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

The first time I saw this stuff, my Weight Watchers teacher passed around the one pound version. It was the first time I ever saw a visual reminder of what a loss of one pound of fat really looked like. My leader said, “Next time you complain about only losing a pound, remember what one pound of fat really looks like. A pound a week is plenty.”

• My Pet Fat

This company sells visual reminders like this. I can’t imagine wanting one of your own unless you actually teach people about weight loss. The most dramatic reminder of this was the one at Disneyland’s Innoventions.

Via: Hungry Girl – Monday News 08-22-05

I love mastering a new sport. This Trikke thing looks like it would be hard to ride at first, but fun to use once you got the hang of it.

• Trikke: Innovative Three Wheeled Vehicle

I’m surprised I haven’t seen any of these around the Salt Lake Valley. Summer is hard for all the skiers who live here, and they are always looking for something new and different to try to keep active during the warm months.

Via: SportsGeezer – The Latest Not-Necessarily-Cheap Thrills for British Adrenaline Junkies

This is a little script that you can use with Microsoft Excel (Windows only). It will remind you when to weigh yourself and log the data. Using that data, you can create charts to graph your success.

• Lifehacker – Script: Log your weight over time with Excel

I have been using Excel to keep track of my weight every week ever since I started Weight Watchers. I have my weight line going up to my goal at the top of the chart. Psychologically, that works better for me. I don’t have a nifty little script to tell me when to log my weight, but I update it every month or so (my actual information is kept in my Weight Watchers card).

Here is a link to my Weight Log and Chart Spreadsheet. Enter the date for your first day in the yellow box and the rest of the dates should update automatically. I’ve tried to make this with a pretty broad range (100-300 pounds). This chart has enough data points for a year. If you want a new one, copy the tab and add the new date in the yellow box. I don’t know how this would work with the script, but this spreadsheet has worked really well for me.

Via: Fitness News – Log your weight over time with Excel

A couple of years before the 2002 Winter Olympics, the athletes started coming to train in our mountains. There was a lot of talk about hemoglobin and mountain sickness. This machine says it can give you the same benefits of training in the mountains. It does this and shows a woman relaxing on a chair: intense training.

• AltiPower for simulated altitude training

I have felt the draining effects of going up to the mountains and trying to do the same physical activity that I do in the valley. I have seen the same effects on physically fit friends who visit us from lower altitudes. I have felt like a superhero, able to run forever, in San Francisco and San Diego. I think there is something to training in the mountains, but I don’t think that machine will help you as much as getting your butt to Salt Lake City would.

Via: Engadget – The Altipower personal hypoxicator

Polar and adidas are teaming up to create a new line of integrated clothing. The adiStar Fusion shoes have the stride sensor, which communicates with the Polar wrist computer (it’s NOT a watch), which also communicates with the pulse sensor on the clothing. The pulse sensor snaps into the clothing so that you don’t have to wear a separate chest strap for the heart rate monitor.

Here’s the press release from adidas about the new product:

• adidas Press Room – adidas and Polar introduce the world’s first completely integrated training system

Personally, I don’t see the benefit of having a heart rate monitor that snaps into my very expensive shirt over wearing a chest strap and a cheap tank top. I also don’t trust the stride monitor to accurately calculate my speed and distance. I’m certainly not willing to spend $680 for a pair of running shoes (which may not work with my feet), one shirt, a heart rate monitor and a watch, excuse me, wrist computer.

I recommend the running shoes that work best on you, a cheap heart rate monitor (you can get them for as little as $30) and the Google Online Pedometer.

Via:

• gizmag – adidas and Polar introduce the world’s first completely integrated training system

• Engadget – adidas and Polar’s Project Fusion training system

I talked before about NutritionData’s Nutrition Facts & Calorie Counter. They are a helpful resource when you need to know the nutrition facts for food. Now, they have another tool that makes it even easier to look things up.

• Firefox Search Plugin for NutritionData

It is a small little plugin that allows you to type a food in the search bar on your Firefox browser. It doesn’t take up extra space, it’s just another option on that search bar (you can choose it instead of Google). It works like a dream and I haven’t had any weirdness since installing it. It was so easy to install, that I thought I did something wrong and installed it again, so don’t worry if it takes less than a second to download.

If you don’t use Firefox as your browser, you’re missing out. Try it for free.

If you’re planning a walk or bike ride around your neighborhood, you might find this useful. Gmaps Pedometer uses Google Maps to measure a route you enter on the map.

It defaults to Hoboken, New Jersey, so you’ll need to start with the “if you don’t live in Hoboken” link, or just start here. Use the zoom control and drag and drop to find your location—for example, here’s Salt Lake City. Click Start Recording and double-click several points along the route, and the total mileage of the entire route is displayed.

With a bit of practice you can get a pretty complicated route onto the map. Use the Permalink feature to save your route to your favorites or email it to someone. There is other software out there for this purpose, but this one’s free, and you can’t beat the accuracy of Google Maps.

DDR4Health has reviewed In The Groove. It’s another dancing game for PlayStation 2 that is a little more complicated than DDR. If you like DDR, you’ll love the challenge of ITG. Read Sinistar’s review:

• DDR4Health: Review / In The Groove

I don’t have a Playstation 2, so this game is strictly off limits to me right now. I guess I’ll just have to give myself permission to play DDR. I haven’t played for months. Man, I miss it. How cool is that? Exercise so fun that I miss it!

This shoe tracks your movements and uploads them to your computer via a wireless connection. They cost about $500 a pair, so it might be a better option to just write all your exercise down.

• Verb For Shoe – Official Website

• Next Fest Review – Verb For Shoe

• Engadget: Verb For Shoe shows off their… shoe

You can’t buy it for your home console. It doesn’t work with Xbox, PS2, PS3, GameCube or even Xbox 360. You can’t even see it in person unless you’re in Europe. It looks cool anyway!

• Kick-Ass Kung Fu

It is being heralded as the beginning of video games as spectator sports. Others watch while you play in this special room with padding and 360 virtual reality screens, which give you the impression of being able to fight like someone in the Matrix.

Man, I wish I had a flight to Finland planned. It looks totally cool!

Via: Engadget – Like Keanu, you too can know Kick Ass Kung-Fu