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

Laura,

How do you decide which to do? Flex Points or Core Plan?

Lisa

Lisa,

For me, it was a really easy decision. I was starved as a child, so any diet that restricts which foods I can eat, immediately throws me into Starvation Mode. If I can’t work a treat into my diet, then I might as well not diet because I will only be able to stay away from the restricted food for so long before I end up bingeing.

Of course, when I first started Weight Watchers, they didn’t have the Core Plan, so I really didn’t have a choice when I was learning good habits. Fortunately, that was really good for me and my history with food. I used to save up my points for those treats that used to be restricted on other diets.

Now, however, I might as well eat on the Core Plan. I follow the nutrition advice so closely that switching over to the Core Plan would not be an issue for me. There is that psychological issue, however, where I am scared that I might switch over into Starvation Mode if I realized that food was restricted for me. Even though I eat Core Foods ninety percent of the time, I don’t think I could ever follow the Core Plan.

Good Luck, Laura Moncur

Because of the lawsuits pertaining to ephedra, Metabolife is filing for bankruptcy:

• Metabolife Bankruptcy Files

Don’t let yourself get taken. Best case scenario, they steal your money. Worst case scenario, they damage your health and go out of business before you can sue them. The bad news is: there is no magic food, pill, patch or excercise machine. The good new is: all you need to lose weight is within you. You can do it on your own without them.

Via: Consumer Health Digest, September 13, 2005

In June 2004, I did a review of a program called i2Workout. It was a program that can make what’s like an iFit CD that will control your treadmill (or elliptical trainer or exercise bike). I used it quite regularly on my old treadmill, running it directly from the computer. It controlled the speed and incline of my treadmill and I was able to create a workout without pushing the buttons a million times.

This program was created by Mike Curiale. He seemed like a genial fellow in the few emails that we exchanged. Unfortunately, he has dropped off the face of the earth. My emails to him have gone unanswered and eventually, they started bouncing because the mailbox was full.

• i2Workout Treadmill Workout Development and Control Program

You’ll notice on his website that he has removed his program from his website, so it is impossible to download it anymore. I have received some emails from people who read my review, wondering if I would be able to give them a copy.

Fortunately, it looks like WinSite has a mirror copy of the download:

• WinSite: i2Workout

Make sure you read Mike’s website so you can install it correctly. I haven’t tried the program that WinSite has available, but if it’s anything like the version I have, it will be easy to use and very helpful.

I have heard the idea that food addiction is similar to drug or alcohol addiction. These researchers are measuring brain activity and the reactions of it in relation to addiction.

• Science News Online – Food Fix: Sept. 3, 2005

It looks like addiction causes the same activity in the brain, whether it’s for food or drugs.

“This is consistent with the idea that cravings of all kinds,” (whether for food, drugs, or designer shoes) “have common mechanisms,” says Pelchat.

The only problem with this is that I can’t quit food cold turkey. I’m well-aware of the fact that I use food like an addictive substance, but I can’t stop eating. Worse still, I don’t believe in a god, so those twelve-step programs are useless on me. I’m not turning my addiction over to an imaginary friend.

All that I’m left with is consciously dealing with the things that lead me to overeat. Dealing with the problems and the emotions that make me want to turn to food has been the only way I have been able to stave off the bingeing.

If you find you have this problem, try reading Losing Motivation. This is how I deal with the times when I feel like bingeing.

Via: Mind Hacks – Addicted to food?

There is a scene in Back To The Future II where Michael J. Fox falls into water. His futuristic clothing makes itself dry with a rush of air. The University of Bath is trying to make clothing that dries itself out.

• University of Bath – Intelligent clothing inspired by pine cones

It will use a reaction to humidity (from sweat) to open its tiny fibers, allowing more air into the garment. It sounds really cool and when it comes into existence, I’m sure that all the running magazines will tell you that you can’t go for a run without it.

Just remember that people lose weight running in cotton shirts and Payless Shoe Source tennis shoes all the time. All it takes is dedication and moderation.

Via: Hautegear » Intelligent clothing inspired by pine cones

I think the reason that Weight Watchers worked so well for me is because I approached it so slowly. I didn’t dive into it like I usually did with most diets. My sister lost 25 pounds on Weight Watchers and she told me that as long as I stayed within my points, I would lose weight. I believed her and I didn’t pay much attention to the eight good health guidelines.

Guess what? I lost weight. As long as I kept my points within my range and was honest about what I ate as far as portion sizes, I lost weight. As I continued with the program, I slowly added the good health guidelines to my diet. I never suffered from “Fiber Overload” or stressed too much about “Getting My Water In.” I just slowly adopted all the recommendations given to me instead of jumping in and making all those changes at once.

I think that’s why I was able to make the change. Whenever I tried other diets, I jumped in full steam ahead. It was so difficult to make all the changes that needed to be made that I usually gave up within a couple of weeks. So, what does this mean to you?

How To Make Small Changes In Your Lifestyle: (more…)

The FTC is working diligently to protect you from fraudulent weight-loss claims, but these companies are breeding faster than they can cut them down.

