About

I’m Julie Goes Healthy, or just Julie. After 5 years of blogging about my health journey, I’m back with a blog that reflects my life today. Health is still very much part of it but not all of it. Instead, you’ll see my adventures at home, in Orange County and L.A., and travels.

You’ll see lots of solo trips. I’ll also be joined by my girlfriends, bloggers I’ve met along the way, hiking buddies, coffee club friends, work family, and strangers who become friends.

My background

I grew up in Huntington Beach, California and without visiting, moved to Asheville, North Carolina for college. I spent 6 glorious years in Asheville, studied history and secondary education, worked at a preschool, and became a hipster.

I moved back to the O.C., received a credential in special education, and am using all my degrees (!) as a middle school special education history teacher.

My health journey

In brief, I was overweight until after college. I weighed as much as 185 pounds at 5’2. I lost weight safely until I took dire measures to lose the last 15 pounds. I suffered from anorexia and overexercised (6-8 hours/day). I subsequently lost my period for over a year. My body continued to rebel, or rather restore itself, by holding onto weight and incurring injuries (knee pain, bloating, adrenal fatigue).

What no one tells you about is the repercussions of “being healthy”. Fitness and food consumed my thoughts, so much so that I avoided going out with friends. I can stop using the calorie counting app, but I can still look at a plate of food and tell you roughly how many calories and macros are in each. My weight loss journey lasted only 2 years, my bout with anorexia for less than a year, and my recovery is ongoing. At the time of this post, its been 8 years.

I am continuing to work towards a peaceful relationship with my mind-body, learning about my flow and hormones, and healing.

I have been fortunate to encounter a great community of health and fitness bloggers and attended Blend Retreat, FitBloggin’, and BlogFest over the years where I met and connected with women who have inspired me. While I’m still entrenched in that world, I’ve expanded it to include my other interests.

Random tidbits

• I’m an ENFJ.
• Mint green is my favorite color.
• I’m in a hiking club… and a coffee club… and I met a lot of my friends through Meetup.
• Never have I ever been in a relationship for longer than 6 months. I wouldn’t even call it a relationship…
• However, I lived with my platonic male housemate for 5 years. He is still one of my best friends.
• My favorite cities are Nashville, Tucson, Seattle, San Francisco, and Budapest.
• Our family vacations growing up consisted of going to Las Vegas and losing grandpa to the slot machines in the middle of the night.