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

We ran from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve and we’ve got a jump on the New Year’s Resolution thing. If you got an iPod Nano for Christmas, spend the extra 20 bucks and get the Nike+ so you can easily upload your runs. You don’t need a Nike+, however. You can manually enter how much you run every day. Click over to Runner+ to see all the results.

Level 1 Results 12-24-07

jkendall took the Level 1 challenge with a total of 8.71 miles last week! Uncool, Casio! You know better. You went over the max mileage this week, so you should have withdrawn from this challenge. A special welcome to our newest runners, Gadagong, HunterA and Toasters. Thanks for joining up with us and I hope you like the challenges!

Level 2 Results 12-24-07

Pooh won the Level 2 Challenge by running 18.8 miles this week. Good job! Bad form, scotwills and AirRobi, you both exceeded the max mileage for Level 2, so you were kicked out of the running.

Level 3 Results 12-24-07

zaders won the Level 3 challenge with his 28.02 miles last week. This was his first time running with us and he beat us all! Good job!

Level 4 Results 12-24-07

Excellent work by marco this week. He won the Level 4 Challenge with his 37.44 miles. pierantf was right on his tail with 37.11 miles. A difference of only a third of a mile can push you over the edge in this game! Keep on running!

Level 5 Results 12-24-07

anderu kicked some Level 5 butt with his 49.54 miles. Good job, buddy! You deserved this win!

Level 6 Results 12-24-07

xray999 ran nearly unchallenged this week and took Level 6 by running 58.92 miles last week! Good job you long distance runners!

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 (12-31-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 2 (12-31-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 3 (12-31-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 4 (12-31-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 5 (12-31-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 6 (12-31-07) – RUNNER+

It’s Christmas Eve, but that doesn’t stop us from running over the holiday. It’s a great time to start running before the New Year’s Resolution people hit the streets (and gym). If you get an iPod Nano for Christmas, spend the extra 20 bucks and get the Nike+ so you can easily upload your runs. You don’t need a Nike+, however. You can manually enter how much you run every day. Click over to Runner+ to see all the results.

Level 1 Results 12-17-07

DietMe took the Level 1 challenge with a total of 9.99 miles last week! The REAL competition was in the middle, though with the cosmetic queen at 9.39 miles, KMKMom at 9.36 miles, and jkendall at 9.33 miles. Good race, people! A special welcome to our newest runner, Hansenvl61. Thanks for joining up with us and I hope you like the challenges!

Level 2 Results 12-17-07

Dacapo! won the Level 2 Challenge by running 19.91 miles this week. Good job! Bad form, sbanfield, you exceeded the max mileage for Level 2, so you were kicked out of the running. A special welcome to our newest runner, Blxm. You were also kicked out of the running because you exceeded the max mileage for this level. Since it’s your first time running with us, I won’t give you a bad form.

Level 3 Results 12-17-07

Mihai won the Level 3 challenge with his 28.44 miles last week. It was a well-deserved win, Mihai! Good job!

Level 4 Results 12-17-07

jameswood won the Level 4 Challenge with his 39.58 miles. He and marco were duking it out all week. Excellent work, people!

Level 5 Results 12-17-07

SLBplus won the Level 5 Challenge again with his 44.26 miles. You are just kickin’ it this holiday season!!

Level 6 Results 12-17-07

mkimes reclaimed the Level 6 challenge by running 58.68 miles last week! Keep up the running, folks!

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 (12-24-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 2 (12-24-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 3 (12-24-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 4 (12-24-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 5 (12-24-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 6 (12-24-07) – RUNNER+

Last year I wrote an entry asking how you eat healthy when you’re Christmas Shopping at the mall:

• Starling Fitness » Question of the Week: Healthy Eating At The Mall

I didn’t give any helpful tips, but some other people did that are worth clicking over to read.

What I do when I am shopping at the mall is resort to Edo Japan or Subway. I love the Ginger Pork at Edo Japan and I will eat half and since I’m shopping, throw away the other half. It’s always best if I can share it with someone, but if I can’t I toss it.

If I eat the whole thing, it’s a whopping 521 calories, but if I eat half (or share it), then it’s the perfect meal. I have a choice: I can waste it or waist it. I prefer the former.

