Physical Funness for the Motion Starved

Fit more fun into your fitness while exploring the outdoors.


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Motion Starved is 1 year old today!

One year ago today I launched Motion Starved. It started with my friend Skinny Scott giving me a blog for my birthday in November of 2010. See, I’d been talking about using a blog format rather than the standard website to promote my business and share my knowledge, but I never expected to have one handed to me all set up and ready to go. “Yikes” I thought, “now I really have to get my shit together!”

So then it began, I started coughing up words of wisdom in a massive effort to feed and inspire the motion starved soul in all of us.

If you’ve been reading this past year you’ll be familiar with the people who have contributed to the success of Motion Starved. Bear with me as I take a moment to thank them now.

To Scott, words cannot express how thankful I am for all that you do for me, every day. I’m touched and deeply honored to be your friend. When I’m rich I’ll build you a special town just for Vegans.

To Michelle (aka GP-2011). Thank you for letting me practice on you, for all your creative genius, your support and mostly for all the times you’ve enthusiastically followed me into the depths of potential imprisonment.

To Dawn for being the best friend I never actually met, for your daily challenges, encouragement, advise and your infectious positive spirit. I so look forward to drinking wine with you on the moon.

To Pen & Mo for keeping me in check and for always pushing me, for your support, and mostly for appreciating that life is all about the stories. Without you I’d have far fewer really good ones! Long live the AB’s.

To Dora, your comments keep me on my toes and your support is appreciated more than you can know. Mostly, thank you for being brave enough to call me out when I make a really bad spelling error. The world thanks you for that!

To the rest of you, I say THANK YOU for following and friending, for reading and for working out with me! I am incredibly thankful and greatly appreciate your spending time with me. Without you I would have no purpose and God forbid might have to get another dreadful advertising job.

So there you have it. I’ll stop here and invite you to review “The Annual Report” that WordPress put together for me. It details how Motion Starved did and what it did during 2011. It’s actually very interesting and kind of funny, although I learned that the post most viewed was the one about having a crooked butt crack. Not sure how I feel about that.

Happy New Year my friends!

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.


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I can’t wait until 2012!

Climb to the Moon

Climb to the Moon

Happy New Year everyone!

While 2011 was a fantastic year I’m super excited to begin 2012!

To start the year off right, Motion Starved has a couple fun things on tap to feed the truly motion starved and offer opportunities for us all to get moving, get healthy and have a good time doing so.

Check it out!

Stair Climbing Workouts – Each Saturday for seven weeks we’ll climb a different set of stairs visiting all parts of San Francisco. This Saturday we meet and climb at Lands End. This session runs from 1/7 – 2/18.

The price for seven, one-hour workouts is $40 paid in advance, the drop-in rate is $12 per workout. We workout rain or shine!

Why stairs? 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.

Climb to the Moon 2012 – This “event” is completely free of charge and is about fun, motivation and being part of something larger than yourself.

Here’s the short version of the story: One day, my friend Dawn and I wondered how many stairs you would have to climb to reach the moon. Dawn did the math and found that you’d have to climb over 4 million stairs to reach the moon. Yikes we thought, that’s a lot of stairs, we’re going to need a team to help us walk, run/climb if we’re going to make it to the moon in a reasonable amount of time.

That’s where you come in. Dawn and I would like to invite you to help us climb to the moon this year. Think about it, it’s kinda cool to imagine that with enough people we can actually get as far as the moon.

Here’s all you have to do: run, walk or climb stairs, the idea is to inspire you to walk, run and climb a little more than you might normally. You’ll need to record your steps either by wearing a pedometer, counting miles or if you plan to climb actual stairs those are pretty easy to count. Every day or when you choose to, Tweet us your steps and that will record them on our website. The big (477,714,000 steps) number on the site will go down the closer we get to the moon. It’s our goal to start counting with the light of the first full moon on 1/9 and reach the moon by the last full moon in 2012 on December 28th.

That’s the basic idea, there are other details like we’re working on prizes for those who climb the most within a certain time period but that’s still in the works. For fun we hope that folks will take photos and tweet them to share where they’ve been climbing. It’s likely that we’ll have folks from all over the world climbing with us so it’d be super cool to see photos from other places. Don’t you think? Another hope is that we can get individuals and corporations to donate money to their favorite fitness related charity as an incentive for us to reach our goal. Currently we have a $5000 donation promised to the San Diego Downtown YMCA if we’re able to make it half way to the moon by July 1st.

So, won’t you please help us? All you have to do is run, walk and/or climb a few extra stairs, open a Twitter account (super easy, you can use any profile name you like), follow @MoonClimb and tweet us your progress. Details on exactly how to make sure your tweet will be picked up by us are at the bottom of this page in the footnotes.

