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I’m trying to stay upbeat still but having trouble with it. Even though I’m mostly better and we are entering spring here, I’m missing home. Fall is my favorite season and full of things I love: holidays, good food, seeing old friends, family dinners, college football, foliage. There is so much to love about the season and I’m realizing now that I’m going to miss it all.
I knew moving to another country would not be easy all the time. I’m trying not to miss my best friends and my mom and even all my brothers that much, but it’s hard when I want to talk to them and realize that it’s the middle of the night for them. It takes a lot more effort to get in just a phone call. It makes me appreciate so much how Kepa and I managed to talk every day while we were apart. So I’m trying to settle for random phone calls and lots of Facebook interaction. That’s enough, right?
I’ve been super emotional over the last week between being sick and homesick and being frustrated with life in New Zealand.
I cried after the lady at the post office embarrassed me and forced me to sign my debit card to use it.
I cried when I realized I wouldn’t get to help my mom move out of her house.
I cried when I realized I probably will never be able to afford trips home more than once a year or two.
I cried when I couldn’t get medium warm water to wash my face, only cold or hot.
I cried when I couldn’t find any of the things I wanted in the grocery store, because they don’t have them here.
I cried before I wrote this post because staring at my computer for an hour with no idea what to write can be terrifying and it’s just enough time to bring up the memories of all the previous things.
This week has brought on a lot of tears for me. It’s been hard and stressful on so many levels, and despite my desire to stay positive sometimes I just needed to cry. Once you get in a good cry you can move on and start feeling better about things.
In my past life, which now seems so long ago, instead of crying I would have eaten. I used to think crying was the worst possible thing that could happen and felt almost ashamed whenever I would cry. Instead of crying I would empty my mind by turning to food But I’ve embraced it and now I seem to cry easily instead of trying to muffle my emotions. And I might not be eating perfectly, but I’m not using food for anything other than food. I’m letting my emotions exist and be real instead of stuffing them with food. Because I’m a freaking crybaby now, not an emotional eater.
by Mary on September 1, 2010
in Blogging
This is something I wrote forever ago! I just found it when going through my numerous unpublished drafts and figured I should share it. :)
Writing this blog about my weight loss and body image and eating issues has been one of the best things I have ever done. I had no idea how much I NEEDED to write/talk about these things until I started opening up about them and receiving feedback from people. Because it has helped me so much I fully recommend blogging for anyone who wants to lose weight. I think it is a great tool to help you succeed if you want it to be. Here are a few other reasons why you should write a weight loss or healthy living blog.
1. Support for your efforts. Sometimes the people you know and love don’t have the same problems as you nor do they have the same desire to live a healthy life. This can be very frustrating and you might want to find support for your efforts. When you write a blog you will find other supportive bloggers and readers online who share your goals and are working toward the same kind of healthy lifestyle. This kind of support can help you in a number of ways.
2. Community and friendships with other bloggers. I’ve made a lot of really awesome friends via my blog. I’ve met a lot of them and have many more around the world that I will one day meet. The weight loss blogging community is very supportive and friendly. You can jump in any time and start commenting/emailing and building relationships with bloggers. You might even end up with lifelong friendships.
3. Knowledge about healthy living. Blogging will lead you to learn more about living a healthy lifestyle. As you write about what you are doing, you will figure out what works and what doesn’t works. And more knowledgeable people will answer and questions you might ask on your blog. There are some great personal trainers and nutritionists that exist out there online and are willing to share their knowledge for free with bloggers. You can definitely learn something.
4. A place to work through issues. Ah, the issues. If you are overweight, there is a reason for it and blogging is a good place to write and think about those issues. For me, just writing about things helps me work through them. If you are worried about anyone you know reading it (clearly I gave that option up a long time ago), then write anonymously under a pen name. You can still get all the benefits of having a weightloss blog and work through the issues you might have.
5. Records of your progress. One of my favorite things about writing a weight loss blog is the ability to record progress while you lose weight. It’s pretty awesome to look back at your weigh ins to see how the weight lost has added up over time. If you are having a bad week you can look back at your successful weeks to see what you did and how that worked. It can be fun to look at your progess over the weeks and a blog makes this process super easy!
6. Ability to share your success. Successes are the best when you are able to share them with other people. It’s sweet when people in your life notice you’ve lost weight after you’ve lost 10 or 20 pounds. But through your blog you can get weekly support for every weightloss. People in your everyday life might not see the pound you lost this week or the new pants size you are wearing, but by blogging about it you will be able to share all your successes big or small.
7. A little extra money. I’m not trying to say you will get rich off your blog, because you won’t. And most of us didn’t start out with the intention of making money off our blogs. I sure didn’t. But I’m not opposed to making money off my passion and my writing, since it helps me and other people, and I do make a little bit of extra cash each month from this blog from advertising. So if you work at it you could make a bit too if that is something you are interested in.
Not sure how to start a weight loss blog like this one? Check out my how to start a weight loss blog instructions! It’s pretty easy and you can have your own site it no time. :)
If you write a weight loss blog, what are your reasons for doing it? What benefits have you found in writing a weight loss blog?
