For some reason I’m finding it harder and harder to work out immediately upon awakening at my parents’ house.
Maybe it’s because Ryan is usually my gym buddy and we’re both typically on autopilot when the alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and head straight to the gym as part of our daily routine? (I miss him!)
For the past few days, I’ve been waking up between 6 and 7 a.m., working for a few hours and then taking a one-hour break to exercise around 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. I’m sure I’ll go back to my old “wake up before the sun rises to workout” routine when Ryan and I move into our new house (in NINE days!), but for now, I’m just going to roll with it.
I think my routine shifted a bit because my mom works out in the late morning and I like having her company when I drive to and from the gym. I’m going to soak up all the family time I can while I’m in St. Pete. This morning I think my mom and I are going to Jazzercise at 9:30 a.m.!
Breakfast
Here’s the other thing: I’ve been hungry immediately upon awakening at my parents’ house. Usually my stomach isn’t growling and I head to the gym on an empty stomach since I get really crampy if I eat within an hour of working out (and I’m not about to wake up in the 4 a.m. hour just to eat a snack).
My stomach never really craves food at 5 a.m., but when I wake up around 6:30 a.m. my belly wants food!
It got what it asked for this morning in the form of a yogurt bowl.
I topped a cup of Oikos blueberry Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries, Multigrain Cheerios and chia seeds and ate a peach on the side.
A spoonful of peanut butter rounded out this meal.
How Did You Discover Healthy Living Blogs?
I have been blogging for just shy of two years. One of the craziest things in the world to me is that less than three years ago, I didn’t even know healthy living blogs existed.
Now blogging is my passion. It’s part of my livelihood. It’s something that consumes my life in the best possible way.
I remember when I stumbled upon my first healthy living blog. I was browsing around Health magazine’s website and read an article written by Tina. At the bottom of the article, there was a link directing readers to Tina’s personal blog, Carrots ‘n’ Cake.
Before checking out Tina’s blog, I thought blogs were like personal journals. I assumed they were maintained by techy people and contained posts that vented about various things that annoyed them. Clearly I was mistaken.
When I clicked the link on the Health Magazine website and saw Tina’s blog, I fell in love with her laid back approach to healthy living. Something about her blog resonated with me. I felt like I read something written by a friend and continued to read daily.
Tina’s blog led me to many other healthy living blogs. Eventually I knew I had to get in on the fun and started PBF. (You may see my totally amateur and embarrassing first post here.)
So now I ask you…
Question of the Morning
- How did you discover the first healthy living blog you ever read?
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I had no idea healthy living blogs even EXISTED until a couple years ago either. I was also a big reader of Self magazine, so I started reading Christon Dillon’s Eat Like Me blog at the time. The editors linked to a bunch of other healthy living blogs they read.
I clicked on Iowa Girl Eats, and from there, I found Tina’s Blog (Carrots n’ Cake). Then I found yours! (I forget how). The rest is history. I no longer read Eat Like Me, but I love all of the other blogs and I’m in the process of starting my own. Finding a name is the hard part 🙂
One of my friends from college started a blog about two years ago. She would post every few months. On her five or sixth entry she mentioned YOU and PB Fingers. I immediately clicked over and discovered that I felt like I could relate to your writing and really wanted to start living more of a healthy life. I have read your blog for about a year and a half now and love it! Thanks to you, I have started reading “FFF” and “I’m an Okie” Cool blog idea!
thanks, kaella! i’m so glad you found tinaFFF and lisa’s blogs, too! they’re some of my favorites!
What a fun post! I was so like you, like had no idea this whole world was out here and then I was thinking “dang I have been missin out!” But the first one I found was actually Katie’s (keepingupwithkatie.com) and I was extra attracted to hers because the week before I had found hers we had just made the decision to move to North Carolina which is where she lives so I really loved looking at her pictures. From hers I found yours and Janae’s (hungryrunnergirl.com) and followed all three of you religiously and reading all three of your guys posts became an important part of my daily routine!
I used to work with Abby (her blog is Abby Normally!) and one day was clicking through her blog roll and came across Gracie’s blog, Girl Meets Life (was Girl Meets Health then). I was immediately addicted to Gracie’s blog and through hers found so many others…!!!
