Every morning I have the same routine – get up around 7 or 8 am and go pee (oh, stop. You do the same thing.) I then scan through my email and delete all the crap I don’t/won’t want to read (like all the bullshit pitches about yet another app just like Pinterest), and then step on my Withings scale, which syncs with my Fitbit. As I go on through the day, my Fitbit counts all the steps I take (which add up to around 20,000 – I walk around 6-7 miles), and my free C25K is now helping me train to run more than 30 seconds without wanting to die. I also use Myfitnesspal to easily figure out how many calories I’m eating, and I sometimes simultaneously use Runkeeper when I walk outside since it syncs with Gym Pact, which pays me about $4 a week to workout.

Whew. That’s a lot of technology.

And you know what? It works. By counting calories, steps, miles, using devices to accurately weigh me and using programs that help train me to be a better me, I’ve lost 20 pounds since April. (This is weight I gained as a result of reverting to an unhealthy lifestyle and making a few other poor choices around this time last year. It adds up fast, people.)

Today, while scanning through my email while going pee, I found out that FitBit announced an update to their lineup, which will now feature devices that automatically sync via bluetooth to smartphones (like the Nike Fuel Band already does.) This will only make it easier to automatically see how many calories I have burned, and how many I can eat (or not) to keep on my plan to lose about 2 pounds a week. (Right now, you have to sync the device via USB, which can be annoying – especially if you aren’t at your computer at all during the day, but still want to stay on track.)

Could I be losing this weight without technology? Sure.

In 2008, I had also found myself with a need to lose some weight – not as much as now, but I looked much worse due to food allergies I didn’t know about yet (read: really bloated. I looked heavier than I was, which was really hard to push through mentally.) I used an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of calories in, and calories out, and to mark my daily weight. Not much different than what all these fancy smancy apps are doing now – but thanks to excel, I didn’t have to crunch the numbers, either. Technology was still on my side then, too – but with a calculator, i still could have done it with pencil and paper.

Losing weight is simple. There are dozens of “programs” that turn it into what I’ll call “fuzzy math” – but it’s really simple. I eat a TON every day – a ton of veggies, fruits, coffee and things that FILL ME UP, never leave me hungry and allow me to get a ton of shit done. I actually feel better now than I have…well, ever. (For those who are curious, I basically follow the paleo guidelines – but only because my allergies force me too, and rice is so carb-dense and lacking nutrients I’m hungry 2 minutes after I stop eating, so I choose to fill up on other things, like denser veggies and lots of water…..tho I will have pho once in awhile, and sushi is a staple.)

If you want to lose weight, do 2 things, right now: figure out how much weight you want to lose realistically, and then figure out what tools you need. There are dozens and dozens of apps that you can choose from. Do you need to count the calories you consume? The calories you burn? Do you need training programs? Do you need a motivational program (like Gym Pact?) Do you need pen and paper? Do you need to call a friend?

You have choices – and you’re going to need to keep making them every day. They might change. One app doesn’t do it for me. It’s easier for me to easily figure out how many calories I ate with MyFitnessPal’s massive database and then add them into FitBit, where most everything is centralized. I have to use RunKeeper for now to make a few bucks off this whole process with Gym-Pact. Runkeeper doesn’t have great training programs – but C25K is phenomenal. See where I’m going? You gotta figure out what you need to use to make the right decisions. You might not use any of these apps. You might just decide Weight Watchers is easier, join their program and use their app.

My favorite kinds of apps and startups are those that solve problems. And let’s face it – being overweight can be a really big problem – and usually it’s nearly impossible to know where to start. Knowing your goals – and how you’re going to get there – is a critical first step.

I’ve thrown out about a dozen ideas of where you could start. If you’ve already started – what are your ideas? And if you haven’t, let me know where you are going to start. I’d love to know how technology is helping others improve their lives and lose weight.

There is been some debate about whether the era of tech blogs is dead. Of course, there is always some debate about whether things are dead or dying, such as the mouse, the keyboard, Starbucks, photography, even Justin Bieber. (This happens on Twitter at least twice per day.)

