workout

A Day in the Life (Lately)

| cheriarmour

I took the neatest yoga class yesterday.

Last week, one of the super cute girls who works on the floor at the Y invited me to come take this Hot Yoga class at this studio out in Durham.  Durham is kind of a hike for us – we are in downtown Raleigh, and during a high-traffic time, it can take like 40 minutes or more to get out there, but she assured me it was worth it.

Totally worth it, and I ended up signing up for a Beyonce-themed yoga class on Grammy Sunday.  I am super excited for that.

What I liked about this class was that, though the class was an excellent workout (I found myself a little sore the next day in some new places), the focus wasn’t on the workout.  We focused on breathing, and really being present, which is something I needed on Monday, where I felt my focus was pulled into a million different directions.

Anyways, I totally stole this idea from Taylor, a blogger who I’m insanely jealous of because she gets to live in Chicago all the time.  I’ve only ever run the marathon, and I dream about living there.  But it’s kinda cold and my sisters aren’t there, which could present some challenges…

Anyhoo, here’s a typical day (these days) for me.  I caveat this by saying “these days” because I’m still not in a great groove with the baby, and I’m not sure when I’ll get there.

7am – this is sometimes earlier, or sometimes a little later, but this is when I hear Liam start to rustle around.  He’s a morning person, so he’s not usually wailing, just kind of making sounds, and kicking his little feet around.  He sleeps in this…

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…which sorta looks ridiculous, but I don’t care. He’s sleeping, I’m sleeping, and that makes me really happy.

In that time, if he’s really smiley, I literally will jog out to the kitchen and start the coffee machine and let the dog out. I still have a teeny tiny bit of eggnog left that I’m using as creamer. I’m fully prepped to sob when that’s all finished…

7:20am –  I change a diaper and nurse my little man.  This time is super nice for us to hang out.  I’ll listen to a podcast sometimes while we do this.  Sometimes, by the end of this feeding, little man is drifting off, and I’ll have a chance to stick him back in the bassinet for a few minutes while he dozes.

8:15am – So for the last bit, I’ve probably been scrambling around the house, listening to podcasts, and collecting workout gear (for my workout and in case I’m teaching a class), work wear (slightly business casual), my lunch, and his bottles that I’ve pumped for the day.  He’s probably stirring by now, so I’ll pop him out of his sleep suit and into this really cute bouncer thing I bought for him at a yard sale for $20.  I pull it into the bathroom, just outside of the shower.  He entertains himself while I shower.  He’s pretty chill, so usually, I have time to put a little makeup on, and smooth my hair down before I get dressed.  He’s ready for a snack, so I’ll nurse him, change him one more time, put some clean clothes on him, grab a few extra diapers with diaper cream depending on his skin that day, and hustle us into the main room of the house.  This is where I load him into his carseat, throw on a hat for him and some socks or shoes, and begin the process of getting everything into the car.

9:15isham – Sometimes this is a little earlier, or a little later, depending on who’s picking Liam up from daycare.  But we’re out the door, and I drop Liam off at daycare quickly before I scramble off to work.  I’m eating a peanut butter bar thing and a coffee for breakfast.  Breakfast is my favorite thing, and I make sure never to skip it, but it’s certainly not elaborate.

11:15am – So say I’m teaching the lunch cycling class?  I’ll go back to the closet to pump, and maybe have a snack.  I’ve been snacking on boiled eggs lately (gross, but filling), so I may pump, eat an egg, and make sure I’m slamming water (since I’m prone to headaches if I don’t).  IMG_1745.JPG

I’m off diet soda, but still like something with bubbles, so I may enjoy one of these (these are great, let’s chat about them some more later), and I get myself cleaned up before class.

12:15pm – We cycle.  I like teaching this class a lot.  I teach to tempo, so I love to really think about what music we’ll be using, and build the class.  I’m a disgusting sweaty mess after, so I try to pop into the shower at work, and get myself looking presentable for the day.

2:00pm – I pop over to Liam’s daycare sometimes to nurse him.  That way, I can skip a pumping session (because pumping absolutely blows), and I get to see him a few times a week at that time.

