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

I subscribe to Seventeen magazine. The first time I noticed that they were using models who looked normal, I called Mike over to me.

“Look at this!”

“What is it?”

“It’s Seventeen magazine.”

He looked at the pages and handed the magazine back to me.

“Do you want those jeans?”

“No, look at the models. They look like normal human beings.”

He took the magazine back and looked at it again.

“They look like models to me.”

Sure, they were models, but they were normal sized models with real bodies instead of living, breathing coat hangers.

“This is why I love Seventeen Magazine.”

• MSNBC.com – More curves hit pages of women’s magazines – Associated Press

This article, while noticing that magazines have a much better view of the female form, is still insulting to me because of this quote:

“Mixed among the pages of dazzling celebrities and rail-thin models that dominate fashion and teen magazines is a surprising sight: young women with thick thighs and flabby abs.”

Instead of describing them like they really are using words like “voluptuous” or “realistic”, they said “thick thighs and flabby abs.” Magazines like Seventeen have come a long way, but there’s a reason that Associated Press keeps their reporters anonymous. They don’t want me hunting them down and giving them a sock in the jaw.

The most important quote from this article is the following:

“I think maybe seeing someone like me in a magazine makes you realize that you don’t have to be skinny to be pretty,” she said. “People see skinny girls in magazines and they think that’s what normal is when it’s not the case.”

Remember this and hold it close to you. That is the thought that will help you make healthier choices in your life. You are beautiful and you are worth the effort it takes to get and stay healthy.

Via: About.com – Real Women Have Curves – by Paige Waehner

The professional quality on this StrengthCast is the worst of any that I have listened to, but the inspirational quality is the BEST.

• Strengthcast – Live from Central Park

Jason White, who is usually interviewing other participants, spends most of this StrengthCast talking on his own. At the end of this interview, I found myself wondering why he’s wasting his time interviewing chiropractic quacks when he has the ability to be an awesome motivational speaker.

There is a small interview with Matt Ceglie of Fitness Together in San Diego, but what Jason says is far more important than what Matt said.

Here are some good quotes from this podcast:

“What you need is a crystal clear image and that image has to awesome. You have to see that image gigantic in your mind every day, before your workout, during your workout, when you get up in the morning, when you eat… It has to be personal and powerful because that image does two things: One, it provides you with information you need to make good decisions. It guides your life toward that image. Two, it’s an analgesic. It’s a pain reliever. Working out is hard. It hurts, but if you focus on that image it relieves the pain of that hurt.”

“Get a very clear image in your mind of what it is you want to look like.”

Reinforcing the image of you achieving your goal is one of the best things you can do to keep on track. Take some time this week and really take the time to write down what you want and how you want to look. If you need some help, go to the Visualize a Different You entry and contemplate the questions there.

This is a really long post from Steve Pavlina that gives you some good recommendations on motivational tapes that have helped him.

• Steve Pavlina – Overcoming Negative Emotions and Boosting Motivation

He talks about the things that haven’t really worked for him, like NLP, neuro-linquistic programming, and funny movies. In the end, he finds that he really feels a long-lasting boost from motivational tapes by the greats like Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale, Brian Tracy, and Denis Waitley.

I am only personally familiar with Zig Ziglar and Earl Nightingale. Both of their motivational tapes seem so sales-oriented that I don’t know how motivating they would be for people who are working on getting fit. I suggest that you create your own motivational tapes, then it’s not only focused on what you want to accomplish, but it’s also in your voice.

• Visualize a Different You – Write your motivational thoughts, meditation or affirmations.

• How to Record Your Own Meditation MP3 with MusicMatch – Record it as an MP3

Sometimes concentrating on my health and physical fitness means I have to say no to other opportunities. Sometimes they are things that really sound fun like singing in the choir, joining a book club or watching my favorite television shows. Sometimes the things that are the least amount of fun are the hardest to say no to like participating in a service project. Sure, I’d like to feed the homeless, but I have a workout planned at that time. How do you say no without feeling guilty? This is a great article for that.

• Steve Pavlina – Saying No

The best advice in this entry comes right at the end:

When you say no, usually the person who hears it will react negatively, sometimes mildly, sometimes strongly. Don’t let that bother you — their reaction has a lot more to do with them than it does with you. If they push you too much, I suggest you simply turn it around on them by emphasizing the no that would accompany the yes. For example, “Why are you asking me to say no to my family, my health, my goals, and so on, just so I can say yes to your request?”

“You have to put yourself first.” I hear this phrase a lot at Weight Watchers when the instructor is talking about losing weight. Every time it is said, I see one or two heads shake involuntarily. I think to myself, “Lost that one.” Sure enough, that person is gone within a few weeks. Attrition is high in all weight loss programs, but that is one moment that I can track as an observer.

The reason that the phrase, “You have to put yourself first,” sends people running is because it goes against what a lot of people have been taught and believe. Steve Pavlina talks about Selfishness vs. Selflessness on his motivational weblog.