I’d love to start a blog, I have so many ideas!, but to be honest, I think that First Post is actually what I find most daunting and the reason I haven’t bit the bullet yet…I just cant think of a good way to jump in and also to write for a while knowing that it takes a while to build up readership. One of these days…! 🙂
My first healthy living blog I discovered was yours. There was a link to it from your friends Merri’s Facebook status (my husband graduated from the same grad school her bf is now at). Before clicking on that link I also had no idea there were healthy living blogs. The only blog I read was Perez Hilton. After discovering your blog and other HL blogs I fell in love and started my own. This community is addicting!
merri is amazing! i miss her so much. 🙂 and i totally know what you mean about not knowing any other blogs other than the celebrity gossip blogs! so glad there are other ones out there. 🙂
I found mine through Self.com – Eat Like Me! And I think she mentioned Kath once…and then it alll goes from there. Asking readers how they found me is always so fun!
I was looking for a way to mix up one of my favorite recipes, the pulled buffalo chicken sandwich, when I stumbled across your blog. I had never read blogs before but fell in love with yours. I live in Orlando, so not only did I love your attitude but also you have given me tons of ideas of things to do around the city over the past months! And now I am addicted to blogs in several different genres:-)
I can’t remember why I decided to start looking at blogs, but I remember I searched for running blogs and found Skinny Runner and started reading her blogs daily. Then I found your blog when you were a featured Cat Lady Blog and from there just started finding more healthy living blogs. It’s strange how a serious of events can totally change your life! I still have a mixture of healthy living blogs and general blogs and mommy blogs all on my list. I guess I have a lot of interests!
YOU were the first blog I ever read! I read yours and started reading a few others too for several months..then got inspired to start my own!
I actually found HLB’s the same exact way! I was always perusing health sites looking for recipes, motivation, etc… when I found articles written by Tina, a few weeks later is when I saw that she had her own blog (what the heck is a blog anyway I thought) so I became immediatly obsessed, facebooked her site, read like 6 motnhs worth of post in a few days (at work!) and then I found your site and a few others I read everyday as well. I was hooked to your site bc ur relatable, funny, helpful and have a cute doggie! I found HLB’s a year ago this month!
I was searching for recipes when I found Kath Eats Real Food’s blog and then I found yours, FFF, Fitnessista etc!!!
One of my friends knew that I like to workout and eat good food, so she suggested that I check out a few blogs- Tina’s, Jenna’s and Kath’s. Around the same time, I was getting into using Google Reader, so I added these ladies, and started reading them every day. Then, through links they shared and other searches, I found the many, many other blogs I follow! Now, I’m a blogger myself and LOVE IT!
This is such an awesome post because I always think about the first healthy blog I found! It was Gina’s at the Fitnessista and I believe one of her recipes was featured on Glamour’s website. I was hooked ever since. It opened me up to tons (including PBFingers) of other blogs and I love this community–don’t know how I went for so long without it!
<3
PBF was the first healthy living blog I started to read. I can’t for the life of me remember how I found it though! I know I was searching google for something….. who knows! PBF was the first and still my favorite blog to read 🙂 You keep it real Julie, thanks!
I was searching for vegan Thanksgiving ideas and Ashley’s blog popped up (healthyashley.com), so I started reading and eventually found everybody else’s!
I’m just the same with hunger- my new job starts an hour later so I’m also up an hour later for the gym…it makes all the difference because whereas before I’d get up and go, now I need to snack on some nuts en route otherwise my tummy won’t shut up!
Man I can’t even imagine my life without healthy living blogs! I think it was through a random google search that I found Carrots ‘n’ Cake and via via I came across some of the best blogs out there! Best ‘discovery’ yet!
I discovered healthy living blogs from that terrible (unmentionable) article Marie Claire published last year. There’s a silver lining to every bad situation. While that article was very controversial and created negaitve publicity for the healthy living community, it actually generated readers as well (like me), who didn’t know about such a wonderful, supportive community.
I found this great community the exact same way you did. I’ve always been into the “health” thing, and my free time at work was consumed by reading Health and Fitness articles online. One day I happened to stumble across Tina’s article and the rest is history! 🙂
Thru Spark People. they have an iPad app and I was clicking thru it and you had a post about motivational quotes to help you get going (or something like that). I clicked the blog link and got here. I do have to say that I don’t read a lot of blogs and some fitness blogs are just too boring. But I am a dog lover and I stayed for Sadie 🙂 She needs more fans.
oh gosh, she’s going to get a big head! 😀
the first blog i read was directed from a yahoo article, keeping up with katie. i read her blogroll and saw pbfingers (love friends!), which led me to you and i was immediately obsessed.
