It's Our First Birthday!

The GoodFood blog published its very first post one year ago today, May 3, 2011. Now that's a cause for some cake! Over the past year, we've published nearly 100 posts--all with one message in mind: Healthy food does taste good and with Liz's practical advice, eating a healthy diet is achievable and it will help you reach your health and wellness goals. I hope my blog has served its purpose: inspiring you to work harder to make good food (as in healthy food) a major part of your life, push through the tough times when it's not so easy to maintain your goals and to try fresh and healthy recipes as a way to expand your healthy eating horizons.

We're growing rapidly, just barely falling below 2,000 pageviews last month. A record for us! We're forming partnerships with blog communities, fellow health professionals and vendors in an effort to keep the GoodFood blog useful and up-to-date. Help us continue to grow over our second year by passing along the GoodFood name and following Liz (RDbyyourside) on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest (looooove Pinterest!). Of course, if you're looking for more help with your diet, participate in one of RDbyyourside's events or meet with Liz personally for nutrition education.

Some highlights from this year included:

• Some fab new recipes that are super healthy too (but you'd never know it!). Some of my faves? 
• Spring Asparagus and Penne Salad with Goat Cheese
• Roasted Garlic Hummus
• Creamy Golden Oatmeal
• Whole Wheat and Flax Pancakes
• Debut of the new MyPlate logo for National Nutrition Month
• Ten Commandments for healthy eating--my "principles to live by" for a healthy lifestyle
• Reviews of some healthy products that I hadn't yet tried, including two of my favorites:
• Balance Bar's BARE Chocolate Almond
• Banana Cinnamon Quinoa Cereal by Cocomama
• For the New Year: 12 nutrient-packed foods to eat more of in 2012
• My first experience with a local co-op, which I LOVE!! Thanks Community Helpings :)
• My 2011 summer garden. Hoping for even more improvement and a bigger garden this year!

My favorite post of the year was Up and Running. It's a short, personal story about inspiration, hard work, pushing through barriers, persistance to achieve something important, and the beauty and peacefulness of nature. I know the obstacles to exercise that I faced were short-term (hopefully) and honestly, not too severe, especially compared to some people's struggles. But I believe that sometimes it's the smaller struggles we face everyday that keep us from leading the healthy lifestyle we want to. I gained a great deal of perspective from this experience and was reminded that we shouldn't take what we have for granted. In this case, I mean good health. And I love the picture of the sunset too :)

So thanks to all my followers and visitors. Here's to a year even greater than the last! I'd also like to know...

Have you read anything inspiring on the GoodFood blog this year?
What would you like to read more about or see more of in our second year?
Tell me what your favorite post was!
Any other feedback on how we can improve?