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

A while back, I wrote an entry about exercise:

• Starling Fitness » How To Find An Exercise That You Will Love

Just last week, I had a comment left on that entry from Mysti:

“Hi I am starting to begin working out again and one of the reasons I quit last time is because I didn’t like my workout. Does anybody have any ideas of some really fun excersizes?”

I because exercise enjoyment is such an individual thing, I really didn’t have an answer for her, so I’m opening up the forum to you:

What exercises do you do?

Are they fun?

What is fun about them?

Why do you like to do them?

Answering these questions on the comments will not only help Mysti, but they will help you, too. If you have to answer, what is fun about your exercise and you don’t have anything to say about it, maybe it’s time to find a new one. If you have a lot to say, that’s wonderful. You suddenly have a list of things to remember about your favorite activity when you’re not feeling like getting started.

My SELF magazine came with a supplement this month called Fashion Rocks. I pulled it out and walked to the recycle bin (those supplement things are ALL advertisment, no point reading it), but the girl on the cover caught my eye. The waif standing next to Jamie Foxx was Beyonce Knowles.

Beyonce was the girl who was happy to have “a little junk in her trunk.” She was never fat and her bottom was the envy of women all across the nation. Now, she’s just another stick with arms so skinny they look like teenaged boy arms.

How did she do it?

Apparently, she is touting the Lemon Juice and Maple Syrup Diet.

• Diet of maple syrup the latest celebrity fad – 16 Aug 2006 – Lifestyle & Leisure

What few people are quoting is the side effect of a fast such as this. Beyonce lost the weight for a movie role. Here is her account of her eating after the movie was finished:

“At the wrap party the day after filming they had these cupcakes and I ate about twelve.”

“After that I ate waffles, fried chicken, cheeseburgers, french fries, everything I could find.”

“That was the best time of my life. I’ve gained twelve pounds.”

Don’t be fooled by these fad diets. They do make you lose weight because of the calorie deficit, but the risk of bingeing afterward is so great that it’s not worth it. Choose a healthy diet with a moderate calorie deficit and you will lose the weight AND keep it off.

Via: Diet Blog: The Maple Syrup Diet Fad

Keith left a comment on this old entry.

• Starling Fitness » The Biggest Loser: That’s it?!

Keith said,

“Bottom line is that they will not possibly be able to keep the weight off, if your losing 10+ pounds in a week then you will put it on then some after a few months.”

Sorry, Keith, but you’re wrong. Do you know how I know you’re wrong? A lot of the people in the original Biggest Loser, who also lost 10 pounds a week, have not gained the weight back. They have made permanent changes to their lives.

The “You’ll Gain It Back” argument has been thrown at me so many times by so many people that I don’t even listen to it anymore. It’s the excuse that people say when they are jealous of your weight loss. It’s the “friendly” warning that they give you when they think you’re losing too fast. It’s the admonition they say when you are thinner than they think you should be.

Don’t listen to them.

Worse still, the “You’ll Gain It Back” argument is something that I say to myself when I’m not feeling like following the program. I say, “What’s the point? It’s impossible to maintain at this weight. I’ll just end up fat like I was before.” Sometimes it’s harder to disregard these words because they are hiding within myself.

Don’t believe the “You’ll Gain It Back” argument. It’s not true. If you eat healthy and exercise, you will maintain the loss.

This band, OK GO, has a unique video for their song, Here It Goes Again. They look like they are having so much fun with these treadmills.

Next time you look at your treadmill, dreading the workout, dial up OK GO on your iPod and pretend that you’re playing on your treadmill just like they do in their video. Do some different moves on the treadmill and enjoy yourself just like they did.

Via: SOUND-OFF :: OK Go on Treadmills

Update 08-19-06: Wendy Bumgardner, from About.com, pointed out some treadmill workouts that may let you have just as much fun with your treadmill as these guys from OK Go:

• Jumping Intervals on the Treadmill

• Walking and Jogging Backwards on the Treadmill

I’ve talked a lot about the Nike+iPod, but it isn’t the only fitness oriented MP3 player out there. Sony is working on an MP3 player called the Sony NW-S200 Walkman. Is it really good for running? Read my thoughts on the Gadgets Page:

• The Gadgets Page » Sony’s Answer To The Nike+iPod

As much as I would like to be able to recommend a couple of different products, it just seems like the Sony Walkman was designed by someone who doesn’t run.

“Sadly, it seems that this MP3 player for athletes was designed by someone who has never gone on a run in their life. The reason the Nike+iPod is so cool is that it’s so easy to use. In my entire review of the product, I didn’t touch once on how to use it because it was so intuitive. It makes me feel sorry for Sony because they just don’t understand it.”

Until Sony learns what we need, I’ll just keep running with the Nike+iPod. It has kept me running on a regular basis and entertained me along the way.

A lot of research is being done on something called Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, or NEAT. It is being performed by a doctor, James A. Levine, M.D. You can see the Mayo Clinic abstracts here:

• The Mayo Clinic – About NEAT

The idea is that it is possible to burn a lot of calories over the day just by fidgeting. Being unable to sit still is actually a good thing when it comes to staying thin. His philosophy is that moving around throughout your day is a way to keep healthy and strong. He hasn’t proved it yet, but he is working on it right now with research.