That’s enough for now; let me know if you have any questions. Please join the fun and help us make 2012 a really amazing year.

Kelley

* Sample tweets: You must tweet the number of steps, the word steps as well as mention moonclimb. Like: I did 100 steps for moonclimb today. OR moonclimb inspired me to climb 50 extra steps today. Easy!

** The average person’s stride length is approximately 2.5 feet long. That means it takes just over 2,000 steps to walk one mile, and 10,000 steps is close to 5 miles. If you count miles please do the conversion before you tweet.

*** Pretty Please “like” both Motionstarved and MoonClimb on Facebook!!!!

**** The Moon Climb 2012 site is not up yet but very soon! Stay tuned and check here.


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Thank you 2011!

This is my last post of 2011. It’s been a wonderful year and I have you, my readers, friends and clients to thank for that.

As I sit here at my desk gulping down a Pluto’s salad racing to get everything done, I’m reflecting on the year gone by. I ask myself, “do I have an regrets?” No, never. I don’t believe in them, I believe only in opportunities to learn and make life better.

With that, I leave you a little homework assignment to ponder as you start planning your 2012. Consider what I ask, and we’ll talk more about these topics in the new year.

  • Make a list of all the fun things you’d like to do in 2012? They can be new things or things you’d like to do again. Here’s an example of 100 super cool ideas Jennifer suggests.
  • Pay it forward. Think of small, unexpected ways you can do something nice for a stranger. If you haven’t seen the move Pay it Forward, watch it!
  • Think about what you should do rather than what you should not. Same goes for food/diets. I saw Chef Alton John on TV last night. He lost 50 lbs by making a list of all the things that he should eat and concentrated on those foods. He never thought about or considered the foods he should not eat. The same thinking can be applied to anything in your life.

Again, thank you for reading my words and for playing along. I hope I’ve helped or inspired you in some small way.

Have a wonderful holiday, I’ll see you in January.

Kelley


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Persimmons, some are yummy and some are squishy

My Persimmon Salad

There are two types of persimmons: astringent and non astringent. Or, as far as I’m concerned, yummy ones and nasty ones.

Astringent persimmons are shaped kinda like a heart but you can’t eat them until they’re super squishy, almost rotten. At that point you can either bake with them or scoop the meat out with a spoon and eat it.

The nonastringent variety (the yummy ones) are shaped like a baby pumpkin and have a delightful crunch and sweet spicy flavor. These persimmons can be eaten like an apple, or cut up for a fruit tray or in salads. Both versions are yellow-red to bright orange-red in color.

If you haven’t tried a persimmon I strongly suggest that you do so and now’s the time. Both varieties are currently in season but, I’d stick with the little pumpkin shaped ones commonly known as Fuyu or Japanese Persimmons.

My absolute favorite way to enjoy a yummy persimmon is to peel it, core it, slice it like an apple and toss it in a bowl with a little arugula and strips of prosciutto. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and you’re done, crazy easy and hella yummy!

In case you’re wondering, persimmons are a good source of manganese, vitamins A and C; they contain almost 4 grams of fiber and about 70 calories each.

So there you have it. Check ‘em out if you haven’t already. Do some Googling and find a recipe (here’s one for a Persimmon Margarita) or take the suggestion I made above. You won’t be sorry.


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Small bits that help (The Season of Eating – Navigation Tip #6)

Me+Frosty

Yowza! Two weeks from today is Christmas! The pressure is on over here for sure. I’m kinda anxious and not appreciating the feeling one single bit.

With that, here are a few things I’m working with that seem to help.

  • Things don’t have to be perfect. Life doesn’t reward you for being perfect. Life rewards you for making your best effort.
  • Do what you feel comfortable with and don’t worry about pleasing everyone.
  • Practice selective listening. Are there people in your life who never seen to be happy? Maybe they don’t realize it but they’re kinda downers. Normally I’d say ditch ‘em and find more positive people but sometimes you can’t do that. In this case, all you can do is to tune them out. It’s okay, better than letting ‘em bring you down or stressing you out. You can deal with the issue after the holidays.
  • Cool gift idea – Fill a box with dozens of slips of paper, each one detailing something you love about the person. Or if you’d rather, skip the mushy, lovey-dovey stuff and write down fond memories you have of that person (example: “Remember when you sucked the juice out of the wet nap and I almost died of dehydration?”)
  • Be kind to yourself. Take time to relax, and breathe!

That’s all I have for you right now. Hope it helps!


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Does your core measure up? Time to test, or retest!

