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

It looks like Apple might be considering supporting the Nike+ on the iPhone.

• iPhone 1.1.1 introduces 2 new special folders, possible Nike support – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

According to Erica Sadun, there are two new folders in the iPhone directory that weren’t there before the latest 1.1.1 update. They are called: /AppleInternal/Applications and /Accessories. The file directory is similar to the iPod file directory for the Nike+, so I am hoping my heart out that the iPhone will start supporting my favorite exercise gadget EVAR!

All of this is speculation and those folders could be internal folders that Apple is planning on using for something else, but I am VERY eager to see the iPhone support Nike+

I love this commercial for Nike+!

I feel a certain companionship with anorexics. I have never been able to starve myself, but I feel like there is some connection between anorexia and bingeing disorders. Recent research shows that anorexics don’t react to sugar the way “normal” people do.

• Anorexics May Have Altered Sense of Taste

While the view of anorexia as an addiction is intriguing, there are other possible physiological explanations for the disorder. Dr. Angela Wagner performed an experiment to study the reactions of 16 recovered anorexics to sugar. Recovered anorexics were chosen to avoid the confounding psychological factors that might be present in still-struggling subjects. Recovered anorexics took the sweet drink without protest, but an MRI revealed that while their behavior may have returned to normal, their brains have not. Compared to the control subjects, there was much less activation of the insular cortex, especially the primary cortical taste region. This suggests the possibility that rather than missing meals to feel high, anorexics don’t eat because they simply find normally pleasant tastes less appealing.

If anorexics don’t find food as appealing as “normal” people, then could it be possible that I find it MORE appealing? This seems like very important research, but the sample size of sixteen participants is so small that I can’t really trust the conclusions.

I’m hoping for more research along these lines.

What do you think? Do we overeat because food just tastes better to us?

My Powersong on my Nike+ is Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk. Every time I hear it, I run faster.

I looks like someone else likes it as well:

This video is awesome! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to listen to the song again without thinking of this video.

What’s your Powersong? What music makes you exercise harder, better, faster, stronger?

It looks like there is another active computer game that has been developed by Daniil Kondratyev, Tamar Raviv and Shahar Zrihen. It was developed as a final project of the Interaction Design Hands On Course at the Holon Institute Of Technology:

• Steppo

You can see a child playing with the game here:

I like that so many schools are researching active computer gaming. This looks fun, but not very practical for adults.

Via: Craftzine.com blog: Steppo

Soon there will be so many runners that they won’t all fit on one screen. Let’s look at this week!

It’s totally uncool to join a race at a level that’s lower than your ability just to win it. The REAL winner of the Level 1 Challenge goes to Salli!

Newcomer, Ivano_M, took the lead on the Level 2 Challenge. Tight race, everyone! Good job!

It was a tight finish, but SpartanGirl took the lead on the Level 3 Challenge!

SLBplus is kickin’ butts and takin’ names on the Level 4 Challenge. Keep it up!

It was just me and ashjoy on Level 5 this week and she kicked my butt!

Rasmus said he was cutting his mileage this week because he is training for a marathon. At over 41 miles, he’s actually holding back!

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.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 1 (10-08-07) – RUNNER+

Level 2 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 10-20 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 2 (10-08-07) – RUNNER+

Level 3 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 20-30 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 3 (10-08-07) – RUNNER+

Level 4 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 30-40 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 4 (10-08-07) – RUNNER+

Level 5 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 40-50 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 5 (10-08-07) – RUNNER+

Level 6 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 50-60 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 6 (10-08-07) – RUNNER+

Frazz shows what it’s like to go to a specialty running shoe store and have your gait analyzed. I don’t know why I’m scared to do this. I was much more comfortable trying on shoes at the Nike store and running on the treadmill unanalyzed, even though it was at the entrance to the store for all the strangers to see. Why am I scared to have a professional analyze my running?

I got good shoes at Nike and they have been great for me, but I’m scared to try this.

As if to make it normal, plastic surgeons have created the phrase, “Mommy Makeover,” which is a combination of surgeries: breast implant, tummy tuck and liposuction. This video treats the surgeries like they are the new and fashionable thing to have:

Any one of those three surgeries are MAJOR surgery with potential complications that could kill you. Doing them all at once is courting disaster. Don’t let them convince you that hacking and slicing your body is normal or something you deserve. This woman, Christy, was beautiful enough without the surgery and so are you.

It looks like the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts has banned the use of phosphatidylcholine and sodium deoxycholate injections, otherwise known as, LipoDissolve:

• Lipodissolve proves popular despite lack of FDA nod – USATODAY.com

Patients have complained to the Kansas State Board about problems with LipoDissolve, including pain, nausea, diarrhea, elevated liver enzymes and lumps at the injection site.

That’s the problem, Mark Stafford, general counsel of the healing arts board, says: “We don’t know much about this product, because it has not been clinically studied. There might be some longer-range problems, but again, we don’t know. If this product is as effective and safe as its proponents say, then let’s have some clinical research.”

Proponents of LipoDissolve are trying to slide away from the FDA using the compounding pharmacy rules, but the FDA is not willing to let them:

“These are unapproved drugs for unapproved uses,” [FDA] spokeswoman Karen Riley said in an e-mail, noting the FDA is “investigating and evaluating” Lipodissolve. Meanwhile, she said, “Consumers need to know that this is a buyer-beware situation.”

I warned about LipoDissolve when I first noticed the billboards all over Salt Lake City advertising it:

• Starling Fitness » LipoDissolve Billboard

Any product that says it can melt fat without altering diet and exercise is suspect. Make them prove it to the FDA before you risk yourself.

Via: Consumer Health Digest, October 2, 2007 – Kansas battling over dubious injectables.

You may have seen this short film from Dove. It’s called Evolution and it shows exactly how different a normal beautiful woman goes through before she is deemed “worthy” by advertisers. Not only are the women in magazines and on billboards, made up, hair sprayed, and lit within an inch of their lives, they are then digitally manipulated. Is this real beauty?

Dove just released a new short film called Onslaught:

A frame by frame analysis shows the amount of “beauty” images we are exposed to just by walking down the street. Additionally, it shows the everlasting pimping of products and pills. Finally the daily ritual of weighing on a scale and the toll it can take on the body.

Of course, all of this is coming from Dove. Does real beauty sell more lotion or fake beauty? I’m voting for the real kind.

For more information: Dove Campaign For Real Beauty