Biggest Loser Marathon; An Inspiration

     

Daris, Michael, Ashley and Koli. NBC Photo.

 

I watched with tears as the Daris, Koli, Michael, and Ashley from The Biggest Loser cross the finish line. Daris was an inspiration, despite the fact that his eating habits are still an issue for him, he finished 26.2 miles in just under a 4:03. I couldn’t believe it. This kid was incredible, and though he was verbally abused by Jillian Michaels for gaining weight during his training, I was impressed by his running form, he looked and acted like an athlete on last night’s show.    

Koli was the person who caused my tears. Just watching him want to finish was enough to send me into a blubbering mess. He finished so dramatically; and the personal strides he made with his father in the show showed me this was a guy who overcame some huge emotional hurdles with his family.     

Michael and Ashley also choked me up as they saw their siblings along the race. To see Ashley tear up when she saw her brother was emotional. All of them came so far literally and figuratively. This should tell you; if they can do it, so can we.    

I am very impressed by the dedication of these people. They trained for five months not only running but by building their core. Of course, they were on “The Ranch” for five months under the supervision of professional trainers, but these are all people who had something to overcome, and the fact that these people finished a hilly marathon was a great accomplishment.    

It got me thinking – in the fight against obesity, we can all carry out these goals. I’d like to hear your stories. Are your ready to run?    

Other news: Biggest Loser Contestants Run Salt Lake City Marathon   

If Your Knees Hurt, You’re Either Running Too Much and/or You are Overweight.

This weekend I had the pleasure of interviewing a potential client who described himself as overweight. He’s done a great job by losing 26 pounds in the past year – and with another 30 pounds or so to go, he’s got his work cut out for him. But this runner is very dedicated and I don’t doubt he’ll lose the weight he wants to; that’s if he can get past his knee issues.

Knees are sensitive and the more weight you carry around, the more pressure you are putting on your joints. When you run you exacerbate the potential for causing injury even if you are not over training. As you may already know, running puts a lot of pressure on the joints, muscles, and ligaments. The beginning overweight runner faces way more hazards than his or her thinner counterpart because of the stress running mechanics.

As I talked with this person it was clear he was doing the right things in terms of wanting to get in shape. He ran a marathon about 40 pounds overweight. All I can tell you is that running a marathon when you are in peak physical condition is difficult enough but when one is overweight, it is a MAJOR accomplishment. I give Stephen my unadulterated praise and I think he was taken aback when I told him he was part of a unique club; that of a marathoner.

When I learned about his knee pain, particularly the patellar pain or the pain right under his knee cap I would probably bet that was attributed to being overweight and I told him so.  A good article on patellar knee pain can be found at About.com. 

Just to give an example of how the knee is  impacted by simple movement, the force burdened by the patella is about two times body weight when climbing up stairs, and seven times body weight when descending. So think about the burden on the joints when running and then when running overweight. It is no wonder why people suffer knee issues.

Being overweight is not the only reason people suffer knee issues of course. Overtraining, meaning, running too much or running too much too fast all the time will create microtears in the muscles and ligaments in your body each time you run. A key indicator of improper training is injury; and for many, especially early in the running season, I hear a lot about ITB or illiotibital band syndrome.

The reason running coaches are becoming popular, I believe is because people, in their expectations of doing great things in a short amount of time often injure themselves or have recurring injuries that are cured simply with a good training plan.

Training with a trainer shouldn’t be expensive. I’ll blog more about that next time.

Alix

On Food Policy

Obesity, Pollution, and the Poor Economy Go Hand In Hand. We, Not U.S. Policy Makers, Should Determine the Size of Our Waistlines.

By Alix Shutello

I am sitting here reading the Sunday Washington Post and happend upon George F. Will’s commentary entitled, “Where the Obesity Grows.”  I often stop to read articles on obesity because I am truly fascinated that we Americans are fat. I mean, it’s obvious why. And we runners are no exception. How many of you out there run and then justify eating that brownie (like I did today after logging six miles). As my father used to say, “you cannot bullshit an old bullshitter.”

Mr. Will’s commentary interested me because the obesity discussion was about politics and policy; not the fact that we’re eating too much salt, sugar and fat – something we know all too well.

