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

This postcard from PostSecret reminded me of a friend of my grandmother who is probably long dead now.

When I was really little, I remember my grandma’s friend. As children often do, I said what I shouldn’t have said and asked her why her face was so wrinkled. She told me that when you get to be her age, you always have wrinkles, but hers were the good kind because she had smiled her whole life instead of frowning. Whenever I feel myself frown, I consciously smile so that I’ll get smiling wrinkles instead of frowning ones.

When the fashion magazines write about wrinkles, they never mention this. It is possible to be completely covered in wrinkles and still be beautiful. I know this because of my grandma’s friend. I hope to live long enough to be a good example of it myself.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

This postcard from PostSecret showed up a couple of weeks ago.

When I first got my drivers license, I worried that someone might be always checking the weight that I had listed on the card. This postcard would have been my worst nightmare back then, but now, I realize that there is no hiding my weight. No matter what number I put on my license, a complete stranger can see how much I weigh just by looking at me.

For the last twelve years, I have put my current weight as of that morning on my drivers license. I have always thought to myself, “When I get to goal weight, I’ll get a new drivers license.” I STILL haven’t gotten to goal weight, but at least I am completely honest with myself where I am.

No matter how many times I tell myself that it’s just a number, I’m still embarrassed by it.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

NakedJen has decided to start a new exercise program and get back to eating healthy. She blames it all on suffering from Divorce Brain, but it sounds like a good start to me:

• nakedjen: Vegan Sunshine Every Day At 5:00 A.M.

On the first day of new regime, her dogs, Buddha and Stella, were unsure of what was going on, but by day three, they were excited to join her:

So, if you’re still reading, you might be interested to know, that I’m on day 3 of this insanity. This morning I didn’t even need the alarm at 5:00 a.m. because Buddha and Stella woke me up at 4:50 a.m. Stella jumped on my head. Buddha gave me kisses. It was still hot as Hades. We still did our 12.6 miles. I’m still going to yoga later today.

Jen also gave us a recipe for her Vegan Pineapple Nectarine Coconut Morning Bread. It looks delicious!

If you have been feeling a little stale with the heat and exercise, click on over to NakedJen’s post and remember that even in the sweltering heat of the summer, you can live a healthy life.

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 unrealistic standards. You can see the quote here:

You can either hold yourself up to the unrealistic standards of others, or ignore them and concentrate on being happy with yourself as you are.

Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content, #352, 05-04-05

Questionable Content is a soap opera webcomic and I read it EVERY weekday. You can see the episode with that quote here:

• Questionable Content#352, 05-04-05 She Reads Too Much Cosmo

I don’t know how Jeph understands the minds of women so well, but more power to him. I’m still learning how to be happy with myself as I am, but it’s nice to know that I’m not alone.

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 few months ago, Life Fitness announced that they are making treadmills (and other machines) compatible with Nike+. That’s only a good thing if your gym uses these new Life Fitness machines. If you’re a member of 24 Hour Fitness, tracking your workouts just got easier.

• MacDailyNews – 24 Hour Fitness first to offer Nike+iPod experience in the gym

Beginning in July, select 24 Hour Fitness clubs in New York, San Francisco, Miami, Denver, Portland and Salt Lake City will begin receiving Nike iPod enabled gym equipment, just in time for members to use the new machines to prepare for and compete in the Nike Human Race on August 31, 2008.

I KNEW there was a reason I kept my 24 Hour Fitness gym membership! I’m so lucky to be in one of the lucky cities where they are testing this new technology. All of a sudden I am excited about going to the gym again!

If you don’t know what Nike+ is, I’ve written several articles about it:

• Starling Fitness » Tune Your Run With Nike and iPod

• Starling Fitness » How to Use Nike+ on ANY Type of Shoe

• Starling Fitness » First Glance: Nike+iPod

• Starling Fitness » Nike+ After Two Weeks

• Starling Fitness » Ask Laura: Should I Buy a Nike+?

