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

I bought the book Silent Bob Speaks because I enjoyed Kevin Smith’s story about his struggles with Jason Mewes and trying to help him stay off drugs. I thought that it would be more of his writing (since the word writing is in the title) and I expected some entertainment.

I got that, but I didn’t expect a hilarious story about morbid obesity and fat-blocking prescription drugs.

The doctor also discerned that I suffer from what I used to call heartburn, but now call Acid Reflux Disorder.

“How’d I develop this?” I asked, fascinated to learn about the high drama going on in my gut. But I wasn’t prepared for his response.

“It’s often associated with cases of morbid obesity.”

He prescribed me something called Xenical, a pill that prevents 30% of the calories you digest from being stored as fat. What follows is not for the faint of heart…

Kevin learned what everyone who was prescribed Xenical learned. He continues to give you the “official” Xenical descriptions for what might happen and translate them into the unpleasant truths, with humor, of course.

I’ve never laughed so much at the phrase, “oily, fatty stools” in my life!

More importantly, he mentions to his readers that he wants support in his effort to lose weight. He talks about becoming accountable to his wife, parents and friends, but he finally adds all his fans to the list of people he wants to help him in his weight loss journey. He has since lost the extra “baby” weight and is living a much healthier life, hopefully without Xenical.

If you enjoy Kevin Smith’s writings, you can read his weblog here: My Boring Ass Life

Something about running gives me chapped lips. I think it’s the fact that I have to breathe out of my mouth instead of my nose. All that air rushing past my poor lips makes them parched by the end of a workout. Most of the times, I only crave water because my lips are chapped. Lip Balm helps some, but the Overnight Lip Treatment from Chapstick is better than normal lip balm because it lasts through the whole workout instead of needing reapplication halfway through.

This stuff was designed to be used overnight while I sleep, so it stays on my lips the whole workout. It has been my favorite for a long time, but I keep forgetting to pass on this tip. I guess I thought I have more important things to write about than lip balm. The truth is, however, the more comfortable you are during your workout, the more likely you’ll do it again. If all it takes is a little container of Chapstick to get you out the door every day, then I wish I had told you sooner.

This ad was an entry in a Photoshop contest called Worth1000. If fast food industries told this truth, they would sell a lot fewer burgers, don’t you think?

The reason you should write down everything you eat is an awareness issue. It’s really easy to eat one potato chip here and five M&M’s here, but when you add up all those little tastes and bites, it can pile on the pounds.

This article from Slashfood talks about just that and gives you the calorie counts for small quantities of food that might end up in your mouth.

• Bet you can’t eat just one – Slashfood

Even after years of eating healthy, I find that I do better when I’m writing down everything I eat. Part of it is awareness and part of it is laziness. If I know I have to log the food, sometimes I’m just too lazy to eat it.

My Goal Disappeared

When I heard about the Nike+iPod and how it synced with an online system, I was bugged. I was worried that they might charge me a monthly fee to access my data. The idea of having to be online in order to look at my running data also bothered me. I didn’t even think about flaky programming.

Last week, Nike+ updated the Goals section of their website so that it tells you how you can earn trophies and ribbons on their site. Sure, that’s great. I liked to know that there are other ways to compete, but when they did the update, they lost all my goal information.

I had logged on to see how far along I was on my goal to run more often and it was gone. Sure, I could create a new one and I was only one week into the goal, but it was depressing to start again. It was as if those other runs didn’t mean anything to Nike. They just wiped my progress on that goal without even warning me.

That’s why I hate online software. Companies are able to make changes without notification and they can wipe out my data with one blow. I would much prefer a software program on my computer that does the same thing. I like being able to share it online, but I was really bothered when I lost my goal and all the progress that I had made.

Leaderboards

I found another section on the website called Leaderboards that is pretty cool. It is a list of all the people running with Nike+ and rates them based on distance, duration, fastest 5K and fastest 10K.

You would think that it’s totally depressing to be number 4883 on distance, but I like to see where I am and to see if I can get higher on the list. I would like to know 4883 out of how many people total. 4883 out of 4883 is not so good. 4883 out of 10,000 is great! Even if I’m dead last, though, I like to know that I can run a little more to get a little higher on the boards.

Something must be wrong with them though. How could Ghost Cyber run for 42 hours 44 minutes and 08 seconds? It must be a mistake or something. I’m sure there are ways to fool the system, but I don’t care. As long as I’m able to get from 4883 to 4880 and beyond, I’m happy.

Mileage

I’ve heard some complaints from other people that it doesn’t record the correct mileage. It’s true. The Nike+ isn’t a GPS system. It can’t tell precisely where you are running and calculate the mileage perfectly. All it can do is measure the speed at which your foot is moving.

Using the Google Pedometer, I have calculated the mileage for all my runs and the Nike+ has been within .02 to .05 miles of accuracy on every one. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough for me. The best part is that I know while I’m on the run approximately how far I’ve gone instead of having to get online when I get back and calculate it. I can’t wait to run with the Nike+ on a trip.

