Why? Let me tell you.
I am a member of Healthy Living Blogs. They ladies who are running the site are doing something extremely special--they are giving away one registration to Camp Blogaway--a bootcamp for food and recipe bloggers [people like me, that is]. It's a 3 day bootcamp for food bloggers to get together and learn how to be even better bloggers.
I think I should go! I think I owe it to my readers... and it has been a dream of mine for a long time.
WHY?
I started blogging almost 3 years ago. It happened quite organically [naturally ;)] and the only reason I started was to help people improve their health through foods.
After my hubby and I went vegan 4 years ago we had a lot of misunderstanding from our families. If you think you ever felt awkward around yours, we had taken that feeling to a whole different level. As the time went on, however, they started to ask questions. Why? How? And what do you eat? The questions were repeated over and over again. I sent out a ton of e-mails and finally thought that what I was saying was so repetitive that there should be a central repository for all of my answers and a place where I can share our favorite recipes. So... I started this blog.
Little did I know that I would eventually fall in love with blogging and helping others. It became a passion. Not for the sake of blogging but because we started to hear back from the readers about the changes in their lives due to reading my blog. I could not stop! And trust me I tried...
Here are some of the examples of why food and nutrition blogging became addicting to me:
1. My husband and I lost 90 lbs [combined] due to the change in our diet, while eating delicious foods that I blog about. We also reversed severe health conditions with vegan diet and exercise: his cholesterol went from 220 to 149 in 9 months, chest pains that tormented him went away, his skin cleared up; as for me, I reversed hypothroidism, got rid of depression [which really, really hurt], restored luster in my skin, got rid of dry eye syndrome, reversed runner's knee condition. I could go on with my list, but you can read all about here.
2. Through blogging I was able to start offering cooking classes in which I taught others how to eat well and stay well at the same time. The outcomes at times were amazing--some of my students changed their dietary lifestyles as a result.
3. I hosted the Biggest Winner Challenge, helping two families on the path to better health through food. Total weight loss for 3 people at the end of the challenge was 76.5 lbs! The health improvements were astonishing to boot: we discovered that two of the participants were allergic to gluten, as a result they were able to heal from eczema that tormented them for years; they slept better; high blood pressure dropped, sleep apnea went away, eye sight improved. All of that due to a better diet and delicious recipes that you find on this blog.
4. We just got done hosting a 3-day Green Smoothie Cleanse. 30 people participated. 12 reported their results: total weight loss 66.8 lbs; improved skin health, better sleep, and I think that one of the participants discovered that she might be allergic to gluten, which means that she now will be able to get better.
5. One of my favorite stories: in June of 2010 I was contacted by a new blog reader, who told me that she was border line Diabetic and had tons of health issues. Her doctor told her that she needed to go on a plant based diet [that was a miracle in itself] to save her health. As she searched the net for help and for recipes she stumbled upon my blog. We stayed in touch. She subscribed to the blog and to the Newsletter I send out to my readers. She just sent me an e-mail a couple of days back, after taking part in the 3-day cleanse, telling me this [and this brought joy to my heart]:
"Well the 3-day Green Smoothie cleanse is over , but wanted to let you know that I have lost another 4.2 lbs! That makes it a total of 6.2 for all 3 days...Yipeee!
From the beginning of June until today I have lost 63 lbs. I am so amazed. I still have more weight to lose, but this makes it so much easier than any other way of eating and I feel so much better and a lot more energy plus my Doctor says healthier. I will always eat Vegan for the rest of my life.
Thanks Elena for your support through all of this. Going to your Blog and the recipes and just knowing you're there helps. You're my support person. Thanks, Lori"
6. I met a lot of great food, health and fitness bloggers, whom otherwise I would not have had a chance to meet.
I can go on about other great things that make food and recipe blogging rewarding, but I think you get the gist of it.
So, I would really, really love to be picked for the Camp Blogaway registration giveaway by fabulous girls of Healthy Living Blogs. I stand to learn even more than I know, to be a better blogger and to help even more people achieve optimal health through living foods.
A girl can dream :)