3:00pm – It’s sort of late for lunch, right?  But since I go to Liam’s I’ve skipped lunch, but still need to eat.  I know this is against all of the nutritionist’s rules for mindful eating, but I totally take lunch at my desk most of the time, and try to catch up on emails, and take care of some work for a while.  That’s so bad.  I should not be doing that, I need to do better.

5:00pm – So, so today’s one of those days Austin is picking Liam up from daycare, and say I’m not teaching an evening class .  THIS is when I usually get antsy.  So I’ll change into my workout clothes, and attempt to do a really really quick workout.  My latest favorite is something called the Sprint 8 program on our treadmills.  It’s an interval program that has you pushing, or sprinting, for 30 seconds, and then doing some active recovery for 1:30.  IMG_1752.JPG

I love this because I feel like intervals are the best way to mix up your cardio and make it fun and interesting without spending like an hour on the treadmill.

5:45pm – After a quick workout, I stay in my gross clothes, and head back to my office to work a little more.  It’s emails, sometimes writing blog posts, coordinating last-minute subs, and checking in with the classes going on in the building.  Our campaign season is in the fall, so we’re in a lull as far as fundraising.

6:15pm – Austin went to pick Liam up, so he brings him to work so he can work out, and I can take the baby home.  A lot of times, he’s asleep after his big day at daycare, so he sits in his stroller while I keep an eye on him, and finish some things up.

7:20pm – We’re done with work, and at home.  Usually, every few days, I try to put something in the crock pot so we have a little something to eat.  Sunday, it was a not-as-creamy wild rice soup…

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That was pre-liquid and spices, but you get the idea. Usually, Austin will come in right behind me, run and shower, while I heat up dinner. While dinner is warming up, I nurse Liam, and set him in his bouncer or his activity mat while we eat. After dinner is when things get nuts until Liam goes to bed. We start tummy time around 8. Bathe him (only once or twice a week). I slather him in coconut oil since he’s got dad’s skin. And he’s usually asleep by 9pm.

9:30pm – Me and Austin may watch a show (Blackish lately), and after a show, he’ll wash and fill bottles for the next day, while I start writing, cleaning up, and pretending I’m going to shower, when in reality, I’m not.  Unless I’m feeling really special and energetic.

11:00pm – Because I’m nursing, I usually try to empty the boobs before I go to bed, otherwise I’ll wake up super uncomfortable.  I pump, wash the parts, and will most likely forget my pump on the coffee table, so I have to figure out what the heck I’m going to do the following day.  If we don’t have a plan for dinner the following day, I’ll try to figure something out, maybe throw something in the crockpot or prep something really quickly.

12:15am – BED.  

Whew.  Where did all the time go, right?

What’s a typical day like for you?  

Exercise

| cheriarmour

So update on today.  On yesterday.  Ugh I don’t even knowwww my sense of time is completely nonexistent right now.  But I returned to work for a partial day – and dropped Liam off for his first day of care.  I scrambled for hours – filling bottles and packing lunches, and woke up beyond too early for the morning, and ultimately, did okay.  I cried when we dropped him off, to the point where a little girls’ mother told me she’d felt similarly, and that I would be okay.  She advised me to come a few times next week, hang out, nurse him when I could, and that he would be okay.  To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure how I’m going to do with a full work day yet, but more than a few people have reminded me that no decision is permanent, and that I have a decent enough skill set that I could stay, or take a break, or maybe work from home, or freelance, or whatever.  Nothing is final at this point.

*******

So, I was cleared at six weeks to exercise, which, looking back, was maybe not okay.  Thankfully, I’m not training for the Olympics or appearing on a magazine cover anytime soon, so I really eased into things, and didn’t get too crazy about immediately returning to exactly what I was doing prior to having Liam.

As a side note, we really need to talk about that six-week clearance mark, but we’ll do that later.  I have a lot of words on that.  

Being active is really important to me.  Not necessarily being in a bikini, or looking hot, but being active for the sake of a little energy boost, for the way it makes me feel, and for the fact that it makes the after-workout shower so much more rewarding, it’s really important to me.  So I’ve done a little bit of everything since I’ve felt okay to do so, and I’ve slowly started building back to some level of the strength that I had, while slowly taking off the last of the weight I gained when I was pregnant with my sweet boy.  Here’s what I’ve done, and how it’s felt.

