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

Fall is the perfect time for squash and one of the more interesting to choose from is eggplant. The Boston Globe has a few recipes on how to cook the purple plant.

• An Eye for Eggplant – The Boston Globe

Eggplant is best prepared over a fire:

“Smoke and eggplant is one of the great flavor pairings, so much so that each of the regions of the Middle East and all the countries that border the Mediterranean have a smoky eggplant dish. Cooked over low coals, the taut skin of the vegetable collapses, the flesh takes on a mild smoky flavor, and when pureed with olive oil and lemon juice, the eggplant turns silky.”

Next time you hit the grocery store, pick up an eggplant and experiment with your barbeque. You might discover a new dish that is tasty AND healthy.

Mary, from fitfemme, opened up in the locker room with a woman who had lost eight pounds in just a couple of weeks. Her secret:

Don’t eat the donuts at work.

• fitfemme: Mary’s fitness blog: In the locker room

They discusses the behavior of coworkers who bring fatty and sugary treats to work every day and came to an interesting conclusion:

“The colleague replied that she had a family member who worked at Krispy Kreme, so she got a discount–and then she added that perhaps by eating lots of doughnuts some of the older workers would vacate their jobs more quickly and create promotional opportunities for the younger ones.”

They’re not only trying to sabatoge your diet, they are trying to sabatoge your life. Next time you see a box of treats in the break room, pass them by. They’re not worth your waistline or your life.

The end of summer has come up so quickly that I almost forgot that the new television season is coming up and with it, The Biggest Loser.

• NBC.com > The Biggest Loser

I was not a fan of this show at the beginning of the season last year, but this year, I’ll be waiting at the edge of the couch to watch! This year they have contestants from every state in the United States. One person from each state makes for a lot of contestants, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to pick my favorites like I did last year. It will definitely be a change.

They have replaced Jillian Andersen Michaels with a blonde named Kim Lyons. A press release from NBC said that Jillian left of her own free will to pursue other interests. Jillian’s website says NOTHING about it, so I guess I just have to believe them. I’m going to miss Jillian. I like her technique much better than the touchy feely stuff Bob does. I don’t know anything about Kim Lyons except what NBC says, and that all sounds like a bunch of hype. I’m kind of bothered that they went with such a cutie. I know it’s not fair to judge someone by their looks (isn’t that what bothered me when I was fat?), but I have nothing but hype and her looks to judge her by. I can’t wait to watch the show to see how it will be.

Last year, The Biggest Loser was SO motivating to me. Watching all those people give it their all really helped me to give it my all. They were exercising four hours a day. I could fit an hour a day into my schedule. I watched them all fall while I exercised. Sometimes I’d watch the episode two or three times a week. I am really looking forward to seeing this season’s show!

Via: Season 3 of “Biggest Loser” features contestant from each state – That’s Fit

I saw this postcard on PostSecret this week and it looked so familiar. I used to keep a tally like this to mark the days I had gone without a binge. I think the most I’ve lasted is eight weeks. I stopped doing it because I would see all the tally marks pile up. Just looking at them grow would make me feel this enormous pressure. I would say, “It has been so long since I last binged.” Part of me would be proud of that and at the same time, another part of me would think, “I can do it just this once… It’s been so long…”

Right now, I don’t know how long it has been since I last binged. I know I didn’t binge yesterday, but I really have no idea if I binged the day before. I don’t know if keeping track was good or bad…

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.

Sometimes I think that if I had lived my younger years differently that eating healthy would be easier now.

If you could change something in your past that has affected your weight and health, what would it be?

What are you doing right now that you could change that would make your future easier?

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.

Exercise is a fun and enjoyable way to keep healthy for everyone. The Buddy Walk is trying to raise awareness about Downs Syndrome and sponsors walks all over the country. You can find one to volunteer for here:

• Buddy Walk

Encouraging exercise for all members of our society makes our world healthier on a whole. Give the Buddy Walk in your area a little of your time and you will profit more from it than you will every know.

