Happy Movember!

Half of our Movember team clean-shaven on Day 1

This month, the men of DailyFeats will sacrifice their upper lips to the worthy cause of men’s health awareness. Movember is a campaign to change the face of men’s health by raising funds and awareness throughout the month of November, or, as you’ll likely hear it called, Movember. We’ve also got some Mo Sistas supporting the cause as well, since we’re a fair and balanced team and all. (B Corporation FTW!)

You can visit our team page to donate here, and learn more about the Movember project’s aims here. 

Plus, follow us on Twitter to see the guys’ progress throughout the month! Happy Movember to all.

Wordless Wednesday (Sort of)

Can you balance self-acceptance with self-betterment?

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” —Maya Angelou

Sara and I recently had the opportunity to attend a discussion on self-acceptance and weight loss at Fitbloggin. The ladies leading the discussion said, 

“The goal will be for each person who participates to walk away from the discussion with a personal definition of what self-acceptance means and how to apply it in their own lives.”

I expected it to be a panel discussion where the panelists guide us through some principles on how to be more self-accepting, and maybe they would share a bit about their personal journeys. 

But what we experienced was something we never could have anticipated. It was an incredibly moving session led by the bloggers in the audience. Anyone who felt compelled to share their wisdom or struggles with self-acceptance could go up to one of the mikes stationed around the room and speak for as long as they liked and also respond to each other.

We heard stories from women and men who have struggled their whole lives with eating disorders, obesity, weight issues stemming from childhood abuse…a lot of people baring their souls to a group of virtual strangers, and the response was so warm and supportive.

The Fitbloggin community is truly a judgement-free zone. 

One of the bloggers, while speaking about her own struggles with weight loss, posed an intriguing question: does self-acceptance mean being satisfied with where you are now? Does it mean never changing or growing or striving for better? How do you balance self-acceptance with self-betterment? 

It’s an interesting thought, and one I hadn’t before considered. 

As many of us pondered the answer, many others took the mikes with their thoughts:

“I could run now when I couldn’t before.  It wasn’t about the distance, I found myself worthy of putting in the effort that it took to get there.”

“Every morning I get up and say ‘I deserve this.’” 

And there it came, the constant reinforcement that whoever we are, wherever we’ve been, whatever our goals—we’re worth the effort and we’re worthy of the path forward.  We deserve the ability to create that path in the way that makes me most happy. 

So self-acceptance doesn’t mean being complacent. It means believing that you can be a part of everything this world has to offer.

How do you define self-acceptance? What do you do to remind yourself that you’re “worth it”? Tell us on twitter! #Fitbloggin

Take the challenge: October #Unprocessed

What would happen if you gave up processed foods for 30 days?

Andrew Wilder, founder of Eating Rules, asked himself that very question after an “A-ha” moment in early 2009 started him down a path toward better health. Andrew was 32 at the time and dealing with an increased sluggishness and difficulty staying focused. Telling himself that he was too young to feel that way, he resolved to make some significant changes in his life and set out to find a solution that would target the roots of those problems.

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Featers at FitBloggin’ 2012

By Sara Hopson

Shannon and I are back from our weekend spent in Baltimore at FitBloggin’ …back with a renewed sense of purpose. Feeling inspired. Feeling (pleasantly) overwhelmed, by the amount of stories and struggles and success that we experienced over the weekend. I felt like a sponge, happy to absorb all the knowledge and sharing that was going on around us at every turn.

A few moments stuck out that I wanted to record for our own sake and for those of you who weren’t able to attend. The good news is… next year’s conference is in Portland, OR (tentatively) June 27-29. I’d suggest marking your calendar, like, now :)

This conference was different from others we’ve attended in its use of discussion rooms instead of traditional panels. The format was a smashing success as far as I could tell: a few of them veered more toward emotional storytelling and catharsis, while others (including my own) were more a sharing of knowledge and perspectives on blogging and various topics related to it. It was nice to have the option to attend more presentation-oriented sessions and then sit in on really genuine, free-flowing discussions. I think it gave the conference a more close-knit feeling. People were connecting on a personal level far more than I’ve experienced before. Love was in the air!

Within minutes of sitting down to breakfast Friday morning, we met Kate and Stephanie of Bulu Box (check it out), and had a great convo about how cool & encouraging it is to see the emergence of this community that’s so passionate about health. Nice start to the day and the conference!

Here are some other gems we took away from the weekend…

During the “Self-Acceptance and Weight Loss” discussion room:


Amy was right up our alley with her presentation, “Build Your Brand”. If you missed it, you should Tweet at her to get copies of the worksheets - so helpful.