Running

I think the week I was cleared, I went for a short “run” (really, a shuffle), of just a mile, up and down the street we live on.  It was ok, and very clear that I wouldn’t be running 20 miles anytime soon.  Because it because pretty clear after that mile that though I could do it, that it wasn’t perfect, I’ve sort of only run once a week, and have really relied on walking with some hill intervals or repeats on days I’m looking to sweat.

Circuit Training

One of my first workouts back was a circuit at a local studio, Core, located just outside of downtown Raleigh.  Again, I tried to play it safe and smart, and modified anything that didn’t feel great.  A full plank still was painful in the pubic bone region, as were mountain climbers, and instead of crunches, I did some modification on a modified plank, and worked it that way.  What I really, really enjoyed was getting my heart rate up, which we did with the treadmill, some sled pushes, and some very modified burpees.  This was one of the first times I found myself sore since I gave birth.

Gentle Hot Yoga

This was my first formal yoga class in a long while.  This class, taught at Indigo Hot Yoga, is really nice because it’s a good workout, but the supportive and sweet instructor provided plenty of modifications, which I needed.  I am really surprised by how much strength, upper body strength especially, that I lost after having the baby, and this has helped me get it back.  Another unexpected benefit of this class is that the sweating and heat forces me to drink more water, and I think that, plus some love hormone gives me a little milk boost.

Barre3

I took this class at the suggestion of the dietitian at work.  She had a favorite instructor, one who had a wait list for her class.  So I signed up four or five days in advance, and went at 6am, when I knew I could go and get back home before the baby woke up and I could feed him.  The class was really good.  Not a ton of cardio, and I like cardio, but the strength and toning were good, and this class actually got me pretty sore!  I will be signing up for this one again, budget permitting.

Zumba

I hit this old trusty class on Black Friday, and it was good.  It wasn’t my favorite instructor, but she did a good enough job, and it was a decent amount of cardio after I stuffed myself at Thanksgiving.  Some things still don’t feel great, so I kept the higher impact stuff, like little hops or jumps, to a minimum.

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A little heart rate info after Zumba.  Zumba is uniquely one of those things that really gets you to your peak a few times, sort of like interval training.  You won’t get that with gentle yoga or barre generally.  

Orangetheory

This workout was really interesting.  So, I went with a few friends the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving in North Raleigh.  The visit started off well enough, because I called to set up my class, and the woman that answered the phone was so friendly, that I was really excited to go.  Class started at 9:30am, and they asked that as new people, we get there at 9.  I was admittedly running late, and I got there at 9:10am, and I thought I’d be walking into the coach demoing moves, or a safety talk, but what I walked into was a repeat of the questions that I’d answered on the phone, and a sales pitch.

Once class started, it became clear that this would be one of the harder workouts I’ve done, and by the end, I was sweating a ton, especially since we ended with treadmill intervals.  The workout was monitored with a heartrate monitor, and since I’m breastfeeding, I had to do a wrist strap, which seemed to not work for most of the class.  One of the friends I was with experienced the same with her chest strap, which was disappointing.  But by the end, I think it was clear to all of us that this was a really good workout, despite some of the sales pitchy weirdness at the beginning.

Here’s what was kind of off-putting.

Upon class ending, I was on a high.  The coach and a desk manager person held us back in the studio, and then the manager was on us like a cheap suit to talk to us, mostly me since I was local, about packages.  I made it pretty clear that I was planning on dropping in once in a while since I’m still recovering, and I still felt like I was being pushed into buying a package.  I had a baby weeks ago.  So I was pretty weirded out by that.

Following that, I got a phone call from the studio checking in, presumably to sell me stuff, and then I got an email after.  I finally sent an email back, and explained that though the workout was great (one of the better HIIT ones I’ve done in Raleigh), that the pushiness was really quite off-putting.  To which that manager replied that she was sorry, but they just wanted to inform me of their membership options.  GAH.  It’s like it didn’t sink in, at all.  People love to be checked-on, but not sold to from 78 different angles.

