Physical Funness for the Motion Starved

Fit more fun into your fitness while exploring the outdoors.

Author Archives: Kelley


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The Hunt Report

Bird Bath

If you’ve been following along, you know that recently I challenged a group in Seattle to a Fitness Walk completion. Our walks take place every Wednesday night at 6:15. We walk here in San Francisco, and The Exercise Space walks in Seattle. Same day, same time.

Today The Exercise Space and Motion Starved participated in a scavenger hunt. We had a list of 30 items to find within an hour’s time. The team to find the most items won the challenge. Simple as that. The only problem was that I was a team of one and they were a team of four.

At the word “Go” we were off. The plan was to send each other photos of the items found via the magic of our iPhones. Immediately my phone rang with a photo of a palm holding a pine cone, next a berry, a dead-end street sign and then, garden gnomes. Ding, ding, ding… my phone kept screaming. Yikes…I better get moving I thought. Up the hill I went looking frantically from side to side with list, pencil and iPhone in hand.

As I crested the top of the first hill (one of the requirements of 2 hills) I realized that people were watching me. I must have looked a bit odd, as I was clearly hounding around, not the normal San Francisco woman on a walk.  At this point I decided to enlist the concerned onlookers and get them to help me on my hunt. I explained what I was up to, showed them my list and immediately they were game. Telling me, to go this way to find this and go that way to find that. They seemed impressed and genuinely interested. It was heart warming and more importantly made me realize that this is the exact sort of exercise we need in order to show folks that getting fit can in fact be fun!

In the end The Exercise Space won the challenge. It was well deserved, as not only did they find all the items on the list they braved a massive rainstorm to get the job done. My kind of crew!

So, I end this report with huge congratulations to Team The Exercise Space for winning the challenge and a thank you for sharing the joy of fitness and for encouraging a world of funness.  For me, I had an amazing time tonight. There’s something about participating in something knowing that there are folk’s miles away doing the same thing. It brings you together in a way I had not fully expected.

To those of you who missed the fun tonight. I’m sorry. If you’d like to join us in the future, contact me, next week we’re playing Simon Says. If you live in a far off land, you can still play. All you need is a little phone magic!

Be well…


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Yummy Ears

Corn Walnut & Feta Salad

Corn on the cob is one of the sheer joys of summer. I absolutely love corn, maybe a little too much. I’ve even been known to plant corn in my garden in San Francisco, which believe it or not yields a fine harvest.

The first thing I learned about corn when I started growing it was that corn is wind pollinated, not pollinated by bees. So, you have to plant corn in short rows in a block, rather than one or two long rows. I didn’t realize that so my very first crop didn’t turn out too well.

Since it’s corn season and we’re starting to see corn at the market I thought I’d take this opportunity to share a few notes about corn.

How to Choose Corn — Look for grassy green, tightly wrapped husks; glossy, pale yellow silks (sticky ones indicate freshly picked ears); and a moist stem. If the market lets you peek inside the husks, check for dried-out kernels; otherwise, squeeze the ear to make sure the kernels are closely spaced, firm, and round.

How to Store Corn — Corn is best eaten within 24 hours of purchasing it but unshucked ears in a bag will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

How to Use Corn — Fresh corn is most delicious at its simplest. Roasted on the grill or boiled and eaten right off the cob. Very fresh corn can be cut off the cob and tossed raw into salads.

To boil corn place shucked ears in a pot of cold water, as soon as the water boils the corn is done.

My very favorite Corn Salad Recipe — (found in Real Simple magazine a few years ago.) Serves 6

1-cup walnuts
4 cups fresh corn kernels (from 4 ears), raw or cooked (I use raw)
2 jalapenos, seeded and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled Feta (2 ounces)

Directions — Heat oven to 400° F. Spread the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop. In a large bowl, combine the corn, jalapeños, lime juice, oil, walnuts, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle with the Feta before serving.

Nutritional Information — 212 calories per serving, 6 grams protein, 3 grams fiber, 14 grams fat.


