Twitter

I made a Twitter account back in 2010. You can request to follow me. My username is @ChelseaWilliams.  I didn't know how I really wanted to use twitter at first.  My friends weren't using it as a social forum. They still don't, really. I had been "Liking" favorite businesses and organizations on Facebook, but I was becoming annoyed with how their information was always showing up on my feed. When I was on Facebook, I wanted to connect with friends...not ads.  So, I "Unliked" a lot of those businesses on Facebook and if I still had an interest, I followed the business on Twitter. I also followed celebrities and other local organization or personal interest accounts.

Enter diet time.  As I've mentioned before, I thought I knew what healthy eating was before 2013. I got a meal plan from my trainer, Jacqueline, on FitOrbit.  I quickly realized that I was buying more produce than ever before. I was buying PLAIN oatmeal. PLAIN yogurt, etc. I wasn't just going for low-calorie. I realized after some research that I was eating "clean." I've explained this before.

Part of that realization came from Twitter feeds that I began to follow.  I started to see posts from fitness-related people on Twitter and I began to see connections between what they already knew and were promoting and what I was eating on my meal plan or what I was doing in my workouts. Here is a list of fitness-related people that I follow on Twitter:  (You can also look at who I'm "Following" on my Twitter account and just hit the "Follow" button to also follow them.)

@DaphneOz
@ChefSymon
@Eat_Clean101
@EatThisNotThat
@tiwyf
@WholeFoods
@RunyonCanyon
@FITNESS
@CleanEatingMag
@JackieWarner10
@FitOrbit
@Sugar_Nation
@LiveFitToday
@Dolvett
@MyTrainerBob
@0
@NutritionPics
@Hygiene
@EatNutritious
@HealthyGirlTip
@WomensHealthMag
@DanniAllen14
@MikeRoussell
@LundenMichelle
@CleanEats
@MyPlate
@BodyMedia
@SnCoHealth
@TheeFoodPorn
@FITNESSpics
@DietsInReview

Some of these people are doctors. Some are authors. Some are chefs. Some are personal trainers (even celebrity ones). Some are magazines. Some are public health accounts. Some are regular girls like you & me who have completed her own weight loss journey and is now RIPPED. :)

Example tweet:

I think the magic in this for me is that I am surrounding myself with like minds.  Sure, I have some friends who are moderately healthy or who at least think about health, but I like that these Twitter accounts are promoting health in a way that is BETTER than me.  It gives me something to aspire to.  From January-May when I was in the thick of "dieting," I would find the Tweets from the above mentioned accounts to be VERY motivating. It's an entire culture--a mindset--that I can enter into whenever I needed to.  I am pretty self-motivated. It's not like I relied on these messages too much, but I do remember one night when I had all but resolved to not work out that night because I was "too tired."  But I read a tweet that said "Someone who is busier than you is running right now."  And I went to the damn gym.  Sometimes even the strongest of minds need a push. Or just an affirmation that they are doing the right thing--as hard as it is.  So, I found Twitter to be a very good resource for my weight loss experience and I continue to get ideas for nutrition and exercise from these Twitterers.  Sometimes I "Favorite" tweets that I find especially helpful for future reference.

Do you use Twitter or another site to "follow" messages from fitness experts?  Would you ever consider joining Twitter for the purpose of anonymously being a part of a fitness community?