Physical Funness for the Motion Starved

Fit more fun into your fitness while exploring the outdoors.

Author Archives: Kelley


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Stairway to your gluteus

 

Running stairs is fun. I know you think I’m crazy but I like running the stairs.  Not as much as I like drinking wine and eating pizza but in terms of exercise, running the stairs has its merits.

For starters, stair climbing is extremely time efficient as it can burn about 300 calories in 30 minutes (depending on your pace and body weight). Plus, stairs work your butt, quads and hamstrings as well as give you a good dose of both cardio and strength building. It’s a double whammy.

Things to do on the stairs

  • First – get your legs good and warmed up
  • Mix it up – Jog up, run up or hop up
  • Lunge – don’t hit every step – skip a step – take every other step
  • Cross over – hit every step but cross your right leg over your left, and then your left over your right as you move up each step.
  • Side step – walk up the steps sideways skipping a step between steps.
  • Walk back down – it’s safer

Form

  • Stand tall and bend from the hip joint. Never hunch over or swing your arms way out in front of you.  When swinging your arms think “cheek to cheek,” your fingertips should graze your hind cheek and then the cheek on your face. I learned that from my old chum Coach B. It’s very helpful!
  • When placing your foot down on the step make sure to get your entire foot on the step to avoid injury.
  • Push off from the bottom step. Think “push, push.” That too is helpful if you imagine your foot pushing your body off each step.

In case you’re wondering

  • Twenty flights of stairs is equal to about a mile, 16-20 stairs make up a flight.
  • It’s not too late to sign up the Lung Associations Climb for Air. The event is March 26th. It’s only 52 flights. That’s less than 4 times up The Filbert Steps and just a few more steps than 4 times up Lyon Street.

I hope you enjoyed my little video. That’s Diana, she calls herself The Whiner. I know it’s a little dark but we workout outside in the evenings. It was my first, I’ll get better…


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“Why do we do this?”

I’ve been looking through my old race reports trying to find the answer to that question. I remember driving home from many bike races with Penny asking over and over again, “why do we do this?”  The only answer I can remember coming up with was “because we can.” The fact that we could do something that most people didn’t have the nerve to attempt made us who we are. If we gave in and acted “normal” we wouldn’t be the people we are, and in spite of the never-ending torture we had fun, made life long friendships and learned more than anyone can imagine.

This is why I am confused. I don’t understand why so many of you are having a hard time making the commitment to succeed physically. Every day someone says, “I’d really like to loose some/run a/ride a ­­­_____ someday.” Someday? When is Someday?

Let me ask you, every day you have things that you need to get done, correct? You do your best every day to clear your to-do list, you go to work, feed the kids, see friends, laundry… Those things are your priorities, your daily commitments or “goals.” Some of those things are fun and some you do because you have to. Either way you succeed because you’re committed.

Why is it not the same when it comes to achieving a fitness goal? Are you afraid of making a fool of yourself and failing? Are you afraid it will hurt? Maybe you fear that it will infringe on your social schedule or time with your family?

Seriously, when was the last time you heard of someone making a fool out of him or her self while attempting to better themselves? Yep, if you decide to cut calories or train for an event it may cut into your cocktail hour, but it’ll open new doors that will more than make up for the ones it hinders. The pain, yep, pushing your body does hurt a little but it’s not that bad and it really does make you stronger, healthier and hotter!

Maybe you should think of your goal is just another thing on your daily to-do list.

Example; say you sign up for the Fight for Air Climb. With that you know that you need to build your endurance so that you can complete the event, and climb 52 flights of stairs. So, on your to-do list goes the daily tasks that you need to accomplish in order to get yourself to event day. It’s the same mindset you use for making dinner. On your to-do list is the question of menu, shopping list, grocery shopping, cooking and finally achieving your goal of eating dinner. See, it’s easy!

Don’t over think it. Decide what you’d like to do. Figure out the steps to get there. Take the necessary steps and don’t stop till you get there. All you gotta do is commit, focus, succeed and celebrate!


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The Rules

Even-Steven

I went shopping this weekend and bought two things.  I bought a book by Michael Pollan called Food Rules. Maybe you’ve heard of it.  My friend Pauline told me about it, it’s all the rage and a #1 NY Times Bestseller.  According to the cover it’s “an eater’s manual.” Basically it’s an easy to use book of rules that takes the complexity out of eating. For instance rule #37 is “The whiter the bread the sooner you’ll be dead” (referring to the fact that you should be eating whole grains). The final rule is rule #64, which reads “Break the rules once in a while.” I like that one; in fact, the second purchase I made this weekend was a box of Girl Scout Cookies. By the way, rule #19 is “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.” Looks like I’m even-steven.

