food – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Mindful Eating February

We pick February for our Mindful Eating Challenge because it’s the shortest month of the year. We are not ashamed to admit it. Dry January. Veganuary (being vegan for the month of January). They got it all wrong with a month with 31 days when they could pick a month with 29.

Food challenges are hard. At Personal Euphoria, we are all about fitness, not typically food. But what we put in our bodies matters. It impacts how we feel. It is helpful to take a window of time and try to consider food. Food fuels us and when we exercise how we refuel matters. Sometimes, once I get started, I actually continue for more than 29 days.

Here’s the challenge if you choose to accept it:

You pick any food-related challenge you want—big or small. I usually give up sugar. I still eat fruit and a piece of toast if it has sugar. But I cut out all desserts and snacks with processed sugar. Sometimes I make an exception with honey. I am a beekeeper, after all.

You don’t have to give up sugar. Here are examples of ways others have participated before:

Give […]

Mindful Eating FebruaryMaggie Downie2024-01-19T12:48:34-05:00

Mindful Eating Tips

Every February (the shortest month of the year) we run a Mindful Eating Challenge. We already made it through this year (phew)! The purpose is to pick any food related goal/challenge that you feel would benefit you. I always try to give up processed sugar. Others try to incorporate more vegetables or reduce alcohol. Some people try to reduce snacking or only have dessert twice a week. The options are broad. But they are all linked to mindfulness.

What does mindful eating mean?

Trying to eat mindfully simply means that we try to notice anything we can about the food we eat. Maybe that involves being present during the act of eating. Or maybe it involves noticing our process with food—how we plan our meals or how often we think about food during the day. But mindfulness isn’t only about being present and noticing. It’s about accepting and not judging what we notice. Sometimes that can be the tough part. We can be so discouraging to ourselves when we feel we failed. When practicing mindfulness the fact that you even noticed shows you didn’t feel.

Mindfulness is the first step in figuring out […]

Mindful Eating TipsMaggie Downie2022-04-01T21:43:03-04:00

Mindful Eating Challenge

Playing with my food.

After tracking the workouts of millions of people, a fitness app tracker claims most of us will fail at our New Year’s Resolutions on Jan 17th. That means we are mere days away from needing to think about a reboot. If you’ve already derailed from your workout routines or healthy eating goals, it’s not to late to press the reset button. (It’s never too late.) This is precisely why we hold the Mindful Eating Challenge every February. I tend to have derailed on all my good intentions around this time. Also, February is the shortest month of the year.

What does the Mindful Eating Challenge Entail?

That’s entirely up to you. You pick what your goal is…no sugar, a specific diet, less alcohol, no (pick a food or food category) Monday-Friday, eat a veggie at every meal, chew more, eat slower, drink more water. You pick what you think you need. Try to pick a manageable goal. Maybe even one that pushes you little. If you err, that’s okay…the goal is to notice and be mindful. How do you feel when you meet your goal? How do you feel […]

Mindful Eating ChallengeMaggie Downie2020-01-14T18:07:29-05:00

Nutmeg Muffins: A Thanksgiving Family Tradition

In Red: Bertha Klug (nutmeg muffin creator).

When teaching a Pilates class, while participants hold a 90-second plank, I try to tell amusing stories. A few years ago on my last day of classes before Thanksgiving, I jokingly said to my last class, “I only have two Thanksgiving-themed stories. You are probably all sick of hearing them year after year. Something interesting better happen this Thanksgiving so I can get a better story for you guys.” I got my wish from a seemingly inconspicuous nutmeg muffin.

Nutmeg Muffins

I have a family recipe for nutmeg muffins from my great, great, great grandma. My family makes them on the regular, but I have been gluten free for 8 years. In that time, I’ve enjoyed nutmeg muffins less. Though I’ve experimented with g-free flours, it seems gluten-free products suck the flavor out of everything. In an attempt to improve the quality every time I make nutmeg muffins I add a little more nutmeg. This year as I preheated the oven on Thanksgiving morning and pulled the beaters out of the drawer to make my bland muffins, I said to myself with the air of hyperbole: […]

Nutmeg Muffins: A Thanksgiving Family TraditionMaggie Downie2019-10-16T12:33:12-04:00

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

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