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

A couple of weeks ago, The Office season premier was called Weight Loss. You can see it here:

Dunder Mifflin paper is having an office competition in which the branches compete for an extra week of vacation time. The winner is the branch that loses the most weight. Of course, things at the Scranton branch get out of control, culminating with Phyllis being abandoned without her purse in a bad part of town by Dwight because she needs the exercise. Even Michael goes over the line telling tiny Angela to lose weight and her replying, “My doctor wants me to GAIN weight.”

I actually loved this episode because it shows just how fat people are treated in the workforce. If you think that it was an exaggeration when Dwight accused the heaviest people in the office of not pulling their weight, it wasn’t. Considering that Stanley had lost FOUR pounds that week, it was quite ironic, but entirely typical.

I’ve worked at offices that have sponsored weight loss competitions before and they have ALWAYS ended badly. The only time I’ve ever seen the idea of weight loss in the workplace actually WORK was when my sister’s office sponsored Weight Watchers to come to their office for an At Work program. Those who wanted to participate were given an extra hour to do so and the weight of everyone was kept anonymous.

Next time it feels like everyone in your office is against your weight loss because they happened to bring in donuts, remember this episode of The Office and know how much worse it could be if they were rooting for you.

The final irony are the commercials that NBC has thrown into this episode. They are for Hungry Man Frozen Dinners. I wrote about how entire un-dietable these dinners are here:

• Starling Fitness » Hungry Man Sports Grill

Diet Blog has a nice article asking whether your diet is a cult.

• Is Your Diet a Cult?

They have some suggestions on how to reprogram yourself if you have fallen into the cult mentality:

• This may seem common sense by now but the message bears repeating: There are no quick fixes or universally perfect solutions.
• Know that you and only you make the decisions regarding your health. Learn as much as you can about healthy eating and make decisions from there. You are in control!
• See food as the solution – not the problem to your health and weight.
• Reframe success: Look at markers other than scale weight to determine your goals. Set goals to eat more vegetables, eat out less or walk more.
• Join communities (in person or on-line) that are support-based, encourage critical thinking, individuality, and do not promote extreme measures.

These are good recommendations when choosing a diet plan as well. If it feels like your diet plan has been controlling you more than you controlling it, take a step back and re-evaluate your relationship with food and your eating plan.

It seems that tasks that task your mind also task your appetite. Jean-Phillipe Chaput just released a study in the latest issue of Psychosomatic Medicine stating that intellectual work creates a destabilization of the blood glucose levels in the body and causes appetite spikes.

• ABC News: Does Thinking Make Us Fatter?

The participants burned only about three calories more during each of the two “knowledge-based” experiments than during the 45 minutes when they rested in a comfortable chair. So the caloric expenditures were relatively quite low for mental tasks compared to the period spent relaxing.

But the intake was significantly higher. Participants consumed 203 more calories after the reading experiment, and 253 more calories after the computer tests, than the resting participants. That’s an increase of 23.6 percent and 29.4 percent, respectively.

Next time you feel yourself reaching for food when you’re working at the computer, remember that you haven’t really burned the calories you’re craving. Instead of a snack, take a brisk walk or a run up and down the stairs. That’s the pick-me-up that your body truly needs.

Via: Thinking Makes You Fat – Geekologie

I used to save episodes of The Biggest Loser until the next morning and watch them while walking/jogging on the treadmill. I found it so inspiring to see all those people working out. This year, however, I decided not to watch after seeing a preview clip of Jillian just screaming at a contestant.

I couldn’t watch it anymore. I love Jillian, but I do not want to watch people being screamed at. She literally screamed,

“The only way you’re coming off this treadmill is if you DIE on it! Unless you faint, puke or DIE, keep walking!!”

It’s just not entertainment and it’s certainly not inspiring. A day after The Biggest Loser premiere episode, however, I’m laughing and it’s all because of Ernie at Littlest, Yellowest, Differentest:

• Littlest, Yellowest, Differentest – Things People Eat While Watching “The Biggest Loser,” According to Twitter

Things People Eat While Watching “The Biggest Loser,” According to Twitter:

• Pepper Jack grilled cheese sandwiches
• Ice cream
• Taco Bell
• No seriously, a lot of Taco Bell
• Chocolate cream pie
• Bacon/Chocolate candy bars

Every one of those people seem to feel guilty for eating while watching The Biggest Loser. Maybe watching that TV show isn’t all that good for all of us. Whenever Jillian screams at an overweight contestant telling him that he is going to stay on that treadmill until she tells him to get off or until he dies, maybe we feel like we deserve that sort of abuse. Eating while watching the show just makes it more deserved.

Me? I’m skipping it this year… or at least I’m not watching for as long as I can.

According to a study that was published in the Sept. 16 issue of Radiology, researchers at John Hopkins University have found a new way to curb hunger. They inject a chemical that destroys the main vessel carrying blood to the top section (fundus) of the stomach. About 90 percent of the body’s ghrelin originates in the fundus, which requires a good blood supply to make the hormone.

Suddenly, your body is only able to create 10 percent of ghrelin that it used to be able to create and your hunger pangs are lessened.

• Researchers Suppress ‘Hunger Hormone’ – US News and World Report

Dr. Aravind Arepally is the clinical director of the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design, and associate professor of radiology and surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He explained the procedure:

“With gastric artery chemical embolization, called GACE, there’s no major surgery. In our study in pigs, this procedure produced an effect similar to bariatric surgery by suppressing ghrelin levels and subsequently lowering appetite.”

