Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Despite my best efforts, I haven’t been able to stop watching The Biggest Loser. I have to admit that I get really motivated watching all those people working out.

If you missed it, this little video will catch you up:

I was just SHOCKED when Colleen lost seven pounds. That is just a HUGE amount to lose in a week. Unfortunately, her father had gained two pounds, so they voted to send him home. His leg injury just pushed him over the edge. You can see how he’s doing now here:

I don’t like to see any of the contestants being screamed at, but I have to admit that I do like to see the success that these people have. Of course, I’d like to see them ALL five years later to see how many keep the weight off.

If you are one of the many people who have bought a Starling Fitness Yearly Journal, then you know that the quote of the month is about improving yourself. You can see the quote here:

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl, 1952

If you have been planning to just let go of your eating and fitness routine because the holidays are coming, now is THE TIME to rededicate yourself to being healthy. You don’t need to wait a single moment before you can start improving yourself. You don’t need to wait until January first. You can do it RIGHT NOW.

Just think about it. If you lose one pound a week from now until January first, you will have lost TWELVE POUNDS! Most people GAIN fifteen pounds over the holidays, so you’ll be almost 30 pounds thinner than you would have been if you just gave up.

If you have been thinking about giving up because the holidays are coming, turn right around and dedicate yourself to living healthy again. Go to Weight Watchers. Buy a food journal. Start a new class at the gym. Whatever you have to do to get motivated, get up and do it NOW. You need not wait a single moment!

If you would like to order your own Starling Fitness Yearly Journal, you can do so here:

• Starling Fitness » Order Your Starling Fitness Yearly Journal

If you order it now, you can choose the month you want it to start and it will last you a year from that date. You won’t have to throw away any unused days from the first of the year. You can start fresh now.

A couple of weeks ago, The Office season premier was called Weight Loss. You can see it here:

Dunder Mifflin paper is having an office competition in which the branches compete for an extra week of vacation time. The winner is the branch that loses the most weight. Of course, things at the Scranton branch get out of control, culminating with Phyllis being abandoned without her purse in a bad part of town by Dwight because she needs the exercise. Even Michael goes over the line telling tiny Angela to lose weight and her replying, “My doctor wants me to GAIN weight.”

I actually loved this episode because it shows just how fat people are treated in the workforce. If you think that it was an exaggeration when Dwight accused the heaviest people in the office of not pulling their weight, it wasn’t. Considering that Stanley had lost FOUR pounds that week, it was quite ironic, but entirely typical.

I’ve worked at offices that have sponsored weight loss competitions before and they have ALWAYS ended badly. The only time I’ve ever seen the idea of weight loss in the workplace actually WORK was when my sister’s office sponsored Weight Watchers to come to their office for an At Work program. Those who wanted to participate were given an extra hour to do so and the weight of everyone was kept anonymous.

Next time it feels like everyone in your office is against your weight loss because they happened to bring in donuts, remember this episode of The Office and know how much worse it could be if they were rooting for you.

The final irony are the commercials that NBC has thrown into this episode. They are for Hungry Man Frozen Dinners. I wrote about how entire un-dietable these dinners are here:

• Starling Fitness » Hungry Man Sports Grill

They are marketing treadmills to little kids now:

There are quite a few companies making these treadmills for children:

• First Fitness Kid’s First Treadmill
• Kid’s Gym Treadmill Junior Workout Kit
• Redmon 9201 Fun & Fitness Health Systems for Kids-Treadmill

And there is even an exercise bike in primary colors for your child:

• Kid’s Gym Stationary Bike Junior Workout Kit

I think this could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether the kid wants a treadmill or not. When I was a kid, my grandma insisted that I was fat and forcibly enrolled me in dance, baton, swimming, and tennis classes in an effort to slim me down and make me graceful. Honestly, I kind of liked those classes and they kept me busy for many summers, but I did feel the shame of “needing” a class in the first place. Instead of saying that it was a fun thing to keep me entertained while I was in Billings, she told me that I needed them to lose weight.

If I had asked for the classes, it would have been an entirely different story.

The kind of kids that want these treadmills are the kind of kids that see their parents on the treadmill and want to pretend that they’re grown up like Mom and Dad. In that case, SURE! You can have your treadmill and even an exercise bike in primary colors. Whatever you want!

If you as a parent think that buying one of these treadmills will make your kid lose weight, then you’re lost. Not only will they resent the toy, but they will have a more difficult time staying at a healthy weight as adults. The problem is with the attitude of the parent, not the toy.

Via: Treadmills for Kids? : Complete Running Network

Found in Mom’s Basement posted this 1962 ad for milk last week.

• Found in Mom’s Basement: 1962 ad for milk, “Get on the Vitality Wagon”

It says:

Popular “Seventeen” models take a refreshing milk break while modeling new plaids.

Get on the Vitality Wagon

Top teen models have discovered how milk helps keep their vitality up through the busy modeling day… keeps ’em with the group on dates! Milk with your meals refreshes… gives lasting energy that keeps you going and glowing. Make milk at mealtime a regular habit. It’s your ticket to join the gang on the vitality wagon!

