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

Sad as it may seem, you can’t buy yourself fit. You can’t buy yourself thin. No matter how much money you spend on yoga mats and fitness balls, you will stay at the same level of fitness if you don’t use them. No matter how much money you spend on health food, you will stay at the same weight if you eat too much.

Sadder still, you can’t learn yourself fit and you can’t learn yourself thin. No matter how many gyms you join or personal trainers you hire, you will stay at the same level of fitness if you don’t exercise every day. No matter how many diet books or magazines you buy, you will stay at the same weight if you don’t alter your eating habits. No matter how many nutrition classes you take… I think you get the point.

The only way to get fit is to exercise. The only way to get thin is to monitor your eating. There is just no other way around the physics of physiology. No matter how much money you have, you are still bound by the laws of physics.

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CNN noticed the large “Exergaming” section of CES this year. They highlighted the Kilowatt, LaunchPad and DDR (of course). I wish I could have been there and played with a Kilowatt myself. Seeing it online is nothing to being able to play with it in person.

• CNN – Gadgets get couch potatoes moving

I can’t wait for next year’s CES. I’m going this time and by then, all of these things will be perfected and I’ll be able to play with the second generation of exergaming technology.

Here is an interesting collection of tips from a fitness instructor’s blog.

• Resolutions 2005

This isn’t your ordinary “pump you up” pep talk. He talks about the reality of life teaching exercise classes. Check out the first few sentences:

“The gym was full today. There were several new faces in my spin class. At the beginning of the new year, I make my classes a little easier so that those trying to stick with their New Year’s resolution don’t get too discouraged. But, by the end of the month most of those new faces will be gone.”

I am hosting another workout tomorrow morning on Xbox Live. If you would like to participate, you need to email me your gamertag. This is an invitation only match, so I need your gamertag before 6pm tonight so I can add you to the list.

Workout Details:

• Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2
• Difficulty Level: Light
• Thursday Morning, 01-13-05
• 7 am Eastern (4 am Pacific)
• Duration: Approximately 30 minutes

I will warm us up with three 2-footer songs, give us time to stretch, and we will cool down with three more 2-footer songs.

E-Diets has a quick little article to get you back on track after the holidays. If you have already fallen off the wagon on your New Year’s Resolutions, here are three good tips to get you back on track and fulfilling the promises you made to yourself.

Three Post-Holiday Fit Tips

If you have been considering buying Dance Dance Revolution to lose weight, but don’t know where to start, DDR4Health has published a concise and informed article about it.

• Getting Started with DDR

From space considerations to pad and game selection, this article covers all the issues. The only thing that I would add is that there is a version of DDR for the PC. It’s not as hard to get it working with your computer as he would make it sound, but the game is difficult to find.

Last week I made Gold Status on Yourself! Fitness. It took me longer than I thought it would. Making Gold Status opens up the Island Paradise exercise environment and lets you choose the Techno music option. The Techno music sounds like all the other music, but the Island Paradise is really nice…

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Should I make my weight goals public or private? Should I tell my friends that I’m joining a gym? Should I just do it on my own and see if they notice a difference?

Goals: Public or Private?

This wonderful article from myGoals.com that talks about this subject in a very frank way. It touches upon the subject of commitment, which is a force that I have been able to harness to accomplish my goals in the past.

I am hosting another workout tomorrow morning on Xbox Live. If you would like to participate, you need to email me your gamertag. This is an invitation only match, so I need your gamertag before 6pm tonight so I can add you to the list.

Workout Details:

• Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2
• Thursday Morning, 01-06-05
• 7 am Eastern (4 am Pacific)

Last week, our workout kept getting interrupted by people popping in and out of our match, so we decided to go private this week. Email me your gamertag to join us.

I am hosting a workout on Xbox Live tomorrow, Thursday December 30th at 7am Eastern (4am Pacific). If you would like to join us, we will be working out with Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2 for a little over 30 minutes. We are playing on Light Mode, so if you’re a beginner, you should be able to keep up.

I am going to start with some easy songs, spend some time stretching, work on harder songs and then cool down with some more easy songs and stretching.

Feel free to join us for a fun workout, even if it’s early for you. We’re a pretty welcoming crowd. It’s about the exercise. No matter how many greats or goods you get, you win if you’re playing.