While I was taking pictures for yesterday’s entry, I filmed myself running on the treadmill. It seemed like such a calm little video, that I thought I’d share it with you.
Download this video for your iPod
Next time you consider skipping your workout, pretend that a video camera is watching your every move. If national television was watching you, what would you do? Skip the workout? Probably not.
I run and I walk. I usually like to believe that I am doing “better” when I run than when I walk, but is this idea correct? Wendy Bumgardner answers that question:
It seems that the most important factor in burning calories is DISTANCE, not speed. You may burn more calories with less mileage if you run, but it’s not as dramatic as being able to go that extra mile.
What’s the best speed?
If you can build up your walking speed to 5 mph, or 12 minutes per mile, you will be at the top calorie burn per mile and achieve the same burn as a jogger. If you are a runner, you don’t get any calorie burning benefit by going faster than 10 minutes per mile or 6 mph.
Next time you’re tempted to kick your butt and go a little faster, remember that you won’t see any extra benefit unless you actually cover MORE MILES than you would have if you had walked the whole time.
I’m finally back on the treadmill after two weeks of sickness and one week of laziness. It’s amazing how quickly I let myself get out of the habit of running daily. There are so many people running that I’m no longer able to copy the charts on one screen, so you’ll have to click over to Runner+ to see all the results.
iMum dusted us all on Level 1 this week. The Level 1 race is very lively. If you’re starting out, give it a chance!
It was a close race, but bcharris49 beat out ajmiarka on the Level 2 Challenge.
Once again, gkoenig won the Level 3 Challenge. A special nod to cinziachi66 and ted for duking it out all week.
RicC is the winner of the Level 4 Challenge. Unfortunately, blackang is having a hard time choosing the appropriate level to run at.
Let’s give a shout-out to timmz, who has taken Level 5! There are still only three competitors on Level 5. If you want a smaller race, this might be the one for you.
Rasmus is finally getting a little competition on Level 6. He still won, but patcini and blackang were right on his tail.
Congratulations to all the competitors! Join us at Runner+ and show off your mileage!
If you exercise by running or walking, you can compete in the Starling Fitness Challenges on Runner+. All you need is an account at Runner+ (free) and you can log your miles there. If you have a Nike+iPod kit, then your runs will automatically be added, but the site will also allow you to add your runs manually. If you would like to compete against runners on your level, here are the links for this week’s challenges:
Level 1 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 0-10 miles a week.
Level 2 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 10-20 miles a week.
Level 3 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 20-30 miles a week.
Level 4 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 30-40 miles a week.
Level 5 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 40-50 miles a week.
Level 6 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 50-60 miles a week.
This website is supposed to be funny. Yeah, it’s kind of funny, but for me, it hits too close to home.
All of them seem staged and the “reasons” they’re crying range from silly to hilarious. The only problem is, I really turn to food when I’m sad. It actually lifts my mood and I can feel it working about halfway through a meal.
I have come to notice this pattern, so I have a bunch of alternate activities that I can try to make myself feel better: reading, writing, exercise, talking to friends, setting a schedule, and focusing on work. Just because I’ve noticed the pattern, however, doesn’t mean I’m free from it. It just means that I feel guilty AND sad when I resort to food.
Via: Twitter / Daniel Johnson, Jr.: This is still one of the si…
If you are abusing your body by bingeing, purging or starving, you are teaching your child how to have an eating disorder. I learned how to binge by bingeing with my father. This postcard from PostSecret showed me how my father must have felt when he realized he had passed his eating problems on to me.
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.
Bento boxes are simple food such as rice and vegetables made beautiful by art. I’ve talked about them before here:
Kawaii Crafter made a Halloween Bento box just in time for the holiday:
If you have ever played with your food as a child, bento box making might be the hobby (and lunch choice) for you.
Books like The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids Favorite Meals suggest you should sneak vegetables into your child’s diet by pureeing them and adding them to their favorites. Mimi Sheraton thinks that’s wrong:
Aside from being deceptive and breeding distrust, she asks a more important question?
In the end, I suppose one has to ask an even more basic question: Do vegetables treated as prescribed and in the amounts indicated by Seinfeld-the-Deceptive and Lapine-the-Sneak really add enough nutrients to a child’s diet to make the plotting and pureeing worthwhile? How valuable can one half-cup of spinach puree and one half-cup of carrot puree be when they are first cooked, then are again subjected to the heat of baking, finally to be divided among 12 brownies? And can there be any meaningful nutrition from a quarter-cup each of carrot and sweet potato puree divided amongst 10 portions of soup?
I sought the advice of Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University and the author of What To Eat. “Philosophically and practically, this is not really an effective approach,” she said. “It will not develop an appreciation of the flavors, textures, and interests of various vegetables, which is what you should try to do by introducing them over and over again until they catch on.”
The way I look at it, what if you ALWAYS put pureed carrots into macaroni and cheese? You tell the children about it and they watch you make the recipe that way. Would it make your mac and cheese a little healthier? Yeah, a little… Would it be deceptive? Not if you’re up front about it.
All kids go through phases where they just won’t eat certain foods. I’ve heard that it’s because their taste buds are more sensitive to the bitterness that accompanies many vegetables. Masking that flavor is one option to get them to eat their vegetables, but more importantly, providing a good example is FAR more powerful.
If YOU eat your vegetables, you do more than all the blenders in the world could accomplish.
These shoes would be perfect for running outside at night. There’s no way you would be the invisible pedestrian with these shoes. They are sold as fashion shoes to wear at raves and are currently out of stock, unfortunately.
Here they are in action:
The shoes are “powered” by glow sticks. You open the channel at the back of the shoe, insert the glow stick (after activating it) and close it back up. Glow sticks are easy to buy in bulk and you only need to “turn your shoes on” when you are running at night. Brilliant!
This would be good if you’re riding your bike as well:
When will the running shoe companies realize that THIS is the number one safety feature we need when running outside? Reflective surfaces are nice, but glowing on our own gives the drivers MUCH more time to notice us.
Via: Shiny Shiny: Wearing Soul Fusion shoes makes you an unlikely wallflower
I usually don’t talk about treadmill recalls, but the Cybex treadmills have been recalled TWICE now.
Here is the list of treadmills that have been recalled:
This recall involves the treadmills “Cybex 400T,” “Cybex 410T,” “Trotter 510,” “Trotter 525”, “Trotter 535”, and “CXT+” that were recalled (link) on October 8, 2003 and later repaired. The treadmills are black with gray coloring, have rectangular uprights, and measure 69 inches long and 30 inches wide. The brands and models are written on the display panel. The “CXT+†model does not bear the brand Cybex or Trotter.
There have been five fires associated with these treadmills, so get this problem fixed before your house goes up in smoke.
Via: Treadmill recall stuck in endless, fiery loop – Engadget
Questionable Content is a webcomic that I read every day. Imagine my surprise when Faye voices my fears about the gym:
Are you letting your fears about other people seeing you workout stop you from getting fit?
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