Maggie Downie, Author at Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

About Maggie Downie

Thank you for giving your time to stop and read my blog. I hope it encourages you to keep moving. Move and the body will be happier. And when you're moving you can hike, run, swim in Jell-O, race over non-Newtonian fluids, travel the world or build igloos--if that's your thing. If not, you can watch me do it. This is just a spot to try and feel good about life.

Pain in the Bottom of My Foot

You have a band of fascia that might be causing pain in the bottom of your foot. It’s known as your plantar fascia (usually it is the only type of fascia that anyone has heard about). When it is inflamed and you experience pain that is known as plantar fasciitis (PLANTAR FASCIITIS ). The good news is, at least in my experience, this is not a permanent state of pain.

Though you might have to do some maintenance to keep the pain away, most people with PLANTAR FASCIITIS are able to return to a normal life without pain at every step.

So What Can You Do?

The key to relieving plantar fascia pain is to stretch all the related muscles. This includes both calf muscles and the hamstrings. That’s right, tight hamstrings are strongly linked to plantar fasciitis.
Also, you can do self message on the foot or roll the foot on a soft ball. You don’t have to combat pain with agony, so if a tennis ball hurts, there is no need to use an object that firm.

Stretch What?

There are three muscles to focus on stretching when you have PLANTAR FASCIITIS .

Stretch the Calf

When […]

Pain in the Bottom of My FootMaggie Downie2019-03-15T13:25:03-04:00

Plank Story: Tongue Tied

My dad has a Boston accent that Siri struggles to understand. After he talks a text and clicks send without rereading it, a nonsensical message of gibberish lands in my family’s group text. My siblings and I race to translate what he actually means. When I got a text from him that read, “I appreciate your blood this morning,” I could not figure out the meaning, so I asked. Blood was intended to be blog. He’d read my blog and liked it.

In addition to his misunderstood accent and technical difficulties, sometimes my father stumbles over words. Most recently this has been a problem with his newest grandson, my sister’s son. His name is Quentin, but my father calls him Quintin. Qui vs que. To my dad’s credit, I tend to want to say Quintin over Quentin too. The que doesn’t roll off my tongue and I have to think about it. But since Quentin’s birth, I have witnessed this conversation multiple times:

Dad: How’s Quintin?
Sister: Dad, it’s Quentin.
Dad: Right, what did I say?
Sister: Quintin.
Dad: Yeah, that’s right.
Sister: No, it’s Quentin.
Dad: Isn’t that what I said?

Like Father Like Daughter

My family teases my dad […]

Plank Story: Tongue TiedMaggie Downie2019-03-04T18:39:58-05:00

Healthy Eating

Because I’m in fitness, people often assume I eat healthful and know something about nutrition. This reminds me of when I was good at field hockey in high school. People assumed I was generally good at sports. I wasn’t. I’m interested in food and nutrition, but not the way I care about fascia and movement. However, since my book Keep Moving: Take Steps to Relieve Pain & Improve Your Life came out, during interviews I’ve been questioned about nutrition a surprising amount. I don’t think of myself as an expert in that department, and don’t feel a need to be, however, it made me think I should have some of the basics down. I figured I should review the basics on healthy eating.

Getting Educated

Two books piqued my interest: The Science of Skinny: Start Understanding Your Body’s Chemistry and Stop Dieting Forever by Dee McCaffrey (an organic chemist and nutritionist) and Why You Eat What You Eat by Rachel Herz (a neuroscientist).

The first was a little older. It came out in 2012, so it has been sitting in my upcoming reading pile for seven years. But she wrote in […]

Healthy EatingMaggie Downie2019-02-13T18:30:04-05:00

How Much Sugar A Day?

Sugar is actually good for us. Sugar fuels our brain and provides quick energy. At least that is the case with sugar before it is fully processed and transformed into the white substance we normally see. Sugar cane contains minerals and vitamins (like calcium, phosphorus, chromium, magnesium, cobalt, copper, zinc, and manganese). All those nutrients and the fiber in the sugar cane help us digest the sugar. When we consume sugar without the other nutrients (as is the case in white sugar) the body can be forced to leach calcium from bones and other tissues to help process the sugar. So how much sugar should we get a day?

Two hundred years ago it is estimated that Americans ate about 10 pounds of refined sugar per year. Today that poundage is estimated to be 156 pounds per person per year. This does not include sugars from whole fruits or dairy products. Just added sugar (white sugar, sugar cane, honey, maple syrup, agave, etc).

The American Heart Association recommends 6 teaspoons per day for women and 9 teaspoons a day for […]

How Much Sugar A Day?Maggie Downie2019-02-13T17:46:20-05:00

Low FODMAPs

I have been on a Low FODMAP’s diet since January 2^nd. Commencing immediately after the season of sugar, gluten, chocolate, carbs, gravy, chocolate, eggnog, and did I mention chocolate?

Forced into a Healthy Lifestyle

This diet is not by choice, although I guess no one can make me do it. My gastroenterologist prescribed it. I keep getting this frustrating gut bacteria called SIBO. You can delve deeper into that in my blog titled, “Gas or Menstrual Cramps.” It’s a tale filled with TMI and information you may never have wanted to know about my large and small intestine, or maybe you are super curious about intestines.

My doctor thought Low FODMAPS is so important that she prescribed me a dietician to explain just how I’m supposed to eat now. Going into the New Year I did not feel like I was in the right mental place to alter my food lifestyle. Like a little kid, I just didn’t wanna. I keep reminding myself this is a LOW FODMAPs diet, not a NO FODMAPS diet.

Always Experimenting

This is not the first time I’ve tried a diet experiment. Over the years, I’ve experimented with diets […]

Low FODMAPsMaggie Downie2019-01-30T10:07:26-05:00

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