I won’t re-hash what the original blog post argues, other than that essentially Jeremiah Owyang thinks there’s been too much turnover and too many acquisitions, which will lead to the golden era of tech blog dying.

Instead, I’ll just point you to an exceptionally eloquent response from Sarah Lacy, who recently left TechCrunch. Her most poignant statement reflects the essence of my thoughts, too:

But there are still plenty of people who love to write– not just share, Tweet and comment– for a living, and blogs are still the best platform for that. In many ways, professional blogging is just getting started. It’s a time when new entrants are jumping into the field with bold, fresh ideas, standing on the shoulders of the blogging giants that came before, taking a second stab at reinventing the new media landscape.”

This is what I do. I am still just getting started, with fresh ideas and vision. I’m wrapping up the end of the most exciting year of my life which has been filled with amazing people. I’m not the type to name-drop, but I can’t express my gratitude for each person I have met and spoken with, from the C-level execs of Time-Warner who held my water bottle as I nearly had a meltdown at CES to tweeting with Jason Calacanis during SXSW about the skanky promotional girls outside the conference hall. I’ve met rockstars, actors, and celebrity bloggers, amongst other tech bloggers and YouTube stars.

Yes, these people ar giants. But they are also people – people who have bigger dreams than me.

I can only hope that these giants allow me to stand on their shoulders, as Sarah said, and reinvent what they have only started.

I’ve been working from home for a year now. I’m planning on doing a much more elaborate recap of this past year later this week, but I was reminded of what working “from home” is like upon seeing a retweet of Oatmeal’s classic post, “Why working from home is both awesome and horrible.” Here’s a quick summary (which was actually contributed by my other favorite, Allie Brosh from Hyperbole and a Half).

For more insight into what it’s really like working from home, visit Oatmeal. I demand it from you.

For most I’ve my life I’ve battled some form of anxiety or depression – or something like it. I’ve actually been “diagnosed” a wide range of “things” but in the end, sometimes I just feel like the blob in the Zoloft commercials. As a result, I’ve sampled several types of prescription medications, which have led to fun things like weight gain, other changes in mood, and just sheer exhaustion. Earlier this year I decided to see a naturopath to explore other options. Though in the end that wasn’t the right option for me, in the process my doctor ran an allergy test to see what kind of environmental factors were stressing my body out. The result?

I should be living in a bubble.

The list of food allergies includes things like all dairy (milk, cheese, even goat milk), eggs, soy, red meat, lamb, most beans, and gluten. My reaction to these foods range from no symptoms from eating one slice of bread to slightly dizzy after eating a few eggs to hating life for several hours if I eat pizza or a cheeseburger. And let’s not talk about what happens if I drink a 2% latte. (Soy is rarely better.)

Though some of the allergies are negotiable in small doses (like gluten or eggs), almost the entirety of the allergies effectively makes me limited to a Vegan diet, except for chicken (except eggs), poultry, and pork. The problem is, before I started my “allergy diet” I actually avoided meat, sticking with soy substitutes whenever possible. (Little known fact: I was actually vegetarian for almost two years between late 2008-late 2010.) However, that option is now out. There is no benefit to eating chicken that you can’t find in vegetables, especially considering those vegetables are less likely to carry stressed hormones and bacteria.

I am still adapting to living with allergies after learning of their existence about six months ago, and avoiding the allergens for the most part has made a significant impact in how I feel. However, I sometimes inadvertently (and sometimes consciously) make myself sick because I haven’t prepared for a complete meal or even gone grocery shopping for the week. After it occurred to me that except for continuing to eat chicken (and occasionally bacon) I am already restricted to a Vegan lifestyle, albeit completely by accident, so I’m now taking this opportunity to learn more about the true vegan lifestyle and diet and how it fits with mine. And thanks so social media tools like Pinterest, Twitter and the dozens and dozens of blogs about vegan theory (and vegan food!), it should be easier than ever to decide if it really is the healthiest option – all moral issues aside.

Do you restrict your diet to certain foods for a specific reason? What social media tools or resources help you?

