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

Once a week, I drive to NakedJen’s house to walk with her and her dogs. We go early so she can get to work on time. The benefit of a walk before sunrise is the spectactular view of the moon. This photo I took with my iPhone doesn’t do it justice.

The same neighborhood that you live your life within is different in the early hours of the morning. The sound of the few cars on the road is muffled. The house full of screaming children is strangely quiet, with abandoned scooters and bikes lying motionless on the lawn. I can hear things that go unnoticed during the daytime, like the sound of the wind whipping through the tree branches and furtive birds, announcing daybreak.

A walk before sunrise is far more than just an early morning exercise routine. It’s a touch of the divine.

This postcard from PostSecret says it all for me.

It reads:

F*** You, Asthma!!!

I can do ANYTHING! You can’t slow ME down!

There are so many excuses out there to not exercise. Asthma is a severe disease and can cause serious trouble, but your lungs CAN be trained. You have to start out slower and take longer to get to high levels, but with enough practice and work, you can exercise just as hard as anyone else. It’s not as easy as it might be for people without pulmonary problems, but it IS possible.

The same is true for ANY other excuse you can think of. Do you have bum knees? F-You, Bad Knees!!! I can do ANYTHING! You can’t slow ME down!

Do you have a binge eating problem? F-You, Bingeing!!! I can do ANYTHING! You can’t slow ME down! Sure eating healthy after years of bad habits and abuse to a body is difficult, but with enough training and practice, anyone can get past it.

Quit letting excuses get in the way. There is ALWAYS a way to work around any problem. Go over it, dig under it, build a door or just push that damn wall down. It can’t stop you.

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.

Last Thursday, Mike and I went to the mall for some power walking. The weather had turned cold and windy and we wanted a change of scenery, so a visit to Southtowne Mall sounded like a good idea. Honestly, we didn’t get as good of a workout as we do when we’re walking along the trails by our house. We only walked one mile and neither of us got our heart rates high enough to be considered moderate exercise, much less high intensity. It’s better than skipping a workout, though.

On a lark, we walked into Forever 21. It’s a cool store that I’ve gone into a couple of times, but I always assumed that there would be nothing for me. I’d look at the jewelry and the purses, then leave. This time, we were trying to add mileage to our walk, so we walked through the entire store. That’s when I found the plus-sized section.

Sure, the plus sizes were hidden in the back of the store, like some shameful nod to the fact that there are women who might not be absolutely thin, but the fact that they included plus sizes at all seemed like such a blessing to me. Then, I noticed the beauty of it all!

Not only did they carry a wide variety of plus-sized clothing, they also had an incredible collection of workout clothes in plus sizes. I have commented before about how hard it is to find workout clothes when you’re fat, so the fact that they not only thought of workout clothes for me, but provided them in a myriad of colors and styles just made me LOVE them.

Kudos to Forever 21 for recognizing that fat women need to exercise just as much as skinny women! Now, I just need to get down to goal so I can fit in this little number!

As excellent as the Cool Running Couch to 5K Podcast [iTunes Link] is, I have to admit that I would MUCH rather listen to my own music. I dreamed of an iPhone app that would let me program intervals that would break into my workout playlist and tell me when it was time for me to run.

I got my wish with UltraTimer.

• UltraTimer [iTunes Link]

With UltraTimer, I was able to program in the Cool Running Couch-to-5K Running Plan so that it would tell me when to run. I could even record my own voice saying, “Increase speed to 5.0 mph.” This has been so helpful to me because I don’t have to look at the iPhone screen while I’m doing my workout. I just listen to the prompts that I recorded for myself.

I was worried that it might be difficult to use, but I found it incredibly easy and I was running with a program that only took me about five minutes to program, and that included recording the voice prompts. At the end of the workout, I even have a voice prompt that tells me that I did a good job and that I’m proud of myself.

