Physical Funness for the Motion Starved

Fit more fun into your fitness while exploring the outdoors.

Category Archives: Fitness


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We really are fat heads!

That's a big brain!

I read in one of my fitness magazines that our brains are two-thirds fat. That sounded like a lot to me so I did some digging. What I found was a whole shitload of interesting things.

  • First, there seems to be a bit of a discrepancy as to how fat our brains are. I found numbers that range from the 2/3’s to 10%. I know personally that my entire head at one time was 18.3% fat. This was back in the day when I was trying to ride my bike super fast (I had a body scan that breaks you down piece by piece to measure stuff; muscle, fat, bone) By my calculations 2/3’s does not amount to 10% or 18.3% for that matter, but I’m as bad at math as I am with spelling. I guess the fatter your body is the fatter your brain is?
  • The thing about fat in the brain is that the nerves are wrapped in fat; this insulates them and allows the impulses to travel quickly. Greases the way so to speak.
  • The strangest thing I found (remember, you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet) is that our brains are the consistency of warm butter. I found that odd. I’ve seen plenty of brains on TV and none of them looked like warm butter. Just last night I saw Ted Danson pick up a brain on CSI and it looked hard and rubbery. If it were the consistency of warm butter wouldn’t it have fallen apart? But then it must have been a fake TV brain.
  • I like this fact as it makes sense, I just never thought about it; the harder, or more you think the more energy your brain uses (energy = calories). Your brain uses as much as 1/5th of all the calories you use in a day. The more you use your brain the larger it can grow. Now, I’m sure that’s true but I wouldn’t worry that your brain will grow so large that it’ll bust out of your skull (your skull can grow too).

Back to the magazine, here are a three of the best foods for your brain:

  • Blueberries – these yummy little balls help to improve memory.
  • Almonds – are high in good fat, which aids in decreasing mental decline and ward off the negative impact of stress.
  • Ground Flaxseeds – are abundant in omega-3 fatty acids.

So there you go. Have a Happy Veterans Day and I’ll see you on Monday…


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Somebody toss some cold water on me!


In my next life I’d like to come back with the ability to do this. Did you watch the video? You should. It’s inspiring and it’s freaking hot! Kinda like exercise porn in my mind. Maybe it’s the double Scorpio in me but regardless; it’s a fine way to spend 1:14. Watch the video and then think about what it would mean to be as focused and fit as this dude.


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Easy burning!

The cold & laughter, a good combo

Yes, apparently fidgeting can help you burn up to 350 calories a day. This, according to research done by the Mayo Clinic. Think about it, have you ever seen a fat hyper person? I can’t say that I have but maybe they exist.

Since I find fidgeting annoying I’ve found a few other ways to burn extra calories you may not have considered.

Laughing – 15 minutes of laughter can burn up to 40 calories. If you laugh for 15 minutes a day you could lose 4 pounds in a year. How easy is that?

Stand Up – Standing up burns 50% more calories than sitting down. So, by standing while talking on the phone, working at your computer or reading the paper, a 155-pound person can burn as many as 50 more calories per hour. Pace while you talk and you can burn another 35 to 40 calories per hour.

The cold is your friend – You burn more calories when it’s cold. Not only does your body have to work harder to warm itself, in cold weather we tend to wear heavy clothing. The more weight you carry around the harder you body has to work, hence the additional calorie expenditure. So bundle up and go for a walk, run, ride, in the cold air. Research claims you’ll burn up to 7% more calories.

So, by my calculations if I were to go for an hour walk in the cold with a funny friend I could burn an additional 173 calories. Hummmm…


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Enough already! Take care of your feet!

Why are you so mean to me?

I am completely baffled by people who don’t take care of their feet. I’m not talking about the folks who walk around with monster-long toenails or filthy-dirty feet (although that’s nasty). I’m talking about those of you who don’t take proper care of your overall foot health. You don’t wear proper athletic footwear and you let the muscles in your feet stiffen so badly that it hurts to walk. And then you complain that your feet hurt. ‘sup with that?

Think about it! You’ll be stomping around on those poor little tootsies for 80 or 100 years. Please people, show ‘em some love!

You may not think about your feet that often, way down there at the ends of your legs, but they’re an essential part of almost everything you do. Whether walking, running, exercising, or just standing, having feet that are happy and well cared for make life far more pleasant. Therefore, knowing how to care for your feet is key.

I’ve posted about this before but lets refresh with some basic things you can do to keep your feet moving.

#1 – Stretch and massage the tendons and muscles in your feet. Especially the thick tissue that runs along the bottom of your feet. Here’s how.

