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

I bought my Nike+ shoes in August. They were looking pretty hashed, so I thought it was time to replace them. Thanks to the RUNNER+ Shoe Manager, however, I was able to see that I had only run 192 miles in these shoes. That’s the risk with bright white shoes. They look horrible before they are ready to be replaced.

So, I took a toothbrush and liquid soap and cleaned them up. I replaced the gray shoe laces with these bright red ones and they look almost new again. They’re ready for their next 200 miles and THEN I will replace them.

Running shoes are usually good for 400 miles or 240 days. If I hadn’t used Runner+’s shoe manager when I bought these shoes, I would have been shelling out another 80 bucks on shoes before they were really ready to be retired. I’m so grateful that I took the time to put them into the shoe manager and I’m even more grateful that Runner+ tracks how many miles I’ve run on a single pair. I can hardly believe I’ve run 192 miles since August!

I washed my shoes and bought new shoe laces. What do you do to make your running shoes last longer?

I’m just back from shoveling my sidewalk. Salt Lake City was dumped on last night and it has started up again, so I thought I better get the heavy and slushy stuff up before more snow fell.

How many calories does shoveling snow burn? According to Nutristrategy, it’s a pretty productive exerise:

Shoveling snow, by hand
If you weigh 130 lbs: 354 calories an hour
If you weigh 155 lbs: 422 calories an hour
If you weigh 190 lbs: 518 calories an hour

My little chore to keep myself from being buried in by the weather earned me a good 250 calories today.

The question is: should I still do my 3.25 miles on the treadmill today?

I’m obsessive about my mileage on Runner+. I’m determined to break out of Level 2 this week and move on to Level 3. If I don’t do my 3.25 miles today, that won’t happen, so yes, I’m still hitting the treadmill today.

The wind has kicked up and is blowing the snow from my neighbor’s roof onto my clean driveway. I’ve got my work set out for me today. Gotta get to it.

This photo from I Can Has Cheezburger? made me realize how silly it is to compare myself to the models in fashion magazines.

That little kitten is PERFECT. We all are wonderful and perfect and comparing ourselves to an image, whether it’s the models in magazines, the concept of the perfect parent or even a ceramic likeness, is just wrong.

We can always strive to be better, but stop comparing yourself to anyone. Be better than you were yesterday. THAT’S the only comparison you should be making.

This article by Rudd Sound Bites was about Thanksgiving, but it gave me a moment of revelation that I have never imagined before.

• Rudd Sound Bites: What does a recovering overeater call Thanksgiving?

It was this paragraph gave me such an insight:

Another tenet that has held true despite a minority of dissenters is that abstinence from the overused/misused/abused substance or behavior is highly recommended if not absolutely necessary to ensure long-term recovery. Most recovering addicts are free of their obsessions and cravings as long as they abstain from their substance/behavior. However, once the behavior is engaged in or the substance consumed, there is a high risk of triggering the cycle of craving that leads to loss of control and ultimate self-destruction.

I’m addicted to overeating, NOT food. It’s the BEHAVIOR I’m addicted to, not the substance. My biggest problem with the food addiction philosophy is the fact that I can’t stop eating. I can’t go cold turkey and even if I did, I would eventually have to go back to eating. Food isn’t the problem, though.

That stuffed feeling from overeating is the problem.

That positive mood swing I get only shows up when I overeat. I can eat a small amount of food and I won’t get that mood elevating effect. I kind of LIKE that effect, actually. Just like an alcoholic likes to be drunk, I actually enjoy the positive emotions I get from overeating. I can binge on ANYTHING, even healthy food. When I’ve lost weight in the past, I’ve done it by bingeing on healthy food.

Basta! Enough! No More!

Cold turkey. I CAN go cold turkey. I can eat tiny amounts of food all day long and stay in control. When I was at my healthiest, that’s how I did it. I ate whatever I wanted in SMALL quantities. That’s because I was “on the wagon” and had been for some time.

Detox… That’s where I’m headed for the next 28 days. Detox from that overstuffed feeling that I enjoy so much. If I can go 28 days without overeating, I will be able to conquer this again!

Thanks, Rudd Sound Bites! I needed that change of perspective more than you’ll probably ever know.

The Wageningen University in the Netherlands has what they call the Restaurant of the Future. They watch your every move while you eat to learn why we overeat and what causes it.

