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

Not since Raymond Raving Rabbids have my arms hurts so much. Last weekend while we were out shopping, Mike and I bought a little gift for ourselves, Toy Story Mania! for the Wii.

I wouldn’t classify it as an exergame, but it’s so addictively fun that Mike and I played well past the point of pain. I wanted to play more, but my arms couldn’t take anymore pointing, shooting, twirling or shaking. Here’s a video showing some highlights from the game.

This commercial is a little misleading because it shows the entire family of four playing with 3D glasses on, but the game only comes with two sets of glasses. Maybe if you buy the game twice, the whole family can play. Or, you can just swipe the glasses from your Monsters Vs. Aliens 3D DVD. They’ll work just fine.

More importantly, Mike and I haven’t been able to find the 3D games yet. Honestly, the user interface leaves a little to be desired, but the game is so addictive that we muscled past the difficulty of learning how to navigate the menus.

I was hoping it was as fun as riding the Toy Story Midway Mania ride at Disney’s California Adventure. If you’ve never been on that ride, then here is a walkthrough the Disney World version to introduce you to it. This video is LONG because it shows the walk through the line (past Mr. Potato Head) and the entire ride. Fast forward to 5:50 to see the game part of the video.

The video game is actually BETTER than the ride at Disneyland because you can have as many tries as you need to get it right. Each game has a series of goals that you should achieve (i.e. breaking several submarine plates or hitting the golden plate on the airplane), so working on those goals together with your partner is fun. You also have individual scores, so you can beat your friend as well as work with them to achieve your goals.

The closest to exergaming that Toy Story Mania came to was the game with Hamm (the pig) where you are supposed to stand up and do what he does. Unfortunately, he’s a pig and it was VERY difficult to realize what he was doing. They should have used Jesse, Buzz or Woody for that game so we could visualize what they wanted. Let’s be honest. When a pig does jumping jacks, it does NOT look like jumping jacks.

Mike and I have LOVED this game and we’re eagerly awaiting the day that they come out with a Buzz Lightyear game.

Every year at Academy Park Elementary, we had an event called Field Day. For weeks before, we would practice activities like running fast, pull ups, chin ups, sit ups and a bunch of other ups. Unfortunately, Utah schools are so jam packed with kids that I would only get one turn for each activity every fifteen minutes, so an hour long physical education stint was about ten minutes of exercise and fifty minutes of waiting in line.

Field Day was a culmination of all that “training” and I dreaded it. I remember practicing my sit ups because I was the weakest in that area. I remember running against my friend, Sceverenia, but she always beat me. I had no one to tell me how to get faster or stronger. Field Day was about humiliation, not accomplishment.

When I saw these photos in the Library of Congress’ Flickr feed, the words, Field Day, brought back all those memories.

The waiting in line, the uniform nature of it all. We didn’t have matching outfits or multi-school competitions, but these photos from over fifty years before I was born brought all those memories to mind.

I have no idea what physical education is like in today’s grade schools. What it SHOULD be like is measuring each child and giving awards to children who improve their speed or strength. If little Laura only did ten sit ups last time and she is now able to do twenty, she should get an award. Not the biggest award, mind you, but something.

In REAL life with grownups and business suits, how many sit ups I can do in one minute is NEVER an issue. Whether I continue working to improve myself IS. Why don’t we judge children the way we judge adults, especially since it’s more lenient? Field Day should have been a chance for me to better myself, not a yearly exercise in humiliation.

If you are thinking of skipping your workout today, check out this training montage from Rocky IV.

This video is really an homage to USEFUL exercise. It reminds me of my favorite quote about exercise.

Why do strong arms fatigue themselves with frivolous dumbbells? To dig a vineyard is worthier exercise for men.

Marcus Valerius Martialis (40 AD – 103 AD)

That’s why I love to walk on errands because I get exercise AND I accomplish something. Now, I just need to add chopping wood, righting snow sleighs and outrunning government spies in black sedans to my itinerary and I’ll be as buff as Rocky.

