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

When I’m exercising at the gym (or on my treadmill at home), it really feels like there is only one reward, the benefits of exercise. When I’m outside hiking, there are so many benefits that I can barely list them all. When I am hiking in the Wasatch Mountains, I forget that I’m exercising. Suddenly, the huge incline isn’t just a setting on my treadmill. It’s a mountain I have to conquer. Here are just a few of the rewards that hiking has to offer:

• Exercise seems less difficult: This can be a two-edged sword, because when I get back from my hike, I usually end up sore for a couple of days. I don’t feel the extra effort when I’m out hiking, but I certainly feel it the next day.

• There’s a reason for the exercise: All exercise has a reason, but when you’re hiking up a trail, there is a destination in mind, such as the end of the trail, or maybe you want to go as far as the waterfall. Whatever the destination, there usually is one, which makes exercise seem more important.

• It can be social: You can bring your family and have one of those family memories that last for years. It wasn’t just exercise, it was a reason to get together.

• You get to see pretty stuff: Instead of watching television or staring at the wall while I exercise, I see all sorts of beautiful and interesting things, when I’m hiking. For an example of this, read about Tom Mangan’s most recent hike: Two-Heel Drive: Latest hike: Portola Redwoods State Park.

• You feel like you went on an adventure: I don’t know about you, but I don’t go on the trails in my area very often. Even though they are only a few minutes’ drive, I tend to just exercise at home more often than not. When I do go on a hike, I end up feeling like I had an adventure, even though it only took me a couple minutes longer to drive there than to drive to the gym.

If you are feeling like you are bored with your exercise routine, plan a hiking trip next weekend. Find the trails that are near your town and take a hike. You’ll feel refreshed and come home with a camera full of interesting pictures. If you do, please share them here.

It just tipped over into miserable here in Salt Lake City. The thought of running outside just kills all my inspiration, so it’s back to the treadmill for me. I’ve been watching the Swami’s Beach DVD nonstop since I created it, so I can pretend I feel ocean breezes (they’re really a couple of fans hooked onto the treadmill).

Where do you exercise when it gets too hot?

I also head to the mountains because it’s lots cooler up there than down in the valley. The only problem with that is I’m much more likely to get burnt, so I have to grease up with sunscreen beforehand. What do you do?

I’m grieving the loss of footage for a Starling Fitness video. We went to Yellowstone a few months ago and I filmed a lot of walking footage around the Artist’s Paint Pots and Old Faithful. On the Old Faithful Walk, I went uphill and I was panting so hard, I thought it ruined the footage. I talked about it here:

• Starling Fitness » Panting Up The Hill

If you watch this video, you can hear some wind noises and some strange squeaks. The wind noises are from the gentle and quiet breeze. Most of the time, there was a normal breeze, which sounded like a thunder barreling down on me. Most of the footage is ruined by the wind noises making popping sounds into the camera. I’ve added a wind screen to my camera to prevent this in the future, but that can’t fix the lost footage in Yellowstone.

What wasn’t ruined by the wind was ruined by a new tool I was trying. It’s VERY difficult to film these walking videos. I have to carry the camera a certain way, allowing my arms to be a cushion so the film isn’t jumpy or bouncy (and making half of you seasick). My arms hurt for days after doing one of these walks.

For my birthday, my wonderful family got me a steady cam that wraps around my neck to take some of the weight. It worked wonderfully and I was able to do several walks in Yellowstone without arm pain. Unfortunately, there are squeaks that were completely imperceptible to me while filming, but show up loud and clear on the video. What wasn’t ruined by wind was damaged by mechanical squeaks.

I could still make a video with warnings that this one isn’t as good as some of the others, but I really go to all the trouble of editing the video for ME. I make these videos because I want to watch them while I’m running on the treadmill. There’s no way in the world that I would watch that video with all the irritating wind pops and steady cam squeaks.

So, I didn’t make the video. The steady cam is relegated to the basement with the other failed mechanical fixes. I have no video in the hopper waiting to be released. I actually have to film something and I have no trips planned for a while.

In the meantime, I’m training. Once a day, I set the treadmill to 3 mph and walk with hand weights. I hold them like I would hold the camera and suffer through the pain in my arms the next day. I’m hoping that by the time I’m able to do more filming, my arms will be strong enough to film several walks without pain and without squeaky steady cams.

Wish me luck!

If you would like to know more about the Starling Fitness Videos:

• Starling Fitness – Fitness, diet, and health weblog » Walking Videos For Sale

It has gotten to that time of the year when I run on the treadmill again. Utah only has about three months of good running weather. Most of the time, it’s either too hot or too cold to run, so I am eternally grateful for the treadmill. Jank over at the Complete Running Network has some tips to beat the heat.

