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

Are you tempted by exercise gadgets?

Do they help motivate you to do your workout?

For how long do they usually motivate you until you lose interest in them?

Has there been any gadget that has REALLY worked for you and kept you motivated for a long time?

What do you wish you hadn’t bought?

The Question of the Week is meant to be an Inner Workout for you. Find some time during the week and allow yourself to write the answers to the questions posted. You can write them on paper, on a word processor or here in the comments section. Whatever works for you as long as you do it.

Keep writing until you find out something about yourself that you didn’t know before. I’ve also heard that it works to keep writing until you cry, but that doesn’t really work for me. Whatever works for you. Just keep writing until it feels right.

Sometimes I think that “I don’t have time to exercise” is just an excuse. I find myself using that excuse, but there were times in my life when I was so busy and I was still able to fit in exercise. Here is how I did it:

• Schedule It In: When I worked two full time jobs, I treated my exercise time like an appointment. I needed to schedule my other plans around it. It really is an appointment with yourself. Keeping it will make your day go smoother because exercise can give you a peace of mind that is hard to obtain otherwise.

• Get It Done Early: I liked to do my exercise first thing in the morning because then my “duty” was complete and I didn’t have to worry about it the rest of the day. I know this doesn’t work for everyone, but it worked for me.

• Pack As Much Intensity Into A Short Workout: If you only have 20 minutes for your workout, make sure you’re working at the highest intensity that you can during that time. If you usually walk a certain distance in forty minutes, set a goal to do the same amount in your 20 minute workout. You might not be able to achieve it, but you will pack as much benefit into those 20 minutes as you can.

• Be Flexible: A workout doesn’t have to be forty minutes at the gym. It can be a 15-minute walk for your morning break, a 20-minute walk at lunchtime and a five minute stretching session right before bed. Be on the lookout for ways to exercise when you have a couple of minutes to spare.

“I’m too busy” is a common excuse that we give when we don’t really want to workout, but it’s just an excuse. If you are using that excuse right now, take a half hour and a piece of paper and write out all your feelings about exercise. You may find that you have other negative feelings about exercise that are interfering with your motivation. Until you move past those, you’ll never feel like you have enough time, no matter how many tips you follow.

I received an email from the makers of the Aquaclip asking if I would like to review them on my website. They sent me some Aquaclips for evaluation and I was excited to receive them in the mail.

When they came, I vowed to try the Aquaclip for an entire day, carrying my water around with me everywhere I went. That lasted for less than ten minutes. I walked out to the car, tried to sit down and the Aquaclip got in the way of my seatbelt, so off it went. I clipped it to my purse and that’s where it stayed until I got home and abandoned it on the counter. It stayed clipped to my purse pretty well, but not nearly as well as just throwing the bottle in the purse.

I guess the problem is, I’m not a “tucker.” I don’t tuck my shirts into my pants, so I really don’t have an exposed waistband or belt to hold an Aquaclip easily. It feels weird if I pull my shirt over the bottle and just as weird to have it pulled around it. Having water at my waist was uncomfortable for me, so the Aquaclip isn’t my thing.

I was worried that the Aquaclip would get in the way of drinking from the bottle, but it doesn’t. It works wonderfully as far as that is concerned. I was also worried that the bottle would jiggle around or fall off, but it didn’t fall off my waist or my purse the entire time I used it. It worked exactly how it is supposed to work, I just don’t want water on my waist.

Mike, however, really liked the Aquaclip. He’s not a “tucker” either, but he didn’t mind having his t-shirt pulled aside. He used the Aquaclip while running on the treadmill and he said it worked beautifully for him. He also found three places on the treadmill where he could hang his water bottle using the Aquaclip. He immediately took it outside to see if it would work in the car for a drink holder.

The Aquaclip didn’t work for me, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good product. It is well-designed and it works for its intended purpose. If you’d like one, they are only three dollars and can be purchased here:

Aquaclip water bottle holder – hands free beverage bottle carrier

Cool Hunting got a hold of screen shots and a bunch more information about the Nike+iPod.

• Cool Hunting: Nike x Apple = Nike Plus

It answered some of my questions that I had:

• The software IS a web-based program that syncs to the nikeplus.com website.

• You can get the input on your iPod screen. No word on whether you can turn off the voice response or not.

• It looks like you don’t have to wear Nike shoes for it to work, you just need to figure out how to put the sensor in your shoes.

I tried the pre-order again and it works now, but you HAVE to buy the shoes in order to buy the NikePlus kit. One-hundred bucks is just too much for a pair of running shoes.

It doesn’t look like Nike is charging a monthly fee to track your workouts online, but there is nothing that says that they don’t.

Yep, it’s true.

You can eat anything you want. You just can’t eat EVERYTHING you want.

You can eat anything you want and still lose weight. You just can’t eat everything you want.

You couldn’t even eat EVERYTHING you wanted if you tried. Believe me, I tried. No matter how much I ate, I still wanted to eat more. Since I can never satisfy my bingeing, it doesn’t matter that I eat light now. I didn’t feel satisfied when I tried to eat everything, so there’s no point in trying that again.

How do I eat anything I want and still lose weight? PORTION CONTROL.