Zoloft image via Square Footage Films

There’s a saying I use, stolen from a website of the same name, that fits what I do – “Let Me Google That For You.” Google has become the easiest way to find the answer or solution to any of my problems. Unfortunately, though it is great for finding information from the most trivial (such as song lyrics) or the most useful (such as research information) it is dangerous territory when you are ill. There is a reason doctors and other medical professionals spend years in school despite the ease of search a database for symptoms to effectively diagnose and treat symptoms. The reality is that individual symptoms to not manifest into unique illnesses. Have a runny nose? You could have the cold. Or you could be dying.

And that’s the problem with people like me – people who Google everything, including symptoms of a developing illness. TIME refers to these types of people as “cyberchondriacs.” They are the types of people who go into the doctor with stacks of printed out illnesses that could be their problem. Or, who Google a symptom and decide they are on the verge of dying, thereby going to the ER.

Don’t laugh.

Three years ago, that’s exactly what I did. After developing pain in the lower left side of my abdomen, I Googled the crap out that symptom. It wasn’t the appendix (it’son the right side). What else is there? I’m a woman, and was in a relationship. A search result for “pain in lower left abdomen” generates thousands of search results, but this is one of top search results. The potential diagnosis?

It was right there. An ectopic pregnancy? You mean I might blow up at any second and DIE?

10 minutes later I was checking in to the ER (which is also one of the top medical schools in the country), and 20 minutes later past triage and getting an ultrasound. It wasn’t until 2 hours later, with half of the medical students on the case at some point, that I was sent home without any diagnosis. You see, I just had some really bad gas.

2 months later, I received the $5,000 medical bill. (Thanks for nothing on that one, by the way, Regence Blue Cross.)

This weekend, I almost did the same thing after experiencing some minor eye irritation that required a trip to the urgent care room Saturday morning for some prescription eye drops. The doctor mentioned I might have some cornea damage. I went against my better judgment and started Googling the possible problem. Luckily, I stopped before I lost any sleep, and a visit to an actual optometrist revealed my eyes are fine…albeit a bit small. I’ll take that as a compliment.

Google is great. It answers many questions I have, especially when I’m too embarrassed to ask them. However, if you’re sick, try asking someone who knows – like your doctor. Self-diagnosis of an illness that doesn’t exist will only lead to things that really could harm you – like wasted time, anxiety, and an outrageous bill from the hospital even if you have insurance. If you must use Google when you’re sick, use it to find a clinic that is open, or a 24 nurse hotline for advice.

And whatever you do, don’t use WebMD. Even if all you have is a hangnail, you will walk away from your computer convinced you will die within hours.

Yesterday Om Malik reflected on his 10 year anniversary of blogging. He walked through the trials of choosing how to manage a site, people who inspired and shaped him and – perhaps most importantly – how we learned how to be a great and passionate writer. In the last ten years I have not achieved any kind of similar success, but I can relate to his ideas. I remember sitting at my desk in 2000 debating whether to use GreyMatter or pay for a premium version of LiveJournal. I remember conversations with people who now use pseudonyms and have leveraged their on-camera personalities for something much more lucrative. And I remember when I stopped writing because my passion for exploring ideas wasn’t acceptable as 15 years old trying out for the varsity cheer squad.

Perhaps I was before my time. Ten years ago, most of the current tech pundits were at least old enough to buy their own beer. When I consistently received 100%+ on english exams, 5′s on my AP tests and was offered the chance to finish my senior thesis at home for the last month of senior year, it never occured to me that I was actually kinda good at writing. But blogging wasn’t a job yet. Newspaper journalists made squat for a salary. And the chances of ever working for my darling TIME Magazine – the only magazine I read until I had a reason for Cosmo (years later, mind you) – was nothing but a dream.

