Modern Mom Challenge to Reach Your Fitness Goals

We'd like to thank Lolita AKA @ModernMom for Guest Tweeting at MomItForward's #GNO, she Guest Authors today.

When I first started ModernMom.com in 2001, I envisioned the site as 100% editorial – our writers and experts would dole out advice on a variety of topics relevant to moms without much two-way interaction. This was when I could pretty much count the number of mom sites out there on one hand and long before “social media” was the talk of the town.

Fairly quickly, however, I saw our site change and grow based on the power of our readers: they gave us feedback that we could instantly incorporate; they interacted with one another on our forums and shared advice; they helped us discover topics of interest that became our editorial features. It was the moms – our members – who directed our content and shaped what ModernMom.com is today.

The Modern Mom Challenge has always been a fantastic example of women supporting each other towards their goals. When we ran our first Modern Mom Challenge a few years ago, we brought in leading fitness and nutritional experts to guide the Challengers, but it was really our members and their support for each other – be it on our message boards, personally via email and instant messages, or through meetups in their cities – that really made the goals attainable. So this year, we’re embracing the power of our moms and social media to take the Modern Mom Challenge to a new level. The experts are the moms participating in the Challenge – through common goals, struggles and successes, we’re steadily making progress and getting fit and healthy in 2009.

My favorite quote so far from the over 100 blog posts (in just our first week!) came from Miss (of JustMiss), who said,

“The power of women... it's amazing what we do when we aren't at each other’s throats.”

Truer words have never been spoken!

#GNO Gets Fit!

Are you an expert in what your own body needs? Are you the expert mom of your daily diet; what it is and what it could be? Are you in need of more encouragement and less 'tell me what I should do'? Then the Modern Mom Challenge hosted by Lolita from @modernmom and Renee from @cutiebootycakes is for you!

Mom It Forward's #GNO, in an effort to help moms get fit, is partnering with these two Forward Moms for a topic of fitness, diet and exercise in the new year, new whole you! Come prepared to chat, learn, and encourage your fellow Forward Moms with Lolita and Renee our co- Guest Tweets! (photo by Sean Drileinger)

Are you in need of suggestions for how to find time for fitness in your busy mom life? Do you head to the gym faithfully? Do you grab the stroller and brave the outdoors? Do you have some ideas and tips for ways to support your fellow #GNO gals?

1. What has been your biggest challenge when trying to get healthy and fit?
2. What to you think will help motivate you to incorporate exercise into your life?
3. Do you notice fluctuations in your weight when you are experiencing changes in your life?

These and more to be answered Tuesday night!

Please leave any questions or suggestions you might have in the comment section and we'll compile them for the Guest Tweets to tackle during #GNO.

Are you new to #GNO? FAQ here!


Join us Tuesday, January 13 at 6 p.m. PST (9 Eastern) on Twitter (#gno) for an evening of health and exercise tips, support, goal setting, as well as your favorite #gno gal
chatter. RSVP here with your twitter url.... not your website url!
(Example: http://twitter.com/jyl_momif)






Member Questions:

• "How do you motivate yourself to start exercising" also If I walk up and down the stairs in my house 20x's- does that count? RachelFerrucci
• "Is it better to walk at a steady pace or do like the book Body for Life suggests a pattern of increasing your pace for a few minutes then slowing down?"
• Would love to find support from a virtual exercise buddy!

You're Invited to the GNO Holiday Party!

Dust off your jingle bell earrings.


Put on that holiday sweater! It's time...




...for the GNO Holiday Party.
Tuesday on Twitter at 6 p.m. Pacific (9 p.m. Eastern).

We'll provide the Eggnog Bread Pudding and you provide...
...why, your greatest girly gossip, of course! Oh! And a gift! But not just any kind of gift. Put on your creative hats for this one, because we're getting circusy. Think elephants.

Yep! We're having a virtual white elephant party! You know, the crazy, bizarre type of presents given to make GNO giggle. And this is where we want you to get creative. Here are some ideas:

Bizarre ecards? Check These Out.

Those goofy dancing elves? Groove With These.

How about a Christmas Joke? Giggle Here.


Locate a listing for the weirdest gift you can find?

Just the VOICE on this alone will win.

Or, what about style? It's Girl's Night Out after all. Dress Elmo would be perfect!


