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I teach Zumba on the side – Blind Item.

| cheriarmour

And truth be told, had I never started teaching Zumba, I’d certainly not be as sexy as I am today.

Okay, I kid, I kid, but Zumba, coupled with my stint at a teacher at a weight-loss camp super ignited my passion for fitness.  And I’ve been teaching since then (by then, I mean, like early 2010).

So anyhoo, I teach at this place.  And I don’t want to say the name of the place, because I’d like to remain gainfully employed.  And the place is beautiful.  Beautifully maintained facilities, great staff, and generally, a wonderful place to work.

Recently, at this place, I’ve run into some trouble, screwed the pooch, if you will.

I think I’ve been labeled as the gym’s troublemaker, because recently, every single time I teach, I get a filthy look from the attendants, and usually, once a class, one of them storms into the room, wildly making the “TURN IT DOWN” motion with his fingers.  It’s gotten to the point that usually, I’ll spy one of them coming, my heart rate will increase, I will dissolve into a nervous giggle (in front of the class,) until I’m told to turn it down.

I’m a Pavlovian Experiment, now every time I see the attendants in their uniforms, I begin to giggle, and I’ve started playing this game called “How Long Til I Get Yelled At Today?”

I’m a rebel y’all.  This fitness game is so real.

@GavinDegraw be mine.

| cheriarmour

I promise this is going to go somewhere running related.

So, like 8 years ago (gulptiy gulp), I think it was like an SAT day or something, and my mom let me leave school, because I was a senior and I didn’t have to be there.

ANYHOO, so I left school to go to a CD store (cause iPods were like barely a thing yet,) and I bought this thing for like $10.99.

Chariot

And I was hooked to the one and only Gavin Degraw. He had the voice of a black man, but he was all white and stuff. He covered a lot of old Motown, which I’d grown up on, and he played guitar, piano, and danced like he actually was performing and having a good time on stage.

And thus, my stalking began.

It started finally my senior year in college.  I saw him perform at High Point University with a friend, and he stayed after to sign some autographs.  I think he signed my program, and stared at him with my mouth open, until he did a double-take, and asked me, rightfully concerned, if I was okay.  I closed my mouth, and died.

I saw him again at a furniture thing in High Point.  This time, I was ready.  A little liquid courage inspired both my dance moves, the inappropriate messages I yelled to him, and the stalking I did to his bandmate, Billy Norris.

After the show, we waited for him.

GDG: Pretty girls, come take a picture!

(Gavin called me pretty. You can’t tell me any differently now).

GDG: I saw y’all dancing down there!

(We were dancing hard, it’s not hard to believe.)

Me: Will you sign my beer?

(He signed my beer.)

10335_584285011173_5935226_n (1)The third time I saw him was in Jersey with my other boyfriend, Adam Levine. And the fourth, I’m pretty sure he glanced in my direction.  But I can’t be entirely sure.

So where is this going?

GDG

Okay, so it looks like my boo, Mr. DeGraw will be performing at the Finisher’s Concert after this half-marathon.  In Cleveland.  For those of you Cher fans living elsewhere, I live in North Carolina.  Not close to Ohio.  I need to go, run this race, and get to this concert for a few reasons.

  • Gavin DeGraw. He may call me pretty again.  He may congratulate me on a job well done, as I will have finished another half.  HE MAY CALL ME ON STAGE TO SONG OF MY CHOOSING.  And that’s really important.  I know all his ad-libs, so he needn’t worry.
  • Gavin mentions Carolina in his new single.
  • Another 13.1 could help.  I need to get myself in a few more race situations before the full in October.  I haven’t properly raced since April, and I need it to light the fire under my behind.
  • This could be a small concert.  Meaning that I will get to wave at Gavin and bandmates with my hands.

Now I recognize, flying off to Cleveland isn’t necessarily advised.  Believe it or not, blogging about making smoothies doesn’t pay 400k a year.  But it isn’t necessarily ill-advised either.  Cause I’m a baller.  So, what do I do?I need your advice.    

