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

Commenting on my entry about USA Today, Sarabeth said:

Sorry to say this, but that’s bollocks. Being overweight causes lots of problems. Anyone who has been overweight knows this. Okay, so obesity may not cost lives, but it does cost money in medical costs from treating high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, etc.

No one would have ever called me obese before I lost weight. I was only 15 pounds over a healthy weight, but even at a young age (and I’m talking 30) my body did not like being overweight. My cholesterol was high, now it isn’t. My arthritis in my feet was worse, now it is much better. I complained of being uncomfortable all the time, now I’m happy with how my body feels.

Sarabeth,

The truth of the matter is, there is no PROVEN fact that being overweight causes high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease or high cholesterol. There is some correlation with obesity and these diseases, but correlation does not mean causation. No matter how much they say it on television, it doesn’t make it true.

Obesity does NOT cause disease. There have been no studies that have shown that obesity causes any diseases. It may aggravate some, but that is an entirely different story.

We all need to have a discerning eye when we see these reports on the news. The major news outlets are owned by big businesses that have an invested interest in the insurance industry. The insurance industry is weighted with the high cost of health care right now and are desperate to find a scape goat.

The health insurance companies have chosen obesity as their scape goat. If we don’t get the insurance companies in line, they will be denying coverage to their paying members who are overweight. Mark my words.

I’m sure you feel better because you have lost weight. I feel better now that I’m thinner. Neither of our examples are PROOF that obesity causes disease. I am grateful that I am living life thinner and I encourage anyone who wants to take that journey to do so. Until there is a study that wasn’t funded by the insurance moguls that proves that obesity causes diseases, I’m not going to let them spout that rubbish. That’s what’s bullocks.

Laura Moncur

Historians have believed that Beethoven, Van Gogh, and even Mozart were insane. At times, they stifled their out of control emotions with drugs or alcohol, but most of the time, they only had their art to express their insanity.

For a lot of us, we use food to stuff down our out of control emotions. We aren’t even insane, yet we binge so that we don’t have to feel whatever we are feeling. I know that if I’m worried, stressed or feel threatened or unprotected, my urge is to binge on whatever food is around. It doesn’t have to be yummy, it just has to be there.

Lately, though, I’ve been thinking that I owe it to myself to deal with my emotions. If I sit down and write about my feelings, I usually end up with something that is worth posting on one of my websites. It’s better for me if I avoid stifling my emotions with my drug of choice: food.

What would our world be like if Beethoven, Mozart or Van Gogh had stifled their emotions with food? If they had been able to hide from their turbulent minds, would we have the timeless works of art that we have now? Probably not.

You owe it to yourself to deal with your emotions and stop using food to hide them. You owe it to humanity. Just think, there may be great works of art waiting to come out of you if you would only stop hiding behind this wall of fat.

Commenting on my Sexy New Diet Secrets entry, Brandi said:

i would like to know what jessica simpson did to look so good for the dukes of hazzard. i love her body. can you help me out

Brandi,

You obviously didn’t read the article.

EAT LESS. EXERCISE MORE.

More importantly, you need to examine your motives. You are here to be the best you can be. Trying to be a cheap Jessica Simpson rip off isn’t being true to yourself. Find out who you are and strive to be that instead of trying to fit into Jessica Simpson’s cut-offs.

Good Luck,
Laura Moncur

I’ve received the following comments on my entry about the Hungry Man Sports Grill:

Alison said:

Who cares how fattening it is; it tastes soo damn good. I am a girl and a college athlete, ha the other day I ate two haha. It has quickly became my new favorite TV diner. GO SWANSON

Matthew said:

This line is da bomb. All tv dinners suck but these are actually edible and the cheese fries are quite tasty, do em in the oven though the microwave just makes em soggy.

I really don’t know what to think about these comments. The one from Matthew is particularly interesting to me because he states, “This line is da bomb.” That sounds innocuous enough, but how many people actually think of groups of TV dinners as a “line”? Only marketing people and people who SELL TV dinners think of them as a “line”.

