There’s an ugly side to working out that no one really wants to talk about. OK, perhaps most people don’t really want to talk about it but we don’t shy away from those things here.

It’s a Sisterhood.

There’s safety in numbers.

Recently, I was thinking about the things I’ve done during my workouts & races, from the many wardrobe malfunctions (dropping my granny panties on the gym floor, wearing two different shoes to the gym, forgetting my sports bra at a triathlon – all true stories…) to the bodily malfunctions (being unable to partake in the wine or the dine portion of the Disney Wine & Dine on account of a bathroom problem at the end of the race — but I did PR!)

And so of course when I was doing my speed work on the treadmill while gassy the other day and feeling the need to quickly turn down the music during the sprints so I can *hear* anything that might (slip) transpire (it didn’t but I am always cautious like that), it led me to wonder, I’m not alone here in my grossness, am I?

Surely you all must have some good stories, right?

Time to share your TMIs. Pee in the bushes? Running leakages? Tooting on the treadmill? Split pants during yoga? See through bathing suit? A great trip and fall?

What’s your best “oops” or most recent?

Hit us up and dish!

I’m getting pretty disgusted with our food supply right now in general, between the preservatives and the dyes and the unnatural crap.

You may or may not have caught this in the news this past week, but it appears there will be a new ingredient in our kids’ school lunches and it’s called “pink slime“.  Mmmm. Yummy. (I am starting to want to move to the country and grow my own food.)

I can’t, but I’m making serious changes in our house recently when it comes to processed foods and honestly a few things have opened my eyes. One of which is the campaign against “pink slime.”

Pink slime is not new, but it’s new to me because this year I have a kindergartner who asks for school lunches. In short, the USDA is planning to purchase 7 million pounds of the pink slime, to go into school lunches. Pink slime is made up of parts of the cow like connective tissue and trimmings that are then treated with a mixture of ammonia and water to kill off things like salmonella and E.coli. You can do your best to argue that’s ok, but having to make a meat edible by fixing it up with ammonia is not ok with me.

What’s worse is that according to ABC News, we’re already eating it because it’s in 70% of our beef.

TV chef Jamie Oliver does a pretty good job of explaining the process “pink slime” goes through to get into our meat products, so feel free to take a look at the awesome. It really makes me want to have a big fat burger.

So, Change.org has already gathered more than 164,000 signatures on a petition to end pink slime in our schools, the very same pink slime that McDonalds and Taco Bell have already rejected.

So I’m wondering, what do you think about this? Baseless public outcry? Or another way to pull a fast one on us and our already suffering food supply?

A couple weeks ago, I reviewed the iSafe Bag, or as I like to call it, “the screaming hip pack.” Because it comes complete with an alarm that would make any perpetrator piddle at the sound of it. Or at least run away, anyway, which is the point.

I also did a video, (Don’t tell me you missed that!)

Well lucky you, now we’re giving away the iSafe bag to one of you!

Do you want to feel safer while running? Do you want to try this out?

I do have to say that the iSafe bag is also nice to have hanging out at home too (just in case anyway), because believe it or not, I’d use it here if something funky went on like an unwanted intruder. Don’t think I wouldn’t! Because I would! It is literally a personal alarm.

So first, go check out the iSafe bag review. Then, leave a comment here below telling us if you’ve ever had a safety close call while running.

• For an extra entry, Tweet about the giveaway.

That’s it! This giveaway closes next Sunday, March 11th at 11 p.m. ET. The winner will be notified through email and announced here. Good luck!

This week my Kindergartner had homework.

There were little boxes on the paper and in each box he was supposed to write down something on our grocery list, spell it out how it sounds and then draw a picture to go with it. The example they gave was a picture of an apple and the word written like, “Apel,” how a kindergartner might spell it if he or she sounded it out.

This was an interesting project.

Because I got to hear what is usually on our grocery list from my little guy’s vantage point.

For a minute, I got scared.

What is he going to draw?

I sat there watching and not interrupting as he came up with each item and drew each one, on his own. (I tried not to lead the witness. I was panicking a little. Do we eat healthy? Is he going to write down healthy foods?????? Is this homework really just a secret way for the teacher to get insight into our eating habits? Because if so, it’s brilliant.)

Letic. (Lettuce.)

Rng. (Orange)

Pinapl. (Pineapple.)

Yogrt. (Yogurt.)

Milc. (Milk.)

Wofl. (Waffle. My favorite drawing of all. I wish I had a picture.)

Hooray! We made it! And actually I’m pretty happy with that list.