I ran this morning.

| cheriarmour

I had to get my tush up at around 5 to make sure I could squeeze 11 in before work this morning.

Getting up early is never fun. Like for any reason. I cannot think of a time in my life when I’ve gotten up at 5 and I’ve thought “YAY, man I’m so glad I missed out on more sleep!” the one rose I found in this patch was that, at the very least, it wasn’t as cold as it was when I was training last winter for my first marathon.

My eyeballs were sandy.

So I made the executive decision to wear my glasses for the run. Bad move. NC is world-famous for her humidity, and my glasses were fogged beyond belief for most of the run. I actually popped them off, and spent the majority of my run both profoundly blind and in fear that I’d not see a car, or that I’d trip over the sidewalk somehow and break my wrist. Yay catastrophic thinking!

By the time I finished, I was feeling great, but in fear of my life, as I’d just run around Raleigh like that blind chick that’d competed on that one season of America’s Next Top Model. (You know the one, Amanda, from Asheville, with the kid?!)

shrimp

 

I made it.  The shirt was soaked, I looked like a little shrimp, but I made it.

Gross running stuff. 

I drove so I could run safely in the dark this morning.  And evidently, I got back into my car and soaked the seats.  Because when I got back into the car in regular clothes, my bum was wet.  Ugh.  YAY RUNNING!

Grossest/most worrisome thing that has happened to you when running?

#inspiration

| cheriarmour

Running runs in the fam.

I was talking on the phone with my mom yesterday, when she just started shrieking “CONGRATULATIONS” in my ear.

Once I got her calmed down, and the permanent deafness in my ear wore off, I found out it was because my brother, who’s 17, all muscular and stuff, made captain of his XC Team.

Armour FAM

Me and the broski are centermost in the group. Pardon my hair, it was horrible and disheveled, a combination of severe NC humidity and the race I’d run the night before.

Anyhoo, how awesome is that? So at 17, the kid is slaying my 5k times by nearly 10 minutes, and captaining his XC team? I need to get my life. And quickly. Congrats, bro! Oh, and happy Labor Day!

I stood up for myself (and for all you guys who may have experienced the same thing)

| cheriarmour

Say what you will if you’re still skeptical about working out.  It makes you tired.  It makes you sore.  It makes you break out.  You’re concerned you might lose your donk.  But it will increase your confidence absolutely exponentially.  I have my occasional days where I’m like “Omg why did no one tell me I needed a nose job so badly!” but on the usual, I’m fairly fearless.  Which is the only explanation for why I did what I did yesterday.

The backstory

I’ve had a thing for DC for a while now.  So when Athleta Georgetown called me to interview me for a managerial position, I pelvic thrusted all the way to that phone interview.  I love specialty retail, and I love (or I thought I loved) what Athleta said with their business.  They made clothing, not just technical clothing, but clothing for women who worked out.  Their models are Olympian athletes, not bikini girls, and they do it all.  Yoga, swimwear, running, and athletic.  Perfect, right?  If I could make good money doing what I loved in a city I loved, why not, right?

I flew the phone interview with flying colors.  Me and the woman who spoke were almost romantically involved is what I’m saying. I also stalked her on LinkedIn, and figured out that she had the same disorder I have, where we speak as though we were raised in The Valley, but rock the locs and the dark skin, and stan for some fitness.  It was perfect!  And I got an in-person.  EEP!

Athleta

I timed the interview so that I would drive down from New Jersey, the almost 5 hours in traffic, and arrived for the interview.

The woman whom I’d spoken with on the phone, just days earlier, had been let go.  Okay, I said to myself, no big deal, things happen.  And the interview commenced.  Mary, who seemed completely uninterested in meeting me in the first place, sat down, and pulled out a copy of my résumé.  “What is Fleet Feet,” she asked dismissively.  I was a little caught off-guard.  She spoke of Fleet Feet almost with a sense of disdain, and disgust.  I pushed that away.  I must have been imagining it.  I explained, with a shaky smile, about my history with Fleet Feet, and my history in retail.  “Yah, but what do you DO there,” she asked, very apparently exasperated at this point.  And the interview continued along this way.  I was mortified.

