Physical Funness for the Motion Starved

Fit more fun into your fitness while exploring the outdoors.

Tag Archives: challenge


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GP has an admirer!

GP workin' up a sweat

The Guinea Pig 2011 Report ­­– Saturday, February 5th 2011. GP goes to the gym to spin on the stationary bike for a while. GP chooses a bike right next to the fan, as the weather in Oakland is unseasonably warm today.  The fan and the bike happen to be right next to the street level picture window.

As GP gets rolling she notices a man pressing his face against the window, swirling his tong and licking the glass. In extreme horror GP does her best to ignore the man and continue her workout. Eventually the man went away and GP was able to relax and sweat in private.  While the man was clearly “off “ mentally, GP could do nothing more than take his gesture as a complement.  It seems that as of Saturday, GP has managed to “shift 5 pounds of body weight.” All this without having to change her life much at all. Since the beginning of January this year, GP has regularly cut back on her wine consumption, is working out for an hour, 4 days a week and is making better food choices. GP is still indulging in the occasional brownie or chocolate chip cookie and is still having her vino a few times a week. GP confesses that some weeks she does better than others but is consistently making small, comfortable changes to her lifestyle.

In the end, GP was surprised to see that she was able to lose weight and feel better without having to make huge sacrifices. GP is even making an effort to take part in my Ab Challenge. She’s chosen to do 100 core specific reps, two days per week. That’s what she feels comfortable sustaining. Now that GP and the window licking stranger are noticing some changes in her physic, GP in encouraged to take things up a notch.

Stay tuned…

p.s. I’m really proud of you GP! Take no prisoners!


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Hello! I know you’re out there.

All of you should be joining me in Kelley’s Ab Challenge.  Every one of you could use some work on your abs/core.  I’m not calling anybody out, but I am making it easy for you.  What more do you want? Come on, start small but make an effort!

Why do you need a strong core? Basically your core/torso supports every physical movement you make. It’s the body’s center of power, the stronger you are in that area, 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.

Here are my suggestions for things to do this weekend. Work your core…

FYI ladies, a strong core makes for a strong pelvic floor.  Strong muscles in the pelvic floor make for tight pelvic muscles. Get where I’m going with this? Valentines Day is coming!

Do something good for your body this weekend!

See you Monday…


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Time to hold Kelley accountable

Crunch time!

It’s become painfully clear that I’m not spending enough time focusing on my own personal fitness. With that, I have decided to hold myself accountable by exposing my very own abs to you and pledging to do better by them while you watch.

Yes, those are my abs. Call it my “before” photo. While I realize that my abs don’t look all that horrendous to some, rest assure it’s because I’m standing up very straight and sucking my belly button into my spine as hard as I possibly can.

When is all said and done, I need to do some work on my abs and my entire core.

Here’s what I propose – I will commit to doing 300 abdominal reps, every other day.  I have chosen this number and this time frame because I know it’s something I can stick with. I am pushing myself, but not going crazy.  I will do this for one month, and then reassess the situation. Lets see what my abs look like in one month. I promise to let you see, for better or for worse.

How about you – I would love for you take this challenge with me.  It’s always more fun to exercise with someone even if we never meet.  So, if you’d like to be part of this, email me, comment on this posting, or do it in secret.  You can set your own rules. Rules that work for you.

Here’s a list of suggested ab/core exercises to get us started.  More to come…


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The Guinea Pig 2011 Project – Meet GP

Meet GP

When GP and I first met, our idea of exercise was to flex our pectorals (squish our breasts together) and work our core by using the Xerox machine as a prop (we made copies of our D cups for the purpose of bartering for beverages later in the evening). We were two chubbsters looking for love and lots of fun. At the time GP was referred to as Fuoco (means “Fire” in Italian) and I was know as Bad Skël. Need I say more?

The first real exercise commitment GP and I ever made together was to sign ourselves up for a charity 100 mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe. We did this not for the cause, but because we thought that we would drop massive amounts of weight and meet hot young men.  In the end we barely managed to drag ourselves around the lake and not an ounce of weight was lost. Additionally, all the hot guys rode past us like we were standing still.  Maybe that’s because we fueled our training with french fries and beer. The only thing interested in spending any time with us were the flies that taunted us with their constant buzzing and would land on our sweaty limbs traveling with us for miles. After the ride was over GP parked her bike and it didn’t move again until it was stolen from her garage years later.

Now, many years later GP is a wife and mother of two who has agreed to join me on another fitness challenge.  The Guinea Pig 2011 Project.

