Tag Archives: exercise

Going Healthy, Going Strong, Life, Parenting

New Shoes for My Wife on Father’s Day and A Workout

06/21/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Happy Father’s Day to all dads out there! Without us, there would be no kids to be father to. Then again, same could be said for all mothers. But we already celebrated them last month, so YAY us!

Fine, to avoid getting hit (too much), YAY all Moms too! I love and appreciate all my wife does, that’s for sure. 🙂

Speaking of Moms, I was so kind as to get Going Mom some new shoes even though it is Father’s Day. Yep, four of them to be exact, and they were not cheap! I’m not one for fashion, but when it comes to performance and reliability, I’m all about it. Which is why her new shoes are all identical and look like this….

Be honest, how many of you already knew I was talking about tires? Her car was overdue for a new set and as a car enthusiast and someone who used to work on them every day, I happily researched and settled on these beauties. Nothing extreme, but better than OEM. So thanks to Tire Rack for shipping to a local tire shop to have them installed.

I hated not being able to do it myself since I used to do it all the time, but that requires a special machine I obviously don’t have access to anymore. Plus, I was able to make good use of the 90+ minute wait time by heading to a place nearby with an outdoor fitness area. The only bad thing was that I had to walk across hell’s parking lot.

Luckily, I survived and made it to my destination. It wasn’t much, but had all I needed for what I planned on doing.

After a brief warm-up, I did slightly altered version of the Crossfit benchmark WOD “Cindy“. Instead of pull-ups, I opted for chin-ups and did as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

5 chin-ups

10 push-ups

15 body weight squats

I love this routine as you can do it almost anywhere, and as long as you go hard for that 20 minutes, you’ll feel it! I’m not great at chin-ups, so that always slows me down, but practice makes ~~perfect~~ slightly better than before. I usually have a pen and paper to mark each round I complete, but since I didn’t have that, the wood chips had to do.

Yeah, 16 rounds. Not my best, but I was going off of only black coffee at the time in my defense. Now that I’m another year older, I have a little thing I must do every day. Last year, for 30, I did 31 1-legged squats/leg + 31 push-ups almost every day. If I didn’t do that, I did 31 burpees + 31 push-ups. It’s always one more than my age.

This year, I’m sticking with 32 split squats/leg + 32 push-ups. The split squats really let you feel it the next day and I’m happy I chose them to do every day! You should try too. Find a move you could safely do every day and do reps of that move for how many years old you are. It’s great to say you did something, and might motivate you keep going.

For instance, after the WOD, and my 32 squats/push-ups, I went ahead and finished off my legs with 100 walking lunges/leg. Then walked around another 30 minutes until the tires were finally ready. Yep, I have no legs now….

No clue what’s in store for today, but if Kelley really knows me, it’s a whole lot of not much at all. And a Ferrari. 🙂

Hope everyone is having a happy Father’s Day or just an awesome day if you’re not celebrating!

Do you ever find ways to keep active instead of sitting in a waiting room?

If you said no, are you going to try next time your car is in the shop or something else?

Food, Going Healthy, Parenting

My Top Healthy Summer Resources for the Family

06/20/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

Father’s Day marks the official first day of summer this year. I don’t know about you, but we’re already feeling the heat in Texas and could go for some of that rain we had a few weeks ago.

With summer, comes heat, and a lot of it! Heat can be dangerous to all of us, but detrimental to our little ones. But that doesn’t mean they need to stay indoors sitting in the A/C all through the season. As long as we keep it smart, everyone can have a wonderful, healthy time under the sun.

I’ve gathered a few sites I find interesting and helpful with tips on how to stay safe and healthy this summer and wanted to share them with you. Most of these are geared towards the family, but I added a few not specifically meant for families that are packed with helpful nutrition and activity tips everyone can use.

First off, make sure you know what you’re rubbing all over your family’s skin. Our skin is highly porous and absorbs a lot of what you put on it, and many sunscreens do more harm than good with the amount of toxic chemicals they contain. This may seem like a minute detail to a full grown adult, but for a tiny baby or toddler, everything is much more concentrated and can post a serious threat. Read my post on sunscreen safety here. P.S. I also apologize to my wife in the post since I used to waive off the dangers of sunscreen myself.

15 Nutrition Tips For A Healthy Summer – Just a nice quick list to refer to for ways to eat smart but not be bored with a chicken and broccoli type meal. Which, by the way, I actually think is pretty good!

Keep Your Kids Happy and Healthy: Summer Tips For Parents – Hey, even the government has useful advice for a change! Make sure to check out the links provided in each tip for even more healthy ideas.

8 Summer Steps For Healthy Living – Some seemingly obvious tips from WebMD, but handy if you’re having a brain fog moment.

The Best Healthy Pantry Foods – This is a great list from Ben Greenfield and we have most of these in our pantry. Great to have year round!

Easy Meals For Busy Athletes – Another Ben Greenfield info bomb. Obviously, you don’t have to be an athlete to enjoy the benefits of these fast and healthy meals.

5 Fun Home Activities To Do With Your Kids – I love this list from The Good Dad Project! Some good ideas for indoor activities to help beat the heat and have fun as a family!

Keep The Kids Active All Summer Long – This list from Macaroni Kid is sure to have at least one or two ideas you haven’t considered for fun and productive activities your kids will learn from.

I like this list from the Macaroni Kid – Family Fitness site providing several simple foundations to keep your family fit and healthy all year. Print it and stick it on the fridge so it’s always fresh on your mind.

Hope you’re able to find some good tips and implement them in your home this summer. Please, just keep safe and well hydrated while having fun in the sun!

Hi there, I'm just keeping hydrated! — Hi there, I’m just keeping hydrated!

Do you have any plans for hanging out with the kids this summer?

Are you getting away and having someone else watch the kids?

Any tips you have for a safe, healthy summer that you’d like to share?

#MySundayPhoto, Parenting

Hiking and Beer With My Wife: #MySundayPhoto – 06.14.15

06/14/2015 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

Last Monday, June 8th, was my 31st birthday, yay, but my wife and I celebrated the Saturday before. In the past, I’d get excited about celebrating by drinking beer and partying with friends. But now, I find enjoyment in other, more active forms of celebrating.

Today’s picture, as seen in my birthday post, is from my Samsung Galaxy 3 (yes, old school at this point), but the quality come from the memory, not the pixels or megabytes. It’s of my wife, Kelley, and I standing in line at a local brewery under the hot Texas sun after a 5+ mile hike.

The hike, as we expected, was HOT! I tend to enjoy punishing my body in the heat, so it was a great way to celebrate the day. I’m forever grateful to Kelley, not such a fan of the heat, for joining me on the trek. We rewarded ourselves with refreshing craft beers from an awesome brewery (hence the line) called Martin House. It’s the same place we went for both of our 30 year birthdays.

This last trip had me feeling a little woozy, as expected, but I really didn’t enjoy that feeling. Maybe it’s an age thing, but I much prefer having a coffee and getting a “buzz” from caffeine instead of alcohol. If it’s after a hike, make that an iced black coffee. So next year, be on the lookout for a hot a sweaty 32 year old gulping down massive amounts of iced coffee….it’s probably me! 🙂

What’s your favorite way to celebrate turning another year older?