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Competition does a body good

A few weeks ago I got a little excited and challenged a personal trainer in Seattle to a little competition. At the time I had no idea who this woman was other that I liked what she had to say on Twitter. Yep, that’s right, I met her on twitter. Me, Kelley, the woman who only just recently opened a Facebook account and who refuses to open another one for Motion Starved. All this social media is a bit creepy, time-consuming and confusing if you ask me.

Anyway, as I was saying – I’ve committed to a weekly Fitness Walk Challenge with The Exercise Space in Seattle. From what I can tell The Exercise Space is a fitness center that offers classes and personal training. Just like me only these people have an actual address and have been in business for 4 years. Impressive, and it seems they have quite a few clients to boot. Something I’m still working to get even close to.

To be clear, The Exercise Space and I have not yet decided on the exact terms of the weekly challenge and that’s due to the fact that I’ve been lagging behind in the Fitness Walk participant department. However, once I get rolling, Dawn at The Exercise Space and I will surly come up with some fun ways to keep us all engaged and teeming.

For this week, we’ve challenged each other to a Scavenger Hunt. Each group will go for their walk on the same day, at the same time, and hunt for things on a list of 30 items. The team that finds the most things in an hour wins. We’ve agreed that the final winning team will receive a bottle of wine made locally (you can see why I like her!).

In spite of the fact that I’m currently behind in this challenge it’s been fun. Fun meeting people of like mind (even if I never actually get to drink wine with then in person). Fun coming up with new ideas and sharing those ideas with others. And like it or not, being challenged, pushed to rise to the occasion. That’s the beauty of competition, it forces you to push yourself harder or strive for more than you would otherwise.

Remember, there are lots of challenges in life, you win some and you lose some, but the act of participation is reward in itself.

Team Motion Starved SF vs Team The Exercise Space Seattle
Those of you in Seattle, check out The Exercise Space
In San Francisco, Giddy up! Team MS needs you!
For more information on joining Team Motion Starved in the Fitness Walk Challenge
check out the “Schedule” page.
Disappoint me & you’ll pay!


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I don’t wanna freak you out but…

Lets see some skin!

Do you realize that if The World doesn’t come to an end on Saturday as some believe it will, then there will be only 33 days left until the first day of summer? I’m just sayin’, if you want to shape up before you’re forced to wear a swimsuit and show some skin you might want to get started. You wouldn’t wait until race day to start training would you? You wouldn’t get very far if you did.

I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m here to help you make positive chances to your lives, be it through your food choices, exercise routine or mental state (more positively referred to as “emotional well-being”). I don’t know how many of you are choosing to take my advice, but I would guess that not enough of you are. This assumption is based on the fact that I continue to hear things like “Ugh, I really need to get back into exercising.” And, “I feel like shit, I need to do something…”

Let me tell you that I understand, it’s hard. In fact it is very hard to take that first step but once you start rolling it does become easier. I promise.

With that I leave you for the weekend with a gentile suggestion that you seriously think about what you’re willing to commit to, to make changes in your life. Think about it and come up with a firm plan. If you need inspiration or suggestions let me know and I’ll send you some. After all that’s why I’m here…

Enjoy your weekend; we’ll talk on Monday.

P.s. Remember GP-2011? I apologize for not giving you an update on her progress earlier but GP has been very busy with all her mom, daughter, wife and work duties so I’ve not seen her. However, I’m happy to report that GP-2011 has reached her goal of loosing some weight, toning up and feeling comfortable in a two-piece swimsuit for her trip to Hawaii next week. GP says…“I feel good, my abs are really strong, they just have a little tuft of fat covering them. I actually look pretty good in my new two-piece.” Unfortunately GP has not sent me a photo of her in her new suit so I can’t share it with you. Obviously she knows I’ll post it so you can’t blame her, no matter how good she looks.


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Bootyliscious

Seriously?

I don’t care who you are, as you age your butt starts to sag and flatten. Even you fella’s. Seriously, nobody wants to look at a saggy booty!

