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

This picture from Pictures Taken at The Right Time shows me just how important it is that I can run fast.

I’ve talked about this thing before:

• Starling Fitness – Fitness, diet, and health weblog » Could You Escape?

What if you were in that situation? What if the freeways were clogged with cars? Could you get away if you were on foot or on a bicycle?

How far can you go in one day on foot if you were really pressed to get out of town? How far could you go on a bike? If the situation was desperate enough, could you escape using only the power of your own body?

THIS is why we workout. We have to be strong for those rare times when everything might be asked of our bodies. It can be the difference between life and death.

Seeing that photo of a huge wave nearly taking over two runners reminds me that I need to by physically fit so I can SURVIVE. It’s what survival of the fittest is all about.

Photo via: Workin It Out / this is the kind of motivation I need to do a 5K!

Stylesight has an entire collection of women on bicycles throughout the ages:

• Cycle in Style | Blog | Stylesight

There were two that were my particular favorites:

This is Claire McCardell’s 1940 Bicycle Outfit. The next photo was unattributed.

Seeing so many women riding bicycles over the years makes me want to get up and ride my own!

Via: i like clothes / Claire McCardell bicycle outfit, 1940s. This looks like a supremely comfortable and stylish outfit for a nice ride…

I found this awesome list of ways to get motivated here: Healthy is Classy. I don’t believe in all of these ideas, for example, coffee makes things WORSE for me. Looking at fat women doesn’t inspire me to be thin, so that Krispy Kreme Calendar isn’t going to work for me either. And anything to do with God and praying is useless for me. Which of these work for you? (more…)

I love the presentation on this Caprese Salad. I found it here:

• beautifulpicturesofhealthyfood: Hasselback… – Turning day-dreams, into reality

I’m used to seeing Caprese Salad looking like this:

Cutting the tomatoes partially looks so pretty and allows the vinegar and olive oil to pool nicely between the mozzarella and basil. Here is how it looked when I made it.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 tomatoes
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella
• 20 to 30 leaves (about 1 bunch) fresh basil
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Coarse salt and pepper

Directions

• Cut the tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick slices, but only 3/4 of the way through the tomato.
• Cut the mozzarella into 1/4-inch thick slices.
• Tuck one slice of mozzarella and a couple of leaves of basil between the tomato slices.
• Drizzle olive oil and vinegar over the tomatoes.
• Sprinkle salt and pepper over the tomatoes.
• Serve chilled.

Next time you’re not in the mood to cook in the hot kitchen, make this chilled salad and enjoy the fresh flavors!

I found this little animated GIF from A healthy fitness / weightloss blog

It reads:

Hungry for living not junk food.

Hungry for success not junk food.

Hungry for sexiness not junk food.

Hungry for confidence not junk food.

Hungry for health not junk food.

Hungry for strength not junk food.

Hungry for power not junk food.

Hungry for accomplishment not junk food.

Hungry for fun not junk food.

Hungry for flirt not junk food.

Hungry for rest not junk food.

Hungry for company not junk food.

Many times we are hungry, but we don’t know why. There were so many times when I felt REALLY hungry, even though I had just eaten. Now, some of the blame for that was the fact that I was eating a high carb diet, but sometimes, I was just bored or sad.

The next time you’re tempted to eat something when you KNOW you’re not really hungry, STOP yourself and find out what you’re really hungry for.

Amelia Ence posted this image on Pinterest the other day.

It looks like it’s for a product called the Abhancer. It’s supposed to make your stomach look as if you have strong abdominal muscles showing under the skin when it actually is just making marks on your stomach with what looks like a shelf out of your kitchen pantry.

The box reads:

New! Abhancer! Get a six-pack in seconds!

Dramatically enhances abs.

Adjustable straps.

Light-weight frame.

Fits beneath clothing.

Recommended by pseudo-athletes.

“I couldn’t believe how effective the Ab-hancer was. Chicks dig it!” – Jeff

As far as I can tell, this product doesn’t exist. A quick search on Amazon turns up nothing and a Google search just has posting after posting making fun of the product without really researching whether it is real or not. I DID find this product: The Boneless Belt on Inventor Spot: Break Up Fat, Relationships with the Bizarre Japanese Dieting Belt.