• Tips for Beating the Heat » Complete Running Network

Here is quick rundown of his tips, but he gives you far more details on his entry.

• Move the runs to the ends of the day
• Hydrate
• It’s cool in the shade
• Cross-Train
• Psychology
• Clothing
• Don’t Chafe
• Race
• Take it easy
• Cut it short
• Wear sunscreen

I just hide from the sun and run indoors on the treadmill while watching my Starling Fitness DVDs on the television. They fool me into thinking I’m running outdoors until the heat blows over and I can run out in the real outdoors.

This is EXACTLY how it feels to run with the Nike+. It’s one of the main reasons I don’t own an iPhone, because I can’t give up that little voice in my head.

I am addicted. Beginning workout…
I’ve collected footsteps before dawn, seen places I never knew existed, run to the moon and back. Current pace is 6.5…
I’ve been a rabbit for the neighborhood dogs, Halfway point… obeyed the voice in my head, let the music carry me when I couldn’t.
I’ve raced against yesterday, let the world be my witness, measured myself in meters, kilometers, and finally character.
I’ve plugged into a higher purpose, left this world and come back changed. Workout completed…
Run like you’ve never run before.

Of course, sometimes, THIS is exactly what it feels like to run with the Nike+.

God, I hope they make the iPhone work with the Nike+ soon!

I got a question on this entry:

• Starling Fitness » Weight Watchers Form

Rona Says: July 1st, 2007 at 10:30 pm

Have you heard anything about the new flex points system? I read that you can now personalize your daily points, so rather than base your daily points just on your current weight, a variety of factors are considered.

Also, they say they now have 4 levels of exercise for calculating activity points. You once had the formulae for activity points here, do you by chance have the new formulae?

Rona,

They did change the points calculation a little bit. What changes they did make are very minor and won’t affect you unless you’re male or an aerobics instructor. Just go with the points that they listed on their patent. You can find out more information here:

• Starling Fitness » What You Need To Know About Weight Watchers

The activity points seem the same. The most important thing is to start moving every day and slowly work up in intensity.

Best of luck,
Laura Moncur

My neighbors across the street are having their annual Independence Day Neighborhood BBQ. Here is a copy of their invitation:

Join us on the Fourth of July around 4-ish or later, and bring something to BBQ or a side to share. Kids & pets welcome, as long as they’re nice! Call us if you have any questions.

I have a couple of questions:

• How am I going to go to this BBQ and not eat everything in sight?

• If I don’t eat everything in sight, how am I going to stop myself from feeling deprived and binge alone afterward?

It seems like these have been my two choices over the years. I can go to the party and overeat or I can go to the party and not eat anything. Only eating some healthy things hasn’t really worked for me because once I start eating in a social situation I don’t stop.

Sure, there’s the third option of not going to the party, but that just looks like the second option all over again except I didn’t get to see my friends.

“Today’s BBQ is a great opportunity,” I tell myself. “I have a chance to learn how to eat healthy in a social situation.”

That sounds like bullocks to me.

Here’s the plan. I go for option two. I won’t eat anything. I’ll drink Diet Coke and other calorie free drinks, but I’ll avoid all the food. I’ll enjoy the company and talk to friends.

That’s going to make me feel deprived, so I need to have a plan of action when I get home.

A special planned meal for at home after the party is going to be my reward. Sure, it’s just a variation of the bingeing alone option, but if I plan the portions and the food carefully, it will at least be healthy.

Maybe I can’t change my behaviors that have been ingrained in me since childhood, but I certainly can find ways to work around them.

Wish me luck!

If you would like some ideas on how to actually eat at a BBQ and keep it healthy, here are my tips:

• Starling Fitness » How to Have a Healthy BBQ

I have been able to have many, many healthy BBQs with just Mike and close friends. In larger groups, though, it has been difficult to stop at just eating the healthy food.

With the recent release of the iPhone, I was tempted to dump my iPod Nano in favor of the shiny toy. Since the iPhone doesn’t work with the Nike+ (I FINALLY have an answer to that question), I thought that maybe I should switch to a REAL workout wrist computer like the ones available from Polar.

After reviewing their website and all the documentation, however, I am unconvinced it would be a proper replacement. The biggest advantage of the Nike+ system are the online challenges. You can challenge a friend who also has a Nike+ or join the many challenges against people in your own fitness level.

The Polar watches track MUCH more than the Nike+ system: Heart Rate, altitude, bicycling, and much more. Their computer system allows you to track this information, graph it out, and even upload it online, but there is no mention of any ability to compete with other Polar watch owners. I know the runners who use Polar outnumber the Nike+ owners, but Polar has no way of you contacting and competing with people of your same caliber.

It’s a huge loss for Polar, if you ask me. Their products are superior to the Nike+ system. If only they understood the competitive incentive of trouncing someone, they would allow me to compete.

