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When motivation wavers, sometimes the inspiration we need can come straight from our favorite blogs \u2014 following the authors\u2019 lives like others might follow a reality show, hitting refresh waiting for the next installment. And yet, it can be easy to forget these digital personalities are actual human beings \u2014 ones who created their sites as a way to put their passion<\/a> out there or to help them on their fitness journey<\/a>. Most didn\u2019t realize the influence they\u2019d have on other\u2019s lives and how their stories would gain such a following. From finishing half-Ironmans to creating thriving online businesses, these writers set out on simple journeys to health but ending up surprising themselves and inspiring thousands, one word at a time.<\/p>\n Blog:<\/strong> Weight Off My Shoulders<\/strong> Along the way, she became hooked on running, and she\u2019s now run 26 half-marathons<\/a>, six full marathons<\/a>, and five triathlons<\/a> \u2014 including a half-Ironman. The now-athlete also changed her career, transitioning from working in sports public relations to working for the company that helped change her life, Weight Watchers. \u201cI never in a million years thought I\u2019d be where I am today, but all the struggles were worth it,\u201d she says, \u201cand I\u2019ve had the honor of sharing it all on my blog.\u201d<\/p>\n Blog:<\/strong> Choosing Raw<\/strong> In 2009, she started Choosing Raw to document her raw food and veganism journey, and its intersection with eating disorders, starting the popular Green Recovery<\/a> series. A recognized voice in the vegan community, Hamshaw can now add published author to her accomplishments. Her first cookbook, Choosing Raw: Making Raw Foods Part of the Way You Eat<\/a>, which debuted last year, explains why veganism works for her and provides more than 100 delicious recipes.<\/p>\n Blog:<\/strong> Roni\u2019s Weigh<\/strong> The site became so successful that she was able to leave her full-time job as a web development professor to devote all of her energy to her portfolio of blogs. Yes, one wasn\u2019t enough! She runs Roni\u2019s Weigh, her food blog Green Lite Bites<\/a> and Blog to Lose, a weight loss forum with more than 6,000 members. Need more inspiration? In 2010, she created Fitbloggin\u2019<\/a>, a summit for like-minded bloggers to learn from each other. Look out for her first book, What You Can, When You Can<\/a>, which debuts later this year.<\/p>\n Blog:<\/strong> Black Girl\u2019s Guide to Weight Loss<\/strong> The web design firm she\u2019d been running fell by the wayside as people responded enthusiastically to her writing, and she built a social media following large enough to allow her to run the site full-time. \u201cThe moment I made my entire month’s rent on e-books alone, I realized this might be a profitable full-time endeavor,\u201d she says. The Brooklyn transplant eventually became certified as a personal trainer<\/a> through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, runs a \u201cClean Eating Boot Camp<\/a>\u201d on her site and has even competed in a bikini competition! She\u2019s regularly called on as an expert speaker on fitness, weight loss and blogging at events like BlogHer<\/a>, Fitbloggin\u2019<\/a> and Black Girls Run Sweat With Your Sole<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, none of this was even remotely fathomable for me,\u201d she says. \u201cHad I not gone this route, I’d be a Ph.D. in music history somewhere begging a University to deem me worthy. Instead, I live in New York with a healthy and happy family, a great community, and a bright future.\u201d<\/p>\n Blog:<\/strong> No Meat Athlete<\/strong> Blog:<\/strong> Katy Widrick<\/strong> She credits blogging with giving her both the inspiration and accountability to accomplish what she never dreamed possible before: running several half-marathons<\/a> and becoming certified to be a group fitness instructor. For her first half-marathon, she found local running partners through their blogs and trained with them to prep for race day. Plus, expecting to see them at the big event meant there was no way she could back<\/a> out. \u201cI knew they\u2019d be there waiting to give me a hug, and so I had to show up!\u201d she says.<\/p>\n RELATED: <\/strong>The 50 Best Half-Marathons in the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n Blog:<\/strong> Hungry Runner Girl<\/strong> When her daughter was just a year old, Jacobs began going through a painful divorce that she shared publicly on her site. As she opened up about her struggles, comments from readers who were or had been in her shoes came pouring in, uniting a community through her site.<\/p>\n RELATED: <\/strong>The 20 Most Inspiring Runners in the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n Blog:<\/strong> Blogilates<\/strong>Need Blogger Inspiration? Click This Way<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Half Ironman, Fully Awesome<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/a>Dani Holmes-Kirk started her site in 2011 after suffering a back injury, as an outlet for her frustrations with depression and weight loss. \u201cThankfully, I woke up one morning and decided I was truly worth it,\u201d she says. In 2009, when her weight topped the scales at 217, the Bostonian joined Weight Watchers and by 2012 she reached her goal of 153 pounds.<\/p>\n![\"Photos:](\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10043859\/Gena.jpeg\")