Flying Baby Pose

This is Lucia. Lucia’s not at the point yet where she’s worried about growing a Muffin Top, but very soon she’ll be taking her first steps and given that she’s already working on a strong core, I see great athletic promise in her future.

In case you’ve forgotten, “core strength” refers to the muscles of your abs and back and their ability to support your spine, keep your body stable and balanced. A strong core basically supports every physical movement you make. It’s the body’s center of power, the stronger you’re core, the easier your life will be. This means, riding your bike, running, picking up your kid, a watermelon, surviving that killer boot camp class or simply getting out of bed.

Wondering how your core measures up? I was, so I found a test for us to take. The senior athletics coach with the United Kingdom’s National Governing body for Track and Field developed it. It’s a good one! Give it a try it only takes 3 minutes. If you fail, there’ll be a link at the bottom of this post where you can find core strengthening exercises.

The Core Muscle Strength & Stability Test
The objective of this evaluation is to monitor the development and improvements of core strength.

To prepare for the assessment you will need:
Flat surface
Mat
Watch or clock with second counter

Conducting the Test
Position the watch or clock where you can easily see it

Start in the Plank Position (elbows on the ground)
Hold for 60 seconds

Lift your right arm off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds

Return your right arm to the ground and lift the left arm off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds

Return your left arm to the ground and lift the right leg off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds

Return your right leg to the ground and lift the left leg off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds

Lift your left leg and right arm off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds

Return you left leg and right arm to the ground

Lift your right leg and left arm off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds

Return to the Plank Position (elbows on the ground)
Hold this position for 30 seconds

Results
Good Core Strength – If you can complete the test fully, you have good core strength.

Poor Core Strength – If you cannot complete the test fully, your core strength needs improvement. If you are unable to complete the test practice the routine three or four times each week until you improve. By comparing your results over time, you will note improvements or declines in core strength.

I hope you’ll try the test. It certainly couldn’t hurt to know where you stand. If you want to work on your core check out this site for a really comprehensive list of core exercises you can do anywhere.

Go get ‘em…


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Go with “naughty” this year (The Season of Eating – Navigation Tip #5)

Naughty or nice?

You better watch out!
Better not cry!
Better not pout!
I’m telling you why,
Santa Claus is comin’ to town.

Remember that song? As a kid did it make you want to be “nice” so you’d get lots of presents?

He’s making a list
and checking it twice.
He’s going to find out who’s naughty and nice.
Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town.

It’s hard to be nice all the time and frankly I think it’s okay to be a little “naughty” once in a while. With that here’s my Season of Eating Navigation Tip # 5.

  • Regifting – My thinking is, if you receive a gift that’s just not your style it’s okay to give it to someone who might better appreciate it. It’s better than tossing it in the trash or the back of the closet for 5 years.
  • Go ahead and have some chocolate. Just stick with the good stuff and the darker the better. I say, “Once you go dark you never go bark.” (Did you get that?)
  • It’s okay to decline an invitation or two during this busy time. You don’t have to attend everything you’re invited to. Why stress yourself out and others too.
  • Santa always wants to know if you’ve kept your room clean. Don’t beat yourself up if you have to let the dust bunnies build up a tinny little bit. Just don’t let it get out of control. Better yet, give yourself the gift of a maid service once or twice this season. In this case your naughty behavior ends up benefiting another by giving them work.
  • Flirt a little. Santa says to be “nice” I say tis the season for a little friendly flirting. Harmless flirting is good for the spirit and makes folks feel good.

So you see, do it right and naughty becomes the new nice. Have at it!


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More bang for your buck (The Season of Eating – Navigation Tip #4)

My first dumpling

Okay, I get it! We all have way too much to do this time of year. Along with our regular duties we now have to add holiday shopping and celebrating to the list of to-dos. I don’t know about you but I’m overwhelmed and very behind.

If you workout with me you know that I like to choose exercises and activities that work more than one part of the body. Like doing squats with overhead press together.  You get “more bang for your buck” as you work the lower and upper body all at once. In my mind it’s about time management as much as it’s about getting more sweat for your effort.

With that here’s today’s Season of Eating Navigation Tip # 4 – More bang for your buck.

