Checking In. (EDIT)

*sorry to everyone who sent a paypal payment. I tried to set up a special account just for this, but it wouldn't let me verify my account and accept your payments, since I already have another paypal account. SO SORRY. I made a new button on the right to go into my regular account. 

Sorry you have to do it twice! 

Time to check in with all the 11-11-11 Losers. :) Is it offensive that I'm calling you losers? I'm trying to compliment you, and send you positive subliminal messages...You CAN and WILL lose weight.

Anyhow, I've been doing well for the past Day and a half. Lots of water, no sugar yesterday (BIG for me). Today, I did well, until 4:32pm. The hour before dinner. It seems to be my weak point of the day. Everyone is home, scrambling to get the last of my things done before we shift to dinner/bedtime mode. I'm hungry. I COULD have grabbed an apple. I COULD have grabbed some carrot sticks. I attempted about 3 to divert my chocolate cravings to a cup of Chocolatey Chai tea (only available in Canada, sadly, for this american girl). It worked for a bit. Then, I opened the cupboard. In a moment of poor judgement, I snagged a handful of mini marshmallows. It's a slippery slope...then, a few chocolate chips. UGH. I've been good about not buying "junk"...so all I have left is baking ingredients.

But, I hope to have reeled it at that point. It's been 10 minutes so far. Ha Ha! I'm pathetic.

But, I'm also determined to drop 11 pounds. I feel like it will help me in my running, to just feel, well, lighter. Funny how that works.

Dinner is looking good, though. Oven roasted chicken and carrots and potatoes. I keep telling myself, have a cup of tea. It feels you up, tastes sweetish. Keeps my fingers and lips busy from snacking on something I should avoid.

What is your strategy to avoid the munchies?

really, please share!

What is your weak point in the day where you find yourself mindlessly eating? 

Mine, is clearly, the hour before dinner. I need some of that Dessert Gum! No, really, I need to untrain the "need" for something sweet.

Keep at it, Ladies. The pot is growing! I think we're up to 13 gals now! Keep your eye on the prize...the real one. Being healthy and fit!

Don't forget to link up your blog, if you are blogging about your journey...if not, don't forget to enter your stuff on the spreadsheet!

11lbs for $11 in 2011-Let's be Losers!

apparently, i can't spell. LOSERS, not loosers.

Welcome to week 1, Losers! :) Thanks to all of you who've joined up for the 11lbs for $11 in 2011!  Here we go!

Details:
1.  Weigh In! Starting today, we weigh in on Mondays.  For weigh ins, round up or down to the nearest pound. Some of us have regular non-digital scales. For those of you who have digital... .1-.4 round down. .5-.9 round up. Please email me at 11lbsfor11in2011@gmail.com so i can add you to the google doc spreadsheet. Then you can login to enter your info. (Kim and Amanda, I don't have your emails)
2.  Pay up!  Part of the motivation is, the CASH. Use the paypal link on the right to chip in your $11.
First person to loose 11lbs and keep it off for 2 weeks, wins the pot O' cash. Remember, this is an honor system. Please, BE HONEST. 
3. How will it work?

• Enter your info- I set up a google spreadsheet here, but it's private. You'll only be able to view it and edit it if you've emailed me. 
• Link up! I have set up a link up system, so you can post your own updates on your own blog (or create a new blog for this purpose if you want...free blogs at www.blogger.com!) All you have to do, is make a new blog post, including your weekly update. Then, come back to the post for the week, and enter your info into the little magic box at the end of the post. A link to your blog post should appear after a few minutes. It should be a cool way for us all to check in on eachother and give encouragement as we become Losers. (you can click "get code" and copy and paste into your blog html code for the link up to appear in your blog post as well)
• What do I post? You can post as much or as little info as you want. I will probably post my weekly goals, my plan for getting there, and of course my weigh in. Now, you can share as much or as little as you want  on that...I'm going to suck it up and put my actual poundage. Not a number I love, but it's time to "own the bad dog" as they say. You can opt to just put your loss/gain if you want and not the actual weight if you want to keep that private. For the first week, maybe just share what your goal for the week is to get started, if you're not sharing your weight.  
• What if I'm not a blogger?  If you don't blog and don't want to blog, you can log into the Google doc on Mondays and input your info there. Here's the link to that.( Okay, the link isn't working...I'm working on it. for now, you can email me at 11lbsfor11in2011@gmail.com. )

