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

Maybe it’s because I was fed too much sorbitol as a child and dealt with the painful side-effects at the age of five. Maybe it’s because we have been promised weight loss for over fifty years with artificial sweeteners with only obesity rates rising. Whatever the reason, the minute I read this article from Slashfood, my hackles raised up.

• What is Z Trim? – Slashfood

Z Trim is being marketed as a fat replacement. It is made of oat fiber that is ground so fine that when it is reconstituted with water, it feels like creamy fat. Oat fiber, that’s a good thing, so I don’t think Z Trim is going to poison me or give me cancer, but something about it just sets off my paranoia.

Maybe it’s because they replaced the fat in the ranch dressing in Pittsburgh schools, testing it on underage children without telling them. Maybe it’s because it is being marketed in pills labeled “appetite control.” Maybe it’s because it is all being sold as a supplement, which requires less testing than a food additive would. Maybe it’s because the Z Trim website is so greenwashed that you can’t help but notice the huge shafts of wheat and the white-washed farm in the background. It all smacks of deception to me.

Whatever the reason, I’m not buying it. I was told too many times that if I drank sacchrine-laced soda, I would get thinner. I’m not about to believe that any fake fat is going to make me thinner. The only thing that ever made me thinner was eating whole, fresh food every two hours. I’ve had it with fake food.

Colleen Wainwright has Crohn’s Disease. To control it, she followed the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), which severly limits which foods you can and cannot eat. It’s not like she follows the diet to stay thin. It was the only way of eating that kept her out of pain. I understand this. When I was dealing with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), I tried a number of changes to my diet. None of them really kept me out of pain, but I clung on to hope more than anything. When I discovered acidophilus and suddenly found myself without pain no matter what I ate, I had to deal with all the cravings over the last five years.

Colleen is in a similar situation. She had been faithfully following SCD for years, but she obviously feels better and the temptation of “illegal” foods has hit her hard.

• communicatrix » Blog Archive » The root of rye toast lust

The description of her inner voices in this entry sounds exactly what I dealt with after I found my “cure” for IBS. I said the exact same thing in my Video Confessional. I wanted to binge just to make up for those five years of deprivation. I love her description here:

I’m not even especially fond of Butterfingers.

I’m still sorting it out, but I think the kernel of understanding lodged somewhere in the back molar of my consciousness looks something like “You are not the boss of me!” Or, as I put it to my pal, Heathervescent, between bites of generously buttered, 100% forbidden rye toast at breakfast this morning, “F*CK YOU, MOTHERF**KER! You are not the boss of me!”

So many years of sucking it up, coloring within the lines, being a good girl, stuffing it down. So much rage. So much fear. It’s going to find voice one way or t’other. And “F*ck you, motherf**ker! You are not the boss of me!” is pretty eloquent, if you ask me.

After five years of staying away from forbidden foods, I had that voice inside of me, too. I am healthiest when I allow myself small quantities of anything I want. Making a list of forbidden foods, unhealthy foods or illegal foods is just my first step to a major binge down the road.

Update: Colleen has had a breakthrough with her binges and describes it here:

• communicatrix » Blog Archive » French fries at the O.K. Corral: or, Telling Monkey-brain to go f*ck itself

We’re not talking about washing the e.coli off your spinach. We’re talking about the packaging that has cropped up in every food aisle in the grocery store. First it starts with some colors that aren’t quite as bright and jarring, maybe a softer hue of orange. Then they add a word that doesn’t mean anything anymore like natural or wholesome. Then draw a couple of barns or maybe a shaft of wheat and they suddenly have a more palatable package for their food.

They didn’t make the food any more healthy, they just changed the packaging.

• Be It Ever So Homespun, There’s Nothing Like Spin – New York Times

The FDA has been able to regulate words like organic, low-fat and whole grain, but there are lots of words out there that marketing can use to fool you into thinking that what you’re buying is healthy. No matter what color the Cheetos bag is, it’s still junk food. Now, eating junk food when you KNOW you’re eating junk food is far different than eating something that you think is a healthy alternative, but is really junk food in a blandly colored bag. Make sure you check the food labels to verify the caloric, fat and nutrient contents any food you might think is “healthy.” Your best bets are fresh fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. Not food made with whole grains, but the grains themselves.

Now, if you’re going to eat something knowing that it’s not healthy and you want a “treat” that’s fine. You don’t need to stop eating processed foods entirely, but don’t fool yourself thinking that what you’re eating is healthy because they packaged it up to look healthy.

