Anyways, back to the big competition! Round of applause to our Week 3 Biggest Loser, Darrah! Heidi once again topped the charts for exercise.

Today’s challenger profile is rockin’ fellow mom-of-twins, Sarah.

1. Intro

My name is Sarah. I live in the D.C. suburbs with my husband and 7 year old twins. I work from home as a freelance writer, working on social media projects and selling swag. You can always find me complaining or waxing poetic about football or hair metal on Sarah and the Goon Squad, Draft Day Suit, That’s Right. You Heard Me, Aiming Low or on twitter as @goonsquadsarah.

2. What are your fitness and/or weight-related goals, both for this competition and longer-term?

Honestly I just need to lose some of this belly. I am tired of hating my body. I turn 40 in December and I want to be 160 or under on my 40th birthday.

3. What is your least favorite part about getting fit / losing weight? Or, what is the hardest part or biggest obstacle? Have you figured out any ways to deal with those challenges?

I have issues with beer. And wine. And food. I am usually pretty good during the day, but the afternoon kills me. At about 3:30 I want to eat salty things. I am starving until dinner, where I over eat. Working from home it is hard to not accidentally eat an entire box of crackers.

4. What part do you like the most? What comes the easiest for you, what do you enjoy, what do you find the most rewarding?

Once I get rolling on the exercise part I feel better in general and then it is easy to keep going. Plus, I can watch live streaming “Friday Night Lights” on Netflix from my elliptical. I find motivation in looking better.

5. Where do you find motivation, how do you keep yourself on track? Competition? Routine? Keeping things fresh? Comparing yourself to all of the pretty girls from high school on Facebook?

I am bad at this part. Really my best motivator is self-disgust. Charming, I know.

6. What is your favorite type of exercise, and why?

I love my elliptical, mostly because I can watch tv and play monopoly on my phone for 45 minutes without anyone pestering me. I do it at home, whenever I can. I am really trying to do it at least four times a week.

Oh, and I hired a personal trainer. She is awesome, but she can’t stop me from eating.

7. Any favorite healthy foods? Great recipes, tasty snacks, or any other tricks that help you keep the food part under control?

Um… water?

You guys are awesome! Seriously, between us we logged SIXTY FOUR HOURS of exercise. Not too shabby!  Big ups to C.Y. for being the biggest loser of the week, and to H.O. for logging the most exercise minutes. Can’t wait to hear about week 2!

And, speaking of H.O., she is our profile contestant today! Ladies and gents, meet Heidi…

1. Intro

This is Heidi Ongbongan. I live in Las Vegas, NV. I have 1 husband, 3 kids, 1 dog and an au pair. I am currently in graduate school at UNLV for School Counseling and plan to get my certificate in community mental health. When I am on break, I inhale books which is good for amazon. My older two kids and I take wushu, type of KungFu that is more used for movies and performances. My twitter name is hidjbo.

2. What are your fitness and/or weight-related goals, both for this competition and longer-term?

I plan to lose 12-15 stubborn lbs and get back into shape. My goals long term would be to run a marathon, do an olympic triathlon and bike another century. I really miss the endurance sports that I did before kids. I, also, would like to get back to doing yoga regularly since it helps me feel strong. And I want to look good for my sister-in-law’s wedding in April.

3. What is your least favorite part about getting fit / losing weight? Or, what is the hardest part or biggest obstacle? Have you figured out any ways to deal with those challenges?

My willpower is my hardest challenge. I really let the Fall take it out of me. I didn’t take as good a care of myself as I needed. I need to get back to eating a more healthful diet. I need to rebuild my physical base as well.

4. What part do you like the most? What comes the easiest for you, what do you enjoy, what do you find the most rewarding?

I enjoy exercising and doing yoga with my friends and we should be able to do that again this spring unlike the hectic fall that we had. I really enjoy running and I have missed it and haven’t been doing it like I need to.

5. Where do you find motivation, how do you keep yourself on track? Competition? Routine? Keeping things fresh? Comparing yourself to all of the pretty girls from high school on Facebook?

I think my motivation will come from having this group as well as having my clothes fit better. I need to get my cholesterol checked during this competition so that is good motivation to eat better. Keeping things fresh might help to but for me it is about not going it alone.