What do you eat at the mall when you are trapped shopping for Christmas presents?

Something about the Christmas season makes people exercise less. I don’t know what it is because I have kicked my running up a notch again this week. If you have had trouble winning these challenges, this is the week to start running again. You’ll hit the front of the pack pretty easily. Click over to Runner+ to see all the results.

Level 1 Results 12-10-07

DietMe took the Level 1 challenge with a total of 9.97 miles last week! A special welcome to our newest runner, Boricua. She took third place on her first try! Thanks for joining up with us and I hope you like the challenges!

Level 2 Results 12-10-07

Anderu won the Level 2 Challenge by running 18.57 miles this week. Good job! Bad form, scottwills, you exceeded the max mileage for Level 2, so you were kicked out of the running.

Level 3 Results 12-10-07

I won the Level 3 challenge again with my 28.3 miles last week. For the first time in almost a year, I did a long run last week. Luckily, I didn’t hurt my toenails this time.

Level 4 Results 12-10-07

I’m okay with winning the Level 3 challenge, but there is NO excuse for me winning the Level 4 Challenge with my measly 28.3 miles. tetartfred was so close to beating me. Should have worn your Nike+ while you were Christmas shopping, buddy!

Level 5 Results 12-10-07

SLBplus won the Level 5 Challenge with his 48.08 miles. RicC, bad form, man! You should have dropped out of Level 5 and joined Level 6 when you exceeded the max mileage.

Level 6 Results 12-10-07

Talk about a photo finish! xray999 won Level 6 by running 47.33 miles last week! After chasing her for weeks, he finally beat out mkimes by only 0.10 miles! Ironically, if RicC had joined the correct level, he would have won this challenge.

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 (12-17-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 2 (12-17-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 3 (12-17-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 4 (12-17-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 5 (12-17-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 6 (12-17-07) – RUNNER+

In a folder called Old Stuff, there lies another folder called Physical Progress. Inside that folder is a picture named MyGoal dated July 22, 2002. I KNOW the picture is older than that, but that July five years ago was the last time I opened it. It is a photo of my face on Jennifer Love Hewitt’s body.

I’ve never shared this before because I’m quite embarrassed by the photo. Not only is it not my best job at photoshopping, it doesn’t look like me. It probably will never look like me because my body is shaped differently than hers. I have a shorter waist and it’s a bloody pain to straighten my hair like that. Embarrassing or not, my goal was to look like Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Everywhere I turned last week, I saw Jennifer Love Hewitt defending her body. Every grocery store had her declaring “I’m not fat!” on every checkout line. Damn straight, she’s not fat. She’s freakin’ perfect! She’s my goal embodied and running around in a bikini! Why should she have to defend herself?

Apparently TMZ.com thinks that a size 2 is fat and announced it for all to see. Instead of caving to the insanity of it all, Jennifer defended herself beautifully on her website:

I’ve sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women’s bodies are constantly scrutinized. To set the record straight, I’m not upset for me, but for all of the girls out there that are struggling with their body image.

A size 2 is not fat! Nor will it ever be. And being a size 0 doesn’t make you beautiful. … To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist, put on a bikini – put it on and stay strong.

Thanks, Jennifer. I think I’ll forgo the bikini right now, but I will stay strong. Thanks for being such a great role model for me.

I fully expected to hate this video from VideoJug. Life explained? I had a hard time believing that a video entitled, “How To Get Rid of Man Boobs” would be useful or objective.

Guess what? It WAS:

VideoJug: How To Get Rid Of Man Boobs

Their tips were thorough:

• Causes: Man boobs are caused by excess body fat or hormonal imbalances.
• Aerobic Exercise: Burn off excess body fat with aerobic exercise.
• Anaerobic Exercise: Build up muscle with weight training.
• Diet: You have to eat healthy food to burn off excess body fat.
• Tips on staying motivated

These tips are the same whether you’re trying to get rid of man boobs, saddlebags, beer bellies or thunder thighs. The only way to tone a part of your body is a three-fold approach of healthy diet, aerobic exercise and weight training. Anyone who tells you any different is selling snake oil.

