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

This video made me laugh. Emmy award winning Jackie Mason challenges you to get on the treadmill every day.

“And you’re saying to yourself, what is he doing on the treadmill? I work hard and I do intense exercise. You see how fast I’m running now? Take a look. Could you run this fast? Nobody could run like this. You know why? Because I had to build up to it. I was originally only able to do light exercise. Now? Now, I move like anything.”

If you have had a hard time increasing your exercise, give Jackie Mason’s plan a try!

Conspiracy theories don’t sit well with me. I’m already paranoid. I don’t want more paranoia swimming around in my head. So when Kevin Trudeau released The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You to Know About, he already had one strike against him in my book.

It seems that Diet Scam Watch is also skeptical of Kevin Trudeau’s conspiracy theories:

The book claims that “an absolute cure for obesity was discovered almost fifty years ago” but was “suppressed” by the AMA, the FDA, and “other medical establishments throughout the world.” He further claims that until now, “this miracle weight loss breakthrough has been hidden from the public so that drug companies can make billions of dollars selling their expensive drug treatments and surgical procedures for obesity.” Trudeau’s alleged cure consists of injections of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) plus 50 to 60 required and recommended do’s and don’ts. HCG is a hormone found in the urine of pregnant women.

HCG has been touted as a weight loss aid for a while.

More than 50 years ago, Dr. Albert T. Simeons, a British-born physician, contended that HCG injections would enable dieters to subsist comfortably on a 500-calorie-a-day diet. He claimed that HCG would mobilize stored fat; suppress appetite; and redistribute fat from the waist, hips, and thighs. However, scientific studies demonstrated that the injections didn’t cause weight loss and regulatory actions by the FTC and FDA have curbed their use in the United States.

It seems that Trudeau didn’t get the memo from the FDA. Since 1975, they have required the following labeling on the product:

HCG has not been demonstrated to be effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of obesity. There is no substantial evidence that it increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction, that it causes a more attractive or “normal” distribution of fat, or that it decreases the hunger and discomfort associated with calorie-restricted diets.

Of course, if you’re truly paranoid, you believe that the FDA and all of those doctors behind the studies are in on the suppression of HCG.

Don’t let your paranoia get the best of you. The reason why everyone in Hollywood is thin is because they kick out the fat ones. They don’t have a secret cure to obesity, they just don’t put fat people on the screen. Injecting the urine of pregnant women into your body is not the answer.

Via: HCG Worthless as Weight-Loss Aid

This Nike Running commercial makes me want to go for a run in the rain… with my sister.

Even the computer geek cartoon noticed the study that said that your friends make you fat.

• The Joy of Tech comic… laughter is the best tech support.

I know it’s a scientific study and all, but I’m uncomfortable blaming other people for my food intake. If I were perfectly thin and fit, I would be pretty pissed if someone said, “The only reason you’re thin is because your friends are thin.”

Don’t blame other people for your weight. Look first to yourself.