The clincher was when, at the end of the interview, she sighed, slid backwards, and said, “Well, this went a lot better than I thought it was going to!” Why…thank you!

The interview went on with another manager, and I was horrified.  It was apparent that Mary had no interest in meeting me, had not looked at my paperwork prior, and looked me up and down at the beginning of the interview and decided that that I’d rolled off the hot mess express along with Amanda Bynes, and I didn’t deserve the respect of decent courtesy that you normally extend to folks you’re interviewing.

The benefit of the doubt

I called Alexa, and talked to her about it.  I told my friends.  I told my hubby-to-be.  Because I know I can be dramatic, but I’m certainly not histrionic, and I don’t imagine things, as a general rule of thumb.  Was Mary having a bad day?  Did my looks offend her?  Had she simply forgotten I was coming?  If so, why hadn’t she just said that, and not acted as if I was a blight on her society? Did I seem like I was not in good-enough shape for Athleta?  The worst thought I had, while I tossed all the scenarios around in my head, was that she hadn’t realized I was black, and was having trouble masking her disdain when my lanky, nearly six-foot frame slinkied into her door (I was wearing heels).  No, right?  Couldn’t be. I played all the potentials up in my mind, and I couldn’t figure out why she’d treated me like a dummy when I’d come into her “home.”

Mary called me the next day, and I didn’t pick up.  She left a voicemail, and I couldn’t even bring myself to listen to it wholeheartedly.  And after a few weeks, during a 15-miler, I knew that I had to confront her.  I was so uncomfortable with what’d transpired, to the point where I wound’t even shop from their renowned catalog.  But if she were a representation of what’s going on within that corporation, I needed to know that.

The email

I sent her an email.  It wasn’t mean.  It wasn’t accusatory. And it wasn’t disrespectful.  And I used my social work skills to help resolve the conflict.

I told her I was having some difficulty, and I asked her to help me understand what was going on in that interview.  I gave her concrete examples of the things she’d said, and I told her that after she treated me that way, that setting foot in an Athleta was not something I’d ever planned to do again.  (Team Lulu kinda!)

The response

She sent me an email back.  She apologized for the “misunderstanding,” and said that she hoped I wouldn’t let it affect my future with that company.

Whatever, dude.

She’s more than welcome to refer to it as a “misunderstanding”.  And may, just maybe, there is a chance I misunderstood her intentions.  Maybe she just broke up with her boyfriend, and she was taking it out on me.  Maybe she hates tall girls.  Maybe she hates runners.  Maybe I smelled weird.  I’m not sure.  But I will say this.  I am SO PROUD of myself for thinking about how uncomfortable the situation made me, and standing up for myself.

The challenge.

I learned something from this.  Oprah tells us to stand up for ourselves, right?  So do some other people, but when Oprah says it, it’s for real.  This week, this month, this year, if something makes you uncomfortable, do this.

  1. Think about it.
  2. Talk to friends and family about it.
  3. Examine your history.  Have you had this issue before?  Or is this a fluke?  MAKE SURE you’re not just being insane.
  4. Once you investigate, it it’s still bugging you, confront the situation.  Don’t be a lunatic about it.  Be kind.  Be respectful. Be quiet.  Be gentle.  But you totally owe it to yourself to get answers.  And if you get a rude answer, or a refusal to acknowledge what really happened, just know that you’ve done the right thing, and you’ve done all you can.  Then…

Let it go.  Have a beautiful Labor Day weekend dolls. I’ll keep you updated!

What do I do with coconut water?

| cheriarmour

So the awesome folks at Zico sent me over a case of both plain and chocolate coconut water, and I have to admit, I totally didn’t even know what the heck to do with it.