Kara kind of blew us all away with her inspiring story…

Shannon was pumped for her first Zumba session—which was awesome and led by Sue (@MrsFatAss) and Sam (@SimplifyingSam).

Behind the scenes as Roni and the FitBloggin’ team arrange us for a group photo:

My discussion room was last in the lineup and our group had a good talk about how to incorporate vision into our blogs, and what our go-forward plans will be from the conference: what we learned, what we still need help with, and what we’re excited about.

Please, do have a look at the Google spreadsheet “action plan”, where we’ll add in some of the attendee’s plans and what they’d like some help or advice on. If you have experience in any of those areas, reach out & offer to help! This community grows stronger when the ties within it are stronger. Also, download the worksheet I put together for the discussion here.

Here are some soundbites from these awesome bloggers…

- From 300 Pounds and Running: “Men don’t talk about weight loss. They never talk about ‘Man, there’s a jelly roll here and I can’t do nothing about it.’” 

“I wanted to be different, and the way I did it was blogging.”

- Kelly from No Thanks to Cake: “You don’t always realize that the honesty you reveal and the truth that you share is the same challenges that everyone shares”

- Tim of Midpack Runner: ”It was a little too schizoprhenic to blog about running, bocking, and these other things I was doing. You realize there’s no specific audience for your blog…so I said what do I care the most about sharing with people…and that became about running.”

 ”Build your brand now and you’re able to leverage that [when transitioning out of your job]”

- Amy of Fat Girls Can Run: “The blending of the personal and professional life…that’s a personal choice. You either keep it separate, never use your last name, never mention your location, where you work…or you can blend the two and really make it about whole life.” 

“If you’re concerned about your boss finding something that you wrote, don’t write it.” 

The 10-4-1: for every 25 pieces of socmed content you produce, 10 should promote other people’s content, 4 should promote your content, and 1 should sell yourself.

- And from the Renaissance Woman, The Get Fit Diva: “I definitely look at my audience, where they’re coming from, which posts are popular, and I keep writing about those topics.” 

“I’m definitely always hyper aware of what my content is. It’s not just helping me, it can help other people as well.” 

* Shout-out to Jamie & Alyse from FitApproach, Paul, Kate, & Stephanie from Bulu Box, Lynda of Hit the Road Jane, and Toni from Running, Loving, Living for the Saturday night antics as well! :)

Head on over to the #fitbloggin Twitter stream for a LOT more great content, pics, and fond memories. Thanks to Roni & the whole FitBloggin’ team for a wonderful weekend, and for bringing us all together in such exciting and unique ways! Looking forward to next year!

Wordless Wednesday (Sort of)

Fast food for thought: stop fantasizing if you want change

“It’s not the load that breaks you down; it’s the way you carry it.” 
― Lou Holtz

Think for a minute about your goals. 

Do you have a clear picture of what your success looks like? Maybe it’s your dream body, or maybe it’s your dream job, or dream home. 

Now, do you have a clear picture of the path you need to take to get there? Can you anticipate what the pitfalls and struggles might be? 

If you lose motivation just thinking about it, then it’s possible your brain is working against you. 

A recent article on the Buffer blog by Gregory Ciotti, founder of SparringMind, says that fantasizing too much on the end-goal can give you a false sense of accomplishment, which keeps you from ever acting toward your intended goal, or from acting consistently. 

So how can you break the fantasy cycle? 

Break it down DailyFeats style! 

Here’s an example. Let’s say your goal is to lose 20 pounds. How will you do that?

1. Eat healthier
2. Exercise

And how will you do those things? Break those steps down even further!

1. Eat healthier

  • Eat more fruits and veggies in each meal
  • Stop buying Doritos and Little Debbie snack cakes

2. Exercise

  • Go for a 10 minute jog/walk every other day
  • Do pushups and crunches before I take showers

If you can make a clear plan for getting from point A to B to C, you’ll set yourself up for real success and lasting change. 

What do you think? Does fantasizing about your success make it harder to reach your goals? Do you have some tips of your own? Share with us on Twitter!

Wordless Wednesday (Sort of)

Featured Member: Alexandra

Welcome to September, Featers! We’ve successfully climbed out of the doldrums of summer to bring you our latest Featured Member. 

Meet Alexandra…a renaissance soul who loves life, books, and salsa.

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Friday recap: what we loved this week

by Shannon Wagner, Marketing & Community Engagement 

Every day Sara and I read A LOT of stuff on the internet in search of the best advice, tips, research findings, and inspiration so that we can give you what you need to be your best self. And now, we’re compiling that stuff into one weekly digestible post.

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