Hello everyone, my name is Sean Willson and I’m a new writer here at the Sisterhood. While I have no formal journalistic training I have been blogging since 2000, before it was called blogging. It’s also important to mention that I’m not a sister … well, I’m an honorary sister but I’m actually a man. I know I know, you’re probably not sure how a male voice will feel around the Sisterhood among all of these other amazing women. The ladies here seem to like me, have read my blog, and feel like I can add an interesting new male perspective to the mix.

So what makes me tick and how will I fit in here? I thought I’d take a few minutes to tell you my backstory and let you decide. Ready? Grab a cup of coffee or your favorite protein shake and let’s get ready for a lengthy introduction.

The Early Years

I grew up in a small blue-collar town in Michigan, the son of an autoworker. In my family, all men (and boys) cleaned there plates and only after eating seconds. Back then home cooking meant lots crisco, deep frying, soda, and dessert with every meal. Needless to say I’ve been overweight my entire life, pretty much ever since elementary school.

My childhood was all over the place and my parents divorced early in my middle school. I certainly never learned healthy eating going back and forth between houses and I never was into working out. In high-school I was into golf, a bit of tennis, and I was also a caddie for around 6 years. You’d think that caddying would thin me up but it’s amazing what soda, pizza, fast food, and candy can do to a physique.

In college it was more of the same dietary sustenance. Add to the collegiate experience of a big ten school my sedentary degree choice of computers and you can see how by the time I ended college and started working I was over 400 pounds.

After college I found a great job in Chicago (land of deep dish pizza) that had breakfast and lunch as a perk to all employees. They didn’t want you leaving the office taking long lunches or coming in late and missing breakfast or anything silly like that.

You notice that I mentioned food in every paragraph above? I love food just like everyone else but I honestly wasn’t someone who ordered 5 hamburgers in the drive through or anything, I just ate a lot of food that was bad for me over many years. Add to that the fact that I had sedentary hobbies and a sedentary career and you have the making of a lifestyle disaster.

I remember being around 250 in middle school (1985 – 1986) and by 2000 I had peaked at 450 pounds.

“Not until we’re lost
do we begin to find ourselves”
— Henry David Thoreau

In January of 2000, at the heaviest I’d ever been, I was very unhappy with what my life had become and ready for something new. I had always wanted to see the world, get married, have kids, and live life more adventurously.

It was then that I decided to man up, face my fears, and start living life. In order for me to make that happen I had to start filling all of the gaps in my knowledge of healthy eating and figure out what those heavy weighty looking things were used for at that place called “the gym.”

After burying myself in a few books and armed with a new gym membership I lost a lot of weight quickly. As you’d guess, going from zero to anything meant my body was dropping some serious water weight and some fat to boot.

While my weight had taken years to put on I knew it wasn’t going to be coming off over night. I think the fact that I lost a lot or weight (112 lbs) so quickly (in 11 months) led to a bit of an ego problem. Add to that the fact that I wasn’t really mentally prepared for the challenges that the holidays would entail and afterward I was up 30 pounds.

From that point on I went up and down 13 times over the course of 9 years (my weight-loss timeline), yes I failed 13 times. The highest I got up to again was 405 lbs and the furthest I got down to was 338 lbs during attempt one. Along the journey I met the love of my life (Amy), started visiting the world, and slowly started figuring out (through massive trial and error) what worked and didn’t work for my body.

Of course there was one other small thing that happened in March of 2008, the birth of my daughter Abigail. During 2008, as my daughter started to get older it really started to hit me that I was 34 years old and I was still a physical disaster after trying to get fit the past 8 years. I really could die at any second and it was a medical miracle I hadn’t started to show signs of diabetes, blood pressure, or other health side effects typical of being overweight.

I wanted to live to see my daughter grow up, graduate, and have kids. I wanted to grow old with my wife, have more kids, see the world, and live life to it’s fullest. There was no way I was going to ensure I’d see or do any of those in my current state of health.

The Tipping Point

In January of 2009 that all changed … I started to really reinvent how I was going to get healthy. I’ve often likened it to a maturing of my approach to a healthy mind & body and that after years of trial and error I finally struck a balance.

