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

It has been a long time since I’ve seen a website about DDR that was interesting at all. This website, DDRFitness.com, peaks my interest because they have a “What’s New in DDR” section with the latest in exergaming.

• DDRFitness.com | Dance Dance Revolution – Fun in Physical Fitness

They have written this website in order to sell games and dance pads. When I looked at the prices, they seem reasonably well-priced, so they’re not trying to rip you off. Of course, I haven’t ordered anything from them, so I don’t know how reliable they are, but the news links are interesting.

They’re DDR buying guide is minimalist, but contains exactly enough information to get you started. It won’t help you learn how to play the game well, but it will tell you enough to be able to choose the correct game and pad.

• DDRfitness.com | DDR Buyer’s Guide

One thing I would add is that the metal pads aren’t necessarily the best in comfort. It really depends how you play. I learned to play barefoot and have a hard time playing the game with running shoes. If I play barefoot on the arcade game (very similar to the metal pads), I get blisters very quickly. I could wear shoes, but then I would have to learn how to play all over again. For me, the high density pads are the best. They are also very reasonably priced through DDRFitness.

Go ahead and take a look at DDRFitness and see what you think.

When I first started running, I signed up for a race to inspire me to run every day. Every race that I’ve ever run has been to inspire me to keep exercising every day so that I would keep myself healthy. The race was a by-product of the daily habit. I didn’t care how quickly I finished. Just showing up to the race was good enough for me.

Anne over at Complete Running Network suggests that going to a race with the idea of just finishing it is selling yourself short.

• It’s Not Supposed to Be Easy » Complete Running Network

Anne believes that it’s not good enough to just show up:

“Runners shouldn’t show up at the starting line of a race planning to just finish. There’s far more challenge to reaching a realistic target time.”

I don’t agree with Anne. We all run races for different reasons. I run races for inspiration and weight loss. Other people run races to raise money for charitable events. Still others run races to create bonding family experiences for their children. There are as many reasons to run races as there are people who run races. Focusing on finish time is merely one way to keep score.

She did have some good advice toward the end of the article:

“Extreme weather on race day may mean quickly adjusting expectations. Or, you may get hurt or sick on the course and instantly modify plans. But don’t sell yourself short. Finish up by the time you said you would. And declare what that time will be on your blog (if you have one) and to your friends. Even if you finish dead last, if you hit your most conservative goal, you’ll have won.”

If I have trained enough to show up for a race and finish it, then I have won. I don’t need a finishing time to prove it. Just showing up at the race is more than most people ever dare to do. Focusing on the finishing time isn’t “selling myself short” it’s just short-sighted.

Remember: “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” – Woody Allen

Valerie at iPortion sent this link to an article about feeding children. I was raised by my mother, who did rather well feeding me and my grandmother, who gave me a long list of worries and habits that eventually mutated into my bingeing behavior. This article is right on about preventing eating disorders in children.

• So what’s all the fuss? Just don’t take yuck for an answer – National

Based on this article, the worst thing you can do to a child is label them a picky eater.

Nutritionist Rosemary Stanton said everybody was born with a taste for sweetness because breast milk was sweet. The worst thing a parent could do was brand their child as a fussy eater. “It leads to parents giving children junk food, saying it’s better than nothing. It’s almost never better than nothing; the child may go without food for a couple of days and it won’t hurt them in a non-famine situation,” Dr Stanton said.

Being a picky eater can haunt your child all through adulthood unless they conquer it themselves. I’ve seen adults say that they couldn’t eat vegetables (and many other healthy foods) for reasons other than, “I just can’t swallow them.” After suffering with a stomach disorder that limited my food choices almost arbitrarily, I had little sympathy for them.

If you have a child who is a picky eater, keep offering them healthy food. If they don’t want to eat it, they must not be hungry enough. Don’t offer them Pop Tarts, let them learn that eating healthy is the only option. After a dozen or so exposures, they should be more willing to eat the healthy stuff.

More importantly, if you’re a picky eater, treat yourself the same. Expose yourself to foods that you “just can’t swallow” regularly. You will eventually earn a taste for the healthier food. You can conquer your own picky eating habits.

