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

If you ordered yourself a Starling Fitness Yearly Journal, then you know that the quote of the month for November is:

Of all afflictions, the worst is self-contempt.
– Berthold Auerbach (1812 – 1882)

If you are suffering from being overweight, is that truly your worst affliction? If you are taking medication for diabetes, high blood pressure or any other weight-related diseases, are they really the root of your suffering?

Take a few minutes and write down what you are feeling about your health and whatever afflictions you feel you may have. Is Berthold Auerback right? Is self-contempt the problem? What do you think?

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The Quote of the Month is meant to be an Inner Workout for you. Find some time during the month and allow yourself to write the answers to the questions posted. You can write them on paper, on a word processor or here in the comments section. Whatever works for you as long as you do it.

Keep writing until you find out something about yourself that you didn’t know before. I’ve also heard that it works to keep writing until you cry, but that doesn’t really work for me. Whatever works for you. Just keep writing until it feels right.

To order your own Starling Fitness Yearly Journal, click here:

• Starling Fitness » Order Your Starling Fitness Yearly Journal

Update 11-06-13

These journals are no longer for sale, but the forms are still available to download so you can make your own.

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I created myself a yearly journal and I realized that I liked it so much that I wanted all of you to be able to have one as well. This book has a page for each week of the year to track your calories, exercise and how many healthy foods you’re eating.

If you follow Weight Watchers or track your calories the old fashioned way, this form makes things very easy. It has been available for download since June and if you want to make a book like this for yourself, you can do it with this Excel spreadsheet:

• Starling Fitness » Weight Watchers Form

If you’re not spreadsheet savvy, you can buy this journal from Starling Fitness.

The journal includes the following:

• Non-descript black cover
• Directions on how to use this book
• One sheet of stickers (for those weeks that you do an EXCELLENT job!)
• 12 monthly pages (to document your measurements, paste your monthly photo and write your monthly evaluation)
• 54 dated weekly pages
• 3-Hole Punch Binder Rings (you can easily remove pages without ripping them out)

The absolute coolest thing about it is you don’t have to wait until January 1st to use it. I will print it up with starting the month you specify, so you can use it immediately.

The journal is 3-Hole Punched for use with a Daytimer or other binder that takes 5 1/2″ X 8 1/2″ forms.

Update 01-29-08: Here are some photos of the 3-Hole Punched Journal so you know what to expect. They also have the same non-descript black cover and are bound with three plastic rings that make it just as easy to remove the pages.

You can also remove the rings and put the pages into your Daytimer or other 3-hole binder.

Order a Starling Fitness Yearly Journal (3-Hole Punched): 5 1/2″ X 8 1/2″ for use with a Daytimer or other planner: $25.00 plus shipping

These journals are hand-made so they take a while to be made. I usually ship within two weeks of payment. Journals are shipped using the U.S. Postal Service and usually arrive within five days.

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Update 12-09-08: The comb-binders are no longer available, but I am still selling the journals in the 3-Hole Punch version. The current journals are compatible with the Momentum Plan.

Questionable Content is a webcomic that I read every day. Imagine my surprise when Faye voices my fears about the gym:

Are you letting your fears about other people seeing you workout stop you from getting fit?

My Powersong on my Nike+ is Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk. Every time I hear it, I run faster.

I looks like someone else likes it as well:

This video is awesome! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to listen to the song again without thinking of this video.

What’s your Powersong? What music makes you exercise harder, better, faster, stronger?

You may have seen this short film from Dove. It’s called Evolution and it shows exactly how different a normal beautiful woman goes through before she is deemed “worthy” by advertisers. Not only are the women in magazines and on billboards, made up, hair sprayed, and lit within an inch of their lives, they are then digitally manipulated. Is this real beauty?

Dove just released a new short film called Onslaught:

A frame by frame analysis shows the amount of “beauty” images we are exposed to just by walking down the street. Additionally, it shows the everlasting pimping of products and pills. Finally the daily ritual of weighing on a scale and the toll it can take on the body.

Of course, all of this is coming from Dove. Does real beauty sell more lotion or fake beauty? I’m voting for the real kind.

For more information: Dove Campaign For Real Beauty

Laura,

I have had two really sad things happen in the last month and I’ve been dealing with it by overeating.

Can you give me some ideas on how to deal with the pain without eating myself to death?

I’ve tried writing in my journal, playing video games, watching movies and exercise. They all seem to distract me, but don’t elevate my mood the way eating does.

Any ideas?

Anonymous Email

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Anonymous,

I wish I could say I had a huge bag of tricks to give you to deal with grief, but I don’t. Honestly, food is an intense mood enhancer for me and I resort to it more often than I should.

Second in line is exercise. The only problem with exercise (and you’ve probably encountered this) is that you can’t do it all day and the mood doesn’t last as long as overeating does.

Writing in my journal is also another way to deal with negative emotions, but it looks like you’ve tried that as well.

The only trick that I have that you haven’t mentioned is scheduling. When I’m really sad, I get out my Healthy and Happy List and schedule my day to include everything on that list. Now, what you need to be happy might be different than my list, but it’s a good place to start. Schedule the fun things as well as the work things into your life.

Then, follow the schedule.

Even something as small as getting up and showering can feel like an accomplishment when you’re really sad, so put it on your schedule and check it off when you do it. It’s the checking off that is pleasurable and you need all the positive in your life that you can get right now.

Try scheduling and tell me how things go for you.

Sending good karma your way,
Laura Moncur

This postcard from PostSecret is like a lifeline to me. I know that part of me is beautiful. If I could just cling to that part of myself, I wouldn’t have to worry about the rest of me.

I know eating healthy and exercising is supposed to be about living longer and having better days when I’m alive, but for me it has been about appearances for so long that I STILL have trouble separating them.

When am I going to let the beautiful part of me win?

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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.

There are times when we are with family, friends or coworkers. They want us to eat what they are eating.

How do you NOT eat unhealthy food that isn’t in your food plan?

I have continually caved in these situations. I would really like to know what you say or what you do to avoid ruining your food plan.

I just found out a running friend of mine isn’t able to run because of a health issue. It has gotten me thinking about what I would do if I couldn’t run.

What would you do if you couldn’t exercise?

What if you had to lose weight or stay at a healthy weight without physical activity?

Which foods would you eat to make sure you stayed satisfied at lower calorie levels?

What if it was just your favorite sport? What other sports would you participate in if you were banned from your favorite?

Contingency plans. I always worry about how to make this lifestyle something that can last me the rest of my life. I always ask myself, “Can I do this for the rest of my life?” If the answer is no, then I change it to make it more livable.

There may come a time when I can no longer run or walk. What will I do instead? I need to have a contingency plan just in case so I can live this life for the rest of my life.

I kept track of my exercise by writing it in my food journal for years. I never really kept good track of it. I used to just write the minutes exercised and the intensity. When I got my Nike Imara watch, I used to write down how many calories I burned.

It wasn’t until I got my Nike+ iPod that I kept detailed records of my exercise. Well, I didn’t really keep detailed track, the Nike+ system did for me.

Knowing my average pace helps me try to run faster. Every time I complete a run that’s faster than my average pace, I feel a sense of accomplishment. That’s just one small component to the tracking that the Nike+ system does for me.

There’s no way I would have ever done this on my own because I wouldn’t have seen the benefit in it, but after experiencing this, I’m so happy to have this information.

How do you keep track of your exercise?

Do you use forms?

Do you use a spreadsheet?

If you aren’t keeping track, why not? What excuses do you use?

I know I had a million excuses not to keep better track of my running stats. I really didn’t see the benefit of doing it. Now, I am addicted.