Maggie Downie, Author at Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

About Maggie Downie

Thank you for giving your time to stop and read my blog. I hope it encourages you to keep moving. Move and the body will be happier. And when you're moving you can hike, run, swim in Jell-O, race over non-Newtonian fluids, travel the world or build igloos--if that's your thing. If not, you can watch me do it. This is just a spot to try and feel good about life.

Gluten Free: Hashimotos Antibodies

So I’ve been gluten free for about three months with as far as I know only one accidental gluten consumption. If you’ve read some earlier blogs you know that I went gluten-free because I was diagnosed with hashimotos and hypothyroidism. I didn’t want to have to go on medication for the rest of my life (my PCP’s suggestion) and so I thought I would try my naturopath’s suggestion (a gluten free diet). My blood work after being gluten-free for three months showed positive results. My thyroid was back in the normal range. And the antibodies for my hashitmotos (an autoimmune disease that attacks the thyroid) were down 20-percent. I can’t say for sure that this had to do with gluten. According to my PCP it’s completely random, which is typical of thyroid problems. They fluctuate. According to my naturopath it is probably a combination of being gluten-free, supplements, and the body being random. Either way I was happy with […]

Gluten Free: Hashimotos AntibodiesMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:32-04:00

The Body Surprise: The Ragnar Relay

I’m still amazed at the many ways my body can surprise me. I think I know my body pretty well and then it does something it’s never done before. Over the weekend I ran the Ragnar Relay for the second time. This year we ran from Plymouth, MA to P-Town. The runs were easy and mostly flat. None of the legs were very long. I ran 6.5 miles, 6.1 miles and 3.9 for a grand total of 16.5 miles.

I didn’t prepare that well. I ran leading up to the race, but not intensely. And normally if I know I have a long run, I hydrate and eat really well the day before. I didn’t do that this time. I think I kept telling myself this was going to be a breeze—I only have to run 6.5 miles at any one stretch and I can get through that. I didn’t tell myself that over the course of a 24-hour period I’d […]

The Body Surprise: The Ragnar RelayMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:32-04:00

Slow Eating

It’s pretty much general knowledge that if you eat slower, you’ll probably eat less. With slower eating you are paying more attention to what you are doing and you notice when you get full. So here are just some tips to help you eat slower:

• Use chopsticks (especially if you aren’t good with them).

• Close your eyes (turns out people who eat while blindfolded eat on average 22% less—who knew?)

• Try using your non-dominant hand.

• Eat snack foods like chips and pretzels and popcorn one at a time instead of a handful or mouthful.

Personal Euphoria

Slow EatingMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:02:28-04:00

Gluten Free Gets Repetitive

It’s not really-gluten free’s fault. I get in this trap anyway, but I’ve been gluten free for over two months now and I’m finding that I’m starting to just eat the same foods that I know are safe over and over again. Indian and Thai food have become a favorite staple. Once a week I get a gluten-free pizza from Vito’s in Wethersfield.

I’m cooking the same foods—a sausage and kale soup, a cabbage soup (thank you to my clients for giving me these recipes). They are delicious, but I’ve been eating a lot of them. Gluten-free muffins are a regular at my breakfast table. I’ve always eaten muffins, but it used to feel more varied because I had so many types of muffins to choose from. I’ve only found two gluten-free ones that I like that I can buy in a store. I’ve eaten more nuts, apples and bananas than I want to think about. And I’m eating a lot more meat […]

Gluten Free Gets RepetitiveMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:32-04:00

Orthotics Are A Neck Brace

I would never tell a client not to wear their orthotics. I’m not a doctor and if a doctor or PT prescribes something for you, I’m not going to go against that. But I do try to give my clients all the information I can, and I feel okay doing that because I actually know a lot about feet. So what I tell clients is if they have orthotics or if they are going to go down the orthotics route, then doing exercises specific to the feet are even more important. We should all do feet exercises, but if you wear orthotics you need them even more.

I have a tendency to question everything, even my own knowledge, so recently I asked my sports medicine doctor what he thought about orthotics (which he does suggest for people). He said something brilliant. He said that no doctor would ever put a patient in a neck brace and then tell the patient that they were all set for life. […]

Orthotics Are A Neck BraceMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:32-04:00

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