weight loss

On “owing” folks an explanation.

| cheriarmour

Wednesday morning, I taught my normal cycling class, and because my office is right upstairs from where I teach, I made my way up to the the wellness floor eventually.  I sent emails, sipped water (second job these days), meandered in and out of talking to the trainers, all while I waited for my 10 am meeting to start.

A gentleman who I’ve known from my time at Whole Foods and just from around town, who’s always been a little more familiar to me than I would like, point-blank asked me…

“Do you have something to tell me?”

Mentally, I thought, “are you my probation officer,” but I kind of blankly stared at him until he continued.

“I didn’t know if you were pregnant or if you had stopped working out.”

What. The. Fuck.

Similarly, two nights later, I was actually running on a machine, and a really sweet woman pointed at my belly, and asked “what’s that?”

Now, I don’t fault anyone who wants to tell the world exactly what’s going on with them, and when.  If you want to tell folks you’re pregnant the second it happens, if you want to point out that you’ve gained a little weight and you’re feeling weird about it, or if you want to share that you’ve lost, that’s cool.

But along those same lines, should you want to tell some folks, and not others (like strangers whose name you’re not sure of), that’s okay too.  You’re allowed.  It’s your info to share with whomever you see fit.

Because you don’t owe them any sort of explanation about your body.  They’re not your doctor.  Your best friend.  Or someone with a vested interest in your health.  Or your probation officer, as I thought when Mr. Too-Familiar commented.

I think what we all can learn about this is to pay better attention to the comments we make about other peoples’ bodies.  Surely, it’s one thing if you are any of the aforementioned parties with a vested interest in a person’s well-being.  But it’s certainly another if you’re “just curious,” and fishing for your own curiosity.

As a person in wellness, I’m sensitive to this on both sides.  People I interact with on a daily basis lose weight.  They gain it.  I’ve worked with folks who’ve had bariatic surgery.  Folks who’ve transformed their bodies through running.  And folks for whom the struggle to reconcile their relationship with food has been a challenge, and who’ve fallen off the wagon and gain tremendous amounts of weight.

In either case, we as not entitled to this information simply because we’re curious, and the best way to approach this is, if you would like to ask, ask if the person would mind, with the full knowledge that they may not, or that they may not want to talk about it.

Anyways, Happy Friday – here’s hoping that nobody points at your belly, and asks, “what’s that!”

Is this healthy?

| cheriarmour

I’m a part of a few closed Facebook groups where health and fitness are the main topics of discussion.  I love them because we bounce ideas off of one another, and it’s really cool to see newbies to health and wellness dip their toes in.

But one thing I’ve seen come up again and again and again is this.

Is [blank] healthy?

Is yogurt healthy?  Are almonds healthy?  Is quinoa healthy?  Is chicken healthy?

I’m genuinely baffled a lot of the time – and not because I’m a health expert, but at the ignorance that many of us have about common items.  Not only this, but the seeming unwillingness of folks to simply Google, or the lack of knowledge that information about a lot of these food items is readily available is pretty astounding.

But the biggest thing that I find somewhat problematic with this line of questioning is the question itself.

We are asking the wrong questions about our food.

Stay with me here.

“Is chicken healthy?”

Well, that is a really subjective question.  You can boil an appropriate portion size of chicken (about the size of a deck of cards), and eat it with steamed  veggies.  That’s a pretty balanced meal.

You also can fry a few pieces of chicken and eat it with mac and cheese and potato wedges sprinkled with old bay.  Not the most balanced meal.  Pretty good, but not balanced.

So I think when we throw out the question “is [blank] healthy” we miss the entire point.  A food, in its raw form isn’t inherently unhealthy.  The nutrition factor of the food is changed in a few instances.

  • When you put a dressing on it.  A bare salad, or a salad that’s been dribbled on is wayyy different than a salad that has been doused in ranch, for examples.
  • The portion.  There’s a big difference in a half-cup of pasta, and four cups.
  • And finally, the way you prep it.  Did you fry it?  Pan sear it?  Rub some rub on it and bake it?  All of these things will change how nutritious this food is.

