walking

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day brings thoughts of hearts, dinner out, roses, chocolates, and love. Or, it tends to make us grumble about Hallmark Holidays. I often fall into the latter category. To this day my favorite Valentine’s Day involved a viewing of Fatal Attraction.

We often associate the day with lovers or friends. But do you ever stop and think about your love for yourself and your body? Think of the majority of thoughts you have about your body. Are they positive or negative? Do you think more about how your body looks or what your body can do?

Here are a couple of exercises to help give your body a little TLC on this day of LOVE:

Treat Yourself

Pick an activity that feels like a real treat. Maybe that’s getting a massage or going for reflexology.Perhaps all you need is a moment alone for a hot bath and a cup of tea. Maybe a glass of wine and a good book or movie is your thing. Put some time on the calendar for you.

Sweet Nothings

When you catch yourself thinking a negative thought about your body, reverse your thinking. […]

Valentine’s DayMaggie Downie2022-02-11T22:41:58-05:00

How Many Steps A Day?

Many of us believe we are supposed to walk 10k steps per day. The truth is that there has never been research to back that up. The number comes from a 1960’s, Japanese ad campaign for the first pedometer. Clearly the campaign worked because we’ve all been believing it ever since.

But now we have three research studies that indicate, perhaps to some people’s delight, that we may not need 10k steps for a substantial benefit. It looks like the magic sweet spot is between 7,000 and 8,000 steps. Upon crossing that threshold people decrease their chances of mortality by all causes by 50-70%.

These studies showed correlation not causation, so it is not evidence that walking makes you live longer, but people who walk certainly live longer. If you’d like to be in the “live longer” group, I’d encourage you to build up to 7k steps per day.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting if you already walk more than that (perhaps you have gotten in the habit of 10k steps) that you should reduce your goal. Increased steps was correlated with even more gains, but the most profound leap in longevity came […]

How Many Steps A Day?Maggie Downie2021-11-14T16:40:11-05:00

Family Fitness – Fun for the Whole Family!

This is a great time of year to start a family fitness routine because with kids heading back to school we all tend to get back into a schedule after summer vacation. If you are looking for a family fitness routine your whole family will enjoy consider keeping it simple, incorporating variety, and looking for fun ways to move.

Simple

Probably the most basic way to incorporate movement with the whole family is to plan a walk after dinner. You could do this three, five, or seven nights a week if you are feeling ambitious. It would help instill great habits.

In case you’re not sure you could convince your whole family to walk every day, here are some other ideas. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty more and you can come up with anything and try new things daily or weekly, depending on how often you want to move with your family.

Play a Game

You could always use the technology kids love and play a game. The Nintendo Switch has boxing, bowling, and dance games you can play that will keep you moving. Or go old school and pull out a game like twister.

Bike Ride

You can take a […]

Family Fitness – Fun for the Whole Family!Maggie Downie2021-09-14T23:03:26-04:00

Walking Outside

Walking outside is so good for us it seems too good to be true. It turns out walking isn’t just incredibly beneficial for our health, we were made to walk. Walking improves every single system in our body. Name a system of the body or a body part and walking improves how it works.

Systems of the Body

Consider your heart. It’s a lot of work for your heart to pump blood all the way down to your feet and back. When we walk our muscles act as a pump and help move fluid through the body. This helps our circulatory system and other systems like our lymph system (which basically pumps waste among other jobs).

When we walk every part of the body has to work less hard to do it’s job. This reduces our rick of cardiovascular disease of all kinds, reduces stress, reduces our chance of developing type 2 Diabetes or becoming obese, and reduces erectile dysfunction (since that ties in with heart health). On the flip side walking boosts brain health, immunity, and mood. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. But if that’s not enough to convince you to […]

Walking OutsideMaggie Downie2021-06-07T16:27:12-04:00

Shed Light on COVID Positives

Each New Year Matt and I take a long walk where we review the prior year and pin expectations, hopes, and dreams on the coming one. What struck me as I ended 2020 feeling exhausted and a bit deflated was how much joy filled our year was we started reminiscing. That joy lingered well into the COVID months. It was good to shed light on the COVID positives.

Canada Shed Light

We opened the year on an adventure in Canada to freeze our hair. The weather worked against us. Canada had a random warm spell bringing the temps hovering around freezing, but not the negative temps required to freeze our hair until we looked like abominable snow people. Instead the weather provided one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. The Aurora Borealis danced green and slightly purple in the sky. I was in awe and wonder of the world—a state I often find myself.

Birthday in COVID

My birthday came first in my family in COVID-land. Since Broadway was shuttered and I couldn’t see Hamilton my family acted out a duel in my front yard. I was grateful for every Broadway show I’d […]

Shed Light on COVID PositivesMaggie Downie2021-01-11T13:25:13-05:00