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

Mark, from A Passion for Running, has dealt with injuries for the last few months and he’s back to running.

• A Passion for Running » mid-day shower, how i didst miss thee

He talks about his first run of 2006 and his first lunch-time run since the injury. It feels so good to get back to running when I have taken a break from it. All of my breaks from running have been because I got obsessed with some other form of exercise, but it feels just as good to be back.

Welcome back, Mark! I’m glad you can enjoy yourself again!

After trying to work with the software from FitCentric and failing miserably (incompatible with iFit machines, even though the website says they might work), I loaded my new laptop with i2Workout. Since my old laptop died, I haven’t been using i2Workout, but now that I have a new one, I can easily create a workout and run it on my laptop hooked up to my treadmill.

I pulled up this workout dated 07-11-04. I remembered this workout to be really tough, but I’m so much stronger now, I thought it might be a good interval training for me that wouldn’t be too hard. I loaded it up, connected my laptop to the treadmill and started the run.

This workout kicked my butt!

I was so surprised and a little discouraged that I’m not as strong as I thought I was. It’s two years later, and this workout is still difficult to me. I remembered that my goal was to be able to do this workout without slowing down the high intervals. I was able to do the entire workout without slowing it down, but I’m still a little disappointed. I thought I was so much stronger than I was two years ago, but the truth of the matter is, I’m just barely getting to to the point where I wanted to be so long ago.

This is a reality check for me and I’m so glad that I’m using i2Workout on my treadmill again. I’m so lazy that I usually won’t do an interval workout. This workout will help me grow and maybe get me going a little stronger over the next two years than I have grown in the previous.

If you have an iFit treadmill and are using i2Workout, you can download this workout here:

• i2Workout: Interval Training 07-11-04: i2Workout uses .txt files, so just right click, choose “Save Link As…” and use it with i2Workout. Happy Running!

When I was sick last week, I spent a lot of time watching VH-1 and saw a commercial for a “metabolism breakthrough” called Fahrenheit a few times. The woman shown in their commercial was not just thin, she was cut with muscles in the exact proportion to be appealing.

This is the actual transcription of the commercial:

“Announcing a metabolism breakthrough for women, Fahrenheit. Two years in development and government patent pending. A formula so powerful it literally makes Ephedra obsolete. Turn up the metabolic heat with Fahrenheit. A breakthrough for women so advanced it has to be experienced to be believed. Fahrenheit – Let it burn.”

If you notice, the wording of the commercial, it is very careful not to promise weight loss. It just says that it makes Ephedra obsolete. Their website is just as careful not to make any promises. In fact, if you read fully, their recommendations are pretty sound.

The Fahrenheit Metabolism Repair Plan:

• Take Fahrenheit tablets
• Don’t let yourself get hungry. Eat every 3-4 hours.
• Avoid processed foods.
• Combine protein with your carbohydrates and fat, but don’t combine fat and carbohydrates.
• Use portion control instead of counting calories.
• Eat as many vegetables as you want with any meal.
• Eat healthy fats, those found in fish, avacados, nuts, flaxseed oil and olive oil.
• Keep a food journal.
• Add activity to your day, but avoid overdoing it.
• Build muscle with weight training.

All of these steps should sound familiar. They are the sorts of things recommended by nutritionists everywhere. In fact, if you follow the steps 2-9, you won’t need step one. The Fahrenheit tablets are unnecessary if you follow the program that they list out.

They have a Metobolic Calculator that will give you the recommended daily calories. If you follow their program and eat the number of calories they provide on the calculator, YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT. You don’t need to take the pills for it to happen. The formula that makes Ephedra obsolete is the program that they recommend and you can follow that for free.

Remember when I warned you to Steer Clear of the Free Diet Pills? The FTC has finally been able to crack down on one of the companies pulling that scam.

• Telemarketers Settle FTC Charges of Costly “Free” Samples, Do Not Call Violations, and Worthless Weight-Loss Patches

The fact that the FTC has ruled that the Pounds Off and the Carbs Off patches don’t work is secondary to all the other shady practices that this company has been dealing in. Your best bet is to just stay away from any company that promises weight loss without changes in diet and exercise. You can change your diet and start exercising without shelling out money for expensive products that don’t work.

Commenting on my entry about USA Today, Sarabeth said:

Sorry to say this, but that’s bollocks. Being overweight causes lots of problems. Anyone who has been overweight knows this. Okay, so obesity may not cost lives, but it does cost money in medical costs from treating high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, etc.

No one would have ever called me obese before I lost weight. I was only 15 pounds over a healthy weight, but even at a young age (and I’m talking 30) my body did not like being overweight. My cholesterol was high, now it isn’t. My arthritis in my feet was worse, now it is much better. I complained of being uncomfortable all the time, now I’m happy with how my body feels.

Sarabeth,

The truth of the matter is, there is no PROVEN fact that being overweight causes high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease or high cholesterol. There is some correlation with obesity and these diseases, but correlation does not mean causation. No matter how much they say it on television, it doesn’t make it true.

Obesity does NOT cause disease. There have been no studies that have shown that obesity causes any diseases. It may aggravate some, but that is an entirely different story.

We all need to have a discerning eye when we see these reports on the news. The major news outlets are owned by big businesses that have an invested interest in the insurance industry. The insurance industry is weighted with the high cost of health care right now and are desperate to find a scape goat.

The health insurance companies have chosen obesity as their scape goat. If we don’t get the insurance companies in line, they will be denying coverage to their paying members who are overweight. Mark my words.

