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

The official times for the 5K haven’t been posted yet, but here’s a low resolution video that Mike took. I’m the one in the long-sleeved gray shirt.

I started and stopped my stopwatch correctly this time, and it said it took me 37:15 minutes to complete the race, which is 3 whole minutes longer than my best time.

It just goes to show you that you can’t cheat physics. If you want a good finish time, you have to put in the training time. There’s no way around it.

Update 06-04-06 11:42 am: The results are up online now. My official results are:

Race: Salt Lake 5K 2006
Name: Laura Moncur
City: Salt Lake City, UT
Bib Number: 20366
Sex: Female
Age: 37
Time: 37:16
Pace: 12:00
Place in Age Division: 79 out of 139
Place Overall: 1478 out of 2321
Place in Sex Division: 775 out of 1425

Ironically, this race would have earned me an A in my jogging class so long ago, but it’s not good enough for me. I’m racing again this August. We’ll have to see if I do better when I train.

This is old news, but it got me thinking. Justin Gatlin broke the 100-meter world record. His time was 9.76 seconds. The previous time was 9.77 seconds.

• ESPN.com – TRACKANDFIELD – Gatlin sets 100m world record at 9.76 seconds

That’s .01 of a second: one-hundreth of a second. What can you do in one-hundreth of a second? Break a record in track and field, I guess.

Today I run the Salt Lake City 5K. I haven’t been training for it. I haven’t even been running regularly. I’ve been slacking more than I want to admit. It’s not like I’m cross-training and riding my bike or swimming to protect my joints. I haven’t been exercising more than once a week, period.

So, I’m not expecting much from this race. My personal record (PR) is 34:15 minutes. This is not an amazing time. I haven’t quite got to the point were I’m actually competing in a race with anyone except myself. The Laura Moncur from 2004 trained a lot more for this race than I have, but something inside still hopes I kick her butt. I weigh less than the Laura Moncur from 2004. I regularly run faster. Somehow, I am still holding hope that I’ll beat that Laura Moncur from two years ago, even if it’s just by .01 of a second.

Wish me luck!

Via: kottke.org

The title on the US Weekly magazine said, “How I Got Thin.” Janet Jackson’s belly button stared back at me as I picked up the magazine. Do you want to know how Janet Jackson got thin? She ate less and exercised.

That’s about all I learned from that article.

Her diet consisted of meals sent to her every day and her exercise consisted of workouts with her trainer. She just did what the experts told her to do without cheating and she lost weight.

I thought to myself, “That’s useless advice for those of us who don’t have private chefs and personal trainers. What are we supposed to do?”

EXACTLY THE SAME THING.

I just need to do what the experts tell me to do and I’ll lose the weight.

Let’s face the facts. I KNOW what I need to do. I need to eat less calories than I expend. There are enough tools out there to tell me exactly what I need to eat to lose weight. There are enough websites out there telling me exactly what exercises I need to do. There is little doubt in my mind what I need to do to lose weight.

The hard part is doing what the experts tell me to do.

Getting different experts doesn’t help. They are either crackpots or they tell me the exact same thing, over and over. There are no exceptions.

Next time you’re feeling jealous of some celebrity because they lost a lot of weight using some expensive plan, remember. You can do it to if you’re willing to do exactly what the experts tell you to do.

Update 06-03-07: Janet has kept the weight off for a year. See more here:

• Starling Fitness – Janet Jackson Keeps The Weight Off For A Year

I’m pretty inspired by her.

Lucky for me, Maggie Mason reads Esquire magazine. She found an excellent quote from Tom Hanks.

• Mighty Girl – » Blog Archive » Lack

Tom Hanks spoke frankly about gaining sixty pounds for the movie Castaway:

“Eating everything you want is not that much fun. When you live a life with no boundaries, there’s less joy. If you can eat anything you want to, what’s the fun in eating anything you want to?”

When I have made my eating far too restrictive, I fantasize about being able to eat anything I want in huge quantities. If I’m not careful, this turns into a huge binge in which I actually do eat whatever I want in huge quantities.

The only solution I’ve been able to find is to eat whatever I want in SMALL quantities to prevent that binge. Tom Hanks is right. Living a life with no boundaries DOES create LESS joy. There are very real consequences to living life with no boundaries and they cause real pain. Learning to control myself has been the most joyful thing I could have ever done.

Don’t let it take 44 years before you realize how fantastic you are. Just think of the one thing on your body that you hate, whether it’s your butt, your nose, your irritating laugh, your ugly mole or your wandering eye. Whatever it is, it makes you unique. It’s what is about you that people love and they would miss if it disappeared.