In the piece, Tom Vilsack, an ex-Iowa governor states that the Agriculture Department  (the USDA) “serves education through school nutrition programs and serves diplomacy by tring to wean Afghanistan from a poppy-based ecomony.”

Ok so that’s an interesting statement. So the chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and other shit they serve at my son’s elementary school is “healthy”  and is educating my kids to continue to eat crap and while we’re at it we’re also trying to get a foreign country to stop selling opium? I am not sure I follow USDA’s logic here.

This is very confusing. Let’s ignore the drug bit because this article is on obesity. Mr. Wills piece also states thats the Ag Department wants to focus on the “health costs of the American diet.”  So what are those health costs exactly? I’ll tell you what they are – the health costs our society bares to take care of overweight people, period.  As a result of U.S. policies to both subsidize and promote – I say promote eating a poor diet, we are fatter, in need of more medical assistance, sicker, uglier, and need I say obsessed with dieting.  So is the Ag Department doing any good at all? And why aren’t Ag department policies directly tied to U.S. health policies….or should they be? I’d be interested in comments in this arena, please post!

The USDA posted an interesting piece on the policies behind the farming industry a number of years ago. James Tillotson, a professor of food policy and international business at Tufts University, wrote in the 2004 Annual Review of Nutrition, that “U.S. public policy encourages obesity at the expense of sound nutritional practices.” What Tillotson argued, was that U.S. farmers are most efficient at producing  just a few highly subsidized crops–wheat, soybeans, and especially corn.  Therefore, corn-based products, for example, like corn syrup are in EVERYTHING we eat. I mean it when I say EVERYTHING. Look at almost any packaged product you eat. According to Tolloston, “The market is flooded with products made from the highly subsidized crops, including sweeteners in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), fats in the form of hydrogenated fats made from soybeans, and feed for cattle and pigs. This flood, in turn, drives down the prices of fattening fare such as prepackaged snacks, ready-to-eat meals, fast food, corn-fed beef and pork, and soft drinks. Worse yet, some scientists say, paltry support for foods other than these staples increases the contrast between prices of fat-laden, oversweetened foods and those of healthier alternatives, offering poor folks little choice but to stock their pantries with less nutritious foods.” 

As you might expect, there is little to no incentive to grow or market other crops such as fruits, vegetables, and other grains.

As you might guess, this type of poor policy-making has been going on a long time.

Since 1945, the food supply in this country has increased faster than our population growth.  During the Nixon Administration, despite the food surplus, food prices went up, prompting the government to enforce the selling of  “large quantities of calories as cheaply as possible,” in particular, calories coming from corn. This is why everything has corn starch, corn meal and corn everything – in fact 45,000 items in the average supermarket contains some sort of corn by product, accorinding to Wills.

What’s also interesting to note was that during World War II, when meat, dairy products, and sugar were scarce,  (there also were no Fritos or Twinkies by then but I could be wrong)  the American population reported fewer cases of heart disease. Now, three out of every five Americans is a fatty – meaning the average American is probably ten pounds overweight.  That is a problem – so what needs to happen?

Well, this is really easy. Stop making poor food choices. Even if you are poor, you have choices.  I am still surprised at how many intelligent, well-educated people think a mocha latte is not bad for you or not fattening. Muffins are junk. Bagels are junk. Twinkies, chips, pretzels, many yogurts, soda, and I’ve even seen raisins with oil in them – are all JUNK. 

As a runner, do you think the elite runners from Africa eat twinkies and lattes? No, they eat legumes, rice, beans, meats, and other natural foods. Meaning, foods that don’t come from factories. They don’t need them and neither do we.

So what are we to eat?

Well, we see all of these cooking shows with these mega super star cooks showing us all these good foods to eat right?

They use all these natural products and, if you notice, rarely open up any packaging. They actually prepare food – and what they are not saying because they are not policy makers or want to get involved on that level, but what these people are advocating for is getting back in the kitchen. My generation was taught to get out of it – now turn around, and get back in it.

So what do you do when you get back in your kitchen? Well, my friends, we actually have to cook our meals. So put down  the blackberry. I said, PUT DOWN the blackberry, open an actual cook book - not an electronic one, read the recipes, and cook the meals.

In time, like getting into shape, cooking becomes easier.  Our goal is to become like these foodies.  Get in the kitchen, be the star of your own show.