Ericka: Run Jack Run/Funky Nola/Jogging w/an Amazon

Run Jack Run
Who knew a half-marathon would bring out the emo in me? This past Sunday, my friend Jacqueline participated in the Rock n Roll half-marathon; a feat she had been training for, at first in secret, over the last few months. For those of you who don't know, a half-marathon is a little over 13 miles. That's not just a physical challenge,it's also a mental challenge. After the 1st 5 miles, hell the 1st 1 mile if I was the participant, it becomes a battle of the wills. I and another friend of ours set up shop at the 12 mile mark to await her arrival. I saw a mother and son duo, he looked about 10 years old, and I teared up. I saw a father pushing his sick daughter in a jogging wheel chair; more tears. I saw an elderly gent keeping up with the best of them, and I welled up. I saw a woman who looked about 7 months pregnant, and I... had a moment of invidiousness, followed by a moment of "you go girl", and then a few tears. When I saw my friend come my way, I was filled with so much pride. She set a goal, and she was on her way to accomplishing it. Of course I shed another tear. By the time the man dressed as a banana rolled through, I was damn near bawling like a baby. Jack calculated that she would finish in 2 hours and 10 minutes. The marathon keepers estimated a finish time of 2 hours and 20 minutes. Jack beat both estimations, and finished in 2 hours and 4 minutes. Of course after witnessing Jack and all of her glory, I turned to my friend M and said, we are doing this next year. Two hours later I texted them and informed them if I couldn't complete it in 2 hours and 45 minutes or less, then I will have to graciously bow out. I just see myself jogging for what seems like 10 miles only to find out it's only been 3 miles after an hour. I also see myself saying "this is stupid" prior to exiting stage left after learning such tragic news lol. Nonetheless, despite my trepidation, I really do want to train to participate next year. First stop, teaching my body how to jog again. Second step, train for a 10K.

Side Note: Some of the participants did a full marathon, over 26 miles. They all run together, but when the half-marthoners stop, they keep going. I'm sorry, but seeing other people accomplish their goal while I still had another 13 miles to go would take the sails out of me. Kudos to those folks who kept going.


Funky NOLA
Monday I finally joined my friend Margaret for a Zumba class located at Funky Nola (1700 N. Broad). It was a great way to reintroduce my body to moving. The music was fun and selections included Latin, African, Reggaeton, and Hip-Hop. The instructor, Danielle Burrell, was really upbeat and kept a smile on her face. The class was all women, and their ages ranged from mid 20s to 60s. I would say the intensity level is moderate. You will definitely burn some calories and sweat. Classes are Mondays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 7 p.m., and Saturdays at 9 a.m. A drop in class is $10, but for $60 you can purchase a 10 class punch card. I will definitely go again. For more info go to www.facebook.com/Zumba.Danielle1

Jogging w/an Amazon
Last week my co-worker/friend and I decided that we should start going for 30 minute power walks/jogs 3 days a week at 4:15 p.m. Ev is a working mom like myself, and has had trouble finding the time to exercise. Working parents have a lot against them when it comes to finding time to exercise. Evenings are hard because there is only one gym, that I know of, that provides babysitting care. That gym is not convenient to get to because it's all the way in Harahan. Besides, even if I went to that gym in the evenings, I would be taking my kid from one daycare to another. I would probably get to the gym at 6:00 p.m. at the earliest, pound out an hour and then head home.  I would then get home around 7:45, then cook, feed Deuce, give him a bath, and then send him to bed. Even though  my husband and I split the household duties, I still wouldn't get a chance to spend any quality time with my kid or my husband. The other option is of course waking up early in the morning, but rest time is so valuable. However, I am still going to work my way up to doing that. So getting in a quick 30 minutes in the afternoon is a great compromise. When I used to go at lunch, I would spend an hour and 20 minutes on walking to the gym, working out, showering, and then walking back. I would then have to make up that time by working late. By going around 4:15-4:30, I can just go home afterwards or even go back up to my office for a little while, because I usually don't meet with clients after 4, since our office closes at 5pm, and my co-workers are heading home for the day.