That said, the workout was really good, and I will most likely visit another location, Morrisville or Wake Forest before I go to North Raleigh again. I know these guys are pretty much all over, so if you get a chance, I would try this workout out, especially since I feel like these kinds of workouts are really effective for building muscle and losing weight.

So these classes, along with the Fitbit update that encourages you to get 5 days a week of exercise in, has really helped me get my activity levels back up.  Again, I’m taking it nice and easy.  There’s no sense in hurting myself or my milk supply for the sake of saying I did it.  Rather, it’s just really really nice, and a nice way for me to take a short break from momming at 99 mph.

How have you exercised this week?  

 

My workouts

| cheriarmour

So I’m sitting on the couch, in desperate need of a shower.  This weekend was really cool, I will recap tomorrow.  But today, this morning, I ended up subbing a BodyPump class for Grant in the morning, and then I took a little break and taught a Total Body Strength Class at the Y for one of my instructors, who is really awesome, but I think she’s dropping her kid off at camp that day.

Which, btw, camps started yesterday and it totally makes me sob.  I love camp so much, and there’s this irrational part of me that found myself daydreaming about what it might be like to teach a few classes up in Pennsylvania.  Then I remember that I’m pregnant, and I’ve been referring to myself at Tilikum, and that the last thing a bunch of kids wants to do is hang out with a knocked-up 30-year-old.

Anyways, I’m gross, because after those two classes, I made sure that me and Austin hit a few laps around the neighborhood so that I could make my 10,000 steps, and while I was out there, I got to thinking that I’m really grateful – even though I’m in my third, I still classify the first trimester as probably the worst I’ve felt in my entire life.  I mean, I still have 12 weeks, so things can go downhill, but for the moment, I’m really seizing these moments.

So, my workouts during this time…

First, I’ve been really surprised at how I’ve been able to maintain some type of teaching schedule.  I kind of thought by June I would be done, but here I am in June, and I’ve been teaching things.

Things I Have Not Really Taught Lately

  • Step
  • Bosu
  • Really anything high-impact

More than anything else, high-impact is really disturbing to my bladder, and it also feels like me and the baby fighting for oxygen sometimes.

Things I HAVE Taught, and Feel Really Good About

  • Cycle
  • Toning/Total Body Strength
  • Body Pump <-Feels amazing

MY Workout

So in addition to the things that I’ve taught that feel good, as far as MY workouts, I am really focusing on strength, short short short occasional runs, and I walk every day in order to get all of my steps.  I truly think that despite some of the fatigue I had, especially in the beginning, doing something (not necessarily Crossfitting or anything hardcore if that’s not your jam), like walking, slight jogging, or lifting weights in ADDITION to my thyroid medication has been the only thing that has propped me up and kept me from keeling over during most of this pregnancy.  I really really hope that during subsequent pregnancies, I am able to stay so active so that I don’t feel like I’m dying of naps all day, but I am crossing my fingers that this holds out as long as possible.

What workouts did you do on this absolutely scorching weekend?

17 Weeks

| cheriarmour

How far along:  17 Weeks.

Baby is the size of a: Turnip.  Turnip for what ::cue Lil’ John song::.

No seriously, I barely know what a turnip is.  This one is a little lost on me.  This other app I use says white onion.  So white onion.

Due date: Sept 3rd, 2016

Total weight gain:  I will weigh in this week.  I have not stepped on the scale in a long time, but my clothes fit okay.  Except my bras.  This week I’m putting in an order for a few new sports bras and going to Soma for a new real bra.  I can’t squeeze into these old ones anymore.

Sleep:  Sleep is good.  I am always waking up to go to the bathroom early on.  Even when I nap.  Which this week, was a crap-ton.  Seriously, I slept all day on Good Friday, and part of the afternoon on Saturday.

Best moment this week:  I went to Step after my class on Tuesday evening, ran on Thursday, and then ran again and cycled on Saturday.  My energy comes in waves.  I am learning to completely take advantage of these pockets of energy.  Which is why I’m writing on a Saturday night and not passed out.

Food cravings:  Nope.  Since I had a good long weekend of eats last weekend, I really chilled on it this week.