6. What is your favorite type of exercise, and why?

I enjoy the social aspect of exercise and it is a real motivator for me. Right now I have been exercising at home which is painfully boring. Starting next week, I will be exercising at the gym on campus at least two to three days a week. I really enjoy Kung Fu because it is cardio, strength, and stretching all rolled into 1 hour a week with giggles and my kids encouraging me.

7. Any favorite healthy foods? Great recipes, tasty snacks, or any other tricks that help you keep the food part under control?

I am a big fan of greek yogurt and grape nuts for breakfast. I love Rachel Ray’s Turkey Chili which is super easy and filling.

And for the Twitter nerds, I’m calling #MYFA our official hashtag.

Anyways, on to our first challenger profile!  Many of you in the twin mom blogosphere know Sadia, and here she is to tell you about herself!

1. Intro

Army wife of 8 years; 5-year-old smartass twins; living in El Paso; from the UK or Bangladesh or some generic US location-not quite sure; telecommute to my software quality assurance job at a state university. Can be found blogging these days at How Do You Do It?, formerly at Double the Fun.

2. What are your fitness and/or weight-related goals, both for this competition and longer-term?

For this effort, I’m aiming to lose 4.5 lbs, just for the purposes of having a numeric goal. (On my small 5’0″ frame, 5 lbs is quite a lot!) My longer term goal is to be active, healthy and strong. When I get lazy about working out, my back starts to hurt, and I seriously dislike pain.

I have to be able to keep up with my skipping, dancing, running kids and jock husband!

3. What is your least favorite part about getting fit / losing weight? Or, what is the hardest part or biggest obstacle? Have you figured out any ways to deal with those challenges?

Life gets in the way, and it’s hard to rationalize “me” time when there’s so much to do. I just have to remind myself that I don’t need so much sleep when I’m exercising!

4. What part do you like the most? What comes the easiest for you, what do you enjoy, what do you find the most rewarding?

Once I’m past that first workout, I love how at one I am with my body; I also love what I’m showing my kids.

5. What is your favorite type of exercise, and why?

Pilates! I don’t like to sweat unless I have time for long, long shower, and what mom has time for a long shower!?

6. Any favorite healthy foods? Great recipes, tasty snacks, or any other tricks that help you keep the food part under control?

My trick is to let myself have the odd treat, but if I start stuffing my face with chocolate, I pour myself a glass of water every time the craving hits. It passes after a couple of days.

I use Sparkpeople to track my food intake, and it invariably tells me that I’m not getting enough protein. The white of hard-boiled eggs and cooked lentils are favourite ways I can up my protein intake.

There are 24 of us signed up right now, and I am so excited about this response. If there are any last-minute stragglers, I’d be happy to let you in if you email me a starting weight and $10 through Paypal by the end of the day today (Monday). For the rest of you, LET’S GET IT ON!

[Also? This thing needs a name. Any ideas? All I've got is "get your fat ass off the couch, Liz," but GYFAOTC,L is a terrible acronym.]

I’ll be profiling a bunch of our competitors during our 8 weeks, and I figured I’d kick it off with my own answers. Hope you don’t mind. (And yes, there will be “normal” programming on this here blog over the next two months, too. Don’t go away!)

1. Brief Bio

Um, I’m pretty sure you guys know me. I’m Liz. I live here. 33 years old, SAHM, 4.5-year-old twins, almost-1-year-old Ellie. When I find a few free minutes, or am trying to avoid laundry, exercise, or something else more important, I like to make quilts.

2. Fitness/weight goals, for the competition and longer-term

I’ve decided not to hide the details and just tell you my real numbers. Today, I am 215 pounds. GROSS, I HATE IT, ETC.  My goal for the eight weeks of the competition is to lose about 10 pounds. A little ambitious, but totally do-able if I stay on track. Longer-term, I would like to be down 30 pounds by my step-sister’s wedding in July, and a total of about 50 pounds. But I can’t think about the big number, I have to break it up. So for now, my focus is this 10.

3. Least favorite part about losing weight / getting fit

That first week or two of changing eating habits SUCKS SO HARD. All I can think about is eating. Specifically, eating complete junk. Stuffing my face with it.  After a week or so, I remember the tricks and recipes, and it gets a little easier… until I lose track, again.

