Physical Funness for the Motion Starved

Fit more fun into your fitness while exploring the outdoors.


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The Season of Eating is now in session (Navigation Tip #1)

Sweating it out

How did you folks manage over Thanksgiving? I must admit, I ate more than I should have, but I wasn’t totally out of control. I did however let my exercise regiment go to complete shit.

As I was driving home from my holiday away I spent half of the 3.5 hour drive stressing about how much of a slug I had become over the past 4 days. Then my brain kicked in and reminded me that it’s okay to slack off once in a while. Give your body and brain a break. You’ve got to think of this, “slacker time” is recovery time. Like when you train for an event. You can’t work hard or be perfect all the time. The key however is not to beat yourself up and to get back on the program post-haste. You all know that. Right?

As I drove I realized that the first thing I needed to do was to get rid of the excess water that had hitched a ride in my body from all the extra carbs I’d mowed down. Remember, carbohydrates in the body hold water. When you cut them out of your diet, your body will naturally lose water, which is why those low carb diets are so popular. On the other side of the coin, when you drastically increase your carb intake with stuffing, two kinds of taters, rolls, pie, etc, you puff up like a balloon and feel like a stiff cow. You know the feeling?

So, I’ve come up with Step One, of The Season of Eating Navagation Plan – De Puffing, aka, ridding the body of extra water and toxins brought on by a few days of cheer. (Take notes, you may need this again in a few weeks!)

  • Drink lots of water — I know it sounds wrong but water flushes the body of all the excess water and toxins. If you don’t eat a bunch more carbs, the fresh water will flush everything out.
  • Get your sweat on — This week, start ramping up your activity level. I’m not suggesting you attempt a half marathon. I am asking you to SWEAT! Do it any way you can. Taking a steam at the spa will even help. As much as I hate it, I went to a Bikram yoga class last night and I’ve committed to another 4 classes this week (Gawd, help me!) Go for a walk, but walk up hill! SWEAT your booty off (literally)!
  • Stretch — When you stretch you stretch your insides. This allows all the stuff in your intestines to get out. Think about it. All those nooks and crannies need a little help sometimes. Best thing is get yourself to a yoga class at least once a week but three times would be impressive and cleansing!
  • Clean up your diet — You know the drill. If you want to clear your system of toxins, water and nasty stuff you need to eat clean. That means lots of fresh, organic fruits, veggies and non-processed foods. Do the best you can; I know it’s hard! An easy way to eat clean is to “juice.” While I am not into juicing, it does help to clean you out and feel spry again. I’ll share some info on juicing with you Wednesday. I need to give it a try myself before I pass on. It could be crap.

There you go. An easy, effective start. Now all you have to do it is drink up and sweat it all out.

Stay tuned for a full month of tips on how to safely navigate The Season of Eating…


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The Season of Eating 101

Too much turkey

It’s started. I call it The Season of Eating. There’s really no way to get around it, one way or another your healthy living tendencies will go to shit during this period. Some of us will manage better than others, but basically we’ll all suffer a shift in our waistlines and our exercise regiment.

First and foremost, do not to panic! Worrying will only stress you out causing you to eat or drink more, elevating the situation.

I’m not going to lie; I cave during The Season of Eating. I definitely dive head first into most opportunities to suck down yummy food and drink. Miraculously, I usually manage to keep the same jean size but it’s not a pretty picture nor is it easy.

Anyway, here are just a few little things that I personally keep in mind during these challenging times. They work for me and they’re pretty painless.

  • Baked goods – Eat only homemade stuff or things that you can be darn sure will be worth the calories. When confronted with a cookie tray from Cost-Co, skip it and wait until someone passes the truffles or homemade snacks.
  • The same goes for the cheese platter. If you can’t skip it all together then pass up the blocks of Safeway cheese and wait for the artisan cheese platter to surface. It might not appear for a day or two but it will at some point!
  • Sign yourself up for a workout class or organized event. Perhaps a New Years Eve or NY Day run, cycle or walk. There are tons to choose from. It’ll force you to stay on top of your workouts. I’ve signed myself for a New Years Eve half marathon that I’m not fit for at the current moment, so like it or not I’ll have to dig deep and train, impending cookie gut and all!
  • Keep moving. I like to keep moving. It tuckers me out sometimes but it helps keep the furnace burning.  Examples: Walk and take the stairs everywhere possible. Get up in the morning, have your coffee and go for a walk/run/ride or what ever you can manage for as long as you can manage it. 10 minutes is better than nothing! Mid day, walk/take a yoga class, just move for at least 10 minutes. Same goes for the evening, don’t just go home and sit on the sofa ever. Even if you can’t do this every day do what you can when you can. Make the effort it does help!