So how am I doing it? Well, that is a lot of what I plan on sharing with you here at Shrinking Jeans. But I’ll give you a quick preview …

I added new and challenging exercises to my previously stale regiment. Gone were the simple weight, elliptical, and recumbent bike. In stepped a wider variety of cardio and strength training at the heart of which was a new found passion for circuit training, cycling, and running. I had never ran (in my life) until March of 2009 and I’m now planning half marathon distance runs.

Another key to my change was that my wife and I started cooking with a wider palette of foods. We not only planned our meals in advance but we actually acted on those plans, crazy ahe? We certainly have a core set of foods we regularly eat but we’re constantly trying to change things up to make them interesting.

One of the other big things, maybe one of the most important, was I stopped beating myself up when I’d “slip up” (in air quotes). The fact is, life happens and I needed to really make this a lifestyle change and not approach it like a diet. I had to allow for foods that I craved and at the same time not get consumption crazy.

I air quoted the “slip up” above because to me it wasn’t slipping up as much as it was just listening to my body. At the time I was “slipping up” I didn’t know what to call it other than that. I have however recently found a more appropriate phrase to associate with it, intuitive eating.

My body craves food and not all of the foods my body craves are the most healthy. That doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t eat them, it just means I shouldn’t eat them in excess. If I crave ice cream then I have some. Gone are the free days of old where I’d detox for days, in are the eat whatever I crave but in small portions.

So where am I now?

In March of 2010 we celebrated the birth of our second child, Bradley. This time around everything felt different and I was already well on my way mentally and physically when he arrived.

In the past I’d always been someone who externally seemed confident in everything I did but internally I was full of self doubt and honestly always felt fat. This was very self destructive and always led to an explosive endings after months and months of hard work.

After 9 years of learning things the hard way I finally realized that my self doubt and poor body image were at the heart of my failures. Add to that realization a hidden passion for activities like circuit training, running, and cycling and this latest leg of my journey has been very successful and rewarding.

I’m currently down over 200 pounds (as of 5/27/2011) and today I’m not really sure what my goals weight is. I know this may sound strange but I haven’t been this weight in over 20 years and honestly don’t know where my body will finally level out at.

In an effort to keep things active and myself accountable I’ve tried to set some aggressive fitness goals by signing up for 3 triathlons and some long challenging bike rides in 2011. While I’ve never done a triathlon in my life I’m jumping in with both feet (like most things I do) and signed up for Sprint, Olympic, and Half Ironman distances this year with aspirations for a Full Ironman in 2012.

None of this journey would have been possible without the support of my family and the love of my life, my wife Amy. She’s been with me through every single up and down and in the beginning accepted me as I was, for better or worse. She’s been there for my 5am workouts, my aggressive goal setting, and the long weekend bike rides. She’s amazing and without her love and support I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today.

So there you have it, a brief look at what makes me tick. I know I can get a bit wordy at times but I’m passionate about my journey and sharing it with others. If there is anything I can say or do that can help someone else get their life on track then I want to do it. If there are things you’d like me to talk about then please drop me a line.

Thanks for reading, I hope you’ll find me a valuable and welcome addition to the Sisterhood.

When we put out a call for new writers last week, we had no idea there would be such an amazing response. Seriously. We were blown away by each email, each story, each testament, each woman.

Those women were brave to put themselves out there so honestly, because this journey is hard. And each story is so very personal and yes, sometimes painful.

It was SO very hard to only choose 1 writer (so we didn’t). You can’t even imagine. Saying no to those other strong women was also hard.

In the end we are pleased to announce our choices! We chose these particular women because they are tried and true Sisters in every sense of the word. The each have different stories, different journeys, different perspectives. They bring something to our site that is missing – and now it won’t be missing and we hope that in turn helps so many more women (and men).

If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you’ll know both of these ladies well. They are saucy and sweet, and just plain awesome.

Mel

Mel’s Sisterhood blog can be found here!

@MelGetsFit

and Nancy

Nancy’s Sisterhood blog can be found here!

@bacrdimama

These two ladies will join us in the regular posting rotation, and they’ll also have their own personal Shrinking blogs, so be sure to keep an eye on them as well!

Colleen

Colleen can be found on the ‘hood here!

@tryn2bfit

Colleen will be our new Social Sister! She’s taking offering support and motivation on the ‘hood and our Facebook page!