As for the Girl Scout Cookies, I won’t make excuses. Excuses make you appear weak and nobody wants to hear them anyway.  I bought the cookies and I ate them, they were good. I did it because I told myself that I wanted to support the GS’s but the truth is, eating them brought me back to the time when I was a GS. One season I ate so many GS cookies that I racked up a bill of over $150 which my Dad had to cover. That’s when I learned not to make excuses. How do you explain why you ate dozens of boxes of cookies? Temporary insanity? Or, “face it Dad, I’m just a pig,” would have gone over better.

Anyway… Back to rule #64, break the rules once in a while. Pollan says, and I agree “Obsessing over food rules is bad for happiness, and probably your health too.” Worrying about nutrition will make you no healthier or slimmer. Relax, throw “the rules” out the window once in a while, what matters is everyday practice. That can be said for everything in life, don’t you think?

Tomorrow we’re talking about setting goals. I don’t understand why so many of you are afraid to commit to even the smallest goal.  Yea, I know it’s frightening but seriously, aren’t you getting a little bored?

Happy Monday!

p.s. Rule #43 – Have a glass of wine with dinner. Drinking a little every day is better than drinking a lot on the weekends…


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‘sup for the weekend?

They say it’s gonna snow here in San Francisco right down to sea level, sometime between today and tomorrow. It better. With all the talk folks’ll be pretty sad if there isn’t any snowballing available.  I certainly will be, and I’m no fun when I’m in a mood (I have references).

Here’s the plan.  Snow or no snow we’re all going to get ourselves outside for some fresh, crisp air.  As you know air is a good thing and crisp air, makes your body work extra hard to keep warm therefore burning more calories while it gives your body a nice healthy jolt.

In fact, there are “diets” called The Ice Diet and The Thermal Diet. The Ice Diet suggests that if you eat a bunch of ice and drink lots of really cold water that will shock your body into burning extra calories and at the same time will curb your appetite.  My personal favorite is The Thermal Diet. The Thermal Diet asks you to sit in the tub of cold water with 2, 10 lb bags of ice, 3 times a week for 30 minutes a stretch. The premise with both diets is that the cold temperature will force your body to work harder to warm itself, thus boosting your metabolism.

Personally I’ve done this. I have lowered myself into a tub of ice water, and in case you have any doubt, let me assure you that it is bloody horrific! We used to do this after a bike race to flush the lactic acid from your legs so we could go back the next day and trash ourselves again.  It worked so I put up with it, but I would only fill the tub with enough water to cover my legs and I would cover the rest of my body with multiple wool sweaters, a hat and a scarf. That system would surly hinder the extra calorie burning process, but then again that’s not why I did it. I was doing it because it was the best way I knew to cleanse the toxins from my over worked legs, quickly.  As for weight loss, maybe it does work. It makes sense but let me tell you with complete certainty that it’s far more pleasant to go for a walk, run or bike ride to burn those calories. And, don’t forget the heart healthy and emotional benefits you get from good old fashion physical exercise. Seriously, skip the ice and get moving!

Here’s a thought – The Get Yourself Outside In The Cold & Exercise Diet. Definition – stop whining about the cold and get your ass outside for some exercise. Pure and simple.

See you Monday… (don’t disappoint me!)


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Help! I’m trapped in my togs!

A few years ago (15) I put on a skirt that I hadn’t worn for a while only to find that it had become so tight, that the zipper got stuck, and I had to literally cut the skirt off my chubby rump. It was humiliating and not an easy task. Imagine taking a sharp cutting instrument to the bottom hem of a very tight, knee-length skirt and contorting your hand so that you can cut up the front, between your legs, past your belly to sever the waistband and free yourself. Believe me, it’s not easy, in fact, in my attempt I managed to snip a chunk of fat from my tummy. Crying, I looked in the mirror and vowed never to get stuck in my cloths again.

Well, it’s happened again, not once but three times!  It’s those darn drawstrings they put in our spandex bike shorts and fitness pants (the ones that are continuous so you can’t tie a bow). While I love them and actually seek them out, at times they cause major distress.  Once, while on a bike ride I was desperate to take a code yellow when the loop knot in my bike shorts wouldn’t release.  After a few attempts to untie the knot I finally had to use brut force to break the elastic as to keep from wetting my chamois. It was not easy, those drawstrings are extremely hard to break. Just yesterday, it was my nice, very expensive Lululemon togs. Twice now I’ve had a really hard time keeping the drawstring from locking me inside my Lulu’s. I got out once by squeezing free, but the other time I had to use brut force again. Frankly, I am a bit pissed and have decided to look into the matter for instruction should I find myself in this situation again.