I thought it might be funny to get my 4 year old’s take on our grocery list, too, so I quizzed him. Here was his list:

• “Fruits like oranges.”
• Milk
• Medicine.
• Salad.
• Tacos.
• Honey Nut Chex (YES INDEED. MY FAVORITE.)
• Waffle.
• “Fruits like pineapples.”
• Nuts
• Pillow Pets (??)
• Flowers
• Honey
• English muffins
• Stuff for cookies. (OK, I’ll give him that one.)

I’m pretty happy with the list overall, too. But you know how kids are so honest? I think this is a great way to get the kids’ perception of how you eat. Also, their answers are pretty funny. (Pillow Pets made the list!) I was a little unhappy that anything “green” or veggie-like didn’t make the list and tacos did, but I know why: that’s where I fall short.

We do not eat enough vegetables.

In fact, my goal now after this exercise is to make the grocery list that they say out loud match up with the one I have in my head. It’s a work in progress but a step in the right direction.

So here’s what I’m asking here. Grab a pen and go over and ask your kids the following question: “What is on our grocery list?”

Poll them and see what they say!

Is it what you think they’ll say?

Are you cringing to ask the question?

Did anything funny end up on the list?

We want to know!

Come back and leave your answers in the comments or even better, post about it and leave your post in the links!

See if what you think of your grocery list matches up with the kids, and don’t be scared! If anything, seeing their answers might help you make some great changes like it’s doing for us!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Today’s the day we learn our (possible) collective fate, the prediction from a tiny little furry creature in a hole: will we get 6 more weeks of the treadmill or bike trainer? (Yes).

You may be wondering what on earth fitness and Groundhog Day might have in common but I assure you there are similarities.

First of all, whether or not he’s a morning person doesn’t matter. Punxsatawny Phil has to wake up early to get the job done and that’s that. He can’t even cave under the pressure, everyone is waiting with bated breath on his results! Shadow or no shadow! We want to know!

Now, we too have the option to cave and scurry back into our caves of course, but now that you’ve been inspired by Punxsatawny Phil and his story, will you? Nah. Not today. You’ve got a job to do today, and you’re gonna get out there! Just like Phil! We may not be a morning peoples but sometimes when that’s the only window, that’s the only window.

Second, there’s a little movie called Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. You’ve probably seen it and I’m guessing it’ll probably be on some station sometime today.

The question is, do you wake up day after day after day stuck in the same day? If you’re nodding yes, that’s frustrating isn’t it!? We get in a fitness rut and sometimes it happens quickly. We don’t know how to get out of it or perhaps don’t have the motivation to get out of it. The good news is, thank God we are not Bill Murray, WE can actually fix that! Let’s go forth into February 3rd determined to make it different. It’s like New Years day all over again. (Which I suppose would be sort of like Groundhog Day only with New Year’s Day. Oh nevermind. You know what I mean.)

Next, groundhogs have a pretty impressive weight-loss regimen. They hibernate all winter and when they wake up in February, they actually find they’ve lost 1/2 their body weight! Which is not unlike the experience of those who have traveled through one of the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans’ challenges, right?? So even though you’re not hibernating your way to weight-loss (and perhaps 1/2 your body weight would be a little extreme for a winter weight-loss) you are still doing something for several weeks at a time and coming out the other end shrinkier! Go us!

Lastly, guess what a groundhog’s diet is? According to Groundhog.org (yes, that website actually exists):

“A groundhog’s diet consists of lots of greens, fruits, and vegetables.”

Cha-ching!

Again. Us. All us.

See? Told ya. OK maybe some of these was a stretch, but still!

Have a great Groundhog day. Let’s be groundhogs!

The Weigh In

Good morning, everyone! Wakey wakey eggs and (turkey) bakey! It’s a new day, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, are you ready to step on the scale? I am sure that it’s going to be nice to you today, I just have a feeling! You’ve worked hard this week, you have been motivated, you’re making healthy choices, I’m feeling it, are you?? Just another week of January and we’ll really be knee deep into the new year. I hope we can all keep the momentum going!

The Fitness Challenge

Our fitness challenge is the same each and every week. We’re asking you to do either 20 minutes of vigorous exercise three times weekly OR 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times weekly. Heather outlined the difference between vigorous exercise and moderate exercise over here. Are you getting your weekly quota of exercise in?

• How many of you have joined us for the 52 Small Changes challenge? Week 4 is about keeping a food journal. Keeping track of my food was a total eye opener for me, I think it’s important for everyone somewhere in their journey to do this because it gives you a benchmark forevermore. Try it! You can start the small change challenge any time! Please join our group at the Hood for support, motivation and discussion.

Now head on down to the form and fill it in and then get on out there and kill it this week, yo!

Have a great day!

