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

I’ve been looking at a blank page trying to think of something to draw that represents this week’s topic for Illustration Friday, “Nourishment.” I guess I’ll just have to paint with words.

Sometimes I eat when I’m not hungry. I eat because it’s the prescribed meal time. I eat because I’m scared of getting too hungry. I eat because I’m sad or happy or some other emotion that is wholly disconnected from hunger. It makes me think that the food that I’m eating is feeding something other than my body. How can I feed it without abusing my body?

Sure, I keep an eye on nutrition to deflect the damage, but almost every bit of food that passes my lips is feeding something other than my body. What is it? Is there something else I can give it instead of food?

I don’t want to believe it is a demon inside of me. It doesn’t feel like a demon that needs to be fought or a dragon that needs to be slain. I think it’s something closer to a wounded animal that always eats everything you give it because it knows that tomorrow there may be no food.

I was starved every summer by my grandmother. Could it be that this thing inside of me screaming to be fed is my inner child? She was told she was fat so many times that she believed it. Fat people eat all the time, don’t they? Fat people eat whatever they want whenever they want, right?

Well, no… When I was fat, I was always on a diet. I was either on a diet or a post-diet binge. I never just ate whatever I felt like. I ate according to “The Rules” or I ate against “The Rules.” Worse still, “The Rules” changed for each diet, but they were always basically the same. Even now, I’m eating according to “The Rules.” I’ve just figured out how to keep that little girl inside me full.

So, what’s the answer? How do I eat for nourishment instead of eating for this damaged child? What else could I give her that would heal her? What does she need?

Just a funny link to an entry about mistranslated menu items:

• Food Museum Blog: Menu English: We serve pork with fresh garbage!

After reading these entries, I think I would walk out of the restaurant lighter than I went in. I don’t even think I could drink the water…

My favorite: Horse-rubbish sauce

I’m beginning to think that health magazines are all screwed up. It seems like all the advice from the health and fitness magazines is all off center. The only thing I can blame it on is myopia. It’s like the health and fitness magazines have no idea what living in the United States is like. Our media has no concept of the nation. They only know NYC and L.A.

That’s why I am so happy to be writing for Starling Fitness. It is written by people who live in Utah, not NYC or L.A. We understand that it’s hard to “walk to the grocery store” or “take the stairs.” So many Mid-Westerners work in one floor buildings. We live in the suburbs where it’s a five mile trek to walk to anything. The health magazines think that they have skinny all figured out, but really all they have figured out is how to be skinny in New York.

This might come as a shock to you, but most of the United States ISN’T New York City.

That’s why health and fitness magazines keep spouting the same crap over and over. That’s all they can do. They can’t just hop in their car and drive up to the mountains for a strenuous hike. They can’t run for miles on country roads with only the sound of their breathing and the birds singing. They are selling health, but it’s such a narrow and urban view of it that it seems myopic.

Of course, Starling Fitness is just as myopic. We write about how to stay healthy and fit in Utah. It’s the only thing that we can do—write about our own experiences.

I enjoyed listening to this Strength Radio podcast last week and I thought that I would share it with you.

• Strength Radio – Cynthia Stadd Live! – Sugar Blues

She talks about how to recognize hidden sugar in processed food and the symptoms of too much sugar in your life. The thing I like best about these podcasts is that they are like a regular motivational boost. Sometimes they don’t do much for me, but then other times, I really enjoy them.

Just when my day couldn’t get any better, Sinistar gives me the best news!!!

• DDR4Health – DDR Ultramix 3 and Extreme 2 info leaked – by Sinistar

The information has been pulled from GamePro’s site, but he lets you in on the big secret. It gives me even more incentive to start getting really good at UM2 so I can kick some UM3 butt!!

The only way to learn how to run faster is to run faster. There is no other way around it. You can talk about lactate thresholds and VO2 Max all you want, but you won’t get any faster unless you practice running faster.

When I first started running, I thought that I would learn how to run faster by slowly increasing my speed on the treadmill. I was regularly running at 4.0 mph. I thought next week, I would run at 4.1 mph every day. The week after that I would increase it to 4.2.

That plan lasted one week and a day. (more…)

There are risks with every pain reliever that is available in the drug store. Most of us are too busy trying to open the bottle to actually read about the risks, but this article explains them nicely.

• Berkshire Eagle Online – Pain Relief Perils Hide in Tiny Type – by Jane Brody

The only problem with this article is that she doesn’t really explain the reason you might prefer anti-inflammatory pain relievers to other analgesics.

Tylenol (acetaminophen) is in the class of drugs called analgesics. It stops pain by elevating the pain threshold. It takes more pain to break through the acetaminophen barrier.

Advil (ibuprofen), Aleve (naproxen), and Aspirin are in a class of drugs called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). They stop pain by reducing the swelling that can cause pain. There is also some belief that they help you heal faster from an injury by allowing your body to heal while they stop the inflammation.

For those times that you overdo it at the gym, NSAIDs are the drug of choice, but then again, they might rip holes in your stomach. Acetaminophen might be a better option, but it might shut down your liver.

Choose your cure wisely.

Via: SportsGeezer

This podcast from Strength Radio started to sound like it might be a little over the edge, but every thing that Ken Gibson says is right on about caffeine.

• Strength Radio – Caffeine and Stress – Interview with Ken Gibson

The most important thing that he said is, “Coffee doesn’t give you energy. It borrows energy.” You’re not getting energy from your caffeine fix, you’re borrowing it from your sleep and your muscles. I have discussed my dealings with caffeine in detail and I can tell you that everything he says in this interview is an accurate description of what happens to you when you are addicted to caffeine.

02-02-04: Caffeine Withdrawal
03-12-04: How To Quit Soda
06-30-04: Diet Mountain Dew
09-23-04: Carbonation, Soda, Aspartame and Caffeine Withdrawal
03-18-05: Caffeine Dependence

I saw the sweetener at Wild Oats. It was in a bright green box and cost a whopping 25 bucks, but I thought I would try it. It’s supposed to be natural, right? It tasted good. It only took a tiny amount to sweeten my herbal tea. I was happy with it and didn’t think much about the reason it was marketed as an herbal supplement instead of a sweetener.

• Quackwatch – Stevia: Is It Safe? – by Stephen Barrett, M.D.

The reason it is marketed as a herbal supplement instead of a sweetener (or any other type of food) is because they haven’t bothered to go through the FDA process of proving that Stevia doesn’t kill people. They haven’t even proved that Stevia is zero calories.

Think of all the products who go through the rigorous testing that the FDA requires and still kill people. I tossed my very expensive box in the garbage. Until they bother proving to me that the product is safe, they aren’t getting any more of my money.

I enjoyed a creme brulee last night. Mike made it for me and it was delicious. It was only four Points, so you can imagine how small it was, but frankly, my mind only wants one creme brulee. It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s two ounces or eight.

I get surprised sometimes at the delicious simplicity of a small dessert. I don’t need a four layer chocolate cake. If you put one in front of me, I’ll eat it, but if you put a small single layer chocolate cake that is just as rich, I’ll eat it too. I won’t feel deprived that it’s not bigger. I’ll be happy to have dessert.

After years of denying myself dessert, I look forward to it now. I will purposely eat very lightly at dinnertime just so that I can “afford” dessert. There were so many times as a child when I was told that I would not be allowed to eat dessert unless I finished my dinner. Now, I break those rules all the time.

One of the things about Weight Watchers that drew me to them is that I could eat whatever I wanted as long as it fit within my Points range. I can’t imagine a life without creme brulee and I refuse to deny myself its custardy goodness.