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

This article talks about recent studies trying to find out why humans might eat too much. It’s not strictly about eating to survive. It’s not even about pleasure.

• Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments – Food Preferences

After tracking the correlation between obesity, depression and bipolar disorder, it seems like a strange conundrum:

“So what does all this mean? Perhaps, in the simplest terms, it’s that the tendency for unhealthy eating habits is less about eating to feel good, and more about eating in an attempt to not feel bad.”

I can say that is true for me. Whenever I’m tempted by bingeing, it is because I am trying to smother a negative emotion with food. Sadly, most of the time it doesn’t work and I end up with a binge AND the negative emotion.

These two articles from USA Today talk about a pilot program that Weight Watchers has been testing for two and a half years down in Florida. It’s a program for children.

• USATODAY.com – Good health starts at home

• USATODAY.com – Kids embrace better habits

The hair on the back of my neck started to rise and I could feel the anger when I heard about this. After reading the articles, however, it looks like Weight Watchers has a feasible plan that isn’t going to send children into bingeing like my grandmother did to me. Here are the basics:

• Parent attend several sessions a week, whereas, the children attend one session a week. The classes are meant to affect the parent’s behavior more than the children.

“Parents model (kids’) attitudes, values and beliefs about food and eating. For example, if parents believe a wholesome breakfast is important and eat one every day, we’ve seen that kids will, too.”

• The Parent sessions are like a normal Weight Watcher class, but the children’s sessions focus on portion control.

“The concept is that parents are the biggest influencers on their children’s behavior, and by educating, motivating and providing group support to them, they can make changes at home.”

• There are no weigh-ins for the children.

“Our goal is to have the children maintain or improve their percentile on weight charts as they grow.”

• The sessions for the children are taught by a specially trained coach who has specialized in child weight issues. This is important because children are different than adults. They have less control over their environment and there is the potential to wound them in ways that may take years to recover from.

On the whole, it sounds like a good program that might help more children than it will hurt. Weight Watchers can’t control what the parents do in their lives, but they can give the parents good options. It reminds me of the advice I gave about Childhood Obesity a while back.

• Starling Fitness » Childhood Obesity

Via: food museum blog: Weight Watchers Weighs in with Kids

I love this exhibit at the Scripps Aquarium near San Diego. Here is a review from someone who has been there:

• Dance Dance DNA Revolution – by Mathowie

“At the scripps aquarium near San Diego, they devote half the space to teaching kids about science. In a wing devoted to explaining gene expression they had some stuff about DNA and the coolest thing was this video game that taught you about building blocks of life, then proceeded to a real DDR game where you have to step to the DNA parts being shown on screen.”

“The best part was when one of the 20 amino acids were built, it would say the name. So you’d see A T T G C and so on… and then it would shout ‘Cysteine!'”

“It was mostly lost on the kids, who just wanted to play some DDR, but it was a very clever idea. My hat’s off to the scientists that came up with this idea.”

This isn’t the kind of thing that can promote very much learning or regular physical activity, but it does look fun. I love it when museum designers come up with inventive ways to teach concepts.

I still can’t imagine the marketing, even though I’ve read a transcript:

“Since NutriSystem, my sex life is excellent.”

He lost 62 pounds and now, sex is great. Quite frankly, I’m offended.

• CNN.com – NutriSystem lures men with pizza, sex – Jan 30, 2006

I don’t know which offends me more, the idea that fat people can’t have fulfilling and enjoyable sex lives or that women are so fickle that they would only have sex with men who are buff.

Quite honestly, I’m not their target market. After years of eating frozen dinners microwaved to soggy perfection, I reached a point where I couldn’t eat them anymore. I’ll never forget that lunch. I had microwaved my Lean Cuisine. It was lunchtime and I was starving, but I did not want to eat that microwaved lunch. I took a bite and the feeling strengthened. My stomach growled, but the smell of the processed food made me throw it away. I don’t think I’ve eaten a frozen dinner since.

A program like Nutrisystem would just cost me a lot of money and I would just throw their food away. I ate low calorie microwaved food for so long that I just can’t stomach it anymore, even if it’ll make my sex life better.

She was extolling the virtues of Curves. I nodded politely while she described the circle of machines and the overhead announcements when it’s time to change. There is one within walking distance of our houses, so I was interested. The idea of going to a gym that only allowed women sounded unpleasant to me, but I kept that opinion to myself.

“It only takes 30 minutes to go through the circle twice and then I’m done.”

I nodded and agreed, “Yeah, 24 Hour Fitness has something like that. All the blue and yellow machines are in a line and you go down the line working each part of your body. I like it. They’re good machines as long as there isn’t someone just sitting there like a zombie instead of moving on like they’re supposed to.”

“At Curves, there is something on the overhead speakers that tells you when you’re supposed to change.”

“What are the machines like?”

“They are hydraulic things. Kind of like what keeps the door closed. “ She pointed at my screen door and I nodded again. “When you push harder on them, they give you more resistance.”

“At 24 Hour Fitness, they are real machines with weights that you can set. I don’t know why I don’t go there and do the workout. It’s so close. I should really do some weight training. It’s the only thing I haven’t really worked on.”

The next day, I went to my gym and did the Xpress Zone workout. Two days later, I was popping ibuprofen to dull the pain. I forgot how much it hurts to start weight training. I have been working out twice a week now for two weeks. I haven’t seen any results yet, but it has only been two weeks. I am going to give it two months of consistency and see how much I like it. It’s the final piece of the exercise puzzle that I haven’t tried yet, so I’ll keep you updated.

