And The Survey Says….!

Thank you ALL for taking my survey! It was very cool to see the demographics break down for my readers. It helps me to know where you guys are coming from.

The majority of my readers who took the survey are 31-40 years old. Second up was 26-30. I wasn’t surprised by this. I assumed most of my readers were in or around my age range (I’ll be 32 in January).  Most of my readers are married without children. The favorite fitness seems to be a tie between Running and Biking! The runners-up were yoga, weight lifting and swimming. I wished that swimming was a little higher up on the list but I get it.

I am so glad I added this question (What keeps you coming back?) to the survey because of the variety of comments from readers. It was fun to read and see what people like. This will definitely help me a lot in the future when I plan my writing. I wanted to share a few of the comments people left since the survey was anonymous and I couldn’t respond to anyone’s comment. So I will respond here.

“Been reading for a while and in some ways even though I hardly know you- I feel like a part of your life. Some weekends I don’t get to blogs- but come Monday I always want to know what Lisa has been up to.”–I love this!

“You have inspired me to change my life. :-)”–I love this. I am so glad I could inspire you. If you ever want to share your story, let me know.

“The inspiration you provide on a daily basis for someone who is just starting her journey.”–I really wish I had known about the weight loss blogs when I was first starting out. It was a very lonely journey for me. 

“It’s helpful to read a blog that doesn’t make me feel like I have to run 6 miles a day and be a vegan to lose weight and be healthy. Yours is one of the few that makes it seem attainable and sustainable. Great job!” —I totally hear you on that. I definitely felt isolated from a lot of other blogs that were running marathons all the time and making me feel guilty for eating meat.

“I’m a long term maintainer (9 years) and enjoy reading a few select blogs. A lot of people have never known me big (lost nearly half my body weight) but it defines who I am and I like that connected feeling with blogs like yours. I’m from the UK and enjoy your accounts of life across the water. Also I’m very keen sports woman and believe that’s what keeps me happy and successful at maintenance. I did once leave a comment but apologize that i dont more often. PS i recently started cycling and have enjoyed the bike specific posts. many thanks for your blog.” — Congratulations on maintaining for 9 years! I am so impressed and I’d love to chat with you about that sometime. I’m glad you are picking up cycling too.

“I want to see you maintain your weight loss no matter what. I am all about keeping the pounds off. (If you know what I mean).” —I think I do know what you mean!

“Personality through the words. The sense that Im looking into the life a real person.”–I am so glad that I can be relatable to people.

“Fitness ideas, recipes, fitness reports, relationship with Michael (very cute, maybe you will get engaged!)”–Hehehehehe

“I love your posts and find them very motivating. I love how healthy the relationship you have with food has become, that you can have pizza nights and beer and have a social life all while being health conscious and working out and staying on track.”–This is my biggest success I think.

“Your blog inspires me to continue to lose weight and sometimes when I’m about to give up I read a post that motivates me and keeps me going. I overcame my fear of wearing a swimsuit in public because of one of your post, now I can go to the pool for swimming thank you for that. Sorry if I made mistakes I am french Julie”–That is fantastic Julie! I am so glad that you tried swimming and that you can do it without feeling self-conscious. Don’t give up!

“I heart Lisa.” —And I heart my readers!

I feel like I have some directions now. My intent is to create content that people like to read. For example, I know that most of my readers don’t live in Portland and probably wouldn’t be interested in restaurant reviews. Because of that I try to make those posts about more than just the restaurant.

The survey is still open if you have not taken it. I’m still collecting information from it. Thank you to everyone that took it! I appreciate the feedback.