Are these comments just a ploy from Swanson to try to soften the hard truth that one of their products has as many calories and fat for an entire day?

There were so many gadgets at CES that I really felt overwhelmed with all of it. I was grateful to try out so many things that were previously just good ideas and pictures on the computer screen. There were lots of things that looked interesting to me and I really wanted to buy them. The truth of the matter is that when it comes down to exercise, motivation is the most important thing.

If a new toy like the gadgets that I played with at CES are something that will motivate you to exercise, then the investment is worth it. It’s difficult to tell how long these gadgets will continue to motivate you if you don’t have the motivation to keep fit on your own, though. Just like other exercise equipment that sits in the house and gathers dust, it won’t do you any good unless you use it.

In the end, if you are truly dedicated to your fitness, all you really need are a pair of tennis shoes. There are as many ways to get fit as there are people on this planet. Find your favorite and stick to it. No matter how much money you spend, you can’t get fit unless you’re willing to sweat. So, get out there and start sweating!

The final fitness gadget we found at CES was the NetAthlon software from FitCentric. They were demonstrating their product with a Nautilus treadmill as part of Intel’s booth. FitCentric also worked in conjunction with TacX on the software for their bicycle trainer. The software that FitCentric was demonstrating was much more basic than the TacX software. As you can see from the screen shot, the graphics are much more blocky and simplistic.

Despite the simple computer animation, the software did make running on the treadmill a little more compelling. The software places you on a track with several other runners. You can try to catch up to the ones ahead of you or slow down and run at whatever pace you decide.

The software was controlled by the settings on the treadmill. When I approached the treadmill, the Intel employee had it on a slow setting. The woman on the computer screen was walking on the track. You could see houses slowly go by.

When I got on the treadmill, I brought it up to running speed and the woman on the screen started running. The scenery moved past quickly. I really liked the idea of catching up to other people on the track and overtaking them. Something about that element of the game really appealed to me.

One strange thing that happened was the Nautilus treadmill was able to read the sensor from my Nike heart rate monitor. It displayed the correct heart rate on its dashboard. As you can see this is my heart rate when I first started running. Within seconds, I was up to 159 bpm testing the game. I already knew that running on a treadmill gives me a great workout, but the software was really inspiring. It didn’t convince me I was running a real race, but it was an interesting change of pace.

You can download the FitCentric software for a 10-Day Trial on their website. They have a selection of machines that their software works with. They also say that they have a “Wireless Retrofit” for bicycle trainers (such as my CycleOps trainer), but when I tried to purchase it, there was no way to buy it on their website. I sent them an email regarding this oversight and I received an email back saying that it’s not available yet. Since the website said, “Coming in 2005” and it’s still not available, I don’t think I’ll hold my breath. If you’re lucky enough to own one of the treadmills or stationary bikes that work with this software (see the list of Compatible Fitness Machines here), then FitCentric is a great deal at $99.95.

Click here to see the Fitcentric Website:

• FitCentric Website

Update 01-23-06: Their website says that their software, NetAthlon, might work with iFit machines, but after fighting with my free download and my NordicTrack treadmill, it looks like it will not work. I’m going back to using i2Workout. It has been great!

I talked about the Journey to the Wild Divine software almost a year ago:

• Starling Fitness » Exercise Gaming

Back then, it was just some software at an expensive price, but I was able to try it out at CES. The Intel booth had a couple of computers running this software, so I was able to spend a few minutes with it.

This software includes sensors that attach to your fingers. You control the environment in the “game” with the biometric sensors. You also interact with the software using your mouse. There is an introduction with the “gardener” of the area that introduces the concepts to you and tells you what you’re supposed to do at each level. She spoke very calmly and I found her voice to be as soothing as the new age music playing in the background.

