Scale Back Alabama Blog
This year, we are excited to bring you the Scale Back Alabama Blog – featuring tips and advice from some of the health professionals who make Scale Back Alabama possible each year. We will be adding new blog posts each week during the ten-week challenge.
Fueling Your Active Life
As a D-I distance runner in college, I found nutrition to be really important to how I felt and performed at races. I often struggled to eat well, and because of my experiences I believe that our weaknesses can be turned into strengths and used to help others. I hope...
Self-Care During COVID-19
School closings. Working from home. Empty toilet paper aisles. Social distancing. I think we all know what these things have in common. The coronavirus has taken the world by storm, and it’s been life altering to all of us in some degree. I am sobered by the news of...
Mind Over Meals
Growing up in a household with 4 adults and 5 other kids was interesting. We all lived with my grandmother, Momma Mary, and she cooked every day. We had plenty of food to eat, but getting healthy foods, without additions, was a whole other story. Momma Mary was a...
A Cruel Cruel Villian
They call it the thief of joy. It’s a creeping, sneaking, dirty little snake, sifting into the dark corners of your mind when you least expect it. It starts as a tickle, then an itch, then a full on throbbing headache. It whispers lies to your soul. “You’re not good...
Take an Inclusive Fitness Break
Take an inclusive fitness break. By the sound of that, I bet you’re hoping my words of encouragement are to literally take a break from your hard work and physical activity regimen. While it can be a great idea to take breaks from fitness to prevent wearing yourself...
The Best Strategy for Sticking With Exercise
We’re all familiar with it. The new year brings high hopes that "This will be the year! This is the year I will stick with exercise and lose weight, look my best, improve my health, (fill in the blank)." Yet we are also familiar with the dreary statistic that most...
Comparison is the Thief of Joy
Did you know that if we all ate and exercised the exact same way, we would still all look completely different? This is something I’ve had to remind not only my patients but myself when it comes to maintaining positive body image while trying to lose weight. In my 10+...
Finding Your Why – How I Motivate Myself to Exercise
Have you ever stopped what you’re doing and said to yourself, “I can’t wait to work out and get paralyzed by lactic acid?” Me either! But I do have a laundry list of “motivators” that push me from the couch to the track, elliptical machine or walking path. In no...
You ARE NOT What You Eat
Adopting an all or nothing mindset of good and bad foods can feel really motivating at first. You start strong, on a Monday, of course. You swear you’re never touching a carbohydrate again. “Bye-bye dessert. It’s been a good run.” In the beginning, you might feel...
The Next Right Thing
I get stuck when I look too far ahead. My mind comes up with wonderful ideas, dreams, plans, and goals of lovely things that I hope to achieve. I make lists, collect resources, and even tell others about my magnificent ideas. The problem is when I try to get started....