Here’s what I found — After wasting my time looking online, I decided to swallow my pride and call the always happy to help gals at Lululemon.  I was told that when you can’t get the knot untied, you should gently loosen it with a safety-pin until it opens up. Dooh! Why didn’t I think of that?  Guess I’ll be roaming around with a safety-pin attached to my pants for now on. Just in case.

There you have it. Consider yourself informed.


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Egg me

Best source o’ protein

You already know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day (you do know that right?). Did you also know, current studies show that you should eat 25- 30 grams of protein for breakfast? Protein first thing in the morning not only will jump start your metabolism, it’s more filling and takes longer to digest, so in theory, you’ll eat less as the day goes on.

Here are my suggestions for some mighty fine high protein breakfasts.

Oatmeal – 1 cup only has 6 grams of protein but it’s full of fiber. You’ll need to add some nuts and milk to get closer to your 30 grams.

Brick of dough – if you are not willing to give up that bagel remember the average bagel has about 350 calories and 13 grams of protein. Replace the cream cheese and top with cottage cheese. It’s not that bad! Toss some tomato slices on top for color. (I’m talkin’ to you Mike!)

Greek yogurt – add low fat granola and fresh berries. Try blue berries and raspberries that way you get two of your daily colors taken care of.

Breakfast Burrito – Whole-wheat tortilla, 2 eggs, veggies of choice (remember your colors!), a bit of cheese and salsa. Yum!

Protein FYI’a

  • 1-cup milk 8 grams protein
  • ½ cup low fat cottage cheese is 16 grams
  • 1 cup non fat yogurt 13 grams
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt 20 grams
  • 1 egg 6 grams
  • 1 oz cheddar cheese 7 grams
  • ½ cup tofu 10 grams
  • ½ cup most beans 7.5 grams
  • 6 grams per 1-cup soymilk
  • 14 walnut halves 4 grams for
  • 20 Almonds 6 grams
  • 2 tbsp Peanut Butter 8 grams

Don’t forget to have some fiber with your protein to keep it moving along its path. You know how I feel about that.


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Potty talk

I gotta go!

I have a slight obsession with getting the things that went in, to come out as soon as possible. No, I have never been into any of those nasty disorders that lots of women get into. With that, over the years I have become very knowledgeable and impressed with the magic of both fiber and water.

Now, I know that I talk a lot about fiber and water so today I am talking about pee.

What exactly is Pee? Essentially, pee (aka urine) is mostly water (about 95%), however, the rest of the contents can vary depending on what you’ve eaten, drank, breathed or been exposed to. The remainder usually consists of urea, uric acid, ammonia, hormones, dead blood cells, proteins, salts, minerals, and toxins. It’s the body’s trash!

Did you know that there’s something called Urine Therapy? It’s the use of urine to heal what ails you. There are people that use urine to heal Strep Throat, Diabetes, Pink Eye and the list goes on.  Yes, they drink pee.  In India some enjoy Gua Jal (Cow Water). Frankly this is where my relatively open mind slams shut. If you want more information on Urine Therapy I suggest you get your Google on.

Here are some good things to know about pee.

  • The average person expels about 1-2 liters of urine per day and “goes” 6 times per day.
  • Only 40% of the population has the gene that allows them to smell asparagus in their pee. Apparently if you take the tips off the asparagus then your pee won’t smell. But do you really care? The tips are the best part!
  • Like it or not many common skin care products contain animal urine. Apparently it helps to moisturize and as we learned above it may have healing properties.
  • The color of your urine can help to determine how hydrated you are. Additionally color in your urine can be a sign of much larger problems. For example, red urine means that you are secreting blood and you should see a doctor immediately. Blue or green urine usually means that you ate something containing dyes. The color your urine should be is very light yellow to almost clear. You should be able to read through it.

I hope you’ve learned something. Maybe some day I’ll talk about #2. Maybe not.


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Ridin’ my bike and harassing my cat today

Sorry…. Motion Starved is closed today in respect for Presidents Day. I will be back tomorrow with something very interesting although I have not figured out what that will be yet. Thanks for checkin’ in though!

I leave you with a quote from Abraham Lincoln

Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

Happy Presidents Day! Enjoy!