During the GP 2011 Project we will follow GP through the steps and suggestions I have made and will continue to make here on this blog. GP’s goal is to lose her tummy and tone up her entire body allowing her to don a two-piece swim suit during her family vacation in Hawaii, in May of this year.  Wearing a two-piece suit is something that GP has not had the privilege of in her entire adult life.

Step 1 – Post Holiday Detox. Since the New Year, GP has done as prescribed and upped her water intake. As suggested she is adding lemon slices and has decided to focus on water most evenings rather than the usual class or two of wine. GP is keeping her wine drinking to two – three evenings per week as that is something she can sustain. With that she is already noticing that she’s sleeping better, has more energy and her “mommy belly” is definitely going down (I could see it myself!) and she says she feels less blotted.  My other suggestion for detox was to consume more fiber and while she’s working on this admits that she is not meeting the minimum 30 grams per day. I have given her some additional food suggestions, which you will find by clicking on this link.

So, we are off to a great start. GP has made some small adjustments to her lifestyle and admits that it’s not been all that hard. She claims that you just need to get to the point where you see or feel a difference.  With the added sleep and lessened bounce in her belly GP is feeling encouraged and excited to see what comes next.

Next week, GP goes for a run and finds that her old running shoes are not her friend. Looks like we need to talk about shoe fit and look at her form.

Stay tuned…


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I may be bad but I’m perfectly good at it

If you’re going to do something, anything, do it to the very best of your ability. You may find that no matter how hard you try, you just aren’t good at some things. Don’t let that stop you, do them anyway.  Just be sure to give it 100%.

For instance, I know that I can’t spell.  I have never been good at spelling. It used to really bother me. My mom was an english major in college, my step mother is a former teacher, my father is “type A” to the 10th degree and my brother has both athletic abilities and spelling skills.  It seems everyone can spell but me. If you’ve been reading my blog then you know that I can’t spell.  All I can say is I’m sorry. I wish I could spell better but I simply cannot. I’ve spent years stressing over my poor spelling and holding myself back because of it. I realize now that it’s just one of those thing that I need to come to terms with. Like having a big nose.  I’m over that too.

Rihanna (you know…the singer) says, “I may be bad but I’m perfectly good at it.” I love that.  Acknowledge who you are and then be the best you can be.


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Shake it up!

Shakin' it up in Iowa

Routines are good. We all need some structure in our lives. However, keeping to the same old routine becomes boring and eventually stalls your fitness.  Getting outside of your world or comfort zone can be exciting, stimulating and even frightening.

As part of your effort to have an amazing 2011, I propose that each of us tries something new at least once a week.  It can be a new food that you’d otherwise pass up (like the okra curry recipe I’ll post tomorrow), asking someone to get together who you might otherwise dismiss. Go trampolining, get a new hairstyle, buy a sexy plaid workout top rather than the usual solid. Why not go for a ride on 40 lb cruiser bike instead of that carbon fiber racer you covet. Believe me you’ll get a workout!

Challenges don’t have to be big they just have to be something you wouldn’t normally do.  Something that will take some effort and maybe some guts.

Here are some examples.

  • While waiting for my friends on the street the other night, I let a scruffy man with a golf club sing me a song. When he approached me I didn’t look away or get angry. I stood there, let him sing his strange song, I smiled, shook his hand and give him a dollar (sure I wanted to rush home and scrub my hand but I remained calm). I did something a little frightening, but something good. (Fortunately, he used his club to illustrate his song rather than smash me over the head with.)
  • My friend Mo just signed up for 2 weeks of early morning yoga classes.  She’s normally the high speed, marathon runner, bike racer type. Now, one day into her yoga challenge, she’s not convinced it was her best move, but that’s the challenge. She’ll end up crushing the yoga class, but she doesn’t know that yet.
  • Normally I don’t eat much red meat especially meats that seem more like pets than dinner. Rabbit, lamb, veal. But a few weeks ago I had some lamb.  Initially I panicked when my date ordered it and immediately started working on my escape plan. Instead I dug deep and give it a try. In the end I didn’t like the lamb one bit, but I tried it and I learned not to do that again.
  • The big one. Last summer I rode my bike the entire length of Iowa with my Dad and Paula.  It was completely insane as we had not trained for the almost 500 mile ride. However, we all survived and the experience was beyond amazing! We learned that in fact there are no limits to what you can do.

The point I am attempting to get across is that when you challenge yourself you end up surprising yourself. You learn things, you meet new people and you find out what you’re made of. The confidence you gain encourages you to keep trying more and more, new and exciting things.  I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…it’s all about the stories. In the end all you have are your stories so go out and stir things up!