Ev is tall, has long legs, and is not a southerner. If you're from the south, especially from New Orleans, you know we tend to walk a little slower. I blame our stroll on the heat and humidity as well as our devil may care attitude. Yesterday was our first day. We started off with a 5 minute warm-up. I thought we were walking at a fast paced, but apparently we were not by Ev's standards. After the 5 minute warm-up, I told her that I was going to jog 60 seconds then walk 90 seconds for 20 minutes. She then responded that she will pick the pace up on her walk to keep up. Here I thought that was her fast walk. My jog was only a few paces ahead of her walk, and by the end, her walk was neck and neck with my jog. Ev's power walk didn't even seem that fast. It wasn't like the power walkers you see in the neighborhood or at the mall. I  blame her long legs, and my slow jog trot. At the end of the jog, my legs were burning.  Afterwards I tried to go to the new Whole Foods to pick up a few things to make myself a nice healthy salad. When I exercise, it compels me to eat better too. However, the lines were ridiculous, and I had to leave without getting anything, much to the dismay of my kid who started crying and screaming "I want some food". I instead I had 2 fresh spring pork rolls from Pho Orchid; not the healthiest, but not bad either. This morning I made myself a nice smoothie, and I brought beef pho for lunch today. I only ate half, and I'm saving the rest for tomorrow's lunch. 

Ev and I met up again today, and my jog trot did not get any better. However, Ev was a great motivator, and she helped me to push myself. Thanks Ev! We plan on doing it again tomorrow. 

Side Note: This morning, I woke up with delayed muscle soreness, and it has stuck with me throughout the day. I love that feeling. I could go for a nice deep tissue massage, because it hurts so good. My workouts these 3 days weren't even that strenuous; that's a testament to how out of shape I am. I can't believe just last August I could do 20 minutes of straight jogging, but now I'm winded after a jog/walk. I can't dwell on what could have/should have been. I just have to keep moving forward.

Thank You
Finally, I would be remissed if I didn't say thank you to the countless emails, text messages, and social media comments offering tips to help me stay on track and offering to be my work-out buddy. Thanks for the encouragement. I really appreciate it. 

Good Night,
E

Ericka: The Game Plan 1.8.14

Lack of preparation gets me every time. You can't just get up and say, "I'm going to make a change" without the tools to actually help you accomplish your goals. Well, at least I can't. For me, the battle of the bulge struggle is real.

Healthy Food Choices:
The first thing I need to attack are my food choices. Two weeks ago, I went to the grocery store and purchased all of this healthy food. I pretty much stuck to the outer aisles, i.e the fresh fruits & veggies aisles. Although my refrigerator was stock piled with a lot of food, every time I opened the door, I didn't know what to cook and didn't have any quick go to snacks. I ended up making a delicious salad (my go to for the last 2 weeks have been a caprese salad, a kale salad with avocado in it, and a red cabbage salad with cilantro and Asian sesame dressing) and devouring the entire salad at once. Lessons learned: (1)Plan my meals prior to going to the grocery store, and (2) add protein to salads to make them more filling.

Exercise:
Here is my dilemma. I no longer have a gym membership. Chris' membership was paid in part by his last job, which took some of the financial burden off of us.We were members at Elmwood Downtown with access to the main gym on the weekends starting on Friday evening. It was convenient, because I could walk to the downtown location and get in a workout on my lunch break. In addition, the main gym had childcare which was very helpful on Saturday mornings. So now that a gym membership is no longer in the budget, I have to figure out other ways to make time for exercise. I am an early riser so in theory I could work out first thing in the morning at 5:30 a.m. In actuality however, getting out of my nice cozy bed that early is not very appealing. It would be easier if I had a partner that was getting up too, but Chris is definitely not a morning person. However, I am making it my mission to commit to waking up early 3 times a week and exercise for at least 30 minutes. This will require packing all of our lunches and picking out my work outfit the night before. Oy vey! When I get home from work, all I want to do is chill out and decompress. I also want to get back to jogging. I swear I lost the most weight when I adhered to a jogging routine. I always felt a sense of accomplishment after a jog. I could measure my success through my jogs. I saw myself go from walking most of the jog to jogging the entire 30 minutes.  Now I have to start all over again. I'm considering working through lunch twice a week in order to get off a little early for a jog through downtown. Right now, I'm all about free exercise.

