Hi friends – buckle up and grab yourself a cozy drink, because I have a big (and quite wordy) announcement to share with you today.
Before we jump in, it bears mentioning just how many times I’ve gone back and forth with this decision. How do we ever know we’re making the right choice? What I’ve determined is that, honestly, we don’t. But we can remember that decisions don’t have to be forever. We can change our minds if we want to. It’s okay either way.
So, with that in mind – let’s do this.
The big news: I’ve decided that after 15 years (!) of writing for fANNEtastic food, it’s time for me to hang up my blogging hat. This will be my last blog post. (For now? Forever? I have no idea.)
The good news: I’m not deleting the blog (honestly, I couldn’t bear to do that – it has so much of my life on it, and also so many recipes we use ourselves!). So this means that all the recipes you use and love, and all the old lifestyle/travel/marathon training and race recap/etc. posts that you might want to look back on will remain here where they’ve always been.
The other good news: If you’re here for the recipes (rather than/in addition to the lifestyle content), my email newsletter will continue to go out weekly(ish), featuring seasonal recipes from the archives.
If you are already on my email list and want to get the weekly recipe emails, you don’t need to do anything! If you’re not on the list and want to subscribe, you can do that by clicking here, and selecting “weekly recipe inspiration.”
You’ll also see an option on the subscription form to select “lifestyle-related updates.” This is a new email list I’m starting for those of you who might like to hear what’s next for me (in the future, I mean – right now, I have no idea!). For that list, you’ll only hear from me if/when I have an update to share.
Feel free to get on both email lists, or just one!
Why stop blogging? Why now?
The short version is I’m ready for something new professionally. I have no idea what it is, but I’m working with a coach to help me figure it out, and I want/need to free up some mental and logistical space in order to determine what my next move is.
Want the long version? Yeah, me too, always. 🙂
I started this blog back in 2009, which honestly feels like many lifetimes ago (not surprising, since it was). The blog world was completely different, and I was also a completely different person. I was 27 years old, single, no kids, working part time as an editor and taking prerequisites to go back to grad school to become a Registered Dietitian.
I had boundless energy and tons of passion around nutrition and recipes, too. I posted 7 days a week and somehow never ran out of ideas or things to say. I loved getting really creative and silly with posts, testing recipes in a super non-scientific and mostly just fun way, and taking photos of said recipes that didn’t have to be perfect/super fancy.
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I was also training for my first longer running races and sharing my journey in challenging myself physically on the blog, run by run, and race by race. I ran my first 10 miler, and then my first half marathon (still can’t believe I finished that one, tbh), and then a few years later my first full marathon.
Readers were really excited about blogs in those days. Comments came flying in and I was able to engage with you in a very real, tangible way. We built a true community around my words – something that still astounds and humbles me, even now. It was so incredibly fun – and more than that, it was incredibly rewarding to connect with you, to learn about your lives, to find common ground and training buddies and form genuine friendships through this wild, nebulous thing called The Internet.
The Internet felt different back then – a lot more kind. I felt so connected to people I’d never met in person, and would frequently meet up with blog readers and fellow bloggers and become real life friends, too.
I feel fortunate to say that it was like this for many years. If I had to narrow it down further, I’d probably say the years 2013-2016 were probably among my absolute favorite blogging years. I had graduated with my Masters of Public Health in Nutrition and passed the national exam to officially become a Registered Dietitian after years and years of hard work.
I was going on tons of press trips, running lots of races, speaking at conferences, doing a lot of sponsored partnerships, and working with a full nutrition coaching client load. It was super, super busy (looking back at my old paper calendars from those days I’m like, WTAF), but all very energizing.
In recent years, though, I’ve struggled to find my place in the blog world. A lot of the more casual type blog content has moved over to social media, which was never really my thing as I like long form writing vs. short form writing or being a video producer.
I’ve also found spending time on social media isn’t great for my mental health, so I’ve been really intentional about limiting my time there, especially in the past couple years. It’s unfortunate though as that’s the main place where the reader community engages these days, vs. in the comments section of blogs. (Which I understand, as most people read on their phones now and commenting on a blog on your phone is kind of annoying…)
To be honest, I’ve also lost a lot of the passion I used to have for cooking and nutrition, particularly since having kids. Food has become more and more something that needs to be quick and easy, and I just don’t have the time or interest I used to have to play around in the kitchen and enjoy the recipe testing process. Which, ya know, is kind of a problem when you have a food blog. 😉
I’m also not in a life phase where I have the capacity (physically or logistically) to train for longer running races. I still love running and working out, and prioritize fitness for my own mental health, but these days it fits my life best to stick with studio classes (yoga and pilates) and short, social runs. And that doesn’t exactly make for interesting blog content when my workouts are pretty much the same every week.
Plus, the older the kids have gotten, the less I’ve felt comfortable sharing their lives, pictures of them, or what we’re up to together, and I’ve struggled to figure out how to write about my life without writing about theirs. Honestly, it’s impossible, because they are of course woven into everything. It’s left me feeling a lot more cautious here than I used to be, and more and more like I don’t have anything interesting left to say or share with readers, as well as being kind of burned out/tired of sharing my life online in general.
I’m honestly not sure why I’ve held on for so long. It’s weird, because even though I knew I wouldn’t keep blogging forever, I never really had an end game for myself. I’ve thought about ending the blog for years but always stopped myself from seriously considering it because it just felt silly or even selfish to throw away this business that I’ve spent so many years building and investing in, and that I know I have been so incredibly fortunate to have.
I mean, with the exception of about 5 years working in PR, the vast majority of my entire adult career has been very interwoven with the blog. What would I do instead? Who am I without this thing that has been a big part of my identity for so long?
But I’ve been realizing more and more lately that the version of this career that I’ve been holding on to is a version that actually doesn’t exist anymore. It’s the version of blogging that I was doing in the early/mid 2010’s, and the community and excitement around it. It’s something that I won’t get back no matter how much I try new things, hire new strategy teams and contractors like I’ve tried, etc. etc. Plus, I’ve just changed. I’m not the same person I was in the early years of the blog, and that’s okay.
One day about a month ago, I was in savasana at the end of a yoga class, and for whatever reason I let my mind wander down the path of actually ending the blog. Like, what would it look like? What steps would I need to take, and who were all the people I’d need to tell and the services I’d need to cancel? It brought up a massive well of grief in me, but also a lot of relief – and that feeling of relief that I noticed was what had me realize that it was finally time to let go.
When I got home from that class, I spent some time texting with close friends, and also talking it all through (very tearfully) with Matt. And within an hour, I had made the decision. I wanted to go ahead and publish the remaining content that I had already planned/in the works, but after that, I was done. After years of waffling, it was really time to move on.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Especially those of you who have been here since the beginning. I can’t thank you enough for sharing in my (and eventually, my whole family’s) journey all these years. Every time you tried one of my recipes, took the time to leave a comment, forwarded my blog on to your friends or family members, or simply quietly shared in my adventures, it meant so much to me to have you here along for the ride.
Thank you, truly, for making my dream of earning a living by writing online a reality. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you, or without the many fellow bloggers who have helped me along the way by sharing resources, ideas, contacts, and passion/excitement. I’ve made some really good friends through blogging who I know will remain good friends regardless of whether I’m still blogging, and I’m so grateful for that!
And as for what’s next – I’m as excited to find out as you are.
Goodbye for now,
Anne <3