• Restaurant of the Future May Unravel Reasons Behind Overeating

The name is not just bombast, because in addition to a staff of talented chefs, the restaurant is home to some of the world’s leading nutrition and psychology researchers. These researchers watch patrons from a secret control room, measuring portion and bite sizes, eye movements, and anything else that they feel might hold a clue to the often puzzling eating habits of humans. An intricate system of hidden cameras, heat sensors, and scales makes the restaurant an extremely versatile laboratory.

Food research has focused on selling in the past. How can we sell more food? How can we get people to eat more? How can we make it taste better to more people? That’s because a lot of research is funded by the companies that sell food. They want to sell more. They don’t care whether we get fat in the process.

I don’t know what the research focus of the Restaurant of the Future is. Their website is VERY generic. It seems like they are just building it and hoping researchers will come. If they are depending on funding from outside sources, then I suspect they won’t find out what makes us obese and merely find out how to make us fatter.

This postcard from PostSecret reminded me of how I felt when I was thinner. It was before I backslid as far as I have:

“When people compliment on how skinny I am, I know they are really saying that I have small boobs.”

This is a dangerous thought. Discounting the compliments of others and replacing an “insult” is just makes being skinny as miserable as being fat. Firstly, having small boobs isn’t an insult. You can be thin, have big boobs and they make you look fat. When you’re thin, you’re supposed to have small boobs. It’s a good thing.

Secondly, people are complimenting you on your thin body. ENJOY it! That’s what you worked so hard for, right? Don’t turn it into an insult in your mind. You’ll just end up gaining the weight back if you do.

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PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

I’m finally back from Las Vegas. I left Salt Lake City brown and chilly. I returned to a winter wonderland. Hello, TREADMILL! Let’s see how everyone did this week. Click over to Runner+ to see all the results.

fhulihee ran a total of 9.11 miles last week and beat the Level 1 challenge!

Level 1 Results 11-26-07

KellerMom won the Level 2 Challenge by running 19.04 miles and toasting us all by at least 3.5 miles!

Level 2 Results 11-26-07

Congratulations to resistente, who won the Level 3 Challenge with 25.39 miles. You dusted us all on that one! Bad form, Mike! You should have withdrawn from Level 3 before moving on to Level 4.

Level 3 Results 11-26-07

Erik finally had a chance to be the winner of the Level 4 Challenge with 39.43 miles.

Level 4 Results 11-26-07

Erik also took first place on the Level 5 Challenge by running 39.43 miles.

Level 5 Results 11-26-07

mkimes won Level 6 by running 57.38 miles last week! You have a great streak going! Keep it up!

Level 6 Results 11-26-07

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 (12-03-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 2 (12-03-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 3 (12-03-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 4 (12-03-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 5 (12-03-07) – RUNNER+

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

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 6 (12-03-07) – RUNNER+

Yesterday’s Frazz comic reminded me of how invigorating running in the snow can be:

• Frazz: 12-01-07

“There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.”

I’ve never heard that quote before. When I did a little research it has been attributed to the Scandinavians and the Norwegians. Whoever said it was spot on.

When it starts getting cold outside, I run on the treadmill again. The cold air makes it so hard to breathe that I prefer the comfort of the indoors and the entertainment of the television nearby.

I had forgotten how nice it can be to run in the winter when I have warm enough clothes.

If you ordered yourself a Starling Fitness Yearly Journal, then you know that the quote of the month for December is:

The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work. – Richard Bach

I want to get to my goal weight. I’m not going to let Christmas get in my way. Are you? Will I call it work or deprivation? What will I do to prevent myself from feeling left out?

What about you? Are you going to let the holidays stop you from achieving what you want? Let’s get this done together and it won’t even feel like work. Take a few minutes to write down what you want to achieve this month.

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The Quote of the Month is meant to be an Inner Workout for you. Find some time during the month and allow yourself to write the answers to the questions posted. You can write them on paper, on a word processor or here in the comments section. Whatever works for you as long as you do it.

Keep writing until you find out something about yourself that you didn’t know before. I’ve also heard that it works to keep writing until you cry, but that doesn’t really work for me. Whatever works for you. Just keep writing until it feels right.

To order your own Starling Fitness Yearly Journal, click here:

• Starling Fitness » Order Your Starling Fitness Yearly Journal