The first level consisted of a pinwheel that was supposed to rotate when I took a deep breath. It would move, I would get excited about it moving and it would stop. The only way I could consistently make it move was if I talked to Mike about it. I guess I’m calmest when talking. How very apt.

The noisy Las Vegas Convention Center is the worst place on the planet to test meditation software. The few people who were willing to try the Journey to the Wild Divine were as equally unable to make the pinwheel move as I was.

Ironically, I really liked the “game.” The music in the background had a New Age feel and was relaxing. The “gardener” had a calm voice and was very clear about the objectives of the level. I don’t know if it’s worth the hefty price tag ($159.95). It depends on how much you are unable to relax on your own. For me, struggling with normal meditation felt about the same as struggling with the biofeedback. Since meditation is free, I’d have to choose that one.

Additionally, if you would like to listen to the music that is featured on the game, they sell the Wild Divine Soundtrack. You could purchase that and meditate with it for only fifteen bucks.

Click here for the Journey to the Wild Divine website:

• Wild Divine Home Page

GPS systems were featured heavily at CES, but only a few of the booths focused on the sports aspects of the tool. Most of the GPS systems focused on the automotive features, but NavMan had a whole section about fitness.

This unit is called the NavMan R300. It measures your speed distance and pace. It would work while running or on your bicycle. Unfortunately, there was no one at the booth to answer our questions about the product, so I have no idea about its performance in “urban canyons” and in heavy tree foliage.

It appears to be a little bulky on your arm, but no more so than an iPod Mini. Of course, it doesn’t play music, it just measures your progress. They didn’t have any units out that I could try on to see how they feel. All their products were behind glass, so I couldn’t even play with them to see if they were easy to use.

Without being able to get a close up view of them, I’m reluctant to recommend them. As always, you can track your course using the Google Pedometer, so that might be the best case scenario until something more portable comes along.

Click here to see the NavMan website:

• Sport.Tool R300 (Run) from Navman USA

Tacx, the maker of the virtual reality bike trainers, has released three DVDs that you can watch while you ride your bike on a normal bike trainer.

• Alpine Classic Marmotte – France
• Mallorca Tour – Spain
• Lombardy Tour – Italy

Each of these videos are $29.90, which is much cheaper than the $800 price tag for the virtual reality trainer for your computer. These DVDs might be a great compromise between true virtual reality and simulated reality.

Click Here for the Tacx Video Website:

• www.Tacx-Video.com

Mike and I were talking about people training for the Tour de France a few months ago. He actually suggested that it would be so cool if someone filmed video of roads and turned them into a game where you could ride your bike on famous bike courses. Tacx beat us to it and they have executed it well.

We talked about the Tacx VR bike trainers back in June, but seeing it in person really sells this product.

• Starling Fitness » TACX Virtual Reality Bicycle Trainers

You can choose your ride from a large selection of bike race courses. The screen shows you the elevation that you will achieve (it will increase the resistance on your bike when the elevation gets steeper). I chose a course in the Alps that is on the Tour de France.

Once you start riding on your course, you see a real video of the road that you would be riding on. You see cars pass you and the scenery is perfect. I was riding on a steep incline, so it was very difficult for me and got my heart rate far higher than it needed to be to get into the high intensity range.

I only lasted 3/4 of a mile at that intensity. There are easier courses, of course, but this gave me an idea of what it must be like for those cyclists to take on the mountains in Europe. The equipment seems well made. The bike trainer looks like it’s relatively easy to attach to your bicycle, even though it doesn’t have a quick release like my CyclOps trainer has.

I was really impressed with the Tacx employee demonstrating the product and I enjoyed playing with the software. They also make a trainer that includes the steering in the game, which is intriguing. I didn’t try that one out, but I watched another conventioneer try it. She dropped her player on his head. He just got back up on the bike and kept cycling. That’s the reason virtual reality is better than actual reality. A real wipe out on the trail involves picking gravel out of my bloody skin and hoping I don’t have a concussion.

Click Here to see the Tacx Website:

• Tacx – Discover a new way of cycling