now I have one!
25. Kettlebells. These prob came from play it again, I have a variety…(1) 25#, (2) 35#, (1) 54#. I would like to have two 54#s for farmers carry.
26. Clips/Collars. I’m pretty sure these came from Fringe Sports, but I don’t see it on their website anymore.
27. Chalk Bucket. This is a mop bucket but I used it for chalk that I order from Rogue. But I’m not even sure when the last time I ordered chalk was.
28. Bands. I have a variety of bands that get used for a variety of things. I’m pretty sure sure I ordered them from Perform Better.
29. Board Cleaner. This is a must because if you are using the shower boards and leave writing on there for too long, it might not wipe off. I recommend this Expo stuff which is what you would use on whiteboards. I have also used an all surface cleaner in the past which is cheaper.
30. Stall Mats. I got these from Tractor Supply during the black Friday madness. I was planning on matting out only half of the garage, but I ended up doing the whole thing and it looks so much better and it really makes a difference when I workout, I’m not sure how or why, but it does. I LOVE the mats…which I would have done that earlier. Just be careful because these things are HEAVY and the weigh adds up on whatever you are carrying it in.

Now Available

Now Available

by | Aug 7, 2017 | Move

My summer focus project is finally finished and available. I’m SUPER excited to take this successful program to digital format to reach many more people. No matter where you are living, you can participate in Project X! Formally known as Project Swimsuit, Project X is a 28 day Road to Fitness and Health. This all inclusive plan comes with the following:

Workouts. Extensive warm ups and cool downs and movement library. Three levels to chose per workout. Four workouts per week.

Menus & Grocery List. You will have a list that tells you EXACTLY what to get when shopping as well as detailed menu telling you exactly what to eat.

Goal Setting Worksheet. A sheet that helps you set specific goals for your journey and keep you focused.

Body Composition Tracker. A place for you to take certain measurements at certain times during your journey.

Log & Journal. A log and journal to go along with your 28 day Project X journey.

Email Support. An opt in for you to receive emails from yours truly to help keep you on track and remind you when to do what…as well as a few extras 🙂

Private Facebook Group. A community to hold you accountable for your actions and focused on your goals!

Want to know more? Check out Project X HERE!

8.4.17 Menu

8.4.17 Menu

by | Aug 4, 2017 | Weekly Menu

 

Meal 1 Butternut Squash Lasagna
Meal 2 Chili Lime Pollo Asado
Meal 3 Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
Meal 4 Spicy Shrimp and Sausage
Meal 5 Sweet & Sour Chicken
Add On Hulk Cakes
New Favorite Fitness Apps

New Favorite Fitness Apps

by | Aug 3, 2017 | Coaching Tools, Has Affiliate Links, Move

While visiting the babies and family (shameless picture to the right of us on our bike ride) in Dallas a couple of weekends ago I was introduce to two new fitness apps that I think are awesome and that now I’m slightly obsessed with. Let me tell you about them and why I like them so much 🙂

I blame Kim for my new obsession. Not only did she introduce me to Fitbit, but she added me to all of the challenges with her. I use to have a VERY basic garmin that I used to track steps. It connected with my insurance and I could earn points blah blah blah. Plus I would challenge a buddy of mine in steps, etc. Well, I switched insurance and my competition kept forgetting to update his so I fell off the garmin bandwagon. After Kim showed me all the ins and outs of hers AND told me they were on sale via Amazon…I quickly became the owner of a Fitbit Flex 2. It arrived on a Monday and I quickly set it up joining all kinds of communities (Healthy Eating & Austin) as well as joining in on challenges with Kim and her family…Weekend Warriors, Daily Showdowns and Workweek Hustles. I like the fitbit app better than the garmin for a few reasons. The interface of the app is beautiful. It is clean, basic and pretty simple to get around on (I use my phone mostly). I can “check in” (meaning open the app which updates your steps) and see where others are in their steps for that day. I earn badges for various things which I post about in the communities I have joined. Fitbit also does a great job at encouraging you and letting you know where you stand in the challenges and they you can go into the challenge and “cheer” on others. I really like it and have become quite obsessed with checking in etc. PLUS there are lots of fun accessories you can get to “dress up” your fitbit so it doesn’t look so athletic when you are dressed up but want every step to count. I wear mine on my ankle so it looks a little weird, but I’m in the fitness world so it works fine.

PS Fitbit works with Alexa, connect your fitbit in your Alexa App using the skills and then ask her, “Alexa, ask fitbit how many steps I have”.

Strava is an app Pop, Kim’s Dad, showed me. He uses it when he bikes. After our 15mile bike ride one evening while I was visiting, he sat down and showed me all the cool things it offered so I quickly downloaded it and used it for our ride the following morning and was super happy with it. As a former, map my run girl I like this one better. It can do bike or run which is I like. I simply turned it on and put it in my pouch under my seat and left it there for the full ride. When we got done not only can you upload a picture, but it shows distance, time, elevation, max speed and a map of where all you went. You can also add lots of little “notes” such as “lunch ride with the Weavers in Dallas” etc. Like the Fitbit, there is a community aspect to it. You can follow people and have friends through the app. you can see what they do and when. I have connected my instagram to it but but be honest I’m not sure what that did/does. I’m sure I don’t use it to its full potential but I really like the FREE app and would recommend it!