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

This story at BBC News says that when you focus on what your muscle is doing, you exert more energy than when you just perform the move.

• BBC NEWS | Health | ‘Mind control’ over muscle power

Here is how the scientists tested their theory:

The team wired their subjects up to weight machines which monitored levels of electrical activity in their biceps and asked them to think in two different ways while exercising.

The more electrical activity measured – the more the muscle is doing.

When subjects were asked to focus on what their muscles were doing and how they were working there were significantly higher levels of electrical activity.

But when they were asked to visualise lifting the weight, electrical activity was lower.

If you focus on the muscle, it will work harder. If you focus on hitting a ball correctly, it will direct the ball better. This is one reason why running on the treadmill with the television distracting me might not be as good as exercise as when I’m outside running. I have nothing else to focus on but my muscles.

Via: Meriblog: Meri Williams’ Weblog » links for 2006-03-31

As part of video-blogging week, Michael Verdi posted this video about running.

• MICHAEL VERDI » Running

His daughter just joined Track, so he thought he would start running again. Much to his surprise, it was a little harder than he remembered.

These bowls from Mesu are sized for portion control. They range in sizes from 1/2 cup to 2 cups and after using them for a couple of months, you should be easily able to estimate portions when you’re at a restaurant.

• Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women – Mesu Portion Control Bowls

It took me months before I was able to estimate a 1/2 cup of rice or noodles. Even now, I break out the measuring cups so verify that my eyes haven’t made the portions “grow.” If you have been lax about measuring your portions lately, maybe it’s time to have a refresher course for a week or so.

Peter Jackson, the brilliant director behind the Lord of the Rings, has lost a lot of weight. Based on some estimates, he has lost 70 pounds. The news people clamored for an answer. How had he lost the weight?

• Peter Jackson sheds weight – Yahoo! News UK

• What’s the Peter Jackson Weight Loss Secret? Introducing the Skull Island Diet

• IFILM – Viral Video: Comic-Con 2005: Jack Black on Peter Jackson’s Weight Loss –

Yogurt and muesli.

That’s it… He stopped eating fast food and traded it for yogurt and muesli.

Sometimes the answers to our problems are so simple that we can’t see them. He simplified his eating, ate often and worked like a dog on his next film, King Kong. Sometimes having something that you are dedicated to can help the rest of your life in ways that you never imagined. You don’t need a fancy DIET. You need a passion.

What’s your passion? Find it today and use it to help you get to your healthy weight.

Via: Shortpacked!

Mike was out of the house and I was struggling. I wanted to binge while he was gone and couldn’t see me. I sat down with my camera and had a 33-minute conversation. Here is the 1:48 minutes that are worth listening to.

I wish I could say that I’m completely over bingeing, but I’m not. It’s easier today than it was five years ago, and I’m hoping that it will be easier tomorrow than it is today.

This photo of Christina Milian was an entry in the Photoshop contest, Worth 1000. The picture is done so well, however, that I wouldn’t be surprised if it showed up in a woman’s magazine. Of course, the author of the article would be “concerned” for Christina’s health and have an entire sidebar about corseting.

Next time you look at the pictures in women’s magazines, remember that with digital photo editing, artists today can make almost anything look real. Don’t believe everything you read or even see. Eating good food and exercising is about getting our bodies healthy, not living up to some ideal that may or may not even exist in reality.

To see the full size photo and the rest of the entries for that contest, click here: Worth1000.com | Photoshop Contests | Celebrity Sideshow 7

After a hiatus, I popped in Yourself! Fitness into my old Xbox and did an intense 60 minute workout. I thought it would be easy on me because I’ve been weight training on my own for the last two months, but Maya was able to give me a challenging workout and I felt it in muscle soreness the next day.

I was wondering what is going on with Yourself! Fitness and responDESIGN because it has been well over a year since they have produced anything new. Are they going to release a new version for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3? Are they working on a more realistic Maya with changeable outfits? How about a sensor that can read the signal from your heart rate monitor and adjust the program accordingly? Even a version where we stretch more than just our quads and hamstrings would be nice.

