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

Soy, like in tofu and soy sauce, has been a large element in the Asian diet for centuries, but soya, a soy-based additive hasn’t. Soy has been touted to alleviate diseases and provide healthy protein. You may not even realize which of your foods it has been added to, but is this the best thing? Felicity Lawrence investigates:

• Guardian Unlimited | Should we worry about soya in our food? | by Felicity Lawrence

Remember, the closer food is to its natural state, the better. Soy beans (edamame) are an excellent source of protein. Soy added to your granola bar? That’s a little more questionable. Go for the fresh and natural version and you’ll eat healthier with less worries.

Via: How healthy is soy? – Slashfood

Burger King has just announced their newest burger, the BK Quad Stacker. Four hamburgers, four slices of cheese, eight strips of bacon and almost a day’s worth of calories in just one sandwich. In a rare show of corporate honesty, Burger King announced the burger with the following statement:

“We’re satisfying the serious meat lovers by leaving off the produce and letting them decide exactly how much meat and cheese they can handle.”

The burger sounds like a challenge, not a meal. Some have supposed that this might open up Burger King to obesity lawsuits, but the Accidental Hedonist disagrees:

• Accidental Hedonist – Fast Food Honesty

I totally agree with what he says about these fast food restaurants.

“I, for one, am glad to see fast food restaurants being unapologetic for their products. By being clear on who they are and what they sell, it makes it easier for me to decide whether or not I visit their establishments. That I choose not to is worth noting, but only if you keep in mind that I don’t really fit into their core demographics.”

I don’t think we need to legislate food to keep ourselves healthy. As long as we have the nutrition facts for the food we eat, the choice is ours. I don’t want the government trying to protect me from myself. I just want the data about the food I eat.

Terry has been finding other ways to give herself comfort instead of food.

• I See Invisible People » Food as comfort

She has thought of some things that never occurred to me.

“I’m trying to find things that make me feel good but which don’t involve food. Strawberry-scented Glade candles, extended exercise for the endorphine rush and my rocking chair are my current favorites. I re-read beloved novels. I put lotion on my legs and arms.”

I love the thought of putting on lotion when I need comfort. So many times I need a hug, not food. What better way to give myself comfort than to take care of my skin?

It seems like scientific studies about weight loss—especially the ones that make it into mainstream news—are mostly just a complicated way of confirming what most people already know. Here’s the latest:

• Fruit and fiber the key to weight management (AP)

The study found, not surprisingly, that normal-weight people eat significantly more fruit and fiber than overweight people, and that the overweight consume more fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol.

While all of this is obvious to anyone who’s tried a diet plan or two, it suggests that even non-dieters like me could benefit by adding fruit and fiber to their diets. Low-carb dieters take note: the study also found that normal-weight people consumed 43% more complex carbohydrates (starches and grains) than their overweight counterparts.

We are heading into the time of year when zucchini is available everywhere. Anyone who has planted even one zucchini plant has lots of squash to give away to you.

What to do with it? Slashfood has several recipes here. They may not be low calorie, so beware.

• Slashfood Ate (8): Great uses for zucchini – Slashfood

My favorite way to eat zucchini is raw. A fresh zucchini from the refrigerator sliced into little circles and sprinkled with salt is refreshing and low calorie.

I love this time a year for fresh vegetables. It makes eating healthy easy.

Scott Adams is the artist responsible for Dilbert. He also regularly writes a blog. This entry talks about a massage he received from a very large woman in Reno.

• The Dilbert Blog: Petting the Cat

Before explaining his uncomfortable massage, he explained that he wasn’t making fun of the woman because she was fat.

Let me be clear that I do not approve of making fun of overweight people. Those that mock the hefty are delusional because they believe in the superstition of will power. They believe that some people have a lot of this non-existent will-power substance whereas overweight people have less of it.

I believe that will power is an illusion. Overweight people simply get more enjoyment from food than thin people do, at least relative to their other pleasure options. If I liked food more than I like playing tennis, I’d be the size of a house. Will power never enters into it.

Some people are larger than others. Deal with it.

He has a point. It seems that people who are offended by overweight people tend to believe that being overweight is some sort of moral failing. Then again, the human body has such a wide variation that some people are just physically larger than others. We just need to accept this.