There is even a way for me to export my workouts, so soon, I will share my running plan with you (since the Couch to 5K basically leaves you wondering what the heck to do if you’re a REAL beginner). If you own an iPhone, creating and downloading a running program just got a lot easier. Try out UltraTimer today!

A special thank you to Braidwood at Authentic Threads for reminding me of Alanis Morrisette’s song, Thank You.

In the first verse, she sings, “How ’bout stopping eating when I’m full up.” In fact, everything she says in the song is a healthy way of living, no matter who you are (unless those antibiotics are keeping you alive).

When that video came out, I remember thinking that Alanis was so brave for being willing to show herself to the world, nearly naked. She has said that she fought anorexia and bulimia when she was in her teens. She wrote the song, Perfect, to express how it felt to struggle with eating disorders.

She is a runner and completed the New York City Marathon last year in 4 hours, 28 minutes. She said running a marathon is, “An unbelievably harrowing and beautiful and moving and serene experience.”

Thank YOU, Alanis, for giving me another hero to remember when running and eating healthy gets difficult.

I remember being really worried about sweating too much when I first started working out. I had almost completely forgotten about that time, but a girl at Weight Watchers the other day reminded me of how I used to feel. She said:

I can think of any excuse not to exercise. Sometimes I think, “I’m too gross. I have to shower before I go to the gym.” Then after I shower, I think, “I just showered, I don’t want to get all sweaty and gross by working out.”

Hearing her talk about her excuses for not exercising reminded me of when I first started exercising at the gym during my lunch hour. I never had enough time to shower, so I followed this plan so that I wouldn’t end up being super stinky for the second half of my day.

• Wear fresh workout clothes: I always had clean workout clothes every day. When I was in high school, we used to take our gym clothes home once a week, but that never worked for me because by the second workout, they would be too stinky. I always work out with CLEAN gym clothes.

• Use antiperspirant: This might sound like a no-brainer, but you can’t believe how many women I would see at the gym head out to their workout without a fresh spray of anti-perspirant. Additionally, I would spray it on my trouble areas like the crooks of my arms (why do I sweat so much there?!), right under my jogging bra and other non-traditional areas.

• Wash my face: I always sweat a lot on my face and hair. My hair is actually worse and the sweat will drip down from it onto my face. I always wash off my makeup before I workout to prevent breakouts. Plus, I don’t want my mascara running because of sweat.

• Bring a hand towel when you workout: I was required to carry a towel around the gym at all times, so I used it on my face and neck to prevent too much sweat from collecting and starting to stink. It’s not the sweat that causes body odor, it’s the bacteria that grows in the damp areas. If you mop up as much sweat as you can, it will prevent the bacteria from growing.

• After the workout, change as quickly as possible: Don’t sit around in your sweaty gym clothes. I was under a lunchtime constraint, so I would rush to the locker room so I could change quickly. This prevented any smelly bacteria from growing.

• Dry off as much as you can with a towel: After I had taken off my gym clothes, I would go over my body once more with a fresh towel to dry off any more sweat on my body.

• Reapply antiperspirant: After I dried off, I would reapply antiperspirant and even add perfume.

• Drive back to the office with the window wide open, even in the winter: To keep myself from sweating in my office clothes, I would cool off by allowing the air to rush in the car window. In the summer, I turned the A/C on full blast the whole way home.

You can workout during your lunch hour, even if you don’t have time to shower. If a sweaty girl like me could do it, then you certainly can. Let go of all your excuses and fit that workout into your day!

Animated GIF via: three frames: The Lonely Guy starring Steve Martin

I’ve talked about music that can make your workout easier, but here are some free MP3 downloads of Marine Corps Cadences that might help you run a little faster as well.

• Marine Corps Cadences

I put them in my workout playlist and when I listen to it on random, these cadences jump in between songs to give me a boost. Something about the chanting while running is very helpful, even when I’m not the one doing the chanting.