Food aversions:  Not really.  Smells are kind of ick to me .  I ate a bowl of veggies with my dinner, and left the bowl on the desk I’m working on.  The smell is irritating me.  And it’s just like snap peas.

Symptoms:  Still really profound pockets of fatigue.  But they are mixed in with some energy.

Looking forward to:  The usual.  I feel like I’m really caught up at work, so time to catch up more on reviews for my team and stuff.  Makes me feel like a real Beyonce when I can be pregnant AND work AND work out at the same time.  Doesn’t always happen.  But feels cool when it does.

And in case you missed it…

16 Weeks

15 Weeks

14 Weeks

13 Weeks

12 Weeks

Staying Active While Pregnant

| cheriarmour

So I just got back from one of the first “runs” (shuffles) that has felt somewhat decent since I found out I was pregnant back at the end of December.

I promise you, before I got pregnant, I had all of these fantastic mental plans to be the fittest mom ever.  My reasoning was that hey, I’m super fit now, what would change, right?

The first trimester Kicked. My. Ass.  And not because I was so sick, but because I was so incredibly tired.  Even before finding out I was pregnant, I remember running while I was listening to an episode of Serial, and just dragging myself around, not exactly knowing why I felt that way, but resolving to sign up for a race or something to get my butt back in gear.  Woops!

Since finding out, I’ve continued teaching my classes, run a little bit, and supplemented some of my longer, bigger runs throughout the weeks with some time on the treadmill and on the elliptical.  I struggle with feeling like I’m not doing enough, but I can only do what I can, and not a whole lot more, so I’ve just stuck to that.

If you’re struggling with any of the same, I don’t know that I can offer a whole lot of wisdom, just what I’ve found to sort of help keep me from laying on the couch for days at at time.

Staying Active While Pregnant

  1. Decide that staying active will be a priority.  This could mean that you might have to redefine what “active” means.  It may not be 6 miles in Umstead on Sunday mornings.  But it might be hiking, biking, shorter runs, or whatever.  But reworking your priorities and making nutrition and staying active will be huge.
  2. Listen to your body. Admittedly, I still struggle with figuring out if I just suck, or if I’m really worn out because of what’s going on.  But I work up sweat without hurting myself.  For me, some light cardio and weights have been really good for me.  Body Pump feels AWESOME.  Running, not so much.  So I do what I feel that I can.
  3. Track it.  I don’t know how anyone, let alone the newly-pregnant, did anything without tracking their activity/steps, but my Fitbit has been one of the only things that has kept me on track, especially during those weeks when I could barely muster the energy to get off the couch.  The numbers can motivate you to get outside, or hop on a treadmill and…
  4. Just walk.  This is hard to hear for marathoners/ultra runners/crossfitters, but walking is fine.  It’s good.  It’s okay.  And really good when you have a buddy.  So take a friend, take your husband, or take some headphones (be careful with them)!

Fit moms, did you/how did you stay active while pregnant?

Photo Dump

| cheriarmour

Hi!

I think it’s time for a photo dump, so you see where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing.  I’ve struggled a little bit with writing the past few days for the sole reason that I’ve been a little frustrated with some bits of my work and not necessarily like it’s okay to write about it.

One thing I’ve come to realize (that I think is okay to write about).  There are some people in life who truly feel that their lives and their problems eclipse yours and everyone else’s.  It’s astounding, and even more so when it comes from people who should be a lot more self-actualized than I am at my age.

Ok, so photo dump.

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I’ve taken on teaching Body Pump. I went through training (again) back in November. I submitted and passed my video, and have been teaching this particular format once or twice a week. The hardest thing is memorizing the choreo at the beginning of the release. I have had a few early mornings where choreography has completely flown out of my head, and I’ve had to make do. Lots of practice! And weight lifting has been really good for me!

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This is completely counter intuitive, but I went to the local doughnut shop after I taught my class last Thursday morning. I’d only been once since it opened since I don’t want to get into the habit of going there nonstop, but I went, and got a raspberry jelly and this hash browny thing. Really good. Can’t be a habit.

