training

Post-pregnancy rant.

| cheriarmour
KK
Hey, I’ll give her kudos on the fact that they didn’t retouch this photo. But I love you Kourt, don’t contribute to the pressure some new moms to feel to drop the weight in like 4 weeks.

I logged onto Perez (my guilty pleasure) and saw my girl, Kourtney on the top of the page.  I read the headline, and my face fell.

Let’s back it up.  I have never been pregnant.  I’m something of a late bloomer and kids are not yet on the horizon.  Maybe some day.  But my favorite friends are starting to have babies and from this, some issues have arisen.  Of course, the normal kid stuff (not sleeping, bickering with your spouse, adjusting to kid life), but the body confidence stuff that comes with a changing body seems to be a really prevalent one.

It’s already not easy being a girl.  Boys are allowed to be a lit bit chubby growing up and still get really pretty girls and have friends.  If you’re a chubby lady, people are absolutely ruthless.  And it doesn’t stop if you work in fitness, like I do.  I’m pretty fit and healthy, but I work around bunches of gorgeous and fit men and women.  It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to everyone around you, especially when, as a woman, the pressure to be thin (not too thin) yet muscular (but not too muscular), is huge.  And it seems to multiply 10-fold once you get pregnant.

So now that all the teen hearthrobs have grown up and are pregnant with families and kids, Hollywood has started to do this absolutely bizarre thing where they put this insurmountable pressure on new moms by publishing this…

JSOr this…

Mariah

 

Or this…

Kendra

::sigh:: She’s still holding like a newborn in this one.  That nugget looks like he was born 10 seconds ago.

I’m not saying that after a reasonable amount of time, a strong, healthy body isn’t attainable after kids.  (Look at P!nk, or Mel B!  They took some time, and they’re not stick thin, but they’re strong and healthy!)  But posting some of these pictures with these absolutely sensational headlines puts an unreal amount of pressure on new moms.  And it’s not fair.  Your confidence may already be a little thin as a new mom.  You’re not getting enough sleep, you may be nursing, you’re still incontinent, you feel like you don’t even have time to shower, and you’re expected to magically drop the baby weight before you’re even cleared to exercise?  That’s not right.

To all my pregs that read, or my new moms.  Chill.  You’re not getting any pressure from over here, in my corner. You work out when you can work out.  You eat as well as possible and you continue exercising during pregnancy.  And when you feel ready, and not a second before, is when you ease back into the groove.  You will wear those jeans. You will wear that suit.  But only when you’re ready to.  And one last words of advice, hot pregnant and recently post-pregnant mamas.  Don’t view your fitness progress (after you’ve been cleared of course) as getting your old body back.  Just look forward.  Keep looking forward, don’t look at those nasty magazines, and you will be feeling great in no time!

Went to Food Lion today…

| cheriarmour

And you know, no story that begins this way ends well.  (And let’s keep in mind that Food Lion has launched a new brand strategy.  Lower prices, better shopping experience,  and revamped produce are supposed to be a part of this. Well…)

Let me back up.  I skipped my grocery shopping on my usual Sunday because Deb was over, and I waited til today, when I really had no food left, to do it.  I’m not a poor person, it would be a lie to say I was.  But I’m a recent graduate who’s on a fairly tight budget.  I usually do my grocery shopping at Super Target, and I save the special stuff for Harris Teeter and Whole Foods.   I say “special stuff” to mean my vegetarian supplies.  I’ve been a vegetarian for like 5 or 6 years, after I went to Elon and was not at all impressed by the quality of the meat they served in the dining halls.  No shade, Elon was totally great otherwise, but I saw some questionable meat items come through those dining halls.  Anyhoo, I drink a lot of smoothies and eat some tofu-type things that require those special trips.  At any rate, I thought I’d head down to Food Lion to save a few bucks on groceries.  Part of my thing with being a grown-up is actually packing my lunch to save some money.  (Plus it makes lunchtime at work so exciting when you know you cooked something delish that all your coworkers can be jealous of.) I went, armed with a list, and a resolve to get all the stuff I needed for another of my famous crock pot creation of the week.

First mistake?  I didn’t know where the closest Food Lion was, so I GPSed it.  The GPS took me to an unsavory part of town.  No problem, I can blend!

Food Lion

I went straight for the dairy to find my favorite brand of Greek yogurt, Fage (with the total split cup girl!). No Fage. Okay.  My eager attitude is beginning to dwindle.  But my resolve would not be tarnished!

