When John asked me to be a contributor for Fitlanthropist, he probably didn’t imagine I’d be ratting him out. But accountability is a good thing, right? So here I am, admitting to you that we ate donuts last night.

And I mean donuts as in more than one donut per person. At the time, it seemed like a decent idea. We were both in the mood for a treat, so John went and found us one. I don’t think a treat once in a while is going to wreck our goals.

The problem isn’t that we ate a treat, it’s that we ate too much of it. That much sugar in the body at one time just isn’t a good thing. A blood sugar spike can cause you to feel weak and tired. Not to mention that I just felt angry at myself for giving in to my cravings. I worked out yesterday morning and then neutralized the benefits by overeating.

I guess the thing to take away from this experience is that right after making the mistake of eating too many donuts, we picked ourselves back up and got back on the wagon. We got up early this morning and worked out. We are back to trying to eat healthy foods.

Living a healthy lifestyle is not easy. We have setbacks all the time. But the main thing is to keep doing small things that move us toward our goals. It isn’t the one messup or the one workout that will make or break things. It’s the things we do every day that matter.

Photo by D Sharon Pruitt

When I set out with the Fitlanthropist, I really didn’t have any concrete plan other than to get healthy, lose weight, and raise money for charity. My hope was that people would eventually run into this site, and donate or help motivate me. I don’t think it was much of a coincidence that I was contacted by a representative for a new site called Well, Then sponsored by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, who introduced me to the social network-like website that I think has tremendous potential to help people be well.

I was instantly impressed with what I saw on the site. As someone who has, in former times, caved in to fad dieting or other gimmick-like health programs, I found Well, Then to be a realistic, refreshing alternative driven by individuals who all have a common goal: to be well. Now, while I’m specifically targeting my weight, Well, Then is so much more than that. Any visitor to the site will at some point read, “Wellbeing isn’t something we are. It’s something we do. Something anyone can do.” People can sign up for a free account (in the same vein as Facebook or Twitter) and post stories, videos and status updates about what they’re doing to be well, and this is something I’ve really enjoyed. I always hesitate to point out what I call “gimmicks” in terms of health and weightloss, because I never know if someone I know uses a certain product or takes cartain supplements…heaven knows I don’t want to offend anyone, but Well, Then seems to be full of pragmatic, sensible ideas that I’ve enjoyed reading and look forward to incorporating into my daily lifesytle.

I have been asked to be an activator for Well, Then, and I’m honored an excited to do so. While I’ve found several unique stories to help me better my health, there’s so much room for growth on the site, and surely someone out there is looking for your healthy stories. I would definitely encourage you to start an account and share your stories with others. Part of my hope with the Fitlanthropist was to inspire others, and I think that many of the folks on Well, Then will be very inspirational to others, as well. Also, under the terms of my agreement as an activator and for transparency sake, Well, Then and Harvard Pilgrim have ‘compensated’ me with a Flip MinoHD Camera valued at approximately $199 to help me make better use of my video weigh-ins and other video updates on the Fitlanthropist, as well as the videos I will also be uploading to Well, Then.

You can view my Well, Then profile HERE.

I hope you guys will take a look and sign-up. I realize that there are probably more social networking sites than necessary out there, but trust me, if you care about your health and want to find a new, innovative community full of people with similar outlooks on health and wellness, it will be worth your time.

(And, just so you know, Well, Then has accounts on Twitter and Facebook, as well!)