FEDpocalypse 2012 - A Year In Review (The Fitness Cliff Edition)

Holy crap! It's 2013 already? That means it's time for me to toot my own horn and talk about all the cool things that happened in 2012?

Seriously though, 2012 was pretty awesome. So awesome in fact that I now have too few hours in the day and as a result have allowed this site to go rather fallow. I'm not throwing in the towel, however, but my past prolific posting may have to take a more measured approach.

On the personal side, I've moved from Orlando Florida to Jacksonville Florida, changed jobs (still a personal trainer but at a new set of facilities), and started going to gymnastics classes. My diet is still pretty Paleo, but I think I've learned a few things over the past couple years and have definitely made it my own.

Anyway...TOOT!

Most Popular Recipe

Paleo "Cookie Dough"

With over 10,000 views and over a dozen comments, this late-night snack induced creation is definitely my most popular recipe post thus far.  I think that a lot of Paleo folks are really jonesing for cookies and by extension, cookie dough, so anything that can help scratch that itch is most welcome.

Most Popular Fitness Article

Mov Nat!

After checking out Mov Nat for the first time at the 2012 Paleo FX conference, I jumped at the opportunity to take part in a full day workshop held right down the road from my old place in Orlando.  It was literally one of the coolest things I have ever had the pleasure of doing and think that everyone should go play outside, er, I mean Mov Nat as much as possible.  My write up of the experience also generated quite a bit of traffic and a few excerpts were featured on the official Mov Nat blog!

Most Commented Post

205 comments on the "20,000 Pageview Primal Giveaway"

Ok, so this one was totally rigged (the only way to enter the giveaway was to leave a comment), but nonetheless, it is totally worth checking out some of the comments anyway.  The question was, "What does living 'primally' mean to you?" and there are some really rock awesome responses.

Biggest Event

AHS 2012

Going to the Ancestral Health symposium this past fall was amazing.  Paleo FX was amazing too.  The only reason I'm giving AHS the nod as "biggest" is due to the fact that AHS really drew a diverse set of speakers that went far beyond the Paleosphere.  Gary Taubes, Robert Lustig, and Joel Salatin were just a few of the presenters that brought the big factor up to 11!

Biggest source of traffic

Chowstalker.com

I get thousands of pageviews from Chowstalker.com (and it's sister site, Desserstalker.com) and have to say it's all thanks to the hard work that Patty (the mastermind behind both sites) puts into creating one of the most extensive databases of Paleo recipes on the web.  Check it out and chow down!

Biggest social media impact

Reddit.com

Even though Facebook and Twitter get the most attention from the "conventional" media, it's Reddit.com that's making waves behind the scenes.  I posted articles to the subreddit r/Paleo and immediately got hundreds of new visitors, many times more traffic than all other sites combined.  Bloggers take note, if you want massive traffic, as well as honest feedback (redditors will rip you to shreds just as quickly as they will raise to to the heavens) Reddit.com is where it's at.

Most Searched keywords

"tuma omelette"

One of the cool things about website analytics is that it shows the keywords people search in Google that end up directing traffic towards FED. I expected things like "paleo transformation" and "bulletproof coffee", but "tuna omelette"? I have a sinking suspicion that people are not looking for omelettes made with tuna (goes to Urban Dictionary to verify suspicion).


Highest Traffic Month

April 2012 - 48,026 Pageviews

From henceforth, April 2012 will be known as "The Month I Spammed Reddit".




Best New Move

The Muscle Up

I finally got fed up with dangling helplessly from under the pull-up bar, so in 2012 I got determined to go "over the top"!  After a few months, I succeeded.  A tutorial video soon followed.

Biggest professional opportunity

Writing for Paleo Magazine and being selected to host the Paleo Magazine Radio Podcast!  Nuff said, check them both out!