Being a Loser: How Friendship and the Web Helped 7 Ladies Lose Pounds

Take seven dynamic women, add a dash of social networking and throw in
a true desire to lose weight, and what do you get? The Cincinnati
Losers. In the fall of 2008, seven women started a serious
conversation about wanting to lose weight. Originally started on
Twitter, @AmyInOhio, @MichelleLentz, @winemedineme, @kate_the_great,
@redkatblonde, @ShannanB and @LMDeaton recognized a shared need to lose weight and get healthy. So, the women formed a Twitter group called the Cincinnati Losers. As bloggers themselves, the women quickly recognized that sharing their stories with the other women would not only be motivation for them, but motivation for other women trying to lose weight. And thus, the blog began. The result? A group effort, where our successes and failures are chronicled publicly on the Cincinnati Losers blog (http://cincinnatilosers.blogspot.com/).

Our panel discussion is not so much about losing the weight as it is about the experience. Blogging about weight loss for the world to see was a big step for a lot of us. Blogging our failures was an even bigger step. As a group, it was easier to accomplish a lot of things, as each of us knew we had the support of six other women. Wonderful friendships, which extend outside of blogging and weight loss, have been forged by our blog.

How much weight have we lost? At the moment, that’s to be determined, as the project is on going.

This panel would be presented by all seven Cincinnati Losers: Shannan Boyer, Amy Cribbs, Laura Deaton, Julie Niesen, Michelle Lentz, Katy Crossen, and Monika Royal Roberts.

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