“Always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that’s the one that is going to help you grow” – Caroline Myss
I’ve written, re-written, deleted and re-written so many opening lines to this post. Somehow nothing felt like it had the umph I needed. Then I realized that I’m just trying to talk to you, and maybe I should just start with the beginning.
I knew it was time for a change. Not just a couple tweaks in what recipes I made, or even the tone of how I wrote, but a big ass change. It’s funny actually, I wrote a post a year ago about what to do when you feel like you need to transition your blog and how to tell if it’s the right time. It’s almost like 2015 Georgie knew that 2016 Georgie was going to need to re-read that.
Today, I’m beyond excited to reveal the new In it 4 the Long Run.
A blog about discovering your healthiest life through exploring the connections between wellness, self care, what you eat, and your relationships with others. In short, a blog for bad ass babes on a mission to live a joyful life.
But before we get into the exciting new changes (and the important pieces that stay the same) I wanted to share a little about why I chose to rebrand and shift my focus.
I also want to give a major shout out to my incredible designer Jenn, from Isn’t She Lovely Creative. She was the only one I could imagine working with on such an exciting, scary change. Jenn was someone I connected with immediately because of creative, nurturing soul.
Why the Change?
I love Food But I Never Set Out to Be a Food Blogger
Every blogger has a different reason for why they started, how they started and where they want to take their blog. I think for a lot of us it starts out pretty causally. For me, it was a way to entertain myself at a less-than-challenging internship.
I wrote about running, what I was eating, and dove into the healthy living blogger community. It was just a hobby. Then I graduated college and started learning more about food photography for my job, which trickled into the blog. Over time I transitioned into the world of food blogging.
It wasn’t until two years into my blogging journey, that I realized this was more than a hobby to me.
The idea that I could connect and potentially have an impact on someone’s life, even in the smallest way, propelled me forward. While all this was happening I was going through my own recovery from an eating disorder that had haunted me for years. This space became a place of healing and growth.
At the end of last year, I quit my job in marketing so I could move home, work at a coffee shop and focus on building the blog and running it as a business so one day I could work at it full time.
With that goal in mind, I knew that food content was most popular. I stuck with what worked and had the most potential for growth and attracting future sponsorship.
But somewhere along the line, I stopped getting excited about days spent in the kitchen. My heart wanted to be exploring different parts of a healthy life outside of food. I was finally building healthier relationships, healing on the inside, putting an emphasis on energy, positivity and growth.
But I was afraid that these topics wouldn’t get me the same likes and pageviews that a cookie dough themed recipe would.
I Burnt Out Because I Had Lost Touch with My “Why”
I tried to push the fear away because I thought it was just part of the journey. But more and more, my content stayed the same, while in my daily life I was learning and changing.
The disconnect showed up everywhere. I wasn’t excited to work on my blog the way I once was. I started feeling envious rather than excited for my peers (a sure sign of burnout/lost focus).
Blogging about only food started feeling like trying to put in your old retainer you hadn’t worn in a year. It just didn’t fit anymore.
My Personal Health Journey Has Evolved and So Has My Outlook on What Healthy Living Means
Obviously I believe that what you put in your body is huge component of your health. However, as I’ve explored health and recovery I’ve realized (in my own experience) that mental health, wellness and your relationships and community are all vitally important to health, happiness and wellbeing.
I want to be a voice in the healthy living community that explores the importance of not only what you eat, but how all these different factors can help you create a joyful, meaningful, healthy life for the long run.
I Can Make the Biggest Impact By Sharing Content That Explores Health Through a Wider Lens
This year has been especially exciting. For the first time I feel like I’m moving forward with my health and happiness rather than being sucked into another cycle of restrictive eating, control issues and self doubt. Its taken over six years to recover from my eating disorder, but now more than ever, I feel that my health starts from inside. The more I focus on how I feel, my mental health, and my well being, the easier it is to eat food that tastes and feels good to my body.
With this in mind, I want to approach my healthy living blog with a focus on mental/emotional/relational paths to health and happiness in addition to healthy vegetarian recipes.
I believe the strengths in this blog is when I can write from my heart about my experiences and hopefully shed light on issues a lot of us deal with on our journey to becoming the best versions of ourselves.
So with all of that said, I wanted to share:
What to Expect from the evolved In it 4 the Long Run: A 360º Approach to Healthy Living
4 Different Pillars of Content
Instead of a focus on just vegetarian recipes I’m expanding into wellness and lifestyle content, as well. I’ve broken In it 4 the Long Run down into 4 (see what I did there?) different themes that I believe are critical to sustainable happiness in health.
Self
I’m particularly excited about the Self section of In it 4 the Long Run. In this content pillar we’ll explore topics about personal growth, body image, and finding happiness that’s sustainable (you know, for the long run).
Wellness
The Wellness content pillar will dive into issues of self-care, finding exercise and movement that you love, managing stress and establishing healthy habits and routines that add to your happiness and wellbeing.
Eat
Eat will contain all the healthy vegetarian recipes you know and love with an emphasis on simple ingredients and quick preparation.
Tribe
Tribe will explore the importance of strong relationships in a healthy life. Posts will include what it’s like to establish new friendships after college, how to maintain a long distance friendship, the good, bad and ugly of online dating and more.
Why I Am Scared to Change
I can’t tell you how excited I am for this new chapter of the blog. I feel connected to this content and I can’t wait to connect with you better through it.
Change is super scary. I built an audience around delicious food. Food is pretty. Food is fun. Food is enticing and mouthwatering and drives a lot of traffic. There’s a clear path for success in food blogging. Mind you, it still takes a sh*t ton of work to get there, but it’s achievable.
I’m scared because in the near future I want to be blogging full time. I don’t know exactly how that will all fit together and changing directions certainly doesn’t make it easier. I really like the blog I have right now, but I want to love it.
When I would contemplate what success could look like for me, I never got excited thinking about a having my own cookbook or many of the other accolades that food bloggers crave. Food started to lose it’s excitement because it just felt like work. I would be in the kitchen all day and get so sick of eating and cooking that I started to resent it all.
Growing this kind of blog will be different from anything I’ve done. But what I know is that it’s my truth and if I’m really in this whole thing for the long run (see what I did there?) then it’s gotta be true.
I know I might lose some of you, and that’s ok, but to those who stick around, thank you. I can’t wait to get to know you more and be on this mission for health and joy together!
I’m not a guru/expert/ninja at “healthy living” (whatever that means)… but I love to document the journey and I want you to be a part of it.
Thank you and cheers to a new chapter.
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