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

Whenever you limit your food, you are taking away some of your ability to nurture yourself. Unless you are the kind of person who feels nurtured when you are starved, you probably get some satisfaction and warm fuzzy feeling from eating. We are hard-wired to feel good when we eat, so if you are limiting your food, how are you going to nurture yourself? That’s what this week’s question is all about:

How can I nurture myself without food?

What are the non-food activities that I can give myself?

What are the non-food rewards that I can give myself?

When I usually eat, how can I replace my usual treat with a non-food treat?

Make yourself a huge list of fun things you like to do that have nothing to do with food. You might surprise yourself at how varied it is. Did you used to like to draw but haven’t let yourself draw in a long time? Then reward yourself three times a day with some drawing time instead of food. If you are limiting your food intake, your body is going to start feeling neglected. Give yourself some nurturing without food and that feeling of deprivation will be abated.

After all the trouble with my feet, I have avoided running. I just didn’t want to hurt myself again. Now, I’m finally willing to join up on the challenge and run again. I signed myself up for Level 1.5, which is the group that runs 5-10 miles a week. My goal is to run one mile a day for five days in a row. That’s if my toes don’t start acting up again.

Level 1.5…

Yeah, that’s really low for my ego right now, but I refuse to hurt myself again. I’m going to run a mere one mile a day for five days in a row and see how my feet can handle it. I have new shoes with tons of room in the toe box and I’m ready to start running again, even if I have to start at the very beginning.

If you have a Nike+iPod kit and would like a challenge, come join the Starling Fitness weekly challenges.

• Level 1.0: 0-5 miles a week
• Level 1.5: 5-10 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: 40-60 miles a week

I only have a few rules, one is if you join a level that is below your weekly mileage, I will move you up to the appropriate level when I invite you to the next challenge. It’s not really fair to join a Level 1 challenge if you KNOW you’re running 20 miles a week. You might win one trophy that way, but I’ll immediately move you to a higher level.

The second rule is no trash talk. I know that Nike+ has a “trash talk” button on their challenge page, but only positive talk is allowed there. I will warn you once if you are disrespectful to the other runners, but if you continue to trash talk, you will not be invited to the next challenge.

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!

If you have ever had trouble with binge-eating, you need to buy this book today. Seriously, stop reading this review and buy The Four Day Win by Martha Beck. I have been dealing with my bingeing for years and this book has the best thing for me ever since I realized I had a problem.

Unlike most diet books, she starts at the beginning. Most diet books jump right into what you should eat and how you should exercise. They spend most of their pages on recipes and exercise descriptions. Not so with The Four Day Win. She spends most of the book helping you heal your brain and body from all the dieting damage you have been doing over the years.

Damage? Yeah, the psychological damage of starving yourself every time you go on a diet. THAT damage.

Remember Margaret Cho’s F**K It Diet? Martha Beck has taken it to the next level to help you heal that child within yourself who has been starved over and over.

Remember how I told you that you shouldn’t get rid of all your favorite food in the house like EVERY other fitness expert tells you that you should do? Martha tells you why that it is so important to keep lots of your favorite foods in the house.

Remember how I told you that you could eat anything you want? Martha gives you even more ways to heal yourself so that when you eat, you are able to keep yourself healthy.

This book is EVERYTHING that I knew instinctively about my own bingeing, plus a bunch of ways to make myself able to eat healthy. If you have ever had trouble with bingeing, buy this book right now.

If you have been thinking about buying a pedometer, either to replace that free one you got with your McDonald’s salad last year or to start logging your walking, Product Dose has a good introduction to pedometers and how to choose one:

• Pedometer Primer | productdose.com

At its most simple, the Nike+iPod is just a pedometer with style. I find it interesting that it wasn’t mentioned in this collection, especially since it only costs $20 if you already own an iPod.

The most important thing to remember is that a gadget won’t make you thin, healthier or fitter. YOU are the one that makes yourself thinner, healthier and fitter by using it. If having the gadget motivates you to get out there, then it’s worth the money. In the end, though, you don’t need fancy pedometers to lose weight. You can do it on your own just by getting out the door every day.

By the way, if you DO have a Nike+ iPod, come join the Starling Fitness Weekly Challenges. Run against other runners at your same level and compete for the challenge trophy every week. You can sign up for the challenge here:

• Support Forums : Starling Fitness Weekly Challenge

Make sure you tell me which level you want me to add you to:

Level 1.0: 0-5 miles a week
Level 1.5: 5-10 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: 40-60 miles a week

This recipe has been sitting in my queue since August. Something about it looked good, but I didn’t want a warm, soupy kind of dish in the weather that we were having last August, but now, it looks delicious. Fortunutely, you don’t need to depend on the farmer’s market to make this dish.

• A Veggie Venture – Warm Tomato, Corn & Okra Salad

If you use canned okra, tomatoes and corn, this dish is a snap to make. Instead of broiling on a cookie sheet, pour the contents of the cans into a pot and heat them up. I would use a lot more spices than suggested on the recipe including garlic and oregano. If you have been wanting a warm soup for dinner, this is an easy way to enjoy your veggies!

Over the last couple of years, I’ve written a few entries about Valentine’s Day that I feel still apply today. You can see them here:

• Starling Fitness » Have a Healthy Valentine’s Day

• Starling Fitness » Valentine’s Breakfast In Bed

• Starling Fitness » Choose a Healthy Valentine’s Dinner

This year, I’d like to hear from YOU.

