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

I got a question on this entry:

• Starling Fitness » Weight Watchers Form

Rona Says: July 1st, 2007 at 10:30 pm

Have you heard anything about the new flex points system? I read that you can now personalize your daily points, so rather than base your daily points just on your current weight, a variety of factors are considered.

Also, they say they now have 4 levels of exercise for calculating activity points. You once had the formulae for activity points here, do you by chance have the new formulae?

Rona,

They did change the points calculation a little bit. What changes they did make are very minor and won’t affect you unless you’re male or an aerobics instructor. Just go with the points that they listed on their patent. You can find out more information here:

• Starling Fitness » What You Need To Know About Weight Watchers

The activity points seem the same. The most important thing is to start moving every day and slowly work up in intensity.

Best of luck,
Laura Moncur

My neighbors across the street are having their annual Independence Day Neighborhood BBQ. Here is a copy of their invitation:

Join us on the Fourth of July around 4-ish or later, and bring something to BBQ or a side to share. Kids & pets welcome, as long as they’re nice! Call us if you have any questions.

I have a couple of questions:

• How am I going to go to this BBQ and not eat everything in sight?

• If I don’t eat everything in sight, how am I going to stop myself from feeling deprived and binge alone afterward?

It seems like these have been my two choices over the years. I can go to the party and overeat or I can go to the party and not eat anything. Only eating some healthy things hasn’t really worked for me because once I start eating in a social situation I don’t stop.

Sure, there’s the third option of not going to the party, but that just looks like the second option all over again except I didn’t get to see my friends.

“Today’s BBQ is a great opportunity,” I tell myself. “I have a chance to learn how to eat healthy in a social situation.”

That sounds like bullocks to me.

Here’s the plan. I go for option two. I won’t eat anything. I’ll drink Diet Coke and other calorie free drinks, but I’ll avoid all the food. I’ll enjoy the company and talk to friends.

That’s going to make me feel deprived, so I need to have a plan of action when I get home.

A special planned meal for at home after the party is going to be my reward. Sure, it’s just a variation of the bingeing alone option, but if I plan the portions and the food carefully, it will at least be healthy.

Maybe I can’t change my behaviors that have been ingrained in me since childhood, but I certainly can find ways to work around them.

Wish me luck!

If you would like some ideas on how to actually eat at a BBQ and keep it healthy, here are my tips:

• Starling Fitness » How to Have a Healthy BBQ

I have been able to have many, many healthy BBQs with just Mike and close friends. In larger groups, though, it has been difficult to stop at just eating the healthy food.

With the recent release of the iPhone, I was tempted to dump my iPod Nano in favor of the shiny toy. Since the iPhone doesn’t work with the Nike+ (I FINALLY have an answer to that question), I thought that maybe I should switch to a REAL workout wrist computer like the ones available from Polar.

After reviewing their website and all the documentation, however, I am unconvinced it would be a proper replacement. The biggest advantage of the Nike+ system are the online challenges. You can challenge a friend who also has a Nike+ or join the many challenges against people in your own fitness level.

The Polar watches track MUCH more than the Nike+ system: Heart Rate, altitude, bicycling, and much more. Their computer system allows you to track this information, graph it out, and even upload it online, but there is no mention of any ability to compete with other Polar watch owners. I know the runners who use Polar outnumber the Nike+ owners, but Polar has no way of you contacting and competing with people of your same caliber.

It’s a huge loss for Polar, if you ask me. Their products are superior to the Nike+ system. If only they understood the competitive incentive of trouncing someone, they would allow me to compete.

Yet another reason to skip buying the iPhone and just stick with my iPod Nano. It looks like Apple is leaving Nike+ in the background. I hope Nike picks up the pace and keeps Nike+ alive with or without Apple.

If you would like to join a Nike+ Challenge, Starling Fitness sponsors several levels of challenges:

• Level 1: 0-10 miles a week
• Level 2: 10-20 miles a week
• Level 3: 20-30 miles a week
• Level 4: 30-40 miles a week
• Level 5: 40-50 miles a week
• Level 6: 50-60 miles a week

If you have a Nike+iPod, you can sign up for the weekly challenges here:

• Support Forums : Starling Fitness Weekly Challenge …

Telll me what level you would like to start at when you sign up and come run with us!