4. Favorite / easiest / most enjoyable part of the process

Once I get into a groove with exercising, I really do enjoy it. I feel good doing it, I feel even better after I’m done. I feel stronger, more productive, and generally like a better version of myself.

And as much as I wish the weight would come off of my belly first, it’s kind of nice that my face tends to show the differences relatively quickly. Makes me hate photos a lot less.

5. Where do you find motivation?

Obviously, competition is an extra kick in the pants for me. I also do best with structure and routine, so I stop having to convince myself to exercise every time – it’s simply what I do on that day, no thought required.  And a deadline really helps (like the bridesmaid dress for my stepsister’s wedding, ahem).  I’m also such an extrovert, I have to have buddies. I need people I can talk to or compare notes with.

6. Favorite type of exercise

I really like Spinning. It’s a really hard workout, and it’s a group class, which I really like (nice to have an “appointment” to exercise, knowing I have to show up at a particular time). But I love that I can go at my own speed if I need to, without being terribly noticeable or getting in anyone else’s way.

7. Food tips and tricks

The more water I drink, the better I feel. Fewer headaches, fewer cravings, less hungry overall.  I also have a rule that I do not eat after 8PM. We have dinner at about 6:30. If I’m still eating after the kids go to bed, then it means I’m mindlessly grazing for sweets. It’s never because I’m *actually* hungry. So, after 8PM, nothing but water until breakfast. It’s hard the first few days, but I get used to it quickly and I can only imagine how many completely unnecessary calories it removes from my day.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to start up a contest, open to anyone who wants to join. I find a bit of competition, along with a real prize on the line, can be the extra incentive I need to get going.  Here’s how it’s going to work:

TIME:  The competition will begin next Monday, January 16.  It will run for 8 weeks, ending on Monday, March 12. Entry fee (all money will go into the “pot” and be distributed to winners at the end) is $10/person, via Paypal.

STAKES:  We will be competing primarily with weight loss, Biggest Loser-style.  The person who loses the greatest percentage of weight after eight weeks is the first-place winner, and will win 75% of the money that we gathered from each participant. Of the remaining competitors, the person with the most exercise recorded will win the remaining 25% of the money.  So even if you lose weight slowly, or don’t have nearly as much to lose from a percentage-standpoint, you can still be a winner. Invite your friends! The more people we have, the bigger the prize!

RULES:

1. To be entered in the competition, you must email me your starting weight (just between you and me, I PROMISE) and send $10 via Paypal by next Monday morning, January 16. Email and paypal: goddessinprogress (dot) blog (at) gmail (dot) com
2. To remain in the competition and be considered for the prizes, you must email me by Monday morning of every week with your weigh-in and amount of exercise. If you miss more than one check-in, you will be dropped. I will remind you, but I will not pester you.
3. Weight should be reported in pounds (out to one decimal point, as in “185.4,” if you like). You can weigh-in any day of the week that works for you, but you will only report to me once per week, no later than Monday morning.
4. Exercise should be reported in minutes (as in “150 minutes,” not “2.5 hours”). Cardio and strength/resistance training are welcome, as is active stretching like a yoga class or video. It should be something that makes your heart rate go up and get you sweating. It should be reported as the total minutes from Monday through Sunday.
5. DON’T BE A JERK. This is the honor system. I very much appreciate that you are placing some trust in me by sending $10 my way and believing that I will distribute it exactly as I say I will. I am making that promise to you. PLEASE do your part and report your weight and exercise truthfully. The point of this whole thing is to create and/or reinforce healthy habits. Let’s treat that goal, and each other, with respect.

FEATURES:  I would love to feature write-ups on any participant who would like to be mentioned. When you sign up and toss your $10 into the pot, I will email you a brief set of questions. Email me back your answers and I will dedicate a post to wonderful you!

I will also try to check in each week with updates on how we’re doing as a group, as well as shout-outs to people who have particularly great weeks.

Thoughts? Questions? Jump on in, friends, let’s kick each other’s asses. In the nicest way possible, of course.

Also, if you’ve got a clever name for this contest, I’m all ears!

(Oh, sorry, did I forget the TMI warning? Oh well.)

