This weekend I had the pleasure of enjoying a wonderful lunch with a super-sweet blog reader, Alison. It felt like I was catching up with an old friend and I had a blast — thanks, Alison, we totally need to do it again soon, on your side of the state 😉

Every time I meet a friend in real life who I got to know in cyberspace or the blogosphere, I’m struck by the (beautiful!) irony of the situation.

Given the sensitive and taboo nature of my blog, it started out as a very anonymous blog … and then in time I got more comfortable with the idea of putting my name/face out there as a voice in recovery. Being so open has worked in my favor. In addition to having the support of my loved ones, now, in the past two years, I was interviewed for Fitness magazine about my exercise addiction history; went to a blogger meet-and-greet; and spoken at the FitBloggin’ conference … all very public “outings.”

There’s truly no way to hide behind your history when you lay your name and face out there for the world to see — something I was cautioned against from loved ones in the beginning. Yet I’ve always known it was the right thing to do … the only way to truly own my issue and heal was to put myself out there the way I did and go through my metamorphosis in a public manner — slips and falls and all. The fact that I’ve been able to help others along the way has been the icing on the proverbial cake … and (allow me to toot my own horn for a second): I’ve been chew/spit free since March 2009. So blogotherapy did, indeed, work for me.

The friends I’ve made from blogging are further evidence that it was the right move to come out about my disordered eating issues via blog. In addition to being e-mail buddies with several of you, I’m friends with many of you on Facebook/Twitter and I follow your blogs. I feel like I know you — and hope you feel like you know me, too … more than just the disordered eater me.

Everything in life has risks, blogging included. But for me, the benefits outweighed the risks. And the best part about it has surely been the people I’ve met along the way … I wouldn’t trade them for a second!

How about you? Do you mind reading anonymous blogs or do you prefer having a name to put to a face? Have you ever met anyone you’ve connected with online?