Support System:
As aforementioned, I like a work out buddy. I hate to admit this, but I am a misery loves company kind of gal, at least when it comes to exercise. I don't want to get up early in the morning and watch my husband sleep blissfully as I put on my workout gear. I want Chris to be my workout partner, but I don't think he is mentally ready for it. When we did have a membership, he rarely went during lunch. In fairness, although the gym was close to his job, walking distance even, it would take him 15 to minutes to get there vs my 5 minute walk. Driving wasn't an option, because by the time he got out of the garage and parked, he wasted 20 minutes. He did make it sometimes, but he never went to the HIIT class I begged him to go to with me. He went once, walked out of the class after 15 minutes and never tried it again. Yes the class was intense, but it was doable. I think he got intimidated. He blamed it on his head cold. We were doing the Saturday thing for awhile, but working out once a week is not going to cut it. Every once in awhile he joined me for a Nike training routine, but  we couldn't get it in most evenings. It just isn't feasible. Between picking up Deuce, spending time with him, cooking, and preparing for the next day, our evening is over before it even starts. In the summer and spring I could take Deuce to the park after school and push him in my jogging stroller, Chris usually didn't join me. But going to the park in the evening is not an option right now, because it gets dark so early. So what am I going to do? Chris has his weekly bowling league; I need something for myself. Perhaps my sister would be interested in meeting up once a week to exercise at each other's homes. I also need to learn how to motivate myself without the support of others.

If you guys have any ideas, be it healthy meal suggestions, how to fit exercise in a busy schedule, or meetups please feel free to comment.

E

Ericka: Resolutions 1/3/2014

It's a New Year, so why not take this time to reflect on the good and the bad of 2013, and resolve to do better in 2014.

2013:
The Good:

• 9 weddings. While that seems exhausting, and it was, it was also quite beautiful to be among the few who were selected to witness such a loving commitment between 2 people. 
• My son- humble brag alert: Deuce has proven to be a force to be reckoned with. He is intelligent, funny, silly, inquisitive, loquacious, and bad as hell. The boy's vocabulary has expanded from about 10 words by the time he turned 1 to communicating using 7-8 word sentences by the time he turned 2 in November. Some of the words have been choice words, and while it can be quite embarrassing, he sure knows how to use the words and phrases appropriately. At first blamed I my dad for my child's foul language, but after taking an inventory of my own communication skills, I realized I am to blame too. But then again, I am my dad's child, so it's still his fault! I am so proud of my little boy, and he embodies the phrase "Love is you."
• My husband- Chris has stepped out of faith and left a very good job in order to pursue other career endeavors. 2014 is your year baby, and I am proud of you. 
• My Family- We have seen each other through some good times and  tough times. The Garnett-Windon-Smith-Stanfill-Cunningham clan is still in tact and closer than ever. 
• Myself- I've started to take my career by the horns by networking, which I loathe, and even creating a new program at my job. This blog, based on the feedback from a lot of folks, has shown me that I have another talent. While physical fitness is still my goal, I may incorporate a lifestyle aspect to this blog.

The Bad:

• This year I've learned being content and happy with the status quo. The only way to get to where you want to be is by pushing yourself to do better and be better.
• I didn't meet my fitness goals, but I am going to keep on trying. Nothing beats a failure, but a try.
• I've lost some loved ones this year, and I miss them dearly. However, I have to believe there is something bigger than us in order for me to cope with these losses. 
• Watching your loved ones deal with the loss of the child and not knowing how to help. A child represents hope and bright possibilities. When you lose a child, you lose a little bit of your heart. However, my loved ones who are going through this are proving to be quite resilient. I know they will have another baby one day. 

Not too bad. Clearly I have room for improvement, which we all do. I am a work in progress.

2014 Resolutions:

My friend suggested writing down what I want to accomplish, and perhaps that will make me stick to it more. I would hate to be making the same resolutions on January 1, 2015. 

