The Birth of the Blog...

Okay, so raise your hand if you've ever made the goal to "get fit" and you're on fire for three weeks (or three days) and then you lose all momentum and decide since you fell off the wagon this early, you'll never make it to your goal, might as well give up. Been there. I think we all have. Recently I started going on walks with one of my friends in the mornings. A few months previous, she had starting making some changes in her life to try to be more healthy. I found that as our conversations turned towards what she was learning in her quest to be fit, I was inspired to do a little better myself. We started sharing tips, recipes, and have become exercise buddies as we've encouraged each other to stay on the healthy wagon...or at least, she is the one who helps me scrape the icecream off my face and get back on the wagon after I fall off every weekend! Anyway, we started talking about how many people we know who struggle, just like us to try to eat good and exercise and if we all had someone to support us and celebrate with us when we are making great choices regarding "staying on the wagon", it might help us all out a little bit. Thus, the birth of this blog.

Now let me clarify a few things: #1: This is not a place to type up your food journal everyday. I'd rather be chained to a tree and given a root-canal by a angry dentist with dirty instruments than have to count my calories every day. You may use this as a place to be semi-accountable, say by entering your goal to do twenty crunches every morning, or something similar, if you need to put it in writing. Then we can all cheer you on! #2: This is a PURELY POSITIVE POSTING blog. The last thing we want it to turn into is a place where we all groan about the cheesecake we ate last Thursday at the wedding. Talk about the GREAT things you ate or the new ankle weights you got..or something! Hearing about the cheesecake you ate just makes me hungry and inclined to daydream about how good it must of been until I go buy my own slice. #3: This is not a competition. If you happen to become the "Biggest Loser" then we'll watch you win on T.V., but don't talk about how much weight you are losing here. That is just a side effect of making good choices. We want to hear about the choices so we can try them out. Results will vary.

Now that the ground rules are set up, here's some ideas about what to post: healthy RECIPE ideas, TIPS you've heard from healthy sources (no crash dieting please-I crash enough as it is), GOALS you are setting for yourself, and most importantly SUCCESSES in achieving fitness goals (excluding pounds of weight loss--something like: "My energy is through the roof!" or "I walked 4 miles!" or "I did it! Three veggies a day for a week!") And no success is too small to celebrate.

Here's the disclaimer: we are not professionals. This blog is set up so lots of people can post, but none of us have our dietitian's license, at least that I know of. We're just here to encourage each other and celebrate when we make good choices involving our personal health and fitness. We're starting small, right now there are only about 6 people who are registered as editors, meaning they can post, but feel free to invite friends or family to participate if they are interested. You'll just have to let me know and I can register them. Or, they can just use the comments section under a post. That works too. All right! Happy celebrating! Let's see what we can do!

My GOAL: Since I am making the first official post, I guess I better put something on here that isn't just explanation. I am making it a goal to do some sort of exercise at least 4 days a week for at least a half hour this week. I have to take baby steps. There I said it, I mean, wrote it. No turning back now. Come on guys! Some encouragement please!I am think about committing to do a 10k in September, but I'm not going to commit yet. I need to take baby steps.

My TIP: I saw this on the Biggest Loser the other night: Eat your biggest meal in the morning and then slightly downsize as the day goes on so that your smallest meal is dinner. I actually tried it and it worked for me. I felt less hungry at dinner and didn't feel sickly full before bedtime. (I hate that!)