Maybe bring along the worst, longest sign-in form for some remote online network, where you can qualify to win a trip to Antartica?

These are just a few ideas to spark your creative juices! We expect some seriously funny and off the wall items... so hurry... go find your best bizarre bounty!

Finally... what is a gift without giving? Yah! We know. Virtual gifts are a little hard to open. So, here's what we are gonna do!

1. Post Your White Elephant Gift on the Mommy Gossip—GNO Group Wall on Facebook
   Did you know GNO has a group page on Facebook? Have you joined? Come be part of the fun and share your white elephant gifts by posting them on the wall.
   
   
2. AND...We have copies of @steveouch's new children's book STEAMPOTVILLE! SIGNED by Steve no less (!) for 4 lucky participants (we'll choose from the list of people that submitted white elephant gifts on the Mommy Gossip—GNO Facebook Group Wall! (And...special discount for GNO gals! See Steve's blog for more info.)
   

One more thing before you get giddy about your gift, scroll down to the post directly below this and RSVP! Enjoy your weekend and we'll "see" you at the soiree!

What Would a Christmas Party Be Without a Little "Fuss"?

We'd like to introduce our very funny and very popular Guest Tweet!

Alison, AKA Fussypants

She is quirky and silly and sassy and all around awesome. We are beyond excited to hear all about her favorite bizarre white elephant gifts and chat with her live during GNO.

This one woman dynamo has 5 boys! FIVE. {You Go Girl.} And she runs a truly funny and inspiring blog called Fussypants (who doesn't want to be Britney Spears?). She is the brains and the brawn and the "show a little leg" behind BlissfullyDomesitc.com, and with all that she is kind and approachable and...are you following Fussypants? Cuz you should be!

Meet Nicole From PinchMySalt.com—Our GNO Guest Tweet

This Tuesday promises to be the yummiest GNO of the year. And, what makes it even sweeter is this week's guest tweet. Join us in welcoming food blogger and photographer, Nicole, from Pinch My Salt and on Twitter @pinchmysalt.



We highly recommend you visit Nicole's site before GNO this Tuesday. 140 characters on Twitter will not be able to convey the mouth-watering pics and fantastic recipes you will discover on her tasty blog (like this scrumptious pumpkin roll shown above).

But first, a little about her... in her own words!

My name is Nicole and I love food!

Recently relocated to San Diego, my husband and I spent four years in Sicily, stationed at a U.S. Navy base. I have always loved to cook but the sights, sounds, and tastes of Sicily inspired me in ways I never could have imagined. Pinch My Salt is the result of those experiences.

Over the last few years, I have come to realize that creating a meal in my own kitchen is not only healthier and more economical than eating out, it’s also much more fun! Through this site I hope to share my enthusiasm for cooking and perhaps convince a few people that with fresh ingredients, a little imagination, and some good music playing in the background, anyone can cook great meals and enjoy it too!

RSVP using Mr. Linky in the post above. And, join us this Tuesday at Twitter for a tasty GNO!

Vote First & Chat About It Later at GNO

GNO: Let's Rock the Returns.

RSVP below and tell your friends that you will be at GNO on Election Night!

GNO falls on Election Day. Let's chat it up patriotic style. Does your husband sit in front of the TV, watching the returns half the night? Does he hog the computer and the cell phone so he can keep current on 3 different medias? Mine too. Husband or not, do you watch the talking heads and the numbers? Or are you more of a go-to-bed-and-let-Meredith-tell-you-about-it-in-the-morning type?

Think it's possible to have a nice, fun, friendly chat on something so split as the US's voting habits? I not only think we can, I think we'll have a virtual blast doing it!

Join us:

• DATE: Tuesday, November 4
• TIME: From 6 to 10 p.m. Pacific (7 Mountain, 8 Central, & 9 Eastern)
• PLACE: Twitter
• WHO: Guest Tweeters—Beth (AKA GreenStew) from GreenStew and Cheryl (AKA TheDailyBlonde) from DailyBlonde.
• TO DO: RSVP at Mr. Linky then check back and click on the names listed there to "follow" them on Twitter.
• RSVP: Enter your twitter ID (e.g., jyl_mommygossip) in Mr. Linky and your twitter URL (e.g., http://twitter.com/jyl_mommygossip). NOTE: Please do not enter your blog URL here!

