Too Much of a Good Thing

If a little of something is good, then a lot of it is better, right?

Peanut and I headed out to the craft store yesterday to buy a zipper for a sewing project. We came home with this:

Did I buy too much? Is there really even such a thing as ‘too much’ when you’re talking craft supplies? I like to think not on both accounts.

Our area has been in desperate need of rain for the last several weeks. Well, yesterday we got the rain. And the high winds. And the tornado warnings.

The rain was a good thing. Spending an hour in an empty bath tub with a 1-year old? It was a bit much.

The storms put a damper on my plan to run outside. I did this workout from The Firm instead:

while watching this on the DVR:

Was that workout overload? Nope. I call it multitasking.

Meal swap pickup was delayed a day at the last minute. I have enough food in the house that I could have fixed something, but I was drawing a blank and the only thing my husband was craving was Chipotle. So, that’s where we went. My husband and I never go out to dinner on weeknights. Never. Neither of us can remember a time that we’ve done this in the 2.5 years we’ve been married. It was a nice change of pace. I didn’t photograph my barbacoa bowl, but I’m pretty sure you all know what that looks (and tastes) like. It’s a good thing. I ate the whole thing. On any other day that would have been too much, but my meager lunch wasn’t sticking with me and I was really hungry.

What good thing can you never have too much of?.

Note: I do realize that the above question is horrible grammar. What should it be?!? It’s driving me nuts, but I couldn’t figure out an alternative.

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Ch Ch Ch Changes!

Now that I’m back to the healthy living blog world, I thought it would be nice to update you on some things that have changed in my life since I was around last.

The most fun change has been watching this adorable baby:

turn into this beautiful little girl:

In other news:

I’m now back at my pre-baby weight. Well, I’m actually about 6lbs. below where I was when I got pregnant. I’m really proud of how far I’ve come. I have 8lbs to go to get back to where I want to be.

I’m devoting more time to running. I’ve run two more 5ks since my last race recap post and my times were a little better each time. I’ve still got lots of room for improvement and I’m gunning for a PR at my next race, the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day.

I started working for Weight Watchers one day per week. It doesn’t even feel like work! I’m truly passionate about helping others on their weight loss journeys so I love what I do. Right now I’m working as a receptionist and I’m headed off to leader training in November.

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The Other Side of the Story

In case you didn’t notice, I haven’t been around lately. Maybe that’s an understatement. It’s been almost 6 months.

So what brought me back? This article. That’s what. I’d been neglecting my Google Reader so I’d completely lost touch with healthy living blogs altogether. I saw a link to “the article” and a discussion about it on a weight loss message board I frequent.

My blood boiled immediately. It seemed impossible that the author had been viewing the same blogs I used to read on a regular basis. I couldn’t believe the accusations and onesidedness. The negative spin was appaling. Dumping salt on food when you’re finished has been championed by so many popular weight loss experts. Jillian Michaels, anyone? Limiting alcohol consumption in order to lose or maintain a healthy weight is pretty basic advice, too. Even Jackie Warner stressed this on her television show, Thintervention. As for the mini-muffins and croissants going untouched at the Healthy Living Summit, anyone who’s watching their waistline knows that those probably aren’t the best option. Why should these ladies of the “Big Six” be admonished for practicing what so many others preach?

If the author truly cared to give the whole story, she would have dug deeper and found the extreme sense of community that comes from this gigantic sisterhood of healthy living bloggers that stretches far beyond those six ladies she chose as spokespersons for her tonguelashing. Yes, there are bloggers out there receiving deserved praise for their extremely demanding training plans and long-distance races. What the article fails to mention is all the cheerleading that happens on the other end of the spectrum. I finished my first post-baby 5k in just over 36 minutes, a time most runners would call a “bad run.” Was I looked down upon or ridiculed? Nope. I was virtually cheered and patted on the back. This came in the form of loving comments and tweets from other healthy living bloggers, including at least two members of the “Big Six.”

(Now I’m sobbing as I write this.)

For me, the whole point of healthy living blogs (both reading and writing) is striving to be the best me I can be. That isn’t defined by how many miles Caitlin logged this week, how much Jenna weighs, which days Tina worked out this week, how many bites of dessert Heather actually consumed, how many calories Meghann ate, or how many cocktails Kath drank. My “best me” is just that. It’s me. I look to these blogs for recipes, new workouts to shake up my routine, inspiration and support. I read healthy living blogs because everyone is in this together. We’re all on a similar journey, but no two destinations are exactly the same.

So maybe reading these blogs isn’t for everyone. The one thing this article made me realize that it IS for me. It helped me recognize how much I miss the healthy living blog community and I want to return to being a part of it. I won’t promise to post here everyday or photograph every meal I eat, but I will be using it as a tool on my journey. Don’t be surprised if you see me popping up in your comments section, too. As much as I like writing about my own quest for a healthy life, I enjoy reading about yours just as much if not more.

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