I’ve talked about making weight loss a game in the past:

• Starling Fitness » Turn Dieting Into a Game with Weight Watchers

Here is a teenager, Taylor LeBaron, who took that idea to new levels. Like any game, he identified his enemies, his allies and his points system. He calls his caloric intake his “money” and he pointed out who his true enemies are: Inactivity, food choices, large portions, liquid calories, and stress.

You can find out more from his book: Cutting Myself in Half: 150 Pounds Lost, One Byte at a Time by Taylor LeBaron.

Here is Taylor on the Today Show:

Here is his story:

Via: How a 17-Year-Old Video Gamer Cut His Weight in Half

I don’t know if you remember Michael Verdi, but he is one of my video blogging friends from way back. In April of 2006, he decided to run again and did a little video after his first run. A run around the block set off a fit of coughing and he had forgotten how hard it was. You can see that video after his first run here:

• Starling Fitness » Michael Verdi’s Running Video

• iPod

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Well, it’s almost four years later and he is now training for a triathlon. You can really tell the difference in his health just by looking at the shape of his face. He has toned up and slimmed down and now he’s willing to take it to the next level.

You can help Michael Verdi by donating to his run for the Team in Training here:

• Michael’s Fundraising Page

I sent him twenty five bucks just because he’s such a great example of how regular exercise really changes our bodies for the better. Good luck, Michael! We’re cheering for you from afar!

Hands down, the best exercise equipment store is the thrift store. In Utah, the best thrift store (or second-hand store) is Deseret Industries, or The DI for short. If you are looking for some exercise equipment, whether it’s a treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical trainer or even an Ab-Doer, you will eventually find a GOOD one at the thrift store if you go there every week and really look.

Just last week, here is what I saw at the 4500 South DI:

So many Ab-Doers and Cardio Glides that I had my pick of the litter. Of course, I wasn’t looking for either of those, but if I had, it would have been perfect. Fortunately, I found exactly what I was looking for at the Redwood Road DI. I had wanted a recumbent exercise bike with magnetic resistance so that it would be quiet and I found it for only twenty five bucks.

I had seen a brand new version of this exact bike at Sears for over 250 dollars, so I saved over two hundred bucks just by biding my time and looking at every thrift store in town once a week for about a month. Sure, that’s a pain in the butt to wait and meticulously look, but it was worth the money.

If you want some exercise equipment, here is how to get it on the cheap:

• Go to the “real” sports stores and department stores to find out what you want. Use the demo units so you can know how they are supposed to feel when they are new. Determine the features that you are looking for. Also, check the prices to make sure that you aren’t paying full price for a used item.

• Make a list of the features you NEED, the features you’d LIKE and what you’re willing to live with. For example, on the bike I bought, the seat and back were falling apart and had been taped together with black tape. I didn’t care that the seat was damaged because what I wanted was magnetic resistance on a recumbent bike.

• Make a list of all the thrift shops and second hand stores in your area. With my list, I was able to hit a bunch of them on my way home from downtown each week, so it wasn’t difficult for me to look in so many stores.

• Visit the shops about once a week, preferably on the day that they receive new merchandise. Some stores get deliveries of second hand items on a regular basis from a central donation center. Others put new items out each day. Find out the rhythms of each store.

• In each store, go to the exercise equipment section and make a quick search. Don’t get distracted by the other goodies you might see there. This is supposed to be a quick search.

• Try out the equipment at the thrift store. If it’s a treadmill, insist that they allow you to plug it in and see if it works. Try it at every intensity level that you plan on using it. Some equipment works fine at lower levels, but when you crank up the speed or incline, they conk out. Make sure you test it thoroughly before buying it, so wear your jogging bra and running shoes on your outings.

• Make sure you can get it home. It’s not a deal if you have to rent a truck to haul the thing home. Make sure it will fit in your car or that you have a friend with a pickup to help you get the equipment home.

Believe me, there were plenty of exercise bikes at the thrift stores, but I wanted a very specific kind, so it took me a while to get what I wanted. You’ll have to do the same when you are looking for exercise equipment at thrift stores, but it will be worth it when you finally find it.