4. NOTE: As I said before, this is not for extreme dieters. I consider No Carb, Cleanse or Fasting diets extreme (no offense...just not a fair competition for those of us going a different approach). I am looking for gals who are trying to make good food choices, with a balanced diet of all food groups :)

My personal goals for the week:

• I plan to cut waaaaaay back on my sugar intake. I have a major sweet tooth (literally, I have a cavity to prove it). It's my major downfall. 
• I want to eat breakfast every day.
• I want to drink 2-3 of my waterbottles per day this week.
• I plan to run 20 miles this week, spread over 4 runs, and at least one strength training mixed in on a non-run day.
• I'd love to see a 2 lb loss this week.

Weigh in 1/17/2011: 177lbs. (GULP. I can't believe I just put it out there.)
Goal Weight: 160-165 lbs.

Putting it out there.

It's time. I need accountability, and there's nothing like putting it into cyberspace to do it! I would love to loose a few pounds in 2011. I need a little kick start in my motivation to actually start making better daily food choices. SO, here it is. I'm starting a little friendly competition. Winner gets a great prize....first, the pride of knowing you kicked but and lost 11 lbs, and second...CASH.

11lbs, for $11 in 2011. Everyone who participates, chips in $11 into a pot. The goal is the first person to loose 11lbs and keep it off for 2 weeks, wins the pot. Now, there are a few rules.

1. No extreme dieting. I consider medifast, atkins, etc, extreme diets. I'm looking for friends who are trying to make healthy, well balanced choices with thier food, including all food groups and a normal range of calorie intake.

2. Weekly weigh in on Mondays. You don't have to post your weight, but you do have to post your weight lost (or gained if needed over the weeks to come). I am going to suck it up and post my actual weight on Monday (gulp), and I encourage you to do the same...no judgement.  I'm providing a linky button at the bottom of this post for our 11-$11-11 crew, and you can post your check in on your own blog, and then add the link to the bottom of your own post, and it should link you up here  for our group to follow.

3.  It's an HONOR SYSTEM.
1-I'm going to set up a paypal account, just for this. (link on the right to chip in) You'll need to trust me with your $11...and I PROMISE, I'm not going spend it on some new running shoes :) As soon as our winner hits their goal and keeps it off for two weeks, I'll send the big pot o' cash to them via paypal.
2-Since it's all by cyber accountability, there's no way other than honesty to keep it real. PLEASE don't let your inner competitor get the best of you and cheat. We have no way of knowing, but please be honest about your weight loss. Otherwise, when you spend your load of cash winnings, you'll be racked with guilt everytime you wear your new pair of skinny jeans you bought with the money :)

We start Monday with our first weigh in!! If you're in, email me at 11lbsfor11in2011 at gmail dot com and I'll be sure to include you in the reminder emails to link up! You can also make a blogpost about it, and link up here to let me know you're in.

:)

My hubby agreed to the gym membership :) yay! We did have to compromise that I'd wait about 2 weeks until he gets a reimbursement he's waiting for from his work. BUT the great news is, I found this 14 day free trial pass to use in the mean time! wahoo!! Thank you 24 hour fitness!

Feeling more hopeful about making my goal mileage this week of 20 miles. I know many of you have already blown that out of the water this week...but I'm ready to tackle my 20! Hubs agreed to be home by 3:15 tomorrow so I can get in a daylight run, have another 5 scheduled with my buddy Heidi on Wednesday morning, and hopefully a longer run on Saturday with Selene, and I'm trying to find a way to squeeze one more in there this week too.