  • Toe Writing — With your feet on the floor and your shoes off, use your toes to “write” the letters of the alphabet, from A to Z, on the floor.
  • The Grip — With your feet on the floor and your shoes off, try picking up a pencil or pen with your toes. Or try picking up a marble.
  • Toe Stretches — Kneel on you knees and curl your toes under your feet. Heals will be up and your rear end will be resting on your heals.
  • Flex & Point — Lift one leg off the ground. Point your toes forward, like a ballerina pointing her extended foot, and hold that position for 15 seconds. Now flex your foot, hold 15 seconds and repeat 10 times each foot.
  • Stretch your arches every day — I like to sit on my shins, butt resting on my heels with toes curled under. You can also stand with your toes against a wall (one foot at time) and lean slightly into the wall until you feel a stretch along the bottom of the foot. Do each foot twice. If you don’t like those ideas, just sit on the floor and pull your toes back with your hand. The idea is to stretch the bottom of the foot.
  • Stretch your toes — Squeeze your toes together (they might crack) and hold for a few seconds, then flex them up. Do this a few times every day.
  • Don’t forget — Ankle Circles and Toe Points to keep the supporting joints flexible.

General Foot Love

  • Stimulate the bottom of your feet — The soles of the feet are extremely sensitive due to a high concentration of nerve endings. Post workout give ‘em a nice soapy scrub with the loofah to wake up all those neurons & synapses. A little lotion massage after is always a good idea too.
  • Rule of thumb — As soon as you’re finished working out take off your shoes. Your feet will swell from the workout (or hard day at work) so give em’ room to breath.
  • Ice your feet — After a long run or day on your feet soak your feet in an ice bath or rest them on a ice bag for 10-15 minutes, then lay on your back on the floor and put your legs up the wall. Stay here for another 10-15 minutes.
  • Don’t file down or shave calluses or corns too much —These are nature’s way to protect you from abnormal pressure. Get appropriate insoles, padding or bigger shoes. A specialist podiatrist or biomechanical evaluation may be required for this.
  • Get a foot massage — You can do it yourself but I recommend having someone else do it for you.

Shoe stuff

  • Buy all your shoes late in the day — Your feet are larger at the end of the day.
  • Running shoes — Replace your shoes every 300 to 500 miles.
  • Obvious stuff — High heeled, pointed toe shoes, mules, strappy sandals and sandals that have thongs between the toes are best avoided. If you want to wear them, keep it to short periods and show your feet some extra love when you’re done torturing them.

This is just a start but you have to start somewhere and this is easy no brainer stuff.

P.s. If you liked this post you may like this one too.


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If you aren’t climbing you’re descending

Mosaic Staircase, Inner Sunset, SF

I hate to be the one to point this out but the holidays are right around the corner and with that come parties and food and a zillion reasons not to workout.

In an effort to keep you moving and looking fab in your holiday attire I’ll be holding Stair Climbing Workouts every Saturday @ 9am, beginning this week through Saturday 12/17.

The beauty of climbing stairs is no matter your pace you always get a fantastic cardio and booty-boosting workout. These workouts will include core and stretching exercises as well as interval stair climbing. Participants are encouraged to climb at their own pace but will be urged to push themselves. Walkers as well as runners are welcome.

The price for 7, one-hour workouts is $35 paid in advance, the drop-in rate is $10 per workout. Be advised that taking advantage of the “paid in advance” rate is not only economical, paying in advance encourages one to workout on those days when getting out of bed is extra hard. We workout rain or shine!

Each Saturday we’ll climb a different set of stairs visiting all parts of San Francisco. I will post, and email the schedule once I have a group assembled.

This weekend’s workout will commence: 11/5/2011 – 9am sharp, @ Lyon and Broadway. We’ll be kicking off the season on the famous Lyon Street Stairs.

If you can’t manage getting to my scheduled workouts you can still get your climb on! No matter where you live or what time you workout I’m certain you can find some stairs to climb. If you need ideas or inspiration there are books, websites and even apps for your phone that can help. For those of you here in San Francisco I recommend, the book; Stairway Walks in San Francisco by Adah Bakalinsky or the iPhone app SF Stairways (it’s a little buggy but it’s only 99 cents.) it even tells you how much cab fare is back to your house should you need a lift home.

No excuses, it’s time to start climbing off those cocktails and cookies! Contact me if you would like to join our Stair Climbing Workouts here in SF.


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Dusty Muddy fun – NorCal Warrior Dash 2011

We are Warriors!

Talk about stepping outside your comfort zone! When I refer to getting outside ones comfort zone I’m referring to pushing beyond your usual day-to-day physical or psychological limits. Well let me tell you, there’s nothing like walking into what seems to be a ginormous frat party where 75% of the population is well under the age of 30 and you, are close to twice the average age of participant. All you can hope for is that nobody notices.

