Blogging for the better

I (obviously) didn’t go to Chicago to attend the Healthy Living Summit (HLS), and I’m not really a healthy living blogger. I mean, I don’t post what I’m eating daily or even get in a good workout every day. Sadly, I can’t even remember to take photos of dinner to post on Friday like I’ve been trying to! (Why is that hard….I mean, really? I’m hoping to get better about that, promise…..unless you all hate that segment??) Yet, I’ve been touched by HLS, and it’s sassy, smart bloggers.

Just from following the bloggers day-to-day, I’ve made many, many of their recipes:

The Edible Perspective’s zucchini bread

Mama Pea’s KIND of bar and vegan energy bars

The Fitnessista’s crepes

Eating Bird Food’s oat squares

The Front Burner Blog’s tofu tutorial

fANNEtastic food’s blueberry apple yogurt cinnamon bread

But I’ve also just been all around inspires by their healthy attitudes and food choices which have lead to better choices for my family. I make our nut butters now. Our favorite is peanut, almond, sunflower (I used about a 3:2:1 ratio on that). I started buying whole grain, organic spelt flour from the bulk bins. I tried quinoa and loved it. I started going to the local farmers markets every Saturday morning (for the last four weeks!) to get the freshest goodies I can find. I’ve been making homemade spreads (mostly cannellini bean-based) for our sandwiches every week and using them instead of cheese and/or mayo. I buy a loaf of Great Harvest bread or use sandwich thins in our lunches now. We have organic yogurt “messes” in our lunches every day. I make granola bars! I buy organic eggs, milk, and cheeses as much as possible. All of these things have happened because of the knowledge and personal choices these ladies choose to share with us every day. I’m grateful to have this little community - even if they don’t really know I’m reading - because I feel that they are empowering me to be the woman I truly want to be and fight the negativity that I often carry around with me.

Speaking of negativity, Katie AKA Sweet Tater’s blog post of her speech about how blogging changed her life spoke to me. I’ve never starved myself. I have eaten poorly in my life though. I’ve tried to change that slowly and steadily since 2005, when I lived alone for the first time in my entire life. Since the decision was mine alone for the first time, I started choosing healthier foods and healthier cooking methods. I continue to do so even still….it’s something you have to choose to do daily. My downfall is that I feel I have to be perfect about those choices. And I read over and over on these lovely blogs that perfection is not the goal! Health and enjoying life are really more important and satisfying than perfection. That’s a lesson I greatly need. Just like Katy’s vicious cycle….I had mine own. I’m still a work in progress, after all.

The battle I fight most often nowadays is learning to not compare myself to everyone else, which was a topic covered at HLS. It only makes me feel inferior! Why I put myself through that is beyond me, but I do. I look at someone’s successes and feel like I’m failing. I look at someone’s better choices in health or fitness and feel like mine aren’t good enough. I hear that someone thinks it’s “too hot to eat” and feel like maybe I should skip dinner too. Yes, rationally, these are probably ridiculous things to feel, but logic doesn’t always win. My hope is that with the support of my wonderful husband, family, and the healthy living community (which I’ve packed my google reader FULL of), I can squash the negativity before it creeps in…..eventually.

Till then….this work in progress continues.