This website has a homemade recipe that will make even the most severe prunophobe enjoy the dried fruit.

• The Food Section: Converting the Prunophobe

Based on his ingredients, I believe the serving shown would be approximately four WW Points (depending on the marscapone to prune ratio). If you have been eating on the bland side, this dessert might be the exotic taste you’re looking for.

This article from UCLA shows, point by point, exactly what I’ve been saying about the “obesity epidemic.” It’s a great read.

• News: ‘Obesity Epidemic’ Overblown, Conclude UCLA Sociologists – UCLA College

The media has been throwing around the word epidemic as if it were a fact, but the true definition of an epidemic is far different that what is actually happening in the United States.

“The term ‘epidemic’ refers to the rapid and episodic onset of infectious diseases and is associated with fear of sudden widespread death,” said UCLA sociologist Abigail C. Saguy. “Deaths attributed to obesity are calculated using odd ratios, which are often only slightly higher for those in the obese categories. This is a much looser use of the term ‘epidemic’ than, say, the flu epidemic.”

In fact, recent research has found no appreciable difference in mortality rates among fat Americans with a BMI less than 35. Only 6 percent of the American population fall into that category, Saguy points out. Many more medical issues pose a greater threat to more Americans, most notably malnutrition and smoking.

If you have been bothered by my entries about Fat Acceptance, here is something to help you get over your fear. The health care industry has been trying to scare you to sell you pills, surgeries and gadgets. Releasing the fear and accepting all people, including yourself, as you are is the first step to getting healthy without their expensive alternatives.

Via: Big Fat Blog: UCLA Soc: Epidemic Overblown

I never was able to do the purging after binges. I think that might have prevented me from eating as much. This postcard from PostSecret gives me a glimpse of what it would feel like if I had been able to make myself throw up.

I think this is a picture of a pregnant woman, but I am familiar with the feeling after a binge that makes your stomach feel bloated. There were times when all I could do was lay down after the binge. I am able to complete so much more in my life now that I’m not as obsessed with food. I wasted so much time lying on the bed when I could have been writing. I almost resent those bingeing years from stealing my life away from me.

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.

“Half of me want to lose the weight, but the other half wants to eat whatever I want whenever I want it.”

Have you ever felt like that? It feels like there are two people within you raging a war against each other. When I feel like this, I feel powerless against either one of them and I thought I just had to wait to see who was the strongest. Ever since January 2002, the half that wants to be at a healthy weight has won out, but there were some scary battles there for a while.

I’ve just recently found out that I don’t need to sit around and wait to see who wins the battle. I can affect things for the better and give the half of me that wants to be at a healthy weight a huge club to beat on my other half.

When half of me wants to be healthy and half of me wants to eat, I’ve found that something strange is going on in my life. I have started “weighing” things. Weighing health against cream cheese brownies. Or maybe I’m weighing the feeling of fitting into Seven Jeans against the “freedom” to eat whatever I see. When I am thinking like this, I need to tip the scales back to the health side and it usually takes a couple of things to do it.

• Kill the Deprivation: If I’m feeling deprived of cream cheese brownies, I need to find a way to work them into my diet. It usually only takes one or two servings spaced out over a couple days to kill the feeling of deprivation. If you find that you have been weighing your health against any food, it’s time to find a way to work it into your diet.

• Conquer the Boredom: I also find that I get into ruts. I find foods that are low in calories that taste good and fulfill my health needs and I eat them every day… for months. The last time this happened to me it was fresh, cut veggies. I was having all my vegetables in the form of fresh and raw vegetables. When I started adding cooked broccoli and vegetable soup to my diet instead of the raw veggies, I found that it was easier to enjoy my food. I’m sure you have found the perfect snacks to keep you satisfied, but if you eat them every day for months, you WILL get bored of them and this eating healthy thing will start feeling yucky.

• Feed My Head: Sometimes I forget why I eat healthy. It helps to go back and look at my old pictures to remember how hard it was to be fat. It also helps to read the newest health and fitness information. If I feed my head with images of healthy people and ideas for exercise, eating and health, it’s a lot easier to keep on track.

It takes all three of these things to tip the scales back for me. I’ve found that if I just do one or two of them, it’s not enough to tip the scales where they need to be. I need to bombard myself with all three techniques to get back on track. Give it a try and see if it’s a big enough club to beat into submission the half of you that wants to eat everything.

Christmas was kind of hard on me this year. I let my bingeing creep back into my life during those two weeks of holidays. After Christmas, I got right back to eating healthy, but then I started bingeing again in Las Vegas during CES. I have been eating healthy for a couple of weeks now, but it is going to take some time for me to get back to the weight I was before Christmas.

It’s kind of frustrating.

At one point, Mike and I were out to dinner with a friend visiting his family here in Salt Lake. I was out of control at the restaurant and I ordered a huge cheesecake. I mumbled to Mike, “Right after Christmas, I’m going to get back on track. I promise.” It was a comment meant for Mike, but our friend responded, “I know you will.”

I crinkled my forehead at him. “What?” I asked. He continued, “I know you’ll get back on track because you’ve done it before. You have kept this weight off for what… five years?” I nodded, even though it had only been four years. He continued, “You’re the only person I know who has lost so much weight and kept it off. I’m sure you’ll get back on track. That weight is never coming back.”

He seemed so sure of it that he actually convinced me. I work at eating healthy every day, but I am constantly watching to make sure that the weight won’t come back. It’s something I have been fighting against this whole time. Somehow, to him, I had proven myself and I was now a skinny person in his mind.

When am I going to be a skinny person in my own mind?