I went to get the mail this morning – something I quite enjoy doing as I review books, am a member of PostCrossing, and do swaps with people from all over the world – and I was disappointed to find a single letter. A bill (most likely). For my husband. (Mwhahaha… Oh, we both pay the bills. Hrmph.)

Well, that little bit of disappointment got me thinking that it can be the same way for many of our virtual mailboxes on our blogs.

And I plan to solve that.

Welcome to the first ever Monday Mailbag. This is where you pick up your weekly letter from yours truly, answer it on your blog, and leave a note here so everyone who participates can read your response. Easy peasy! So consider this your first reader letter.

This week’s reader question from YOUR Monday Mailbag is this:

When and why did you get started on the journey to lose weight/get fit/tone up/the whole nine yards?

Tell me the date, time, epiphany, reason, episode of Oprah, whatever was involved to start you on your way. Go into as much or little detail as you want.

And remember to leave a link to your response in the comments section! The whole point of this is to reach out, connect, and find out more about

If you are going to participate and would like another graphic that is smaller, just let me know. I am happy to put some different sizes up.