That’s what it was like stepping into the corral at the Warrior Dash in lovely Hollister California yesterday. What’s the Warrior Dash? If you don’t know, look here. It’s video of our course. If you have a clue than you know it’s a 5K obstacle course. You run, climb things, slide down things, jump over things and swim through mud so thick it’s like being inside a pudding cup. The best part was the dude driving the truck along side as you run the first 1.5 miles kicking up warm dust so thick it felt like running through a forest fire.

In an effort to keep this quick, let me just say that in spite of dust induced diminished lung capacity and a few extra lines in my face I had a great time at The Dash. This was my first obstacle course and a great introduction to this sort of event. I will say that if you plan to participate in one of these things (even this one, the “easy” one) I suggest you do some research and some training. Old Lady Kelley passed up dozens and dozens of 20 something’s having to walk rather than run and unable to complete the challenging, but basic obstacles. These events require well-rounded fitness of endurance, agility and upper body strength. Make no mistake.

So there you have it. I give The Warrior Dash 4 stars. A great way for anyone to shake things up, step outside your comfort zone and test your fitness, or just have a little adventure. Oh… and you get a free body mud facial, you get hosed down by a hot fire man with a big hose and a really cool fuzzy hat with horns!

P.s. I’ll post official photos on our Motion Starved Facebook page once they become available. Go there now and “like” us if you want to see ‘em.


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Starting to build on your winter coat?

Food journal, then & now

Since I believe that diets are stupid, I simply whip out my food journal whenever my cloths start getting a little snug. Keeping a food journal means that you track every single thing that you eat, even the bite of your friends dessert. You don’t have to do it forever but when you do, it allows you to make healthier choices and see how your eating throughout the day so you don’t over indulge.

When I first started keeping a food journal, I was racing my bike so body weight and nutrition were key. At the time my coach had me tracking everything, calories, carbs, protein and fiber. It was a lot of work but it helped me immensely, and I now know the calorie, fiber, fat and protein content of most natural foods by heart. Funny, or pathetic I’m not sure but handy for certain.

For now, simply keeping track of what I eat thought the day should be enough to keep from growing a thicker winter coat. With that, I’ll simply keep a note on a post-it or scrap of paper and I won’t worry about counting things. If you want to play along I suggest you get yourself a cute little notebook that’s specifically for the purpose of keeping your journal. There are fancy ones you can buy, templates you can download and I bet a zillion apps for your phone if that’s your style. As you can see from the photo I kept mine hillbilly style. Yep, the photo above is my actual food journal from the year 2000. I’ve kept them all (one for every year since). Why I’ve kept them, I don’t know but I’m glad I did. It’s fun to look back. I also used to track my weight and body fat percentage in the corner. Yow…I know for sure my body fat percentage has gone up. Good thing I’m back on the journal!

So, anybody want to join me in keeping a food journal for a while? Now’s the time to pay special attention to what you’re putting in your mouth. You don’t have to count calories unless you want to. Just paying attention to what you eat is a good start. Remember, we’re embarking on The Season of Eating.

Let me know if you want to play. I can help!

P.s. You can also take photos of the food you eat if that’s easier but personally I think keeping a written tab is better.


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The season of eating

Hummm, what shall I try first?

I hate to do this to you, but it needs to be done. As I’ve said before, Halloween marks the beginning of the season of eating. It starts with Halloween candy on Halloween and ends with champagne brunch or a greasy hangover recovery meal on New Years Day. In spite of our best efforts most of us end up adding layer of blubber to our winter coats during this period.

Let’s start with Halloween. Obviously the best way to keep from packing on the pounds is to completely abstain from taking a dip into the candy bag. Since I’m pretty sure every one of us (except for me because I’m perfect) is going to sample at least one treat this Halloween, there are a few things to consider.

  • First — My fav, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (5 mini ones) contain 220 calories, 13g fat and would take me 20 minutes to burn off running a 10-minute mile. Yikes! 20 minutes for just 5 baby cups and who can eat just 5? Not me! Is it worth it? No!
  • A better choice — Dark chocolate. Dark Choco contains less sugar and is rich in antioxidants.
  • Go nuts & fruits — Chocolate that contains raisins and or nuts contain a variety of nutrients, healthy fats and fiber that displace some of the total sugar.
  • White is evil — White chocolate is your least healthy option. It doesn’t actually contain any cocoa, only cocoa butter and it’s packed with sugar and added fat from the extra milk products used. Uck!
  • The bottom line — You put the calories in; you must burn ‘em out. You know that. Right?
  • Some math — 4 Mini Musketeers are equal to 94 calories, 4 Mini Snickers 170 cal’s, 1 snack box Raisinets, 150 cal’s and 4 Milk Maid Caramels contain 150 calories. The average 150-pound person will burn off about 115 calories during 30 minutes of cycling or 340 calories running for the same amount of time at a moderate pace. Think about that.

While I really do try to stay away from the candy I understand the desire to indulge. With that, I hope you will simply remember to work a little harder this season to keep from busting out of your holiday gear. Remember, calories in, calories out.

