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

Kitykity takes a walk every evening with her three-legged dog. A couple of weeks ago, she described her walk in vivid detail.

• Susan’s Journal » Blog Archive » Go for a walk with me.

I love her calm and almost stream of consciousness description of her walk:

“It’s really getting darker now, and though it should be cooler, it’s sticky and hot after the day’s rain. To our right is one of the parking lots for cars, and to our left is a volleyball court and a basketball court. There’s actually three basketball courts, two more are off beyond the parking lot, and they have painted the ground of them all now–red on one, green on another, blue on the last. My guess is that kids can say, ‘Meet me at the green court.’ I never was really good at basketball. Now we’re walking up towards the baseball diamonds now, and the t-ball diamonds are beyond that. To our right is the junior high school that, if we stay in town, and I hope we do, our kids will go to one day. They’ll be able to walk right out our back gate and onto the school grounds.”

Next time you go on your normal walk, run or bike ride, look at everything as if you had to describe it in this much detail the next day. You’ll find you’ll have a whole new experience.

If you haven’t already fallen under the spell of the Nike+ iPod vixen, then the Timex Ironman iControl Watch might peak your interest.

The iControl name has been with Timex for a long time. A while back, it meant that you could control the alarms, timers and such with the iControl stem. Now, it means that it’s made for iPod and you can advance your songs and turn up the volume with your watch.

Notice that it’s labeled as Made for Ipod and not Made for iPhone. According to this article from PC World, however, it is supposed to work with the iPhone:

• PC World – Timex iPod-Controlling Watch Debuts

“The watch is an advanced sports timepiece that also works as a wireless operating device for the iPod – and is compatible with the iPhone when that device is set to airplane mode.”

So, if you’re willing to be unable to take calls, it looks like it will work with the iPhone. Doesn’t that eliminate half of the usefulness of taking the iPhone with you on a workout?

Timex’s Ironman watches are great for working out. If all you need to do is log laps and time yourself, then this watch is great. If you would like something more like a heart rate monitor or mileage tracking, then you’re out of luck. At least you’ll be able to control your iPod, though.

Via: Unboxing the Timex Ironman iControl watch – Engadget

I kept track of my exercise by writing it in my food journal for years. I never really kept good track of it. I used to just write the minutes exercised and the intensity. When I got my Nike Imara watch, I used to write down how many calories I burned.

It wasn’t until I got my Nike+ iPod that I kept detailed records of my exercise. Well, I didn’t really keep detailed track, the Nike+ system did for me.

Knowing my average pace helps me try to run faster. Every time I complete a run that’s faster than my average pace, I feel a sense of accomplishment. That’s just one small component to the tracking that the Nike+ system does for me.

There’s no way I would have ever done this on my own because I wouldn’t have seen the benefit in it, but after experiencing this, I’m so happy to have this information.

How do you keep track of your exercise?

Do you use forms?

Do you use a spreadsheet?

If you aren’t keeping track, why not? What excuses do you use?

I know I had a million excuses not to keep better track of my running stats. I really didn’t see the benefit of doing it. Now, I am addicted.

I’m embarrassed by this. I am from Utah and seeing our “news” people participate in this commercial for Isagenix is just embarrassing to me.

They covered their back by talking to a real doctor who told them that cleansing isn’t necessary, but then focused on the short term weight loss of two people without a long term follow-up.

Where are the clinical studies? Where is the proof? Two people eating next to nothing for ten days is NOT proof.

Bad form, ABC 4 News, bad form.

This video made me laugh. Emmy award winning Jackie Mason challenges you to get on the treadmill every day.

“And you’re saying to yourself, what is he doing on the treadmill? I work hard and I do intense exercise. You see how fast I’m running now? Take a look. Could you run this fast? Nobody could run like this. You know why? Because I had to build up to it. I was originally only able to do light exercise. Now? Now, I move like anything.”

If you have had a hard time increasing your exercise, give Jackie Mason’s plan a try!