So, I think, before you ask “is this healthy,” consider reading up about the food.  Figure out a few good ways to prepare it that don’t involve dunking it in egg mixture and frying it in oil.  Find out what the serving size of the food is.  And get creative!

Happy 2016! And crop tops!

| cheriarmour

First off, HAPPY 2016!  What did you do to ring in the New Year?

We did our usual, we threw a little shindig for our friends, but if you could believe it, I was having so much fun I forgot to take pictures of the night, and you’re just going to have to take my word that it happened 🙂

The highlight of the night was Austin and some of the boys cracking open some Chinese liquor that Austin got from the last time he was in China, from a vendor.  They all took a shot from the bottle, sniffed it, put a drop on my tongue, and decided that this was not the alcohol for me.

But shouting out the countdown was really fun, and staying up and talking late to friends, especially when it seemed like we were sort of every which way for the holidays.

Time for a right turn as we zoom, head first, into 2016.

How do you feel about crop tops?

I love crop tops.  I don’t get to wear them as much as I used to because I’m an adult and self-adornment by crop top is highly discouraged in any professional setting.  But I was gifted an extremely cute crop-top from my boss at a studio in Cary, and my love for crop tops was reignited a few weeks ago.

But, I wasn’t always that way.  Until I lost a few pounds, I was convinced that crop tops were only for skinny people with gorgeous stomachs.  I waited until I lost a really decent amount of weight to venture into H&M and I purchased my first crop swing, a top that you seriously could wear with anything and look good.  It wasn’t until recently that I realized something.

My body, your body?  It’s not for someone else’s consumption.  Therefore, if you’d like, you can wear a crop top at any size or shape, with reckless abandon.   Because what someone else might think doesn’t matter!

199485_649019183373_3177773_n
Pretty sure this was my first crop top 🙂

I work hard in the gym.  But these days, I’m really trying to work harder on not being so hard on myself.  Meaning, not spending time looking at my tummy in the mirror, turning to the side, and checking to see if I’m developing a beer gut.  Not really picking myself apart as much.

How was your New Year’s Eve?

Will you be wearing a crop top this year?  

I got called out (and I totally deserved it)

| cheriarmour

It started a few days ago, when a nude picture of Amy Schumer started circulating around the internet.

via CNN Style
via CNN Style

One of my initial thoughts upon seeing the picture was, “that is not flattering at all. Just, why?”

I immediately hated myself for thinking that, and tried to pretend, every time I saw the picture circulated again, that I didn’t think that the photo was unflattering, or that I’d be too embarrassed to let the world see my tummy rolls.  But it sat in the back of my head.

I fought with myself over that picture.

And then, the other day, when I was at a pretty rigorous training, I spied a tall woman wearing a bright pair of leggings.  I immediately checked out her bum, because that’s what I do, and was less-than-impressed.  I sent a snarky comment about the leggings and the bum to the group chat, and put my phone away.

Thank God for good friends.

I thought the comment was sort of funny, and the others would share in my laugh, but instead, a friend of mine in the chat pointed out to me that not only was what I said unkind, but that the comment made her question what sort of things I might be saying about her and her body.

I was a little blown – of course, she had to understand the comment was meant to be funny, right?

But was it?

And 30 seconds into me trying to rationalize my wretched comment, I realized that she was completely correct, and that I’d made a mistake.  A big, mean, nasty mistake.

The woman’s leggings were not affecting me in the least.  They didn’t take away from my workout.  Her body was a strong, healthy, functioning body.  So why, oh why, for the love of all things holy, had I felt the need to snark?

Because I don’t always feel 100% about myself, and I was picking apart in her, the things I don’t love about myself.