We are also welcoming a brand new addition to our expert panel! Colleen Arnold Ph.D. MFT will begin posting bi-weekly articles on the mental aspect of weight-loss and being overweight.

We’ll also be following a very special woman as she jumps feet first into this weight-loss journey. Each month Laurie will share with the Sisterhood her own personal journey to lose weight and get fit!

As if it could get any better, we are slated to have some amazing guest posts happening on a regular basis around here!

Everything we do, we do for you. To help you, to inspire you, to support you. That’s what this little place we call the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans is all about!

This weekend, I went for my long run for Team in Training. 

Most runs, I let my mind go blank, forgetting about stresses and troubles and to-do lists at home.  I let my mind go free from all of it, letting my iPod pound out good music in my ears.

And this weekend’s run was the same.

Miles 1, 2, and 2.5 were all about my body warming up, trying to find a good, even-paced rhythm, regulating my breathing, wishing and hoping for my muscles to feel loose.  Mile 3 I hit my stride and I felt GOOD.

Somewhere between Mile 3 and Mile 3.5, my iPod played Stand by Me by Ben E.  King.  Then, Lean on Me by Bill Withers.  I thought about all of the encouragement and support that I have received from my sisters here at The Sisterhood, not only for my weight loss journey and accomplishing my fitness goals, but also the all around support I have received in life, motherhood, and “other stuff”.  I thought about how far I have come and how it would have been so much more difficult if I had done it on my own.

I thought about crossing the finish line of the 1/2 marathon in San Diego with my sisters, some at my side, some already there waiting for me.

I promptly burst into tears.  As I was running.  Tears streaming down my face, gasping to get my breathing under control.

Do you know hard it is to run and cry at the same time?!

My sisters here mean oh so much to me.  I have lots of internal motivation, but the majority of my external motivation is provided by all of ya’ll.  Ya’ll are close to my heart, with every step I run. 

Thank you.  Thank you, thank you , thank you.

Now, I know there are lots and lots of new folks here, that have joined us for this team challenge.  I might not know you just yet.  Others might not have “met” you yet.  Please, take a moment and introduce yourself in the comments section.  Tell me as much as you want or as little as you want. 

I want to know.

HOLLA Sisters (and brothers)! Good Weigh-in Wednesday morning! We’re so happy to see you beautiful, shining face (and your bed-head)!

You know the drill!

Run, don’t walk, to your scales right now! Strip down, pee, and jump on. Did the number go down? Did it stay the same? Go up (ugh)? No matter what the number did, we want to hear about it! We don’t give ‘no weigh-in passes’ here at the Sisterhood. We want to know how you’re doing every week, even the not-so-good weeks. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

So head over to your blog (if you have one) and get it all out. Don’t forget to grab a button, so you can link up with The Sisterhood, and then come back here and leave the link to your post in the comments!

If you are just finding us this week, it is never too late to join our little Sisterhood!  Are your jeans too tight? WE WANT YOU! Are you interested in getting fit? WE WANT YOU! Are you just looking for the coolest place on the internets to hang out? WE WANT YOU! Jump in right now, and check out the current challenge, grab one of our nifty buttons, and then get blogging.

Don’t forget to check out the Monday Project this week. Christie’s really making us take a good look at ourselves this week. Fo’ shizzle in the hizzle.

Also, we have a couple of great giveaways this week, and they end TODAY.

• This one may or may not involve chocolate.
• You’ll want to win this one after you indulge in too much chocolate!

So that’s it! Get thee to your scales now. And don’t forget to share the love with all your Sisters!

Have a totally RAD shrinking week!

Here we are!!! Calling all sisters in the spirit of weight-loss and fitness! It’s day one of the first challenge of the new decade!! It’s the day we’ve all been waiting for since the cheese cube reared its ugly head during that holiday cocktail party this year! (Perhaps even longer!)

Yes ladies, it’s time to “Rethink Your Shrink!”

This is the day you’ve decided to change your mind about food and health. This is the day you’ve decided to venture outside of your comfort zone. This is the day you’ve taken the first step toward becoming the person you have always wanted to be. The person you picture. No more waiting around. The change starts now and it starts with you, within you. Claim today and every day as yours starting this very minute! Because 2010 is your year.