Via: Food manufacturers are greenwashing their packaging, using homey organic colors and themes to sell food that isn’t even necessarily organic or healthy (kottke.org)

If you have been faithfully following a New Year’s Resolution, you’re probably craving something right now. Maybe it’s a craving for a lazy day without exercise. Maybe it’s a craving for your favorite food. Let’s talk about those cravings right now.

What are you craving?

Why aren’t you allowing yourself this?

Have you caved into your craving before? What happened?

What would happen if you did?

Is it possible to cave into your craving in a controlled manner so that it won’t disrupt your goals? How?

Whatever it is, your assignment for this week is to write a full page about it and then find a way to work it into your schedule. Whether it’s a day of rest or a certain food, there HAS to be a way for you to enjoy that food in a controlled setting. Those cravings are there for a reason. Maybe you’ve been working out too hard or your body is missing a certain nutrient. Maybe that food or activity represents comfort to you. Are you really prepared to live a life without comfort? No? Then let’s find a way to work it into your life AND still be dedicated to exercising and eating healthy.

Last week I wrote an entry about how when you want a cupcake, eating a fiber muffin just won’t do. I suggested mini-cupcakes:

• Starling Fitness » Mini Cupcakes

Of course, there is another option, but the thought is so hard for me to deal with that I didn’t even think of it when I wrote that entry. Eat only a quarter of a cupcake. Worse still, throw the rest AWAY!

This is one of the hardest things for me to do.

Maybe it’s because I was starved as a child and the thought of only eating a quarter of a cupcake when I could scarf down the whole thing just seems like sacrilege to that still starving child within me.

I have wanted a REAL cupcake every since the cupcake fad back in July. Seriously, I’ve wanted a cupcake for MONTHS without eating one. For New Year’s Eve, we made some using a recipe from the famous cupcake bakeries in New York. I had to see what I had been missing.

On New Year’s Eve, my sister did something shocking. She cut a cupcake into quarters and only ate a fourth of each flavor (we had three). I just watched her do it in disbelief. She didn’t really care for any of them, so the whole night, all she ate was less than one cupcake. I ate three, by the way…

So, when we were down to the cupcake leftovers, I tried it. I had eaten one cupcake a day for a few days, trying to keep my intake at a healthy level, but I was low on points that day. I had about 200 calories left. I remembered my sister cutting her cupcakes in quarters, so I tried it. I figured I’d eat a fourth and if I wanted more, I would eat a half.

Funny thing, is… it actually worked. After my quarter of a cupcake I felt just fine. I left the rest to eat later, but by the time I came back to it, it was stiff and stale. I took a picture of it and then threw it in the garbage can. Ironically, throwing it in the garbage was FAR harder than just eating a quarter of a cupcake.

Rob and Big is a reality television show on MTV. Rob is a professional skateboarder and Big is his bodyguard. A few episodes ago, Big decided to try to lose weight. I had never watched Rob and Big before I heard about this episode. I watched the whole thing on MTV’s website. You can see it here:

• Rob and Big | Episode Guide | Ep.4: Lets Get Physical | MTV

At the beginning of the episode, Rob is making fun of how big Big’s shirts are. He stuffs a big ball into one of the shirts and starts imitating Big. After a second or two of that, I just wanted to punch Rob in the face. Blissfully, Big did it for me, pushing him off the bed and onto the floor in one big swipe like a bear pushing away a baby cub. I instantly loved Rob and Big and had to watch the rest of the episode!

Big maxed out the scale they had at home, so Rob took him to Curves to be weighed. Unfortunately, Big maxed out their scale as well, meaning that he definitely weighed more than 400 pounds. That was a surprise even to Big. Rob says, “Extreme weight requires extreme measures,” and takes him to a recycling center to weigh him. He clocks in at 416 pounds. Rob takes him to a hypnotherapist, but Big just falls asleep. Fortunately, the dietician gives Big good advice:

“Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to reprogram you to stop eating when your stomach says it’s full. We’re not going to tell him what to eat or what not to eat. What I want you to do is get little Ziploc bags and take about a 1/2 a cup’s worth of whatever you’re choosing and prepackage them so they’re preportioned. When you’re done, you’re done. At the most, I want you to work out twice a week right now.”

When Rob objects to merely portion control and twice weekly workouts, she’s firm with him,

“I’m going to leave the skateboarding up to you and you leave the nutrition up to me.”

Big tried to leave the nutrition up to her, but Rob bugged him. He ended up working out a lot with Rob. Three weeks later, they returned to the recycling center and what did the scale read? 416.0 lbs. SAME WEIGHT… In desperation, Big goes back to see the nutritionist. She helps him through it,

“Chances are, you’re losing some fat and you’re losing some body weight. Just because it’s not showing up on the scale doesn’t mean that there aren’t changes happening. Continue with your exercise, continue listening to your body and no more scales. And, I want you to go have a burger this week.”