If you have been thinking of buying an iPod Nano to exercise with, you’re in luck. Apple just remastered the Nano in rainbow colors!

• Apple – iPod nano

I have been testing the Nike+iPod with a borrowed Nano for a couple of months now. I’ve been so happy with it, I have been considering buying one of my own. I’m so glad I waited because now I can get one in my favorite color.

The reason the iPod Nano is better for exercising than the Video iPod is because it is made with flash memory instead of a hard drive. The jarring action of running won’t damage the Nano like it would the Video iPod (or other hard drive MP3 players). Additionally, no matter how hard you run, it won’t skip. That’s why Apple created the Nike+ for the Nano only. They didn’t want to promote running with the other iPods.

Unlike the old Apple commercials, the new one doesn’t feature the white earbuds as prominently. It features the bright colors of the new Nanos. You can see it here:

Hey, I wonder if the ear buds come in Lime Green also…

Here are some articles explaining the Nike+iPod:

• Starling Fitness » Tune Your Run With Nike and iPod

• Starling Fitness » More Info On the Nike+iPod

• Starling Fitness » Nike: Tune Your Run

• Starling Fitness » How to Use Nike+ on ANY Type of Shoe

• Starling Fitness » First Glance: Nike+iPod

• Starling Fitness » Nike+ Workout with The Crystal Method

• Starling Fitness » Nike+ After Two Weeks

Stay tuned for another review of the Nike+iPod now that I’ve owned it for a couple of months.

Wendy Bumgardener over at About.com has an injured toe from hiking a trail with ill-fitting shoes.

• Walking About.com – Black Toenail

Black toenail is a common injury among runners, but can be avoided with proper shoe fitting and lacing techniques. It is covered so often by running magazines that I’m surprised that I have never had trouble with it. I’ve worn Ryka running shoes ever since I first started running, so I’ve never had trouble. I’m also reluctant to change shoes because of black toenail horror stories.

Black toenail has nothing to do with fungus (that’s a different malady). It is an injury to your toe from constant pressure from shoes. It’s like a bruise under your toenail, except if it’s bad enough, you can lose the nail.

Here is a technical explanation of black toenail from Wikipedia:

• Subungual hematoma – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you want to avoid getting a black toenail, here are some resources:

• Jeff Galloway Training – Injury Archives – Black Toenails

• About.com – Black Toenail from Running or Walking

• Footcare for the Woman runner – Women’s section – Time-to-Run – women’s on-line running information

• Weblog – London Marathon – Times Online: The curse of the black toenail

After reading so many stories from people who have had black toenail, I’m surprised that I’ve never experienced it. I’ve had sore toes after hiking for too long in the wrong shoes, but I’ve been fortunate enough to not have this problem. If you have, don’t worry. It’s VERY common. As one runner said it:

“I use my toes to tell the seasons. If my first two toes are black then it is running season. If my little toe is black it is cross country skiing season. If I don’t have any black toes then I’m 10 pounds over weight. It is easy to run withseveral black toes than with 10 extra pounds.” – Jim Benike at UltRunR

Five years ago, the World Trade Center crumbled to the ground in a rush of dusty fury.

Where were you five years ago?

Did you eat healthy and exercise that day?

What were you doing when you heard the news?

Did it affect the way you dealt with food?

What did you learn from that difficult time? What do you wish you had done better?

On September 11th, 2001, I had just started eating and exercising for my health. I hadn’t joined Weight Watchers, yet, but I did exercise regularly. Watching the World Trade Center get hit time after time on CNN was enough to send me into bingeing, though. Mike and I just sat in front of the television that night and watched the twin towers fall over and over again.

I wish I had learned to deal with emotions without food, but back then, I was still running to my addiction at every turn.

The Question of the Week is meant to be an Inner Workout for you. Find some time during the week and allow yourself to write the answers to the questions posted. You can write them on paper, on a word processor or here in the comments section. Whatever works for you as long as you do it.

Keep writing until you find out something about yourself that you didn’t know before. I’ve also heard that it works to keep writing until you cry, but that doesn’t really work for me. Whatever works for you. Just keep writing until it feels right.

