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

Japan must think Americans are insane. The Pizza Huts there are serving this monstrocity:

• Pizza Hut Japan – Double Roll

There is just too much in the crust and on the top to really list it all. FitSugar, however, have tried to breakdown the calorie count:

• More Fun With Fast Food: Double Roll Pizza Breakdown | FitSugar – Fitness, Health & Well-Being.

They came up with over six hundred calories a slice. I’m not surprised, but I AM surprised that all my thoughts of food went from one part of Japan (sushi) to another (weird “American” food) so quickly.

Via: holy sweet mother of jesus – this is the best pizza ever on Flickr – Photo Sharing!

There have been many times when I’ve sat in a Weight Watchers meeting and the leader has told the groaning class that sushi is a healthy alternative to other restaurant food, but is it really?

Lately, a lot of the sushi restaurants have been deep-frying their sushi rolls and adding sauces and toppings that are much higher in calories than the traditional rice, raw fish and crisp vegetables.

Take the Viva Las Vegas Roll, for example:

We went out for sushi while we were in Las Vegas. I usually order a simple California Roll, but I was in LAS VEGAS! I HAD to order the Las Vegas roll in Las Vegas! It was a deep fried roll with a spicy crab mixture on the top. It all tasted way too good to be healthy. I counted it as 8 WW Points in my journal, but I was just guessing.

How many points do you think it was?

I’ve kind of let my weight training fall behind lately. I’ve been focusing so much on running that it feels like anything that I don’t do with the Nike+ doesn’t “count” as exercise. My upper body strength has atrophied right back to where it was before I started weight training and the idea of having to start over has helped me procrastinate.

This video from diet.com made me excited about weight training again. These stretchy exercise bands are REALLY portable and so easy to keep in the house because they take up hardly any space and they aren’t heavy in your suitcase.

A whole weight training workout with just one piece of equipment!

I’ve been in Vegas all week, but I still logged a bunch of miles using my Nike+. Let’s see how everyone did this week. Click over to Runner+ to see all the results.

Casio ran a total of 9.36 miles last week and beat out Tango Juliet by only 0.03 miles! Good job Level 1 runners!

Level 1 Results 11-19-07

brian289 won the Level 2 Challenge by running 0.15 miles more than AirGar. Such a close race! Bad form, scottwillis, you should be running on Level 3 with that mileage.

Level 2 Results 11-19-07

Congratulations to FidoDido, who won the Level 3 Challenge with 24.7 miles. You dusted us all on that one!

Level 3 Results 11-19-07

Once again, RicC is the winner of the Level 4 Challenge with 34.31 miles.

Level 4 Results 11-19-07

kjtay took first place on the Level 5 Challenge by running 26.38 miles.

Level 5 Results 11-19-07

mkimes won Level 6 by running 71.01 miles last week! That averages out to over ten miles a day! Great job, mkimes!

Level 6 Results 11-19-07

Congratulations to all the competitors! Join us at Runner+ and show off your mileage!

If you exercise by running or walking, you can compete in the Starling Fitness Challenges on Runner+. All you need is an account at Runner+ (free) and you can log your miles there. If you have a Nike+iPod kit, then your runs will automatically be added, but the site will also allow you to add your runs manually. If you would like to compete against runners on your level, here are the links for this week’s challenges:

Level 1 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 0-10 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 1 (11-26-07) – RUNNER+

Level 2 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 10-20 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 2 (11-26-07) – RUNNER+

Level 3 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 20-30 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 3 (11-26-07) – RUNNER+

Level 4 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 30-40 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 4 (11-26-07) – RUNNER+

Level 5 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 40-50 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 5 (11-26-07) – RUNNER+

Level 6 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 50-60 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 6 (11-26-07) – RUNNER+

Yesterday, I used the Nike+ to keep track of all the walking we did around Las Vegas. Unfortunately, we didn’t log too many miles. Whenever we stopped walking, the Nike+ would eventually stop the workout, but I couldn’t hear it do it because I didn’t have my earbuds in. I wish I could set the thing to keep tracking no matter how many times I stop.

You can see the results of the walk here:

• LauraMoncur’s run log for Saturday, November 24, 2007 at 3:59 PM – RUNNER+

I only logged 1.11 miles because it had turned off a couple of times and I didn’t notice. Considering how often it turned itself off, we probably walked about 2.5 miles. Nike+ isn’t perfect. Not even by a long shot, but it’s better than anything else I’ve used and I LOVE competing on Runner+.

I’ve done pretty well exercising while I’ve been in Vegas, but no matter how much I exercise, I can’t make up for the eating. Someday, I’m going to figure out how to be with my family on a vacation without overeating. When I do, I’ll give you the inside scoop, okay?

When I first got the Nike+, I used it with my Ryka shoes and a Shoe Wallet. Now, I have Nike+ shoes, so you would think I wouldn’t need the Shoe Wallet anymore, but every once and a while, I do.

Right now, I’m traveling. The hotel doesn’t have a gym, but I can just run around the area with my Nike+ measuring my mileage. The Shoe Wallet has been great to hold my hotel room key. Lucky thing it was crammed into my travel bag. I really needed it today.

For more information:

• Starling Fitness » How to Use Nike+ on ANY Type of Shoe

It’s Black Friday. The United States’ busiest shopping day of the year, or so they say. They have great deals out there if you look at the ads, but what about you? What about eating healthy and staying fit? How do they fit into your post-Thanksgiving shopping plans?

Me? I worked at K-Mart for SEVEN years while in high school and putting myself through college. I worked every Black Friday during my formative years. One year, we put blankets on sale for five dollars apiece (they were normally fifteen or so). There was a huge pile of them right at the doors when we opened them to the crowd. I was working the customer service desk and got a front row seat to the FIGHT that broke out. Women were pushing each other. Screaming and grabbing these pathetic blankets out of each others’ hands.

