I have to say that I am really glad that my lifting posts give everyone ideas or inspire people to lift. I was thinking a lot about this lately, especially after the brouhaha with the Marie Claire article and the discussions following. Plus Pubsgal and MizFit had brought up some points about blogger clicques.
I am currently sitting at Starbucks with John as I contemplate this post.
I have sort of wondered where my blog fits into the blogosphere. It used to be about weight loss, of which there are so many (yay!). Now that I am not focusing on losing, but maintaining, I don’t really think of it as a weight loss blog anymore. I don’t quite feel like a healthy living blogger because I am not in my 20s, which most seem to be, and not too many of them have lost much weight (although some have). I am not a competitive athlete and have no plans for that or even really getting too much faster, so I don’t necessarily fit in there. I lift weights, but I don’t have any interest in competing, and I can’t really get that lean LOL. I am not just a food blogger, either. I guess I feel on the fringes sometimes, but that is really kind of how I felt through high school and some of my adult life anyway.
One point the MC article made and something I have read about on a couple other blogs is about how someone who photographs and posts every meal and workout has disordered eating. Well, gee – that is my blog.
Case in point – breakfast this morning.
That is what it is supposed to be. What is the real difference between someone who writes in journal every day of their foods and exercise and someone who does it in pictorial version? The first person is not considered to have disordered eating, but taking control. Difference? None.
I just hope that I can bring across that you can maintain a weight loss by just living life imperfectly. That means having tough days of snacking. That means finding enjoyment in being active. It means not assigning foods as good and bad or feeling guilty for eating. It means having a cupcake at times or going for a day with no added sugar. I really don’t know why people feel the need to pigeonhole everything so that they can have a reaction to it.
Anyhoo – that is enough of the sweepings from my mind into the blog! I just want to say that I appreciate all of you readers (even the lurkers!!) and am really happy that you find some tidbits of anything to pick and think about from my blog. It’s really just a springboard for living how you need and want to.
Now for something completely different… My brick today. It was the peak workout before the duathlon. John accompanied me on the bike portion. We kicked it pretty good for 16.8 miles. At the turnaround point, I took some pictures:
It’s the early yellow color right now. Some dark oranges and reds should be popping soon. Not at its peak.
It was windy.
Gorgeous, though!
After I got back from the 16.8 miles, I put on the sneaks and did 2.5 miles on the hill route. I was quite tired during the run. My thighs were burning on the hill, but I kept plodding on. I had to blow my nose on a leaf, too. I don’t have the nerve like some people do to just blow their nose out in the air. I would wear it for sure! 😳
This was the last of the really hard workouts – yay! Taper starts next week.
How was that for a change up of posts? 
Pink item of the day. This is my gorillapod – which is the flexie tripod for my camera.
I totally hear you.
I don’t really know what kind of blog I am …a fitness, mom, knitting, cooking, yoga, whatever I am just trying to fit into this crazy world and make my life work …blog.
sigh.
I enjoy it though.
and that article still frosts me.
nice bike ride. When I ride it’s still in the office. zzzzzzzz
Enjoy your evening!
.-= Cindy´s last blog ..THE FRESH ONE =-.
Lori, I love your blog just the way it is. It is YOU! You are a normal (or at least seem to be…lol!!) person who lost a tremendous amount of weight and are maintaining it. I read your posts, look at your pictures and am encouraged that yes, I can do this too! It is an honest account of someone who has been successful, yet readily admits that some days are still tough, snack attacks happen and the battle is never over. Keep doing what you’re doing. You fit in just fine!
.-= Sharon´s last blog ..Take A Hike!! =-.
I’m about two months new to the healthy living corner of the internets, and your blog is one of my very favourites. I’ve just entered the maintenance part of my journey, and I love reading about your continued daily journey with that. Your protein pancakes are also yum 🙂
.-= Cilla´s last blog ..Shiny New House =-.
I like your phrase what you said about living live ‘imperfectly,’ – though it’s something that I strive for in my character, it’s hard for me to be imperfect in my eating and exercising. I tend to want to be all or nothing, and finding the balance should be the attainable goal.
Hey Lori, yes I was in Albany yesterday! Wish I’d had more time to hang out, because I would have definitely gone exploring your way. Are you near Howe Cabins, by chance? But it was an up and back in one day trip — kind of crazy. I love your blog just as it is. Wouldn’t change a thing!
.-= Ishmael´s last blog ..All the Way to Albany and Back =-.
I find your blog incredibly encouraging. It gives me hope that once I reach the maintenance phase of this thing I’ll be able to go on long bike rides, lift weights, go on runs and, yes, occasionally have a cupcake or a frozen yogurt.
.-= Desert Agave´s last blog ..1996 =-.