The blog I designed and hosted on Envy.Nu through 2002 was trendy, pretty, personal. Then, I went to college, and floundered around trying to find something I was good at – let alone cared about. I stumbled into pre-law, which gave me the opportunity to write often and about society (in hindsight, it wasn’t that much different than what I do now.) When I went to law school, dropped out, and came home, I dabbled in a series of jobs (including Google) that led me back to a certification program for paralegals. During one boring seminar, armed with my laptop and WiFi, I stumbled down into a rabbit hole of those same trendy blogs I grew up with – though they were grown up now, too. By the time the class ended at 6pm, my trendy blog was back up and running, albeit on WordPress. (Which, let me say, is much easier than GreyMatter.)

Thanks to the simultaneous crash in 2008, I ended up waitressing, though still blogging. A horrible night at work led me to Craigslist where I answered a job looking for “Rockstar Bloggers.” A quick cover letter with a link to my blog and by desolate Twitter account was enough for a job offer a few days later.

The rest is history, though it includes a few funny conversations with Chris Pirillo over sushi about GreyMatter, a longstanding joke that I’m a “rockstar, not a blogger” and the sheer gratitude that my job now is something I’ve been doing for ten years, and then some. I’ve learned much of the same lessons as Om, made some of the same mistakes on a smaller scale, and have preached some of the same things.

Much has changed in the last 10 years. I have personal regrets (refusing a full scholarship to another college on account of pride) and wish I had considered my passion for what was becoming web 2.0 when I sensed it. That boat was not mine, however. I’ve learned many lessons – and now it’s my turn to learn from those that paved the way – even if it was bumpy.

By the way – Om made a list of ten lessons he learned over the years. The one I love most?

Write everything as if your mom is reading your work, a good way to maintain civility and keep your work comprehensible.

Of course, it helps to know that she is reading your work everyday

In the middle of 2006 I graduated college from a well known and well respected University – before any economic fear, before the collapse of the middle-class, before unemployment was at the highest in generations. I had big dreams, and followed them all the way to law school before I smelled something. I dropped out of law school only weeks later and settled into a 9-5 as a legal assistant.

I hated it.

When I came home every night, I blogged. I had been blogging since the mid 1990′s, but never wanted to be a cam-girl, and never caught on to monetizing the blog, either. A year later I dabbled in Izea and made a few hundred dropping keywords here and there. But, like the rest of America, I believed the 9-5 was the only key to stability and wealth.

After some bad luck and otherwise bad timing, I found myself waitressing for most of 2009. Then, after one particular bad night at work, I answered a Craiglist add looking for a “blogging rockstar” to work with a blogging network that developed blogs for law firms. I was in. Fascinated by the social media scene in Seattle that I was quickly thrown into, I learned that while I worked a 9-5, “social media” was an industry of its own; and those that ran this scene made their own way.

I was intrigued. This was my dream. I didn’t dread going to work – usually – but I loved the idea of writing, using these new mediums, to makea direct impact on other readers – on consumers. And doing it without any kind of corporate red tape in my way. Of doing it on my own terms. Of doing it in my pajamas.
Isn’t that the American dream?

I recently stumbled across a blog, The Middle Finger Project, written by this amazing girl, Ashley, that epitomizes my beliefs. You don’t need a job. You don’t need the 9-5 bullshit. Maybe you do need some semblance of a partnership, of a team. But doing what you love doesn’t have to mean sitting in a cubicle. Finding that opportunity could take months, years. You may find it, you may have to make it.

Luckily, I was given a huge opportunity to do just this – leave the traditional job and do what I love. I now work with a small team at Lockergnome, a content publishing network owned by Chris Pirillo. The position is still evolving, but I primarily get to do what I love – blog about social media news and trends. Persistence in following my dreams was 90% of it, spread out over the course of much of my life. You have to know what you love, and keep on at it. (If you already know your passion, Guide to Career Education can help you find schools that can give you good training and education in your chosen field.)

And the other 10%? Just being myself. Whether I was naive, starstruck or blunt, I didn’t fake any moment, any conversation. Not only can I live with myself – and with consistency – the last thing anyone can ever call me out on is being fake.

After years of shitty commutes, horrible bosses, inane projects, unreasonable deadlines, catty coworkers, pointless team-building exercises, budget restrictions, microwaved lunches, and clients from hell, I am finally doing what I love. But the real questions is – are you doing what you love? And if not – what is stopping you?