Scroll down to the next post to read about this week's Guest Tweets.

Wanna be featured during this week's Topic Talk. Submit your Election-related posts now at mommygossipgno AT gmail DOT com.

Some GNO guidelines for congenial conversation:

• Put on your NICE face.
• Remember we can all agree to disagree.
• Keep in mind that being genuine is great, but being nasty is just Nasty.
• Type carefully! Remember that what's funny to you doesn't always come across as funny in type.

Introducing This Week's Guest Tweets!

We have two Guest Tweets for our GNO Election Topic this Tuesday, November 4. Each woman is funny. Each woman is genuine. Each woman is NICE. One is liberal. One is conservative. And Tuesday night, each will be chatting up the elections GNO style. RSVP using Mr. Linky on the post above. But before you do...

Give a warm welcome to our Liberal Guest Tweet.

Cheryl

Of DailyBlonde.blogspot.com she's witty and shares what she's having for breakfast. (Pepsi seems to be a trend). Follow her on twitter @thedailyblonde. Cheryl has been running play by plays on Twitter.com during recent debates. Hilarious, I promise.

I am a single Mom to five awesome children. I also have a spectacular man in my life who I can't imagine being without. I lost both of my parents over the past few years, so I am trying to carry on their sense of humor and love for life. I was born in New Jersey and grew up in Massachusetts. I went to college in Boston and somehow ended up in Rhode Island in 1992. I have been writing since I could hold a pencil. I am a freelance writer and also blog on almost a daily basis on The Daily Blonde . I am a contributing writer on MomFuse.com , a Moderator on Fabulously40 , the creator of Twitters Anonymous and I rarely sleep.

Let's give an equally warm welcome for our Conservative Guest Tweet.

Beth

Of GreenStew.com, she's frugal and points you to deals at the grocery store and online. Follow her on twitter @Greenstew.
Beth says she is only slightly right of center, but knows how to keep us all in line!

I am really good at finding deals, and a lot of people have been asking me to e-mail them my shopping list. So instead, I am posting my findings here.Right now I am saving about 75%, my goal is to get us to spend less than $75 a week.The name Green Stew is two fold. One: Green is money baby! Two: Green is the lifestyle we are trying to live. Green is better for the world…and Green is better for our wallets. Stew is just a fun word.

Tuesday's Twitter Theme

What Is This Week's Girl's Night Out Topic?

Chitting and chatting about whatever we fancy with other gossiping gals around the globe is what breathes energy into and keeps the excitement up at Mommy Gossip—GNO. Though we have heard about the infamous "7-minute lull in conversations," you would be hard pressed to find that happening at one of our fiestas! Keeping up with each other is definitely higher on the totem poll than figuring out what to talk about. Still... every party needs a theme! So, every week at Mommy Gossip—GNO, we select two topics—a theme if you will. They may vary completely from one another or they may be sub-topics, falling under the umbrella of a common theme. This week, the topic is travel. We will discuss travel-related issues such as, but not limited to:

• Where to Travel
• Hot Spots for Traveling With Kids
• Hot Spots for Traveling Without Kids
• Recommendations for International Travel
• Roadtrips
• Thanksgiving Travel This Year
• Traveling on a Budget

Who Is Our Guest Tweeter?
This week, we are pleased to have with us a guest tweeter—our first at Mommy Gossip—GNO. Not only is she a participating partier at GNO, but she is also a travel expert. You know her as @wandermom on Twitter. Let me tell you a little more about her.

Michelle Duffy is from Wanderlust and Lipstick. With her natural passion for travel, she and her husband left Dublin, Ireland in 1995 and after exploring much of the Western U.S., they settled in Seattle with their two boys. She has traveled extensively in the U.S., Europe, South and Central America with her family. Her children have so far: visited Machu Picchu, explored Mayan Mexico, enjoyed the view from the Acropolis and marveled at the kangaroos in South Australia. Michelle is currently finishing a book on family travel as part of the Wanderlust and Lipstick series. Traveling with Kids will be on the shelves in your local bookstore in early 2009. She is also planning a 15-month round-the-world trip with her family for 2010.

The best part? Michelle will be holding giveaways throughout the night's festivities over on her blog. Check it out to learn more.

Remember to sign up at Jyl's at MommyGossip or at Carissa's at GoodandCrazy using Mr. Linky.