{"id":2913,"date":"2010-08-19T19:11:43","date_gmt":"2010-08-19T23:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.relishments.com\/blog\/?p=2913"},"modified":"2010-08-19T19:11:43","modified_gmt":"2010-08-19T23:11:43","slug":"10-things-i-learned-at-the-healthy-living-summit-hls-recap-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.relishments.com\/blog\/10-things-i-learned-at-the-healthy-living-summit-hls-recap-3\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Things I Learned at the Healthy Living Summit (HLS Recap #3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

After running around Chicago with Kirstin on Thursday<\/a> and then touring the Frito-Lay plant and going to the cocktail party<\/a> on Friday, it was almost hard to believe that the main Healthy Living Summit event was still to come on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Because there are a million other HLS recaps<\/a> out there, because I don’t think summaries of the sessions will do it justice, and because its already Thursday and I still haven’t finished recapping last weekend, I’ve decided to list the top 10 things I learned at HLS.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Bloggers really are normal people.<\/strong> I like to think I’m a normal person, and I’m a blogger, but I was a little scared about meeting some of the better known and more popular bloggers. \u00a0The blogger I’m most in awe of? \u00a0Caitlin Boyle <\/a>(full time blogger and author of Operation Beautiful<\/a>\"\"). \u00a0Where did I meet her? \u00a0In line at Dunkin Donuts, getting breakfast. \u00a0She was totally cool and I realized at that moment that all of the HLS attendees were really cool. \u00a0We have a lot in common and there was no reason to be shy.<\/p>\n

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Me and Caitlin<\/p><\/div>\n

2. “Close enough is good enough.” <\/strong> Christine Palumbo<\/a>, our keynote speaker,\u00a0shared “11 Tips for Healthy Eating and Feeling Fabulous”. \u00a0My favorite tip was that “close enough is good enough”. \u00a0I don’t have to be 100% perfect, 100% of the time. \u00a0If I can do 80% some days, that should be enough. \u00a0Sometimes I’m too hard on myself. \u00a0It’s okay if I don’t post my HLS recap until the following Thursday, at least I’m posting it at all.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0It’s okay to eat meat. Or not. <\/strong>Lots of healthy living bloggers are vegetarian. \u00a0Lots are vegan. \u00a0But not once did I feel like I needed to defend my choice to eat meat occasionally. \u00a0It’s just not that big a deal; it’s an individual choice. \u00a0And all of the food served at the summit was delicious and nutritious. \u00a0I’m still in awe of the fact that we had breakfast, lunch and 2 snack breaks between 8 and 4:00 on Saturday. \u00a0Delicious food, all the time? \u00a0That’s my kind of summit.
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4. There’s nothing like being surrounded by people who take pictures of their food<\/strong>. \u00a0 Brian knows better than to take a bite of his dinner before I’ve photographed it, and we really don’t eat out much, but it was still incredibly refreshing to be hanging out people who also think it’s normal to photograph their food.<\/p>\n

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5. Yoga pants and tank tops are the ultimate outfits. <\/strong>Another entry in the “this is my kind of summit!” category: the dress code. \u00a0It was decided a week or two before the summit \u00a0on Twitter that it was totally reasonable and acceptable to wear yoga pants. \u00a0Granted, I didn’t do any traditonal working out during HLS, but it was wonderful to be super comfortable (and I did walk all over Chicago!).<\/p>\n

6. Stay epic<\/strong>. During one of our snack breaks (after snacking, of course), I dashed upstairs to get my copy of Operation Beautiful<\/span> for Caitlin to sign. \u00a0Trust me, I was not the only dweeb doing so. \u00a0Anyway, that’s the inscription: “Stay epic” (Epic is Caitlin’s favorite word.) \u00a0What does epic mean? “surpassing the ordinary”. \u00a0Sounds like a plan.<\/p>\n

7. I need to get more creative with my cream cheese. <\/strong>Sunday morning’s brunch, sponsored by Thomas’ Bagel Thins, featured a “make your own cream cheese” bar. \u00a0At first I thought this was kind of lame, but by the end of breakfast I’d decided it was the coolest thing ever. \u00a0There were a ton of mix-ins we could choose from to add to our cream cheese. \u00a0Our creations were mixed for us and, though they gave us a lot of cream cheese, I couldn’t help but use all of mine on my bagel thin. \u00a0My personalized cream cheese included smoked salmon, green onion and fresh tomato. \u00a0There’s no reason why I can’t replicate that at home.<\/p>\n

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"Make Your Own Cream Cheese" mix-ins<\/p><\/div>\n

8. \u00a0It’s okay to walk<\/strong>. \u00a0Another item on my list of concerns: the Sunday morning fun run\/walk. \u00a0Would I be the only one walking? \u00a0Once again, HLS proved my fears to be ridiculous. \u00a0Our fabulous walking group:<\/p>\n

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9. \u00a0I \u2665\u00a0Swag. \u00a0 I knew there was going to be free stuff at the summit. \u00a0I even planned ahead and brought an extra (empty) bag to pack it in. \u00a0But did I realize there was going to be this much stuff? \u00a0No, but I somehow got it all home anyway, minus the canned beverage and the bags of Doritos. \u00a0I’m so excited about trying everything. \u00a0(Disclaimer: I bought Operation Beautiful <\/span>before going to Chicago.)<\/p>\n

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10. \u00a0The Healthy Living blogging community is amazing.<\/strong> As I already mentioned, everyone I met was wonderful: friendly, interesting, unique, beautiful. \u00a0I was really impressed when a card for Ashley<\/a>, who couldn’t make it because of some health issues with her husband, began circulating. \u00a0Do I know Ashley? \u00a0No. Did I sign it? \u00a0Yes. \u00a0Because it’s immediately apparent that the Healthy Living community is incredibly supportive. \u00a0That, if I needed them to, they’d have my back, just like they had Ashley’s.<\/p>\n

That said, there’s a new site to encourage the awesomeness of the HL blogger community:<\/p>\n

Healthy Living Blogs<\/span><\/a> is a new resource for the health blogging community. Created by Lindsey of\u00a0Sound Eats<\/span><\/a>, HLB is a site designed to enhance the positive community of the healthy living blog world. Bloggers and readers can explore the site and find more blogs to love, bloggers in their area, and forums to deepen healthy discussion and support. If you’re interested in having your site listed on HLB, simply send the following information to\u00a0healthylivingblogs@gmail.com<\/a> and check the site out for yourself!<\/p>\n