Anyone who has ever had a friend or family member try to “help” them lose weight will find a soft spot for Big and want to punch Rob in the mouth. Don’t listen to the Robs in your life who want you to go to diet boot camp. Listen to the dietician. Eat half of whatever you would normally eat and start working out no more than twice a week. Leave the skateboarding to the Robs in your life and take diet advice from the nutritionist.

Via: Rudd Sound Bites: Rob & Big

Diet Blog has an interesting article about the word “diet.” Does it mean misery? Does it mean an eating regime? Does it mean restriction? Does it mean normal eating?

• Does Dieting = Misery?

For the longest time, going on a diet meant that I had new hope that I could finally be skinny. After years of smashed hopes, I decided that I was never going to diet again. I was going to “eat healthy.”

It’s amazing how those habits of the early years can become ingrained, however. I joined Weight Watchers because I could eat anything as long as I stayed within my Points. There were no food restrictions. After years of eating on the program, however, I started installing “forbidden” foods into my mind. It had nothing to do with Weight Watchers, I just decided that to be on program I needed to avoid certain foods. After a year or so of that, the words “eat healthy” became synonymous with “diet.”

Now, when I think, “I need to get back to eating healthy,” I feel deprived just like I did when I was dieting. Somehow, I broke that phrase in my mind.

What I need to do is eat whatever I want.

It might seem counter-intuitive, but giving myself permission to eat whatever I want without guilt helps me to eat healthier. It’s only when I put arbitrary limits on my diet that I end up bingeing.

Years ago, I buried the word “diet,” but it wasn’t the word that needed to be buried. It was the idea that there are certain foods that I can’t eat. When I started eating healthy, I was just limiting my portions of foods that I loved. It was later that “eating healthy” mutated into yet another way to make myself feel deprived.

I never need to feel deprived again. When will I learn that?

When I went to Weight Watchers regularly, there was a muffin recipe that made the rounds. It was basically a chocolate cake mix, water and a bunch of Fiber One cereal added to increase the fiber and bring down the Points level. It also made the muffins taste horrible. I was so desperate to eat sweets by the time I encountered that recipe, that I lived on those chocolate muffins for awhile. I knew they weren’t good, but they weren’t “forbidden” so I was happy to eat them.

What I really wanted was a cupcake, but I ate horrible fiber muffins instead.

That is everything that is wrong with what goes on in my mind when I’m dieting. It happened to me when I was on Weight Watchers, but it wasn’t their fault. It was something that clicked and changed in my mind. As long as I lived under the motto of “I can eat anything I want, just not everything I want,” I was fine. The minute I started categorizing food as good and bad, I started to have troubles.

What I should have done instead of eating horrible fiber muffins was make some mini-cupcakes. They now have mini-cupcake pans like this one from WearEver and even mini-cupcake foil liners. Since a tiny cupcake like that is probably 150-250 calories, it wouldn’t overload my eating for one day if I eat one. I could even make them beautiful like the big cupcakes.

It has taken me years to realize that the best road to eating healthy is the one that lets me enjoy the foods that I love. When I want a cupcake, a fiber muffin is just going to make me feel deprived. When I want a cupcake, I should eat a cupcake! If I don’t, I’ll eat fifteen cupcakes in one sitting in a couple of months. Is that better?

I don’t know why you can only get clementines during Christmas. It seems counter-intuitive to me, but when those little orange citrus show up in my grocery store, I’m the first to buy a box. The reason I love clementines so much is because they are EASY to peel. I hate peeling oranges, but clementine peels come off in one easy pull. They are also sweet compared to other citrus fruits. Sweeter than an orange and half its size.

Best of all, they are low in calories. They average 35 calories a fruit, so I can eat two of them for one Weight Watchers Point. Of course, I need to eat two for them to count as a fruit to check off, but I’m alright with that. They taste good and they are low maintenance.

It’s clementine season and it only last a month or so, so get out there and get some. If you have been struggling eating enough fruits and vegetables, here is a welcome addition to your diet. You only get them once a year, so enjoy them while they’re here.

A lot of us are trying to eat healthy while we are out Christmas shopping. That can leave us confused and hungry at the mall food court.

What do you eat when you are out shopping?

How do you compensate for it?

Do you pack your own food with you, or risk things at the food court?

What are the healthiest options?

You don’t have to sacrifice health at “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” It’s possible to eat healthy on the go. I want to hear how you have done it.