Like you, I found the blogs through magazines like ‘Health’ and ‘Self’. At first, I just read a few but since then I have realized just how large the community is and how many blogs are out there!
The first healthy living blog I read was Tina’s (Carrots N Cake) & honestly, I can’t even remember how I stumbled upon it!
The second blog I started reading was YOURS! I remember seeing a comment of your’s on Tina’s blog & you mentioned something about your dog & I was like “Oooh wonder what kind of dog she has?!” & now here I am, following you (& Miss Sadie!) for well over a year!
Actually the first blog I ever read was yours! I found it through FitSugar. After reading yours I slowly started finding a billion more awesome blogs. That was back around November and I still feel like I find new, great blogs everyday!
I don’t remember the first HL blog I read, but I know I stumbled across the genre — reading the blog of a runner friend and linking to the other running blogs that she read. While not all running blogs are HL blogs, the two things do sorta go hand in hand! I remember OSG was one of the first I found (love Angela) and the Fitnessista was another (Gina rocks too). I think I found your blog through a comment on someone else’s, but now I can’t remember who! I will say that I very quickly became a fan of your writing style and the topics that you cover.
Now I have such a nice mix of blogs to read — HL, running blogs, food blogs, fashion blogs, ethical living blogs, you name it.
It really is a fascinating world in the blogsphere.
I was oblivious to the blog world until I read Ree Drummond’s book “Black Heels to Tractor Wheels”, fell in love with her, and started following her blog. Then, I thought it would be great to start a healthy living blog as a way to hold myself accountable and encourage others. That is when I started looking for healthy living blogs and discovered a ton that I now read daily.
I actually read a blog called Cup of Jo first, which isn’t really healthy living, but still one of my favorite blogs! Then, my boss actually knows Tina of CNC and he told me I should check hers out. Little did I know how huge she was! And the rest, as they say, is history!
I discovered CNC just like you, through Health.com. I loved her blog and from there found Courtney at Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life and then your blog. I read all 3 regularly and really love them. You girls always motivate me to try to live a healthy lfiestyle.
Your blog was actually the first healthy living blog I found (and during exams too, oh my)! I discovered it through looking at food blogs mostly, there was a link to yours and well, what can I say, I was hooked. Soon I just found a whole slew of other blogs looking through old posts, though the desperate want to avoid studying certainly helped fuel the process.
I was in college, struggling with some really awful eating habits, and I had found a blog called “The F Word” that gave some really inspirational information to women. Oh She Glows was one of their links on the sidebar, which I clicked over to…and was immediately drawn into the whole world!
I started a blog Jan 2010 when I moved and started my first real job out of college. It was hard to stay on track with posts (even just 1 a week). I started reading my friend’s gf’s blog and she was in the “healthy living” category. By exploring her commenters’ blogs and her blog roll I eventually found PBF and ALSO my coworker suggested a couple of blogs to me. Then I pulled my sister and bff Kerry into it and now we recommend new ones to each other all the time. Then, in May, Nicole and I started Sugar Coated Sisters and it’s been SO. MUCH. FUN.
i love the name of your blog!
I discovered healthy living blogs through marathon training in NYC … seems like a lot of the healthy living bloggers here are training for their first marathon. I started reading Ali’s aliontherun and learned more about the community through her favorite blogs. I recently started my own and I’m having so much fun. Healthy Living Bloggers are the most amazing community of people! I feel lucky to have found them
I discovered Healthy Living Blogs from my college roommate Abby back in the winter of 2010. She had started her own blog and I started reading it immediately. Then my fiancé convinced me to start my own healthy living blog and I found so many more!
Your blog was the first one I found. I don’t remember how though. Once I started reading, I was hooked. What I like most about blogs and blogging, is that we’re able to put our personal touch on things. I’ve had alot of people ask me how I’ve lost weight, and even though it might not work for them, I’m happy to share my story.
What a great post – I also just read the one you linked to about giving your two weeks notice. The first healthy living blog I distinctly remember is Angela from Oh She Glows. I ready healthy living/food blogs for about a year and a half before I started my own in September. The strength of this community is amazing and I am so happy to be a part of it!