I like coconut candies? I like shredded coconut, but for whatever reason, me and coconut water never got on particularly well. But it’s been all over lately, and I think it’s worth another look.

14oz_Nat_Bot_227x284

So Zico Pure Coconut Water is marketed really well. It comes in sweet little bottles that look chic, so you’d actually want to be seen drinking it. The draw of coconut water, as a supplement to your normal water intake (not a replacement!) is that it contains a few additions that you might need, especially after prolonged periods of exercise. Endurance athletes, especially, may find this useful, because coconut water can replace sodium and electrolytes lost without laying on a ton of sugar or calories.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 bottle 14 fl oz (414 mL)Serving Per Container: 1		 Ingredients: 100% natural coconut water from concentrate, natural flavor.
Amount/Serving % DV*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat
Trans Fat
Calories 70
Cal.from fat 0
Cholesterol
Sodium 180mg 8%
Amount/Serving % DV*
Potassium 610mg 16%
Total Carb 16g 5%
Dietary Fiber
Sugars 15g
Protein 0g
Amount/Serving % DV*
Calcium27mg 4%
Phosphorus 30mg 2%
Magnesium35mg 10%
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Iron
* Percent Daily Values are
based on a 2000 cal. diet
† Not a significant source of protein

The way I chose to incorporate it was to use it in a recipe!

photo

Excuse the fact that my life is a complete mess there on the coffee table. Just…don’t judge me.

Okay, so I tend to use this one for a kind of meal replacement for breakfast, as I tend to only do like a piece of toast or something like that before I do an early morning long run, to replace lost sodium and such. I know, that for me in particular, this is important, because my sweat seems to be a little saltier – usually after a long, long run, if I let the sweat dry before I hop in the shower, I literally have salt crystals on my face.

sweet-ass recipe with less dairy and sugar than your normal

-Get your frozen fruit together. For the plain coconut water, I stuck with the tropical theme and did a sort of tropical medley. This is like mangoes, pineapples, strawberries, and a few peaches. Fill up the cup you’re gonna sip this out of like 3/4ths of the way.
–Protein/Iron/Nutrition Addition do a little dollop of plain Greek yogurt or a handful of spinach in the blender. The yogurt will make it creamier, and the spinach will turn it green. Don’t let the green freak you out.
–Dump it in the blender. All of it.
–Cover the fruit with the coconut milk. And blend til the center tornado in the blendah is really moving.

And drink it up! Feeling creative? Do strawberries, and swap the plain coconut for the chocolate! Or if you love the taste, chill some, and keep it on hand (along with a protein source) for after a long workout!

Day 1 – Breaking the Sugar Addiction

| cheriarmour

First and foremost, let’s address the VMAs shortly.  This is the time we actually get to see what the artists can do, can they deliver on the songs of the summer?

  • Gaga – absolute weirdo but she has the voice/body of an angel.  Seriously, she was really lookin’ weird/good.
  • Miley – my heart is sad.  I’ve addressed this before here, but she’s 20, and she will look back at this performance and be embarrassed.  She’s not a “slut” a “whore” or a “skank”, ladies, so chill out with the nasty language.  She is very, very, very, confused, quite obviously, and I’m concerned for her well-being. It’s really not funny. It’s sad.  Normally I would take this chance to break down her “dance skills” but since she has clearly lost her mind, she gets a little pass.  THIS ONE TIME.

2_photo

  • Robin Thicke – I’m sorry Paula, for what Miley did to your husband.  It was inappropriate, I agree. But forgive her, I don’t think she knows any better.  Also, your suit was weird.
  • Macklemore – Beautiful.  Beautiful song. And I forgot he’s SUPER cute.  I really enjoyed his performance.  And props on Jennifer Hudson popping out at the end!  I thought she was gonna start singing a jazzy weight loss tune, but she stayed on task.  Hot.
  • Justin Timberlake – Wow.  Just.  Wow. Justin saved the entire show and shat upon the mess that Miley had created.  Oh, and this band called NSYNC reunited? (OMG I WAS COMPLETELY FREAKING OUT, it was so great!)

enhanced-buzz-20006-1377522488-11

  • Kanye – It was cool.  He performed completely in silhouette.  His spirit seemed a little more gentle since the birth of his baby girl.
  • Bruno Mars – Little Peter Hernandez worked it out. I’m loving the 70s vibe he’s been into for this new albums.
  • Drake – Bye girl.  I don’t have time for you to be weakly singing a ballad.
  • Katy Perry – I adore this little minx.  She’s like a sweet treat.