Well, I think it was. Truth is, I haven’t been paying terribly close attention. I make a general mental note of when it shows up, and roughly when I expect it to show up again, and then don’t give it tons of thought.

Then my PMS symptoms showed up, a bit earlier than I expected them to, but OK. And then… nothing. Nothing happened. And my PMS symptoms are alarmingly similar to my early-pregnancy symptoms.  For two weeks, I freaked right the hell out. I tried to pretend like I wasn’t. I tried to act like it was just a mild curiosity, but really no big deal at all.  But I was straight-up freaking out.

I’d say about 95% of me wanted to curl up and hide at the idea of adding another kid to our family.  Most days, I feel like I more-or-less have my act together, but it’s an incredibly delicate balance. The “barely controlled” part can fall off of the “chaos” at any moment, and frequently does. To paraphrase something M said to me, the water is high enough that I already feel like I could use a snorkel. The idea of piling more on… just gives me heart palpitations.

Sure, there was the 5% of me that knows I’ll just deal with whatever is thrown my way. That if there was an “oops,” we’d love that part of our family just as much as the rest.  That I’d get over it and get excited.

But when I finally dared to pee on a stick and it was resoundingly negative? Oh, I almost fainted from relief.  And two days later, when that dang period finally showed up, I thanked my lucky stars.  There was no ambiguity, this was very very good news.

Yes, this anxiety is very much of my own creation, since I’m the one who has vowed never to take hormonal birth control again. I took it with great success for the better part of a decade. But having tried both an IUD and the pill post-babies, I now find the hormones turn me into a crazy person with serious anger issues, so no more.  There are… ahem… other preventative measures in play, but I know perfectly well that almost nothing has a 100% success rate. So I’m perpetually a little nervous. I’m working getting M in for the service disconnect (his words!), but he is somewhat understandably dragging his feet on that whole “putting your junk under the knife” thing.

Regardless, having mentally lived with the idea of a fourth kid for a terrifying week or two has pretty much removed the last shred of doubt from my mind. NO NO NO. Not that I was seriously considering it. I mean, really, the first time we rolled the dice, we had spontaneous fraternal twins. The second, we got the Magical Mystery Patient.  Yeah, I’d say we’re done taking our chances.

I adore all of my kids to pieces, I am grateful for them. I really do love being their mom, even if it is often exhausting and stressful.  I wouldn’t trade them for anything, they are amazing.  But yeah. We’re done. Shop’s closed.

Snip snip, honey. Snip snip.

Off we drove to the Feaster Five.  We were there bright and early for the 7:45am Kids’ K, which is actually a series of kids’ races broken up by age.  The four-and-under crowd ran 100 yards on a paved track, but they even had a gated chute and a big finish line, so it felt just as “real” as the adult race, not to mention race shirts just like their parents and bibs to pin to the front.

It was a mob scene, so I ran with Rebecca while Daniel zoomed ahead. (Yes, that was me attempting to take photos while jogging. Daniel is in the gray jacket, Rebecca is the pink hood right in front of me.)  They even had a police officer on a motorcycle start them off, and they all got finisher medals at the end.  While it was over practically before it began, they were both very excited to do it and felt like they had a great story to tell.

At that point, there was still a good half hour until the start of my race, and M had three kids outside in 32-degree weather. He headed back to the car to let everyone warm up and make strategic use of the van’s DVD player. I made my way to the starting area. Holy crap.

They capped registrations at 10,000 this year. It was an unbelievable mass of people.  But it was a beautiful morning and everyone seemed to be in a great mood. Sunny and clear, cold but not frigid. Perfect running temperature if you ask me – I’d much rather run in 30 degrees than 70. I hung out by the 10-minute-mile pace sign (which is NOT my pace, but the next one after that was walkers, dogs, and strollers), and between smartphones and sheer luck, I actually managed to find the other people I knew running the race.

When they blew the starting horn, my area of the pack (probably about halfway between the start and the way back of the crowd) barely moved. It took a full five minutes to get across the start, but then the congestion eased up and it wasn’t too mobbed to run.  Oh yes, people were passing me on all sides. But I just trotted along at my pokey pace, reminding myself that it didn’t matter in the slightest what anyone else was doing. The other 9,999 people could do whatever they wanted, I just needed to keep running. My goal: don’t walk. No matter how slow I go, don’t stop.