I found them throught he self’s “eat like me” blog too! 🙂
OOo good question. I know Oh She Glows was the first I stumbled across early 2010, but I have no idea how I found it or what I was originally looking for, but I was hooked immediately. A few months later, I started my own blog!
I do Weight Watchers and I found many blogs on the WW message boards. Your’s was one of the first ones I found 🙂 Then it seems like I find more and more through the reading of my regular blogs. I love healthy living blogs!
NINE DAYS!!!! NINE DAYS!!! 🙂
I don’t exactly remember how I stumbled upon them, I think I was researching health, exercise, or healthy living, OR searching for a recipe and came across Kath’s page… I’ve been addicted ever since! 🙂
I can’t remember!!!!! I know that CNC was the first. But I only read it once in a GREAT while at first. But it slowly sucked me in. And now I read tons of healthy living blogs!
I fell into the blog world when I discovered janethas blog meals and moves! I completely fell in love with the blog world and decided that it would be a great to start my own to help me get back in my prebaby shape and share information about what I am so passionate about, nutrition and fitness! I haven’t looked back!
Candice, I am so glad you blog! And I am so glad we are neighbors–even though we never see each other haha
The first HL blog I ever read was yours, Julie! I don’t think I would have started one of my own if I hadn’t read yours. There was something special and unique about it that made me want to keep reading… I was like, “huh, I don’t know this girl but I honestly don’t want to stop reading about her life. I’m either a huge stalker or she writes in an extremely captivating and endearing way.” So… thank you for the inspiration! PBF will always hold a special place in my heart!
The first HL blog I ever read was Oh She Glows and I think I found it by clicking on a link from Health, Shape, or Self Magazine!
I actually found my first healthy living blog a few months ago in a Yahoo article that featured Keeping Up With Katie. I loved reading her blog every day, and it actually motivated me to start a healthy lifestyle. From there, I found you! I enjoy reading your posts everyday, and look to you and Katie for work out and healthy eating advice. I also love your pictures of Sadie. I had a Vizsla when I was younger named Penny. They are beautiful dogs with lotssss of energy!! 🙂
I got into reading food blogs about 9 months ago and then found a comment that you made on one of those blogs (cant’ remember which one). I visited your blog and found it way more interesting since you were talking about exercise, food and general stuff. Now I read about 10-12 blogs a day on health and fitness and love it. It inspired me to start my own too. This community is great!
YOUR blog was the first healthy living blog I encountered actually. 🙂 One of my facebook friends posted your blog to their wall saying how much they loved it. I was immediately drawn to it because of the title (I LOVE peanut butter), and then after I realized that it was a healthy living blog, I was addicted. Your’s led me to several others, and also inspired me to start my own.
that makes me happy. 🙂
I think I discovered you and SkinnyRunner at about the same time while searching for info on training for a 5k this past spring. You two girls were my introduction to the blogosphere!
I discovered them about 2.5 years ago, ironically I don’t read most of the ones I first did. I think it was Angela (ohsheglows.com) that was the first one that really hit me…and then I started discovering others.
I wish I could go on about the amazing effect these blogs have had on my life. But I will spare you all the details LOL. Hopefully one day I will be able to blog but for now it’s just Twitter. 🙂
I discovered Skinny Runner’s blog when I was searching for deals for my Mizunos — and that’s how I found YOUR blog! Cat Lady blogs 4Life 🙂
I think you were one of my first ones (not even a year ago – how behind am I?) and then Meghann, Caitlin, and many, many others followed.
I especially loved that most of the first HLB’s I read were from Orlando or had lived in Orlando! I only wish I discovered this community sooner. Better late than never !!
great question! I stumbled upon Heather Eats Almond Butter last year while looking for almond butter online. A few weeks later I found PBF through a recipe Heather linked to…and the rest is history! I loved your blog from the start as it was so relateable and my wedding date was approaching right after yours (11/13/10). plus of course, my obsession with pb didn’t hurt either…
woohoo for fall 2010 weddings!
I was looking for a really easy throw-together dinner for chicken fingers when I stumbled across your blog. Then I started visiting the blogs you have listed and I became addicted.
I would love to have that PB Fingers poster in my room! I really would buy it from you 🙂