As 2018 comes to an end, I want to share with you reflections on some of our favorite blog posts from this year. If you have a favorite, and if you have a topic that you’d like us to write about, please let us know.

Looking back at my own blog posts, I noticed some trends. First, I’ve explored new options for activity, namely compression socks (which for me are here to stay), and interesting swimwear with more coverage, both for sun protection and because I like that. Second, yoga has played a bigger and much more important role in my life this year. It has helped me stay connected to physical activity and my body no matter what– when I had pneumonia, when I had a sprained ankle and then the DVT, I always had yoga. It’s also connected me to other places– I tried out yin yoga in Arizona, and yinki in San Diego.

My fellow bloggers have written so much about so many important issues, it’s hard to pick. Here are a few examples of blog posts I love.

Hands down, my favorite posts to read are Cate’s (fieldpoppy) posts about her active travel all over creation. She’s hiked and climbed in St Lucia, danced with locals at the Nomad games in Kygyzstan, and most recently ridden, pushed and pulled her fully loaded rental bike (complete with yoga mat) in Victoria, Australia. Her reports are honest (sometimes travel is tiring and sucky, with bad food and busy roads) but also motivating me to follow where my own wanderlust leads.

Sam’s posts are about anything and everything in the world of fitness, and I always look forward to learning about something new, silly, cool, worrying, or important. Some of my favorites, though, are about her own processes of dealing with fitness in her own life. I love her post about dealing with exercise while in a new and big job as Dean— seeing how she schedules in workouts has helped me with my own plans. Sam is also frank about what’s happening in her fitness life, which includes injuries, mourning the loss of running, and optimism around new ones (snipe racing, anyone?).

Tracy also writes about lots of topics, taking on bogus nutrition claims (yes, you can be vegan and an athlete– duh…), reporting on her running races and training, and also blogging about body positivity. I loved her boudoir photo shoot post; it helped me recognize the ways I can be more expansive and accepting in my views about beauty, age, and self. Also, Tracy is a strong advocate for the start-small view of habit shifts. We often (especially now, in the heat of resolution fervor) want to throw ourselves into a whole new regimen. But such drastic shifts tend to burn out quickly. Starting small is more sustainable and provides a base for building to bigger goals.

I could go on all day, but I do have PT and then an outdoor walk scheduled. So let me just note some other blog posts I really loved:

• Mina’s post on Serena Williams: Let women wear what they want
• Susan’s post on emotional eating, which touched me deeply
• Christine on sleeping, rest, meditation, suffused with truth and humor
• Kim’s posts on restorative vacationing and the complexities of being naked in locker rooms
• Martha’s posts on swimming and detoxing ourselves from detoxes 
• Natalieh’s honest and humorous posts on night guards and sex appeal, hearing tests and sexism, and blood pressure nuances
• Bettina on taking exercise inside in autumn and fitness and politics

We’ve had lots of wonderful guest posts this year. A few you might want to re-check out are:

• Saba on exercising during Ramadan
• Aimee on her first half-marathon
• Alison on scorn and fetishization of food

So, dear readers, what are your favorites– favorite topics, favorite posts, etc.? Also, what would you like to read about in 2019? What’s on your minds as we cross into the new year? Let us know–we’d like to hear from you.

“New Year” on a chalkboard, surrounded by boughs. Photo by Annie Pratt on Unsplash.