Guest blogger, Jennette Fulda
Guest blogger Jennette Fulda is the author of “Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir,” which chronicles her 200 pound weight loss, as well as the forthcoming “Chocolate and Vicodin: My quest for relief from the headache that wouldn’t go away.” She blogs at PastaQueen and designs web sites at Make My Blog Pretty.
If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you’ve probably tried the usual tricks like eating less and moving more, but have you tried blogging?
Typing doesn’t burn many calories, but blogging can provide accountability and support, which are a helpful part of any weight-loss plan.
Here are some tips for how to become involved in the healthy living blogosphere:
1) Lurk before you blog.
Start by reading other healthy living blogs. Not only are they inspirational, they’ll give you a sense of what you’d like your own blog to be like. Some bloggers give detailed accounts of their diet and exercise plans, while others delve into emotional eating. Foodies like to take photos of their healthy meals and often share recipes. You can find a directory of healthy living bloggers at sites like Blog To Lose or Fat Fighter Blogs, though the latter hasn’t been updated recently. Most blogs feature a blogroll, which is a list of other blogs they recommend, which can send you clicking for hours.
Check bloggers’ Twitter pages to see if they’ve created lists of other healthy living bloggers for you to peruse.
2) Sign up for your own site. It’s free!
If you can type and click a mouse button, you can start a blog. Popular services like Blogger and WordPress make it easy to set up a site within minutes. You can personalize your blog by choosing from dozens of templates and widgets. Try to update your blog at least once a week, and more often if you like. Your blog is like a house plant, it needs care and attention to thrive. And like your healthy living plan, it requires dedication over a period of time to see results.
3) No blog is an island. Participate in the healthy living blogosphere.
Start commenting on your favorite blogs and leave a link back to your own site in the appropriate field. Sooner or later those bloggers or their readers will start stopping by your site. Many bloggers are on Twitter and enjoy interacting with their readers, so join the conversation there, too. If you visit weight loss forums on sites like SparkPeople, leave your blog address in your signature. Once you’ve made some friends, you might even arrange to meet in person at local sporting events or national conferences like FitBloggin’ or BlogHer.
So, what are you waiting for? There is an active community of active people out there waiting for you to join them.