The gluteus maximus is the largest and one of the strongest muscles in the human body. That means, it burns more calories than any other muscle. Work it, feed it, make it strong and it’ll respond by burning fat and standing up, rather than flopping down, looking bad and not meeting it’s potential.  Get my meaning?

My suggestion – Try this 15-minute booty toner. Do this workout three times per week with at least one day off between. If you’re ambisous do the circuit twice and/or add to your regular fitness routine.

Each week mix up the order of the exercises to keep your muscles guessing. Do the routine for a month and you’ll clean the junk outa your trunk. Beginners do only 10-15 reps each exercise and everyone should watch the attached videos for instruction. You don’t want to break your booty. There’s nothing worse than a broken, flat ass.

Have fun; let me know how you do!


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Walk about Wednesday

Today I would like you all to go outside and go for a walk. Sounds simple but think about it. Many of us do very little recreational walking in our day-to-day lives. The idea is to change that. Decide that you’re going to go for a walk. Walk around your block, around your campus, around your neighborhood. If you live on a farm take a walk around the pasture. Explore the world you live in, get lost and find your way back if you dare. While you’re out there, breath in the fresh air. Look around, and notice all of the things you have to be grateful for. If you’d like, take your favorite music or simply listen to the world around you. Appreciate what you have and be grateful.

I hope you’ll take my suggestion. It’s free and it’s wondrous.

Enjoy…


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Geezzz, it’s just not getting much better…

MedBerries

It started on Friday (the 13th), I was meant to fly to San Diego for a Celebration of Life “Party.” Being the Ding Bat, that ageing is turning me into; I drove myself to the wrong airport. After sustaining a panic attach while being informed of my mistake, I finally got myself to San Diego where I realized that I had forgotten to pack a single piece of underwear. Given that I had to wear a dress to the party, this new development tossed me into another frenzy. In the end, I managed to survive the weekend in spite of the fact that at the party a man I’ve known for years called me aside and said with immense enthusiasm… “So, tell me about your partner!” It seems that because I’ve never spoken of the men in my life to this character and the fact that I live in San Francisco, he assumed I must be gay. Normally I could care less but on this day it just added to my emotional exhaustion.

I’m home now and have learned (according to my horoscope in Sunday’s SF Chronicle), that if I can’t “partner up” now, with Mars and Venus in my one-on-one sector, then it’s never going to happen. That’s just f’ing great! I have today, Tuesday, May 17th 2011 to find the man of my dreams and “partner up,” if I don’t, it’ll be just my cat and me until the day I die.

At this point I’ve decided the only thing that’ll make me feel better is to make chocolate dipped strawberries. I want chocolate chip cookies, a three-cheese pizza and a case of wine but I figure I should maintain some control. Just in case “he” shows up.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries — Easy, take a strawberry and dip it into melted chocolate, let it sit on a wax paper lined plate or tray and put in the frig till the chocolate is set.  You can roll the dipped berry in coconut or other nuts before setting if you like but remember the calorie count.

One cup of sliced strawberries contains about 49 calories and 3 grams of fiber plus a lot of other wonderful nutrients. Chocolate covered strawberries contain about 30 calories each. Not as bad as a cookie for sure. In my book a good substitute for those days when having chocolate is simply a must.

That’s all I got for you, gota get busy and hunt a man down.

See ya tomorrow.


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Workin’ with what I got


Today my neighbor referred to me as “Big Butt.” Obviously she doesn’t like me much. I was shocked at first, in disbelief that a woman in her 50’s would behave so childishly and mean. Rather than launch a counter attack, I decided to turn away from the nasty woman and take my big butt away from her, and her insane nastiness.

For about 5 seconds I felt bad, she was right, I do have a big butt; I’ve had it all my life. No matter what I do, it stays big. Then I remembered all the cool things my big butt has done in it’s life, and all those who have appreciated it. And then I realized that I like my big butt! It’s big and round and it does all sorts of really amazing things really well. Including attract plenty of big butt loving boys, so take that, Nasty Neighbor lady!

