Getting Better One Step at a Time
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Which Step Have You Reached Today?
Here is a nice illustration of the progression from resistance to success. Most of us are all over the map with these steps. For some things, we race all the way to the top every day. In other areas, it seems impossible just to face the stairs. This image was used years ago by Girls…
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Getting Past Judgmental Motivationals
The fitness industry has heavily promoted some of the motivational messages that have accumulated in competitive sports settings over eons. It’s a funny kind of image management — even when the idea is supposedly to help support people new to exercise, the slogans recall an old-school coach who doesn’t seem to care whether his athletes…
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The Sports Bra
The Sports Bra When I got my first sports bra, I had a few days where I just gave up and took a nap before I got the darn thing off. I even considered using an Ace bandage instead — and felt lucky I was small enough to get away with that. Happily times have…
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Oops
Having a big food day once in a while is no problem, but this comic from Sarah C Andersen shows the all-too-familiar pattern of just feeling dragged along, not even enjoying what you’re eating. While overeating might just be an occasional thing, eating on autopilot, or mindlessly, can feel bad for many reasons and is…
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Beyond the Summer Bike Ride
As e-bikes become more widely available, they are offering options beyond the casual bike ride and training-oriented exercise to be more broadly useful as car replacements. If you’re hauling anything, whether it’s your kids or just the shopping, having that assist may look expensive compared to the same models without the e-assist, but it’s way…
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Healthy Eating Is Also About “How Much”
Peanut butter and similar foods are very calorie dense. You may want to use a teaspoon rather than a tablespoon to make it easier to measure portions. Every day we see claims for super foods and “healthy options,” but foods that are healthful can still be eaten to excess. This isn’t a moral thing –…
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Walk Right for Your Blood Type
One of the odder diet claims out there is that there is an optimal way to eat depending on blood type. It makes no scientific sense, and there is no evidence to support it. It was bundled up with some claims about exercise, also with no support. There are a few ways to “walk right,”…
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Is Breakfast the Most Important Meal of the Day?
Over the last few decades, claims have grown up around breakfast — notably that people who eat “a good breakfast” have all kinds of good outcomes, like easier weight control and better metabolic function. There isn’t a lot of great science on this, because studies are notoriously bad at food tracking, but there’s also no…
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“I’ll start, just not right now.”
It’s easy to get overwhelmed or tired or frustrated, to wonder if you’re doing the right thing, and wait until you have the perfect plan and plenty of time to focus on it. Don’t. Do something small. Once a week, if that’s all you can manage for now. A glass of water when you were…