Conspiracy theories don’t sit well with me. I’m already paranoid. I don’t want more paranoia swimming around in my head. So when Kevin Trudeau released The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You to Know About, he already had one strike against him in my book.

It seems that Diet Scam Watch is also skeptical of Kevin Trudeau’s conspiracy theories:

The book claims that “an absolute cure for obesity was discovered almost fifty years ago” but was “suppressed” by the AMA, the FDA, and “other medical establishments throughout the world.” He further claims that until now, “this miracle weight loss breakthrough has been hidden from the public so that drug companies can make billions of dollars selling their expensive drug treatments and surgical procedures for obesity.” Trudeau’s alleged cure consists of injections of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) plus 50 to 60 required and recommended do’s and don’ts. HCG is a hormone found in the urine of pregnant women.

HCG has been touted as a weight loss aid for a while.

More than 50 years ago, Dr. Albert T. Simeons, a British-born physician, contended that HCG injections would enable dieters to subsist comfortably on a 500-calorie-a-day diet. He claimed that HCG would mobilize stored fat; suppress appetite; and redistribute fat from the waist, hips, and thighs. However, scientific studies demonstrated that the injections didn’t cause weight loss and regulatory actions by the FTC and FDA have curbed their use in the United States.

It seems that Trudeau didn’t get the memo from the FDA. Since 1975, they have required the following labeling on the product:

HCG has not been demonstrated to be effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of obesity. There is no substantial evidence that it increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction, that it causes a more attractive or “normal” distribution of fat, or that it decreases the hunger and discomfort associated with calorie-restricted diets.

Of course, if you’re truly paranoid, you believe that the FDA and all of those doctors behind the studies are in on the suppression of HCG.

Don’t let your paranoia get the best of you. The reason why everyone in Hollywood is thin is because they kick out the fat ones. They don’t have a secret cure to obesity, they just don’t put fat people on the screen. Injecting the urine of pregnant women into your body is not the answer.

Via: HCG Worthless as Weight-Loss Aid

This Nike Running commercial makes me want to go for a run in the rain… with my sister.

Even the computer geek cartoon noticed the study that said that your friends make you fat.

• The Joy of Tech comic… laughter is the best tech support.

I know it’s a scientific study and all, but I’m uncomfortable blaming other people for my food intake. If I were perfectly thin and fit, I would be pretty pissed if someone said, “The only reason you’re thin is because your friends are thin.”

Don’t blame other people for your weight. Look first to yourself.

The other day, I was running at the gym with Mike. I was using my Nike+, so my miles would be tracked for my challenges. I was wearing my heart rate monitor. I even added my weight into the treadmill so that their calculations would be accurate.

After I was finished, the Nike+ said I had burned 479 calories. The heart rate monitor said I had burned 502 calories and the treadmill said I had burned 345 calories. Which one do I believe?

Are your exercise gadgets getting in the way of your workout?

Do you find it simpler to just exercise with one gadget instead of more?

Is it easier to just go out and run or do our gadgets help?

There is a famous quotation:

“A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.”

Segal’s Law

Sometimes I feel like that with all the methods I have to measure my exercise progress. The problem is, I don’t trust any of them enough to just believe it.

Polar is known for their heart rate monitors and cycling computers. Add to the mix an altimeter and wireless transfer of data to your computer and you have an intense piece of technology on the handlebars of your bike. That’s what the Polar CS600 Cycling Computer can do for you:

• Polar USA – Polar CS600 Cycling Computer

Unfortunately, if you want all that fancy stuff, you’ll end up paying almost $700 for it.

Is it really worth all that much when a Bell Spinfit will do most of that stuff for fifteen bucks? Sometimes these gadgets look like they will help us, but in the end, nothing will make you ride faster on your bike except riding your bike. Whether you have a $700 Polar or a $15 Bell on your handlebars won’t help if you don’t get your butt in the saddle.

Sometimes gadgets get us motivated and excited about exercising or eating healthy, but other times they are just excuses. I’ll stick with my Bell Spinfit and type the mileage and calories into my spreadsheet on the computer. It think that small amount of effort is worth that much money.