Oddly enough, as I was thinking about this, the song “Work That” by Mary J. Blige started streaming through my ear buds. I’ve heard this song maybe 50 times but it wasn’t until today that I actually heard what was being said. The song is about working with what you’ve got and appreciating yourself no matter what people say. It’s spot on, and worth a listen. Below are the lyrics but it’s more fun to watch the video and read along. Listen to it, no matter who you are, and do it especially if you are a daughter, or have a daughter.

Have a great weekend. My lovely big butt and I will be back on Monday.

Kisses…

The lyrics to, Work That – by Mary J. Blige

Work your thing out, Work your thing out, Work your thing out, Work your thing out

Theres so many-a girls
I hear you been running
From the beautiful queen
That you could be becoming
You can look at my palm
And see the storm coming
Read the book of my life
And see I’ve overcome it
Just because the length of your hair ain’t long
And they often criticize you for your skin tone
Wanna hold your head high
Cause you’re a pretty woman
Get your runway stride home
And keep going
Girl live ya life

I just wanna be myself
Don’t sweat girl be yourself
Follow me, Follow me, Follow me
Girl be yourself
That’s why I be myself
And I’m gonna love it

Let em get mad
They gonna hate anyway
Don’t you get that?
Doesn’t matter if you’re going on with their plan
They’ll never be happy
Cause they’re not happy with themselves

Na na work what you got
I’m talking bout things that I know
Na na work what you got
It’s okay show yourself some love
Na na work what you got
Don’t worry bout who’s saying what
It’s gonna be fine
Work what you got

Feelin great because the light’s on me
Celebrating the things that everyone told me
Would never happen but God has put his hands on me
And aint a man alive could ever take it from me
Working with what I got I gotta keep on
Taking care of myself I wanna live long
Aint never ashamed what life did to me

Wasn’t afraid to change cause it was good for me
I wanna…

I just wanna be myself
Don’t sweat girl be yourself
Follow me, Follow me, Follow me
Girl be yourself
That’s why I be myself
And I’m gonna love it

Let em get mad
They gonna hate anyway
Don’t you get that?
Doesn’t matter if you’re going on with their plan
They’ll never be happy
Cause they’re not happy with themselves

Na na work what you got
I’m talking bout things that I know
Na na work what you got
It’s okay show yourself some love
Na na work what you got
Don’t worry bout who’s saying what
It’s gonna be fine
Work what you got

Work that, Work that, Work that
Girl don’t hold back
You just be yourself [3x]

Na na work what you got
I’m talking bout things that I know
Na na work what you got
It’s okay show yourself some love
Na na work what you got
Don’t worry bout who’s saying what
It’s gonna be fine
Work what you got

Work that, Work that, Work that
Girl don’t hold back
You just be yourself

Work that thing out, Work that thing out, Work what you got


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Radishes, not just for garnish anymore!

Kelley's Roasted Radishes

Before you turn up your nose hear me out! I realize that most people view the radish as one of those things that’s put on a plate for color to make it look pretty. Not necessarily to be eaten. Well, I am here to ask you to give the radish a chance.

Did you know that radishes are a member of the same family as broccoli and cauliflower? They’re also full of fiber and one cup of radishes contains as much potassium as a banana. That’s impressive. Radishes also contain properties that help with digestion and liver function. All great things for those of us looking to drop a few lb’s or do some detoxing.

While radishes can be grown year round, those harvested during winter and spring tend to be more sweet and tender. So, now’s the time to dig in!

While I like to eat radishes raw, I also like to roast them. (Bet you never thought of that!)

Kelley’s Roasted Radishes

2 bunches medium radishes (any color you like, the more colors the merrier)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut washed and dried radishes in half and toss in olive oil and sea salt. Place radishes cut side down on baking sheet and roast until they’re crisp and tender, about 15 – 20 minutes.

I like to serve roasted radishes as a simple side dish or: spread rounds of toasted bread with goat cheese and place radishes on top. Sprinkle with chopped radish tops for extra value!

Come on, everyone deserves a second chance. Especially the radish!