I vowed never to shop on Black Friday.

The cool thing is that staying home or doing fun things on Black Friday has protected me from weight gain as well. I’m not tempted by the Hickory Farms samples at the mall. I’m not run ragged until I’m desperate for food and willing to eat wherever has the shortest line. I’m not enticed by the cinnamon aroma of roasting almonds. I am protected from all the stressed out decisions I would have made just to get a good deal on a blanket (or TV or whatever…).

Funny thing, the stores are packed, but there are lots of places that are ghost towns this time of the year:

• Go to an early movie: The Thanksgiving movie tradition is pretty strong with some people, but not nearly as strong as the lure of “good deals.” You’ll be able to get into the theater easily.

• Go to the gym: There will be a bunch of people there burning off yesterday’s meal. They’re the kind of people that you want to be friends with. Burn it at the treadmill and find a workout buddy while you’re at it.

• Go to the grocery store: The grocery store will be gutted from yesterday’s last minute shoppers, but all the healthy food will still be available. Now’s the time to stock up on healthy alternatives so you don’t resort to mashed potatoes when you’re hungry.

• Do something active: Depending on your climate, you have a wide variety of choices for activities: hiking, mountain biking, skiing, snow-shoeing and just walking around your neighborhood.

• Play games with your family: You have an extra day off. Spend it having fun with your family! Whether it’s a traditional board game or the latest video games, find time to enjoy with the people who are closest to you.

Christmas is about telling the people around you that you love them. You don’t have to fight the person in front of you in line to prove that you love your dearest. TIME is the most valuable asset right now, so give yourself and your loved ones some of that time this weekend.

I just wanted to send out a thank you to all my readers. Thank you so much for reading every day. I know there are some of you out there that read every day and don’t comment. I see the statistics and there are lots of you there lurking. Thank you for lurking every day.

Thank you to everyone who has bought a Starling Fitness DVD or yearly journal. I’ve priced them as low as they can go because I want them to be affordable, so when you buy them, it doesn’t really affect my bottom line, but it sure makes me happy to know that there are readers out there who are interested in the things that I like.

A special thank you to Val at iPortion, ashjoy at Runner+ and Megan at The Former Gymnast. You have each given me positive comments when I went MIA and I am so grateful to all of you.

Wendy Bumgardner has an entry on how to save the planet by walking:

• Ways to Use Walking for the Planet

She has many recommendations, most of which seem like they were added to pad the list. The most important one she talked about, however was walking instead of driving.

I’m a big fan of this one, but it takes some planning to pull it off.

Wendy recommends that you can replace your workout with one 3 mile walk. That’s a 1.5 mile walk to wherever you’re going and a 1.5 mile back. The first step is to look at your house on Mapquest:

• Mapquest

Adjust the zoom level until you’re at the zoom level where the legend is 800 m and 2400 ft. That’s a good zoom for you to work with.

Print up that map. A mile and a half is 7920 feet, so using the legend on the printed map, draw a circle that is 3 miles in diameter around your house like this. I used the old house I grew up in as an example:

After you have your circle drawn, find out what is within that 1.5 mile radius. It’s difficult to tell what is there from just the map, so this will take some planning and thought. There are a couple of parks I could walk to, the grocery store on 4000 West and the Home Depot on 5600 West.

Make a list of everything that is within that circle. Any time you need to go to anything within the circle, walk instead of driving.

You can do the same thing around your place of employment. You can achieve a 3.0 mile walk within an hour, but only if you walk quickly and don’t spend a lot of time at your destination. Next time you need to run an errand at your lunch break, see if the destination is within your circle. If it is, get in a workout AND save gasoline.

When I lived on White Cherry Way, I was a kid. I didn’t have a choice. My only choices were walking or riding my bike if I wanted to go somewhere. I knew all the places that I could easily get to, which wasn’t very many in the suburbs. Now that I live downtown, I have hundreds of places within my 1.5 mile radius. The funny thing is, when I drew the circle around my current house, I realized that there are a bunch of places that I could walk to that I never go to because they are west of my home. It opened up at least twenty more options for me by just printing out the map and drawing the circle.

Just replacing one errand a day by walking instead of driving can not only help you save money on gas but make you healthier. Print up a map of your neighborhood and do it today!

Thanksgiving is coming for most of you. For me for the last few years, I’ve had two Thanksgiving dinners in one day: one with my family and one with Mike’s family. I am here to tell you that you can lose weight the week of Thanksgiving. A couple of years ago, I wrote an entire series about how to do just that:

• Starling Fitness » How To Enjoy Thanksgiving Without Guilt

• Starling Fitness » Thanksgiving Calorie List

• Starling Fitness » I Blew It On Thanksgiving! Now What?

• Starling Fitness » Dealing with Post-Thanksgiving Temptation

I really should have read this series before last weekend, however. This year, my family celebrated Thanksgiving last Sunday instead of this Thursday. My first thought was, “Great! I won’t have to figure out how to fit two meals in one day.” I can do that AND lose weight, but it was great to know that I didn’t have to.

Unfortunately, I didn’t plan how I was going to tackle the one Thanksgiving meal last Sunday. I ended up using far more Flex Points than I have and now I have another meal with Mike’s family on Thursday. This time, I’m planning exactly what I’m going to eat and how I’m going to survive.

As you head into this holiday season, don’t give up. It is possible to eat healthy AND enjoy the fruits of the season. All you have to do is plan for them and stick with your plan. Wishing you the best this holiday, now go give it to yourself!