This postcard from PostSecret made me want to scream, “Tell her!” An emailed response was far more powerful, however:

—–Email Message—–
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2006 12:30 PM

Subject: fat crush on jenny

I am so fat and I did tell Jenny I have a crush on her and she did fall for me. And I didn’t even send that secret in. Crazy.

What are you avoiding because you consider yourself too fat? Is it a swimming suit? A trip to the beach? A new job? A beautiful relationship?

Don’t put your life on hold because of the shape of your body. Life is too short to hide your feelings for someone you love. Life is too short to wait until you have the perfect body. Live the life you want now.

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.

Laura,

Yesterday, you showed a picture of a lunch. Was that your lunch? Where did you get that bottle for the milk? Did you buy milk in a little bottle and take off the label?

H. J. Tillman

H. J.,

Yes, that was the lunch I ate on Thursday. I have been bringing a glass of milk to work using those bottles for a couple of years now. I looked at every store in Salt Lake City to find a good bottle to put milk in, but I couldn’t find anything.

Fortunately for me, Mike likes Powerade.

We bought two packages of Powerade in the small bottles. After Mike drank the blue stuff, I removed the labels and washed the bottles in the dishwasher. They don’t warp or get damaged, even when I use the heated dry (top rack). When they start to look a little gross, I throw them in the recycle bin and force Mike to drink more Powerade out of little bottles.

I know some people are worried that reusing bottles like this might be bad for your health, but that’s mostly an urban legend:

• Starling Fitness » Water Bottle Safety

This method of taking milk to work has worked really well for me and I heartily recommend it. Don’t pay extra money for milk out of a machine or smaller containers from the grocery store. Just fill your own each morning and you’ll save money and get your daily supply of dairy.

Thanks for writing,
Laura

Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough have written an article for Weight Watchers about how to perk up your lunch.

• WeightWatchers.com: food ideas – Brown Bagging It: 9 Ideas For Lunch

For me, it was always easier to bring a lunch to work than to try to go out to eat at lunch time. The restaurants are always so full and I hate worrying about being able to get back to work within an hour. Bringing my lunch was more about being able to enjoy my free hour calmly.

Bringing lunch to work is less expensive, too. I saved about five dollars every time I brought lunch instead of eating out. The cheapskate in me appreciates the thriftiness of bringing my own lunch far more than the health aspects.

In the end, bringing my own lunch to work made it so much healthier for me. I KNEW how many calories were in my lunch box. I didn’t have to guess like I do at most local restaurants. In the end, when I bring my lunch to work, I end up with healthier food, a calmer lunch hour and a fatter wallet. What more could I ask for?

Laura,

Do you just count calories then? Or do you pay attention to fat content as well? Just curious.

Ernie

Ernie,

I have been struggling with keeping track of my food since last March. About two or three months ago, I stopped following the Weight Watcher plan and stopped going to the meetings. I essentially started The F**K It Diet again.

I told myself that keeping track of my food was making me obsess about it. All I did all day was think about food: what I ate yesterday, what I was eating today, and what I was going to eat tomorrow. I thought the dieting was making me focus on eating all day long, so I stopped keeping track.

I gained about twenty pounds.

But I learned something really important: it wasn’t the dieting that was making me obsess about food. When I stopped keeping track, I still focused all day on what food I was going to eat. Even though I could eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, I still thought about my meals with a strange interest. It wasn’t the dieting that made me obsessive about food.

I’m obsessive about food no matter what I do.

So, I decided that if I’m going to obsess about food no matter what, I’m going to concentrate on eating healthy while I do it.

Right now, I’m easing off The F**K It Diet and back into a healthy calorie range. I am currently keeping track using Calorie King software. The company provided me with a free copy of the software to test it out and give a full review. I did a review of the software earlier this year (Starling Fitness » Review: CalorieKing), but they have just added the feature that will allow you to sync your Palm with your desktop computer. That missing feature before made it something that I didn’t want to use, so I’m testing it again.

As soon as I know whether CalorieKing works for me, I’ll do another review. For now, I’m keeping track of calories, but I might just end up going back to Weight Watcher Points.

Thanks,
Laura Moncur