I’m preoccupied with my stomach – it’s the first place my body will let me know that I’ve gained weight, and I feel like I’m the only woman in the world who gets the donut when she’s wearing a bikini and bends over.  (I know, in theory I’m not, but stay with me).  My butt has grown since I’ve started lifting heavier.  Though I’m tall and thin, sort of that ecotmorphic shape, I have wild stretch marks on my thighs that have been there so long that I almost don’t notice them any more.  My boobs are bigger than I’d like, and I take care to hide them – I was actually (very kindly) told by a photographer for the Y recently to put my boobs away when they’d escaped my top.

And THIS is why I pick other women apart.  Because, in a really fucked-up way, I pick myself apart, and when other’s don’t abide by my rules of what’s flattering or what’s sexy, I can’t handle it.

And that’s not right.

I’ll conclude by saying I’m disturbed by my behavior, but that I know I can be better, I know I can change my thinking, and I plan on starting like yesterday.  And in making a pure, concerted effort not to pick part the bodies of others, I will start to forget those little things about myself that are, in my mind, less-than-perfect.

Thanks for reading.

X

Trying something new: my visit with a registered dietitian!

| cheriarmour

One of the perks of my wonderful work is that I get free personal training (which I take full advantage of) and visits with a registered dietitian, which I took advantage of starting with a visit that I made yesterday morning.

When I told my mom that I was going to see an RD, she was pretty shocked.  I’m perceived in my family as kind of the weird one who eats really crunchy weird stuff, and as a result, my mom didn’t think there was a need for me to visit with her – but because the visit was free, and because I felt like there were things I could learn from her, I decided to sign up with her and visit yesterday.

I think a lot of times, when you go to see a nutritionist, folks assume that you’re in it to lose weight, but there was more in it for me, and in the days leading up to the visit, where I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I knew these things:

  • That my sweet tooth is a little louder than I’d like to admit.
  • We could potentially be talking about kids in the next few years, and I’m interested in being in really great shape to get pregnant, continuing in good health throughout my pregnancy, and returning to good shape after having a baby, and I could get help with that.
  • I’d like to have more energy – wake refreshed and ready to do stuff, rather than wanting to cut my own fingers off when I wake up in the morning.

So I was a little nervous to see Katherine (Katherine is the RD), because I as afraid she might be judgey, or condemn some of the unhealthy decisions I make.  I DO eat well, but I really enjoy my diet coke and my candy.  And it’s never like I feel like it would be impossible to give those up, but I haven’t.  But I was really pleasantly surprised at a few things that we got out of our first visit.

Similarly to a good therapist, Katherine did a lot with questions – but not yes/no questions.  Questions that involved me talking…a lot.  I hope I didn’t come off as neurotic as all, but I did talk a lot.

I was really happy that Katherine didn’t tell me to do…or NOT do anything.  She really listened.  And suggested.  And recommended.  But there were no demands.

Katherine allowed me to set my own goals, and didn’t set any for me.  I am going to share my goals with you for sure, but wanted to share with you my experience with an RD.

Have you ever visited a registered dietitian?  What was your experience like?

Mine was inspiring, refreshing, and a reminder.  No matter how awesome you eat, how many miles you run, or how many kombuchas you drink, there is always, always something to be learned from someone like Katherine.  And I really appreciate the chance to get to learn something from someone who’s better at it than I am!

Healthy Living Bloggers (HLBs)

| cheriarmour

I consider myself something of a lifestyle/healthy living blogger.  And I am perfectly transparent in what experiences/education that I feel make me at all qualified to dish on all that I dish on.

Here’s what I got real quick so you guys know where I’m coming from.

  • Studied Psychology in undergrad.
  • Studied Social Work, focused heavily on health and weight loss.
  • Worked two full summers at a weight loss camp, spent time, after I got full-time work, at weight loss camp with my kids.
  • Worked for Fleet Feet (running specialty) for…well I never really stopped.  I backed off of full-time when I was employed as a Director at a local nonprofit facility….
  • I am Director of Group Fitness.
  • Been teaching group fitness for over 5 years.  Zumba® Fitness, Toning, Step, Cycling, Body Pump™.  You name it I teach it.
  • Also, I lost some like 35-40ish pounds I put on in college and while in a terribly volatile relationship.