Being fat is NOT a moral issue. It might not even be an aesthetic issue. Being fat just is. It’s not bad and it’s not good. It’s just a fact.

Being fat isn’t set in stone either. The beauty of our bodies is that we can sculpt them. We can change the shape. We can test our bodies with diets and exercise and observe the results. Each of us is a beautiful science experiment.

Last year, I wrote an entry called “How to Have a Healthy BBQ” and there is little that I would add to it today. Go give it a read:

• Starling Fitness » How to Have a Healthy BBQ

The only thing I would add to this entry is that a BBQ seems to be an event that is focused on the food. There is so much food around. Everyone is gathered around the grill and everyone is bringing something. The truth of the matter is, it is an event that is REALLY focused on the people. You wouldn’t go to a BBQ with someone you hate. You go there to see people, relax and have a good time.

You don’t need to overeat to have a good time. You can have a healthy and enjoyable BBQ by focusing on the people and not the food.

Happy Independence Day!

Food is involved in so much of our lives that when we are learning to eat healthier, it can get in the way of so many things. Terry, at I See Invisible People, talks about her relationships, alcohol and food.

• I See Invisible People » Food as bonding

I love her thoughts here:

“When I was younger, my friends and I bonded through alcohol. Drive-in movies, dance parties, cutting school, just hanging, out all involved booze. If we were together, we drank. As much as our shared tattered backgrounds, liquor was the glue that held us together. It was the lowest common denominator between scarred kids with serious trust issues. Looking back on it, we had little in common besides our Underclass pasts and our reliance on alcohol. Perhaps this is why most of those friendships didn’t survive into adulthood.”

Is food the glue that is holding your relationships together? If so, how are you going to change that dynamic so you can live a healthier life?

I have been planning my meals using this spreadsheet. I originally got it from the Microsoft Templates Library, but it was a simple sheet meant to be printed out and written on instead of used to the full capabilities of a spreadsheet. I altered it substantially. If you would like to try it, you can download it here:

• Weekly Meal Planning Spreadsheet

This uses Microsoft Excel, so you need to have that software to play with it. If you want more details on how to use this, click here:

(more…)

I’m still eating healthy. I haven’t binged for a week now. The only thing I can credit to staying on track is planning my meals. Mike and I sat down a week ago and planned three days worth of meals for me. We wrote down breakfast and lunch and then planned the evenings that we were going to go out to eat dinner. For the first time in months, I was able to keep myself from bingeing by following that plan. Friday evening, we sat down and planned an entire week for me and I’ve been able to keep from abusing myself.

I was always reluctant to plan my meals ahead of time. I didn’t want to lose my spontaneity. I have always wanted to be the kind of person that eats what she wants when she wants. I was never willing to write out a plan for the next day, much less a week.

The only problem with that is I end up obsessing about food all day long.

As soon as I finish a meal, I need to think about what I’m going to eat next. I had no idea that giving up spontaneity would give me such freedom. Now, instead of worrying about my next meal, I already know what my next meal is going to be. It’s something that I was excited about when I planned it, and I know it’s going to fit into my program.

Since I’ve planned my meals, I actually obsess about food less, not more. If I follow the plan perfectly, I don’t need to journal a thing. I don’t need to write down one word because it’s already there. Planning makes eating healthy so much easier.

I know I’ve heard that before. It’s said so many times that it’s a cliche. Planning makes eating healthy easier. I would nod and I thought that I was doing enough planning by buying enough healthy veggies and fruits for the week. I didn’t want to have to plan every morsel of food that went into my mouth. Where’s the fun in that?

None. I have to be honest. There is very little fun in planning your meals for the week. Last Friday, it took Mike and I an hour to do it. There was a little bit of excitement when we chose which recipes we were going to cook on the eating at home dinners, but basically, it was an hour of boring planning. No fun.

The truth is, I feel such a sense of peace about food. I had gotten to the point that I wasn’t journaling because I was sick of writing down every bite of food I put into my mouth. Now, if I follow the plan, I don’t need to write. I just eat the meal on the schedule.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll share the spreadsheet that makes planning so much easier.