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

If you have been looking at too many pictures of Nicole Richie’s shrinking frame, it’s time to watch this video by Pink. The vision of Pink with all those plastic surgery marks on her body just made me sick. Her body is perfect the way it is, but I’m sure that she gets pressure to have a boob job all the time.

Her body is PERFECT, yet she is under pressure.

It makes me start to think that it’s all hopeless. I’ll never be thin enough, so why bother?

It’s not about escaping pressure. It’s about choosing healthy food and moving my body so it doesn’t rust away. I want to be strong and fit so I can do the things that are really important to me. It’s not about social acceptance, getting people to like me or being perfect. It’s about taking care of myself.

Via: Drink. Drive. Go To Jail. – Stupid Girls?

When I saw that this video, A Fat Rant by Joy Nash, was 7 minutes long, I was pretty much unwilling to download it. Let me tell you. It’s totally worth the download time!

This girl is RIGHT on! Here are only some of the best quotes from the video:

Tell people how much you weigh! It’s just a stinking number. It does not reflect on your intelligence, your work ethic or your character. And protest with your pocketbooks, people! Shops in stores that sell halter tops in triple-X. Forget about tent dresses! Don’t even think about trying to “squeeze” into normal sizes!

If [they] won’t open their eyes and make clothing that fits me, they don’t need my money!

The secret to staying permanently slim? Choose two thin parents. Ideally, choose four thin grandparents as well.

Stop putting life on hold!

Fat is a descriptive physical characteristic. It’s not an insult, or an obscenity, or a death sentence. When you see a fat person, look at them, in the face and smile… you should do that to everybody, but don’t forget to do it to fat people too.

There’s a whole ‘nother world out there, baby! Get happy in that skin you’re in!

If you have been putting your life on hold, wearing clothes that don’t fit, or hiding in any way, STOP IT! Right now! Go to Torrid or Lane Bryant and get yourself some hot new clothes that fit and look good. You deserve it!

Via: A mile in my Birks » Blog Archive » A fat rant.

I wore my Nike+ while walking in Disneyland the last couple of days. Apple programmed the iPod to pause when I stop walking (P.S. Apple, I HATE this feature, even though I know it saves battery time. I would much rather just have it still logging my miles, even though I stop every few minutes), so out of the twelve hours every day that we have been walking in the park, only about five hours were logged on my iPod. On the one day that I was vigilant and checked the iPod every couple of minutes to make sure it was still logging my steps, the Nike+ shows that we walked over 7 miles.

SEVEN miles!!

No wonder I have been so tired. If I hadn’t already lost my toenails, I would have black ones right now.

Unfortunately, I haven’t coupled this increase in activity with healthy eating, so in the end, I will weigh the same when I get home as I did when I left. At least I haven’t gained…

For more information about the Nike+, see this entry:

• Starling Fitness » First Glance: Nike+iPod

• Starling Fitness » Nike+iPod Starling Fitness Challenges

I received an email with this graphic in it from Nike yesterday. The subject line said, “A Different Kind of Thank You” and says:

Thank you, ignorance.

Thank you for starting the conversation.

Thank you for making an entire nation listen to the Rutgers team’s story. And for making us wonder what other great stories we’ve missed.

Thank you for reminding us to think before we speak.

Thank you for showing us how strong and poised 18- and 20-year-old women can be.

Thank you for reminding a sports nation that another basketball tournament goes on in March.

Thank you for showing us that sport includes more than the time spent on the court.

Thank you for unintentionally moving women’s sport forward.

And thank you for making all of us realize that we still have a long way to go.

Next season starts 11.10.07

When I received this, I was thoroughly confused. I am so angry at Nike for discriminating against people who are overweight that I really forgot that they think that they are an athletic equipment company. It’s so cute. They think they had something to do with moving women’s sport forward.

The average woman won’t fit into Nike’s XL clothing.

Sorry, Nike. You don’t get to take any credit for whatever happened in the basketball world this year. You are merely a fashion industry company who is unwilling to let your precious clothing be seen on people who really NEED exercisewear.

Thank you, ignorance… I wonder what other great stories you’re missing because you refuse to acknowledge anyone over size 10.

In my past, I have done so many things to lose weight that I really regret now. Every time I starved myself to lose weight, I just made things worse for myself. Sadly all that starvation didn’t even work and just made my bingeing worse.