Two Week Evaluation:

Despite software problems and minor mileage inaccurancies, I am still loving the Nike+. It has gotten me back on the road running. After three years of treadmill running, it’s so invigorating to be running outside again and it’s all due to the Nike+. It’s like a treadmill for the outdoors!

I’ve been raving about the Nike+iPod running gadget, but I haven’t touched on the iTunes aspect of it all. They have been creating workouts that you can play on your iPod. I was unimpressed by celebrity trainers, so I didn’t try them. That was until they released a workout created by Crystal Method.

• The Crystal Method :: The official web site
• Drive (Nike+ Original Run) – The Crystal Method [iTunes Link]

I’ve long been a fan of Crystal Method and techno music in general is great for running. Now, they’ve created a workout mix that starts out slow for your warmup, heats up to a nice fast beat and then slows down for your cooldown. It’s a total of 45 minutes, so if you’re going on a longer run, it might not be long enough, but for most workouts, it’s plenty.

I really enjoyed working out with this music because it was tailored for a workout. The voice overs in the songs say things like “keep your eye on the road” and “I’ll show you! You ain’t never seen!” After three minutes of warmup, the singer tells me, “It’s your time. It’s time! Come on!” I couldn’t help but run. With five minutes left of the workout, the singer tells me, “So, we’ll say our last goodbyes now.” It’s a great cool-down song and a perfectly auditory signal that it’s time to stop running and walk.

I’ve really enjoyed this 45 minute song mix. Most of my workouts take about 30 minutes, but I have been going an extra 15 minutes just to hear the end of the song. It was totally worth the 10 bucks to buy it.

Treatment Online has an article about body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which is an obsession with a certain body part that is perceived to be a defect.

• Treatment Online – Body Dysmorphic Disorder and the Cult of Celebrity

Whether it’s a little bump on your nose or a an ample set of thighs, this disorder, afflicts only 0.7 of the population right now. Treatment Online considers the relentless coverage of plastic surgery in tabloids as a risk factor.

While she says that there have been descriptions in medical literature for over 100 years of patients dealing with symptoms that indicated BDD, Dr. Phillips doesn’t let changing societal expectations off the hook:

Appearance has always been important. But I suspect it’s possible that the rate of B.D.D. is increasing, as women get bombarded with media images of perfection. Lots of studies have shown that the more you see images of perfection around you, and the more you compare yourself with those images, the worse you tend to feel about yourself.

If you have been feeling negative about certain aspects of your body, it might be in your best interest to avoid fashion magazine and celebrity tabloids. Enjoy your body as it is and leave perfection to someone else.

The heat has affected my appetite. I don’t really want to eat anything except cold food like fruit and veggies from the fridge, so it has made me eat more healthy. Exercising in this heat however has been difficult. I have been running in the early mornings to avoid the heat that barrels down on our city at about 9am. The sprinklers spray me and I don’t care. They feel good.

What do you do to keep up your exercise routine in the summer?

How has the heat affected your motivation to exercise and eat healthy?

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.

The entire North American continent is dealing with a heat wave, so exercising outside has become miserable for a lot of people. If you are considering buying a treadmill, check out Wendy’s tips on getting a bargain.

• About.com – Treadmill Tightwad: Finding Treadmill Bargains or Creative Alternatives by Wendy Bumgardner

One thing I would add to this comprehensive article is garage sales. New Years resolution end with garage sales. It’s really easy to cruise the garage sales looking for a treadmill because you can see from the street whether they have what you want.

Additionally, if you are really serious about getting a treadmill for cheap, you can ask at every garage sale, “Hey, I’m looking for a treadmill. I know they’re kind of heavy to move. You wouldn’t happen to have one to sell, do you?” The treadmill that is gathering dust in their basement but is too much of a long shot to go to the bother of carrying up for the garage sale might just find a home with you.

Finally, the most important thing to remember is to be willing to ask. Asking for what you want takes very little time, but many times it rewards you far more than you ever thought it could. You might just end up with a treadmill for free!

For some reason, I am enthralled with the idea of making my own raisins. I can buy a box of them at the store for cheaper than the fresh grapes, yet I have the compelling urge to try this on my own. You can find the directions here:

• How to make raisins at home – Slashfood – by Nicole Weston

Nicole says that it took a week of blistering heat to go from fresh grapes to raisins. The true benefit is that you know there is nothing in your home-dried raisins. No one added sugar on the outside to make them sweeter. They’re just plump and juicy raisins straight from the sun to you.

My grandma used to make fruit leather during the summer heat waves of my youth. I found a site that gives you detailed instructions on how to make your own:

• MAKING FRUIT LEATHER

Remember, dried fruit and raisins are concentrated fruit. One serving is a quarter cup (instead of a half cup). If you eat large quantities of either, it’s the same as eating candy. Make sure you watch your portions and enjoy fruit in this unique way.