After looking at their website, I was shocked to see that not much had changed. They still have a rabid fan base in the forums asking questions just like mine, but no one is there in an official capacity answering them. In fact, it took a lot of digging for me to even find any answers of any sort. Here’s what I found:

According to a press release buried deep in responDESIGN’s website, the original Yourself! Fitness will work on Xbox 360: Press Release: Yourself! Fitness compatible with Xbox 360: Only fitness game for all audiences among 200 titles

That’s it. No announcements about anything new in the works. Not even an easy way to link to their press release because of their broken Flash-based website. So, they are abandoning their fanbase in the forums AND not even bothering to advance their product. That’s a shame because the original Yourself! Fitness was a great starting point and I was excited to see what the future held. Too bad it looks like the future brought a sad sizzle instead of a burning fire of innovation.

See other entries about Yourself! Fitness:

• Starling Fitness » Yourself! Fitness for the Xbox

• Starling Fitness » Silver Status on Yourself! Fitness

• Starling Fitness » Yourself! Fitness for Playstation 2

• Starling Fitness » Gold Status on Yourself! Fitness

• Starling Fitness » Workout 35 on Yourself! Fitness

It seems that no matter who you are, there are people who take things to an extreme. WaiterRant talked about his experience at the health food store the other day.

• waiterrant.net » Soy People

Waiter works at an upscale Italian restaurant, serving high calorie food all day long. There, he meets with food extremists on the other side of the spectrum from the people he encountered at the health food store.

“You know, this may be a health food store but many of the customers look pasty, thin, and weak – the very opposite of healthy. Some of them look like they’re five minutes from fertilizing one of those local organic farms.”

Remember, eating is about enjoyment AND health.

Braidwood has an excellent entry about loving her new-found body. She has been eating intuitively, which has given her a voluptuousness that she didn’t notice before:

• Braidwood’s (B)log: Like butta’, mmmm… maybe a little more like jello

She is enjoying her body right now. This is exactly the sort of Inner Workout that I am advocating. Assessing yourself and loving yourself just as you are.

“I think my current pride in my girth is the closest I’ve come to understanding some men’s pride in their package. It’s like a female version of machismo.”

Bookmark Braidwood’s entry and next time you’re feeling down on yourself, read it.

On another note, today is Braidwood’s birthday, so go there and wish her a happy one!

For the last couple of days, I’ve been talking about a book I found called Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. How does flow relate to exercise? You’re in luck, it’s one of the best things about exercise.

Physical activity is one of the easiest ways to get into flow. Sports have so many of the requirements of flow. Exercise is a task that we have a chance of completing. It requires concentration and most sports have clear goals. Physical activity also provide immediate feedback (whether you’re falling down, performing the move correctly or concentrating on your form).

What if you’ve never experienced flow while exercising?

Guess what, it can still happen to you. The most important thing is to have clear goals. For example, if you choose to run, your goals could be to complete a certain mileage in a set amount of time. You can keep increasing the mileage to keep the activity challenging.

If you chose inline skating for your physical activity, it’s pretty clear if your goals have been met. Are you still on your feet? Good job! If you’re not, your goal should be to fall down less next time you exercise. The same goes with roller skating, riding a bike, riding a skateboard, skiing or snowboarding. Once you’re able to stay on your feet (or board), then you can work on speed and agility. There are so many goals to achieve with these sports.

Weight training is another activity that is VERY measureable. Every workout in which you are able to raise the weight you’re lifting, even if it’s by only 2.5 pounds, that’s an achievement. I have to admit that I have really enjoyed watching the plates stack up on the bench press bar.

No matter which activity you choose, if you set clear goals for yourself, you’ll be that much more likely to get into flow. Keep upping the difficulty and you will have an exercise that you can enjoy. Instead of going to the gym thinking of drudgery, you will be excited to see if you can beat your previous best.