health

Life: The Constant Curve Ball

In my year of getting into the best shape of my life, I’ve noticed something. There is always an excuse—a birthday party, Thanksgiving, a super bowl game as to why I should have the day off from being healthy. I could come up with constant excuses. But the truth is that’s life. Life will always throw me a curve ball that will make it harder to be healthy.

Instead of taking the day off, I really need to find a way to make healthier decisions on days that are tough because those tough days are never going away. I need to learn to live with them. Since I was blessed with a large family I could probably have an excuse a week if you count birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. Heck I celebrate my own birthday five different times each year. That’s five excuses in one month. […]

Life: The Constant Curve BallMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:36-04:00

Small Changes Make BIG Difference

A couple weeks ago I wrote a blog about the importance of small changes and then this week I saw an article about small changes being vital. The article said there really isn’t much research on small changes and the difference they make, but that we know many people try to lose weight by making big changes they don’t stick to, inevitably winding up back where they started, only more discouraged each time.

The current guidelines for maintain a healthy weight suggest the following moderate-intensity physical activity:

30-Minutes: To Maintain Weight
60-Minutes: To Lose Weight
90-Minutes: To Keep Weight Off After Initial Loss

Only 26% of the population does the 30-minutes of exercise recommended to maintain weight.

A 17-member task force was put together to figure out if small changes could make a difference. They concluded:

1) Small changes are more realistic and therefore easier to maintain
2) Small changes can make a big difference. (Since most people gain weight over a long period of time and the weight creeps up slowly, it’s safe to assume that small changes will make a big difference, it just might take a while.)
3) Small changes increase an […]

Small Changes Make BIG DifferenceMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:40-04:00

TV Bad Influence

Research has shown that people who lose weight and keep it off have fewer TV’s in the home. The connection seems to be about making changes in the home. The fewer TV’s the less likely you are to sit down and watch it.

I’ve gone without TV for long periods of time, but I think when I wanted to relax I still sat down and read a book or watched a movie. And even though we only have one TV in the house, we have three or four computers and we can watch TV on all of them if we want to. I wonder if all the advertisements on TV for food gets people off track. I wonder if the real question isn’t how many TV’s you have, but how often you have them on, even if it’s just on in the background.

So how many TV’s do you have? How often do you watch TV? Would you be willing to challenge yourself to go one day, or one week, or one month without TV and see if it […]

TV Bad InfluenceMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:40-04:00

Run to Health

Nick Miller and I went to high school together. Since then we have found each other on Facebook, and he has been such an inspiration to me. I’ve been debating whether or not to run the Hartford Half Marathon based on how I feel. And then I read this article on Nick and once again he inspired me. I have no excuse.

I was interested in what Nick said at the end of the article in the New London Day about change and challenge. At first I was stunned because I spend a good portion of my life trying to convince people that starting small is worth it. I’ve even tried to convince people to start smaller because sometimes if you take on too much at once you can get injured or it will be so overwhelming you won’t stick with it. Small steps really can make a big difference. And if you go from doing nothing to walking even 20-minutes a day, you will start to lose weight, assuming you don’t change anything […]

Run to HealthMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:30:14-04:00

Workout Schedule

If you’re finding it tough to fit in your workouts, maybe you should consider creating a schedule. You can do this for each week, so you know what’s coming. Sometimes planning for a month is a lot to take in. One week at a time is something we can all commit to. Think of making time to work out as important as a meeting you have planned. If you only have twenty minutes one day that is okay. Use that time to walk or do a few stretches.

Here are a few tips to help you stick to your schedule:

• Pick a type of movement you like, even if you wouldn’t normally think of it as exercise.
• Have variety in your workout.
• Schedule it at time that will work for you. If you aren’t an early riser maybe it’s better for you to plan workouts at the end of your day.
• Ask a friend to join you for two or three of your workouts. Working out with groups helps the time go […]

Workout ScheduleMaggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:55-04:00