Yet another reason to skip buying the iPhone and just stick with my iPod Nano. It looks like Apple is leaving Nike+ in the background. I hope Nike picks up the pace and keeps Nike+ alive with or without Apple.

If you would like to join a Nike+ Challenge, Starling Fitness sponsors several levels of challenges:

• Level 1: 0-10 miles a week
• Level 2: 10-20 miles a week
• Level 3: 20-30 miles a week
• Level 4: 30-40 miles a week
• Level 5: 40-50 miles a week
• Level 6: 50-60 miles a week

If you have a Nike+iPod, you can sign up for the weekly challenges here:

• Support Forums : Starling Fitness Weekly Challenge …

Telll me what level you would like to start at when you sign up and come run with us!

Last week, I wrote an entry about food snobbery and a lot of people disagreed. Honestly, I was pretty rude in that entry and I probably shouldn’t have accused anyone of being a snob. Of all the comments on my blog and Kate’s, the only one that stung was this one from Melissa on Kate’s blog:

I have a huge beef with people who write health blogs without credentials.

You know what? SO DO I. That’s why the comment stung.

All the other comments about how food is not just food had valid points and were interesting, but Melissa’s was the only one that felt like a pin sticking me in the butt.

What gives me the right to write a health and fitness blog?

I have a double major degree in Mathematics and Education, neither of which have anything to do with health, nutrition or exercise physiology.

The degree in Mathematics and my past work in a pharmacology research lab allow me to read technical journals, reports and statistics without getting muddled. I understand statistics and I understand how to lie with them. Too many companies out there are trying to lie with their statistics. Fortunately, I can see right through the lies and look at the numbers with clean eyes.

The degree in Education taught me how to write with clarity and teach subjects I know. After dealing with my eating issues for years, I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. I’ve tried so many things that I can spot bullshit a mile away. My education degree helps me share what knowledge I do have with a clarity that most scholars lose over the years.

All that just sounds like bullshit to me.

Yeah, pulling out my degrees that have been pretty much useless my whole career sounds like bullshit to me, too.

Honestly, I started Starling Fitness because all my talk about my own eating issues was taking over my personal blog and I just wanted to separate them. That’s how it started, but it has grown into something bigger. Sometimes it feels way bigger than I can handle, so I need to keep reminding everyone.

• I’m not a doctor.
• I’m not a nutritionist.
• I’m not a exercise physiologist.
• I’m not even skinny.
• I sometimes still end up bingeing to deal with my issues and that might never change for me.

All I can do is be honest with you about what I am so you won’t think I’m something that I’m not.

So, what gives you the right to write about health and fitness?

That’s the beauty of this medium. What gives me the right? I have a computer and I can put two words together. That’s the only right I need to start a weblog about health and fitness. Whether you read my words is your choice.

To the several thousand people who do read my words every day, THANK YOU. One of the things that took me back to Weight Watchers to deal with my bingeing AGAIN is the thought of not writing for you anymore. If I have ever helped you, please know that you’ve helped me threefold in return.

Alli is an over-the-counter weight loss drug that recently came out. There have been some commercials for it.

Unfortunately, the commercials don’t tell you about the embarrassing side effects. Even if you go to their website, they don’t give you full disclosure of the side effects.

This parody of the commercial is a little more honest, if not vulgar:

This video would have been MUCH more effective if it had only included the REAL side effects instead of adding all those fake ones. There are enough real side effects as it is. Here is the complete list of Alli side effects from Ask Doc Web:

• Abdominal discomfort or pain
• Anxiety
• Arthritis
• Back pain
• Diarrhea, generally mild and goes away
• Dizziness
• Earache
• Fatigue
• Fatty or oily stools – 20% of patients
• Fecal urgency or incontinence – 22.1% of patients
• Flu
• Gas with fecal discharge, generally mild and goes away – 23.9% of patients
• Gum problems
• Headache
• Increased defecation
• Incontinence (fecal) – 7.7% of patients
• leaky stools in some patients temporarily
• Menstrual problems
• Muscle pain
• Nausea
• Rectal discomfort or pain
• Respiratory tract infections
• Skin rash
• Sleep problems
• Stomach cramps
• Tooth problems
• Urgency to have a bowel movement
• Urinary tract infections
• Vaginal inflammation
• Vomiting
• Less common side effects may include dry skin, ear/nose/throat problems and joint disorders.
• Side effects that usually occur after the first year of treatment include depression, leg pain, swollen feet and tendonitis.

With all these risks, I can’t imagine why anyone is even buying Alli. I deal with symptoms very similar to this when I have an outbreak of IBS. I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy. Don’t spend your hard earned dollars to make yourself so sick that you will eat healthy.