You come up with an idea for a blog, and at first it seems so simple. You spend time thinking about it, do a little research, figure out whether or not there might be anyone else out there doing the same thing who might be able to lend a hand. You choose a template for how the blog should look, tweak it till you love it (even if it isn’t perfect), and then there it is, waiting and ready for you to fill it with content.

Ah, that dreaded blank screen … so full of promise and yet a little terrifying to boot. :)

It’s funny, though, because that parallels embarking on any life-changing adventure, and especially anything health- and lifestyle-related.

After all, it *sounds* so sublimely simple to start eating more healthfully to lose weight and get healthy, doesn’t it?

The usual model of trying to eat healthfully (to lose weight or just get healthy)

You spend time thinking about it, do a little research, try to connect with other people who’ve been there before you who might help. Eventually you settle on the particular diet you wish to follow, you think about how it will integrate into your lifestyle, and then … this is the part where most people get hung up. It’s like the blank screen …

Some actually start the diet they’ve chosen, find it frustrating quickly because of the learning curve (or the diet’s failings) and give up, and they’re back where they started 2 months later or 2 years later (or 20 years later).

Some go all out for a while, but when they make a single mistake, their “all or nothing” mentality takes over, and they’re out of the game.

Some are OK when life isn’t too stressful, but when they have a bad day, when their spouse or child isn’t as cooperative as usual, when their bosses give them a hard time, they turn back to the junk food that they’ve been using as a buffer all this time. So emotional eating wins out.

Some (and often all of the above) set themselves up for failure by choosing a diet that seems healthful because it’s popular and if everyone else is doing it, it must be OK. But that diet isn’t maintainable over time.

Some people never even start a new way of eating because it seems too difficult.

And some only last a few days before cravings kick in, and they don’t know how to get through them and find a way of eating that keeps them from having the cravings at all.

And then there’s the other group:

There’s always a group who makes it. They start making the changes in their lives/in their diets that are necessary for them to get healthier, and if you meet them years later, they look fit, happy and healthy. If you’re not one of them, they seem untouchable, golden.

Why is it that some women succeed and others don’t?

Now let me say this: I’ve been each and every one of those folks in my 33 years.

I’ve done well on diets initially and then dropped out when I didn’t know how to continue. I’ve let “all or nothing” keep me from progressing with dieting plans. I’ve emotionally eaten to keep myself from having to feel the real feelings I was having at stressful points in my life. I’ve tried dieting for a couple days, only for the Cravings Demons to come and lure me back to a batch of Junk Food Supreme that seems so much better than any diet could possibly be. I’ve just plain not started a new diet because it seemed too hard. And I’ve done the lousy diets (too many of them) that promise miracles and yet are actually setting us up for failure over the long haul (and poor health).

And yet now I’m in that delightfully happy other group — I’m one of the ones who’s found a solution to healthful eating that is simple, easy to maintain, helped me lose 40 or so of the 50 lbs. I needed to lose without much trouble (the first 10 were very difficult!), and it changed my life.

The new way of eating has actually gotten rid of all of my health problems — severe chronic asthma and allergies, digestive problems, constant colds and flu viruses, secondary infections from the meds I had to take. My skin cleared up, I could finally work out without getting severely fatigued in minutes … The list goes on and on, and I get so excited writing about it that I don’t know how to stop while I’m ahead! :)

In the years since losing the weight and completely changing my lifestyle to one focused on health and balance, I’ve gone through a healthy pregnancy, delivered a healthy baby and now am raising a healthy little boy who benefits from the healthy way of eating I follow. I easily got back to my healthiest weight within a couple months of my son’s birth and have stayed there almost effortlessly. And you know what else? I have also gotten completely, utterly happy after being quite unsatisfied with many aspects of my life.

What made all the difference between the old, struggling me and the new, happy, healthy, thin me was 3 critical things:

1. knowing what to eat
2. knowing how to get through the tough times when it wasn’t easy to find the right foods to eat
3. getting to the bottom of the personal and lifestyle issues that were cramping my style and seeing to it that I found constructive new habits to replace the old ones (getting thin or healthy, after all, doesn’t necessarily make you happy, and to me, happiness is part of leading a positive, healthy life!)

So what is this blog about (other than just plain healthy eating)?

My personal metamorphosis (and I still consider myself a work in progress) was so empowering and life-changing that I still sometimes can’t even believe it myself (and I’m someone who used to believe you couldn’t change your life!). It’s inspired me so much, in fact, that I left a career in marketing to become a nutrition and life balance coach. Why? Because I *love* to help other women create the lives they truly want via nutrition and lifestyle changes. And this blog will help me reach even more people like you.

On this blog, I’m going to share:

• advice on the healthiest foods you can eat
• info on the diet I follow and what I eat
• how to transition more easily from your current way of eating to a healthier one
• how to tackle common situations and struggles more constructively
• how to get past plateaus

You’ll also get healthy recipes, tips on how to change your eating habits, weight loss advice and anything else that comes along that might be of help to you. In other words, if it can help women eat healthfully, lose weight and feed your families better fare, it’s fair game here.

As you’ve probably noticed, sometimes I get long-winded :) and sometimes I’ll just share simple tips in a couple of sentences. I’d love it if you’d stick around awhile. Let me know what you think. And please, please — let me know if you have specific questions. Just shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment anytime.