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.

Oh, Costochondritis: Wish You’d Stop Giving Me A Ribbing

Laughter is the best medicine, unless, of course, you have costochondritis.

Months ago I had a cough. Then I developed rib pain. It was so painful I thought I’d cracked a rib. Went to the doc. They took x-rays and said nothing was cracked, so that meant I had costochondritis. That’s inflammation of the cartilage between the ribs, usually caused from a prolonged or hard cough. The doctor suggested I take Aleve. I did that and modified some of my exercises because certain things just hurt too much to do. A month later it was mostly gone when I sneezed and found myself back at square one. (It was not a good day and a pint of ice cream was consumed.)

This round was even worse, for about two days driving hurt, breathing hurt. I was scared to move. I was terrified to sneeze. I couldn’t get comfortable in bed. I went back to the doc sure that I’d done something worse. Nope. It was still just costochondritis. Doctors don’t get up in arms about costochondritis. They act like it’s no big deal. But I make my living moving. And movement is what keeps me sane, so it’s […]

Oh, Costochondritis: Wish You’d Stop Giving Me A RibbingMaggie Downie2019-01-22T12:38:55-05:00

Welcome to Jordan

“You are welcome to Jordan” was the phrase we heard from almost everyone we met on our recent whirlwind trip to the Middle East. “Please, go home and tell your friends and family they are welcome to Jordan too.” Jordan, like Turkey, is a predominately safe country with some very difficult neighbors. It doesn’t have any state issued travel warnings. Mexico does. (Just to provide a little perspective.)

The curbs were the most colorful part of Amman.

I was nervous about traveling to Jordan until I got there. Even though the flights were long, it was worth the trip. We had three days in country which gave us time to see Amman, the Dead Sea, Petra and spend the night in the Wadi Rum.

Amman had some good local food and dabbled in interesting graffiti, but in my short stay there I didn’t see much else worth discovering. It’s a very beige city—the Earth and buildings are the same color.

Floating in the Dead Sea

The Dead Sea disappointed in its beauty […]

Welcome to JordanMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:24:29-04:00

Going Gluten-Free Gets A Bad Rap

I’m gluten free, and I’ve had a few people mention to me that they read that eating gluten-free isn’t healthy. I found an article in Consumer Reports basically saying as much.

But there is a faulty premise in the article. It presumes that if you are gluten-free you are going to eat a lot of gluten-free products. Of course that’s not healthy. That’s like going sugar free and using fake sugar substitutes or trying a low fat diet and eating foods filled with sodium to give them some flavor. Xanthum gum? Guar Gum? I’ve basically come to the personal decision that I want to stay away from anything that sounds indigestible. Remember when your mom told you if you swallowed your gum it would stay in your stomach for twenty years or something like that? It won’t and neither will guar gum probably, but it doesn’t sound real. I’m going to try not to eat it.

I’m not an advocate for anyone else going gluten-free. If I didn’t have a reason to give it up, I’d still be scarfing down muffins, pies, cakes, bread. Oh, and sandwiches. How I long to be able to pack a sandwich for the day. One that […]

Going Gluten-Free Gets A Bad RapMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:14-04:00

Tips for New Pilates Students

So it’s 2015 and you just signed up for your first Pilates class (or your first Pilates class in a long time). Pilates can be a lot to take in all at once. It’s pretty overwhelming. Just remember no one learns it all the first day. I’ve been doing Pilates for over a decade and I’m still learning about it. Not helping?

Trust me. It’s worth learning.

Know that’s it’s okay to break it up into pieces. Learn the moves. Then learn the breathing.

And if there are a few things you’re stuck on like what is the different between neutral and imprint, check out this video.

Want a review of the basic principles (breathing, shoulder placement, ribcage placement, pelvic placement and neck alignment)? Watch this video.

Tips for New Pilates StudentsMaggie Downie2017-10-25T16:00:00-04:00

Working Out in the Morning is Making Me Fat!

I’m a morning person. Most of my life I would get up early before work to exercise. And it wasn’t a chore. That was my time. I enjoyed it. But as I’ve gotten older my sleep has also become more important to me. So I have a new rule. I won’t get up to exercise if it means I’m setting the alarm before 5:30am. I’ll make an occasional exception.

That means I’m not getting in as many or as long workouts as I used to in the morning. And it’s taken some adjusting. I prefer exercising in the morning. I’ve had to learn to try to fit in exercise in the afternoon. But here’s the thing, I wasn’t feeling good. The workout felt fine (once I get moving I always feel better), but by the middle of the day I was drained.

A friend of mine said, “I think working out in the morning is making me fat.” It may sound laughable, but I related. I was so tired from getting up so early to work out that by midday I found myself snacking on anything I could to stay awake. The snacking was defeating the workout. I have a hard enough […]

Working Out in the Morning is Making Me Fat!Maggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:50-04:00

Previous 585960 Next