Last week, I wrote an entry about food snobbery and a lot of people disagreed. Honestly, I was pretty rude in that entry and I probably shouldn’t have accused anyone of being a snob. Of all the comments on my blog and Kate’s, the only one that stung was this one from Melissa on Kate’s blog:

I have a huge beef with people who write health blogs without credentials.

You know what? SO DO I. That’s why the comment stung.

All the other comments about how food is not just food had valid points and were interesting, but Melissa’s was the only one that felt like a pin sticking me in the butt.

What gives me the right to write a health and fitness blog?

I have a double major degree in Mathematics and Education, neither of which have anything to do with health, nutrition or exercise physiology.

The degree in Mathematics and my past work in a pharmacology research lab allow me to read technical journals, reports and statistics without getting muddled. I understand statistics and I understand how to lie with them. Too many companies out there are trying to lie with their statistics. Fortunately, I can see right through the lies and look at the numbers with clean eyes.

The degree in Education taught me how to write with clarity and teach subjects I know. After dealing with my eating issues for years, I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. I’ve tried so many things that I can spot bullshit a mile away. My education degree helps me share what knowledge I do have with a clarity that most scholars lose over the years.

All that just sounds like bullshit to me.

Yeah, pulling out my degrees that have been pretty much useless my whole career sounds like bullshit to me, too.

Honestly, I started Starling Fitness because all my talk about my own eating issues was taking over my personal blog and I just wanted to separate them. That’s how it started, but it has grown into something bigger. Sometimes it feels way bigger than I can handle, so I need to keep reminding everyone.

• I’m not a doctor.
• I’m not a nutritionist.
• I’m not a exercise physiologist.
• I’m not even skinny.
• I sometimes still end up bingeing to deal with my issues and that might never change for me.

All I can do is be honest with you about what I am so you won’t think I’m something that I’m not.

So, what gives you the right to write about health and fitness?

That’s the beauty of this medium. What gives me the right? I have a computer and I can put two words together. That’s the only right I need to start a weblog about health and fitness. Whether you read my words is your choice.

To the several thousand people who do read my words every day, THANK YOU. One of the things that took me back to Weight Watchers to deal with my bingeing AGAIN is the thought of not writing for you anymore. If I have ever helped you, please know that you’ve helped me threefold in return.

Alli is an over-the-counter weight loss drug that recently came out. There have been some commercials for it.

Unfortunately, the commercials don’t tell you about the embarrassing side effects. Even if you go to their website, they don’t give you full disclosure of the side effects.

This parody of the commercial is a little more honest, if not vulgar:

This video would have been MUCH more effective if it had only included the REAL side effects instead of adding all those fake ones. There are enough real side effects as it is. Here is the complete list of Alli side effects from Ask Doc Web:

• Abdominal discomfort or pain
• Anxiety
• Arthritis
• Back pain
• Diarrhea, generally mild and goes away
• Dizziness
• Earache
• Fatigue
• Fatty or oily stools – 20% of patients
• Fecal urgency or incontinence – 22.1% of patients
• Flu
• Gas with fecal discharge, generally mild and goes away – 23.9% of patients
• Gum problems
• Headache
• Increased defecation
• Incontinence (fecal) – 7.7% of patients
• leaky stools in some patients temporarily
• Menstrual problems
• Muscle pain
• Nausea
• Rectal discomfort or pain
• Respiratory tract infections
• Skin rash
• Sleep problems
• Stomach cramps
• Tooth problems
• Urgency to have a bowel movement
• Urinary tract infections
• Vaginal inflammation
• Vomiting
• Less common side effects may include dry skin, ear/nose/throat problems and joint disorders.
• Side effects that usually occur after the first year of treatment include depression, leg pain, swollen feet and tendonitis.

With all these risks, I can’t imagine why anyone is even buying Alli. I deal with symptoms very similar to this when I have an outbreak of IBS. I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy. Don’t spend your hard earned dollars to make yourself so sick that you will eat healthy.

It looks like the folks at the University of Udine are working on making exergaming more interactive. They are using an accelerometer and a heart rate monitor to affect gameplay:

• HCI Lab – University of Udine – Projects

You can see how the game works here:

It looks like a simplistic version of breakout, which typically isn’t a very exciting game. What I would like to see is DDR with a heart rate monitor. The dance steps increase or decrease depending on customizable heart rates. Why hasn’t Konami done this?