Here are some numbers that might motivate you. 10 minutes of: (The math will obviously vary depending on your body weight, composition and the pace at which you perform the task)

  • Walking at brisk pace will burn 54 calories
  • Heavy cleaning will burn 54 calories
  • Step-ups (using stairs) burns 175 calories
  • Raking leaves burns 40 calories

And, try these lean muscle builders. Remember, the more muscle you have the more calories you’ll burn just sitting at the table next to the cheese platter.

  •  Squats—Do ‘em while you brush your teeth
  • Walking Lunges — As you move about your home
  • Push-Ups — Do 10 every time you find yourself at the kitchen sink. (Against the wall or on the floor)
  • Curls — With a can of soup or bottle of detergent
  • Plank Position — While reheating food. Hold for 30 seconds and work up to 3 minutes.
  • Crunches — There are a thousand versions. Pick the ones you like and do ‘em while you watch the weather.

So there you go, these are things that help me. If you want to be, or if you can be super good, then skip all the holiday treats, simply walk past the cookie platter and when cooking, find ways to make healthier versions of the dishes you serve. Unfortunately total abstinence won’t work for me so I’ve found these other things that help me. As for you, it’s up to you to find ways to enjoy the season and manage your waistline at the same time, I can only offer suggestions.

The bottom line, enjoy this time, no matter what.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I’ll be on back Monday 11/28 with something very gripping to say…

P.s. Click here if you want to know how far you’ll have to run/etc to burn off the bits of your T-giving dinner. I say, just keep moving and stop counting!


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It’s my birthday and I’ll do what I want to

That's a lot of candles!

If you follow along you’ll have noticed that I’ve completely slacked off this week. I have no excuse. I just didn’t feel I had anything interesting to say so I didn’t post like I usually do.

Today however, is my birthday. Normally I wouldn’t toot my own horn unless I did something amazing, but today I’m going to talk about me anyway.

Some things you need to know about me are that I have zero patience; I despise excuses and people who constantly make them. I adore animals, I eat things that are bad for me, I drink a little too much wine sometimes and I don’t play hard to get, I am hard to get. I stop listening when people talk about negative things or their shitty lives, jobs or physical/mental ailments. If I like you, I will do pretty much anything for you to a fault (hence my being single). If I don’t like/respect you, I block you out because I feel we should focus on, and spend our time/energy on/with those who offer positive experiences. I believe we should surround ourselves with friends and lovers that make our lives better and whose lives we can better. People seem to like me but I find that odd, as I am not an easy person. In the end, I feel that life is about coming to terms with one’s self and truly appreciating the gifts that The Universe gave to us.

When I say that we need to appreciate the things The Universe has given us I mean all the things. The people, the good ones and the bad ones. The nuances of our bodies, the things we like and the things we don’t. The simple things like the really chubby ladybug that landed on my pillow today and the chicken dinner I “cooked” for Jackie’s dad years ago. Appreciate the things you’ve learned and be excited for the things you will come to learn.

One of the most important things I’ve learned in my life (and I just recently figured it out) is that you must let people be who they are. If you change them, they will no longer be the person you cared for. Appreciate, and embrace the good and the bad within the people you choose to spend your time with. If you can simply not bear to let them be who they are, then let them go.

Lastly, we are in control of our lives. Each of us makes zillions of decisions every day that drive our lives in the direction they’re heading. Remember this, and take responsibility for yourself and your life.

I leave you with those words of wisdom and that lovely view into the mind of Kelley. I hope you take the wisdom part to heart…


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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.