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

This old advertisement for a bowling alley in North Dakota reminded me of the fun I’ve had this last year. In May 2010, Mike’s sister, Kristen, wanted her birthday party at a bowling alley. Our entire marriage, Mike had denied my requests to go bowling over and over because they required him to wear someone else’s shoes. I convinced him to try it for his beloved sister’s sake by telling him he could bring an extra pair of socks and throw away the “contaminated” socks after we were done.

To my delight, that suggestion started a year’s worth of bowling every week.

He loved bowling so much that he bought his own bowling shoes and we have enjoyed many days of activity. I have been able to get a little exercise every week and it feels like a party every time we do it.

The funny thing is how often bowling is shown in the celebrity magazines. Here is Kim Kardasian, in shoes that are NOT appropriate for bowling.

Here is Ben Stiller.

Here are a couple others:

Apparently, even Lady Gaga likes to go bowling, although the paparazzi didn’t get photos of her.

I’ve enjoyed the sport so much and even though it’s not aerobic, by any stretch of the imagination, it DOES give me a workout. The first few weeks of bowling, my back, hamstrings and arms ached as much as when I did weight training.

The next time you’re thinking of doing something fun for the evening, try bowling. It’s a fun time with your friends and you get the added benefit of a workout while you play.

I love this ad for a bicycle trainer.

It tells me to train myself every day. Since the weather in Salt Lake has turned frigid and foggy, I brought my bike inside on the trainer, but it just doesn’t feel as good to ride indoors as it does when I’m out on the trails. I’ve had a hard time getting myself to get my butt on the bike.

I guess I need to imagine an entire team cheering me on.

I love this motivational poster from Shape magazine. It reads:

“When your mind starts to wander, take three deep breaths to bring your focus back to your goal.”

It has been hard for me to stay focused on my goal. Since I have so much to lose, it’s hard for me to think about being at goal. I find it a lot more inspiring to think about my short term goals like staying food sober, attending my Weight Watchers meetings and exercising at least three times a week. Those are things that are COMPLETELY under my control, as opposed to my weight loss, which feels completely OUT of my control.

Ironically, if I stay focused on those small goals that are in my control, I ALWAYS lose weight at the end of the week. Weight loss has been such a struggle to me that it feels like it is not something that I have any power over, yet paradoxically, I DO have control over it if I just follow my small goals.

I wish there was a way to make this all easier for me, but I know that if it was easy, EVERYONE would be thin and perfect. All I can do is take three deep breaths and focus on my small goals every day.

I LOVE this advertisement. It was for some body building protein powder and I’d never buy that product, but that ad is GREAT for motivation.

Sometimes when I just can’t get the motivation to exercise, I like to think of myself as a hero. I have to train in order to be ready for when the action hits. Would I be able to run away if I needed to? Would I be strong enough to fight my way free? Thinking about these things makes it a little easier to do my workout.

The next time you’re considering skipping your workout, remember this ad and think of yourself as an action figure.

I love these advertisements from Nike. They encourage me to be strong, to let myself shine and to become fit. Sometimes I need encouragement like this and these are the perfect ads to tear out of a magazine and put on my wall right in front of the treadmill.

Next time you’re feeling a little uninspired to exercise, print up these ads and look at them while you get your butt going.

I was looking through my old Seventeen magazines from the 80’s and I found this article in the November 1987 issue about Aerobikata. Actress, Christine Harnos, demonstrates the cool new workout craze from New York that was supposed to be a mixture of aerobics and karate.

Christine Harnos was best known for her part playing Jennifer Greene, the wife of Mark Greene on ER. The only thing I’ve seen her in was a guest spot on Star Trek: Voyager. It’s good to know that she went on to bigger and better things than Aerobikata.

The “workout craze” however doesn’t seem to exist on the Internet. Far from Japanese, the word aerobikata is Finnish and simply means “to do aerobics.”

• aerobikata – Wiktionary

As non-existent as the craze may have been, the moves shown in the magazine are pretty interesting and will probably get your heart rate going if you give them a try.

I especially like number 11. It’s the perfect depiction of a hamstring/calf stretch as you’ll ever see. Keep your back straight and you should feel the stretch in your straightened leg.

Whenever I read the fitness magazines of today, I’m reminded of articles like these from twenty years ago. Sure, it might look like the new fitness craze now, but in twenty years, it’ll be as silly as Aerobikata is today.

The brilliant Wendy Bumgardner at About.com has another article that really got me thinking.

• 10 Ways Walking Can Land You in Prison

There are things I didn’t even think about on that list:

• Jaywalking
• Trespassing
• Weapons Violations
• Destruction of Public Property
• Theft
• Public Urination/Indecent Exposure
• Assault
• Battery
• Leash and Scooper Laws
• Loitering

When you list them out like this, it seems like a no-brainer, but when Wendy goes into detail about all the ways you could accidentally break the law, I had a whole new appreciation for my daily walks through the neighborhood. From ground scores to desperately seeking a Porta-Potty, there are ten ways that you could land yourself in a cell. Check out her article and you’ll be as surprised as I was.

• 10 Ways Walking Can Land You in Prison

I was watching this video of a cat jumping and playing the other day and I suddenly became sad.

Watching that cat jump over and over looked like so much fun. When did exercise become work? I remember skateboarding around and around my block all day long. When did I stop enjoying that sort of thing? Right now, the closest I come to enjoying my exercise is when I’m riding my bike. Of course, I’ve found a way to turn that into work as well. Logging miles and times, I analyze my workouts to death instead of just enjoying them.

I’ve decided that from now on, I’m just going to ENJOY my bike rides. Just like this cat jumping after the toy, I’m going to stop worrying about times and hill intervals and just ride for FUN.

Video via: VIDEO: Leaping Savannah Kitteh – Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures of Cats – I Can Has Cheezburger?

I bought myself a subscription to Oxygen Magazine and every once in a while they have something interesting to talk about.

The September 2010 Issue had an article about protein bars and how they are just expensive candy bars. They then gave a few recipes for protein and energy bars that you could make yourself for less calories, more protein and FAR less money.

The most interesting recipe was the one for Bulge-Free Brownies. Each brownie costs 51 cents to make and they are only 100 calories apiece. I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but it looks interesting.

I also love the Stretch Your Way Strong article. It gives detailed descriptions and pictures for eight stretches. Over the years, I’ve tried to describe and take photos of many of these stretches, so I know how hard it is to get it right. They did an excellent job on that article and make the whole magazine worth it with just four pages of detailed photos.

I HATED the cover of the September 2010 issue. The model Alicia Marie, looks more like a body builder than a specimen of a healthy female. I wish they would show more normal women in this magazine. Seeing women like Alicia just makes me want to give up. Oxygen Magazine has a long way to go to become the type of magazine I’d read from cover to cover, but at least there are a couple of articles each month that make it worth it.

This is where I stopped the first time I tried to ride up the hill. I caught up with Mike, panting and dripping with sweat. We had taken a ride to a restaurant at the bottom of the hill and pumping up with a full tummy was harder than I had expected it to be. We rested for about five minutes before finishing our ride home.

That was three months ago.

Today, I stopped. I was panting and moist with sweat, but this time, I stopped to snap a photo. Could I have made it up the hill without pausing? Yes. It’s still a hard hill that kicks my butt EVERY time I do it, but today I realized that I’m stronger than I was three months ago.

I need to remember this feeling the next time I’m tempted to skip my daily workout.