I hadn’t heard of Fat Chance until I found this review from Rudd’s Sound Bites. Mo’Nique is sponsoring a beauty pagent for fabulous and thick women. I think it’s absolutely wonderful!

• Rudd Sound Bites: Fabulous and thick by Stephanie Feldman

Stephanie believes that the show is not quite comfortable in its skin, but it has moments that are inspiring:

“There is one contestant, the African-American security guard Tiffany Jones, who does not don a wig to cover her short blond cut. MoNique says she couldn’t allow Tiffany to cover up her own beauty, and Tiffany answers that she is thrilled not to have to hide her hair or tattoos to be beautiful.”

If you missed the show, you can see clips from it on Oxygen Network’s official website for the show:

• Mo’Nique’s F.A.T. Chance

For more information about Mo’Nique and her sassy attitude, see her official website:

• The Official Monique Website

Remember, loving yourself just the way you are is the first step toward living a healthy life. Shows like Fat Chance are a way to learn to love yourself and be able to commit to living a healthier and stronger life.

If you have ever talked yourself out of exercising, you know that there are a million excuses not to work out. Wendy Bumgardner at About.com blows all those excuses out of the water with her Excuse Busters series:

• Walking Excuse Busters – Too Busy to Walk

• Walking Excuse Busters – Scared to Walk Alone

• Walking Excuse Busters – Lonely Walking Alone

• Walking Excuse Busters – It’s Too Cold

• Walking Excuse Busters – Too Hot to Walk

• Walking Excuse Busters – It’s Raining

• Walking Excuse Busters – I’m Tired

• Walking Excuse Busters – Sore Muscles

• Walking Excuse Busters – Sore Feet

• Walking Excuse Busters – I Have a Cold

• Walking Excuse Busters – My Family Misses Me

• Walking Excuse Busters – Walking is Boring

• Walking Excuse Busters – Unmotivated

• Walking Excuse Busters – I’m Too Fat to Walk in Public

• Walking Excuse Busters – I’m Too Old to Exercise

• Walking Excuse Busters – Health Concerns

Wendy has compiled such a thorough list of excuses and how to bust them that there really are no excuses. No matter what you say, there is a way to work around the problem. Now, if you don’t exercise, you need to analyze why and find a way to bust your own exercise excuse.

Maybe you’ve been exercising for a few weeks, but you’re not seeing any progress. Maybe you’ve started exercising, but you’ve got strange pains in your shoulders or other muscles. Maybe you are thinking about quitting this exercise thing because “It’s not working.” Before you do, read this article from WebMD.

• WebMD – The Top 20 Fitness Mistakes Beginners Make

Here are a few of the most common mistakes:

Doing the “gym slouch.” “We see many people in the gym leaning on equipment,” says Debi Pillarella, MEd, a spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise. “We call it ‘gym slouch’: They’re on the Stairmaster, [elliptical cross trainer], or treadmill, leaning over, and hanging on for dear life.” When your back is rounded, your spine doesn’t get enough support. So stand erect when you’re working out on one of these machines.

Giving your abs a free ride. Many people do crunches or abdominal machine workouts without ever toning their abdomens. The problem is that they’re using the upper torso, neck, and head to do the work. “Do mindful exercise,” says Pillarella. “The contraction should be from the ribcage to the hip bone. Put your mind into the muscles that are working, and keep all the other muscles quiet.”

Seeking a quick fix. Many people expect dramatic results from a little exercise. “Current recommendations are for 3 1/2 to four hours of physical activity a week just to prevent weight regain,” says Kasper, who is a professor in the department of kinesiology at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Ga. “If you want to lose weight and you’re walking 30 minutes, three times a week, without changing your diet, it will take roughly one month to lose a pound.”

These tips are very helpful when you might be considering quitting your workout routine. They will give you the information to tune things up and prevent injury. Check them out.

Weblogs, Inc. has finally started a healthy living weblog. You can read it here:

• That’s Fit

I have been waiting for a health related weblog from Weblogs, Inc. for almost two years. It has taken them a while to realize that this might be an interesting topic, but now that they are here, I’m excited to read their take on this subject.

Head on over there and see what they have to say!