Okay, now moving right along!

My little 7-Day Sugary Cleanse

So, just in time for me to break my unhealthy relationship (addiction) to the white stuff, my dear husband-to-be, returning to Raleigh from a visit with family, brought an apple pie to me, knowing that I loved the crust. Seriously, dammit.  I sadly looked at the pie, and put it in the freezer for company or something at a later date.

This is harder than I thought it would be. 

I went to make some Nutella and toast this morning.  DANG. Too much sugar.  Okay, reached for a regular coffee and a homemade smoothie instead.  I passed the Starbucks, and thought of how a scone might taste.  What is wrong with me?! It’s not as if I eat this dessert stuff  breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but even denying myself Nutella is spinning my thoughts like cotton candy? Dang, there I go again!

Ugh, sugar, why can’t I quit you!?

Gimme some shuga! The 7-Day Sugar Challenge.

| cheriarmour

Firstly and foremostly, tonight is the VMAs. You know how straight males feel about the Superbowl? That’s how I feel about awards programming. Most namely, the VMAs, the Grammys, the Teen Choice Awards, and the American Musical Awards. And I general don’t care who wins, I watch for the performances, and to see if The Hot Mess Express drops anyone new off at the show. Lilo, Kanye, and Brit-Brit have been the latest drop-offs, but there’s always more.

Anyhoos, so that’s why you’re getting this post a little early, because I will be indisposed for the next day or so.

Okay, we have a problem. Well. I have a problem. A sugar problem.

I believe I’ve pinpointed the source of my issues, at least somewhat. My Dad is diabetic, so I’m something of a sugar substitute connoisseur-sommelier-type individual. I’ve been privy to when every single sugar substitute sprinkled itself onto the scene, and I can tell you what’s good, what’s bitter, and what leaves a nasty aftertaste.

And then, in 2010, when I shipped off to Fat Camp, I unwittingly increased my artificial sweetener intake by leaps. Staff, on our times off, enjoyed a lot of Diet Mountain Dew (literally the worst diet drink in taste and for you known to mankind), and enjoyed our Dunkin Donuts Latte’s with two Splenda and skim. The ungodly amount of artificial sweetener I consumed in the period before I went super healthy and started eating more whole foods set me up, and my sweet tooth has raged out of control ever since. Every few days, I’ll get a taste locked into my head, and I cannot rest until I get my hands on it. Sometimes it’s fro-yo, sometimes it’s a piece of chocolate, and sometimes, it’s one of those giant cookies from Zoe’s Kitchen. And I need to cut these out. Not for my weight, not for my skin, but for how terrible I feel after I eat these things. I feel slow, sluggish, my brain feels like it’s sleeping, and overall, I think eating more stuff that comes from the ground, and not made in Willy Wonka’s factory, will improve my health overall.

Also, the ferocity of my sweet tooth is starting to scare me a little. I feel like a little of a crack addict. Amirite, amirite Lamar Odom? Too soon?

The Skinny on Fake Sugars

This challenge, which I’ll describe to you in a second, is in no way meant to bash fake sugars. I definitely think these things have their place. First, my dear Papa is diabetic. I thank God for the invention of some of these things so that he can enjoy a slice of cake on his birthday, or a sip of Diet Coke when he needs a little pep on a long drive. Second, I think these things are SO helpful when it comes to weight loss, as a stepping stone for folks who’ve had terrible eating habits. First, let’s eat stuff with the fake stuff, and while you’re doing that and consuming less calories and starting to get more active, maybe you start going to Whole Foods and trying the stuff there. And once you really get into good habits, it gets easier and easier to break up with fake sugars.