Oh my gosh, yes, please keep writing! I read you every week for long term inspiration in my own fitness journey. Because…fitness IS long term…so it’s great to see someone keep going, and going, and going.
.-= Emily´s last blog ..Wellywood Magic =-.
Your blog is great just the way it is. I enjoy reading different blogs for just that reason–they are all different. I also am so inspired by your weight loss and how you seem to have “normalized” your eating. I feel like you eat the way a “normal” person would–if there is such a thing (especially for us women). I’m a relatively new blogger, but it does seem as though there are a lot of issues flying out there in blogland right now. I try not to get involved in the issues. I don’t think that would help my weight loss.
.-= Jane´s last blog ..A Renaissance Sunday =-.
Please keep on blogging. I appreciate the time you take to let us in on a glimpse of your life. I really appreciate the “real life” people who blog and not just the professional bloggers. I feel much more like you than the professional bloggers: we’re about the same age, I have lost 55 lbs and am maintaining, and we’re both musicians. (I like your french horn ornaments and how you tell a little story about them.)
I like your blog. I don’t know how to categorize it either, but that’s not really the main point. And I think that it is awfully presumptuous for Marie Claire — or anyone for that matter — to categorize someone else’s eating as disordered. And for what it’s worth, I don’t consider your eating disordered.
Well, I guess I have disordered eating, too. I wonder what the background of this person who wrote the article is. For me, taking pictures of what I eat is a way of being accountable- and it works!
.-= Alissa´s last blog ..Mysterious Mushrooms and Water Logged =-.
No need to pigeon hole your blog either! It is great just as it is, and who cares if you photograph your food? It makes the blog a lot more interesting than my boring old list of calories consumed each day!
How do you like the gorilla pod? I was thinking of getting one and would like the opinion of someone who has one. Is it sturdy enough for my DSLR, or will it tip over from the weight of the lens?
.-= Vicki M.´s last blog ..Hot 100 Challenge- 86 Days to Go! Week 2- Day 7 =-.
I love your blog and I totally consider it a “healthy living” blog. After all, you lost a large amount of weight, you’re KEEPING if off, you’re active and you’re NOT a twenty-something. As a 43 (almost 44) year old, I consider you a role model. I’ve lost a similar amount of weight, 111 lbs, with 4 more to go to get to goal. Reading daily about your maintenance phase has been very encouraging to me as I start to get ready to change from losing to maintaining.
I’m so not in a clique. I love your blog and am very interested in how you exercise and eat. I hope and trust that I’ll be at a similar place within the next few months. You’re really showing me that it can happen. Keep it up! And thank you.
I know what you mean – once you’ve lost the weight, what direction do you take the blog? I think being able to come here and see you living an active, healthy lifestyle while maintaining your weight loss is very inspirational – there are not a lot of people blogging about how to keep the weight off (that I know of, anyway) so I appreciate the guidance.
.-= Shelley B´s last blog ..Wednesday Workout Update =-.
I don’t know what kind of blog you do, but I appreciate it. You inspire me because you got healthy and live a REAL life. Do you obsess about food? No. Just because you do pix, you do NOT have an eating disorder. You probably snap them because you think people will be interested in them. And we are. [drool] Keep it coming!
Thanks for the link to the one minute muffin (lc). Vee at http://veegettinghealthy.blogspot.com
.-= Vee´s last blog ..When you are sad =-.
My sistah-twin, my friend. Don’t change a thing! You remind me to have delicious food every day. You give me new ideas to try out at the gym. And one of these days, I swear I’m gonna fix my bike up and get that going too!
You know what direction my blog went in–it went to the dogs har har!
.-= debby´s last blog ..I Just Ate Soup =-.
You’re an inspiration to me, no matter how much you eat. 😉
.-= Andra´s last blog ..New Goodie- Kashi TLC Cookies =-.
Why does a blog has to fall in a category? Everybody starts a blog for themselves and if people want to read that, that’s cool. I love your blog and wouldn’t want you to change it.
I’ve read the article and some bloggers are extreme I have to say.
I’m a down to earth person, I don’t get carried away by what other people do.
For example if someone says I have to workout 7 days a week for at least an hour otherwise I won’t lose weight I know it is meant well but that’s just not fitting in my daily life. I do things my way and if someone writes something on a blog which I can use, I use it. For example: I started using protein powder after reading it on your blog and it helps!
I write my blog how I want it and don’t give a crap if I don’t follow “rules how to blog”
Lori just keep writing your blog as you want it. You’ve got lots of followers including me who like your blog so you’re doing something right here!
And thanks for the RSS feed, it works on future posts too. Couldn’t be happier.
