food – Page 3 – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Month of Mindful Eating

Every once in a while I get a hankering to do a food challenge. Typically every February I challenge myself not to consume sugar. I pick February because it’s the shortest month of the year. But after the amount of ice cream I consumed this summer, I’d rather not wait until February for a challenge. For most of the month of September, starting on Tuesday, September 5^th (after Labor Day Weekend), I’ll be doing a Month of Mindful Eating. Anyone want to join me?

This challenge is a little open ended. You can pick what Mindful Eating means for you. Maybe you grab chips or chocolate without even noticing and after you regret it and you want to cut those trigger foods out. Maybe you need to be accountable for what you eat so it would help to snap a picture and share each meal with a friend. Perhaps you could reduce alcohol or soda intake. For me, I’m going to try portion control and moderation because that is what I struggle with the most. To keep me honest, I’m going to record my foods in my Fitbit App so I can […]

Month of Mindful EatingMaggie Downie2018-02-14T16:24:43-05:00

Did the Microbiome Diet Help Me?

Playing with my food.

My naturopath wanted me to do the microbiome diet for three months. The book by Raphael Kellman suggested six weeks. I was committed for five and half weeks, until Matt and I went on vacation and then I slowly descended into dairy. Though, I didn’t make my three month goal, the real question is did the microbiome diet help me?

I don’t know the answer. It’s why research on humans is so hard. There are so many variables. As I approached six weeks on the diet, the sun was coming out. We were reaching the longest day of the year. Maybe that made all the difference. My workload is less in summer, maybe that helped.

I always feel better when I eat better, so in a general sense I felt better, but never better enough to give up all that I felt I was restricting. I didn’t sleep any better. My gut felt no better. I lost some weight. I experienced some bowel trouble I didn’t have prior. You wanted to know that, right? My psoriasis did improve, but my gut actually tells me that […]

Did the Microbiome Diet Help Me?Maggie Downie2017-12-29T20:38:26-05:00

Plank Story: Afternoon Tea

When Matt and I were in Alabama earlier this year we stayed at this cute, intimate bed and breakfast. One morning during breakfast we chatted with a couple from Scotland about Trump, a recent wedding they had been too and about the Microbiome Diet I was doing. The B&B owner had been very accommodating, always making sure I had hard boiled eggs and gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free options. When the woman from Scotland heard about my diet, it reminded her that traditional afternoon tea was making a comeback in the UK.

“Oh,” she said, “if you can’t have dairy, you wouldn’t want to come to afternoon tea. It’s so dairy laden.” (Note: If you haven’t started reading this in your best Scottish brogue, start now. It makes the story better. Think Mrs. Doubtfire and you’ll pretty much have it down.) “First, they bring out these little finger sandwiches and they are all lathered in butter. And then you get scones smothered with crème fraiche. And now, after that, they offer cream cakes the size of your first. There is so much food you don’t even need an evening meal. And it’s not even really about the tea anymore. Now they bring […]

Plank Story: Afternoon TeaMaggie Downie2018-01-13T16:09:28-05:00

Plank Story: Vihno Verde, Fado and Portuguese Mussels

Before Matt and I left for Portugal people recommended all sorts of food and experiences we should try. One recommendation was Vinho Verde (an immature, white wine) and another was Fado (a somewhat melancholy, traditional music). We wound up trying them on the same night. A view of Lisbon from above. Somewhere down there we were racing through the streets to get to Fado.

We’d gone out to dinner and were stuffed, but ran through the streets and staircases of Lisbon to get to the Fado bar. The music was supposed to start promptly at nine. People and restaurants were spilling out into the cobblestones streets, so we zigzagged down the small alleyways beneath colorful streamers hanging above and amongst the excitement of everyone watching soccer in the streets.

We arrived at the Fado bar just in time. They had one table left. “We’ll take it,” we said. “You’ll be eating dinner?” they asked. Oh, we were so full. We didn’t want dinner. We just wanted to listen to the […]

Plank Story: Vihno Verde, Fado and Portuguese MusselsMaggie Downie2017-12-29T20:55:13-05:00

The Saga of the Microbiome Diet

I’m three weeks, two days, fourteen hours and fifty-three minutes (as of writing this) into my three month Microbiome Diet challenge. When this blog posts, I’ll be further along in case you just felt as bad for me as I did writing that.

Our obsession and need for food is fascinating. Obviously we need to eat to live, though I have always been someone who lives to eat. I love food. This may be the first time in my life I’m eating to live. I’ve cut gluten (which I’ve done for the past five years anyway), dairy, and sugar (including maple syrup and honey, but excluding fruit). Whole foods do taste good, but on this diet I never overeat, and I find I’m not actually that inclined to eat.

Here’s my problem. I love carbs and cheese. And apparently if I can’t eat them I don’t really want anything else. I would never have told you that I didn’t like meat, but I find myself having to force feed myself meat. I’ve discovered I don’t like chicken. I’ll eat it. Sometimes it even tastes good, like when it’s wrapped in bacon, but I could happily pass on the stuff. When I was […]

The Saga of the Microbiome DietMaggie Downie2018-01-13T16:18:32-05:00