I'm starting a 9-day cleansing diet today. It's two days of fasting, 5 days of meal replacement shakes and limited calories, then two more days of fasting. Yikes.

My goal in doing this is to see quick results and rid my body of its addiction to sugar. I've tried exercise and eating in moderation... but I seem to just eat the wrong foods moderately. And then, not so moderately. If I have a specific program to follow - and it's just 9 days - I know I can do it and see results, which will hopefully motivate me to eat better once the program is over. You know how you feel when you lose some weight and your body feels good? You're less likely to put crap into it.

I wrote more about my thoughts over at New Jersey Moms Blog: http://svmomblog.typepad.com/newjerseymoms_blog/2008/06/be-a-good-diet.html

I'll also be chronicling my progress on my personal blog, http://phatmommy.com, and posting updates here. Follow along!

Can it be done? After three years of branding myself as a "mommy blogger," I'm starting to move in another direction. My kids are getting older and it's just not as cute or funny to blog about them as it used to be. Not to mention that it will be embarrassing for them in the future.

So I'm working on my "professional" online image. Refocusing my blog a bit and launching a new blog soon. Mrs. Flinger has a great post relating to this at
http://tinyurl.com/5ctstp.
She wonders, as do I, about being personal and entertaining while simultaneously needing to be professional and public to market your skillset.

But after three years of blogging as "PHAT Mommy," I don't want to change that. There's an automatic impression given out when your blog has "mommy" in the title, so can I focus on things other than my children and be respected for that while still using "mommy" in my blog title?

Do you use any kind of aggregator to collect all of your online activity into one place, aka a lifestream (definition here: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/lifestreaming_primer.php)? Maybe it's Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com/) or MyBlogLog (http://mybloglog.com/), SuprGlu (http://www.suprglu.com/) or Profilactic (http://www.profilactic.com/) (I know, awesome name, huh?). Or the recently-released and much talked about FriendFeed (http://friendfeed.com).

I'm doing research and need to know HOW you use these services. Do you go to the web page and follow your friends' lifestreams? Do you get an RSS feed? Do you post your own lifestream on your blog (or elsewhere) so others can follow your online activity?

Spill it. Give me your wish list. What do you like/dislike about these services and what would be really useful for YOU in a lifestream, either for your own use or to follow friends.

Social networking online has many aspects and can be really overwhelming. Check out my post on Blissfully Domestic providing links to help you network more effectively: http://www.blissfullydomestic.com/2008/02/link-list-netwo.html

In a nutshell: Comment a lot, pick your social networks wisely, be active and involved.

Advice for bloggers on one way to convert casual browsers to loyal subscribers. http://www.blissfullydomestic.com/2008/02/tips-for-new-bl.html