I know, I know, the artificial sweeteners have risks. So does sitting around all day and not working out. I think an active person having a little Splenda in their latté won’t kill them. Lay off.

Tha Challenge

I need to break up with this habit I’m developing, because it’s starting to scare me. I feel like a fiend when I open a York Peppermint Patty and sigh, “come to mama” before I devour the entire disk. And it’s weirding me out. I don’t feel like one should really be that way about anything but your significant other and Gavin DeGraw (hay boo). So for the next 7 days, I’m chilling on the sweets.

Let’s Better Define These Terms:

  • No fruity alcoholic bevs. Which I’m typically a beer and plain liquor girl, but this means no Ciders for the week, while I figure out why I’m acting like a crackhead with sugar.
  • None of those sweeties from the coffee shop. It’s too much wasted money, too many empty calories, and too much of what I’ve been craving.
  • No diet sodas. They’re making it a lot worse. Crystal Lite too.
  • More natural sugars. Fruits, veggies, and seltzers with a squeezy of lime are okay, and hopefully will teach me to smash the cravings with some of this stuff once I get back to real life.
  • And finally, most tragically, no candy! Which should be a thing anyways because I think I freaked up one my my fillings eating candy a few weeks back and I can’t go to the dentist til like next week. NO CANDY CHERISSE. NONE. None from the checkout line either.

What I’m hoping to accomplish with this little sugar fast?

I’m hoping to reset my naughty little sweet tooth, and enjoy treats in a little bit more of moderation when I get past this little challenge. Anyone joining me this week?

 

Locs and workouts.

| cheriarmour

I showed up to see friends last week with fresh locs, and the compliments wouldn’t stop. For those who weren’t as familiar with locs, I got a lot of well-meaninged “Did you get a haircut? It looks sooooo good!” So here’s how it goes down.

I almost understand when women say they don’t want to work out because of their hair.

It’s not cheap. OR (as in my case)

You spend an hour methodically twisting each loc, then you dry it, and tie it in a silk scarf, only then to look like you were raised by wolves a few days later after your 20-miler. I get it.

And last week was totally one of those weeks.

I’d started rocking the famous top-knot because my roots were looking so ratch, because I’d washed after a particularly grueling workout without a twist. You never do that.

Again, a lot of folks get curious about what goes on with locs, especially if you’re an active lady (or gent) so here’s the breakdown.

Hair

 

Far left is new growth/what’s unraveled kind of, since last twist. Locs grow like crazy because you’re not stunting them with scissors or chemicals, so even in a week’s time (and this was far longer than a week unfortunately,) you’ll notice some fuzzies at the root. You can kind of see it in this picture a little, and one of these days, I’ll take a better one so you can really see, but my hair is really two colors, super blond on the ends, and darker toward the roots. Not in a gross tacky way, but because I’ve spend almost three entire summers outside and I run outside, the ends of my hair have captured the most sun. It looks kinda cool, but it can make for some dry times, and I have to be careful to moisturize. Instead of washing with shampoo this time because I was so dry, I went straight to conditioner and glossed it with an oil right after.

Middle is post-twist. At this point, I’ve perfected the art of the twist and I can twist up my entire head in 45 minutes. I put it in a braid so I could finish watching Orange is the New Black without running the hair dryer. Plus it’s mid-summer. If I don’t have to blast my already dry mane with hot dry air, I won’t.

Far right is the finished product. Long, fresh, smell-good, and soft locs. This is what my hair looks like for 10 minutes before I work out.

And it’s hard. I love the way my hair looks when I’m all done. I love how swingy it is. I love that my honey loves how it looks. I love that I can do stuff to it. But I’ll be danged, taking care of this thing ain’t easy! I won’t cut them today, or even a year from today. But on those long run days, where my pony is slapping me in the back of the head? Yeah, I totally think about it.