For about a year now I’ve become increasingly interested in fitness. A year ago I couldn’t really care less. I didn’t work out and I wasn’t particularly concerned with healthy eating. I’ve been at a normal weight for years but I was definitely out of shape. But I decided that my sloth-like lifestyle had to change, and I set out, got a gym membership, and signed up on My Fitness Pal.
MFP is a place where you can count calories, nutrients (such as carbs and protein, but also vitamins, sugar, iron, and more) and exercise–but it’s also a social experience in which you can add friends, join groups around specific topics of interest, and ask for and give advice on several forums. MFP has been massively helpful to me in terms of not only learning to be more mindful of what I’m eating on my own, but also in terms of learning from others.
During the summer I started getting more interested in weight training. MFP helped expose me to several different bloggers who provide fitness advice and inspiration for free. Most of them also work as personal trainers–but their blogs are largely streams of information about how to correctly perform certain exercises, tips on setting up strength programs, and nutrition advice ranging from recipes to meal plans. While it’s important to take all of these with a grain of salt (we’re talking about our health here! So don’t blindly obey everything you read), I’ve definitely learned a lot about what works for me from slowly experimenting over several months with advice from several different people.
Some of my favorites are JCD Fitness, who promotes a “less is more” approach and is very enthusiastic about encouraging women to lift weights (and no, ladies, you won’t get bulky!); Body Improvements, where they share interesting articles about nutrition and fat loss on a regular basis; Nia Shanks, whose tagline is “Lift Like a Girl” and who can deadlift some 300+ lbs; and finally Martin Berkhan, who runs Leangains.com, a blog about the benefits of intermittent fasting for maintaining lean mass. These are just a few of the blogs I’ve found with years of fascinating information, sound nutrition and strength training advice, and a real desire to help those struggling to reach their fitness goals.
Another amazing and slightly addictive resource I have found is in the Fierce. Fit. Fearless. Facebook group. Disclaimer: this is a private group for woman-identified persons only, and it is targeted toward those of us who are interested in lifting heavy and intermittent fasting. I’ve found so much support and help here, I can’t help but check the feed several times a day! It’s a group that truly wants to help one another. And guys, don’t feel lonely–you can also go to the Leangains Facebook page to ask for advice and share ideas.
And finally, there is Fitocracy, in essence a fitness gaming site. Logging your workouts earns you points and quests (similar to achievements or badges). It’s super fun and it’s tempting to go the gym just so that you can complete the next quest on your list! It’s invite only at this time but a quick Google search can help you find an invite if you need one.
There is certainly an abundance of crummy, sometimes dangerous advice out there on blogs, Facebook, and even on My Fitness Pal, but these are some of the resources that I have found most inspiring. The social experience of learning about fitness has also been invaluable. I like to share what works for me and learn what works for others. Sometimes others’ advice doesn’t always work out, but speaking with others via these forms of media has helped me learn what I need and what I want to accomplish on my own.
This Thanksgiving, I made my first homemade apple pie! Okay, I wasn’t completely alone. My mom, the master of the apple pie, made the dough for the crust with me, and a couple days later, I did the rest. Overall it came out pretty good! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and the whole season that follows of giving thanks and giving to others definitely fills me with a lot of joy.
Today I came across this blog post: 30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself. It really made me think about people who do not give enough to themselves, who aren’t kind to themselves, and who aren’t grateful to themselves and the people and circumstances in their lives. The last point in the list:
Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.
I really like that last piece–what do I have that everyone else is missing? And not just what I have in my life (a good job, an education, loving friends and family) but what I have to offer as a person. I think it’s important for everyone to sit down and think about what makes them great, what sets them apart. This is part of nurturing oneself, being grateful to oneself. I think this is very important! So please, take some time to be grateful for who you are and what makes you special!
I know it’s slightly old news now–however, I still want to share my excitement/pride in having won NaNoWriMo this year!
NaNo was a slow, sluggish struggle this year. Around Day 20 I was 20,000 words behind schedule and feeling no motivation whatsoever. But I slogged my way through and hit 50k by around 9pm on November 30.
The novel itself was tough this year too. I didn’t have a settled plot to start with, and I thought maybe I could just wing it once I ran out of plot points. It worked, but it didn’t make for a very interesting novel.
But this year was still awesome in the end because it marked my first time winning NaNoWriMo two years in a row! I have been NaNoing since 2003 (with a hiatus in 2009) and I’ve always won only ever other year. I’m hoping this two-year win turns into a multi-year streak!
We’re currently ten days into October. For most people, that’s probably not that exciting. The most thrilling part about that fact is that we’re coming up on Halloween. Time to get costumes bought or made, parties planned, pumpkins carved.
But for some part of the population, such as myself, ten days into October means that National Novel Writing Month is only a few weeks away.
National Novel Writing Month has been around for awhile now. Most people who spend a good deal of time on the Internet have probably heard of it. Each year more and more people participate in the chaos that is writing no less than 1,667 words per day, with the goal to write a grand total of (at the very least) 50,000 words in the span of 30 days.
NaNoWriMo (I pronounce this acronym na-no-ree-moh) is both a celebration and a challenge, and it is in many ways a social media frenzy as well. The NaNo website’s perhaps most-important feature is its forums, designed to support the collapsing novel, provide title ideas and character dares, and help users seek out factual information so that their attempt at historical fiction does not become an inaccurate flop. The NaNo website has “author profiles” complete with personal data about the writer, as well as a bar graph illustrating how close that user has journeyed to the 50,000 word goal. Users can add writing buddies and track the progress of others. There is also the “regions” feature, in which groups of users in close geographical proximity can share ideas and plan physical meet-ups at local coffee shops and bookstores. Finally, how else are you supposed to verify that you’ve “won” NaNoWriMo, authoring a 50,000 word monstrosity masterpiece by 11:59pm on November 30th, if not through the website? Indeed, users must paste their entire novel attempt into a word count verifier, through which the website alerts the user that they’ve won and unlocks several gifts such as a PDF certificate and JPG icon.
