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

The other day, I printed up all the little motivational posters that I have found all over the web and put them on a foam board. I then put it up on the wall right in front of the treadmill, so when I’m running, I can read them.

Here’s a picture of it. Click it to see full-size:

It really helps me when I’m doing intervals and running. Sometimes that short run seems like an eternity, but being able to look up at that poster and be told to keep going, not to quit, and to shoot for the stars really helps me get through it. Sometimes I just let my eyes wander over the pictures, sometimes I read the words over and over in my head and other times I systematically read EVERY word to myself to keep from obsessing on the time and my legs.

I’m considering making a slideshow of these same images on my phone so if I’m exercising at the gym instead of at home, I can refer to my phone and let it feed me inspiration at ten second intervals.

What do you do to keep inspired and running? I would love some ideas because sometimes it’s hard to get through my short running intervals.

I love this motivational poster I found on Healthy is Classy.

It reads:

Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.

• Victor Klam

It made me chuckle when I read it, but more importantly, it’s TRUE. It reminds me of a song that was recommended to me by a friend called Moving Forward by Hoobastank [iTunes link].

This song is on my workout playlist and I love when it comes on. No matter how slowly I’m running, it reminds me that at least I’m moving forward.

I haven’t tried this idea from MotiveWeight.

It reads:

Instead of telling yourself you CAN do it, tell yourself you ARE doing it.

I’ve gotten a lot of steam from “I think I can.” There were so many times when I was riding my bike, trying to get it up that huge hill near my house, and I just kept saying, “I think I can,” over and over. Sometimes I would go all Obama and say, “Yes I can,” over and over instead.

But I’ve never tried saying, “I am doing it.” It just feels wrong in my head. With “Yes I can,” I can say each word with each pump on the pedal, but “I am doing it,” is five syllables and just doesn’t feel as good to say. “Yes I am,” is the right cadence, but it doesn’t make any sense out of context like that.

I think I’ll stick with “Yes I can.” It has gotten me up many a hill and through many a sprint.

I really like this poster from Make It Count.

It reads:

Learn to say no

not only to your cravings, but to the part of your mind that thinks it’s okay to give up.

That part of my mind that thinks it’s okay to give up is pretty strong. It has given up on Weight Watchers twice before. It has given up on low carb twice. It has given up on running. It has given up on DDR and a hundred other fun exercise things to do.

Learning how to say no to that part of my mind is something I haven’t mastered yet, so this poster is really helpful to me.

This motivational photo from Loving My Body Through All the Good and Bad really made me think.

It reads:

Your body keeps and accurate journal regardless of what you write down.

I’ve really been thinking about this since the ActiveLink made me realize that I was WAY over-counting my exercise. I wrote in that entry:

I just wish there was something like this for eating. What if I am UNDER-counting my food? I do my best to be accurate, but that was the case with exercise as well. I wish there was a little gadget that could analyze every morsel of food that I eat and record the points automatically. That would be one less place where I could screw up.

Ever since then, I’ve done my best to count my food correctly. When I am in doubt, I choose the one with higher points values or choose the serving size that is larger than I usually would estimate it.

Since then, I’ve steadily lost weight each week. There have been a few weeks where my losses have been only tenths of a pound, but that is SO much better than the stagnating I did last time I tried Weight Watchers.

I love this motivational photo from Fitness, Health, and Confidence.

It reads:

Get addicted to intense cardio

For years, I have used this heart rate training chart to judge how much cardio I should be doing. I have a strong heart and no history of heart trouble in my family, yet, I still assumed that my heart wouldn’t be as strong in my forties as it was in my twenties. When I started using my ActiveLink and it gave me so few points for my workouts, I realized that I have been a HUGE slug when it comes to exercise. I decided that I was going to train for how strong I want my heart to be (as good as a woman in her twenties), instead of how old I am.

That means that in order to train in the Aerobic Zone, I need to get my heart rate up to the 140-160 range instead of 126-144. I have been careful to make sure I’m not pushing myself too hard, but so far, it has worked. I’ve earned more points with the ActiveLink and I feel GOOD. Endorphins good, just like all those sportos talk about. I had no idea I was going too easy on myself because I was working within the ranges that the chart told me, but that chart is for EVERYONE, not necessarily for me.

So, I can feel that inkling of excitement when I think about doing my runs every day and that’s the closest I’ve ever come to addicted to intense cardio. I hope that someday that will be a reality as well.

Kudos to MotiveWeight for posting a link to this TED Talk. It’s a talk called Image Is Powerful from supermodel Cameron Russell.

You can just hear in her voice how scared she is to tell the true story of being a model.

