In past years, I had always enjoyed the sessions, but the real focus was on the free-for-all of interactions with people I had met in previous years, or with new attendees. There were big social events like the opening mixer and casual activities in the expo hall to facilitate these interactions.

Denver. Sadly, Margo and I are the only ones pictured here who made it this year.

This year was the first year that the conference was handled by Zephyr, and though I think they did a great job of finding speakers, there wasn't as much of the informal social time that helped to provide opportunities for new people to meet up with old-timers. A lot of people decided for one reason or another not to attend this year, a huge Southwest glitch grounded a lot of the West Coasters who were planning to be there. There were also no real group meals, which on the positive side allowed us to explore the city's fantastic food scene, but made it harder for new people to find a foothold.

Great, but not quite enough breakfast for a long day of Fitbloggin'

Brunch later.

I was very happy that my perennial Fitbloggin' roommate Margo was on one of the few Southwest flights that made it. This was her first time in the Midwest, and as an Ohioan, I'm glad it made a good impression (see ). We had a lot of fun together, including an excursion to a local bar for a drag show (the bar pointedly displayed signs that they proudly serve everyone) and two trips to the fabulous Eagle's Nest revolving restaurant.

Revolving restaurant FTW!

Margo looking fab as always...

Beautiful bird's-eye view of the Capitol

Indianapolis sunset

More important to me was the time for reflection. I have been going through a lot in the last couple of years, from the deaths of loved ones to difficult, ongoing career transition. I don't like to wallow, so I have been struggling to stay positive, but I'm not sure I ever took the time to really feel and come to terms with that grief and loss. I have been really hard on myself about the weight I have put on during that time, but haven't done much reflection on the feelings that have contributed to the gain. I've been avoiding writing about it here, hoping that I could just "fix it" and move on.

The group sessions at Fitbloggin' and the professional speakers helped me to see things in a different light. It always helps to hear from people who have successfully dealt with the same situations, like David, Martinus, and Angie. This year I also found food for thought in keynote speeches by Lisa Delaney and Brooke Randolph. It's not like I needed information on the mechanics of weight loss. As someone who has lost and regained weight, I have all the information I need -- I just need a way to get through the stuff that gets in the way of doing what I know I need to do. I'm not saying I found ready-made answers, but I think I found a few insights that will help me build my own.

I'm going to read this and get all the secrets.

Plus, there was the chance to do my annual Zumba class, which satisfies my Zumba requirement for the rest of the year.