Wanted: a future PriorFatGirl, mom edition!

Back in November, you and I had the pleasure of meeting 10 amazing individuals who all were fighting through their healthiness journey, and wanted to share their journeys with you.  After a tough vote , we welcomed Elle, a priorfatgirl and JP, a priorfatguy to the family!

What started out as a place for me to document my journey has now grown to be a full family:

• Amanda, a priorfatgirl
• Elle, a priorfatgirl
• JP, a priorfatguy
• Lindsay, a priorfatgirl

Although each of us have experienced our own complex dynamics that make fighting the healthiness fight hard, there was something missing. 

The one thing we don’t get, is what it’s
like for moms to fight for their healthiness journey.

In collaboration with Robin Rock, an amazing and nationally syndicated radio personality, I’m pleased to announce the search for the next priorfatgirl, mom edition! (Full podcast here.) Here’s how it’ll go:

• Self-Nomination Deadline: Submit your self-nomination prior to FRIDAY, APRIL 1st, 2011 at 10pm CT. {See how to self-nominate & rules of self-nomination below)
• Self-Nomination Review: Jen, a priorfatgirl, will select the top choices based on multiple criteria – those selected will move onto the 2nd round. {See nomination review criteria below.}
• PriorFatGirl Reader Voting: During the week of April 11th, Jen, a priorfatgirl, will post the top choices and will allow for priorfatgirl readers to vote on who the next priorfatgirl will be.

How to Self-Nominate:

Send a 700-1,000 word email to jen@priorfatgirl.com describing why you want to join the PriorFatGirl family. Also include a link to your blog (will not be shared during first round) and a photo of yourself. Feel free to expand on any combination of the below suggestions:

- your physical & mental healthiness goals.
- what healthiness means to you.
- how you plan to change your life, not just your diet.
- what you’ve learned from blogging & other healthiness bloggers.
- anything else about your journey you feel relevant.

Do not go over 1,000 words — Jen, a priorfatgirl has a short attention span!

Rules of Self Nomination:

These are rules, not guidelines. Blogging guidelines (as in, suggestions) will be provided to the selected priorfatgirl. To self-nominate:

You must be a mom: As much as I consider myself a mom {Iggy is my love}, I’m pretty sure real human kids are different. To nominate yourself, you must have a child (or multiple) 18 yrs old or younger living at home. The rest {your work schedule, marital status, living situation} I’ll leave up to you.

You must have an active blog: Don’t roll your eyes – blogging is tough. Fighting through your healthiness life is tougher. Doing them together, at the same time is redonkulously hard.  An active blog, for self-nomination purposes, means more than 1x per week. Your blog does not have to be health focused – it is more so to show that you know what you are getting yourself into. {Your personal blog will not be shared in first round and only will be shared after your approval.}

You must not rely on quick fix diets, pills or any other fad idea: You know the drill. Being healthy is forever. Eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast and lunch is not. Nor is some crazy infomercial idea. To nominate yourself, you agree to fight through not only the physical barriers of being healthy, but the mental without the help of a quick fix. You also agree that you will fight to figure out what healthy means to you. If something doesn’t work, try, try again.

You are willing to fight…publicly: Your personal life will still be your personal life – you can set your own boundaries on what you share but being a part of the PriorFatGirl family means allowing yourself to be vulnerable to growth. There IS a way to share that you are dealing with external stresses and how it effects your healthiness journey without airing your dirty laundry.

Additional terms: Priorfatgirl does not edit or scrutinize posts. A blog is personal journal for individual use. That said, the PriorFatGirl brand and what it stands for should be held in high regard. Additional guidelines will be provided during each additional stage of the process.

Self-Nomination Review:

During this process, Jen, a priorfatgirl, will review applications and select which applications move onto the 2nd round. Applications will be reviewed on multiple criteria which includes but is not limited to:

Trueness to yourself: I’m looking for someone who can be honest with themselves. Someone who can look herself in the mirror and acknowledge they are the only one who can do this…and then go do it. It is easy to talk the talk but a priorfatgirl is someone who can walk the walk.

Writing/Communication Style: While each priorfatgirl should have their own individual writing style, it is important that they can genuinely articulate their experience. Grammar and spelling does not have to be perfect but it should be fluid and interesting to the reader. This means being able to convey humor, sadness, frustration, excitement and anything else that helps the general flow of story.

Appreciate where you’ve been, where you are and where you are going: Everyone starts somewhere. This is not about finding someone who has the most weight to lose — this is so much more than that. This is about someone who can truly appreciate their own healthiness journey for what it truly is – a learning process. This is about someone who can truly appreciate each step of the learning process and can embrace life lessons.

Anything else I feel appropriate: There is no “mold” a priorfatgirl will fit. Because this is such an individual journey, applications will be selected on a variety of other selection criteria including their previous blogging journey and fight among others.

PriorFatGirl Reader Voting:

The week of April 11th, the selected self-nominations will be shared — it will be up to the PriorFatGirl readers to select who will become the next PriorFatGirl, mom edition! Additional voting instructions will be announced at that time. This is not a popularity contest — this is life. Begging for votes is not encouraged.

So, what are you waiting for? This is open to all bloggin’ moms, in ANY country. Let the self-nominations begin!