Here at the sisterhood, you’ll find an undying support and encouragement for each other, a shoulder to cry on when things get tough (because they will), an ear for listening when you don’t feel like going on, and a hand to pull you up when you’ve fallen off the wagon. There is no judging. There is only love. When you join us, we’re sisters in spirit and we are with you through thick and thin. Literally.

Rethink Your Shrink is about changing from the inside. It’s about looking back so that you can move forward by changing the present. We will re-evaluate our eating habits, our patterns, our obstacles and our activity levels. We will take with us what worked in 2009 and dispose of what didn’t.

This challenge last 7 weeks. At the end of this, you will see a difference. You’ll have new friends. You’ll have tried new things. You’ll have changed your habits.

Each week on Monday, we will challenge you to a project, affectionately called “The Monday Project”. We will ask you to look closely at a particular area in your life and we’ll ask you to do something about it for that week. Yes, we’ll send you out into the world with your thoughts and we will ask that you come back Friday and post a link to your findings so we all can see what happened and we can grow from your words. These little projects aren’t mandatory, but they will allow you to get a glimpse of yourself from the inside and help you grow during your journey. (Plus they’re just fun! And I promise, they do help!) Because honestly, you can eat right and work out but if something from within you doesn’t change, the part of you that will allow you to get right back into bad habits after this is all over will still be there. And this is about changing your thoughts in relation to food and exercise, which will allow the weight-loss to follow and allow it to stay. Because we want the weight to come off and stay off.

Each Wednesday, like in past challenges and like today, we will weigh-in right here. You post your weigh-in weight along with a link to your blog with your post so we can all come by and leave you comments and sisterly love. The more sisters you visit, the more will visit you and vice versa. And the virtual support is key! If you don’t have a blog, that’s ok! Just leave your weight in the comments and we’ll talk to you right here.

Throughout this challenge we will have mini exercise challenges. And these make exercising really fun!! We’re here to try to take any “boring” out of this weight-loss journey and insert some “accountability!” By losing weight with my bloggy friends, I have lost 40 pounds! It works! This support system does work!

Of course we will also have giveaways throughout, well, because we roll like that! And also, tips, recipes, confessions, etc etc, well, because all of us at the Sisterhood have big mouths and lots to say! So you see? You must come here all the time, because we will post a lot and all of these posts will be really really useful and will help you to change your mind about how sucky the weight-loss journey can be.

Now before you go weigh-in, we want everyone to start off right. We want you to have the tools to be successful. We want you to have a plan. We want to arm you with resources. There are three things that will be key in your success and they are food, activity, and support. So in the coming days, try to do the following:

1. Sort out your food plan. Will you count calories? www.sparkpeople.com is perfect for that. Will you count points on Weight Watchers? (That one helped me break through a plateau.) Will you do Body for Life? Bob Greene’s Diet? Find an eating plan that you will most likely stick to. Then, go purge your pantries and your fridges. Go stock up on the good stuff. And if you’re not logging your food online, we highly recommend a food journal. It’s a big pain in the butt at first to log each calorie and each food, but it’s so worth the hassle in the end! And it helps you to pinpoint poor eating habits like snacking at night or that 3pm Mountain Dew (hubby!)

2. Get your workouts in order. Are you going to Shred? Are you going to run? Walk? Spin class? Do you have a run training plan? Do you have an athletic event to get ready for? Find one! Go sign up for a run that takes place in 7 weeks (www.active.com). Or find a DVD that takes 30 days to do, like Jillian’s 30 day shred or the EA Sports Active 30 day challenge! And then, literally write your workouts into your day and week for the next 7 weeks. Because if you don’t set aside the time for yourself, someone else will steal your time and for the next 7 weeks you have to make YOU a priority! I’ve seen it happen, everyone wants my time!!! BUT NO! I claim a 30 to 60 minute window MINE each day! MINE MINE MINE! You are worth it. Let me repeat: You are worth it.Start giving yourself back some of your worth by giving yourself back some of your own time. Find the best time for you and set it aside and let everyone know you’re serious about it because otherwise that mom/wife/sister/daughter guilt will set in and you need support at home! If you haven’t worked out in a while, talk to your doctor and get a quick checkup and physical. (Disclaimer: we are not doctors or fitness experts! We recommend things that have worked for us and we share our own experiences, that’s pretty much it. The doctors are the real professionals, we’re just here for support! But we do mean business! I’m just sayin.)