1. Get Healthy- Eat better, live better, and exercise. I definitely want to restart exercising at least 300 minutes a week. When I had a goal, it was a great motivator. I also want to try out new & revisit various exercise programs. Bikram yoga, jogging consistently, and maybe even crossfit, are all on my to do list. I have to start going to my Saturday morning class more often. When I went last Saturday, I was seeing stars and my lower back started getting sore after the 1st 5 minutes; a sign that I am out of shape. 
2. Treat My Hair With Respect- I decided to stop getting a relaxer back in May of 2009. I love the versatility of natural hair. If I want to wear it big, I can. If I want to wear it sleek and straight, I can. However, the maintenance is the same as when I used to get relaxers. I have been lax in the maintenance department. I go longer than I should between washes, I don't do nearly as many deep conditioning treatments as I should, nor as many trims, and I do not have a proper night time routine to prevent breakage. If I want the really big hair that I crave, I have to do better. I may do a 30 days of protective styles challenge. We shall see.   
3. Get Pregnant- Yeah that's on my list, and I slipped it in at 3rd. Hopefully my mom doesn't read this and get too excited. (Mom, if you are reading this, don't get your hopes up and no pressure).This resolution is out of my hands for the most part. What is in my hands is preparing my body for pregnancy through eating right, exercising, and getting on a consistent vitamin routine.
4. Be a better wife, sister, friend, daughter, granddaughter etc. I noticed that I am not good at keeping the lines of communication open. I am usually the callee/textee not the caller/texter. With my husband, I leave my problems at the front door, which is my coping mechanism. However, I need to share all aspects of my life with him. He is, after all, my partner. 
5. Cook more and eat out less. Self-explanatory.

Here's to making new memories in 2014. Happy New Year!

And now a glimpse of 2013. A retrospective in pictures. 

Ericka: It's Been A Long Time 12.5.13

It really has been a long time; two and a half months to be exact. During that time my son turned 2 and immediately became terrible, and that's about it. So what have I been up to? Not much really, which I'm sure you can tell by the lack of blogging. By not much I mean not much exercising, not much healthy eating, not much weight loss (quite the opposite actually). I have a lot of reasons for not keeping up with my healthy lifestyle. The following are my top 5 reasons:

1. No buy in from my partner. My husband slacked off, so I decided to slack off. 
2. No buy in from myself. I think blowing out my hair was the start of my downfall lol. I got a taste of the not working out life, and I loved it.
3. Laziness. It's so much easier to grab a meal on the way home, especially when you have a hectic work and home life. Dieting requires preparation, and if you know me, you know that I am quite the procrastinator.
4. Lack of time. It's too dark in the morning and in the evening to go for a jog, and I've been so busy at work, that I have not been able to go to my lunch time workout. I could get up at 5a, since I'm up at that time anyway due to daylight savings, but I've been using that as my moment of tranquility- sleeping baby & sleeping husband = happy mama/wife
5. I don't wanna!

While I have reasons for falling off, I don't have any excuses for doing it. I have been working out here and there, but not much. My latest fitness challenge is this step class at French Riviera on Earhart. This is not your ordinary step class, and it is not for the faint of heart. My friend dragged me to the class a few weeks ago. It started at 9:30a and around the 10:15 mark, I started my countdown. I was giddy with excitement over the fact that the class would be done in 15 minutes. However 10:30 came and went. Then 10:45 then 11. Holy shit! The class was an hour and a half. She neglected to mention that part to me.. The instructor, Jerry/Geri just turned 60, I believe,, and looks barely north of 40. She has so much energy that it's sickening. The class incorporates walking lunges, squats, and ab work in addition to the step portion. At the end of the 1st hour Geri the Tyrant, as I like to call her in my head, makes us do 400 jumping jacks straight! Then we started with the lunges. 

Since I haven't been exercising, I put on a couple pounds, and by a couple, I mean 8. Luckily, since trying to do better over the last 2 weeks, I lost 4lbs. Nonetheless, I am utterly disappointed in myself. While I have started embracing eating well again, I have yet to get the physical fitness portion together. I have to do better.
So yes I faltered, but consider me a cautionary tale of what happens when you start to slack off. It's a slippery slope that starts with a missed workout or overindulging a meal or two. I hope you are doing better, than I have been doing lately. I've paused the challenges until I get mentally prepared. My current plan of action is start with eating right and exercising 3 times a week. Once I can do that consistently, I will start the challenges again. I believe I owe you guys a video

Please continue to root for me, and I will do my best to keep you updated as to my fitness successes and failures.