I headed over to the soup aisle to grab some things for my crockpot.  Some coconut gel stuff in particular.  Couldn’t find it, and asked a gentleman in a uniform where to find it.

Me: Excuse me, where could I find the coconut cream canned stuff?

Food Lion Guy: ::finishes his text conversation:: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Finally, I headed over to produce.  Saw some tumbleweeds blowing through, some floppy looking potatoes, and some sad-looking apples.  I poked down the snack aisle to see what the Oreo aisle is looking like, however?  And there were so many varieties of Oreo, one called a “mega-stuf”, that I was stunned that I’d never heard of!  But to find 5 non-rotting Russet Potatoes was a task?! Wth?!

Okay. ::deep breath:: Just because someone is poor, doesn’t mean they need to be relegated to stores that aren’t clean, with poor lighting, poor customer service, and with a wider variety of Pop-Tart and Oreo, than of apple.  The disparity between the poor and the wealthy as far as obesity, high blood pressure, hypertension, Type II Diabetes, and heart disease is concerned is staggering.  And part of the issue is that it seems like folks with a lower socio-economic status aren’t afforded choices.  Check out the produce section of a Harris Teeter, a Whole Foods, or a Trader Joes. There are choices!  And the choices are between fresh, fresher, and maybe, once in a blue moon, a little too ripe.  My point is, folks like me, folks who want to save a few bucks, still deserve a choice when it comes to what we put in our mouths.  I don’t think I will be returning to that Food Lion, however, in the next few days, I will be drafting some constructive comments to the manager, and I hope that my obnoxious letter will even raise some awareness about the fact that people in my tax bracket deserve better as it pertains to our sustenance.

Being nice to a stranger turned out awesome!

| cheriarmour

Sometimes it’s tempting to be a grouchy pain in the butt, but I (and I hope I’m not the only one), sometimes have to remind myself that being a grouchy pain isn’t any fun, and that I need to be sweet, because everyone deserves that.

The other morning, a woman walked into work with a cane, looking to be fit for a pair of sneakers.  We got to chatting on the fit stool, and as it turned out, she’d battled with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and she was dealing with a flare-up of sorts, and had been using the cane for a month.  We chatted for a while, because CFS is similar in its manifestation to Fibromyalgia, which my mother has struggled with for years.  So we found her a pair of shoes, and we looked for shirts that would be a nice fabric for her to be able to wear when her CFS was flaring up.  Took like 30 or 40 minutes out of my day, and I thought nothing of it.

As I was helping her find a few things, I’d gotten cold, so I’d pulled a Nike hooded half-zip jacket off the rack, and wore it around while we poked around for some things for her to wear.  She’d complimented the color.

So a few days later, I roll into work, and there was a bag with my name on it.  Inside the bag was a jacket, and a note for the name of a specialist who may be able to help my mom.  And the jacket.  Wow.  Whoa.

hoodie
Sister to my Nike Element Full Zip, this is the Nike Element Hooded Half-Zip. Still warm and fuzzy on the inside, plus an adorable hood you can pull over to protect from a light rain or wind. This one isn’t going to protect you from wind as well as the full-zip, but it seems like it may retain heat just a little bit better.

Beside the fact that the jacket is warm, cute, and has the most adorable little hood thing on top, I’m going to wear this around as a reminder to be nice, even when you don’t feel like it. Not because people will buy you jackets, which is totally cool too, but because clearly, our chat meant enough to this kind lady to return to the store, go out of her way, and take time to put a smile on my face. At any rate, send a lot of good vibes her way, so we can get her back running like she wants to do 🙂

Boobs!

| cheriarmour

Made you look!

Now I’m not sure, how in all of my posting about running, I managed to overlook the important topic of support!  (Sorry fellows, if you’ve continued reading, you may want to bow out here.  I don’t think I can offer you anything in this post.  Sorry!)  But I received a message the other day from an old friend of mine, Sam Zelin, asking me to post a little more in-depth about the topic of support.  Thanks, Sam!  Let’s do it!

Ladies, let’s chat about boobs.  If you’re going to be active – whether it’s running, Turbokick, Yoga, or Zumba, and whether you’re small-chested, or not, you need support.  Not having adequate support is not an excuse to not get active, especially when there are options for every lady out there.  And there is absolutely nothing more painful than when you’re driving down the street.  You look to your right and there’s a girl running.  And her breasts look like they’re fully prepared to give her black eyes.  That’s not good at all.

