Think of a healthy person. What qualities do you recognize in them? As we considered this, we decided to wrap up January’s wellness month by featuring someone that we admire for their healthy lifestyle. Many people came to mind, and interestingly enough two on our list are married to each other – and voila! Our decision was made: a feature story on a healthy couple.
Meet Susan and Richard Kibbey. The Kibbey’s have been married for 20 years. Susan represents the Carlisle Collection (A line of women’s clothing), a career she has had for 25 years and Richard is an Urologist at Amarillo Urology Associates. Obviously by being in the medical field, Richard sees disease and the impact it has, so he has always maintained a healthy lifestyle as has Susan. Another motivating factor for Richard is that he lost his father at 54 from diabetes and has a brother who struggles as an insulin dependent diabetic. They take their diet seriously, watching sugar and carb intake. Yet, instead of eating boring healthy food, Susan goes to work! She researches healthy and new recipes from Bon Appetit, restaurants from their travels and her favorite: Ina Garten (especially her chicken chili!) They love to grill, and they order fresh salmon through a mail order company for the best quality (click here for her source). Fish, fresh salads and vegetables are staples: basically, they eat low carb lots of protein and good fats.
When it comes to their fitness regime, Susan likes variety and changes it up to keep it fresh and fun: spinning and group fitness classes at the DAC to yoga and pilates. The Kibbey’s share a passion for trying new things and being curious. Susan’s tried Gospel Yoga, African Dancing to real drummers in Santa Fe and Richard enjoyed trapeze school on the Santa Monica pier while on vacation.
When they travel, exercise is always on the agenda and they have fun doing it together.
Richard has always enjoyed exercise and likes challenging himself to see what he can do. Recently that has been Todd Pratt’s Hard Core Fitness class at 5:30am which is non-stop maximum intensity drills. He’s run 4 marathons, loves mountain climbing, snow shoeing, and has even started learning Qigong - a practice of movement and meditation. Basically Richard has no inhibitions and no limits on what he won’t try! Twenty-three years ago he was suffering from a stiff neck from his demanding operating schedule. He found a yoga instructor that gave him private lessons and has been a practicing yogi ever since.
Ok, so that is their diet and exercise. But what makes them well? They both agreed that it is seeking a balance. A mind-body connection. They are both very intentional about how they manage their day. Richard needs quiet time before his busy day unleashes on him and takes time to mediate and quiet his mind. For Susan, her sanctuary is at the end of the day with a bath. She intentionally turns off the phone and TV, and rests reading through the New York Times and napping for about 30 minutes in the late afternoon with Boise noise-canceling earphones. Both believe “white noise” is an effective way too calm your mind, and they just downloaded this program on improving your mind as you age. Another key aspect of their wellness regime? Laughter. “Richard makes me laugh a lot,” says Susan, and she makes an effort to laugh out loud every day. “We try to keep it light, we are very irreverent with each other,” says Richard.
Thank you to the Kibbey’s for sharing their thoughts on health and wellness, we leave you with some of their wise advice: Be curious. Get out of your comfort zone. Take a deep breath. Do something everyday that scares you.
Your fun friends,
Susan and Farrar