I’m sure you feel better because you have lost weight. I feel better now that I’m thinner. Neither of our examples are PROOF that obesity causes disease. I am grateful that I am living life thinner and I encourage anyone who wants to take that journey to do so. Until there is a study that wasn’t funded by the insurance moguls that proves that obesity causes diseases, I’m not going to let them spout that rubbish. That’s what’s bullocks.

Laura Moncur

Historians have believed that Beethoven, Van Gogh, and even Mozart were insane. At times, they stifled their out of control emotions with drugs or alcohol, but most of the time, they only had their art to express their insanity.

For a lot of us, we use food to stuff down our out of control emotions. We aren’t even insane, yet we binge so that we don’t have to feel whatever we are feeling. I know that if I’m worried, stressed or feel threatened or unprotected, my urge is to binge on whatever food is around. It doesn’t have to be yummy, it just has to be there.

Lately, though, I’ve been thinking that I owe it to myself to deal with my emotions. If I sit down and write about my feelings, I usually end up with something that is worth posting on one of my websites. It’s better for me if I avoid stifling my emotions with my drug of choice: food.

What would our world be like if Beethoven, Mozart or Van Gogh had stifled their emotions with food? If they had been able to hide from their turbulent minds, would we have the timeless works of art that we have now? Probably not.

You owe it to yourself to deal with your emotions and stop using food to hide them. You owe it to humanity. Just think, there may be great works of art waiting to come out of you if you would only stop hiding behind this wall of fat.

Commenting on my Sexy New Diet Secrets entry, Brandi said:

i would like to know what jessica simpson did to look so good for the dukes of hazzard. i love her body. can you help me out

Brandi,

You obviously didn’t read the article.

EAT LESS. EXERCISE MORE.

More importantly, you need to examine your motives. You are here to be the best you can be. Trying to be a cheap Jessica Simpson rip off isn’t being true to yourself. Find out who you are and strive to be that instead of trying to fit into Jessica Simpson’s cut-offs.

Good Luck,
Laura Moncur

I’ve received the following comments on my entry about the Hungry Man Sports Grill:

Alison said:

Who cares how fattening it is; it tastes soo damn good. I am a girl and a college athlete, ha the other day I ate two haha. It has quickly became my new favorite TV diner. GO SWANSON

Matthew said:

This line is da bomb. All tv dinners suck but these are actually edible and the cheese fries are quite tasty, do em in the oven though the microwave just makes em soggy.

I really don’t know what to think about these comments. The one from Matthew is particularly interesting to me because he states, “This line is da bomb.” That sounds innocuous enough, but how many people actually think of groups of TV dinners as a “line”? Only marketing people and people who SELL TV dinners think of them as a “line”.

Are these comments just a ploy from Swanson to try to soften the hard truth that one of their products has as many calories and fat for an entire day?

There were so many gadgets at CES that I really felt overwhelmed with all of it. I was grateful to try out so many things that were previously just good ideas and pictures on the computer screen. There were lots of things that looked interesting to me and I really wanted to buy them. The truth of the matter is that when it comes down to exercise, motivation is the most important thing.

If a new toy like the gadgets that I played with at CES are something that will motivate you to exercise, then the investment is worth it. It’s difficult to tell how long these gadgets will continue to motivate you if you don’t have the motivation to keep fit on your own, though. Just like other exercise equipment that sits in the house and gathers dust, it won’t do you any good unless you use it.

In the end, if you are truly dedicated to your fitness, all you really need are a pair of tennis shoes. There are as many ways to get fit as there are people on this planet. Find your favorite and stick to it. No matter how much money you spend, you can’t get fit unless you’re willing to sweat. So, get out there and start sweating!

The final fitness gadget we found at CES was the NetAthlon software from FitCentric. They were demonstrating their product with a Nautilus treadmill as part of Intel’s booth. FitCentric also worked in conjunction with TacX on the software for their bicycle trainer. The software that FitCentric was demonstrating was much more basic than the TacX software. As you can see from the screen shot, the graphics are much more blocky and simplistic.

Despite the simple computer animation, the software did make running on the treadmill a little more compelling. The software places you on a track with several other runners. You can try to catch up to the ones ahead of you or slow down and run at whatever pace you decide.

The software was controlled by the settings on the treadmill. When I approached the treadmill, the Intel employee had it on a slow setting. The woman on the computer screen was walking on the track. You could see houses slowly go by.

When I got on the treadmill, I brought it up to running speed and the woman on the screen started running. The scenery moved past quickly. I really liked the idea of catching up to other people on the track and overtaking them. Something about that element of the game really appealed to me.

One strange thing that happened was the Nautilus treadmill was able to read the sensor from my Nike heart rate monitor. It displayed the correct heart rate on its dashboard. As you can see this is my heart rate when I first started running. Within seconds, I was up to 159 bpm testing the game. I already knew that running on a treadmill gives me a great workout, but the software was really inspiring. It didn’t convince me I was running a real race, but it was an interesting change of pace.

You can download the FitCentric software for a 10-Day Trial on their website. They have a selection of machines that their software works with. They also say that they have a “Wireless Retrofit” for bicycle trainers (such as my CycleOps trainer), but when I tried to purchase it, there was no way to buy it on their website. I sent them an email regarding this oversight and I received an email back saying that it’s not available yet. Since the website said, “Coming in 2005” and it’s still not available, I don’t think I’ll hold my breath. If you’re lucky enough to own one of the treadmills or stationary bikes that work with this software (see the list of Compatible Fitness Machines here), then FitCentric is a great deal at $99.95.

Click here to see the Fitcentric Website:

• FitCentric Website

Update 01-23-06: Their website says that their software, NetAthlon, might work with iFit machines, but after fighting with my free download and my NordicTrack treadmill, it looks like it will not work. I’m going back to using i2Workout. It has been great!