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

Starting in 2006, the FDA is requiring food companies to provide trans-fatty acids on the nutritional facts. Because of this, the food companies are scrambling to make their food healthier. Rather than truly admit how much hydrogenated oil is between those dark and chocolately Oreo cookies, they are working on a new formula to reduce the fat.

Of course, this is going to change the taste of Oreos. Instead of the choice between regular, Double Stuf and generic brands trying to copy their style, there will be a new addition to the group: Trans-Fat Free. That doesn’t mean calorie free. It doesn’t even mean fat free. All it means is that it has a slightly less chance of giving you heart disease and clogging up your brain.

On the whole, I’m happy about it. Even if the trans-fat free version goes the way of New Coke, at least I’ll know how much trans-fat is in the Double-Stuf version. It’s the knowledge that is empowering. I can’t wait for 2006. For now, I’m checking my labels for hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oil.

What made me so happy with the US government’s down to earth advice and recommendations has made this writer angry and frothing at the mouth.

• SFGate.com – Weak Links in the Food Chain: Why Uncle Sam won’t tell you what not to eat by Michele Simon

She’s angry because they didn’t protect the unwashed masses from the evil food industry, which strips us all of our responsibility. She assumes that we are too stupid to know what whole grain foods are without informing us the difference between them and the evil processed food that she is so willing to shield us from. In fact, she even goes as far as to say, “People don’t think in terms of ingredients. Most consumers don’t even buy ingredients anymore because they don’t cook.”

I want to put my arm around her and say, “There, there… Calm down… We’re not THAT dumb.”

I don’t want Uncle Sam to tell me what I can and cannot eat. It’s my responsibility to make sure that I eat healthy food, not the government. The minute I pass the responsibility over to the government (or anyone else, for that matter) is the minute that I start deluding myself. I am the only one who has the power to put food in my mouth. The food industry isn’t cramming unhealthy food down my throat. They are making food that tastes amazingly good. It’s my responsibility to eat it in moderation, if at all.

I am sponsoring an Xbox Live Workout 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, 01-27-05
• 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.

“The fastest-growing exercise trend in the US revolves around sinister-looking black cannonballs with handles, known to the hardcore fitness enthusiasts who swear by them as kettlebells. With recent media attention that has ranged from The Today Show, Time and Newsweek to Rolling Stone the kettlebell surge into the mainstream culminates this March with the first ever National Kettlebell Convention in Las Vegas.” – Dragon Door

“The fastest-growing exercise trend” That phrase seems forced to me. I have memberships to two gyms and I’ve never seen a kettlebell. Where is this trend growing? After looking at pages and pages of information on the Internet, it seems that much of the hype comes from the website mentioned above: Dragon Door.

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I’ll never forget the scene in the book, Thinner Than Thou, in which the teenager on the road, searching for his anorexic sister eats three huge steak meals. He “wins” the free meals and prize money, which helps them survive until they can find her. Afterward, their friend drives along the Interstate Highway disgusted and amazed at what he saw.

• Snopes.com – Big Burger by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
• Boston.com – Eatery offers 6-pound burger challenge
• Yahoo News – 100-Pound Woman Downs Six-Pound Burger

Once again, I am amazed and disgusted by real life. It’s all over the news, the six-pound Ye Old 96er has been conquered by a 100-pound woman. She ate the whole thing in less than three hours. I feel like I should say something about it, but I’m sitting at the keyboard, numb.

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Reuters has an article about a study that found a correlation between lack of sleep and high BMI. It has some really sound advice about taking care of your body.

• Reuters – Stay Thin by Sleeping More?

Losing weight, increasing your exercise level and adjusting your food intake can make you tired. You have a couple of choices when you’re tired. You can eat food to wake yourself up. You can consume caffeine or another stimulant to wake yourself up. You could sleep more. Whenever you have a choice like this, please choose the most healthy option.

Schedule more sleep time into your week. You will be more efficient at work. Your workouts will feel better. You will eat less food or consume less caffeine to “wake yourself up” because you’ll be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I promise that you won’t regret the television show that you missed the night before.

MSNBC has a story about the differences between uphill and downhill hiking. According to a study in the Alps, hiking uphill helps remove fat from the bloodstream, whereas hiking downhill helps remove sugars.

• MSNBC – Associated Press – Walking downhill may lower sugar levels

Unless you have hypoglycemia or diabetes, I wonder how useful this information is. As far as weight loss is concerned, you benefit either way. If you get the fats, you’ll lose weight and if you get the sugars, you’ll lose weight. It’s almost like this study is trying to tell us, “Hey, exercising is good for you.”

Surprise, surprise…

Men’s Fitness Magazine has the rankings for the fittest and fattest cities in the United States.

• Men’s Fitness – America’s Fittest and Fattest Cities

I see these sorts of rankings several times a year and I have just swallowed them whole in the past. “Maybe if I lived in Seattle, then I’d be thin,” I think to myself. Only now am I questioning the data…

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It’s not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.
– Sir Winston Churchill, British politician (1874 – 1965)

The sad truth is that you cannot buy yourself fit or thin, but the beauty of all of this is that the converse is also true. You don’t need extra money to lose weight and be strong. Just like when I walked into the door of Weight Watcher’s, I was willing to do whatever they told me. All you need to do is be willing to do what is required.

You can get fit for free. Walk around the block. Run around the block. Play with your dog. Play with your kids. Play with yourself. Run up and down the stairs at work. Do some jumping jacks and crunches. Carry your groceries. Carry your neighbor’s groceries. Volunteer to help your friend move. Lift cans of soup. Lift sacks of flour.

You can even get paid to get fit. Get a part-time job in a warehouse or for UPS or even at a department store. All of these jobs are very active and provide you with light to moderate exercise while you get paid. Instead of going home and watching television, getting a temporary job that is very physical might be a good option for you.

What is required: Thirty to forty minutes of intense exercise every day. You should be breathing heavy, sweating, and your heart rate should be at the cardio level.

You can lose weight and cut your grocery bills. Healthy and fresh food is actually cheaper than junk food. Fruit and vegetables are economical compared to chips and cookies. Frozen dinners are more expensive than the ingredients to cook it yourself. If money is your concern, you may have to sacrifice convenience, but it is possible to become thin without spending one extra dime.

What is required: Lower your caloric intake. Follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans or the Eat More, Lose More plan from Prevention Magazine.

As long as you are willing to do what is required, there is nothing that can get in your way. As long as you are unwilling, there is nothing that you can buy that will help you get to your goal.

Sad as it may seem, you can’t buy yourself fit. You can’t buy yourself thin. No matter how much money you spend on yoga mats and fitness balls, you will stay at the same level of fitness if you don’t use them. No matter how much money you spend on health food, you will stay at the same weight if you eat too much.

Sadder still, you can’t learn yourself fit and you can’t learn yourself thin. No matter how many gyms you join or personal trainers you hire, you will stay at the same level of fitness if you don’t exercise every day. No matter how many diet books or magazines you buy, you will stay at the same weight if you don’t alter your eating habits. No matter how many nutrition classes you take… I think you get the point.

The only way to get fit is to exercise. The only way to get thin is to monitor your eating. There is just no other way around the physics of physiology. No matter how much money you have, you are still bound by the laws of physics.

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