  • Rather than going to lunch/dinner/drinks with friends to celebrate the season, go for a hike and take along a bottle of bubbles to sip at a sweet spot in the trail. You get your cheer and exercise at the same time.
  • Gift cards are cool but why not give a friend a gift certificate to a workout class or workshop that you can attend with her/him. Give a gift and get one in return. See where I’m going with this? How about, Hip Hop, Hula Hoop or ever hear of Cocooning? Ooh…how about Massage for Couples!
  • Take your friends/family ice-skating. You can stop for a drink after. Remember, you burn more calories in the cold. If you decide to go, here are some helpful things to remember.
  • Teach somebody something. I learned to make Pork Dumplings this weekend. Rather than having a party where you just sit and eat, my friend Dora invited her friends over to learn how to make traditional Chinese Dumplings. We drank wine, ate yummy healthy dumplings, learned something cool and socialized. At the end of the day Dora sent everyone home with dumplings to enjoy another day. It was a great event and wonderful gift from Dora to all her friends. (Thanks again DL)

There you go, find ways to accomplish more than one thing at a time. Some say, “kill two birds with one stone” (but I never liked the image that congers up). You get the idea… and please feel free to share your “more bang for your buck” ideas.

Happy Monday!


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12 days of December (The Season of Eating – Navigation Tip #3)

Eight Santa's Running

I wrote you a little song. It’s also a workout. For 12 days you’ll add one new task to your fitness routine until you have 12 tasks. It’ll be fun. Give it your best effort and sing along if you dare!

On the first day of December my trainer said to me… drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the second day of December my trainer said to me… eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the third day of December my trainer said to me… 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the fourth day of December my trainer said to me… run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the fifth day of December my trainer said to me… eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the sixth day of December my trainer said to me… 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the seventh day of December my trainer said to me… climb seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the eighth day of December my trainer said to me… drink 8 glasses of water, climb seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the ninth day of December my trainer said to me… 90 walking lunges, drink 8 glasses of water, climb seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the 10th day of December my trainer said to me… 100 bench dips, 90 walking lunges, drink 8 glasses of water, climb seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the 11th day of December my trainer said to me… 11 minutes of stretching, 100 bench dips, 90 walking lunges, drink 8 glasses of water, climb seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the 12th day of December my trainer said to me… use your foam roller, 11 minutes of stretching, 100 bench dips, 90 walking lunges, drink 8 glasses of water, seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…


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Juice? (The Season of Eating – Navigation Tip #2)

Green "Juice"

A few years back I decided to try juicing. Why? Because a super skinny girl I knew was into juicing and I wanted to look like her.

This girl, whose name escapes me wasn’t into “juice fasting.” She was simply into drinking home-distilled juice as a means of cutting her daily caloric intake. There are people however who advocate juice fasts that suggest drinking only fruit and vegetable juices for up to 14 days. This juice fasting paradigm has been touted as a way to detoxify or “detox” the body of unwanted chemicals and toxins. Unfortunately there’s little evidence that these juice-only diets provide any detoxification beyond what our liver and kidneys can achieve normally.

Anyway, once I decided to get on the juice train, I jumped online and ordered myself a Jack Lalanne Power Juicer along with a shitload of books on juicing. Two days later the books and my new juicer arrived sending me off to buy many dollars worth of organic produce to pulverize.

With bags of apples, carrots and greens I raced home to blend up my first skinny cocktail (no I didn’t add vodka). At first I thought the juicer was pretty cool because you could feed it entire apples and lemons, peel, core, seeds and all. “Whow,” I thought. But then I realize that it took a bag-full of produce to squeeze out enough juice to drink, leaving the best parts of the pricy edibles to be tossed in the compost. I kept with the juicing for a few weeks, substituting juice for a full meal or part of a meal. When I didn’t effortlessly get skinny I dumped the juicer. And frankly, the fact that I had to toss the best parts (the things the make you feel full and contain most of the nutrients) down the shoot, never really set right with me.

So here we are years later and I still think conventional juicing is a lot of effort for too much money, too many calories and too much waste. Until I read about juicing with a blender, so off I went again to buy my organics and give this new method a try. It was the idea of keeping all of the fiber and goodness the fruits and vegetables initially came with that interested me.

Well, at this point I’ll simply cut to the chase. Here’s what I have to say about juicing with a blender.

First: What you get is not “juice” it’s more like a chunky smoothie, don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad. It’s just not juice and it’s very filling (which is a good thing). Also keep in mind that you’re using the whole fruit or veggie so the flavors are very intense. Be careful, and you’ll want to add water or ice to the mix.

Second: These concoctions are super filling and keep well in the frig. If you’re the type that likes to get your 5 colors of fruits and veggies a day BlenderJuicing is a great way to get the job done.

Third: You can use the same recipes to juice with a blender as you would with a juicer. Just be sure to cut things up into pieces and take out seeds, cores and I wouldn’t think citrus peel would be too good but you could try.

Lastly: Very important! Check your teeth when you’re done. Think about it! All those little colored bits…

So there you have it. I give blender BlenderJuicing about 6 stars out of 10. It’s a great way to get your colors and fiber as well as keep calories in check. Play with it, you may love it or you may not. It’s worth a spin especially this time of year when time is short and calories are high!