The Fat Girl's Guide to Living

Well, we asked and you delivered. I am so grateful for the feedback you’ve given us on our first year, your comments were insightful, detailed, creative and all-around helpful in letting us know what’s working, what isn’t, and what you wish we’d cover here at FGG. Thank you!

Toni and I will be scouring the responses in detail, and making adjustments in the coming weeks based on what we’ve learned about you. Stay tuned for more great stuff soon.

We had our trusty number-picker at random.org select the survey respondee number for our Walmart gift card giveaway. Congratulations to response #68, Cindy Saunders! We’ll get your gift card out right away, and thanks again!

If you haven’t already, head on over and let us know what you love (and don’t) about FGG – so we can make our second year even better than our first! You’ll be entered to win a $20 Walmart gift card in thanks for your feedback. Deadline is 11:59 pm (PST) on Friday, June 25.

See the original contest post here, or go straight to the short survey here.

Thank you!

We’ve answered your questions about everything from the best at-home workouts when you’re really out of shape to strapless plus-size bras to generously-sized ponchos, we’ve offered up practical guides on canoeing and fearless volunteering and hot-weather hiking when you’re overweight, we’ve even talked about sensitive stuff like chafing under fat rolls and sexual positions for overweight women. We’ve had a great time investigating all of these topics for you, and appreciate how much you’ve shared them in your social circles. Thank you!

This week marks FGG’s one-year anniversary (can you believe it?), and in honor of that we want to take the pulse of our readership, to find out who you are, what is and isn’t important to you, what you’d like to see more of, and any other feedback you’d like to offer. It’s a short survey, we promise — just 10 questions — and in thanks for taking a few minutes to fill it out, we’ll enter you in our random drawing for a $20 Walmart gift card.

You can find the survey here. We’ll close it up when we’ve got 100 responses, or on Friday, June 25, whichever comes first. The winner of the drawing will be announced on Monday, June 28.

Many thanks for helping us make FGG’s second year even better!

We asked, and you answered: “What’s the FIRST word that comes to mind when you think of yoga?” From your 100+ responses, we randomly selected a winner:

::drumroll::

Sherri, who wrote “***energizing***” as her one-word association with the word “yoga.”

Congratulations, Sherri!

Please email your mailing address to: letters AT fatgirlsguidetoliving DOT com so we can send your copy of Plus-Sized Yoga: Beginners Yoga for People of All Sizes by Donald Keith Stanley.

Thanks for playing along, everyone! Tee and I got a kick out of your creativity and humor when answering this question. And Sherri and anyone else who picks up a copy of this book: please write to tell us what you think of it–we love reader mail! Stay tuned, as we’re planning more reader giveaways in the future.

One of our first Fat Girl’s Guides covered how to practice yoga when your boobs and belly are, shall we say, significant enough to render certain poses difficult without a skilled instructor to offer alternatives. Now we’d like to offer our readers a free copy of Plus-Sized Yoga: Beginners Yoga for People of All Sizes by Donald Keith Stanley. A yoga student for many years, Stanley worked with yoga instructors and students to develop this guide for “the rest of us,” dispelling the myth that you have to look like a cover model to practice yoga. The book also covers the many benefits of yoga, including improved posture, stress relief, and improved focus and sleeping patterns – benefits Toni can happily attest to since returning to practice at the beginning of this year.

To enter, comment here with the FIRST word that comes to mind when you hear the word “yoga,” and you’ll be automatically entered in the drawing. (One entry per person and you must enter a valid email address).

The contest closes Wednesday, March 10 at 11:59 pm CST. A winner will be chosen at random from the comments, and will be notified by email within 24 hours after the contest closes.

“Better than Chocolate” – clitoral vibrator by Nomi Tang

Whew! The first Wednesdays of each month are quickly becoming known as “sexy Wednesdays” around here, with Peony’s hot new monthly column, Sex and the Single Fat Girl, and now a sexy giveaway from brand new FGG sponsor Eden Fantasys.

Popular blogger, FGG reader and sexy Eden Fantasys liaison, Cecily Kellogg, wants to give away a decadent Better than Chocolate clitoral vibrator to one lucky reader. To enter, comment here with a one-liner about your favorite chocolate snack or dessert, be sure to enter a valid email, and you’ll be automatically entered.

Contest closes Saturday, January 9, at 11:59 pm PST. A winner will be chosen at random from the comments, and will be notified by email within 24 hours of contest close. Only one enter per person.

Good luck, ladies!

I’ll even add a hot sparkle for emphasis

As 2009 lumbers on out of here, taking the first decade of the new century with it, we thought this would be a great opportunity to bid the year farewell. Why? Looking back and letting go allows us to make room for new and better things to enter our lives.

We know how hard women can be on themselves, and we fat girls can sometimes be even more brutal in our self-talk. So today we invite you to use the comments to kiss off whatever didn’t serve you in 2009. I’ll post in the comments, too. Ready? Set? Pucker up!