I don’t know if I want part of my stomach destroyed. Considering all the negative effects of gastric bypass surgery, I wouldn’t be the first in line to try this procedure. Let them experiment on someone else.

Fail Dogs is a funny little site that shows me pictures of dogs in embarrassing situations every day. This one, however, hit a little too close to home:

After being put on weight management food, this little puppy took matters in his own hands and ate the entire bag.

He probably still didn’t feel full…

There have been so many times when I’ve gotten low calories substitutes to eat when what I really wanted was the high calorie version. It took me years to give up those bland and nearly inedible “treats” and learn how to have a SMALL serving of the real thing. Once I gave up those 100 Calorie packs, I was able to eat what I really wanted AND lose weight.

I know the 100 Calorie packs are a godsend to some people, but I ended up just like this little dog when I had them in the house. I would eat three of them and they still wouldn’t have satisfied me as much as 300 calories of a REAL dessert.

Mana Energy Potion sponsored a treadmill modification to complete a race in World of Warcraft.

• [:Mana Energy Potion:] | RL Race Across Azeroth

What they did was modify some inexpensive treadmills to simulate pressing the “W” button.

Then they had a virtual race across Azeroth, which is an area in the game, World of Warcraft. Do you think running in World of Warcraft with these treadmills will be easier or harder than running in a real forest? You can see how they did here:

In the end, they ran 1 mile in the game, but only ran 1/2 mile on the treadmills. The game had them running at 12.0 mph, but the treadmills logged only 6.0 mph. So, running in World of Warcraft is still easier than running in the real world, even with fancy treadmills.

The race was sponsored by Mana Energy Potion, which is a high calorie energy drink. This may seem like a good promotion for fitness, but in actuality, they are promoting a drink that isn’t very healthy, so be forewarned.

Via: Play Girlz: Exercise World of Warcraft Style

I bet this postcard from PostSecret hits a nerve with a lot of people.

It reads:

I told my doctor I had ADD to get Adderall so I could lose weight. It turns out I DID have ADD. I went from a D average to straight A’s.

I didn’t lose any weight.

When Phen-Fen was first banned, I knew of a lot of women that told their doctors that they had ADD just to get half of the prescription. I think the most important thing from this secret is the last sentence, “I didn’t lose any weight.” Neither did any of my friends. They just ended up nervous and shaky and worrying about heart valve problems.

Don’t submit to the pressure of being thin by trying weight loss drugs. Even the ones that get FDA approval have been dangerous in the past. Don’t trust them now.

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.

This postcard from PostSecret showed up a couple of weeks ago.

Since I grew up considering myself a fat child, I EXPECT people to make fun of me. In fact, I tend to make fun of myself to head off the insults. It must be difficult growing up skinny and becoming fat later in life. I wonder how it feels to experience that shock as an adult.

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.

When I looked for the patron saint of the chubby, I found St. John Climacus, but somehow, I missed the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. He argued that gluttony could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods. Here are his six methods of committing gluttony:

• Praepropere – eating too soon
• Laute – eating too expensively
• Nimis – eating too much
• Ardenter – eating too eagerly
• Studiose – eating too daintily
• Forente – eating too fervently

The idea that eating can be a sin is prevalent in our society. Almost every disdainful look at a person because of their weight can be linked to the thought that gluttony is a sin. There is some innate human preference to a thinner appearance, but most of the aversion is because of the concept that being fat is sinful. This hasn’t really helped our society, and in some cases, I believe it has made things worse.

When it comes to healthy eating, however, did St. Thomas Aquinas have a good idea?

• Praepropere: I can’t deny that it is harmful if I eat too soon or eat when I’m not hungry. My biggest problem is recognizing that I’m hungry. Too often, I have let myself get too hungry and then I wolf down WAY more food than I need. Recognizing the proper hunger signals is a skill that few of us are taught.

• Laute: During the Middle Ages, St. Thomas Aquinas suggested that eating food that is too expensive was a sin. I hear this argument even today when people say that eating meat is too much of a strain on the environment and if you want to reduce your carbon footprint, you should eat vegetarian. It is the underlying assumption for the whole food movement. Eat simply, is the battle cry of laute. I have eaten both ways and I honestly feel better when I eat fresh, whole food, so maybe there is something to this argument.

• Nimis: Anyone with a full stomach after too big of a meal agrees with the idea that eating too much might be a sin. There is actually pain involved, so it’s hard to argue with something that actually causes pain.

• Ardenter: Eating too eagerly is kind of ambiguous to me, but it seems to mean eating too quickly. I know if I eat slower, I eat less. Taking small bites and chewing my food completely helps with my stomach problems AND helps me eat less food.

• Studiose: – When I first wrote this entry, I had no idea what eating too daintily might mean, but the excellent Raven left a comment saying that she thinks it means being too picky. I have to admit that I was brought up to eat whatever I was offered, even if I didn’t like it, so I’ve never really had this problem. I can understand how St. Thomas Aquinas might consider this to be a problem, however. Rejecting food because it doesn’t please you can be just as wasteful as eating it when you’re already full.

• Forente: Does eating too fervently count as eating too quickly? Is it just another wording of the same thing or am I missing something here?

On the whole, St. Thomas Aquinas had some good ideas about healthy eating. I think the idea that overeating is a sin has harmed us far more than helped us, but the ideas of eating slowly only when we’re hungry and not eating too much are classic concepts that shouldn’t be shunned.