• Starling Fitness » Nike+ Distance Inaccuracies

• Starling Fitness » Nike+ Addicted

If I had to choose one invention of 2006 that totally changed the way I exercised, it would be the Nike+. Knowing that Nike, Apple, Life Fitness AND 24 Hour Fitness are going to support this innovative program just makes me more happy.

Via: 24 Hour Fitness will install Nike+ gym equipment – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

This comic from Least I Could Do really hit home for me.

• Least I Could Do: A Lesser Man Among Men 06-17-08

Sometimes I feel like a poseur. I have lost weight. I have gained weight. I have gotten my binges under control. I have let them get out of control. Right now, I’m not at my goal weight. I’m struggling just to eat healthy and exercise.

Funny thing is, when I was nearly at my goal weight, I ALSO felt like a poseur. I felt like a fat girl inside my skinny body. Now I feel like a hypocrite writing about health and fitness when it’s a struggle every day just to play on the Wii Fit.

Is it a no-win situation, or will I eventually be AND feel like a thin girl someday?

This video made me laugh out loud the other day:

I’ve never tried to put my cat on my treadmill, but I suspect all cats would act the same. I love what the girl filming says:

“This is someone who’s against exercise.”

How about you? Do you feel like a cat on a treadmill? Do your workouts feel like you’re forcing them every day? How can you avoid feeling like that white cat?

I change my workouts quite regularly to keep things new. I have a hard time concentrating on one type of exercise, so I try everything that’s out there. I walk, run, ride my bike, play Dance Dance Revolution, use the Wii Fit and I even load up the old Yourself! Fitness every once and a while. Whenever it feels like a chore to exercise, I do something I haven’t tried in a while. Sometimes, even changing venue is enough. I might be running on the treadmill every day and it starts to feel like a chore, but then I go for a run outside and it feels different, even though I went the same distance.

Next time you’re feeling like a cat on a treadmill, try something new. It just might be your new obsession.

Video via: The Funniest Treadmill Videos of All Time : Complete Running Network

With gas prices approaching five dollars a gallon, it’s in your best interest to combine your workout with your errands. You’ll save gasoline, money, and time. Instead of driving to the gym to workout on the treadmill, you could walk to the grocery store for groceries. You’ll get your shopping AND your workout done in the time you would have spent working out.

I’ve talked about this before and how to do it:

• Starling Fitness » Save the Planet AND Lose Weight

In that entry, I recommended a circle with a radius of 1.5 miles. If you are riding your bike, however, you can increase that radius to 3 miles and still be able to get your workout done in an hour.

Once you have the circle on your map, find all the places within that area that you regularly go to. Instead of grabbing dinner at the restaurant and bringing it home, have the whole family walk to the restaurant. Instead of going for a drive to get out of the house, jump on your bike and see how far you can explore in an hour. With the economy the way it is, finding alternate ways of getting around is a good practice.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have your weight bench in your living room where it was easy to access? What if it looked nice as well? That’s the idea behind this concept from Gabriel Prero:

• Gabriel Prero – IndustrialDesign-Otto-Bench

I live in a tiny 850 square foot house, so this weight bench looks like a dream come true to me. How possible is it to make this on my own? Could I “hack” my own weight bench and make an ottoman bench myself?

Life Fitness, please make this bench. I know a ton of people who would buy it.

Via: CraziestGadgets.com » Ottoman Converts to Self Contained Exercise Bench

It seems that the 3,000 calorie a day diet that the Arkansas jail provides for Broderick Lloyd Laswell isn’t enough for him to maintain his weight.

• Kstp.com – 300-pound inmate complains Ark. jail doesn’t feed him well

Instead of being grateful that he is 100 pounds closer to a healthy weight, he is suing the county.

“If we are in a small pod all day (and) do next to nothing for physical exercise, we should not lose weight,” the suit says. “The only reason we lost weight in here is because we are literally being starved to death.”

At 3,000 calories a day, he might feel like he’s being “starved to death,” but that is nearly 1,000 calories more than the daily recommended average. I find it appalling that he is suing. People pay good money to go to places that will restrict their diet enough to lose 100 pounds.

Via: Rudd Sound Bites: An Unwelcome Weight Loss