Life Meets #Lumia: Kim Miller and Shannon Dougherty
Carrying a few extra pounds? Look more like Pee-Wee Herman than Mark Wahlberg?
Carrying a few extra pounds? Look more like Pee-Wee Herman than Mark Wahlberg?
Nationally recognized nutrition and fitness bloggers Kim Miller and Shannon Dougherty can help. With their website Fit Mom Diet and social media presence (they have more than 24,500 Twitter followers alone), they help their audience, composed not just of moms but also dads and anyone wanting to get in shape to eat healthier and move more.
And what’s more, they do so in part with their Lumia 1020 and Lumia Icon smartphones.
Favorite Lumia features
Not surprisingly, it was the camera that sparked their interest in the Lumia 1020. After experimenting with the camera’s many filters and features, they realized that it had the power and control they needed to produce beautiful, high-resolution, magazine-ready photos. In fact, they recently shot the photos for an article on summer grilling for MAX Sports & Fitness magazine with Kim’s Lumia 1020.
“I was completely shocked at the quality of the camera,” Kim said. “Now, we don’t have to hire a professional photographer to shoot our food images. We can do it.”
She added that the Lumia 1020’s versatility meant that she doesn’t have to use photo-imaging apps to create the pictures she wants. “You don’t have to be extremely technical to take great photos,” Kim said.
But when she and Shannon do want to play around with the photos, they like to use Refocus, which sharpens an object in an image and subtly blurs the rest of the photo.
Shannon has also started to shoot strength-training exercise videos with her Lumia Icon. The smartphone’s superior video and audio-recording capabilities (hello, distortion-free microphones!) equate to a high-definition, crisp viewing experience and clear, stereo sound.
See for yourself!
Besides the videocamera, some of Shannon’s favorite Lumia features include being able to customize her home screens via Live Tile, the smartphone’s Calendar feature, and the overall colorful presentation of the devices. She also gave a shout-out to apps such as My Fitness Pal, a food and exercise journal and built-in support community.
Forget about diets
While Kim and Shannon exude the glow of health and look as if they could bench press three times their body weight, they weren’t always nutrition and fitness mavens.
Shannon was overweight as a child (“I was teased a lot”) and battled an eating disorder as a young adult. Kim was an athletic kid, but as an adult, found herself 50 pounds overweight after bearing her second child. Both realized that they had to start taking better care of themselves.
That meant exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and eating more healthily. That doesn’t mean starving yourself by going on a diet, they said.
“Our philosophy is that you have to eat to get lean and lose weight,” Kim said. “At 41, I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been.”
Nutrition is paramount. Even if you run 40 miles a week and hit the weight room every day, you won’t see the results you want unless you eat clean.
“If you’re not eating well, all of that work doesn’t pay off,” Shannon said.
Here are three nutrition tips to help you become the lean mean machine you’re meant to be. Let us know if you see results!
Healthy Eating Tips
1. Be prepared. Besides stocking your pantry and fridge with veggies, protein and healthy grains, prepare snacks and meals in advance like sliced apples and cheese or grilled chicken and veggies. That way, you’re not tempted to head to the nearest fast-food chain and scarf down a double-double with extra cheese.
“If you fail to prepare,” Kim and Shannon say, “prepare to fail.”
2. Eat whole foods. That means avoiding a lot of packaged items, which often have preservatives and other ingredients you may not want. Buy single-ingredient foods, whether you’re cooking or going out to eat.
3. Take time and be more mindful at meals. Instead of wolfing down a sandwich hunched over your computer, or eating dinner in front of the TV, slow down, relax, and enjoy your food.
“Make mealtimes more of a celebration,” Kim said. “Take time to appreciate what you’re eating. It will go a long way towards your health.”