• Personal Development Blog – How Selfish Are You? – by Steve Pavlina

Instead of service to self and service to others being in conflict, he states that we should do everything that we can to keep them in balance. Yes, you need to take care of yourself. Yes, you need to help others. They are both true. Living your life so that you get a little bit of both will boost your happiness.

The reason why the phrase, “You have to put yourself first” is so popular in the weight loss culture is that it is obvious that our lives are not in balance. If we were serving others and serving ourselves in balance, we wouldn’t be searching for the answers at Weight Watchers (or Starling Fitness). The speakers assume that we aren’t putting ourselves first and give us the advice that has worked for some, “Put yourself first.”

Ironically, my life WAS out of balance. I wasn’t spending all my time taking care of my family or work needs. I was out of balance the other way. I was so worried about my needs and that I would be hungry. I only thought about myself when I tried to lose weight. When I started being involved with the Weight Watchers community (talking to other members, answering questions, bringing in cool ideas that I had found) I flourished with my weight loss. Helping other people with their weight loss issues helped me far more than concentrating on myself.

Evaluate your weight loss progress. Do you need more time alone? Do you need someone to help you? Do you need to help someone else? Do you need to share more of your experiences? Make sure that your service to self and your service to others is balanced. Your journey will be easier because of it.

When I imagined the Inner Workouts category, this is the kind of entry I imagined for it.

• a million monkeys typing » On the Beauty of Imperfection

My favorite quote from this entry:

“Is beauty a thing so shallow that following a few simple rules will allow one to calculate it?”

If it were, only five percent of the population would procreate. You are so much more than the numbers on the scale.

Update 09-02-14

I know this entry is REALLY old and MusicMatch doesn’t exist anymore, but you can use iTunes, record things on your phone or use Audacity to record your meditation MP3.

If you did the exercise on my Visualize a Different You, then you have written down positive thoughts about how you want to be in the future and how you want to visualize yourself right now. Braidwood said it like this:

“You know what I’ve been thinking about? Advertising! It is a science and it WORKS, it changes people’s minds. So, why not advertise what you want for yourself?! Create a jingle, create some enticing pictures and a slogan, and expose yourself to them often. You will be unable to resist… :)”

That’s what this entry today will show you how to do…

(more…)

When I lost 30 pounds, I went to the DI to get some clothes that would fit me and tide me over until I lost the rest of my weight. It was a difficult day. When you shop at a thrift store, you can’t really trust the sizes listed on the clothes. Sizes change with the years, but these clothes have been sitting in peoples’ basements for ages. Plus, back then, I had no idea what size I was. I was size 24 when I started with Weight Watchers, but after losing 30 pounds, I didn’t know anymore.

I went through the jeans several times. The first time, I was drowning in the pants. The second time, half the pants fit, the others were too big. I remember holding up a pair of jeans that fit comfortably. They looked so small, like clothing for a little girl. They were size 18. I look at size 18 clothes right now and they look too big, but back then, they seemed tiny.

When I first started losing weight, I struggled to know my body. Even now, I’ll look at a cute outfit and immediately reach for the back of the rack. My size isn’t there anymore, but my mind still hasn’t learned that yet.

I stayed at a loss of 50 pounds for over two years. It took that long to learn what size I was. To be able to pick up a piece of clothing and know whether it would fit was a skill that took two years to develop. Sometimes I think that people regain the weight because they don’t allow themselves enough time to relearn their new body size. Maintaining a weight loss for over two years is what it takes. Until then, your mind isn’t reprogrammed yet.

Body image has nothing to do with the size of your body. I lived in a size 18 body, but still reached for size 24 clothes. Body image is something that you have to consciously visualize in your mind, both before and after you have lost the weight.

Just a quick link to the top search result for the words “Body Image”. This is brought to you by the Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center.

• EDReferral.com – Improving Body Image – by Judy Lightstone

It has some good recommendations for overeaters:

• Listen to your body. Eat when you are hungry.

• Be realistic about the size you are likely to be based on your genetic and environmental history.

• Exercise regularly in an enjoyable way, regardless of size.

• Expect normal weekly and monthly changes in weight and shape.

• Work towards self acceptance and self forgiveness- be gentle with yourself.

• Ask for support and encouragement from friends and family when life is stressful.

• Decide how you wish to spend your energy — pursuing the “perfect body image” or enjoying family, friends, school and, most importantly, life.

I think this advice is for anorexic and bulimics, but I found it to be good advice from the point of view of an binge eater. Check out the whole article.

Paige Waehner has a great article on About.com about Body Image:

• About.com – What’s Your Body Image? Are you punishing yourself for being imperfect? – by Paige Waehner

In the second half of this article, she has a fantastic list of imperatives to improve your body image:

• Stop nitpicking
• Eat
• Get real
• If you can’t say anything nice…
• Find the perfect jeans
• Exercise
• Lighten Up
• Take it with a grain of salt
• Get a life
• Get a clue

You’ll have to read her entire article to get the details. Take these imperatives to heart and you will be well on the road to loving your body so much that you want to keep it around for a long time.