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

The October New Scientist has a great article that debunks many myths about sleep. They even attack the idea that sleep deprivation causes obesity:

• Time to wake up to the facts about sleep – being-human – 16 October 2008 – New Scientist

What of the risk of a sleep shortage causing obesity? Several studies have found a link, including the Nurses’ Health Study, which tracked 68,000 women for 16 years (American Journal of Epidemiology, vol 164, p 947).

The hazard, though real, is hardly anything to worry about. It only becomes apparent when habitual sleep is below 5 hours a day, which applies to only 5 per cent of the population, and even then the problem is minimal. Somebody sleeping 5 hours every night would only gain a kilogram or so of fat per year. To put it in perspective, you could lose weight at the same rate by reducing your food intake by about 30 calories per day, equivalent to about one bite of a muffin, or by exercising gently for 30 minutes a week.

In truth, few obese adults are short-sleepers, and few short-sleeping adults are obese. The Nurses’ Health Study also revealed that people sleeping more than 9 hours a night are just as likely as short-sleepers to be fat.

Ever since that study linking sleep deprivation with obesity, I have been faithfully marking how much sleep I get every day, but it looks like all I need to do is make sure I get at least five hours and no more than nine hours in order to be “safe” from sleep-related weight gain. In fact, the weight gain experienced by the short sleepers could be attributed to eating a little extra food while they are awake, so as long as I stay on program, I should be just fine.

On some days, I could sure use an extra hour of sleep, but other days, I really need to use that time for work or family. It’s nice to know that sleeping less than eight hours isn’t necessarily the death sentence that the media has made it out to be.

Via: Mind Hacks – Myths of the sleep deprived

Found in Mom’s Basement posted this advertisement for Chef Boy-Ar-Dee Ravioli from the 1970’s:

It reads:

Kids think it’s treat food
(but it’s protein food).

This advertisement was made before food companies were required to label their products with nutrition facts, so it was easy for Chef Boy-Ar-Dee to say that their ravioli was “protein food.” How could anyone disagree?

Now, however, we can ALL see that protein comes in at a slim third place behind carbohydrates and fat. Sorry, Mom, but the kid’s were right. Chef Boy-Ar-Dee Ravioli is a treat food. At 240 calories a serving, the kids could eat a lot of REAL beef instead of ravioli.

It’s easy to make fun of advertising from thirty years ago, but the truth of the matter is, food manufacturers are STILL lying to you. Keep a keen eye on the nutrition facts whenever you’re tempted to buy something because it’s “healthy.” The only way that you can keep from being lied to is by arming yourself with information.

This Sunday’s Sheldon shows how NOT to follow Weight Watchers:

• Sheldon 10-19-08 – Are you new to Weight Watchers? Let us show you how it works!

The panel on the right is the only tip that I follow religiously. Especially now that they have made eTools SO much better, I love keeping track of my food online with Weight Watchers. They have made it easy and I really love how they have added the system to give me positive reinforcement for following the Healthy Habits For Living.

Do you see the little smiley faces on my water, vitamin and exercise Healthy Checks? That means that I’ve fulfilled my requirements for the day. I know it’s such a small thing, but I really like trying to get all smiley faces every day. It feels like such an accomplishment when the program gives me a smiley face. I look at that field almost more than I check whether I have enough points left in the day. You see, I need to eat one more serving of dairy, two more servings of veggies and two teaspoons of healthy oil in order to get a full complement of smiley faces.

I don’t know why something as simple as the gift of a smiley face should be enough to motivate me to eat healthy, but strangely, it does. I’ve been really happy with eTools ever since they released this new version. I just hope they don’t screw it up and take away my smiley faces.

A child in Great Britain has been taken away from her parents because she is too fat:

• Obese girl taken into care because of her weight – Times Online

An eight-year-old girl has been taken from her parents and put into care because she is seriously overweight.

The girl, who is 5ft (1.52m) tall, is a size 16 — six sizes bigger than the average for her age. She has suffered several health problems associated with her weight. But her parents, from West Cumbria, say that they are devastated, and that her size is due to a medical problem or genetics, not a poor diet.