E

Ericka: I'm Not My Hair...I think (9.25.13)

Five days ago for the anniversary of my 27th birthday, I decided to change things up a bit by getting a blow out. While the results were nothing short of amazing, shout out to my hairdresser for taming the beast, it made me less inclined to anything that could mess up my do. Which means avoiding sweating at all cost. Needless to say I haven't worked out since I got my hair done. For shame, I know. Unfortunately, I am not the only one who has sacrificed my health for my hair. A lot of women, particularly African American women, will avoid working out because it may mess up their hair. Well after today, I am going back to the fro. The next time I decide to wear my hair straight, I will make sure to look up some ways to preserve the do when working out.

As to the honey do list. One thing has been completed thus far. The garden has been weeded! I should have taken a before and after picture. Chris has yet to give me my task, and we only have a couple more weeks to go.

Till next time,

E

Chris: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack (9.17.13)

Alright y'all, I know I been on hiatus. But in the last couple of weeks, Deuce has been sick twice and I was sick once. I know you are wondering how can Ericka still post, but Chris hasn't............... Well, you got me. But I'm back for the 3rd challenge. I wasn't as strict on the 2nd challenge but I dropped 8-9 lbs. However, I'm ready to get serious and coming back with a vengeance.

Just to follow-up on some things that I talked about previously, my bowling team finished 3rd in our 1st bowling league. So, we are back for season 2 and looking to win it all. I have my own ball, so I think I'll be able to do much more damage this season. I've already seen some improvement and looking to get my average up this year.

Also, football season has started and so has fantasy football. My fantasy team is 2-0 right now and is looking like we are ready for a championship run. Also, the Saints and LSU are out to fast starts, so it's always more exciting when you're teams are winning.

Well, that's all I have today but I'll be back tomorrow and will be around from here on out. See you guys tomorrow!!!!

Ericka: Challenge No. 3 Picked and Starts Today (9.15.13)

Saturday night we, with my mom, my cousin, and my sister's assistance, picked our 3rd set of challenges.

1. Random: Honey Do List
2. Diet: Alternate 7 days of  No Whites with 7 days of No Carbs for dinner
3. Fitness: Learn Choreography to Favorite Video

The Rules

Random: The Honey Do List



Chris and I have to come up with a honey do list for each other that must be completed within the 30 day period. Some of the things on the list may be a shared responsibility. If you want to join in on this challenge, come up with a list of 5to 10 things that you have been putting off. I've come up with the following:

• Convert Deuce's crib to a toddler bed
• Clean the gutters
• Remove weeds from garden & plant new flowers in the flower box
• Get a medicine cabinet & other cosmetic things to spruce up bathroom
• Organize closet

While this is my list for Chris, I will be helping him complete it. I just need to come up with one more

Diet: No Carbs/No Whites
Yes another carbs challenge. Don't shoot the messenger. I didn't pull it. I swear that's not the only challenges we under have under diet. We just somehow keep picking that sort of challenge. I think, well I hope, that's the last carbs challenge. Considering we didn't do to well on the last challenge, I guess this is like a do over. You can either alternate the 7 days or do 14 days straight. I think I'm going to do 14 days straight, and those 14 days will be the last 2 weeks of the challenge. I just think that will be more of a challenge for me.

So No Whites means no sugar, including fruit, no salt, no carbs, no dairy products, and no alcohol. It's a detox diet a trainer told me about. So not looking forward to it.

Fitness: Choreography
I am so excited about this challenge. I'm not even sure which video to choose. I'm looking for choreography that is fun, doable, and provides a good workout. We will definitely post it at the end of the challenge. Here are my front runners:

Michael Jackson: Remember The Time- We can do this one as a couple

 

Janet Jackson: Pleasure Principle- As a kid I used to try to do the chair move and would fail epically every single time

 



Janet Jackson: Rhythm Nation- A Classic

Beyonce: Who Run The World- Mainly because the choreography is sick and would be physically challenging to say the least

For this set of challenges, we are going to have a guest blogger. My sister has decided to join us for the challenges, and she is going to give you guys her perspective too.

Okay guys. The challenge begins today and ends October 14.

Happy Sunday!
E