If I want a Big Mac, I get a Big Mac and I eat a quarter of it. That was unheard of for me before I started eating healthy. If I ordered a Big Mac, I ate the whole thing, even if two bites filled me up. I was so disconnected from my body that I never knew when to stop. Now, I eat a few bites and leave it at that. I can buy myself another Big Mac if I’m hungry in two hours. They’re cheap.

Sometimes I eat two bites and bring the rest home. I eat a couple of bites for a snack later and the rest for dinner. Sometimes I don’t even need to eat it. Sometimes knowing that I can have carrot cake and it’s in the fridge for me is enough. Sometimes just buying the dessert is just as fulfilling as eating it ever was.

Next time you’re feeling deprived, remember this:

You can eat anything you want. You just can’t eat EVERYTHING you want.

If it really works the way the commercial says it works, then Nike and iPod are freakin’ geniuses. Seeing this commercial actually made me want to go on a run.

• NIKE+ : Overview

Here’s how it works: A $29 sensor is placed in the sensor pocket in the sole of your $100 Nike shoes. The sensor communicates with a receiver that attaches to your iPod. During your run, you are able to check your pace, distance and time of workout using your iPod. They call it the Nike+iPod Sport Kit.

After your run, you can sync your iPod up with your computer, tracking the distance, pace and time of your run.

Those are the basics. Their flash website is a little sketchy on the details. Here’s what I want to know:

• Can I put that sensor in my RYKA shoes? They fit me better, don’t give me blisters and don’t announce to the world that I spent too much money on my shoes.

• Will there be a version of this that I can just tie to the shoe laces of my own running shoes or are you going to force me to buy your shoes to use this?

• When I check my time, pace or distance, does it give me the information in audio form like the commercial shows, or is it on the screen of my iPod? Can I turn off the audio if I want to?

• When I sync to the computer, will it be with a software program on my computer or is it going to be some stupid web-based thing where I have to be hooked up to Nike’s website in order to track my progress? Can I choose?

• What is the software like? Is it like that dorky screen animation that the commercial showed or was that just for show? Can I print up my workouts and progress charts?

The Nike website is a little broken. It provides a link where you can pre-order the Air Zoom shoes and iPod Sport Kit, but when I clicked over to pre-order it, the website just said it was currently out of stock and wouldn’t allow me to do my pre-order. They dropped the ball on the whole “pre-order” idea.

I really like this idea, but I want more information. For thirty bucks, I was willing to order it basically site unseen, but their website foiled that sale. I guess I’ll see it when it actually becomes available.

Via: Reader submission – Matthew Strebe at SlashNOT!

See Also: Starling Fitness » More Info On the Nike+iPod

I’ve heard both sides of the argument. I’ve heard that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a benign sweetener that is less expensive for soda and snack makers to use to sweeten food. I’ve also heard that it is processed differently in our body than cane sugar, causing the so-called “obesity epidemic.” What’s the truth?

The Accidental Hedonist has a write up about the research and the controversy that sums it up pretty well.

• Accidental Hedonist – More on HFCS – Unanswered Questions

“The truth? Well, the truth is that we don’t know the truth. No one can say for certain that HFCS is better or worse than cane sugar. When we look to the Corn folks for information, all they point to is the fact that the FDA has allowed the use of HFCS, so it has to be safe, right?”

“Of course, that’s a bit disengenuous on the Corn folks’ part, because the FDA has NEVER tested HFCS, nor accepted any outsourced test results. The have deemed HFCS as “generally regarded as safe”, which essentially means that No one has been reputed to have died of the stuff.”

“Any excess of sweetener is a bad thing, whether it’s sugar or HFCS. The question that no one seems to be willing to answer is “Which is worse – Too much sugar or too much HFCS?” Until this question is answered, any indictment of HFCS is premature.”

Instead of checking to see whether your soda contains HFCS or cane sugar, limiting your intake of soda is probably the best bet until we are able to find the truth. Fill your glass with water and you won’t go wrong.

Via: Boing Boing: Is high-fructose corn syrup the devil? Yup.

When I saw this postcard on PostSecret, I realized the truth: every moment is an infinite moment. We only need to recognize it.

Next time you’re feeling down, remember. In this moment, you are infinite. You can achieve anything and you have the time to do it. Stop doing things that don’t matter to you. Stop wasting your infinity and start using it to create joy in your life.

You can do it!

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.

It appears that anorexia is just as hard to deal with as bingeing. This postcard from PostSecret reminded me that I’m not cured of my bingeing, I just manage it. Every Day…

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.

Fast Food Nation was the book that inspired Morgan Spurlock to go on his McDonald’s binge for 30 days. It is a non-fiction book that talks about the fast food industry.

Fast Food Nation has been fictionalized and a movie starring Greg Kinnear is coming out this fall. You can read more about it here:

• Fast Food Nation the Movie

I haven’t seen the movie, so I’m eagerly awaiting it. I know that I was offended by Morgan Spurlock myopic view of McDonald’s. In Super-Size Me, he didn’t even try to eat healthy. He says he ended up eating everything on the menu, but it looked like he concentrated on the most high-calorie items for the bulk of his meals. He was destined to gain weight with a diet like that.

Based on the movie trailer, it looks like Fast Food Nation has the same bias. I guess I just have to wait to see it.