Of course, that was immediately put to the test. The second half-mile was a brutal hill. Thankfully, I knew it was coming – I had read about it and had actually driven it a few days earlier when we picked up our race bibs. But holy crap, it was nasty. I arguably could have walked faster than I was “running,” but on I chugged. At the top of the hill, the 5K course split off to the left while the 5-mile course continued straight ahead. Sadly, it did not, then, turn downhill. No, I’m sorry to say that pretty much the entire first half of the race continued to be a gentle uphill. Occasionally flat, but the overall trend was definitely up. As the course took a few turns, I rounded each corner and couldn’t believe it was still an ever-so-slight incline.  But dammit, I was still going.

It was right at about the 2.5-mile mark that it finally, blessedly turned downhill. I let out a very audible “oh thank God!”  My Nike+ app announced the time in my ear every half mile, and I was right around where I wanted to be. Making decent time, even.  Given my pace in previous runs, I guessed my pace would be somewhere between 12:30 and 13:00 per mile – slow as hell, but that’s how I roll.  I really wanted to keep it under 13 and finish in under 1 hour and 6 minutes, but I’d take what I could get.  Thankfully, much of the second half was downhill, and downhill is just free speed.

Around the 3.5 mile point, the course joined back up with the 5K people.  By that time, anyone left on the 5K were walking groups of families and strollers and dogs (it was a very family-friendly race and walkers were welcome), so it was a bit more congested, but not too bad.  Everything was very clearly marked, and the whole race was very nicely organized.  I was in a pretty good groove, no longer having to convince myself to keep going with every.single.step.  I knew the end was in sight.

The final half mile was more crowded – 5K walkers to my left, and long-since-finished runners to my right, walking the other direction to their cars.  But even still, I only had to dodge around a couple of people, nothing problematic. I turned the final corner, and the last tenth-or-so of a mile to the finish line is one final, nasty hill.  But damned if I was stopping now, and I knew my cheering section was waiting for me.  The Nike+ voice chimed in my ear, “five miles, completed. One hour, one minute.”  I couldn’t believe it was even possible.  I saw my family, I gave my kids a high five at the very top of the hill and turned to hit those finish mats.  I hit stop on the app and looked down to see my time.

5.08 miles. One hour, two minutes, forty seconds. Pace: 12:19.

I burst into tears.

Plenty of people would think that was a terrible time. Hell, there wasn’t even a pace group for it at the start – just 10-minute miles and then walkers.  I was something like finisher number 2500 out of 2700 in the five-mile group. WHATEVER. 12:19 is about the best pace I’ve run recently on 2- or 3-mile runs, so the fact that I managed to AVERAGE that pace for FIVE WHOLE MILES, a distance I had never, ever run before… I was so proud of myself, I thought I would burst.

We don’t stop and say that too often, do we? Admit that we’re proud of ourselves?  I mean, deadly sin and all that.  But this wasn’t a chest-puffing, boasting kind of pride.  This was about the fact that I am not a natural-born runner. I have short legs and am entirely too heavy. I’ve never been an athlete.  But I worked my ass off for this. For the last eight weeks, I have had a training schedule written in my calendar and have followed it as best as I possibly could. I worked for this. I fought for it. I earned it.  And not only did I accomplish it, but I did it even a little better than I thought I would.

By last night, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to walk anymore. I limped up and down the stairs, my left knee and right foot being the biggest complainers.  But the soreness is fading, and the glow of accomplishment is still sticking around. I’m asking what’s next.

I need to sign up for another race. Not because I adore running – I still have to fight for nearly every slow step.  But I need the goal and the deadline to keep me going, because the couch is too tempting.  I’m not going to dramatically up the distance. I’m not ready for that from a fitness standpoint, nor can I commit the amount of time it would take to train.  But I want to keep going. I need to.

It doesn’t matter how slowly I go, only that I do not stop.

Except mine tend to involve a lot more inwardly-directed hate, and the desire to curl up in a ball on the couch, eat a lot of junk food, and watch Extreme Home Makeover until I’m dehydrated from all of the crying, and otherwise filled with self-loathing.