What do you do to keep your Valentine’s Day healthy and still enjoy it?

What do you do with the treats? Do you eat them? Do you you save them? Do you toss them? Do you give them away?

What about dinner? How do you handle eating out?

What about depression? If you don’t have a Valentine in your life, what do you do to prevent wallowing?

I would love to hear everything you have to say about Valentine’s Day. Please tell me all about it in the comments section!

Just in case you missed it, Starling Fitness has a new walking DVD available. This one is of a nature preserve in Moab, Utah. Moab is known for its orange landscape and you will see those famous structures in this video, but it’s mostly a walk around the wetlands.

Here is a glimpse of what the video is like:

This is the third of a series of walking videos. The others are Swami’s Beach and Sugarhouse Walk. I also have two more videos that are in the editing phase right now, so keep a watch out for them!

Estimated Distance: 2.0 Miles
Estimated Speed: 2.3 mph
Time: 52:00 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. The video goes around the loop twice. I tried to be crafty when I was filming it so you wouldn’t notice, but just now I realized that I have to tell you that I walked the circuit twice, so that you would know the accurate mileage.

Video Description:

It was a hot day and the signs all over Moab said, “Did you remember your water?” I brought a bottle of water, but I was filming, so I couldn’t just take a swig of it. Halfway through the walk I could hear every swish it made in my backpack, wishing I could take a drink. The dry heat seemed to suck all the moisture out of my body, but the Scott Matheson Wetland Preserve was shady.

The trees protected me from the blistering sun. As I walked along the trail, I filmed wildflowers and I could even hear birds. I wanted to hide in the shade of the house at the end of the trail and watch the birds from its quiet solitude, but I was intent on walking. Investigating the little-known paths was a bonus because I found my way to Kane Creek. I turned around and walked it all over again. When I was finished, I enjoyed the red rocks and watched the off-roaders drive by.

Then I turned off my camera and gulped down all my water in one fail swoop. Should have brought two bottles…

Order Starling Fitness Walking Videos Here

For More Information about the wetlands preserve:
The Nature Conservancy in Utah – Scott M. Matheson Wetlands Preserve

The more I live a healthy lifestyle, the more I realize that my harsh judgment of myself is what made me fat in the first place. In fact, I still find myself doing it on a regular basis. My incident with black toenail was caused by my judging myself. I decided that I had been running for so long that I should easily be doing six mile runs every day. I jumped up from two and three miles a day to six miles a day (with a good long 10 mile run thrown in there for good measure). What happened from this sudden increase in mileage? An injury that has kept me from running to this day. I still have my toenails, but they are hanging on my a thread. I don’t want to lose them, so it’s the stationary bike for me.

The big question is:

What if it doesn’t matter?

What if how much you weigh is much less important than how you treat yourself?

What if you treated yourself like a cherished child?

What would you tell that child if you noticed he/she was overweight?

Would you berate her/him like you have been yourself?

Next time you weigh yourself and start feeling angry because you didn’t lose as much as you wanted, STOP IT! Think of that hurt little child inside of you and just give him/her a freakin’ break. Take moment to be with that child and cherish her/him. That abused and damaged child within you has put up with many episodes of you starving and exercising beyond logic and health. Apologize for all you’ve done and just be nice to yourself.

The celebrity tabloids are filled with pictures from Fashion Week. They show the Olsen Twins, Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie on the front rows of fashion designers. All of this talk about Fashion Week and not a peep about the new health guidelines that the American Fashion Industry announced:

• SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Health — U.S fashion designers suggest healthy lifestyle to models, but choose not to force it

• American Fashion Industry Issues, Fails to Enforce Health Guidelines

The guidelines mentioned nothing of BMI like Spain’s did. Instead they just suggested that healthy snacks be made available. Here are a few of their suggestions:

“There should be no models under 16 and no work after midnight for models 18 and younger; the consumption of cigarettes and alcohol on location should be forbidden; statements on the early signs of eating disorders should be officially issued to those in the industry; models identified as suffering from eating disorders should be required to receive professional help; the industry should develop workshops designed to address the impact of eating disorders and the negative effects of smoking; organizers should provide “healthy” snacks backstage during shows.”

When the American Fashion Industry is so lax about eating disorders, it’s no wonder that we end up with starlets, models and the girls who want to be like them plagued by anorexia and bulimia. When are they going to start putting normal sized women on the runway?

Bad form, Fashion Week, bad form…

Last week, a reduced strength of Xenical was approved for sale without a prescription. You can find out about it here:

• ABC News: FDA Approves Non-Prescription Diet Pill

Xenical is supposed to prevent the body from absorbing about 150 to 200 calories worth of fat. It is released in the bowel, which can cause lower intestinal pain and “oily, fatty stools.” It was the drug that Kevin Smith tried to lose weight. Sadly, Xenical was not the answer, and he has since started another attempt at losing weight. I talked about his story here:

• Starling Fitness » Silent Bob Speaks

Here’s an interesting concept: don’t spend $25 a week on OTC Xenical. Just cut out 200 calories a day. Start small and only cut out 100 calories a day for a week and then ramp up to 150 calories a day and finish out with 200 calories a day. Don’t do anything big, just skip one Starbucks coffee a day. Only eat half of what you were served at the restaurant at lunch. Maybe get on the treadmill for 30 minutes instead. 200 calories is small and you can take care of it yourself without Xenical… and without oily, fatty stools.