FitBloggin Reflections

From Thursday through Sunday of this past week, I attended my first ever blogging conference in Baltimore, MD.  The name of the conference is <a href="http://fitbloggin.com/" target="_blank">FitBloggin'</a> and it brings people together who care about being healthy.  I learned a lot about the business of blogging, social media strategies and other morsels of the blogging lifestyle. <br /><br />I also met a ton of amazing bloggers - those who I have followed for years and those who are brand new to me.  The whole thing was rather surreal.  Never in a million years did I think I would ever meet some of the bloggers I read daily, including <a href="http://www.sherylyvette.com/" target="_blank">Bitch Cakes</a>, <a href="http://ronisweigh.com/" target="_blank">Roni</a>, and <a href="http://skinnytaste.com/" target="_blank">Gina</a>.   On top of meeting some of my long time favorites, I also got to meet one of my new favorites, <a href="http://www.nothankstocake.com/" target="_blank">Kelly @ No Thanks to Cake</a>.  Still, there are so many others I cannot wait to add to my reader who seem to have such amazing stories that I know I can truly benefit from.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUengaiPvBlV8OcRfLCcUWTD-bIbaTBz8xknJ8eenJgei4pLtQeK9ltNFc3p3YhoI68tFxW1m7j13o0BxQxNBwQA0GmHuM6P-xWSb9MHmE62pPp82xZzMDsp9STZg9nClQ09R4L1QYhvI/s1600/hil+&+bitch+cakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUengaiPvBlV8OcRfLCcUWTD-bIbaTBz8xknJ8eenJgei4pLtQeK9ltNFc3p3YhoI68tFxW1m7j13o0BxQxNBwQA0GmHuM6P-xWSb9MHmE62pPp82xZzMDsp9STZg9nClQ09R4L1QYhvI/s320/hil+&+bitch+cakes.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bitch Cakes</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrR6EJeLPbEZpHtCOnnQ0HElZZ0jIMno4cn-rEykxDRIf9L69T2fIbFsELID1-hRcePbQ91cEzV-5RcaAbk-Yy7t933beHVvJCx1bPnrUl0MTblTaDVckkmxl9hLInaUX4I3YUQjerWtE/s1600/hil+&+gina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrR6EJeLPbEZpHtCOnnQ0HElZZ0jIMno4cn-rEykxDRIf9L69T2fIbFsELID1-hRcePbQ91cEzV-5RcaAbk-Yy7t933beHVvJCx1bPnrUl0MTblTaDVckkmxl9hLInaUX4I3YUQjerWtE/s320/hil+&+gina.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gina from Skinny Taste</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKy-J6FDS-4RiCmfHPDzuOnLpckd0EcTSLFb4dh4mI9qjqvykYWrUaTt1OvgQz4SmcaUEWsM1JqQub8lcX6A45XKG9OGun8irotzQ5BVE8y903mR9DOkrnLh38bIc0vLiyLPq8ledkQQ/s1600/kelly+%2526+hil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKy-J6FDS-4RiCmfHPDzuOnLpckd0EcTSLFb4dh4mI9qjqvykYWrUaTt1OvgQz4SmcaUEWsM1JqQub8lcX6A45XKG9OGun8irotzQ5BVE8y903mR9DOkrnLh38bIc0vLiyLPq8ledkQQ/s320/kelly+%2526+hil.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kelly!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />One thing that became very apparent to me during this conference is that I need to bring The Big Weight back to what it's initial intent was: <i>documenting my journey purely for my own benefit</i>.  While FitBloggin had so many informative sessions on the entire business surrounding a blog, I quickly realized that my intention for TBW (at this time, at least), is not to make a business out of her.  I'm not writing for statistical purposes, i.e. gaining an insane number of webpage hits or being a Twitter/Facebook superstar.  I started TBW so that I could document my weight loss journey to provide a way to reflect on what worked and what didn't. <br /><br />I think that sometimes I've gotten caught up in wanting to write what "my readers" want to read and forgetting about the true purpose of TBW.  I don't ever want what I write to lack authenticity.   It's not about how many people are reading each post/tweet.  It's about me finally losing The Big Weight and being able to have a way to reflect on this journey. <br /><br />In the meantime, if I am able to inspire someone along the way - fabulous! - but my goal is to stay true to myself and true to the goal of TBW: lose the weight while learning more about myself each day!

fitbloggin FitBloggin Reflections

From Thursday through Sunday of this past week, I attended my first ever blogging conference in Baltimore, MD.  The name of the conference i...

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