exercise

Is Food A Treat?

I guess what I really want to ask is SHOULD food be a treat? Since I’ve been trying to get in the best shape of my life, I’ve noticed that I will think thoughts like, I just shoveled the driveway now I deserve some hot chocolate, or It’s been a busy week, I deserve some dark chocolate, or, I didn’t workout today so I don’t deserve dessert.

I’m struck by the word “deserve” as opposed to want, crave, need, etc. And while I’m sure I’ve spent a lifetime thinking this, I never really noticed or thought about it. On the surface it seems like a bad way to think about food, but is it? Am I the only one who thinks this way? And after shoveling the driveway, don’t I deserve some hot chocolate?

Is Food A Treat?Maggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:58-04:00

Real Inspiration

Yesterday while driving home from the gym I heard and ad on the radio that frustrated me. It was targeting women and trying to sell some kind of weight loss pill. It announced that scientists have said that women over 40 need to workout one hour a day just to maintain their weight, not even lose weight, so obviously everyone should start popping their pills to get skinnier.

It annoyed me that it was targeting women. It annoyed me that it was targeting women over 40. It annoyed me that is was claiming to have an easy fix to weight loss. It annoyed me that it was using what we know about the body against us.

I wished that there were ads that highlighted and inspired people via real life stories of individuals—men and women of all ages—who used diet and exercise to change their weight if needed. I thought of a very close family friend who in her mid fifties lost 50 pounds using weight watchers as a tool. She looks fabulous. I’d argue that she actually looks 30. It’s amazing. Another family friend lost weight by adding a morning exercise routine. Both of these women have […]

Real InspirationMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:30:13-04:00

Is Shoveling a Workout?

Once upon a time I would never have substituted shoveling for a workout. I would never have substituted anything for my workout. If I was going to go hiking (unless of course it was a full day hike like Mt. Washington leaving no time to add and extra workout) for a few hours, I would still go for a run or a swim or weight lift. If I had to shovel or really thoroughly clean a house for hours, I would never have allowed it to replace my workout.

Now I seem totally willing to let daily activities take the place of my workout. Well, at least a little. I suppose I wouldn’t be writing this if I felt it truly replaced my workout.

It isn’t just that I feel like shoveling 20-inches of snow, for example, has suddenly become a good, challenging workout, it’s that there are only so many hours in a day. If I have to shovel our driveway, walkways, and sidewalk, I usually don’t have time for my regular workout routine too. […]

Is Shoveling a Workout?Maggie Downie2017-09-12T19:32:01-04:00

Chocolate Milk

This, perhaps sadly, is some of the best news I’ve read all day–or at least a little exciting.

16 ounces of fat-free chocolate milk within two hours post exercise helps repair muscles better than sports drinks. –Research from American College of Sports Medicine

I’m not going to start chugging chocolate milk now, but I kind of like know that if I do there might be a benefit.

Chocolate MilkMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:02:55-04:00

What’s Really Important?

On New Year’s day a group of girlfriends came over. One of them mentioned that she wanted to start going to the gym this year, not because she wanted to lose weight, but because she wanted to feel better and she hadn’t been exercising.

I thought that was a really important reminder. Feeling good should be the reason why we take care of ourselves. A weight reduction should be a pleasant side effect, but so often it is the other way around. Since I’ve set a goal to be 130 pounds, I realize there is a level to which the weight is occupying my mind more than whether or not I feel good.

Every Monday morning when I weigh myself, even on weeks when I feel really good, I’m hoping for a particular number. If I ate really well and exercised daily, but my weight went up, because, let’s face it, we can fluctuate a few pounds from one hour to the next just by going to the bathroom, I’d be disappointed. My first thought probably wouldn’t […]

What’s Really Important?Maggie Downie2017-09-12T19:32:01-04:00