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

A couple of weeks ago, I was enjoying myself watching interviews with Alfred Hitchcock on YouTube and I was surprised by this video. At the 1:42 mark, he comes back from a commercial break for a laxative product:

Alfred Hitchcock comments:

May I say I am very confused by that last commercial. Well, it was a commercial for a laxative. And I wonder why all those people doing sports and all that sort of thing–where they would need a laxative after such vigorous movement all over the place.

When I first heard him say this, I thought it was funny, but didn’t think about it any further.

Fast forward to a few weeks later and the thought has stayed with me. I’ve noticed that after I exercise I DO need to go to the bathroom. Whether I’ve eaten or not, exercise helps me go to the bathroom. It has actually helped me a lot with my “stomach trouble.”

I had NO IDEA that exercise might help me with my stomach problems. NO IDEA. The doctor that I visited suggested exercise, but only as a means to lose weight because, you know, skinny people don’t have stomach trouble. Apparently, my doctor didn’t even know that my condition could be helped by exercise.

It’s a sad state when I get my best medical advice from a 350 pound dead man.

Here is an excerpt from FAT: What No One Is Telling You that was shown on PBS.

The story that this woman tells is a familiar one. Everyone who gets their life in control can tell of the day when they realized that others considered them fat.

What’d ya think her her frickin’ problem is?

I don’t know. Maybe she’s cryin’ ’cause she’s frickin’ fat and no one wants her.

If you want to see the rest of the show, you can see it here:

• FAT: What No One Is Telling You . PBS

I watched the whole thing and the most true thing was said by Dr. Lee Kaplan:

This isn’t simple. This is not a simple balance between energy in and energy out. If it were, we would have solved the problem a long time ago. We have a very rich and accurate physiological system that keeps our energy in balance. And all that system has to do is get disrupted by a tiny percent. Just a one percent mismatch in that system can lead to a 130 to 140 pound weight gain over your adult life.

The biggest problem I have with this video is that it really promotes gastric bypass surgery, but at the same time, they tell the truth about the lack of results:

Only 5% of the people who get gastric bypass surgery get to a normal weight.

Honestly, medical science doesn’t know what makes us fat. The most important thing is to take a new look at fat people. Fat prejudice is the most important issue right now and blaming the victim has stopped us from finding the solutions more often than it has helped.

Just this month, a new research study has been trying to find out what women want and how to convince them to take better care of themselves. You can read the summary here:

• Research Brief » Blog Archive » Appearance and Weight Trumps Disease In Women’s Concerns

What was most interesting to me is what women are willing to do to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Here was the information:

What Women Do to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

80% Drink more water
70% Eat more fruits and vegatibles
49% Read nutritional labels
47% Avoid foods that are high in fat
44% Make a conscious effort to lower calorie intake
44% Watch my sugar intake
43% Exercise at least three times a week

Source: Meredith/NBC Universal, May 2008

It seems that a lot of us are willing to drink more water and try to eat more fruits and veggies, but when it comes to the nitty gritty of living healthy, like limiting fat, sugar and calories, less than half of us are willing to do it.

What are you willing to do to maintain a healthy lifestyle? Are you going to go all the way and do EVERYTHING on the list instead of just the top two? It’s our decision.

Thanks for the tip from Sheri Bigelow at Design Simply.

This is a photo of my grandpa working in his garden back in 2005. From fourth grade to my Junior year in high school, I spent every summer working in that garden. I would cringe when my grandma would call down to the basement, “Time to pick the beans!” I have scars on my arms from picking the raspberries. I can shell peas faster than anyone I know. Every summer, I repeated the mantra:

When I grow up, I will NEVER pick vegetables again.

Here I am, twenty-two years later, considering planting a garden of my own. It’s too late for this summer, of course, but if I want a garden next year, I have to start planning right now. What on earth would convince me to plant a garden?

• My grandpa died last summer. Planting a garden would give me a connection to him that I can no longer have now that he’s gone.

• Fresh veggies are EXPENSIVE lately. Growing my own might defer some of that cost (if I don’t count my time planting, tending, weeding and harvesting).

• Vegetables from the store just don’t taste as good as my grandpa’s did. I remember being shocked at how wrong vegetables from the store tasted when I first got out on my own. I asked him about it and he said that it’s because they aren’t as fresh as his. I haven’t had a good tomato this season because my grandfather’s garden is fallow.

After years of cursing that garden, I find that I miss it incredibly and want to start one of my own. Only time will tell whether I do start my own garden or not, but this season, I will have store bought vegetables and only dream of snapping fresh green beans between my fingers.

If you are one of the many people who have bought a Starling Fitness Yearly Journal, then you know that the quote of the month is about Google. This is one of my favorite all-time quotes and you can see it here:

If you trust Google more than your doctor then maybe it’s time to switch doctors.

Jadelr and Cristina Cordova, Chasing Windmills, 08-21-06

Chasing Windmills is an online video drama that is a wonderful story of two young people in love. When she gets pregnant, they are both happy, but when she starts spotting they both get scared. You can see the episode here:

There are lots of times when people ask me advice about losing weight or exercising. I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist. The best advice comes from a health care provider that knows you personally and I just can’t give that advice. SO many times I want to tell you to talk to your doctor. If you haven’t done so, do it as soon as you can schedule an appointment. Only they can give you the best advice for losing weight and keeping fit.

You can see more of Chasing Windmills here:

• Chasing Windmills

If you would like to order your own Starling Fitness Yearly Journal, you can do so here:

• Starling Fitness » Order Your Starling Fitness Yearly Journal

If you order it now, you can choose the month you want it to start and it will last you a year from that date. You won’t have to throw away any unused days from the first of the year. You can start fresh now.