• FTC – FTC Stops Weight-loss Claims about Seaweed-based Patches

• FTC – Canadian Marketers of Fraudulent Weight-Loss Products Pay Redress to Settle FTC Charges

Companies, individuals and products mentioned in these articles:

• Hydro-Gel Slim Patch
• Slenderstrip
• Kingstown Associates, Ltd.
• BVW Associates, Inc.
• Gary Bush; David Varley
• Laurence White
• The Fulfillment Solutions Advantage, Inc.
• The FSA Group
• International Access
• Beauty Visions Worldwide
• Slimshop
• Robert Van Velzen

There is no magic pill, food, patch, or exercise machine that can make you thin unless you make changes to your diet and exercise levels. If you are going to make changes to your diet and exercise, do it by yourself and don’t waste your money on products that haven’t been proven. At best, they steal your money and leave you fat. At worst, they injure your health or kill you.

Via: Consumer Health Digest, September 20, 2005

I’ve never written a poem to a tomato. I love to eat them, but I’ve never felt the need to place them in a pretty setting, take a picture of them and then write a poem to them. Thank the stars that Dakota did:

• Dakota – Heirloom Tomatoes

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we truly appreciated the lovely food that it has to offer us? Why haven’t I written a poem to a tomato? There were many times when I was starving in Billings, when a plain boiled potato tasted like sweet sustenance. Once, I was so hungry, I ate a huge zucchini the size of a small watermelon. It was probably a total of 100 calories, but I was stuffed and full when I was done. Why didn’t I ever write a poem to that monster of a zucchini?

To learn more about heirloom vegetables and gardening: Wikipedia – Heirloom plant

In this Ask MetaFilter thread, someone wants to know why the food at their favorite restaurant makes them feel full despite the small quantities. He even goes so far as to wonder whether they’re adding some mysterious “fullness powder” to the food.

Imagine the demand for such a powder if it existed! I’m not sure why restaurants would use it—they want you to eat more food, after all—but you could make a killing selling it to dieters.

Sadly, the consensus seems to be that a less mysterious substance is causing the feeling of fullness: butter—lots of butter, and other fats. Someone posted this great quote from Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain:

“Butter. I don’t care what they tell you they’re putting or not putting in your food at your favorite restaurant; chances are, you’re eating a ton of butter. In a professional kitchen, it’s almost always the first and last thing in the pan. We saute in a mixture of butter and oil for that nice, brown carmelized color, and we finish nearly every sauce with it (we call this monter au buerre); that’s why my sauce tastes richer and creamier and mellower than yours, why it’s got that nice, thick, opaque consistency. Believe me, there’s a big crock of softened butter on almost every cook’s station.”

While this might be a good reason to avoid eating out too often, I think there’s another message here: the low-fat (or no fat) diet foods aren’t always good for making you feel full, so you might want to try a bit of butter to add bulk to a meal. Just don’t use as much as your favorite restaurant uses…

This secret from PostSecret isn’t the first time I’ve seen this phenomenon. I’ve had it said to me with a straight face in hushed tones. I’m part of the converted now, so the voice looked at the fat women across the room and whispered to me, “Don’t you find it harder to tolerate fat people now?” I clenched my jaw, crinkled my brow and shook my head at her. After suffering the torment of children and teens during my formative years, I have a hard time understanding what skinny people find they have to “tolerate.”

I truly believe that those thin people who resent fat people are the ones that got to their goal weight and maintain it using brute force. They never solved the issues that made them turn to food, so it is always a temptation to them. They never learned how to eat moderately with joy, so food is constantly a source of stress for them.

They imagine that fat people can just eat whatever they want whenever they want. They imagine that fat people never have to stress out about their clothes fitting. They imagine that fat people never have to break a sweat. In essence, they have completely forgotten what being fat is like.

When I was overweight, I constantly monitored my food. I was always on a diet or bingeing after one. It is actually easier for me to eat now than it was when I was fat. When I was overweight, I couldn’t find cute clothes to fit me, much less worrying whether my $300 jeans would still fit. Those designers never even considered that I might want to buy a pair of $300 jeans. Buying clothes and fitting into them is much easier now. When I was overweight, I exercised more than I do now. I would run HARD and be in pain for days afterward. Even climbing the stairs was a major feat for me. Exercise was just getting my body out of bed and showered, sometimes. I broke a sweat all the time. Now, I’m cold all the time and my exercise is much more moderate. Climbing the stairs doesn’t work me out anymore and when I go to the gym, I’m ignored instead of stared at.

If you find that you are intolerant of the obese, you better watch out. It’s the first step going back to the way you were. You imagine that fat people have a life that is easier. You think that they don’t need to work as hard as you did to get thin and forget how hard it was just to survive in this prejudiced world.

Of course, my reaction to fat people is just as bad. I want to take them aside and give them advice. I want to help them find the path just like I did. I kind of feel like I have found THE WAY, and I want to show them the small path I cut with a machete. I want to show them my before pictures. I want to tell them where to find me. My instincts are just as harmful as the people who detest the obese and I do my best to keep them in check.

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.