VideoJug also has a ton of other videos. I’ve included a video showing weight training for the chest area after the break: (more…)

When I first heard of SkinnySongs, I thought it would be totally lame. Seriously, what was I supposed to think with lyrics like this?

skinny jeans, skinny jeans
you’re stilll hanging ‘round
In the back of my closet
and that’s bringin’ me down
this morning, I woke up,
and made me a vow
skinny jeans, gonna get back,
into you somehow

The more I listened to the sample songs, however, the more I liked SkinnySongs. I’m not much of a country music fan, but this stuff borders on the Shania Twain side of country, so I’m okay with it. The songs are well-produced and the singer is good. You can hear samples of all the songs here:

• Skinny Songs at Amazon.com

There are so many songs that I have collected over the years to give me inspiration, but none of them have anything to do with losing weight. It’s actually quite shocking considering that so many of us are struggling with weight issues. I’m surprised that there really hasn’t been a weight loss song before.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk is a great song, but it really has nothing to do with losing weight.

So, I downloaded the album from iTunes and I’m going to be trying it out over the next few weeks. If you’ve listened to this album, leave your thoughts here.

I love my iPhone, but I have to be honest, I had to give up some cool features when I switched from my Treo. On my Treo, I had a program that would let me track my WW points and calculate the points of an item if I had the calories, fat and fiber of the food. I’ve been doing Weight Watchers for so long, I hardly used that calculator, but every once and a while, I miss it, mostly when I’m grocery shopping.

Thanks to Alternative Sunshine, I can once again have a WW Points Calculator in my pocket. This little website works with the iPhone and it easily loads even on EDGE’s slow network:

• Weight Watchers Points Calculator

Of course, this website works on your computer just fine as well, so if you’re at work and need to calculate points quickly, you have an option.

I’m so grateful for little applications like this to help me when I’m in a pinch. I kind of miss my Treo, but here is one less reason to miss it. If only I could use my iPhone as a USB modem like I used to with my Treo, then I would be set!

Have you ever dreamed of running a marathon? I have thought about running a marathon for years, but I’ve never gotten past training for a 5K. I’ve enjoyed the sense of accomplishment that I’ve gotten from running a 5K, but I think I’m ready for more.

This video from Zappos and The Las Vegas Marathon shows you all 26.3 miles of the Las Vegas Marathon. It’s an excellent visualization tool for imagining the race.

This reminds me of the Starling Fitness Walking DVDs. I wish they would sell me a DVD of the race route filmed at regular speed so I could use it to train on my treadmill. Wouldn’t that be the ideal visualization technique for running that race?

26.3 miles is a LONG distance. I didn’t realize how long until I watched this video. It’s fast forward (so much so that it gave me motion sickness to watch it), and it still took almost eight minutes to go through the whole route. After seeing what 26.3 miles looks like, I think it’s way too soon for me to start training for a marathon and maybe I should shoot for a 10K next.

We are knee deep in the holidays, but the running competition is still stiff. We had some phenomenonal numbers this week! Click over to Runner+ to see all the results.

Casio took the Level 1 challenge with his total of 8.14 miles last week! A special welcome to our newest runners, ainn18 (7th place), Ladanea (9th place) and chenn (12th place). Thanks for joining up with us and I hope you like the challenges!

Level 1 Results 12-03-07

Vangelis won the Level 2 Challenge by running 18.03 miles this week. Good job!

Level 2 Results 12-03-07

I was determined to break out of Level 2 this week and I made it, barely. I had no idea I would win the Level 3 challenge however!

Level 3 Results 12-03-07

RicC should have dropped out of Level 4 and moved on to Level 5, but I’m giving it to him this time. He overshot the Level 4 Challenge with 48.10 miles.

Level 4 Results 12-03-07

IACOBITTI would have won the Level 4 Challenge if RicC had dropped out of the race when he exceeded the limit. Instead, IACOBITTI wins the Level 5 Challenge with his 38.5 miles.

Level 5 Results 12-03-07

Once again, mkimes won Level 6 by running 49.65 miles last week! You have a great streak going! Keep it up!

Level 6 Results 12-03-07

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 (12-10-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 2 (12-10-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 3 (12-10-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 4 (12-10-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 5 (12-10-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 6 (12-10-07) – RUNNER+