What have you done to lose weight in the past?

What worked, even if only for a short amount of time?

What was a complete and utter failure?

If you could go back in time and stop yourself, what would you stop? What would you encourage?

Can you stop the cycle now and start encouraging yourself today? What would you tell yourself today to help your future self?

I find it so disappointing that everything I tried as a teenager to lose weight was actually harming me and I didn’t even get thin in the end. If I could go back in time, I would tell my past self, “You can eat anything you want. You just can’t eat everything you want. God knows, I’ve tried…“

There is a new book coming out that might give me a hint of why I am obsessed with being thin, even more so than being healthy. It’s called Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body. AlterNet has an interview with the author.

• AlterNet: Blogs: PEEK: The Un-Pretty Perfect Girl

The quote that really hit home for me is this one:

“It’s not just about Ivy League admittance or extracurriculars. It is about a nation of women buying in to the idea that their wellbeing is not as important as achievement and beauty.”

There was a time when I was willing to do anything to get thin. Take dangerous pills? Sure. Starve myself for days? Yeah, but I always ended up breaking and eating like a pig afterward. Have a serious surgery? If I could have afforded it, I would have jumped at the chance. I was willing to do anything to get thin except eat normal and healthy food in moderation.

The big question is: Why is being thin so important that I was willing to risk my health for it?

This book might have an answer to that question and I’m eager for it to be released!

Via: TDR Updates: Week of April 9

You know how you work out in the gym and eat healthy every day and it takes you twice as long to get thin as your “naturally” thin friend? It’s not all in your head.

• ‘Fat’ gene found by scientists-News-UK-Health-TimesOnline

“People who inherit one version of the gene rather than another are 70 per cent more likely to be obese, British scientists have discovered. One in six people has the most vulnerable genetic make-up and weighs an average 3kg more than those with the lowest risk. They also have 15 per cent more body fat.”

So, why diet? If I’m just destined to be fat because of my genes, why should I suffer more than the normal person just to look normal?

Because it will probably save my life. An extra five years or so sounds really nice. If all I have to do is eat healthy food and move my body once a day, it’s worth it.

Based on this article, they might even solve the genetic problem:

If the biological function of the gene, known as FTO, can now be understood, it could become possible to design drugs that manipulate it to help people to control their weight. “Even though we have yet to fully understand the role played by the FTO gene in obesity, our findings are a source of great excitement,” Mark McCarthy, of the University of Oxford, who led the research, said.

“By identifying this genetic link it should be possible to improve our understanding of why some people are more obese, with all the associated implications such as increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. New insights will hopefully pave the way for us to explore novel ways of treating this condition.”

All I can say is don’t be the first in line for these miracle cures. You don’t want to be the guinea pig in the race to “cure” obesity.

Via: Blind Prophecy 2.0 – Is this why two years of regular gym workouts and dieting have had limited results?

This is my new photo for this year. It has been almost four years since I changed my photograph, so I thought I better do something about it:

I don’t feel like writing today because it’s my birthday. I’m out of town right now. We are going to California to see friends and Disneyland. Wish me luck eating healthy and if posting is spotty over the next couple of weeks, don’t worry. I’m not freaking out, I’m just having fun in the land of sun (even though it’s kind of cloudy today).

By the way, if there are any readers in San Diego that want to meetup, feel free to contact me.

As a child, my grandma told me that no one would want to be my friend if I was fat. That’s why I try so hard to have friends. It’s like I measure my self-worth based on how many friends I have. Even if they’re not good friends…

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.

Threadless T-Shirts is a clothing company that is a little different. The t-shirts are designed by the readers of their website. The designs are voted on by the readers of their website. They make limited editions of the designs and once they are gone, they’re gone. They even advertise thier t-shirts with pictures from their readers.

That’s what today’s shoutout is about.

Threadless uses a wide variety of their readers’ photos to promote their t-shirts. They have enough readers that they could choose only the hot girls with the large breasts to feature in their catalog, but they don’t. They choose the most interesting photos they are submitted. They are truly blind to discrimination based on body type. Here are some examples:

You can see their full catalog here:

Threadless T-Shirts – The full catalog of Awesome T-shirts

If you like these or any of the other shirts in the Threadless catalog, order them NOW. They only do limited runs and once they are gone, they are GONE. Once again, a Diversity Shoutout to Threadless for choosing models of all shapes and sizes!