This isn’t to say, like “la la la, I’m so fancy, I know all this stuff,” it’s more to say, I know some of what I’m talking about.  I still have bunches to learn, and I will never claim that candy, wine, and coffee never cross my lips, cause they totally do.  But I’m increasingly troubled by the rise of the “healthy” living blogger, or HLB, especially the sort that doesn’t work out, lost weight on potentially unhealthy and unsustainable methods, and then touts the weird crap they eat as healthy to unsuspecting followers.

Enter…well…let me know say her name, because I’m not here to embarrass anyone, but, she’s sort of what I described above.  Maybe a nice girl, but really in no place to be telling other folks what to be putting in their bodies to lose weight – and not because she hasn’t found success, but because what works for her simply may not work or be healthy for every body.

So the other day, aforementioned blogger posts a picture of a salad with what looked to be about 5 tablespoons of ranch dressing on it.

There’s nothing wrong with a salad, I think salads are amazing and awesome, but not only did she douse the salad in ranch dressing, but she very literally stated…

“The ranch is intentional…it’s a great source of healthy fat!”

And then when a follower questioned her on it, she then stated, ” The oil, eggs and cream found in ranch dressing are all healthy fats.”

Let me break it down for you really quickly.  Ranch gets like a D- from nutritionists.  It’s FULL of fat (and not the good kind), and even fuller of sodium.  There is not a nutritionist on God’s green earth who would EVER list Ranch as a healthy fat.  And FURTHERMORE the serving size is like 1 tbs.  Not 5.  Or whatever’s going on there.

All that to say, please, please, please, when you’re following HLBs, keep a few things in mind.

  • We’re human.  We lose weight, we gain weight.  We run a good race.  We run a bad race.  Some of us have suffered with eating disorders.  Some of us just like to write!  Please don’t look to us as the gospel.
  • Please be discerning.  How does (s)he  know what (s)he is talking about?  Did they do something idiotic like go on diet pills?  Do they look as if they have some sort of eating disorder?  Are they copious drug/alcohol users?  DO THEY WORK OUT?! No?  Probably not someone you need to be looking to for diet advice, and I think it’s important for us to recognize that in ourselves as the blogger.
  • Call us on it.  Do you see something on the blog that doesn’t seem right?  Doesn’t make sense?  Email us, leave a comment, or ask a genuine question.

QOTD

On a more positive note, who are some of your favorite HLBs?

Weekend Buzz + The Best Holiday for Candy

| cheriarmour

I hope your weekend was the tits.

I actually had a bomb weekend because I got to spend time with my husband.  I don’t know about you guys, but a lot of times of the weekends, we make so so many plans that we barely get to see one another.  And by the time we get into bed too late on a Sunday night, we haven’t seen one another more than an hour or two.  This weekend was a little different – I made plans and drank with friends on Friday, and because I wasn’t teaching or anything, we spent all day Saturday together – cleaning, napping, working out, and finally, falling into bed, deliciously exhausted, but together.

Austin’s the bomb.  I love him a lot.  I like spending time with him.

Now.  Let’s talk candy. 

On the way to run yesterday morning, I got into a big discussion with Mama Cheri about candy.  Now, neither of us eats a ton of candy – she for health reasons, and me, because once I start, I can’t stop.  So when I eat candy, I typically do a single-serve York Peppermint Pattie, or the holy grail of candy, a Reese’s Big Cup, where the peanut butter to chocolate ratio is one that is angelic.  So I’m of the firm belief that Valentine’s Day is one of the best holidays for candy.  But I got into this argument discussion with my mother and a friend regarding the best holidays for candy, and they were not in agreement.  So let’s break it down.

The best candy, in no particular order.  

1.  Reese’s – the big cup variety is the best, which I’ve stated time and again.  NOW, the reason for this is that the peanut butter to chocolate ratio.  This includes the trees, the eggs, and the hearts.  All solid choices.

