Dear Friends:
As most of you know, last week marked the end of my first year of maintaining my weight loss on my own -- without the help of a trainer, a nutritionist and a life coach. Just for old times' sake, the week ended with a weigh-in at my annual appointment with my doctor (Gee, I couldn't have planned that better!). It's the first time I've been on a scale in more than six months and I was very pleased with the results. I'm right where I want to be.
Writing this blog was an important part of making it through this first year. Being accountable to all of you out there -- and forcing myself to think things through on a daily basis -- was a crucial component of my success strategy. But just as I've written about the importance of changing my workout routine on a regular basis to keep things fresh, it's time for some changes to this blog as well.
For one thing, I'm cutting back to a twice-weekly blogging schedule. My goal is to keep things interesting around here, something it'll be easier to do with more scheduled thinking time. From now on, Fit In Real Life will feature fresh entries on Tuesday and Thursday.
I'm also planning to shift my focus a bit from maintaining weight loss to exploring the bigger picture: What does the state of my body say about me? How is what's going on outside a reflection of what's going on inside? And what does living a healthy lifestyle mean to me as a woman, a wife, a mom, a friend...well, you get the idea.
A topic you'll see come up quite often is how what I do as a mother -- how I take care of my body, how I talk about it and how I treat myself -- affects my children, especially my daughter. I've spent a year contemplating the topic while writing my book, Mom Genes: Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies When We Don't Love Our Own. It should hit a book store near you later this spring.
I'm so thankful to all of you who've read this blog, taken the time to comment and inspired me with your own stories and challenges. I've loved having you in my world and I hope you'll keep reading.
-- Dara