Boobs!
This is a well-supported pair. This particular bra is the Vixen, which supports without creating the uniboob effect that so many of us seem to hate.

So the first step? Identify where you fall. Are you small-chested? Middle-of-the-road? Larger chested? Breastfeeding? Just had a baby? Once you identify this, get a real bra fitting to get your actual size. Not the size you think you are. About 80% of women are wearing the wrong bra size. Sometimes, me included, because I can’t seem to let go of some old bras. But get a real fitting for a real bra. THEN take yourself down to the local running specialty store (Fleet Feet ain’t a bad start!) and let the uber-qualified ladies meet your needs.  Whatever you do absolutely DO NOT, do not, DO NOT run down to Target, or worse, Wal-Mart, and grab one of those nasty Champion/Danskin bras off their bra table.  What will happen is your boobs will flop around everywhere as you exercise, unless you put two on.  Which is stupid.  You should not have to layer bras to get a sweet exercise situation poppin off.  At any rate, here’s a little guide to help you when you get down for your first official sports bra fitting.

  Bra
Small Breasts You actually can get away with one of those Champions, but it’s not the best option.   Try Moving Comfort’s Alexis, Phoebe, Vixen, or Charity for a little bit of compression, as well as some high-impact support.
Medium Breasts You may need a little more support than some of our smaller-chested friends.  Try Moving Comfort’s Vixen, Juno, Fiona, or Jubralee.   
Large Breasts This is where I fall.  I was always convinced that there wasn’t a bra out there for me, but there is!  For us ladies, try Moving Comfort’s Fiona, Maia, or Juno.
REALLY Large Breasts Ladies, don’t fret.  There is definitely a bra out there for you.  For you ladies (bless you!) try Moving Comfort’s Maia.  Also Enell makes a great bra called the Enell Sport. It’s not pretty, by any means, but it will do the job.

Honorable mentions: Nike makes a super decent sports bra with adequate compression and shape, so that’s not a bad route to go. If you’re looking for something cute? Check out your favorite running sneaker company, and look at their apparel. Usually they’ll have a decent bra to match whatever new outfit you have.

Now this list is by no means exhaustive, however, Moving Comfort really changed my approach to working out. Instead of having to put two bras on, one Fiona got me through countless summers teaching fitness to teens at camp. In addition, spend money on your bras! If you pay $14 for a bra, what the heck do you expect your boobs to do?

How do you track your distance/mileage as you’re running for Haiti, Cherisse?

| cheriarmour

At this point, you’re probably watching my distance ratchet up, and you’re all “Omg I’m gonna have to pay Cheri so much money for Haiti!” Yeah, sorry not sorry.  It’s for a good cause!  But are you wondering how I’m so accurately keeping tabs on my distance and mileage, to the tenth of the mile?  Yep, probably.

So when I first started running, I was tracking my distance and mileage with http://www.mapmyrun.com/my_home/  This is a decent tool, but unless you’re running all the tangents, it can totally skew your mileage.  It’s still an awesome, awesome tool, especially if you’re trying to map out a specific distance with no route in mind.  If you know, for example, you have a 14-miler coming up (hello, Sunday morning!), it’s good to figure out how you’re going to make 14 miles happen.

Here’s the real deal way I keep track of my mileage.

Garmin 610

Behold, ladies and gentlemen, the Garmin 610.  Garmin is the same company that does the GPS in your car, so they harnessed the power of the GPS, and stuck it in a more accessible form, a watch, for runners, swimmers, and triathletes to use.  Pretty smart, huh? I was given this watch as a gift for my 25th birthday.  I actually cried when I got it.  It would have been a little bit of a hardship for me to buy it for myself, and it was so thoughtful to get this as a gift.

Whether you’re just starting out, or running your 88th ultra marathon, you can benefit from a Garmin, whether it’s the FR10, the 210, or the 610 (my personal favs that we carry).  Up on the top, 610 in particular will display total distance, followed by total time, and then followed by pace, all pretty important tools when you’re training for any race, and the 10 and 210 will do the same, even though the displays are a little different.  They run between like $130 and $400, so you have to decide what you can make work for your budget.  But remember, it’s a pretty significant piece of machinery.  Even if you go with the super fancy one, it’s not something that you’re planning on replacing every other month – these babies will last a while.  So if you’re training for a 5k, 10k, or maybe even a full, and you’re tired of deciphering a mapping tool, or bringing your iPhone on every run, consider a pretty small investment on a very powerful piece of machinery.