2.  Whoppers – malted milk balls are the absolute best.  Now, there IS a variety you can get at Whole Foods, which makes you feel a little better about stuffing your face because it’s made without HFCS and real chocolate, as opposed to Whoppers.

3.  York Peppermint Patties – the 140-calorie variety that you can commonly acquire at most checkouts at the grocery store.  I mean, DUH.

image via Wikipedia
image via Wikipedia

4.  Pretzel M&Ms.

5.  Sweet Tarts– you can shove these in your mouth by the handful, which makes them really convenient.  But really dangerous, as I’ve found out, because when they’re in the admin office, for example, you might eat them all every time you have to go down there.  Which is not productive.

Now, let’s move on to the worst candies, in no particular order. 

1.  Circus Peanuts – my mother disgustingly loves these.  If you read the description on these, you’ll find that they’re considered some sort of marshmallow candy, flavored artificially with BANANA?!  WTH?! Who would do such a thing?

image via Wikipedia
image via Wikipedia

2. Okay, so I’m having a really hard time moving past the Circus Peanuts thing. But my mother reminded me of these atrocities…

image via Candywarehouse.com
image via Candywarehouse.com

These guys are called Old Fashioned Marshmallow Eggs. There are a number of things that are pretty disgusting about this candy, mainly the fact that the sugar on the inside is suspended in this marshy thing. It’s really disgusting and not acceptable.

3. Jellybeans – they’re just too sweet and sort of pointless. They also get stuck in your teeth, and you run the risk of getting a horrible flavor, which is totally the opposite of the point of eating candy in the first place. Would you ever just go actively seeking out jellybeans? Probably not because they’re pointless and add nothing to your day.

4. Raisinets – I want to know who on God’s green earth decided that they would combine raisins, which are pretty disgusting on their own, and cover them in crusty chocolate? Why would I ever eat that?

image via Wikipedia
image via Wikipedia

So the holiday with the best candy?

For me, hands down, it’s got to be Valentine’s Day because of the variety of chocolate. Yum!

The worst?

Omg, so many worsts here, but I’m going to have to say that Easter provides us with the worst candy because it’s all smooshy and sugary, and that’s just not the way things should be. But Easter, don’t be sad because Easter is going to be closely followed by Christmas, because there is truly nothing fun about sucking on a peppermint stick.

All that said…

How was your weekend? What did you do?

What’s your favorite candy?

Least favorite?

Best and worst holidays for candy?

On becoming a fitness instructor

| cheriarmour

First things – I was supposed to come into work super late, but ended up having to come in early because my email was EXPLODING, so to alleviate the pain and suffering I was dealing with from having to answer 65,000 emails, I bought myself an inappropriately large coffee from Dunkin Donuts, and it’s been sloshing to and fro in my belly.  Wanna know how good it feels to have 18 million gallons of a diuretic sloshing about in your stomach?  Not good at all.

But enough complaining, life is wonderful, and I’m not here to talk about my GI issues.

But I am here to talk about a question I’ve gotten a lot since becoming a fitness instructor in late 2009, after I completed my undergraduate degree.

First and foremost, I can, without a doubt say that becoming a fitness instructor completely changed my life.

I’d been taking Zumba® Fitness classes for a number of years, and had always toyed with the idea of teaching, because I loved the way my instructor made me feel.  After a boyfriend made fun of me so badly that I didn’t want to get certified, I finally got up the nerve and took the plunge a few months after I graduated.  I’m still amazed that my chubby ass got up the gall to to to the licensing weekend, but I went and it changed my life.

Before
As a total side note, I was never obese, but I was eating really poorly, and had put on about 40 pounds when all was said and done in college.

 

So my process for getting licensed and certified in fitness goes like this.

Zumba® Fitness ->Schwinn Cycling Certification->AFAA Group Exercise Certification->Body Pump™ Certification

So for those of you interested in getting certified in group fitness and becoming a fitness instructor, here are a few steps that can get you from the process, to getting the credentials needed to effectively teach a class.

