Hello my lovely friends! Did you have yourselves a fun weekend as well where the chance to do some blog reading just did not happen? Oh, how I feel ya! If you’re in my shoes and have the overwhelming temptation to “mark all as read” but don’t want to miss some goodies, let me help ya out for what went down here at least. It’s what friends do.

• Rocking From Moment One – first night in Philly
• Like A Moth To A Flame – bloggers are just drawn to the fro-yo
• Parties, Bachelorette Sightings, & Runs – cocktail party and Ashley + JP sighting
• Top It Off With Champagne & Sushi – Saturday details and a night on the town
• I’m Sorry For Judging You – Self Love Reflection of the Week

Whew! It’s kind of exhausting just looking back on all that happened over the past few days. Although I wouldn’t trade a single moment of that fun for some extra shut eye. I can catch up…someday. I do have mommy duty now after all. 😉

To ease back into, well, life I thought it could be fun to do a little round up or survey type of post. I met so many new friends at the conference and want to be sure those new visitors I see hanging out around here (HI!!!!!!) can have a quick way to bond. Feel free to play along in the comments or post your own on your blog for fun. Let’s get started in 5…4…3…2…1

5 Words to Describe Myself

besides “green smoothie / iced coffee double fister”

• Passionate
• Driven
• Genuine
• Friendly
• Optimistic

4 Favorite Foods

• Pizza
• Frozen Yogurt
• Sushi
• Oatmeal (because oatmeal includes peanut butter – duh)

3 Things I’m Most Proud Of Accomplishing

• Overcoming Binge Eating – While it will never fully disappear, I still feel so empowered knowing how far I have come in my relationship with food. And I will say so proudly because I want others to know they can too!
• Blogging – I will forever feel thankful for coming across the blogging world and all it has offered me in making me a better person. It has showed me I need to go for my dreams and after this weekend I feel even more revitalized to dream bigger, reach higher, and never settle!
• Becoming A Mother/Wife – I may have gotten married and had kids a little younger than some, but I couldn’t imagine my life without Peter and my two little monkeys.

2 Favorite Workouts

• Running (long runs specifically)
• Strength Training Circuits (feel the burn!)

1 Thing to Expect From My Blog

Truth. Whether it be talking about Body After Baby progress, an emotional eating battle, or, heck, even farting, I will lay it on the line. If you’re new, I hope you stick around and enjoy the ride. We have a good time. And if you’re a long time friend…I have even more in store for you and cannot wait to go there with you via FFF. Let’s par-tay!!!!

Give me one of your answers to the 5-4-3-2-1 survey: 5 Words, 4 Foods, 3 Accomplishments, 2 Workouts, or 1 Blog Fact.

Happy Sunday, loves! I have another special Self-Love Reflections: YOUR Stories post for you. Please welcome Lisa from the blog Fat Chick Fed Up. She is pretty phenomenal, so I hope you show her some love. 🙂

Hi everyone, I’m "The Chick" (aka Lisa), from over at Fat Chick Fed Up. I'm a wife and stay-at-home homeschooling mama to four. I blog about the epic weight-loss journey of a severely obese woman (that's me!) trying to improve her quality of life and living to tell about it - the sometimes painful, sometimes ugly, but often beautiful story of it. Thanks for letting me hi-jack Tina’s blog today.

I have been blogging on a family blog for a few years now. While I am not new to blogging, what I am new to is taking care of myself and being concerned about my health and fitness. That is why I started Fat Chick Fed Up. I wanted to chronicle my journey to lose 200 pounds the healthy way, and I wanted help doing it.

About 7 weeks ago, when I first decided to start blogging about my weight-loss journey, I had 200 pounds to lose. My starting weight was 330 pounds. In 7 weeks I have lost 21 pounds. My husband (aka "The Chick Magnet"), who is also on this journey with me, has lost 33 pounds in the same amount of time. Check out our first "before and after" shots!  But weight is not the only thing I have lost. Actually, it's not even the most important thing I have lost.

Blogging my weight-loss thing has had some unexpected results. When I first started out, I was scared. No, that’s not the right word. Terrified describes it better. I had not allowed myself to be photographed for years. I had never told anyone my weight, apart from my doctor. I refused to admit how bad the problem really was. I was convinced that I was constantly being watched and judged.

I am glad to say, though, that in addition to the 21 pounds gone, never to be seen or heard from again, I have lost that feeling of terror. With it I have lost a lot of presumptions and presuppositions, a lot of judgment, and a good measure of self-centered pride.

You see, while I was so busy worrying about being judged by other people, especially “fit” and “skinny” people, I was the one standing in judgment. I was so busy hating myself, wallowing in self-pity, convincing myself that I could never change things for myself, that I had decided that is the way everyone else must see me too. I hated knowing that the first impression people had of me was that of a fat, lazy slob. I felt like I automatically had to be on guard whenever I met someone new, all defenses on high alert because I just KNEW what they were thinking. I was completely overcome with shame.

It took me quite a while before I decided to throw caution to the wind and put myself out there for the world to see. I had to get so fed up with my situation that the pain of staying the same was greater to me than the pain of changing.

Taking that leap of faith and writing my very first blog post was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was so nervous and worried about the reaction I would get. I was disgusted with myself and I figured everyone else would be too.

Guess what?

I was wrong. WAY WRONG.

When I made this realization, I had to apologize to my blog readers. And here I am apologizing to you. Why? So glad you asked.

I am apologizing because I sold you short. I didn’t give you enough credit. I didn’t trust you. Because, really, what I was terrified of was you. I was judging YOU, not the other way around. I was afraid you wouldn't accept me. I was afraid of judgment and ridicule. I was afraid of taking a risk on you.

I’m sorry.

What I have since come to realize is that I am not alone. I read stories like Tina’s struggle with her weight, eating disorder, and own personal issues with self-esteem and I realize that I am not alone. It truly never occurred to me that people who look “skinny” on the outside could be suffering the same internal torment that I was.

I didn’t understand that a dear friend of mine - petite, blonde, beautiful, mom-of-four - could really empathize until she thanked me one day for my blog and said, “You are saying what we all wish we could say.”

I didn’t get it until friends and strangers alike began writing me and telling me how they had struggled, ALONE, for years with similar feelings, with the same lack of self-worth.

It didn’t sink in until people started telling me how brave I was, that I was an inspiration, that they felt the exact same way.

Me? Brave? Inspiring?

Are you sure you have the right person?

All I did was lose 20 pounds.

However, it really wasn’t about the weight after all. It was about my pride and about my self-hatred. Living in that negativity deceived me into believing that I was alone and that I could never change and that no one could ever see anything of value in me while I looked the way I did. What I found through starting this little blog of mine is that the things I was writing about were universal. Just about everyone I know experiences the same feelings and fears at one point or another. It may not always revolve around weight issues, but the feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt are there nonetheless. This is the human condition.

The difference now? I STILL look the same. I still weigh over 300 pounds and have almost 200 pounds to lose.

Now, though, my heart is different. I KNOW I am not traveling this road alone. I know my value is NOT determined by the numbers on the scale. I. AM. NOT. ALONE. And neither are you.

• Have you ever felt judged for your weight? How did you handle it?