3. Finally, join join join! Have you joined our forum over at The ‘Hood? We post recipes, talk about exercising and gear, show off our pictures, cuss like truckers (just kidding. Sort of.) and chit chat. We’re also on Twitter and we tweet all day long (when do we have time for anything else!) We are also on Daily Mile where we log our workouts and send each other motivation and high fives. You can log anything from walks to rides to runs to swims and the all-encompassing “other”. And here’s a hint — we may have a mini-challenge using Daily Mile really soon!

Yes, we at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans want to infiltrate your entire life and mind so that we can help you reach your goal, whether it’s to run a 5k, maintain your current weight, lose 10 pounds or lose 100. We had some amazing successes and milestones here and we want you to be one of them! And when you do reach milestones, we have pretty little buttons for you to have for your blog! They’re BRAND NEW! Here, these are badges of honor. (When you reach these milestones, we will tell everyone, so make sure you let us know when you do!)

So, starting today, right now, go weigh in. Post about it on your blog. No, you don’t have to post your weight on your blog (I don’t, are you crazy!?) You can just post pounds lost on your  blog. But since we’re a “safe place”, please do leave your weight in the comments below and post a link to your blog. (We won’t tell anyone!)

• michael jackson this is it

Besides weighing in, there is only one mandatory rule for the next 7 weeks: THERE IS NO NEGATIVE SELF-TALK! NONE! Did you know it takes 12 positive statements to counteract just one negative one? So whenever you find yourself talking nasty to yourself, turn it around. Find the positive. If you feel frustrated, think about something good you’ve done. If someone compliments you, ACCEPT IT! Do not say, “THIS OLD THING??” If you say you can’t, show yourself you can.

I know this is the longest post ever and thanks for sticking it out this far.

Gosh, I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. I personally want to reach goals and overcome hurdles I’ve never reached before. I want to be better than I ever have before. I want to be a superhero! And I want to be on this ride with all of you! My first foray into weightloss was post-baby, 40 pounds overweight and at my personal rockbottom. I ran a 5k using the Couch to 5k plan then kept going to lose more weight, run further and faster and try new things (like biking and swimming too!)

So let’s let it start today. When we look back on 2010, I want us all to see how hard we’ve worked and how far we’ve come. 2010 is YOUR YEAR! Don’t let another year get away from you without taking back your body and your life!

So what do you think? Are you ready to Rethink Your Shrink? JOIN THE REVOLUTION! Change your body, change your mind! Start with just one little tiny comment below.

P.S. Go check out the new buttons Christy has been slaving over. They are FANTASTIC! New year, new buttons… Grab away!

Gather ’round Sisters and Brothers, because I have a very exciting story to tell. You see, it all started about a year ago when a couple of girls with uncomfortably tight jeans decided they wanted to shrink, and encourage other people to shrink, too. Then they recruited a guy, which kinda screwed up the whole Sisterhood name, but he was willing to roll with it. Well, guess what? It’s been a huge success. Their jeans are shrinking to sizes they’ve never seen before and they’ve made so many new friends. And all those friends? They’re shrinking, too. I know, right?!! It’s a dream come true.

Because those girls (and boy) loved what they were doing so much, they decided to find a way to make it easier and more fun for everyone to connect. Sure, there were comments on posts, and twitter was always around for getting their 140 characters out, but they longed for more. They needed more. They sought MORE. (Okay, one of those girls thought she found the more a couple months back, but it turned out to be not more, but a huge flop.)

Well, MORE has arrived. Right here, right now. It’s still called the Hood, but OMIGOD, it’s so much more. Seriously. You’re going to fall all over yourselves once you see how awesome it is (just don’t pull anything, k?).

Before you get all clicky and head over to the-new-improved-absolutely-MORE-Hood, sit back and relax while we woo you with all of it’s wonderful features. Close your eyes and visualize with us. Okay, wait, you can’t read if your eyes are closed, so just crack them a little so you can see the words. Okay, go to your happy place now…..

