Sharing the Love

Last night I was at Rock 'Till it Stops, a really cool benefit for Autism, and I saw one of my all-time favorite people, Earl Pike, the Director of AIDS Task Force of Cleveland.  He asked me a very pointed question. He said, "Where do you want to go with your blog?'

I said, "What do you mean?"

He said, "Why are you doing this?"

It turns out that that is a very good question. I started blogging only 4 short months ago for three big reasons. First, my recent weight loss had prompted a lot of questions that I found myself answering repeatedly, so a blog seemed like an easier and better way to communicate just how I had lost all that weight. Second, I just love recipes! What can I say? I'm a recipe junkie. And there really is no better or easier way to organize your own recipes and share them with people who are interested than with a blog. And third, I thought I had better well find a good way to keep myself on this great path towards optimal health. Writing about food publicly and putting myself out there as a "healthy person" is a pretty powerful motivator to keep eating well.

But I guess Earl's question last night made me revisit just why I had started Healthy Girl's Kitchen. And because of some personal events of the past few days that I will not go into here, something is becoming very clear to me. I am a leader by nature and I am unusually passionate about the things that I am interested in. One might call me a "zealot" and they wouldn't be wrong. So I confess, I am here to influence you! There, I said it.

If you are reading this blog, chances are that you are a human being. And chances are even higher (is that even possible?) that you care deeply about your heath, or you wouldn't be reading Healthy Girls Kitchen. There's also, I'm guessing, a high percentage of you that have struggled with and likely still struggle with your weight. And from my experience, struggling with your weight sucks. It just does.

Or maybe you don't struggle with your weight, but you just kinda know you aren't feeding yourself very well. And you want to feel energetic and great every day and know that what you are eating supports that goal.  Healthy Girl's Kitchen is for you too.

So what's my point? Healthy Girl's Kitchen helps me help you. If you are interested in ending your struggle with food then I want to help you. Helping other people feels really, really good. I want to empower you with the knowledge to have an amazing relationship with food. One where you enjoy cooking and eating. One where food provides you energy and nourishment and joy. A true food revolution! It is happening and I want to be a leader in that revolution.

I just received an e-mail from someone close to me,  "It's 11:00 pm and I just came back from Barnes and Nobel. I bought the book 'Eat to Live'.  Very exited to look skinny like you.

I am enjoying reading your blog. I can spend a lot of time on your site . . . I bought the book and I am going to make time to sit and read it.  I am not sure that I will do the chocolate cookies you have on your blog but I will follow the program, yes, you got me motivated.

I will let you know."

And my response: "I am so excited for you. In my opinion, there is nothing better that you can do for your health and the health of your family than read and follow Eat to Live. You will not regret it and chances are that you will find the peace that you have been searching for. You know that I struggled with my weight for my entire life and my relationship with food was a disaster. I was never happy when I was eating because food was a mystery to me. If I ate, I gained weight. If I starved myself, I lost weight. Well that horrible cycle is finally over. I understand what my body needs now to be vibrant and yes, thin. Hooray!

I can't wait to hear about what you think when you read the book!"

Thank you all for being here and letting me share with you. I appreciate it more than you can ever know. Let's all be a part of this food revolution!  XOXO