I’m one of your lurkers 😉 and just felt like I wanted to comment for a change! I really love your blog because its different to the other ‘healthy living’ blogs. I really agree with your comment on posting each meal and workout, as I do on my blog for journaling purposes – your so right, whats the difference from doing it visually to writing it down, which is positively encourged by weight watchers and the likes!
Hello. Long time lurker – first time commenter! When I read that Marie Claire article I thought the same, that she might be referring to your blog BUT all I can say is that if she thinks that there is anything disordered here, then she needs to revisit her DSM because there are probably hundreds of physicians who would give anything for their patients to undergo the transformation that you have undergone. Your blog is inspiring and motivating in all the right ways.
haha – sorry I only meant to italicise DISORDERED – that’s my second attempt at HTML…heh. better revisit that dummies manual…
.-= Beth´s last blog ..Its Still Day Five in which I Wonder if I am Megalamaniacal and in which I Watch My Hand Do Something Weird =-.
it is such a challenge question to me as well.
still.
even after yammering about it nonstop (at the husband. at you all. in comments :)) for a week now.
.-= Miz´s last blog ..Las Vegas RocknRoll course preview guest post =-.
I love your blog so who I don’t care what you write about 😉
If another under 30 person tells me i’m doing too much cardio or not eating enough carbs I think I will snap….it won’t be pretty either.
.-= April´s last blog ..Nuttier than squirrel turds =-.
I agree with the other posters. I don’t think a blog should be pigeonholed into a category. After all, the original purpose for blogs was a online diary wasn’t it? I read your blog because I truly believe that if we met in person we would be friends. Which I wonder if that might be ‘stalkerish’ because you don’t know me at all but I feel I know so much about you. Keep doing what you are doing! I would miss my “Lori Fix” if you stopped (oh, oh, there’s that stalker thing again) 🙂
I’m not sure what category your blog falls into but I love it just the way it is. You have been teaching me what it takes to maintain a weight loss which is something that I had never been able to do. I love that you’re real (haha…blowing in a leaf) and tell it like it is. You inspire me every day. Thank you! Hope you have a great weekend.
Ironic. Just this morning I was thinking that I started my blog to be a sort of personal diary. It’s for me. If others want to read it and are inspired then yay! But not putting photos of a food or putting up a recipe when I want to do that would be disingenuine. It’s my diary and a blog whatever I want to!
.-= Helen´s last blog ..By Request- A Grief Observed =-.
I have been reading some of the posts and comments generated by the Marie Claire article and I think it is silly – if you want to blog it should be what you want to blog about. Blogging should be an enjoyable hobby for the person who writes as well as the readers! It amazes me that people can make such a serious issue about it! If a blog is interesting to other people they are welcome to read it, if they don’t like it, no one is forcing them to read it. It is certainly a testimony to you that so many of us do come back each day to see what you are up to – so don’t worry about categorizing it or giving it a label – keep doing what you’re doing as long as it is something you enjoy doing!
.-= Amy´s last blog ..Picture my run =-.
Lori – I am one of your regular “lurkers” but decided to comment on this post. I have lost weight, learned to run (completed 2 marathons and countless other shorter distances), but still work at maintaining my weight loss every day. I have read countless books on weight lifting, followed blogs of those who have trained to show their buff bods, etc. Your blog is the one I enjoy the most because you are the one who is living your life the way that I strive to live…..taking care of myself physically and enjoying life at the same time. I run for enjoyment (I truly enjoy it) but also lift weights 3 times a week – and not the “pink” weights, either. I look forward to see what weight moves you do each time.
There is a blogger for everyone. You fill that role for me and many others! You don’t need to change a thing, for me, anyway. We all evolve and change and I enjoy watching that in others. Thank You!
Where does your blog fit in?
Well, for starters, you give me hope.
Hope that it IS possible for me to lose weight AND KEEP IT OFF despite what the “statistics” say.
You also give me hope that is IS possible to love things like lifting and biking…even though I used to despise them.
You also give me hope that it IS possible for me to ENJOY healthier foods that I once thought were disgusting. (You make them look so delicious!)
Yeah, you definitely have a place here in BloggerWorld. Definitely!
.-= Josie´s last blog ..A Year Without Soda- A Tale of Addiction =-.
Love this post, Lori. I have wondering what type of blog I have lately, too! I realize it’s such a personal thing. I started my blog to keep myself accountable, but fell in love with taking pictures of my food! I know that sounds so weird, but it’s my favorite part of blogging!
And thank you for making the point about journaling vs. food blogging and disordered eating. You are right. Taking photos and writing the blog IS our journal. All the same for accountability purposes.
Hey, maybe we should start an Over 40 health living blog “clique”! At least I won’t feel so darn old around all the younger bloggers…. HA!!;)
.-= Marisa @ Loser for Life´s last blog ..What’s The Deal =-.