Via: Video game follows your movements, adapts to your heart rate – Engadget

I have just completed my best walking video EVER. It is an hour and a half long, so it will last you through your longest workout. The day was absolutely perfect, so the sky was beautiful, the people were friendly and the filming was clear and steady.

I always felt embarrassed a little bit by the Swami’s Beach video that I did last year. It was filmed with an inferior camera and it was one of the first videos I finished. It has been hands down the best seller, but I cringed whenever I sent it out. This year’s Swami’s Beach Walk is the culmination of all that I have learned and gorgeous kismet during filming.

Here is a glimpse of what the video looks like:

I wore my Nike+iPod while I did this walk. It logged a total of 4.5 miles, but I’m more willing to believe the Google Maps measurement:

Estimated Distance: 3.31 miles
Estimated Speed: 2.2 mph
Time: 90 minutes

I’m offering this workout DVD for $5 plus shipping.

Order Starling Fitness Walking Videos Here

You can see the route I walked here:

Video Description:

You’ve walked this beach before, but today is different. The people are friendlier, the sky is bluer and the tide is higher. The tide is so high, it blocks the way of your usual route, so this time you head south. Pass the joggers and the kiddie beach. The wind, helicopters and jet engines cannot drown out the sound of the ocean.

Feel the cold water as the tide nips at your feet. Run away from it like the little white birds. The water in the air smells like sprinklers on a hot day. Pant your way up the stairs and bid the ocean one final goodbye before you end your workout.

Order Starling Fitness Walking Videos Here

I just hit my breaking point with food snobbery after reading this entry:

• Accidental Hedonist – Food and Community

Kate just came back from a visit from Asheville, where the downtown area boasts that it only has one chain restaurant. For some reason, Kate thinks this is infinitely superior to the towns with a mix of chain restaurants and local flair:

A community gets the food culture it deserves, whether it’s one where Applebee’s and Albertson’s dominates, or one where local restaurateurs work with local farmers and consumers spend their money in a way that ensures that their dollars are re-invested in their community. Asheville has clearly chosen where it wants fits in this spectrum.

It just makes me shake my head. I want to pat Kate on the head and tell her, “It’s just food, honey. It all comes out smelling poorly in the end.”

We live in a society where food snobbery has become a method of proving that you’re better than someone else. Guess what. We’re not. Food is meant to keep me from passing out from hunger and low blood sugar. When I feel dizzy and hungry, Applebee’s works just as well as some snooty restaurant.

Try going hungry for a couple of days, Kate. Even “the food you deserve” will taste like a godsend after that.

I am totally motivated to eat healthy right now. After almost a year of struggling, I am happy to eat healthy. I have NO idea why.

Some of it is going back to Weight Watchers. I have to admit that I want to show a loss on that official form, but that isn’t all of it. Just going to Weight Watchers was caused by an inner motivation that I have no idea from whence it came.

What keeps you motivated?

What do you do to make sure you’ll eat healthy every day?

What do you do to make sure you exercise?

How do you stay motivated?

I wish I could bottle this feeling. I wish I could make it stay forever. Instead, I’m just doing my best to hang onto it right now while I have it.

I was sitting in the drive-through line at McDonalds when the Walgreens sign flashed me. “Alli is here!” it screamed. While I waited for my six Chicken McNuggets and XL Diet Coke, I thought about Alli. All the grocery stores are advertising the new over-the-counter weight loss drug. It’s Orlistat without a prescription, but will it really help you lose weight?

I’ve talked about this drug before:

• Starling Fitness » Xenical Nearer to OTC

This drug is only recommended for use for six months. It’s supposed to teach you how to eat healthy by giving you unpleasant gas and greasy, oily stools if you eat too much fat.

You don’t need to punish yourself. There is no need to put yourself through digestive distress to teach yourself a lesson. You can learn how to eat healthy without Alli, just like I ordered the 6 piece Chicken McNuggets instead of the Big Mac. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s better than the alternative.

Don’t waste your money on drugs that put you in pain and embarrass you if you eat poorly. You deserve better than that.