Stepping Outside the Box
November 9, 2008
After a fantastic Saturday in Chicago with a dear friend and her awesome girlfriends, I had the wonderful experience of getting to meet up with a whole bunch of committed and brilliant fit bloggers and readers in Chicago today at a meet-and-greet.
I didn’t get to chat nearly as long as I’d have liked with everyone, but I got to meet:
-Angie (Losing It and Loving It)
-Jennette (Pasta Queen)
-Linda (Fat Don’t Wrinkle)
-Lisa (Workout Mommy)
-Madison (Follow My Weigh)
-MamaV (MamaVision)
-MizFit Online (MizFitOnline)
-Roni (Roni’s Weigh)
-Stephanie (Back in Skinny Jeans)
-Tanya (I Ate a Pie)
(I hope I didn’t forget anyone else I met in person! Please forgive me if I did and please e-mail me to correct me!).
In the short time I was there, I feel like we touched upon everything: the challenges of losing weight and keeping it off, how our mothers and other female figures in our lives might have influenced our body image or weight issues, the universal desire to not pass these issues on to our own daughters, eating disorders and the causes behind them, the fine line between needing personal privacy and being authentic when it comes to blogging, how we try to help other women, etc.
It was so cool to meet these women who truly understand the risk of what it feels like to put yourself out there in the blogosphere. They each have their own community following, and though they might be at a different place on their healthy-living journey than me, we can all learn so much from one another.
You can just tell what a tight-knit community this group is, and I appreciated having a glimpse into that. I’ve added each of these fantastic women’s blogs to my Blogroll, and I hope you’ll take a look at their homes on the Web.
On the drive back from Chicago, I marveled at the thought that, only five months ago, I wouldn’t have had the courage to write about my disordered eating issues, let alone bring them up at a table with other women and talk about them so openly and frankly.
This weekend was another positive step in my journey. First, I stepped outside of my comfort zone to meet new people (many of whom have had much success blogging). And secondly, I felt comfortable with them and confident enough to “own” my issue and my blog.
To me, these things are huge NSVs (“non-scale victories” for any non-Weight Watchers people)!
How about you? Have you stepped outside of your comfort zone recently?
Entry Filed under: Blogging, Progress, Uncategorized. Tags: Back in Skinny Jeans, blogger meet-up, chicago, confidence, Fat Don't Wrinkle, Follow My Weigh, Half-Assed, I ate a pie, losing it and loving it, Mama Vision, meet and greet, MizFit Online, Pasta Queen, quaker, Roni's Weigh, women bloggers, Workout Mommy.
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1.
kilax | November 9, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I wish I would have gone into the city for one of the meetups! From what I am reading (here and elsewhere) it sounded like a blast!
I have been stepping out of my zone, righting (what feels to me) vulnerable things on my own blog. It really helps to get it out there. And it always helps to hear that people are feeling the same way.
2.
lissa10279 | November 9, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Hi Kilax! It was great!!! Sorry you couldn’t make it.
Good for you!! Getting it out there is definitely a method of stepping outside of your comfort zone. Congrats!
3.
Grounded Fitness | November 9, 2008 at 10:31 pm
aw no fair! whens the seattle meet up???
Kelly Turner
http://www.groundedfitness.com
4.
marafaye | November 9, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I’m so sorry I missed it! I had every intent of going today, and it just didn’t happen… Hope you had fun!
5.
lissa10279 | November 9, 2008 at 10:57 pm
LOL Kelly — I’d love to get to Seattle someday!
Boo, Mara! It would have been fun — another time. It was great — seriously!
6.
FollowMyWeigh | November 9, 2008 at 11:03 pm
it was so nice to meet you too!! =D
7.
FollowMyWeigh | November 9, 2008 at 11:04 pm
oh and i always wondered what NSV meant lol
8.
lissa10279 | November 9, 2008 at 11:13 pm
9.
MizFit | November 10, 2008 at 8:05 am
And it was all waywayway TOOOO SHORT!
xo xo,
Miz.
10.
lissa10279 | November 10, 2008 at 10:16 am
Soooo true, Miz!
11.
auntie | November 10, 2008 at 12:29 pm
i had to have a couple of difficult-slash-uncomfortable conversations last week that i’d totally been putting off forever. and believe it or not, i DIDN’T burst into flames or start crying or say all the wrong things! a true miracle
also, as far as NSV’s go, i had a huge one yesterday…i was feeling a big depression coming on and i only wanted to crawl into bed for about a month…but i managed to pull myself up and be productive for most of the day. i’m not completely out of the woods yet, but i was really proud of myself for being able to do that much.
12.
auntie | November 10, 2008 at 12:30 pm
oh yeah, i also meant to say that i’m SO JEALOUS that you got to be in Chicago with the cool kids! would have been so much fun!!
13.
lissa10279 | November 10, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Auntie, good for you!!! That’s a huge victory!!! And great job too being productive yesterday. Sometimes our hearts aren’t into things, and that’s ok – it’s ok to not always be perfect.
And yes, it was FAB!!
Melissa
14.
Holly | November 10, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I’m so jealous you got together with everyone! What an awesome experience.
I haven’t stepped outside of my comfort zone in a loooooooong time. I probably need to, though. Good things almost always come out of it!
15.
lissa10279 | November 10, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Thanks, Holly. Good things DO come out of it!!! Give it a whirl
16.
PastaQueen | November 10, 2008 at 4:01 pm
It was great to meet you too. Thanks for coming out to meet us!
17.
Roni | November 11, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I wish we had MORE time too! Thanks for coming out to meet us!
18.
lissa10279 | November 11, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Thanks Roni and Jennette, next time you all get together, I’d love to get more time with both of you!!
19.
Stephanie Quilao | November 12, 2008 at 11:09 pm
My dear it was a great pleasure to be able to see you and give you a big bear hug!
20.
lissa10279 | November 12, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Thanks, Steph! Hope to see you again when we can chat more!! It was a great experience for sure
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