(Cough  cough hack hack *sniff* cough cough)

Be so happy you can’t get sick through reading this because I’ve got spores everywhere!

I’ve been sick since Friday, literally I slept 17 hours yesterday, I haven’t done that since college, and apparently the only thing I can stomach is soup and chocolate chip cookies.

So here is my confession: I’ve either been wayyy good (soup! the brothy kind even, not the creamy kind!) And lots of V8 and water (mostly water).

Or wayyyyyy not-so-good (chocolate chip cookies. Perhaps some ice cream.)

I’m going to make this one short today because I can’t put coherent thoughts together very well. But I do hope you have had a great week! Feel free to share your disgressions, concessions, miscalculations and mishaps in the comments below.

Here’s to good choices for all of us in the coming week! Cheers!

Earlier this week, we re-read our letters to ourselves from 2011.

Those of us who didn’t do the letter last year, you (hopefully) wrote a new one, to your 2013 self. (Did you?? I hope so!) You can catch up on all the details of the “Letter to Me” project here.

I’m excited to read everyone’s posts!

After I posted it earlier this week, we had some chatter on Twitter of some preliminary results. Some letters were great! (Hurrah!) And others were, well, hard to read.

There were things that happened during the year that we had no way of predicting. Life things. Hard crappy life things.

For that, I want you all to know that we are all here for you. Through all of it. It’s not necessarily a fitness journey, it’s a life journey.

For all that we learned and went through in 2011, I hope you have found some comfort here at the Sisterhood through whatever has happened and in knowing that there are many great ladies in this group who support you along the way.

I hope that when you’ve all written your letters this year, that you’ve seen what a rock you’ve become with whatever 2011 threw at you and how strong you can be. As we stand on the precipice of 2012 looking on, may all of you see the strength in your miles, the hope in your tears and the drive in your soul to put one step in front of the other and keep going.

Link up your posts below!

Be sure to head over to everyone you can and read their letter, we have to cheer each other on, high five and slap some asses, mkay??

Happy New Year!!!!

Wow, we’re really getting up there, next year will already be 2013?? Are ya kidding me?

Ok here we go.

Friends, countryfriends, new friends and old! Hear ye, hear ye! It’s time for our annual trip down memory lane, the most important project of the year! The Dear Me Project!

Now, new friends, stay with me here, this will involve you too. Keep reading.

It’s time to dig out those letters that we wrote to our future selves, last January in 2011. If you were with us last year, you know what I’m talking about. You can read about it here for a refresher.

You see, last year we asked all the sisters who were with us at the time to take a look ahead to January 2012. In fact, here are the directions exactly.

For this week’s project, I want you to close your eyes. (Well, after you read this.) And pretend that it’s January — of 2012.

One full year ahead.

And when you think about January 2012, think about where you are sitting. What you look like. Where you are. Think about all the things you did in 2011. How far you’ve come. The goals you’ve reached. The obstacles you faced in 2011. The things you learned. Visualize where you will be. Physically, mentally, emotionally. I know you don’t have much to go on since we’re not even out of January 2011 yet. But that’s kind of the whole purpose.

Now, ”future self” (*this is me waving to your future self and saying “Hi!!!”*), go ahead and write ”current self” a letter. Tell yourself what you’ve done in 2011 and who you’ve become. Tell yourself about all the scale and non-scale victories you’ve had. Anything that you think is valuable for your current self to know, go ahead, tell it.

Write the letter to yourself like it actually happened. No hypotheticals. Because “future-self” actually knows what went on in 2011! You have to trust her (or him)!! Channel “Future Self”. So that’s what it is this week. “Future-self,” write “current-self” a letter about what 2011 is like and what you hope for 2012.

This is one of those things you can actually hold in your hand when January 2012 comes around and you can see for yourself just what you’ve done. I am sure you will agree with yourself on that day and maybe even surprise yourself. Because you’ve got 11 more months to make it real. And you will. Because you rock and because you’re you, and ps. I already know what you’re made of. (And because future me told me so.)

So go ahead, ya’ll! It’s time! Bust em out, it is now 2012, dig into your archives pull out your letter, read what you’ve written and compare your reality now with your predictions of 2011.

Did you do it?

Did you do everything you said you would? (Of course you did!)

Did you do more????? I”m so excited to find out!

I’ll give you a brief preview of mine: I’m laughing hysterically over my reference to my clean desk since it really was no where near clean all year, however, it is clean now, just like 2011 me said it would be –ha! Apparently I feel the need to clean my desk every January! It also references balance, something I have actually been able to find more of over the year, and it was correct, I did not get a flat in the Augusta 70.3! Woohoo!

