P90X Giveaway Winner (Plus Crabby's Secret Plot to Conquer the Health Blog Universe)

Did you win the P90X giveaway? And what's this about "secret plots?"


So here's the deal:

Hold Up Crabby, Not So Fast: Where the Hell is This Week's Giveaway?

Sorry folks, I'm afraid this week's planned giveaway got postponed! Why? Well, it's a combo giveaway/review, and I didn't actually get around to trying the product yet. Not just because of general laziness, or even the fact the product requires some simple assembly and the Lobster is out of town and she's is the only one in our household capable of assembling anything more challenging than a cup of coffee.

No, as it happens, the excuse... rationalization... really good reason for the delay is that a review post of a fitness contraption really should include demonstration pictures! And the Lobster is the Official Cranky Fitness Photography Department, and she won't be available for a few more days.  So the next giveaway post is just going to have to wait a bit.

Last Weeks Winner: So who did the Random Number Generator bestow with the P90X? That would be:

Commenter #8: Laura (akaWonderWife!)! Congrats, Laura! Please email me to claim your prize by end of day Friday the 12th!

And so what's this about a scheme to take over the Blogging Universe? Well, I'm hoping to get some help here folks.

Sneaky Conspiracy To Help Cranky Fitness (and all your Favorite Health/Fitness/Weight-Loss blogs) Get More Readers:

Here's a weird thing I've noticed from my blog statistics: If you google "best weight loss blogs" or variations thereof, often Cranky Fitness lands fairly high up on the list. Why? I have no idea! And not surprisingly, anything to do with "weight loss blogs" is VERY popular with search engines. (And just wait for all those New Years Resolution googlers.... mmm, fresh tasty newby blog readers who don't know where to go...heh heh heh... sweet innocent googlers just waiting to be snapped up by voracious audience-hungry health and weight loss bloggers, yumm... )

But the sad thing is: googlers who arrive here land on a vintage "readers choice" blog post that misses out on some of the best weight loss blogs, and includes a lot of blogs that no longer exist. Plus, there are no categories for health blogs, fitness blogs, humorous blogs etc!

But what if Cranky Fitness were to leverage this undeserved Google karma and host an updated list of all of the truly best current health, fitness, and weight-loss blogs? The ones that we all know deserve more readers but don't necessarily have advertising budgets or corporate sponsorship? (Though there will be a category for those, too!). Wouldn't that be better for the googlers, better for the bloggers, and, err... um... perhaps better for Cranky Fitness?

Problem is, Cranky Fitness needs to regain lost readership before mounting another Reader's Choice official poll, or it will be a pretty short list.  The big-deal poll (which will also include a giveaway inducement, I'm thinking) probably won't happen until fall.

So then, why am I announcing this now? 

Loyal Readers Get Extra Clout: People who are here now, in the health blogging world's deadest, dustiest, dullest summer season, are my favorite folks! You're the people whose judgment I trust the most.  I've been out of the loop for a while now, and I simply don't know which the best blogs are anymore.  So any of you that comment or email me with suggestions as a result of this post: these will count at least double. And they won't keep you from nominating or voting again later either! Also, this time I'm going to give myself nominating and voting power too, to make sure good blogs don't get left off because no one thought to nominate them, and your choices will be on my mind ahead of time. (Note: all these Nefarious Vote-rigging Schemes will be fully disclosed in the Official Rules of the Reader's Choice Poll, because whatever, who reads the rules anyway?)

So whaddya say? Anyone want to clue me in to the best weight-loss and other health & fitness blogs? A link and a brief description of the blog's awesomeness, either by commenting here, email, or on Facebook, would be most appreciated!

P90X Giveaway!

So the next giveaway in this summer's "bribe reluctant readers back to Cranky Fitness" extravaganza includes male readers and Canadians for a change! This P90X giveaway is actually a two-part affair; the second giveaway will happen in a few months when the P90X2 comes out.

But, you may be wondering, what the heck is a P90X and why should you be excited that it will have a sequel? And wait, who is last weeks New Balance giveaway winner?


Patience, Grasshopper, all shall be revealed!

Last weeks winner: The Random Number Generator chose #41, which means that commenter "Sinner Ella De'Ville" is the winner of last week's prize. Congratulations! Now be sure to email me to claim your New Balance UV protective stuff by end of day Friday August 5th. The Random Number Generator is notoriously over-eager and loves to generate randomness whenever it has the opportunity.

So what's cool about the P90X? Those of you who watch infomercials do not need remedial instructions, and some of us have heard tell of it through blogs, forums, and other online gatherings of hard-core fitness enthusiasts. But for the unitiated, it's a set of 12 DVD's developed by Tony Horton that comprises a 90 day program to get you fit, fast.  From what I've heard, this series will kick your ass.  If you're wanting to transform yourself into a fierce, buffed, insanely-well-conditioned superhuman and have a fair amount of self-discipline, this is supposed to be pretty darn helpful.

Have I tried it myself? Not yet!  I may be reviewing the new P90X2 when it comes out. Tony's program uses the concept of "muscle confusion," which sounds promising in my case. I figure if my brain is so easily bewildered, my muscles probably stand a fair chance of getting confused too, and if that means better fitness, then bring it on! (Although, goodness, watching the new P90X2 video I have to confess it looks intense! Fingers crossed that this Crab has what it takes to hurl herself around a room like the hardbody fitness models do so enthusiastically.  I'm thinking caffeine may have to play a large part in pre-workout planning.)

Now on to the P90X giveaway! To enter, just leave a comment; winner will be selected by the Random Number Generator.  Then check back next Wednesday the 10th to see if you won; you'll only have until Friday Aug 12th to claim your prize or the RNG will pick a new winner.  And you'll need a US or Canadian mailing address to receive the DVD set.

Good luck!