Tam Fry, a member of the National Obesity Forum’s board in Great Britain says that all obese children should be removed from their homes:

• Take obese children into care, says health expert – Telegraph

My point will be that we regard malnourished children as being abused and so with those children who are so overweight, either consciously or by neglect because their parents allow it, there should be a case for them being removed from their parents to a paediatric ward and put under weight management by doctors.

It is drastic but it’s a long-term therapy. For the sake of the children it does need to be done because we have got children who are horrendously fat. In many cases it will mean thinking the unthinkable.

With the “unthinkable” being ordering gastric bypass surgery for children who are overweight, forcing them to subsist on tiny portions of pureed food.

Is an overweight child a symptom of neglect? I don’t know. All I know is that I was one of those children forced into a dieting plan at a very young age. Everything that they did to me made things worse and started a bingeing problem that has lasted with me until this day. I struggle every day to eat wisely and what I was put through as a child made matters FAR worse than if I had been left alone.

Children learn to eat by watching their parents and siblings eat. If you have a child who is overweight and want to help them get healthy, the only way that you can positively affect them is by concentrating on yourself. Make sure you set a good example by eating small portions of healthy food. Never starve your child in an effort to get them slim. In the end, they’ll end up fatter than before. I sure did.

Via: Rudd Sound Bites: “Frisked for Chocolate and Fizzy Drinks”

When Swiss Miss came out with their Swiss Miss Diet Cocoa, everyone at Weight Watchers were excited about it. Whenever someone mentioned an indulgence, the Swiss Miss Diet Cocoa jumped into the conversation. I tried it. It was good, but I still have almost a full box of it sitting in the cupboard.

Why?

Because I like REAL cocoa. Plus, I have a hard time eating my two servings of dairy every day, so if I’m going to have cocoa, I’m going to make it WORTH it.

My REAL Cocoa Recipe

• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 1 tsp of Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa
• 1 packet of Stevia (or Equal or Sweet N Low, whatever you like)

Directions:

1. Set your microwave to 50% power. Microwave your milk in a heat-safe mug for three minutes. If you don’t reduce your microwave cooking power level, the milk will bubble up and make quite a mess in your microwave, so make sure you reduce your cooking level to 50%.
2. Once the milk is heated correctly, stir in the teaspoon of cocoa and the packet of Stevia. You have to stir in a little more with real cocoa than you would if you were using a packet of Swiss Miss. Make sure all the lumps of cocoa are mixed in.

Servings: 1
WW Points: 2

The reason why Swiss Miss is so popular is because you don’t need to have milk with you to make it, so if you’re in an office, all you have to do is get some hot water from the water cooler. With a little planning, however, you can have cocoa that tastes like REAL chocolate and do your body some good.

I am coming off a magazine binge, but I wanted to share this article I found with you. Runners World had an Ask Miles question here:

• Ask Miles – November 2008

How should I react to rude comments? If I hear “Run, Forrest, run” one more time, I’m going to snap. —Owen R., Brooklyn

The best response to taunts is the very same response that Mr. Gump himself gave: No response at all. Wisenheimers aren’t trying to draw attention to you; they’re trying to draw attention to themselves. Any reaction from you is just fuel to the fire. Instead, go Zen. Keep your gaze ahead, your stride smooth. All of this assumes, of course, that it’s illegal to carry a Taser in your state. Otherwise, my advice would change dramatically.

My advice to Owen would be COMPLETELY different. If someone is screaming, “Run, Forrest, Run,” they might just be wanting to encourage you. I remember when I got black toenail. I wasn’t able to run (or even walk) for a couple of months. It was almost torture to drive past other runners because they were running and I couldn’t. A lot of times, I would give a quick beep or a wave at the runners on the road.

In fact, there have been a lot of times when people have beeped at me when I’m running and I’ve ALWAYS considered it a note of encouragement.

It’s all about your mentality. Every time you hear someone scream out their car at you, whether you can understand what they are saying or not, consider it a compliment or a word of encouragement. Sure, the mean guys screamed “Run, Forrest, run,” but so did his girlfriend and the entire stadium at the football game. Consider it a compliment and wave back!

For more motivation, here’s an inspirational video of Forrest Gump running:

If you bought a Wii Fit when they first came out, you’re probably a little sick of them calling you OBESE every freakin’ day. It’s probably gathering dust shoved under your couch…

Oh wait, that’s me…

Well, dust off your Wii Balance Board because Jillian Michaels (of Biggest Loser fame) has a workout game for you! It’s called Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 and it will be available TOMORROW!