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Since the snowpocalypse, Austin and I have been really bad about, on weekends, staying in and watching Netflix and not really socializing. Not his fault at all. It’s all I’ve wanted to do. But I forced myself to go out and socialize over Pho. I should have gone here when I was suffering with a lingering cold a few weeks ago.

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We went to a nursery this weekend. A few weeks ago, before the snow, Austin built some raised garden beds, as he’s been really interested in growing peppers. I want to partake, so I bought some flowers, and we will do some flowers, some tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce. Some of the things we will start inside, and transplant after the last frost.  Which according to the groundhog, shouldn’t be too much longer, but I’m hearing something about a Polar Vortex again?  What is that?

What are you up to on this hump day?

Sick

| cheriarmour

This weekend was not as wild and crazy l as I would hope for it to have been, considering I’m still young and fun. 

And I realize that there are some things too sacred for the blog, such as horrid pictures of me laid up with pimple cream betwixt my eyebrows where my body is rejecting winter/being an adult. 

Thursday, I had a little familiar tickle in my throat, matched with some gnarly fatigue. Friday, it was a little worse, and by Friday night, there was no denying that I had a full-blown cold.

Congested on one side. Sore throat. Couldn’t really taste a whole bunch. And the distinct feeling that though things could be worse, that I really wasn’t interested in finding out what that was like. 

After coming home from a birthday celebration, we headed straight home where we laid on the couch and watched a little Netflix. 

Saturday morning, I was positive I was going to die when I woke up. Crusty face, I was slow-moving, and of course, I had a class to teach. It was one of the few days in my life, including the day I passed out in front of a full Zumba class, that I considered the possibility of not being able to show up for this class. I swallowed a mouthful of Trop 50, and made it through just fine. 

Saturday afternoon was a blur of me drifting into and out of of a disturbed sleep, while Bravo chirped in the background. I told Austin to enjoy a playoff game since I was so sick, and I watched Sex & The City, the first movie, for the millionth time.  I ventured out only for some egg drop soup and some cleaning supplies from Target.  Plot change: I skipped the cleaning and opted for a shower with a few drops of eucalyptus oil and some essential oil shampoo. I twisted (my locs) as well since I was gonna be stuck in bed for the night again. 

Sunday, I, once again, woke up so sick, that when Austin took me to brunch, I couldn’t finish my food. I COULDN’T FINISH MY FOOD. 
I haven’t been sick like this in a while, so here are a few of my tips for you active chciks when the germs for you down. 

  • Water water water. Warm, cold, indifferent. Drink up. I had a hard time with this one because my stuffy nose made me feel like I was drowning, but I did my best. Alcohol is not your friend in this case.
  • Essential oils. For congestion and headache, a few drops of eucalyptus in the shower or in a pot of boiling water that you breathe in is so awesome at temporarily unclogging your nose. 
  • Your humidifier.  I don’t have a super nice humidifier, but the $30 Austin bought me when I got sick a few years ago does it fine. It has a spot where you can put a few more drops of essential oils. It’ll sort of clear your nose and keep you from getting that horrible dry feeling in your nose and throat. 

And finally….especially for you active folks. 

  • Rest. I didn’t work out at all this weekend. It wasn’t intentional, but I was sleeping a bunch, and I felt so crappy that I had flashbacks of when Kourney fainted on the beach when she was overdoing it after Mason came. It happened.

I’m feeling better tonight, and I think I should be back to life by the time work and meetings hits full force on Tuesday. 

What are some of your sick day tips? 

Athletes foot. ON MY HANDS.

| cheriarmour

It’s been a really long time since I’ve talked about gross things that can befall you when you go to the gym.  Mainly because that stuff doesn’t faze me as much as it should, and because I want to encourage you guys to work out, not scare you off.

With working out, you are, for the most part doing something awesome for yourself.  But the nature of doing things that involve sweat and being in close quarters with someone else means that sometimes, really gross things happen to you.  You catch a cold, pinkeye, you rub the skin out from under your bra, you start to be able to smell yourself when you wait just a smidge too long after your workout to take a shower…you get it. [Side note: every. single. one. of the above. has happened to me.]

So, a few weeks ago, my palms began to itch.  First off, in Haiti, that’s a good thing.  It means you’re coming into money, which I’m totally fine with.  And one time, my palms starting itching really badly before I got a new job, so I knew something good was going to happen.