Until then, how can we fidget productively?

• Every few minutes get up from your desk and walk around the office. Get a glass of water, go to the bathroom or even just stand up and jog in place. If you are tied to your desk, you can still just stand up and stretch.

• Set up an elevated desk in which you can work by sitting or standing.

• We worry so much about efficiency. Stop it. If it takes you three trips to the counter to get what you need, that’s actually better than getting it all in one trip.

• Bounce your leg while you’re sitting. Lift your arms over your head and stretch every few minutes. Roll your shoulders. Any activity burns a few calories. Take the times when your computer is loading a page, compiling a program or saving a document to fidget.

I’m sure Dr. Levine will have an entire program to teach you how to fidget productively and burn calories while you work. Until then, just remember to keep moving.

V is a freelance architect who wanted to have a healthier life. She saw the treadputer ideas and decided to try it on her own. Documenting her journey (and the cost) she has started her own weblog about the process.

She found a used treadmill on Craigslist for $200 and her bulky CRT monitor didn’t work on the shelving, so she has purchased a LCD monitor for only $119. That and a little shelving and she is ready to walk and work.

She has used a monitor splitter so she can work at a desk (work top) if she needs to or work on the treadmill.

V talks about some of the logistics of walking while working:

“The other thing I’ve noticed is, when I get focused on something, I tend to forget to walk. It’s a good thing this machine has one of those thingies that hooks to your clothes and will pull out and turn off the machine if you get too far away from the console.”

I’m interested to see if she is able to draft while walking. Drafting takes a certain precision when using the mouse, so learning to do that while keeping active will be a challenge. If you are considering setting up a treadputer workstation, keep reading her weblog to see how she is able to handle the logistics of working while walking.

Update 08-18-06 12:12 am: Sadly, it looks like V has deleted her weblog.

Joanne Colan, from Rocketboom, learned how to race walk with Stella Cashman and Leo Romero of The Park Race Walkers in New York City. Race walking is an Olympic sport with strict rules defining it versus running.

You can also see the video here:

Rocketboom – August 4, 2006

The benefit of race walking is that you can reach running speeds without the jarring impact of running. It works an entirely different set of muscles than regular walking and running, so that makes it a great cross-training activity so you don’t overwork your body.

For more information about Race Walking:

• Race walking – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Racewalk.com – Introduction to Race Walking Technique

• North Amercian Racewalking Foundation – Home Page

Josh Leo has been trying to figure out why people feel so passionate about sports. He went to a hockey game and was bored, so he thought he’d try to participate in sports to see if that would create a passionate experience for him.

Josh Leo’s Vlog » Josh on Sports – Part 2

I love his final decision on the process:

“I think it’s pretty clear that this isn’t working out. I don’t think that playing sports badly is the best way to get an understanding about the passion that people have for sports.”

He’s right. Passion for sports is not about playing sports so much as being part of a tribe. If you don’t feel connected to your local hockey or basketball team, sports will hold little interest for you. So, the question still remains, if you have never enjoyed sports, how do you get excited for exercise?

Exercise and being active doesn’t have to happen in a sports environment. It also doesn’t have to happen at a gym. You can increase your activity just by changing your life a little bit. Here are a few ways to keep active without resorting to sports:

• Once a week, walk to the grocery store to get your groceries. Only buy as much as you can carry in two bags.

• Once a week, find an alternate route to work that doesn’t require your car. Even if you live too far from your work to walk or ride a bike, there are still alternative routes for you. You could take public transportation. The walk to and from the bus stops will add activity to your day.

• Get an active job. You might not want to give up your lucrative day job, but a part time job that is active (like at a department store stocking shelves) will not only bring in extra money, but move you in ways that you aren’t used to.

Just because sport is the method that so many people use to increase activity, doesn’t mean you have to resort to that option. There are as many ways to exercise as there are people. Go find your own favorite!

Threadless is a strange company. They let anyone post a design for a t-shirt on their website. They let anyone vote on the designs. If the design gets enough votes, then they will actually make t-shirts with that design on it. The person who designed it, gets a $2000 prize. How’s that for cool?

The above photo is a t-shirt design that is currently being voted upon. It’s called Heart Attack! and it’s a pretty accurate depiction of what fast food does to your body. The little hot dog and hamburger look so mean. They’re just going to beat that heart into a bloody pulp.

If you’d like to vote for this t-shirt, you can do so here (registration required):

• Threadless T-Shirts – Heart Attack!

The best thing about Threadless is that they carry plus sizes for their cool shirts. The Girly T runs a little small, even in XL, but the regular t-shirt size comes in a generous 2X size. They allow their users to post pictures of themselves wearing the t-shirts, so you are able to see what it would look like on you. I find this particularly valuable when I am wondering how the shirt will look on a woman with ample breasts. I hate it when you can’t even tell what’s on the shirt because half the design is on the underside of my boobs.

If you are threadless, be naked no more and get yourself a t-shirt!