Becoming a fitness instructor

1.  This one seems pretty obvious but go to a lot of classes.  What do you like about your favorite teachers?  Start paying attention to their cueing, their mic level, and how they interact with the class.  My strengths are my dance classes as well as my toning, but it made me a much stronger teacher to see how different groups do different things.

2.  Get the basics.  Before you hop to teaching/getting certified/licensed in something crazy or a specialty like Yoga or Zumba® Fitness, look for a group fitness certification through a program like AFAA.  I DID NOT do this, I did it all backwards, but looking back on it, AFAA was valuable and helped to remind me about some of the safety cues we often forget when we’re getting all hot and heavy in a class.  Like I said, I did this all backwards, but an AFAA cert is really valuable.

3.  Sign up for a training.  Whether’s it’s AFAA, Zumba® Fitness, Pound, or what have you, go ahead and sign up for a training.  Once you sign up (early, cause those things can really sell out), you will be sent some materials.  Definitely look them over, and if it’s a training where you will be presenting for evaluation, definitely study.  ‘Cause you don’t want to be the problem child who has no idea what’s going on.

4.  You’re all signed up for a two-day training!  It’s the night before!  Pack your stuff, pack some snacks, and be prepped to be sore.  I am super active, but the Body Pump™ process had me the most sore that I’ve ever been in my entire life, mostly due to the fact that in the span of 48 hours, we took like 5 classes, and did the Les Mills challenge.

So all of this is how you get to become a fitness instructor…stay tuned for info on how to get to teaching at the gym!

 

 

Happy & Hale

| cheriarmour

First off, let’s go ahead and thank the sweet Starbucks angel from above who made me an eggnog latte on the DL today.  I don’t know what Starbucks’ deal is, but for some UNGODLY reason, they decided that they needed to discontinue the eggnog latte in our market.

I mean, not to say that I don’t completely understand that eggnog, on its own, is a horribly disgusting invention, however, in a latte, that is the most wondrous thing that has ever been created.  It’s creamy, it tastes like Christmas, and in small doses, it doesn’t make my stomach hurt that badly.

Starbucks

So, shoutout to the sweet angel, sent by God at the Starbucks on Fayetteville Street. Hashtag blessed.

Happy & Hale 

So a few days ago, the boys from Happy & Hale came to the Y, where I work, and they, in partnership with a local organization, brought lunches for everyone.  The salads and quinoa bowls looked so beyond words, I decided that although I couldn’t partake in the food that day (I was teaching a class, and food + exercise at the same time is not encouraged), I would try and get down there that day.

Photo via Bizjournal
Photo via Bizjournal

Happy & Hale is a far cry from what you typically think of when you think of southern food. The south is great for a lot of things, however, nutritional health and well-being is not our strong suit. We have Bojangles, Cookout, and biscuits (which are delish in moderation). However, with the advent of Whole Foods, Trader Joes, local farms, and the influx of hipsters and lumbersexuals that we have here, Happy & Hale has been an interesting and successful business downtown.

First, I checked out the menu online.  I thought it seemed a little pricey, but decided to splurge – plus the option was either that, or a Lean Cuisine because I didn’t pack a good lunch. #fail

I decided on the quinoa bowl, as I’d heard that this was one of the most popular things on the menu, and went for it.  The bowl was kinda similar to the salad bowl, and was packed.  Picture this.  Quinoa on the bottom.  Black beans, feta cheese, pico de gallo, onions, and some sick vinegarette were all included with some tofu for some more protein.

Lunch was DELICIOUS, and super filling.  Though I probably should have done without the onions (had to scavenge around for mouthwash after lunch), it was satisfying on two levels.  For one, it tasted good.  And there’s a lot to be said for that.  For two, it felt way better than shoving something really quickly while sitting in front of my computer.

If you didn’t pack it, where do you go to get your lunch?