Dipping my big toe into the world of blogging

Several years ago, before graduate school and the demands of work temporarily stifled my love of writing, I used to spend hours journaling.  But I never felt compelled to share my thoughts with the world; it was something I did just for my own benefit.  Truth be told, I am intimidated a little (okay, a lot!) by the thought of a public blog.  So why am I doing this?  Good question! In many ways, I'm still doing it for me.  A few years ago, I was more than 100 pounds overweight.  I was also depressed, stressed and completely overwhelmed with life.  A minor health scare in November 2011 prompted yet another resolution to get my weight and health back under control.   The task (or shall I say the mountain?) seemed incredibly daunting at the time but, with the encouragement of a great fitness community and inspired by Tom Venuto's "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" book, I am now enjoying a level of fitness I have never known before.  Not a day goes by that I'm not grateful for the gift of good health.  I can honestly say that I now love being active and eating nutritious, whole foods.  I consistently weight train four days a week and I love spending time outdoors hiking mountains or just walking.  In general, I am always looking for little ways to be more active even in the midst of a busy day at work.  But I am not perfect!  I still struggle with the "old me" at times (did someone say chocolate?) and, occasionally, I am overwhelmed by the fear of returning to the state I was in three years ago.  One thing I have come to appreciate over the past couple years is the incredible value of accountability!  So with this blog I am "putting myself out there" as a means of keeping myself on track, but also with the hope that someone, somewhere might be encouraged to scale their own mountains and realize, as I have, that the hard work, sweat and pain is so worth it in the end. 

Happy Trails!