Then I figured it was just my acne medication.  After years of battling with problem skin, I’m still using Proactiv even though I’m no longer 16 and it’s sort of expensive.

After a few days of the itchy palms, I looked down, and saw this.

Athlete's Foot.jpg

It appeared that my skin was peeling.  And it got much worse than this.  Like way worse. I backed off, tried to apply the Proactiv with my fingertips, and even tried to crowdsource the info.  Which is disgusting and TMI, but I couldn’t get an appointment with Ginger, my dermatologist forEVER.

It wasn’t until one of the trainers wandered into my office a few mornings ago that it started to click. She pointed out that it seemed to stem from an area around my wrists, which meant that it might be related to something I’d touched with both hands.

Something I’d touched with both hands….what do I touch with both hands? A SPIN BIKE FOR MY WEDNESDAY MORNING CLASSES?!

I’d picked up a fungus from a spin bike.

After I figured that out, it was pretty much an easy fix – I bought a few tubes of lotramin and some spa gloves and it was cleared up within a week. But talk about gross/embarrassing?

What the heck gym? I thought we were cool! And then you betray me?

So in addition to strep-pinkeye-chafing-bacne…you can count Athlete’s Foot not on your feet as one of the perks of your gym membership.

I really don’t want to hear about what you’ve picked up from the gym if I’m being completely honest.  Instead, please share with me what you ate for breakfast this morning!

I think I “ate” a smoothie made with old frozen berries, Trop 50, some Whole Foods protein powder, and a handful of spinach!

When did you become aware of your body?

| cheriarmour

I have been really struggling with my body this week.  Which seems silly.  My body is capable of amazing things.  I’ve run marathons.  I teach multiple classes a week, sometimes multiple classes a day.  Sometimes, I look in the mirror in the morning, and see something awesome.  And yet, this week, when Aunt Flo decided to visit a few days early, and I put on a teeny bit of weight after what I felt was an amazing week at the gym, everything went to hell, and I became uncomfortably aware of how much physical space I was taking up.

I found the responses to last week’s post really interesting.  IRL, as well as online, I heard a lot from you guys (which I love).  However, the most intriguing responses came from the folks who’d shared on it in an online Trail and Ultra Running group I’ve been a part of.  Many folks commended my friend for calling me out, as they should have.  A few folks commended me for admitting what an asshole I’d been.  And more than most admitted to feeling poorly about their own bodies.  Some admitted to doing what I’d done, turning the things they felt were negative about themselves into rules that dictate what others should wear, and how they should wear it.

What’s so interesting about this group is that these folks are capable, strong humans.  Some of them truly do look like models.  Some look like fitness models.  Some are overweight.  Some don’t look like “typical” runner.  Some do.  However, their running and their capabilities are in no way defined by their looks.  So why all the angst as it relates to our bodies, especially considering the fact that at the very least, in that group especially, our bodies are capable of running endless miles on rugged terrain?

When did we get so aware of our bodies, and what they should look like?

For me, I remember being 120 lbs as a freshman in high school.  I struggled with my looks, the way I’m sure all 14-year-olds did.  I was sitting in a civics, and I looked down.  I was wearing a fitted top, and noticed the part of my tummy that was hanging over the edge of my jeans.  I pinched it.  I pinched it again.  To this day when I’m feeling anxious or particularly down, I will look down, grab that little roll, and pinch.  No matter how small or how round it’s gotten.

I’m not sure how I learned that behavior, or what drew me to became aware of this part of my body.  However, at 13 or 14, I knew that there was something “wrong” with it.  And, as I talked about last week, the things I find “wrong” with myself, I look for in others.

All of that said, I do identify with the fact that not everything I’m thinking is logical or right.  I recently ran a marathon.  I have incredible physical strength.  I just completed a grueling vinyasa sculpt class with minimal nausea.  I should have incredible gratitude for my body, these limbs, these muscles that get me from more than point A to point B.  But, my first instinct, my first learned behavior is to be critical of the physical manifestation of who I am.

At what point did you become aware of your body?  What does your body mean to you?