Eating healthy and exercising isn’t about making your butt smaller. It’s about taking care of yourself so that you live a LONG time. The people in your life love the unique qualities that you have and they want you to stay in their lives for as long as possible. That requires that you eat healthy and exercise.

You are amazing just the way you are. Take care of yourself so you’ll stay around longer.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

This postcard from PostSecret made me want to stand up and cheer for the writer. Managing bulimia is an ongoing practice, but every day starts with that rededication. That was “The Last Time” can be a reality if you just nuture and love yourself.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

I created this exercise video for me. I hate to listen to exercise gurus talking while I exercise. All I wanted was to be able to run on the treadmill and imagine that I was walking on a beach or running through the woods or strolling through a botanical garden. I just wanted something that would be quiet and let me enjoy the walk on my treadmill and a little pretty scenery on the way.

Last time we were in California, I took my friend’s video camera and walked along the beach for over 45 minutes. The result is a new kind of exercise video for me and you to enjoy. It’s a quiet walk along the beach. All you hear is the ambient noises of the area. There is no coach talking over the sound of the waves. It’s just you, the water, the wind and the sea birds.

This video is only a minute and a half, but it gives you an idea of what you will see.

I want this DVD to get out to as many people as possible, so I’m selling them for $5 plus shipping. If you workout with it once, it’s totally worth the price. If you enjoy it twice, then I’ve completed my mission.

I love this video and have worked out with it several times. Mike, however, didn’t like it and stopped it five minutes into the video. I gave it to a few people to test, hopefully they will comment on what they liked and didn’t like here so you can hear it straight from their mouths.

The DVD is 49:13 minutes long and will be shipped via U.S. mail. For only five bucks, you can take a vacation on the beach whenever you want. If you want to buy one, click on this link.

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

Update 07-28-06: I just created a NEW video called Sugarhouse Walk. It’s way better than this one. Click here to find out more:

• Starling Fitness » Sugarhouse Walk: Another Walking Video

We have bulk pricing if you order more than one video.

Order Starling Fitness Walking Videos Here

I just want to give a great big hug to Mechanical Bunny for representing the plus sizes just as much as the other sizes on their website. Not only do they have the Plus Size section, they have the plus size models mixed in with the other clothes and accessories.

• Mechanical Bunny: Goth Punk Mod EGL Hippy Plus Size Clothing

When you think about it, it makes sense. You don’t really need a size 0 butt to model gothic hair scarves and other accessories. I just want to give Mechanical Bunny a some credit for being inclusive in their choice of models.

Thanks!

Chris Pirillo was another one of the amazing group of people that I met at SXSW this year. After evaluating his life, Chris realized that he had gained some weight and topped the scales at 178 pounds. Two months later, he was down to 149. Twenty-five pounds in two months is an amazing weight loss. Here’s how he did it:

• Chris Pirillo – Captain 149

Captain 149 lost his weight by limiting his calorie intake and exercising three times a week. That’s it. No two hour fasts with a tablespoon of olive oil. No silly powders or mixes. He just kept his calories below his expenditure and he lost weight. It works every time.

The hard part is following the program. Chris was motivated to be healthy and was able to get back to a healthy weight and lifestyle. You can do it do. All you need to do is DECIDE to do it, no matter what.

Via: Free Fitness Tips: Weight losing blogger

I buy a bottle of water at the gas station and quickly empty it because the warm sun has made me thirsty this season. Is it safe to refill it? What about washing it in the dishwasher? Will that make it leach carcinogenic compounds into my water like that email from my mom said it would? Should I just recycle it after its designated one-time use?

When I saw the emails about the carcinogens leaching into my water from my re-used water bottle, the first thing that popped into my head was, “baloney.” It took me a while to find the proof and the story behind it, but I did:

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Medical (Bottle Royale)

The idea that carcinogens leached into water bottles from the plastic they were made of was the basis of a study that was flawed and hadn’t gone through peer review before the media snapped it up. If there is no risk of cancer, what about bacteria?

U of MN Food Safety: Water Bottle Safety

There IS a risk of bacteria and germs with water bottles that are reused. The study referenced above was performed on water bottles from taken from 75 elementary school students, however. If you regularly wash your hands and bottles, you’re probably safer than most.

I’m from the school of “A Little Dirt Won’t Hurt,” but I realize that is probably not the best recommendation I could make to people. Can you reuse a water bottle without getting cancer? Yes. Can you get sick from it? Maybe. Should you worry so much about it that you’re washing the bottle with a bottle brush after each use? If you do, just buy a new bottle of water. It’s not worth the hassle if you’re going to be scared of getting diseases with each sip.

For me, I’ll keep reusing the Gatorade bottles and washing them in the dishwasher. If I contract a horrible disease, I’ll keep you updated.