Pure Enthusiasm<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/a>Blogger Gena Hamshaw is a clinical nutritionist and food blogger who\u2019s going back to school to become a Registered Dietitian. But she didn\u2019t always have a healthy a relationship with food. The now-vegan struggled with eating disorders as a teenager and through college. Hamshaw discovered a plant-based diet<\/a> worked best for her over the course of her recovery.<\/p>\n![\"Photos:](\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10043858\/Roni-duo.jpg\")
Did It Her Way<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/a>Maryland native Roni Noone is a one-woman fitness media empire who\u2019s paved the way for the current generation of bloggers. In 2005, she started Roni\u2019s Weigh to document her weight-loss endeavors. \u201cIt started to become a complete outlet for me,\u201d she writes on her site, \u201cit was my shoulder to cry on, my friend to high five, and my coach to report to.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Photos:](\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10043857\/Erika-duo.jpg\")
Music to Our Ears <\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/a>She just wanted to keep her mother happy, but Erika Nicole Kendall\u2019s story turned into so much more. A former online marketing and web design entrepreneur, Kendall\u2019s weight climbed to a point where her mother was concerned about her health. Kendall began her blog to chronicle her incredible 160-pound weight loss.<\/p>\n![\"Matt-duo\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10043849\/Matt-duo.jpg\")
Going the Distance<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/a>If you\u2019re a runner, you\u2019re bound to have seen t-shirts with running carrots on them along with the No Meat Athlete logo. You can thank Matt Frazier for those! He started his site as a resource for vegetarian<\/a> endurance athletes<\/a> when he decided to give up meat and attempt to qualify for the Boston Marathon. At the time, he was a grad student studying applied mathematics and wasn\u2019t able to find much on the subject of endurance training as a vegetarian. His ah-ha moment came when he realized he didn\u2019t want to endure a stressful job-application process just to work for someone else. And so Frazier channeled his efforts into turning his site into something profitable that would allow him to work from anywhere. He now blogs full-time, thanks to that little running carrot logo and his digital training programs.<\/p>\n![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10043857\/Kati-duo2.jpg\")
Will Run for Hugs<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/a>Television producer Katy Widrick started her site (originally called Silly Tater Tot) in 2007 as she was in the midst of a career change, transitioning from working in broadcast news to working for a startup where she\u2019d be doing storytelling through online video. Nervous she\u2019d lose touch with the news, the 34-year old started her blog to put her own commentary on current events. At the same time, she was trying to lose 40 pounds and began incorporating posts about weight loss and fitness, as it was foremost on her mind.<\/p>\n![\"Photos:](\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10043855\/Hungry-runner-duo.jpg\")
Hungry for More<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/a>Suffering from an IT band injury from running<\/a>, Janae Jacobs began her blogging journey in 2010 as a way to channel her creative energy while she was sidelined. Readers immediately connected to her down-to-earth writing style and before she knew it, the grade-school teacher and spin instructor<\/a> was able to turn her hobby into a career as she and her husband moved from Utah to San Francisco, CA.<\/p>\n![\"Photos:](\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10043855\/Blogilates-duo.jpg\")
Pop It Like It\u2019s Hot<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/a>What started with designing her own yoga bag \u2014 because she couldn\u2019t find one to fit her own needs \u2014 turned into her own online fitness empire. Cassey Ho was a senior at Whittier College, when her creation became a hit. The Pilates<\/a> instructor quit her corporate fashion retail job to focus on her fitness business full-time.<\/p>\n
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