Shrinkvivor Q & A

Shrinkvivor? Really? How on Earth do you come up with this stuff? In July of 2010, Melissa and Christy were hanging out on Christy’s front porch in the Texas hill country working on the site, and somebody on Twitter mentioned blogging and Survivor. BAM! The idea was formed and has totally evolved from there!

Can anyone participate? YES! This challenge is open to all! However, the prizes can only be shipped in the Continental U.S. Sorry!

I wasn’t around for registration, can I get put on a tribe now? Sorry, registration is closed and the tribes have already been formed. Feel free to follow along on your own and check-in on Wednesdays. You will not be eligible for prizes, though.

Can we change our Tribe name? Yes! We encourage you to make it your own! However, please keep the assigned color as part of it for reference. Example: Tribe Seafoam: Bonjour. Or, you know. Whatever.

Do you have buttons for me to display on my website? YES! Slap those babies on your sidebar. Go! Now! (pretty please?)

How do I submit my weight each week? Every Wednesday, on the weekly check-in post, you will find a link to the form to use for reporting your weight, tribe, fitness-challenge results, and your vote for Exile Island. The link will be the same each and every week.

I’m on the non-losing tribe, what do we do? Basically, since you are not weighing, you will not be voting each other off and are not eligible for the top prizes. You will compete in the fitness challenge each and every week though, and will still be eliminated from the game if you do not check-in on time!

What happens if I forget to weigh-in on Wednesday? Can I submit my weigh-in the next morning?  No. If your weigh-in is not submitted by 9 p.m. CENTRAL on Wednesday, it will not be counted and you will be out of the game. The end. Finito! If there is an unforeseen circumstance, you must email Christy or Melissa at support@shrinkingjeans.net BEFORE the deadline.

I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by voting them to Exile Island, can I leave it blank? Yes. You can leave it blank. Just keep in mind, if there are no votes or a tie, the tribe member with the lowest % of body weight lost will be sent to Exile Island. It could be YOU!

If one of our tribemates doesn’t report in, will another tribemate still be voted to Exile Island? No. If one or more of your tribemates doesn’t report, they are outta here and everyone else is safe until the next week!

What happens when I get voted to Exile Island? You are no longer a member of your tribe. You are now a part of Tribe Exile. This is the only tribe that will be growing LARGER as time goes on! There will be a prize package and the title of Exiled Shrinkvivor for the member of Tribe Exile Island that loses the biggest % of their total body weight!

Can I get off Exile Island? No. Once you are on the island, you are there for the remainder. Well, unless you don’t report in one week. Then you’re a goner. See above questions.

Do I have to photograph my scale every week? You should. To be eligible to be the Ultimate Shrinkvivor, you will need to have proof of your starting and ending weights!

Do I have to reveal my weight? If you aren’t comfortable with revealing the #s, you don’t have to mention them anywhere but on the weigh-in form. However, that said, we do encourage you to blog about it. Coming to terms with the number on the scale can aid you in your weight-loss. We will be revealing the total %s lost at the end of the challenge, though. We also encourage you to take before-and-after photos and measurements!

How will the fitness challenges work? This year, each week, the fitness challenge will be your total exercise minutes. This means your total time actually devoted TO EXERCISE. Shopping, getting groceries, or other ordinary tasks DO NOT COUNT. Must be actual exercise minutes. Running, lifting, kickboxing, #tworkouting… you know what we mean!

If a tribemate does not participate in the fitness challenge, a ZERO will be put in and used while figuring the tribe’s average. All the results for each tribe will be tallied and averaged to come up with the tribe’s total score. The top-performing tribe will be the recipient of the Immunity Idol. Trust me, you want this. We may even throw some prizes in every once in awhile.

Fitness minutes count from Wednesday mornings until Tuesday nights and are reported on the check-in form the following day.

Okay, so what is this Immunity Idol? It is the ultimate bling of Shrinkvivor. Only the best will get the honor of displaying this badge on their blogs for the week. Oh yeah, one small detail. The holder’s of immunity CANNOT get sent to Exile Island that week!! Ka-CHING!

How will we know who is voted to Exile Island? Each week, after we spend hours and hours tabulating, sorting, and analyzing, we will convene in tribal council. Tribal council will be aired on Thursday evenings. Watch it to see if your name has been written down and your flame extinguished. The current Tribe Exile Island List can be found here.

How many teams will be sent to Exile Island each week? One team will be eliminated each week. The team with the lowest cumulative % of weight lost. Keep in mind that if you have tribemates that have already been voted off or disqualified, their weights will not be a part of your tribe’s numbers anymore! If you are the bottom team and are holding the Immunity Idol, you WILL NOT be sent to Exile Island! Instead, the next lowest tribe will be sent!

What happens if there is only one remaining member of my tribe? First off, good for you!! *applause* Just keep doing what you’re doing! The only way you will get sent to Exile is if you are in the bottom tribe one week! That is… until the MERGE!

MERGE? What’s that? On Thursday, Nov 3rd, all remaining members of the tribes (not Tribe Exile) will be merged into one tribe! On the following Wednesday (November 9th), you will weigh-in as usual, as well as vote off one of the remaining participants. There will also be a fitness challenge that week, and the winner of the fitness challenge will be the holder of Individual Immunity and can’t be voted off!

THE END… How will it work? On Thursday, November 10th, one person will be voted to Exile Island and announced via Tribal Council. But hold on… we will also be announcing the TOP 7 remaining participants that get to proceed to the finale! All participants who don’t make the TOP 7 will become members of Tribe Exile.

The TOP 7… Seven of you will be selected be finalists, based on you outlasting your tribemates and your % of weight-loss since the beginning of the challenge. You will be given a list of questions that you MUST answer either via blog or vlog on your own site. Your post will be linked to on the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans and people will be encouraged to visit your post to see why YOU should be the Ultimate Shrinkvivor!

Voting for the Ultimate Shrinkvivor! Let’s hope you’ve been supportive and didn’t make a tribe of enemies along this journey, because you are going to need their votes to win the title! We will open up the vote on Saturday, November 12th at noon CENTRAL. You can blog, vlog, tweet, and Facebook your heart out to convince people that you are deserving to be named the Ultimate Shrinkvivor. Anyone can vote, once per day. Voting link will be provided on November 12th. Voting will close on Wednesday, November 16th, at 9 p.m. CENTRAL.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner! The Ultimate Shrinkvivor and the Exiled Shrinkvivor will be announced on Thursday, November 17th. They will both receive wonderful prize packages from our sponsors (to be announced!)!

Good luck!

We are not doctors, nor experts. We encourage you to consult your physician before starting any diet or exercise plan. We STRONGLY encourage losing weight in a HEALTHY manner, by dieting and exercise. We do not support or encourage the use of pills or extreme methods to lose weight. If we feel you are losing weight in an unhealthy manner, we will approach you about it and you man be disqualified from the competition.