What should you eat? What is healthy? Which foods will help you live longer? It’s obvious that we were meant to eat both meat and vegetables. We are omnivores, after all. What should an omnivore eat?

The science of it all is a little sketchy and the way we look at food (Nutritionism) can make the whole experience of eating very confusing.

Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, explains what he believes is Nutritionism and how to see through the myths:

1. The important thing about any food are the nutrients it contains (i.e. fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamin, etc.)

2. If nutrients are all that matter in food, and they are basically invisible to the naked eye (you can’t smell, taste or see a nutrient), then you need an expert to tell you how to eat. It’s a little like a religion.

3. Like any religion, Nutritionism divides the world into good and evil. Sometimes, the evil nutrient is protein, carbohydrates, fat, etc. The good nutrient also changes.

4. The whole point of eating is health. Historically, there were many reasons for eating, such as pleasure, community, family, ritual purposes (religious), or to express identity.

Unfortunately, all of this dedication to eating for health hasn’t really helped us be healthier. Michael Pollan’s simple advice is, “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”

You can see more from Michael Pollan here:

The truth of the matter is that we haven’t totally figured out how food helps us be healthy and how our digestive system works. Michael Pollan suggests that we take back control over our eating from the corporations that we have allowed to cook for us. We have learned that they don’t cook very well. They cook with lots of salt, sugar and fat because we are hard-wired to like those tastes. Salt, sweeten and fatten up your own whole food and you’ll do a better job of it, even if you’re not a good cook.

Via: Good Food, Eating, and Diet Advice Talk by Michael Pollan: Some random bits scribbled by Jeremy Zawodny

There have been some studies that show that cinnamon can reduce insulin resistance.

• USDA – Cinnamon Extracts Boost Insulin Sensitivity

ARS chemist Richard A. Anderson and co-workers at the Beltsville (Maryland) Human Nutrition Research Center assayed plants and spices used in folk medicine. They found that a few spices—especially cinnamon—made fat cells much more responsive to insulin, the hormone that regulates sugar metabolism and thus controls the level of glucose in the blood.

If it seems like you are hungry every two hours or if you constantly crave sugar or bread, you might have insulin resistance. It has been said that a dose of a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon a day can help reduce your cravings and correct your body’s reaction to sugar.

• About.com: Health Benefits of Cinnamon – Cinnamon for Diabetes and Insulin Resistant

Several studies have shown improved insulin sensitivity and blood glucose control by taking as little as 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon per day. Improving insulin resistance can help in weight control as well as decreasing the risk for heart disease, so this has a lot of people interested. Although the results of preliminary studies are somewhat mixed, the majority of the research seems to be pointing in the direction of cinnamon being beneficial.

But watch out, it’s possible to eat too much cinnamon. Here are some of the common negative reactions:

• Skin rashes
• Irritation to the tissues of the mouth or stomach
• Mild anti-clotting effect in the blood
• Stimulating effects on the uterus (not recommended for pregnant women)

In an effort to increase my cinnamon intake, I created this cinnamon tea, which I’m rather fond of.

Cinnamon Tea

• 7 ounces of boiling water
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon of heavy whipping cream

Pour the boiling water into a coffee cup. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and mix well. This takes quite a bit of time since cinnamon isn’t easily soluble in water, but if you keep stirring, it will eventually mix into the hot water. Add the cream and continue mixing.

I keep the spoon in the cup and keep stirring between sips because the cinnamon will sink to the bottom otherwise.

Calories: 50 Carbohydrates: 0 WW Points: 1

This treat has replaced my evening sugar-free cocoa. Strangely, it tastes a little sweet, even though you don’t add any sweetener. It’s perfect for people following Weight Watchers and Atkins, since it’s low-calorie AND low-carb.

You could substitute 6 ounces of heated skim milk for the cream and boiling water to make a low-fat version with the same amount of calories. I haven’t tried this, so I don’t know how well the cinnamon would mix with milk. If you try it, leave a comment telling me how it is.

Enjoy!

Here is a five part series from Horizon (produced by the BBC) that analyzes the Atkin’s Diet. Does it work? If it does, why? Is it dangerous to your health?

This show spends too much time showing fat people eating huge bites of meat (do any of us want to watch other people eating?) and too much time playing choir music when Atkins is shown on the screen, but it does a pretty good job of looking at the research that has been done about the diet.

Click through for parts 2-5: (more…)

Ward-O-Matic only gave us a glimpse of the Metropolitan Life’s Guide to Good Health that he found in his wanderings, but it’s a fun glimpse nonetheless.

Their helpful tips were barely passable as such:

• Get a doctor
• Don’t worry if your doctor orders a lot of tests
• Get a hobby
• Eat the right foods

Sadly, he didn’t scan in the whole pamphlet, but I would LOVE to see the thing in entirety.

Apparently, there were an entire series of Met Life Booklets. I just wish I could jump in and see the Food for your Family book!

To all those health insurance companies that want to charge people with high BMIs more money, maybe they should read this finding.

• Body Image Is Stronger Predictor Of Health Than Obesity, Says Study

Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that the desire to weigh less was a more accurate predictor of physically and mentally unhealthy days, than body mass index (BMI).

It turns out that if you are unhappy with your weight and wish you weighed less, you tend to take more sick days and have more doctor visits than the people who are happy with their current weight. Whether you are content with your body weight is more of an indicator of health than your BMI.

What does this mean to you? Does that mean you should stop trying to eat healthy and keep up with an exercise regime? No. It just means that Inner Workouts are as essential as diet and exercise. This journey takes your MIND and your BODY on a roller coaster ride, so take care of yourself both physically and mentally.

Via: Rudd Sound Bites: Body Image as a Predictor of Health