Jillian is the really tough trainer from The Biggest Loser and she’s the one that I like the best. Sure, she makes me angry when she berates her team members, but then again, sometimes they don’t do their homework and totally deserve it.

I really bonded with Jillian the second season of the Biggest Loser, so when they replaced her with a Barbie Doll in the third season, I refused to watch. Every year I SAY I’m not going to watch, but that year, I really didn’t. When Jillian came riding back last year on her black motorcycle and brought members of the Black Team to victory, I was so happy. Suffice it to say that I’m pretty stoked about this game!

Here are some screen shots:

So, if your Wii Balance Board is hiding under the couch, pull it out, get Jillian’s game and get ready to sweat!

Zen Habits has a pretty cool article about beating the sugar habit:

• Beat the Sugar Habit: 3 Steps to Cut Sweets (Mostly) Out of Your Life | Zen Habits

Steps one and two waste your time telling you WHY you need to cut sugar out of your diet. Anyone willing to read an entry on how to “Beat the Sugar Habit” already knows why they don’t want to eat sugar anymore. The best advice comes at the third step, “Just Live the Daily Journey one Choice at a Time.” They have a list of ways to make good choices in your diet:

• Choose to eat more natural foods.
• Find the hidden sources of sugars and remove them.
• If it’s not near you, you can’t eat it.
• Make each meal balanced to control your blood sugar and insulin response.
• Eat sugar from its natural packaging – like fruit (as it is packed with fiber, water, vitamins and minerals) and other complex sources like vegetables.
• Base your larger intake of carbohydrates around workouts and other activity.
• Choose to burn fat, not store it.
• Get out and exercise.
• More fish please.
• Learn it’s OK to say “No”.
• Get rid of your mental attachment to sugar and food – once a week with a short fast (like only eating dinner for a day once a week).
• Control and manage your stress.
• Go to bed early and get your sleep.
• Don’t ever get down on yourself.
• Enjoy Life.

Oh, enjoy life… THAT’S why it’s so hard for me to stop eating sugar. I haven’t been enjoying LIFE enough. I do agree with a lot of the things that were said in this article, but sometimes it’s a little more complicated than that. I DO NOT recommend that you “Get rid of your mental attachment to food” by fasting once a week. I strongly believe that the act of fasting causes bingeing. There’s some good advice in that article if you’re willing to sift through it.

The basis of all of this is eating or NOT eating sugar is our choice. Every piece of food that I put in my mouth is my choice. That alone is a very powerful thought to keep you motivated toward healthy eating.

I absolutely LOVE this Nike commercial!

The voice of the woman says:

I don’t need to fill a stadium, or cause one to erupt with joy. I don’t need to hear 60,000 people chant my name. I’ll never have a fan club, get a signing bonus, or even sign an autograph, but can you honestly tell me, I’m not an athlete?

Next time you’re feeling like skipping your workout, come back here and watch this commercial again. It will get you on the treadmill, exercise bike, or out of the house to exercise, even if you were feeling unmotivated a mere one minute and one second earlier.

I’ve decided that the key to happiness is low expectations.

Laura Moncur, Merriton, 06-04-08

When I wrote that chapter in Merriton, I had no idea I might also be talking about my own weight loss journey.

I have found that when I keep my expectations LOW, I last longer and stay happier. When so many self-help gurus tell me that I need to stay positive and aim for the sky, it seems very counter intuitive to me to keep my expectations low.

Let’s take my weekly experience at the scale, for example. When my expectations are low, I MEAN LOW. Expecting to lose more than 0.5 lb. a week is too high. If I plan on losing 0.5 lb. or less, I end up ecstatic when I lose 0.6 pounds.

On the other hand, if I have been shooting for the sky and I find that I’ve only lost 0.6 lb., I tend to get discouraged. I feel like “this isn’t working.” Sometimes, I even end up bingeing because I didn’t reach my goal. Even if my goal was as “low” as 1.0 lb. a week.

For some reason, the opposite of what all the gurus say is true for me. Instead of aiming for the sky, I do MUCH better when I aim for the ground. I’m pleasantly surprised when I actually hit something.