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

I found this animated GIF on work sweat achieve and it reminded me that exercise is awesome.

It reads:

Exercise relaxes the mind.

Exercise strengthens the body.

Exercise toughens the spirit.

Whenever I focus on exercise to stave off stress or depression, I am much more consistent than when I’m exercising to lose weight. If the scale stops moving, I get unmotivated to exercise when I’m concentrating on losing weight. When I decide to exercise every day in order to keep my mind healthy, I end up motivated far longer.

The next time you think you’re going to skip your workout, remember this little GIF and tell yourself to do it for your mental health instead of to lose weight. It’s a great way to trick yourself into working out, even when you are feeling unmotivated.

This motivational poster from I CAN DO IT really made me happy.

It reads:

Defy the law.

You are weightless.

Sometimes when I’m running, my legs feel like tree trunks being forced to move against their will. Other days, I feel exactly like this picture.

You never know before the workout which way you’re going to feel. Get out there and exercise because it just might be one of those days when you can defy the law and be weightless.

I love this tank top I found on work sweat achieve.

It reads:

Sweat, it’s liquid awesome

If I had made that t-shirt, I would have just said,

Sweat Is Liquid Awesome

Either way, it’s true!

I found another t-shirt on Amazon.com that looks pretty cool.

It reads:

Sweat Is Fat Crying

Next time I’m feeling gross and sweaty from a workout, I need to repeat these two phrases over and over like a mantra. It just may make my workout feel easier.

This motivational poster made me chuckle to myself.

It reads:

There’s no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.

-Bill Bowerman

I found it funny that the photo for “bad weather” shows a bit of water on the ground with a few drops of rain. The bad weather in Salt Lake City right now is freezing temperatures, icy sidewalks and an inversion so thick that they have been recommending people carpool, take public transit and stay home just to limit the pollution in the air.

Now THAT is bad weather.

Yet, it’s still not an excuse. When there is a mall to walk (or run) around, there are no icy sidewalks to worry about. When there is a community fitness center, there are no freezing winds ripping into my cheeks. When there are stairs in my home, there is no inversion to clog my lungs.

Don’t believe those excuses that pop into your head. Find a way to get your workout in and you will be one of the inspirational ones. You’ll be one of the strong ones that the soft people look up to.

Motivational poster via: Healthy Is Classy

I saw this motivational poster on Healthy Is Classy the other day and I really liked it.

It reads:

Success doesn’t happen overnight. Keep your eye on the prize and don’t look back.

-Erin Andrews

I realize that healthy weight loss should be slow and consistent to keep my body (and my mind) from going into starvation mode. Yet, at the same time, I want to be at my goal weight YESTERDAY. Not just now, yesterday. Part of that is the keeping the “eye on the prize” concept. Thinking about being at goal weight makes me want to be there NOW.

Additionally, I’ve been looking back far too much lately. I’ve been trying to remember what has worked best for me, but if it had really worked, I wouldn’t be where I am now. If Weight Watchers had really been a “lifestyle change” like they advertised, then I would have been at my goal weight a long time ago and still be there. Instead, I floundered and struggled until I started eating low carb on my own.

In the end, I need to create a eating and exercise plan that works for ME and stick to it, no matter what the naysayers say.

As angry as I have been with Nike in the past, I still enjoy how inspirational their advertisements are. I found this one on work sweat achieve.

It reads:

We gave up giving up.

I need to make this my mantra. If I’m sick of starting over, I need to STOP quitting. If I repeat this to myself enough times, I’m sure I will eventually get it in my head and keep going even when I don’t want to.

Running. Running worked for me before. Sure, they say that it’s bad for your knees and can lead to injuries, but I never was as thin as when I was running.

Plus, I find that I miss it. I saw this motivational picture yesterday and it truly made me remember why I loved running so much.

It reads:

Listen for the unwritten symphonies in your footsteps.

I started running again yesterday and I will again today.

Photo via: I CAN DO IT

220.9: It’s what my scale read this morning and the number shocked me out of the haze I’ve been in for months upon months. I’ve allowed stress to overtake my existence and used food to deal with it instead of exercise and meditation, and THIS is the result.

It’s not like it was a surprise. None of my clothes fit. I’ve weighed myself and started to eat healthy and track my food several times over the last three months. Each time, however, I abandoned my food log and exercise tracker within days.

But now, 220.9…

It’s not that it’s a particularly even number. It’s not like 220 is a magic limit that once I hit it, a panic sets in. That panic set in ages ago and I’ve lived with that panic for so long that it seems commonplace. “I’m too fat!” the voice screams in my head every minute of every day. It’s not like I can escape that voice because it’s my own internal dialogue.

220.9…

It’s not like it’s the highest weight I’ve been. I originally started this journey at 232 pounds, weighed on the Weight Watchers scale at my sister’s place of employment. We joined together and we both saw some success, but eventually, the starvation and hunger pangs overtook me and I couldn’t follow that low fat program anymore.

220.9…

Actually, my best success was when I still attended Weight Watchers meetings, but followed a low carb diet. I stayed under their points, but I did it by eating low carb without hunger. I really thrived with weekly accountability and a low carb diet, but I refuse to go back. Weight Watchers have gotten enough of my money and a bitter pill inside me is still feels that they lied to me.

220.9…

But low carb on my own just didn’t work. I wasn’t hungry, but I did have cravings for bread, sugar and any other carb you could imagine. Something about the weekly weigh-ins at Weight Watchers really helped me, but I don’t know how to recreate them without shelling out twelve bucks a week for the privilege of being taught all the wrong things about nutrition.

220.9…

All I know is that the weight gain has to STOP. I am logging my food again. I am committing to exercise every single day. I am dealing with my stress with meditation, journal writing and sunlight. I feel alone and lost in the world and I wish there was some magic cure to this all, but for now, I’m doing what I know works and looking for additional options along the way.

I absolutely love this motivational photo:

It reads:

The distance between dreams and reality is discipline.

Time and time again, we see that society rewards those who have discipline, whether it’s to put down the cake, run the extra mile or put in the overtime at work. If you want to be successful, you must be able to put aside your happiness now for rewards in the future.

The next time you’re tempted to eat poorly or skip your workout, remember this phrase: The distance between dreams and reality is discipline. You can make your dreams come true, but you have to stick to your program.

Photo via: I CAN DO IT

I love these photos of Katherine Hepburn skateboarding back in 1967.

The subtitle says:

This is Katherine Hepburn on an outing in Beverly Hills. Her sister’s son, Jack Grant, got the actress hooked on the sport while working on a book about it. Grant made this picture.

It’s surprising to me to see this great actress riding a skateboard. It just goes to show that all of us can excel at sports, even if we start them when we are adults.

The next time you miss the fun you used to have skateboarding, roller skating or riding your bike, grab your gear and get out there again. Exercise can be fun and make you feel like you’re young again.

Via: Katherine Hepburn Skateboarding, 1967 | Retronaut