Of course, it was a Monday and I have three kids, so that wasn’t so much an option. Grocery store. Laundry. Lunch. Dance class. Dinner. Etc, etc, etc, etc.

Time to climb into bed, listen to some sappy music, and hope for a better mood tomorrow.

1. Cookies are my kryptonite. I have a wicked sweet tooth, regardless, but my particular downfall is cookies. It doesn’t help that I make some incredibly delicious ones, if I do say so myself. I was all kinds of proud when one of the kids’ preschool teachers confided last year that the box of cookies I gave them at the holidays was their favorite.

2. I love classical choral Christmas music. I could happily listen to my St. Olaf Christmas Fest CD from Thanksgiving until New Year’s. And don’t even get me started on a good men & boys’ choir.  And yes, that is somewhat in conflict with the whole “we’re raising Jewish kids and not celebrating Christmas in our house” thing.

3. I have toyed with the idea of becoming a Spinning teacher. I would have to get in WAY better shape before I would consider doing anything about it, but I think I’d be good at it. Or maybe I’d just enjoy creating different playlists for different rides.

4. My random, recurring celebrity fantasy/daydream involves having [insert current celebrity of choice] over for dinner. I have no idea why. I can’t decide if that says something kind of sweet about me, or if it just means I’m getting old and need a much more adventurous fantasy life. Either way, it’s kind of embarrassing.

5. In the last month, I have at least a dozen pictures of myself. This is absolutely radical to me. I’m not sure I have that many from the rest of the entire year. I give all credit to my new iPhone and the self-facing camera, as well as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, which make taking a picture just part of a status update. I almost never give my “real” camera to someone else and ask them to take a picture of me. But the iPhone makes it so easy to snap a picture as we’re going about our day. Not many of them are exactly frame-worthy, but I’m glad that it’s so easy to finally have some pictures of me and the kids.

Though I will say, there are few things as alarming and hideously unflattering as turning on that camera and have it facing you from somewhere under your chin. Yeesh.

On 11/11/11, I turn 33.

Not many people spend more than two decades looking forward to their 33rd birthday. I mean, really. It’s 33. An entirely nondescript birthday. But it’s been out there for me, waiting. I thought it sounded like fun! What kind of party would I have? What would we do?

Somehow my 8-year-old self neglected to consider the realities of life as a 33-year-old stay-at-home mom of three young kids. Remember how fun it was to have a birthday on a national holiday? Never went to school on your birthday? Guess what… now that means YOUR KIDS don’t have school on your birthday. Not nearly the same indulgence, believe me.

Still, I thought I’d start the day on a positive note. I was up early and got my run done, outside, nice and peaceful. It felt pretty good, as running goes, and I found the increasing light of 6:15AM much better than the pitch black of 7:45PM that I’ve been running in recently.

Sadly, it was pretty much downhill from there. Rebecca spent half the morning uncharacteristically weepy and refused to eat breakfast. After a complaint of a sore throat, and a warm body but cold hands and feet, I made the call to the pediatrician’s office. What time was available? NAPTIME. SUPER.

Stopped by Starbucks to redeem my free birthday drink, and the kids got an extra snack courtesy of their favorite barista.  Drove to M’s office to have lunch, mostly because it seemed like a fun way to kill time, and he likes to show off the kids to his coworkers.

Off to the pediatrician, who was impressed by how quickly Rebecca’s strep test came back positive.  Delightful.  More driving around, poor Ellie has been in her carseat for the better part of the last five hours.  To Target for the bright pink antibiotics, then finally back home and a late nap for everyone.

I was pretty ready to start drinking by then, but mostly just zonked out on the couch and vowed to order delivery for dinner.

Oh, birthdays when you are at home with small kids. Such glamour. Such pampering.  Still, it wasn’t all bad. I got lots of sweet, heartfelt birthday wishes at random intervals throughout the day from my kids. A hand-written card from Rebecca (she did get some spelling help from M), and Daniel’s total incredulity at the fact that we weren’t celebrating my birthday with a party at a bouncy house and dinner of pizza and cake.  In fact, both kids are insistent that we bake a cake tomorrow. Really, who am I to argue?

Farewell, 11/11/11. It was fun anticipating you all those years, and totally anti-climactic when you finally arrived. Guess I’ll have to find a new random factoid to bore people with at parties.