Feels great to have a plan!

ho-hum.

I'm sat last night and mapped out my calendar for my marathon training plan. I'm actually thankful that my training falls in the summer months, and my hubby happens to be a teacher, so he'll be home for the summer months, which makes it alot easier to schedule those runs! It got me all excited. To see my weekly mileage schedule be right where I want to be...and peak at 36 miles...wow. Never thought I'd see the day I'd even WISH for that.

However.
The long dark days in a not so safe neighborhood mean no early morning runs, or even evening runs for me alone. I'm hitting only 1-2 runs per week right now...which is NOT going to add up to 1000 miles in 2011. They hubby and I are in "negotiations" about the smoking deal at Costco right now, for a 2 year 24 hour fitness membership for just $299 (yes, that comes out to $12.49 per month! Can't beat that!). Being the amazing and wonderful husband he is, he is in support of me getting it. I think he's thinking I could do it when we get our tax return, and I'm thinking, I don't want to wait that long to get crackin'! That will likely be in late February, and I want to be plugging away at my Tall Mom 1,000 miles THIS month. :) He promised we'll discuss it tomorrow, so we shall see.

Life is feeling a little Ho-Hum right now. 3 out of 5 of us have been under the weather this past week. Since we brought our little Miss Lucy home from Ethiopia this summer, it has been a s-t-r-e-t-c-h of illness in this household. Nothing terrible, but constant nasal drip and nagging coughs. I am so SICK of sickness. It's really exhausting when there is constantly an under the weather irritable family member. I'm TIRED of the weekly trips to the dr office. Not excited about being THAT mom, who calls the dr's assistant all the time, so they know me by name. Trying to figure out my 2 littlest ones health issues is getting old...but they of course are more than worth it :)

On the other hand, it's forced us to stay home more. I'm not a super duper home body. I like to GO. Our level of out of the home commitments has dramatically changed this year, and I must admit, I'm kind of liking it. At times, I feel like I'm going to crawl out of a window and run away just to get some fresh air...and other times, I'm enjoying that I CAN snuggle up on the couch with my little ones because we just have no place we have to be.

So, I am feeling a little stuck in ho-hum land right now. No real change in sight. Wondering what God is trying to teach me and prepare me for in the new year. Wanting to be open to that. Trying to just settle into the blessings I have .

2011....

Been mulling over my goals for running in 2011....2010 running caught me by surprise.

I didn't set out to start running. I just wanted a little alone time, and accidentally found myself running in a half marathon! I fell in love with it!


I'm so excited to solidify myself as a runner this year. Here's so far, I have two races on my radar.

The Eugene Half Marathon in May with my running buddy Selene. Then I'll roll right into my training for the Portland Marathon in October with Selene, and hopefully others who want to help out the orphanage in Ethiopia with us and Courts for Kids!

The Vancouver Girlfriends Half was SO much fun last year, I'm a little bummed about not doing it this year...but I had a group of girlfriends last year who had a girls weekend in September in Eugene for the Women's Half...so maybe I'll do that one as a ramp up for Portland in October. I just don't know if I could get my legs moving for Girlfriends so close after Portland.

I'd love to do a few smaller races too, but don't know what yet. Any suggestions for local Portland area races? maybe 10K's? I have never done one...but would love to. I think I need to convince my hubby to let me add a "racing" line to our monthly budget :)

I am also thinking about joining Tall Mom's 1,000 mile club. I didn't start tracking my miles until later in the summer this year, and I wasn't totally hard core about tracking. But, I think I clocked around 450 miles, and I only ran about half the year....so, I think I could do it. It would be good to have a goal to hit about 20 miles per week.

Looking forward to feeling better this week, and getting in some mileage with my friend this weekend!