If you ever think, ‘If I had thinner thighs and shinier hair, wouldn’t I be happier,” you just need to meet a group of models. They have the thinnest thighs and the shiniest hair and the coolest clothes and they are the most physically insecure women, probably, on the planet.

If there is a take-away to this talk, I hope it’s that we all feel more comfortable acknowledging the power of image in our perceived successes and our perceived failures.

This is a wonderful talk explaining the strange world we call fashion and modeling.

I was reading Found in Mom’s Basement and found this old advertisement from Post Cereal.

It reads:

“Any protein cereal helps keep you the right size… as long as it’s Post Grape-Nuts”

Thirty per cent more protein in every spoonful – more than any other cereal. That flavor really shapes up, too – so different, nut-like. Yes, for protein, energy and flavor… make your cereal Post Grape-Nuts!

All Post cereals happen to be just a little bit better.

My heart just aches for the “fat” woman on the left. Let’s just call her Miss Blue Coat. That look on her face gives me pause. It makes me think that the folks at Post didn’t quite realize what was going on.

She appears to be contemplating the situation. Her “friend” is such an attention whore that she doesn’t even notice the perilous situation she is in. I’d love to see the rest of this movie, complete with the revenge scene where Little Miss Size 10 is horrified when she loses her rich boyfriend to the new svelte figure of Miss Blue Coat.

I feel as if the copy on this advertisement should read: “When I get skinny, you’ll pay…” So I fixed it.

I’d pay to see that movie…

Yesterday, I was SICK. Explosive diarrhea, vomiting, constant nausea, joint pain and exhaustion. I was so bad, we cancelled our plans with friends today because even if I felt better, I might be contagious and they have a new baby.

This morning, I felt weak, but a little better. The “explosions” were gone. I was able to keep down my morning cup of coffee. My boy wanted to do our exercise together (he rides the exercise bike and I run on the treadmill). I agreed to join him just so we could be consistent. I thought I’d take it easy and just walk on the treadmill if I started to feel sick again. I remembered the thought, “You can’t get much done if you only workout on days you feel good.“

I started out walking, but then habit kicked in. When the warmup was over, I punched it up to running speed (for me, it’s only 4.0 mph right now, but it’s really hard for me). I did my normal interval and then went back to walking speed. I did my entire interval workout that was planned for today.

Don’t get me wrong. It was hard. Each run felt much harder than they did yesterday, but I was wearing my heart rate monitor and it said I was working at the same level as I did yesterday. It just FELT harder, but I didn’t let it get in my way.

When I was done, I sat on the floor to do my after-run stretches. When I did Roll Like A Ball, I saw it. Each time I rolled up, I saw the motivational card that my WW teacher had given me a couple of weeks ago. I had put it up by the exercise bike because when I’m hurt, I exercise there instead of the treadmill. Roll up, I saw it. Roll back, and I thought about it.

I AM stronger than any excuse!

Before, I would have used yesterday’s illness as an excuse to skip my workout. This time, I did my workout anyway. Now, part of the credit has to go to my kid, who held me accountable to our daily routine. I KNOW that’s the reason I got my butt off the chair and headed upstairs to the family gym. Knowing that I can’t do this all on my own and that I have someone to hold me accountable actually helped me today.

Just in case your WW teacher didn’t give you a little motivational card, here are some from around the web to inspire you.

Here are a couple I found on Healthier, Fitter, Stronger by Christy Marhin.

It reads:

Make yourself stronger than your excuses

It reads:

Excuses are for people who don’t want it bad enough

This one from Vuible is pretty good:

It reads:

Be stronger than your excuses

Here’s a pretty good one from StyleCraze:

It reads:

Be Stronger Than Your Excuses

CutAndJacked.com has one for weight training men:

It reads:

Stronger than excuses

The next time you consider skipping your workout, just TRY it. Get on the treadmill and walk slowly. If you are feeling too ill to do a workout, your body will tell you. You will probably learn that you are stronger than you thought!

I was looking around at fit > skinny and I found this motivational picture.

It reads:

Never stop trying; if you just keep going you will succeed.

I love the idea of motivational sayings painted on the trail. Where is this?

I tried to do a little forensics on it, but all I could find were tons of Pins from Pinterest and reblogs from Tumblr.

There is a watermark on the photo for MotiveWeight on Blogspot. I looked through that ENTIRE blog in search of that picture and I found it here:

• MotiveWeight: Never Stop Trying

Unfortunately, it looks like they just found the picture and put their watermark on it, with no reference to where they found it originally.

Does anyone know where this picture was originally taken?