As always I’ll be here with suggestions so we can all stay fit and fine this yummy season.


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Stoked to be in the water – Jeff Clark

Okay so I must admit I get all hot and bothered when the conversation turns to surfing and surfers. See, I grew up in San Diego just blocks from the beach. Until the day I turned 20 and moved north, I basically spent every day of my life on the beach. Yep, I was a “surfer chick,” or wanabe. I never did get the hang of surfing but I was excellent at posing on the beach with my long, sun-bleached hair waiting for my yummy, bronzed surfer-boyfriend to come in. Oh…those were the days.

So, when my friend Cindy sent an email asking for volunteers to try paddleboarding at the famed Mavericks (Mavericks is surfer HQ here on the NorCal coast), I jumped at the opportunity like a shark after a hunk of meat.

Rather than rambling on about our adventure I’ll simply let you see for yourself how the day transpired. It’s pretty tame, there were no massive waves and no surfer boys (aside from the world-renowned Jeff Clark!) but there were lots of really nice people and we had a fantastic time.

Rule #1 if you don’t want your shades to sink when you fall off the board, put them on a leash. I was too cheap to buy a leash so I did a little MacGyver work.

                 

Ever try to squeeze into one of these things? Kind of gross if you ask me.

At this point we’re done with our paddle. That’s Cindy on the left, me, Cassandra our fantastic teacher and Diana in the sexy little top.

You get extra points if you can do a downward dog sans falling in the drink.

So there you have it. A nice relaxing way to spend a sunny day. We saw stingrays and a few harbor seals popped their heads up to have a little chuckle (do you think seals can laugh? Seriously, can they?) I can’t say that I got a workout paddleboarding but that’s mostly because I was too focused on staying on the board. According to Cassandra there are things you can to do work a little harder. Next time I’ll be braver and head for where the big waves and the surfer boys are (yea right!).

As they say at the beach…  It was pretty bitchen! Thanks gals for an awesome day.

P.s. If you want to check out paddleboarding at Mavericks, call Cassandra. She was really great and the prices are super reasonable!


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I want to but…

That's Me & Mr. Skinny

Yesterday I read an article about how to keep people interested in your writing. It said that it’s important to let your readers know that you aren’t perfect. Nobody wants to be read about perfect people or people who presume to be perfect. Being perfect doesn’t inspire. It also said to be genuine and let your personality shine through. Thank goodness I thought, lord knows I’m not perfect and trying to hide my personality is like trying to hide my big nose.

After reading the article I did a little self-check. Do I pretend to be a know-it-all? Do I practice what I preach or am I full of shit? I decided that I actually do make an effort to follow my own advice and I think I’m pretty genuine. Last week I encouraged folks to try chia seeds even thought I hadn’t tried them myself, and in truth, I wasn’t in any hurry to do so. After my little self-check I decided I’d better get some chia seeds and have a taste. I’m happy to report that they’re pretty unobtrusive as far as taste goes and they really do expand in liquid so don’t let ‘em sit around in a smoothie or something. You’ll be sorry.

If you follow along, I tend to spout off exercise challenges and routines for you to try. Those I do try before I write them, but in some cases I don’t actually keep them up. Take Kelley’s Ab Challenge from a few months back where I published a photo of my very own abs. My abs looked pretty good at that point and I was working to make them look even better. At the time of the challenge I did keep up my end of the bargain, however since then I’ve slacked off so badly that I had to loosen my belt a notch last night. Can you imagine, a trainer letting such a simple thing as her abs go to chub? It’s beyond shameful!

As for my pushing you to try different things, get out of your comfort zone; I do try to keep up that end of things but here again, not always. Most recently my trainer friend Dawn challenged me to push my running pace by taking a minute off my average mile. I did make an effort to reach this goal but it was half-assed and now I’m ashamed of myself.

I once had a friend who I was absolutely crazy about but he had a habit of saying “I want to but…” In his case, “I want to but…” meant he’d rather be with someone other than me. To this day those words continue to haunt me. When you say “I want to but… “  You don’t get credit for saying or thinking that you want to do something.  You only get credit when you actually make the effort to do it. Remember, actions speak louder than words in everything you do.

So, I wanted us all to try chia seeds, I got on it and I tried them. I want us to step outside of our comfort zones so this weekend I’m taking a paddleboard lesson at the famed Mavericks. No, I am not perfect nor am I that interesting really, which is why I try new things like chia seeds and potentially make a fool out of my self on a paddleboard, in a wet suit that’s sure to emphasize my currently less than impressive abdominal zone.

In the end, I am not a perfect know-it-all, the only difference between some, and me is that I make the effort. “I want to but…”  is not in my phrase book.

See you Monday; if I survive I should have an amusing paddleboard report that’s sure to reek of personality.

Make me proud this weekend…