This performance of Kings Firecrackers at the U.S. Naval Academy in April 2009, it freakin’ amazing! It’s long (a little over seven minutes), but totally worth watching!

The standing ovation is WELL deserved! Next time you are feeling like you just can’t get up the energy to exercise, pull up this video to watch and get inspired!

Via: Twitter / nakedjen: morning, peeps. after this …

There are some incredible deals available out there today, so if you’re out Christmas shopping on this Black Friday, please take a moment to read this entry about how to treat Christmas shopping like a workout.

• Starling Fitness » Christmas Shopping: The Workout

When you’re eating on the run today, make sure that you make good food choices. So many malls have Subway shops in them now, so I usually opt for that or Edo Japan. Make sure you choose food that fits in with your program so yesterday’s holiday doesn’t turn into a holiWEEK.

If you’re like me and you hate shopping on Black Friday, here is a list of alternatives for you and your family.

• Starling Fitness » Avoid Shopping Today And Avoid Weight Gain

Have a wonderful holiday and stay true to your healthy lifestyle!

You would think that living within walking distance of tasty food would be BAD for your health, but the converse seems to be true.

• Living close to food is good for your waistline – Salt Lake Tribune

Living far away from food may make you fatter.

That was the surprising finding of a group of University of Utah researchers, who looked at the body mass index of 500,000 Salt Lake County residents and compared those who live within a half-mile of retail food outlets to those who don’t.

People who have closer food options — whether supermarkets, restaurants or fast food — were 10 percent less likely to be obese, they discovered.

When Mike and I moved to Sugarhouse, I instantly lost five pounds. Since we were able to walk for so many of our errands, we did. We walked to restaurants, we walked to the grocery store, and we walked to the post office. Even during winter, we would take regular walks.

The one downside of moving to Daybreak is that there is hardly anything to walk to. Until a couple of weeks ago, the closest restaurant was over a mile away. The grocery store is nearly a mile and a half. The post office is a whopping 4.5 miles away, making it nearly ten miles round trip. Suffice it to say that I NEVER walk to the post office anymore.

What this community lacks in close food options, they have made up for in walking trails and parks. With row boats and bike trails to choose from, there is no excuse not to exercise.

The same is true no matter where you live. If you don’t live within walking distance of restaurants, there must be SOME other option for exercise. The key is keeping your eyes open for those opportunities.

When I am wearing a good pair of shoes for walking, I am much more willing to do something active. For example, today, we were trying to decide what to do with our lazy Sunday. When a visit to Park City turned into a marathon walk around the outdoor outlet mall, I didn’t even think about it. Had I been wearing more fashionable shoes, I would have complained and gotten FAR less exercise.

Never underestimate the power of sensible shoes.

Michael Verdi has been running a lot lately. While listening to the new Flaming Lips album, Embryonic, he had a musical epiphany that lead to this awesome running video.

It’s only a snippet of a song and a really short video, but it feels like running to me. Thanks for such a great video, Verdi!

Visit his website and read the whole story here: Embryonic – Michael Verdi

I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who has trouble with Nike+. It looks like Michael Verdi experienced the same epic fail that I did.

This has been an ongoing problem since the beginning of Nike+. Their insistence on using a clunky Flash interface has truly been their downfall. I can’t wait until RunKeeper has the ability to challenge your friends to races. When they do, there will be no need for Nike+ anymore.

Every night, Mike and I have been taking quick walks to the lake right before the sun goes down. We chose this neighborhood BECAUSE of the lake, so we might as well take advantage of it. It doesn’t hurt that they built a gelato shop next to the lake, of course.

It COULD hurt, actually, but I’ve been ordering the herbal tea with Splenda for my dessert. The paper cup warms my hands as we walk in the chilly autumn weather.

They say a quiet walk an evening helps to keep weight down, but I’ve been enjoying it for what it is: blissful relaxation.