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If Jerry has time to work out…

Here we are at the end of another week. This week I’ve tried to inspire you to push your limits, take care of your soul and to eat right. Actually, I do that every week in different ways. I hope you’ve taken note and been inspired in some way.

Today I have The Guinea Pig 2011 Report. GP has graduated from window licking strangers to rubbing elbows with The Governor. Here’s the week in GP’s words.

Sad to say, but GP has been on a bender. I’ve rediscovered the joys of chocolate and wine. Blame it on Valentine’s bounty or pure greed, I don’t know, but I’ve been strapping on my feed bag and the corkscrew has been permanently attached to my hand the last couple of days. I spent the morning robbing the kids’ Valentine’s candy – the shame!!

However, I’m still being good about doing my crunches (I hope to one day replace the jiggle with some definition) and working up a sweat at the gym. Even dragged the GP family for a long, sweaty hike in the canyon. I even pulled a code yellow, though I was careful to hide behind a redwood tree.

To recommit myself to the road of health, I replaced the battery in my heart rate monitor today so I can be sure I’m cranking up the old ticker properly.

As for my close encounter of the gubernatorial kind, I am still tickled by seeing our gov working out. Maybe he was balancing the state budget in his head while he was balancing on the bosu ball, or finding ways to trim the fat in Sacramento while keeping trim around his middle, I will never know because I was too star-struck to say anything to him (despite being close enough to confirm that those eyebrows are real). If the gov has time to work out, then I have no excuse.

There you have it. GP is trucking along just like the rest of us, doing her personal best every day and not worrying about how many workouts she misses or stolen chocolate she eats. GP is creating her own unique success story!

Have a great 3 day weekend. I’ll be back here on Tuesday, until then follow me on Twitter. It’s kind o’ fun!

Play nice…


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It’s a Gut Bomb!

Mo's Gut Bomb

My friend Mo took one of her best friends to Chile for Valentines Day.  Her bike.  Mo and Mr. Trek seem to be having a great time according to the updates that I receive, although some of the food is causing a bit of a concern. Mo refers to such food as “gut bombs.”

A gut bomb is food that causes a disturbance in the midsection. At the very least a gut bomb causes a stomachache, but also may include diarrhea or heartburn. Popular gut bombs are primarily creamy foods like a rich dessert or greasy foods like chicken wings, hamburgers, french fries, pizza and buffet style Chinese food.

Be kind to your stomach. Gut bombs may be avoided by not eating too much of the offending food, drinking extra water or staying away entirely from the foods that make your belly gurgle in digestive pain.

Healthy Diet 101 (read this even if you think you know everything)

  • Make small changes, one at a time
  • Eat breakfast
  • Eat every two – three hours
  • Eat protein, fruits and veggies at every meal
  • When eating veggies and fruits eat 5 different colors per day (list below)
  • Always eat whole grains
  • Don’t eat when you are not hungry
  • Remember the water and fiber rules that I bring up every week!
  • To get the very best results, 90% of your food intake should consist of whole foods. But start with eat healthy 85% of the time (6 days a week) and allow yourself to indulge 15% of the time (one day a week).
  • Don’t deprive yourself, eat desert. Just be smart.

Limit this stuff

  • Alcohol
  • Fried foods
  • Non-whole grains
  • Fruit juice (full of sugar and no fiber)
  • Fatty meats
  • Sugar
  • Processed foods (anything that’s canned or packaged)

Here are your 5 vegetable & fruit colors. Eat 5 colors each day.

  • White – Onion, garlic, horseradish, kohlrabi. They have antibacterial, anti-viral properties and they strengthen immune system.
  • Blue/Black ­– Eggplant, blueberries, chokeberry, raisins, blackcurrant, bilberry. They strengthen blood vessels, delay aging, improve vision at dusk and they have also anti-inflammatory properties.
  • Red – Apples, tomatoes, cherries, strawberries, watermelons, beets, red cabbage. They have anti-tumor properties. They’re great for your heart as well, because they contain a lot of potassium – what gives counterbalance to salt in your diet.
  • Yellow/Orange – Oranges, bananas, carrots, lemons, peaches, corn. Rich in beta-carotene – which has anti-tumor properties. They regulate water management in the body and prevent your eyesight from getting worse.
  • Green – Spinach, broccoli, lettuce, kiwi. Rich in vitamin C, folic acid, antioxidants – they cleanse your body out of toxins, improve concentration and prevent skin aging. They protect your retina from damages as well.

If you do find yourself in distress after consuming a Gut Bomb than drinking baking soda and water will help settle your stomach. Frankly that would make me puke but “they” say it works. I say, lay down and pray there’s no explosion.