Why I should go to Fitbloggin '11

Roni announced that Attune Foods is giving away a ticket to her conference, Fitbloggin '11, which I've so wanted to go to. I wrote the following this morning to make my case for a free Fitbloggin '11 ticket +$500 hotel and gas money. I hope I win! I'll find out next Friday. 

Why I should go to Fitbloggin '11

One beautiful July day in 2009, I decided I was going to change the way I live. I was over 250 pounds, I felt miserable, and I was afraid I would end up being a mother with diabetes who takes her kids to soccer practice so that they won’t turn into the same thing someday, but is actually teaching them by example to be hopelessly lost in food and apathy.

I didn’t want that. I had a vision for myself that had been developing in my mind for a long time… a vision of a thinner, energetic mom who plays just as hard as the kids, who beats them at races until they become teenagers and beat her back… a mom who grows into a grandmother who stays in shape, loves to eat healthy food, and wouldn’t go a day without a bike ride or a nice swim.

I knew that person was in me somewhere, but I didn’t know how to find her. I decided that day in July that I had to start somewhere—that I just wasn’t going to put crappy stuff into my body anymore. I knew right away I would need someone who could provide a great example for me, someone who knew how to straight-talk to people, someone who wasn’t a “professional.”

After opening iTunes and searching for “weightloss podcast,” I found Roni. I was in love with her way of thinking from the get-go. The first thing she taught me was that a “diet” is not a method of restricted eating; a “diet” is what you eat. That was an aha moment for me. I started listening to her podcast, reading her blogs, cooking her food, and the rest is history. I have lost over 60 pounds with Roni in my ear.

Last year I started my own blog, and I’ve realized that I really do love to write. I think I have a knack for it. I would love for more people to read what I have to say, because I have a lot to share, and I always tell it like it is. I would love to be able to go to Fitbloggin ’11 to meet other people like me, to participate in a 5k with them, to share with them, and to learn what successful fit bloggers have to teach. I thrive in environments like these: I love asking questions, provoking thoughts, and generally being engaged in the learning process.

I’m finishing up a masters in Public Health this month. I’ve been so busy with completing my degree that I haven’t been able to think much about Fitbloggin’, let alone plan how I would pay for such a trip. Fortunately, the conference takes place a week after my graduation, so I will finally be free by then. Unfortunately, I just can’t free up the cash to go.

So, soon I will be a Master of Public Health. I have taken classes in Worksite Wellness and Health Behavior. I’ve gone through my own journey of losing 60 pounds and keeping it off for a year now. I have a blog, but I don’t have the skills to share it with the people who may like to be reading it. All of these are great reasons to go to Fitbloggin‘ 11, but perhaps the one I most look forward to is giving Roni a hug, and telling her “thanks” in person. 

I'll Be Back Soon!

What a crazy hectic week it's been, and it's felt so loooong, too. I'm just ready for Friday, but Friday unfortunately doesn't end my busy-ness, .

I'm sure I've mentioned it here before, but I'm finishing up my Masters of Public Health degree this semester. It's taken me 3 years, and it hasn't been that easy. The program is all online through West Virginia University, and all in all I've worked pretty hard on it. Sure, there were days (weeks?) where I didn't do much of squat on anything, but other weeks were totally consumed with projects, papers, forum-postings, exams, finals, studying, writing, researching... egad, it goes on and on. This semester I've been pretty much consumed all of the time, but never as much as these past two weeks.

I've gotten a lot done in the last few weeks. I've turned in the final version of my 28-page monstrosity of a paper, started on and completed the accompanying poster for presenting the information, written the toughest parts of my grant (for grant-writing class), and have started working on the presentation to go with the poster. Not to mention, the Work work we've had lately. We're getting like 5 sets of 24 water samples per week now, and running them involves a lot of filtering, media preparation, washing dishes, rinsing dishes, autoclaving dishes... and going to the field to pick up the samples. And at home I mowed the grass and folded laundry last night.

See, I feel like I need to write these things down somewhere, because I've found that as I constantly strive for perfection (which I know I shouldn't do), the milestones are reversed in perspective. When they're far away, they seem enormous, insurmountable. As they approach, they look smaller. By the time you pass them, they seem insignificant, meaningless. You find yourself saying "Next Milestone Please!" as you sprint by. It's a crazy way to live, and I hope to lay some of this gusto down for awhile, chill and read fiction books and take it easy. Go to work 40 hours per week, come home and have every minute of my evening and weekend for me and the family.

But that's where I've been. I miss writing in this blog. As I shut down everything this afternoon, I realized I had 40 more minutes to go, and I thought "What should I do with all this free time? Wow, could I actually write a blog post? Sure!" So here I am to tell you (my one to two readers), I will be back soon.