(There is more but I’ll get into more detail in my own post.) But for now, take out yours, compare them, write about it what it was, share your old letter and what really happened! We can’t wait to see how you did!

Oh of course there is a step 2!

You cannot move forward while you are still looking back.

So when you are finished look back, direct your eyes to the front, (keep your arms inside the vehicle at all times) then, firmly plant yourself into the shoes of YOU in 2013.

What do you see? Re-read the directions up top. Remember, you’re not imagining this. You are entering the time vortex continuium wormhole thingy and transporting yourself to 2012. You already know what happened so all you have to do is write about what you see and where you have been for the whole year. All of it.

Become 2013 YOU and then write about 2012. This becomes a very powerful post when you are writing it and when you are looking back at it. Because when you envision yourself actually doing something, it becomes real. It is no longer a “that would be nice” or “that’s possible.”

It is almost as good as done.

Picturing yourself doing things you’ve only imagined paves the way to reality and allows you (actually gives you permission!) to believe that, YES, in fact, THAT WILL BE YOU.

Now, if you are just starting out with us, we do this every year. We want you to do this too!

It’s an absolutely amazing, tearful, emotional experience (at least for me!) to see what the letter you wrote at the beginning of the year said when we take them out a year later.

You’d think that perhaps in the spirit of “resolutions”, that you might let yourself down. This is not so. I have found it is just the opposite! I tend to think “small” in my letter because the following year when I read it, whatever I had predicted, I did that AND MORE! And you will too, you will be so surprised when 2013 rolls around and you pull out this letter and you look at what you’ve said about yourself!

So, if you did a letter last year, write about it. Then write up your Future Me letters (2013) and come back here on Friday to link it all up. MKay?

Have an awesome kickass year! (Even though I already know you do. Your future me told me so. We’re actually all having coffee talking about our letters right now! In 2013…)

Oh, it’s the very last day of 2011. I can’t believe it’s here!

We all wonder what is on the horizon for us in 2012. When we look back next year, what will have happened? I ask myself before the start of every year.

But all I can say to you today is that we know what happened in 2011. It may not have all been pretty (in fact I know that it has been a tough year for many) but there were also some pretty darn good moments out there. Last week we asked you to send in some of your favorite pics and you did! (Thank you!)

HERE is YOUR look back on 2011 at The Sisterhood.

Join us in 2012, will ya? It’s going to be even better!

If you didn’t get a chance to send in a picture or video, link up your favorite pictures and/or race reports or year-end posts in the linky tool below! Or leave us a comment telling us about your best moment or PR in 2011!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU, FROM THE SISTERHOOD! May 2012 be filled with goal-reaching, motivation and clarity.

2012 HERE WE COME!

And if you’re wondering who’s in the photos, here they are, in order of pictures. (Thank you everyone!)

-Ann, http://ann-shesgonnablow.blogspot.com/

-Lissa, Shrinking Jeans Co-Founder

-Melissa: http://alifetimeloser.blogspot.com/, favorite quote: “If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You can start over any moment you choose.” – Mary Pickford

-Lisa, SJ Writer. Personal blog: www.growingupmo.com

-Connie: http://kaleidoscopicwords.blogspot.com/, favorite quote: “Run your own race.”

-Heather, SJ Writer

-Colleen: http://adiosfatgirl.blogspot.com

-Jaemie: igniteyourbones.com

-Dee Di Memmo: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vegan-deelight-dee-di-memmo/1107989173

-Beki: www.wildchildgonegood.com

-Christie O., SJ Writer. Personal blog: www.averagemomswearcapes.com

-Mary fiddlersbride.com favorite quote: “If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.”
― John Bingham

-Christy, SJ Co-Founder

-Adah: http://plainolegrandmaislosingit.wordpress.com

-Nancy, SJ Writer. Personal blog: http://shesgettingserious.blogspot.com/

-Debra: www.finallygettingfit.wordpress.com

-Mary: http://reinventionofmary.blogspot.com/, favorite quote: “A year from now, you’ll wish you’d started today!” (Amen, Mary!!)

-Bari: www.Livelaughrunbreathe.com

-Amy, favorite quote: “I believe in redefining my impossible.”

-Shera:  http://lashera.livejournal.com

-Jill: http://jillconyers.com/. Favorite quote: “Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way. Run often and run long, but never outrun your joy of running.” ~Julie Isphording

-Thea, SJ Writer. Personal blog: www.imadramamama.wordpress.com

-Kirsten: www.livinginagirlsworld.com & www.runninginagirlsworld.wordpress.com

-Megan: http://craftyenglishteacher.blogspot.com

-Sarah:  http://fasterthanasnail.blogspot.com/