The website is integral to the NaNoWriMo experience, and as a NaNoer (faithful since 2003! Except for 2009 when I had a senior thesis to write) I don’t know what I would do without the social aspect. I love being able to see how my friends are doing. It’s incredibly convenient to me that I can log on and post a question like, “Is this a crappy name for my main character?” and get immediate feedback and suggestions. Perhaps most of all I love the Dares thread, in which users dare each other to include often ridiculous characters, lines, plot points, or whatever else into the text of their novels.
The 2011 edition of the NaNoWriMo website (www.nanowrimo.org) is about to be released (sometime today!). I’m excited to see what they have in store for the changes. For those who have any interest in writing, I recommend you take a look (if you’re not one of the members of the NaNo mob already). Even if you don’t win, or you don’t even make an attempt, it’s definitely worth it to span the forums for some ideas–and perhaps even to discover your next favorite author!
Okay, now I am going to post an introduction! With a nice, cliche title.
Before I go any further with this blog I would like to clear one thing up. This is very important, so pay attention. My name is Siobahn. It’s always good to know whose stuff you’re reading. But it’s also important to know how to properly pronounce and spell their name. So let’s go over this one time. It’s spelled Siobahn. Not Siobhan, not Siobahan, not Shiobin.
But most importantly, it’s pronounced show-bin.
Two syllables. Two common words you say every day: show and bin. Stick them together and what do you get? show-bin. Please do stress the first syllable more than the second one. And remember, it’s never sigh-oh-bahn. It’s never shoo-ban. It’s never sow-bin. And it’s definitely never, ever show-bahn. Shih-vahn is okay in Ireland or in formal situations. But try to stick with Showbin.
And that’s the most important thing. That’s all you need to know for now. Keep reading and maybe you’ll learn more!
It’s tempting to think that the first post on a shiny new blog should be an introductory one. But I’m not gonna go there. Maybe my next post will be. But you don’t walk into a store and wait for the owner to introduce herself and tell you all about her life, right? So introductions can wait.
Tomorrow I am going to be participating in a Twitterview.
Obviously a Twitterview is related in some way to Twitter. But what does it mean? How do you do it? What benefits does it have? What is the purpose, especially for an organization?
What does it mean?
“Twitterview” simply means an interview via Twitter. It can be a bit of a Q&A session, where multiple people tweet questions at one account, to be represented by one individual “voice.” It can be a more traditional variety of interview, where one individual from one account tweets questions to another individual on another account, who responds. A Twitterview is a cool way for an organization to give some answers to common questions, putting themselves out there and sharing their expertise with the world.
How is it done?
Due to the very nature of Twitter, a Twitterview can seem a bit paradoxical and complex. Twitter has an element of spontaneity to it. However, to some extent, a Twitterview works best when it is planned. Due to Twitter’s 140-character limit on each tweet, it’s ideal to have an idea of what you are going to say beforehand. That way the interview can keep rolling without the interview participants stopping to think how they can squeeze their questions and responses into the character limit.
For my Twitterview tomorrow, I am going to be doing the interviewing from one account, with the answers tweeted by another individual from another account. We have created all of our questions and answers in advance, inserting all of the necessary hashtags and links beforehand. This way we can conduct the Twitterview seamlessly.
However, we also plan to “open up” the Twitterview for questions. So anyone tuning in at the time of the interview can tweet their questions at us and receive a timely response. This lets the audience know that it’s not entirely staged, and that there are actual people waiting to help them and answer their questions!
But why?
Since we are, in essence, staging the interview, there must be a purpose, a greater benefit to this task. To give some background, our Twitterview tomorrow is going to be about the flu vaccine. Our interview will dispell some myths and misconceptions about seasonal flu and the flu vaccine, as well as give an opportunity for my interviewee to advertise what their organization is doing this flu season in terms of flu clinics and prevention. It’s a great tool to not only distribute valuable public health information to the general (Twitter-using) public, but also to market and advertise what an organization is doing. This gives my interviewee a chance to put themselves out there in a live, public chat.
It’s also wise to leave the interview open for questions, as it’s a good way to show the expertise of the organization and show that the staff are responsive, helpful, and savvy. And any questions that are missed during the live event can always be answered in a direct message.
I want to do one!
If you’re interested in doing a Twitterview and have any questions or comments, feel free to shoot me an email at avenathus [at] gmail [dot] com or respond in the comments! I have screenshots of what a Twitterview looks like and can help you plan out your next Twitterview event.
MFP helped expose me to several different bloggers who provide fitness advice and inspiration for free. Most of them also work as personal trainers–but their blogs are largely streams of information about how to correctly perform certain exercises, tips on setting up strength programs, and nutrition advice ranging from recipes to meal plans. While it’s important to take all of these with a grain of salt (we’re talking about our health here! So don’t blindly obey everything you read), I’ve definitely learned a lot about what works for me from slowly experimenting over several months with advice from several different people. 
This Thanksgiving, I made my first homemade apple pie! Okay, I wasn’t completely alone. My mom, the master of the apple pie, made the dough for the crust with me, and a couple days later, I did the rest. Overall it came out pretty good! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and the whole season that follows of giving thanks and giving to others definitely fills me with a lot of joy. 
