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

I just found out that there are two PC versions of the arcade game, Pump It Up. They are available through Red Octane’s website, but I haven’t been able to find them anywhere else.

Anyone who has read this site knows that I’m obsessed with Dance Dance Revolution. This game variation from Andamiro Entertainment uses the corners and the middle as steps instead of the traditional up-down-left-right. I’ve seen this game at the arcades, but I’m so used to playing DDR that I was reluctant to plunk down a buck just to try it out. I was scared my feet wouldn’t work.

I’m going to get this for myself as a weight loss reward. It helps to set goals, meet them and have really cool things to reward myself with. I’m so excited!

Next week, I’m going to try an Xbox Live Workout on Monday morning. If you would like to participate, you need to email me your gamertag. This is an invitation only match, so I need your gamertag before 6pm Sunday night so I can add you to the list.

Workout Details:

• Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2
• Difficulty Level: Light
• Monday Morning, 02-07-05
• 7 am Eastern (4 am Pacific)
• Duration: Approximately 30 minutes

I will warm us up with three 2-footer songs, give us time to stretch, and we will cool down with three more 2-footer songs.

I’ve always been a proponent of stretching. Since I recovered from a foot injury mainly by stretching and keeping my walking level the same, I have stretched before and after every workout. Now, a study shows that I might be placing my faith in something that has little to do with injury prevention.

• American Council on Exercise – To Stretch or Not to Stretch?

According to a study in Australia, injury prevention has less to do with stretching than fitness level and age. All I know is that it feels really good to stretch out my muscles after a workout… almost like a reward for a job well done.

As if heart disease and stupidity weren’t threats enough, obesity has been linked to kidney stones and fruits and veggies help prevent kidney cancer:

• Reuters – Obesity Increases Risk of Painful Kidney Stones
• Reuters – Bananas, Root Veggies May Cut Kidney Cancer Risk

All the more reason to skip the dessert, grab a banana and jump on the treadmill.

Carol’s mom got the cheese because she was a senior citizen. We got the cheese from her. It tasted like Velveeta and I remember thinking, “This isn’t real cheese.” Suddenly, that’s how I imagined the government. They think Velveeta is cheese. They probably think Lifesavers are fruit.

Since then, I’ve learned that the government is not one single entity. What scares me is exactly which entity would be put in charge of “Junk Food” if there was a Twinkie Tax. You probably think I’m joking. “Twinkie Tax, ha ha! That’s funny!” You say this with a smile to yourself…

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The next Light Xbox Live Workout is this Thursday morning. If you would like to participate, you need to email me your gamertag. This is an invitation only match, so I need your gamertag before 6pm Wednesday night so I can add you to the list.

Workout Details:

• Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2
• Difficulty Level: Light
• Thursday Morning, 02-03-05
• 7 am Eastern (4 am Pacific)
• Duration: Approximately 30 minutes

I will warm us up with three 2-footer songs, give us time to stretch, and we will cool down with three more 2-footer songs.

Sometimes, when I’m exercising, I look at the time left on the machine and think to myself, “Twenty minutes. Less than an episode of Gilligan’s Island.” I don’t know where that phrase came from, but I find that thought in my head often. Logically, it’s a useless phrase. I no longer watch episodes of Gilligan’s Island. I don’t think I could consciously sit through one without wanting to claw my eyes out. I don’t think kids watch Gilligan’s Island anymore. If it shows anywhere, I’m sure it has been relegated to TV Land.

Why do I find that phrase inspiring? Why do I tell myself, “Less than an episode of Gilligan’s Island?” When I was a kid, I loved the show and it always felt like it ended far too soon. I realized commercials took up a third of its time, so each episode was really only about twenty minutes. It was motivational to me. Twenty minutes is short. It will fly by quickly.

I don’t know why measuring my workouts in Gilligan Time helps speed them along. I don’t even know if thinking that phrase even helps me. I seem to feel better about the time left on the treadmill when I think of it as “less than an episode of Gilligan’s Island,” but I don’t know if I actually perform better when I console myself in that manner.

Only recently have I even become aware of this phrase residing in my head. I wonder where it came from. I must have been very young for it to make any sense to me. I wonder if Richard Simmons said it once on his show and it has become permanently lodged in my memory. It doesn’t matter where it came from. All I know is that it is repeated in my mind every time I look at the treadmill and it reads less than twenty minutes and, strangely, it helps me finish up. It’s very rare that I ever start a workout and end it early.

I have heard a lot of claims about soy protein. I have heard that it will lower your cholesterol. I have heard that it will help you through menopause. I have heard that it will lower your risk for heart disease. Are any of these claims true?

• Quackwatch – Soy: Health Claims for Soy Protein, Questions About Other Components by John Henkel

This article has some details on soy and what the FDA allows. It provides the basic information on what researchers have found out about soy protein and its components.

Ediets.com is featuring an article from Harvard Health Publications. It talks about the scientific data supporting (or lack of data, as the case may be) various diets and weight loss aids.

• Harvard Health Publications: Weigh Less, Live Longer: Strategies for Successful Weight Loss

Make sure you get all the way down to the section, “Rating the Weight Loss Supplements.” They have a graph showing the proof given for various supplements and food items that have been marketed as weight loss aids.

With all the celebrity diets that have been splashed across the magazine covers lately, there is one that has gone completely unnoticed. Margaret Cho, a comedienne and activist, wrote a blog entry about her dramatic weight loss over the last year or so.

The “F**K It” Diet by Margaret Cho

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