According to the website:

The structure of the rubber belt is a large mesh grid that splits the dieter’s belly, side and back fat into easily manageable blobs. This allows for increased metabolic consumption of calories and raises the propensity for increased blood flow values. More blood flow = more heat = more burning of fat.

Cutting off the blood flow to your body might affect your resting metabolic rate, but it would be by such a small amount that it’s doubtful that it would helpful at all. Taking a twenty minute walk outside would help you FAR more than wearing an uncomfortable belt all day.

You could always create that effect with a shelf from your kitchen:

In the end, the only thing that will make your abs look like a six pack is exercise and diet. Your body fat needs to be so low that there is literally NO fat between your skin and your muscles. A silly gadget or belt (whether real or imaginary) can’t replace the hard work and determination that you need to look that good.

Additional research and photos via:

• Museum of Hoaxes: The Mystery of the AB-hancer
• AB HANCER | The Buck and Rob Show!

Here is the complete playlist for the BBC documentary, “The Men Who Made Us Fat.” It’s worth a watch.

Now, the blame for the obesity epidemic isn’t the fault of the farmers who are trying to make a living. Too much food isn’t the problem. The WRONG food is the problem. HFCS AND sugar are bad for us. If our consumption of soda that had been sweetened with sugar had increased as much as it did with HFCS, we would have gained the SAME amount of weight. They BOTH have fructose.

I don’t know about everyone else, I snacked between meals because I was STARVING. I felt hungry all the time because I was eating sugar all day long. Even when I was on Weight Watchers, and losing weight, I did it with fruit smoothies, whole wheat bread and Kashi cereal. I was eating high carb all day long and it made me SO hungry. Once I started eating low carb, my need for snacks throughout the day evaporated.

I don’t believe that the palatability of food caused this constant hunger. I eat good foods now, but avoid carbohydrates. My food tastes delicious, but I’m not obsessed with food anymore. It’s not the fact that food tastes so good that causes people to overeat. It’s the carbohydrates.

I also don’t agree with taxing food manufacturers. They are just trying to make yummy food and sell it. It’s OUR responsibility not to buy it.

This is a pretty good documentary, but it goes overboard on laying blame and doesn’t spend enough time tell people what to do about it. I’m less worried about blame and more worried about how to get healthy.

via: Don’t Miss BBC Two’s Documentary ‘The Men Who Made Us Fat’ « Jimmy Moore’s Livin’ La Vida Low Carb Blog

I found this animated GIF at this summer and I just LOVE it!

This scene is from the movie, Burn After Reading. I HATED that movie because of what happens to Brad Pitt’s character, but at the same time, I kind of liked it. I really felt each of the characters represented one of the seven deadly sins.

Brad Pitt’s character was eating ALL the time, so I really felt he represented gluttony. To see gluttony running on a never-ending treadmill really brings home the tragedy of that sin. In order to burn off the food, you must spend an inordinate amount of time exercising. This little GIF reminds me that it’s better to get my gluttony under control rather than waste my life on the treadmill. I exercise every day to get strong, not burn off the food I eat.

I’ve talked quite a few times about the episode of Friends when Phoebe runs like a little kid.

• Starling Fitness » The One Where Phoebe Runs
• Starling Fitness » The One Where Phoebe Runs

My favorite quote from the episode is here:

“I run like I did when I was a kid because that’s the only way it’s fun. Didn’t you ever run so fast that you thought your legs were going to fall off?”

You can see the important parts of the video here.

Someone actually made an animated GIF of Phoebe running and I just want to watch it over and over.

Phoebe’s screaming:

That’s not running, let’s GO!

Animated GIF via: acciohealthylifestyle: if you’re not running… – Turning day-dreams, into reality

I found this quote on Be the one to guide but never hold me down. It says:

Just keep moving forward and don’t give a shit about what anybody thinks. Do what you have to do, for you.

Johnny Depp

I don’t know if Johnny Depp actually said that, but I love the quote and thought it deserved to belong to the face.

Next time you’re thinking of quitting, remember Johnny Depp telling you, personally, to keep moving forward. Don’t quit. Never give up and don’t give a shit about what the haters think.

Photo via: Johnny Depp TopNews