American Dairy Association: representing the dairy farmers in your area who bring you The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet on ABC-TV.

There is so much WRONG with this ad. Drink milk because teen models do. Drink milk because it refreshes. Drink milk because they sponsor Ozzie & Harriet. Really? Did this sort of advertising work?

Of course it did, just like this commercial worked on ME back in the 80’s:

Milk, it does a body good is a slogan I can STILL repeat even after all these years.

Is milk good for you? Yeah, I think it is, but do we really need all this advertising to prove it to us?

While I was shopping at the health food store last week, I noticed that they had some salmon burgers for sale. They were spiced with herbs and veggies, so I thought I would try them. I usually don’t like salmon burgers, but if I’ve learned one thing about vegetarians, it’s this:

Vegetarians can make bean curd tasty. Just THINK what they could do with meat!

They have been the ABSOLUTE BEST salmon burgers I have ever tasted in my life. I put them on my George Foreman grill and they are a tasty protein treat!

Next time you go shopping, hit the health food store. You might find something that you would have never found at the normal grocery store that could be one of your new diet staples.

A couple of weeks ago, I was enjoying myself watching interviews with Alfred Hitchcock on YouTube and I was surprised by this video. At the 1:42 mark, he comes back from a commercial break for a laxative product:

Alfred Hitchcock comments:

May I say I am very confused by that last commercial. Well, it was a commercial for a laxative. And I wonder why all those people doing sports and all that sort of thing–where they would need a laxative after such vigorous movement all over the place.

When I first heard him say this, I thought it was funny, but didn’t think about it any further.

Fast forward to a few weeks later and the thought has stayed with me. I’ve noticed that after I exercise I DO need to go to the bathroom. Whether I’ve eaten or not, exercise helps me go to the bathroom. It has actually helped me a lot with my “stomach trouble.”

I had NO IDEA that exercise might help me with my stomach problems. NO IDEA. The doctor that I visited suggested exercise, but only as a means to lose weight because, you know, skinny people don’t have stomach trouble. Apparently, my doctor didn’t even know that my condition could be helped by exercise.

It’s a sad state when I get my best medical advice from a 350 pound dead man.

Diet Blog has a nice article asking whether your diet is a cult.

• Is Your Diet a Cult?

They have some suggestions on how to reprogram yourself if you have fallen into the cult mentality:

• This may seem common sense by now but the message bears repeating: There are no quick fixes or universally perfect solutions.
• Know that you and only you make the decisions regarding your health. Learn as much as you can about healthy eating and make decisions from there. You are in control!
• See food as the solution – not the problem to your health and weight.
• Reframe success: Look at markers other than scale weight to determine your goals. Set goals to eat more vegetables, eat out less or walk more.
• Join communities (in person or on-line) that are support-based, encourage critical thinking, individuality, and do not promote extreme measures.

These are good recommendations when choosing a diet plan as well. If it feels like your diet plan has been controlling you more than you controlling it, take a step back and re-evaluate your relationship with food and your eating plan.

I saw this LOL Cat this morning and it looked like the perfect breakfast:

Two servings of fruit and one serving of cute. Sounds like a perfect combination to me. Fruit for breakfast is a great way to start your day, but don’t forget about your soul. You need to feed your soul as much as your body when you are learning how to eat healthy.

Giving yourself some cute kitten time is the perfect recipe for your morning soul feeding.

Photo via: 2 servings of fruit . . . « Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures of Cats – I Can Has Cheezburger?

If you have a Nike+ iPod, don’t forget the Starling Fitness Challenges on Nike+. It’s a chance to run with people on your own level. They add a fun bit of competition to your daily workout. We have these challenges EVERY week, so join up and start running with us.

If you DON’T own a Nike+ iPod (or even if you do), you can still compete on Runner+.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 1 (09-29-08) – RUNNER+: Runs between 0-10 miles a week. If you run more than 10 miles a week, you will be disqualified.
• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 2 (09-29-08) – RUNNER+: Runs between 10-20 miles a week. If you run more than 20 miles a week, you will be disqualified.
• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 3 (09-29-08) – RUNNER+: Runs between 20-30 miles a week. If you run more than 30 miles a week, you will be disqualified.
• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 4 (09-29-08) – RUNNER+: Runs between 30-40 miles a week. If you run more than 40 miles a week, you will be disqualified.
• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 5 (09-29-08) – RUNNER+: Runs between 40-50 miles a week. If you run more than 50 miles a week, you will be disqualified.
• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 6 (09-29-08) – RUNNER+: Runs between 50-60 miles a week. Right now, there is no maximum mileage limitation. Run to your heart’s content!

There are the same levels on the Nike+ runs, but I can’t link to them because Nike’s site is so phenomenally stupid. If you have been feeling stale with your walks or runs, join a Starling Fitness Challenge and add a bit of spice into your workouts.