Personal pages, friends, forums, groups, chat, walls, music, photos, videos. YES! It’s kinda like Sisterhood Facebook. For real. It’s open to everyone, not just those wanting to lose weight, but those maintaining, those interesting in fitness, healthy living, nutrition, running, you name it!

1. Click here to Join The hood.
2. You’ll get an email asking you to verify your email address, so go ahead and click that link. VOILA!
3. Once you’re in The hood, you’ll be on the main page, but you’ll want to click on over to My Page (that would be your page) and get things all cozy. You can edit and move things around. Add apps, upload pictures, music, etc.
4. Friends: Just click on the members link and click on the avatar of the person you want to friend! You can check them out first, of course!
5. Forums: We set up some default categories for our forums. You’ll find the drop down menu up on the navbar. Just hover over it. Once you’re in the category you need, feel free to +Add a Discussion!
   • General – that’s where general stuff will go. Challenge info, help, welcome, introduce yourselves, etc.
   • Support – that’s where you want to go if you’re having a bad day. Heck a bad week. You need a pick me up, or maybe you have some encouragement to offer!
   • Fitness – you guessed it, it’s all about fitness. Right now we have a thread for the EA Sports 5K challenge, but feel free to start your own discussion!
   • Nutrition and Diet – Bingo. Pretty self-explanatory!
   • Recipe Swap – One of my faves!! Have a recipe you want to share? +Add a Discussion!
6. Chat: if you click on Chat in the navbar, it opens the chat window. You can click on a member to have a private chat. Or you can just chat out in the open and see who answers! Also, if you look at the bottom right of the page (only not when you’re on the chat page), there’s a bar with the chat feature! SA-WEET! You can change your status to offline if you don’t feel like chatting!
7. HELP!!!! – yes, we do have a help discussion already set up. Please let us know if you have any questions AT ALL by clicking Help in the navbar and typing out your question.
8. Invite: Because the hood is so freaking awesome, we want you to invite others to hang out with us! Just click Invite in the navbar and enter their email addresses!

So that’s kinda it in a nutshell! Go forth and enjoy the hood. That’s pretty much an order.

Oh, if you had previously joined the (other) hood, we’ve disabled it because it pretty much didn’t work like we thought it was going to. So sorry to have wasted anyone’s time :(

Good morning, friends!  How’s everyone doing this morning?

I am excited about all of the fun stuff that’s going on around here!  Are you participating in our Shrink For Good challenge and our EA Sports Active 30 Day challenge?  It’s never too late to join us!

I’m so excited to introduce you to two new people we added to the blogroll this week!

Toni @ Weigh to Goal

Melissa @ Mel Gets Fit

Sisters and Brothers, please help me welcome Toni and Melissa!!  Ladies, we’re so very excited you have joined us!

Have you joined us yet?  No?  Why not?

Where were you when you first found The Sisterhood?  Do you remember how excited you were?  I know I couldn’t have been the only one excited to find such an awesome site!

No matter how you found us, I know that you know what a special place this is.  We are here to support each and every one of you in your weight loss journeys.

Today I have two new members that I’d like for you all to welcome!

Mariah S. @ Happiness is the Ultimate Accessory

Jenny @ The Whole Jenny

Girls, we are so glad that you have found us and very glad to have you here!

Sisters and Brothers, please help me give these two ladies a warm welcome to our Sisterhood!

Calling all Sisters and Brothers!  Gather ’round, gather ’round!!  We’ve had a lot of new people join our ranks in the past few weeks and I want to introduce them to you!!

New to the Sisterhood and Blogroll we have:

Kathi

Laura D.

Char @ Losing The Weight And Keeping It Off

Lisa H. @ Lose with Lisa

Kate @ Diary of a College Dieter

Margie @ Margie’s Fitness Quest

Julie D. @ Daisy Mom to 4

Bella @ Bella on The Beach

Ladies, welcome to the Sisterhood!  We’re so glad that you’ve joined us!  Having a great support system is one of the keys to success in this thing we call weight loss, and here we are all about support!  Whether you’re at the beginning, middle, or nearing your goal weight (you never reach the end of your weight loss journey!), we are here to support you every step of the way!!

Sisters and Brothers, please help me welcome these fine new people to our Sisterhood, head out to their blogs and show them some Sisterhood love!