You wrote, “I really don’t know why people feel the need to pigeonhole everything so that they can have a reaction to it.” That’s so true!
Now I’ve just recently discovered your blog. I have a significant amount of weight to lose, and what I get from your blog is this: 1.) You lost weight, and so can I. 2.) You have become active and healthy, and so can I. 3.) You’re maintaining, which we all know is the tricky part. You’re doing it, and so can I. Oh, yes, and how could I forget this: 4.) You can still enjoy your food as part of a healthy lifestyle, (let’s say it together) and so can I.
Like in life, your blog is an expression of who you are as a whole. You’re about more than pounds lost and miles ridden. It’s a big part of your life, sure, and you share that well. But I enjoy your writing style as well, the photos, the stories. Thanks for that!
.-= Charlotte´s last blog ..Weekly Weigh-In and Hot 100 Update =-.
I love your lifting posts too. Especially with videos. I like seeing new things to try and as you remember, I had a bad experience recently with a personal trainer!
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Dinner and a Live Show =-.
I *love* your blog, Lori! Your enthusiasm for life and for sharing the things you love – good food, fitness, Pixie and John and the rest of your family, gardening, fun in general – shines through. It’s obvious that you like and genuinely care about your readers. Your posts generally show up during my mid-afternoon slog, and they cheer me up for the rest of the day. (There was one day where your post hadn’t shown up before I left work, and I felt a little worried!)
As for your niche, I definitely see you as a “sustainer”: someone who’s achieved excellent weight loss, is in maintenance, and has (it seems to me) a well-balanced approach for sustaining health and fitness. And I think you’re right, there aren’t a whole lot of blogs like yours; you definitely are a pioneer! (Besides…like fitness, as Miz would say, it’s not about “fitting in,” is it?) I think of “sustainers” as being an important subgroup of the overall “healthy living” genre (or would that be “health and fitness?”) – the article was viewing it in much narrower terms, I think. Important, because that’s the grail, isn’t it? Figuring out how to make the weight loss stick, and on terms we can live with for the rest of our lives?
And I agree–that was a pretty sweeping generalization about food blogging through pictures, and your point is excellent about photos vs. writing. Both can be such excellent tools for weight loss or maintenance or improving awareness of one’s eating habits in general. (At this stage in my game, I like the pictures. It helps me see patterns in what and how much, and writing about it helps me think it through.) But they’re just tools, and so of course either method can be used or misused. And if that makes me “disordered,” well, I’m in great company. 🙂
.-= Pubsgal´s last blog ..Do the Bloggers You Love- Love You Back =-.
I’m glad you take pictures of your food, because I’m very visual. If you described something I might not like to try it as much as if I saw it. Your breakfasts are case in point…they always look so yummy!!!! And your lunches, and dinners…and coffee…. LOL
I think I saw a tree changing colors here in Oklahoma. I just love fall colors!!
.-= Leah´s last blog ..Weigh-In Hot 100 Update 2 =-.
I wondered the same thing after reading the article as my blog somewhat mirrors yours. It’s not about weight loss, or documenting every workout routine and meal, but I like to see other blogger’s recipes and workouts. They give me ideas and inspire creativity!
I’m bummed that the six bloggers in particular were cast in a negative light because they bring such positivity to me. On the upside, though, I am glad that they have turned eyes onto a really great blogging community and I hope that more good comes from the bad press. I really think more people should read what others have to say. Perhaps they will be as inspired as I am.
Thanks for posting your reaction to the “brouhaha” 🙂
.-= Heidi´s last blog ..A dose of pep =-.
I love your blog Lori. I loved getting to meet you and your mom too. I just think your full of zest and enthusiasm for life. All the things you wrote about are what makes your blog so great, the pictures, talk of your runs and bike rides, your recipes, your weight lifting videos, all your insightful posts, just so so many things make it a place I love to come. I look forward to us being here together for years to come just giving support and friendship. I thank you for being you *hugs*.
Hi Lori,
First time commenter though I have been reading your blog for a few months. I really enjoy your blog. It is great that someone my age can lose weight, maintain it, become athletic and still enjoy life’s goodies. It makes me very hopeful that I too can do this.
Between reading your blog and Shelly’s blog, I bought a bike to begin the exercise phase of my weight loss journey. I love riding and maybe one day I too can ride 100 miles ! 🙂
Regarding the food pictures, they are great because they are good for ideas on getting the proper balance (and what correct portions look like). I am currenly taking a weight management class at work. When I have reproduced your meals, I have gotten kudos (perfect proteins, great balanced meal, etc.) from the dietician that is reviewing my food journal.