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

Every once and a while I come across these stories. They talk about sideshow carnivals and people who made their living just by being fat. This is the story of Dolly Dimples.

• The Human Marvels: Dolly Dimples – The Dainty Fat Lady

She was 4’11” tall and weighed 555 pounds, enjoying the carnival life. Then she survived a heart attack.

Her doctors told her to alter her diet or she would die. Dolly was frightened by the prospect of death, she enjoyed live greatly, and so she paid attention to the advice in a most astounding fashion.

In fourteen months Dolly Dimples was gone, and in her place stood Celesta Geyer at a svelte 112 pounds. She had lost over 443 pound by limiting her diet to baby food. The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes this achievement as the greatest weight loss in the shortest period of time.

She spent the rest of her life promoting her diet as a method of losing weight. She profited from being fat and she profited from slimming down. We all like to watch as the celebrities perform stunts of amazement like Janet Jackson’s weight loss. This has been going on for so long that it makes me believe that we are programmed to want to watch others on this journey.

Tina Malament sent a postcard to PostSecret. It wasn’t chosen to be displayed, so she turned her efforts into making t-shirts. Her secret? She has been struggling with anorexia since she was ten years old.

• T-shirts put eating disorders out in the open

She took eating lightly to a level that endangered her life.

“My hobby became starving. My hobby became counting calories,” she said, adding that she still knows how many calories are in a single bite of certain foods.

Her personal weblog can be found here.

• novare’s Xanga Site

She sells the t-shirts announcing to the world that she refuses to become a statistic. She is more than just an eating disorder.

If you are mixing your alcohol with diet sodas instead of sugary ones, you might be getting a little more tipsy than your non-dieting friends. According to an Australian study, artificial sweeteners increase the absorption of alcohol in the system.

• Artificially sweetened booze packs more punch – Addictions – MSNBC.com

They weren’t just testing how drunk the participants felt, the blood alcohol was tested and these were their findings:

“The peak blood alcohol concentration was significantly higher with the diet drink than with the regular drink. The blood alcohol concentration was also higher with the artificial sweetener than with the sugar-sweetened drink.”

Most diets recommend that you limit your alcohol consumption, but if you do decide to imbibe, make sure you have it with club soda to avoid the sugar AND the increased alcohol absorption from artificial sweetners.

Via: Diet mixers increase alcohol absorption – Slashfood

This postcard from PostSecret made me want to stand up and cheer for the writer. Managing bulimia is an ongoing practice, but every day starts with that rededication. That was “The Last Time” can be a reality if you just nuture and love yourself.

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 buy a bottle of water at the gas station and quickly empty it because the warm sun has made me thirsty this season. Is it safe to refill it? What about washing it in the dishwasher? Will that make it leach carcinogenic compounds into my water like that email from my mom said it would? Should I just recycle it after its designated one-time use?

When I saw the emails about the carcinogens leaching into my water from my re-used water bottle, the first thing that popped into my head was, “baloney.” It took me a while to find the proof and the story behind it, but I did:

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Medical (Bottle Royale)

The idea that carcinogens leached into water bottles from the plastic they were made of was the basis of a study that was flawed and hadn’t gone through peer review before the media snapped it up. If there is no risk of cancer, what about bacteria?

U of MN Food Safety: Water Bottle Safety

There IS a risk of bacteria and germs with water bottles that are reused. The study referenced above was performed on water bottles from taken from 75 elementary school students, however. If you regularly wash your hands and bottles, you’re probably safer than most.

I’m from the school of “A Little Dirt Won’t Hurt,” but I realize that is probably not the best recommendation I could make to people. Can you reuse a water bottle without getting cancer? Yes. Can you get sick from it? Maybe. Should you worry so much about it that you’re washing the bottle with a bottle brush after each use? If you do, just buy a new bottle of water. It’s not worth the hassle if you’re going to be scared of getting diseases with each sip.

For me, I’ll keep reusing the Gatorade bottles and washing them in the dishwasher. If I contract a horrible disease, I’ll keep you updated.

It appears that anorexia is just as hard to deal with as bingeing. This postcard from PostSecret reminded me that I’m not cured of my bingeing, I just manage it. Every Day…

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 know you’ve heard it because I’ve heard it so many times that I almost believed it a little bit. They told us that green tea has anti-oxidants in it. It does, but does that mean that green tea will help keep your heart healthy? The FDA says, “No.”

• FDA Denies Green Tea Cardiovascular Health Claim

So many times food manufacturers try to play off the supposed health benefits of food. They try to create green tea extract, green tea pills and green tea candies that are supposed to heal you. Don’t fall for the propaganda. After looking at over 100 studies, the FDA has stated that there is “no credible evidence” that green tea is “heart healthy.”

Drink green tea because you like the flavor, but don’t depend on it to keep your heart strong. To do that, make sure you exercise and eat healthy. There is no substitute for that.

Via: Consumer Health Digest, May 16, 2006

The Utah Better Business Bureau cited UltraLife Fitness, Trugenix and Trugenix Hoodia as websites that have been scamming people.

• Better Business Bureau of Utah

They were using the popular method of giving people “free” diet pills and then charging them for a “membership” in a club in which they send pills every month. We’ve talked about this method of scamming people before:

• Starling Fitness » Steer Clear of the Free Diet Pills

Now, that the BBB of Utah has singled them out, they have gone underground. Their websites are offline and they are no where to be found. If you thought you could get your money back on that “money back guarantee” you’re out of luck because they’re gone.

That’s how it works for most diet pill scammers. They set up shop, sell a bunch of pills and then disappear when the FTC or BBB come knocking on their door. Don’t let yourself be a victim. There is no pill out there that will help you lose weight without diet and exercise. If you have to diet and exercise anyway, do it without the pills.

To see some of the responses people have given Truegenix Hoodia, see Rate The Offers:

• Rate The Offers.com – Offer Ratings – TruGenix Hoodia

Via: Consumer Health Digest, May 9, 2006

They don’t promise that you’ll be thinner, just a vague threat that the rest of the world will be…

You can see all the ads here:

• ….HOW ADVERTISING SPOILED ME….

The Fitness Company is based in Germany. They’re clever advertisements, but I don’t appreciate the sentiment that the rest of the world will suddenly change to the Size Zero Mentality.

Pedia Loss was a product that was marketed to parents who are worried about their obese children. Instead of helping children lose weight, however, the FTC says that all the product did was cost a lot of money.

• Sellers of Children’s Weight-Loss Product Settle FTC Charges

The media is quick to scream about childhood obesity rates. They have made parents so desperate for a solution that we are easy prey to companies that are trying to take advantage of us. Don’t let yourself become a statistic. If a company is promising that they can help you or your children lose weight without diet or exercise, then they’re lying. If they say you have to follow a strict diet and exercise regime in order to lose weight, then you should just follow the diet and not spend the money on their product.

Via: Consumer Health Digest, April 18, 2006