GOT ISSUES? Dr. Andrea Bonior will help you sort them out.
It seems everyone at my work is in a fantasy football league. Whether it's past games or future matchups, the talk never ends. I have no interest in football, certainly not fantasy football. And I resent that it seems that my office finds it okay for it to become the dominant social culture for months out of a year. Several of my coworkers who I used to be social with now are swept into this (and they're women, so I just don't get it.) I feel like I am at a disadvantage professionally because I don't participate in this. Am I off base? — Benchwarmer
It's understandable that you feel a bit put off if all of your office seems obsessed with bye weeks and bench points. Since the advent of the coffee maker, certain aspects of cube culture have made some people feel left out. (Good riddance to the things that are blatantly — or latently — discriminatory.) But I think you might be surprised to find that fantasy football itself has a lot less to do with shin guards and sweat stains than camaraderie and playful competition.
You can attempt to reserve no-league-chat-allowed lunches with your old buddies, but you might need to go with the flow and make more of an effort not to write them off; they're the same people they've always been. If it truly becomes intolerable, then it might be an issue of office incompatibility: like tee-totalers among boozers, golf-haters among wannabe Mickelsons, and me among people whose socks match, sometimes feeling like a square peg can drive someone to distraction and warrant a change.
Continue Reading "Baggage Check: Benched by the Watercooler" »
TEXAS IN SOUTHEAST? Yee-haw! Alaska in Northwest? You betcha. For the fifth year, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association's 50 States and 13 Colonies Ride lets D.C. denizens explore the nation's nifty fifty within D.C.'s borderlines.
Head to Adams Morgan's Walter Pierce Park this Saturday (8-9 a.m.) to pick up a cue sheet for directions to the 63-mile adventure that'll have you zig-zagging throughout the District. There's no real rhyme or reason to the course, says event planner Henry Mesias — you'll fly down a steep hill only to sharply turn to huff and puff up another — but this is not "for the person who just rides on the Capital Crescent or Mount Vernon trails," he says. "This is for someone who is completely comfortable riding in the streets." Unlike the recent Bike D.C., which had roads blocked off for the family-friendly ride, this event is unsupported. Cyclists should be prepared to pedal with weekend traffic. Still, there will be three pits stops along the way (for water refills, Clif Bars and road assistance). And those who register by tomorrow (Waba.org, prices vary) have the option of ordering a California Tortilla burrito lunch — not a bad idea since Mesias says it'll take five to seven hours to finish. Too long? Try the 13 Colonies Ride instead, which clocks in at 15 miles. And if patriotic athleticism isn't enough to inspire you, perhaps the draft specials and food discounts at the 4-7 p.m afterparty at Bourbon (2348 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-625-7770) will. Ride on.
Photo courtesy of WABA
LOOKING FOR A LITTLE CULTURE with your cardio? Take a lesson from Kimberly Miguel Mullen, whose new DVD "Dance and Be Fit: Brazilian Body" ($15, Acacialifestyle.com), takes viewers through segments devoted to samba reggae, maculele and capoeira. If those don't sound like same old moves, it's because Mullen is a dance ethnologist, who specializes in the northeastern part of Brazil, a region where African slaves, Portuguese immigrants and indigenous people interacted to create new movement traditions.
Continue Reading "Salvador Shake: Kimberly Miguel Mullen's Brazilian Dance DVD" »
THE ECONOMY IS NOT WORKING OUT so well these days, but you might be, considering the number of gyms sprouting up (two — a new Vida and Results — opened just last week). Top-of-the-line equipment should help take your mind off financial crises. And if you invest your membership money wisely, you're sure to get a solid return no matter what happens on Wall Street.
» Vida Fitness Metropole
"It's not just a gym," clarifies David von Storch, owner of Vida, indicating Bang Salon and Aura Spa. Located on the entrance level of the 28,000-square-foot space in Logan Circle, that's where folks can get blown out and body-wrapped before descending into the three floors of fitness downstairs. Sound cavernous? An open design means huge windows on the street level are visible from two floors (and 50 feet) below. "It feels urban and sexy without feeling sexual," von Storch says.
It starts with a cardio area, featuring a D.C. exclusive: Real Ryder stationary bikes that shift from side to side to create more of a core workout. TVs are mounted on virtually every piece of equipment, but the real show may be downstairs, where the weights and machines are; they're divided by body part rather than grouped into circuits. Locker rooms lead to the Zen Spa, with two endless pools and a steam room.
1515 15th St. NW, 202-588-5559, Vidafitness.com.
» Results Gym Mount Vernon
There isn't a pool here, but there is pool. It's just the kind with an eight ball. A pingpong table completes the quirky game room that greets all visitors to Results' digs at City Vista, which were designed to maximize natural light. Think wraparound, floor-to-ceiling, southern exposure windows -- providing quite a view of the developing neighborhood.
But there's plenty to see inside, too. The abs area has TVs loaded with class content, so you can be guided through a core workout. Peek through an aquarium to spy on the co-ed Jacuzzi. A disco ball winks from the ceiling of the cycling studio. And there's a low-tech but clever innovation: "express" lockers on the fitness floor for people who want to lock something up quickly but have no need to change or shower. Owner Doug Jeffries seems almost giddy about the new Hoist line of weight equipment, which makes you move your own body in addition to the traditional weights. "It's more fun because the body rocks. Anyone who does this has a smile on their face," he says.
445 K St. NW, 202-234-5678, Resultsthegym.com.
Continue Reading "You Can Find Me in the Club: D.C.'s Newest Gyms" »
GOT ISSUES? Dr. Andrea Bonior will help you sort them out.
When my relationship with my fiance went downhill for a while, I felt tempted to have other relationships. Everything was going well until I started lying and cheating on him with a co-worker and never felt guilty about it. I ended the sexual relationship and moved on with my fiance. I feel just a little awful for what I did, but only when my girlfriends talk about how wrong it is to cheat on a good man. Why didn't I care? — Please Help
Your letter has more holes than a Swiss cheese dartboard.
What was happening when your relationship was going "downhill"? Then, suddenly, "everything was going well," but how is this possible, given that you were on the brink of doing something that you believed to be wrong?
My hunch is that the force that drove you to behave the way you did was so strong that it overpowered your sense of remorse. The key to your understanding and fixing this situation will be to figure out what that force was and is. Resentment, self-sabotage, boredom, aggression, impulse control problems, incompatibility, loneliness — any of these things could've pushed you to the edge or made you rationalize bad behavior. A relationship simply can't be healthy with that many bones clattering around in the closet. Be honest about what "downhill" meant and figure out what needs to change. And may that force not be with you.
THERE'S A FINE LINE between mussels and muscles for Dennis Marron. If he hadn't grown up to be the chef at the Grille at Morrison House, there's a chance he'd have followed his other childhood dream: to be a gym teacher.
Although he may have settled for football metaphors over games — "Cooking is a team sport. A lot of chefs think of themselves as coaches or quarterbacks," he opines — that doesn't mean he stuffed his love of surfing, volleyball and other active pursuits to the back of the pantry. In fact, Marron is in his final weeks of training for the Marine Corps Marathon and plans to tackle a triathlon next.
As it turns out, his kitchen savvy comes in handy for fueling his lengthy training runs along the Potomac. Those barely edible energy bars most athletes choke down? "I'm not sure how long they've been sitting in a warehouse," he says. Besides, they often have that unappetizing "doughy mouth feel."
So, after a bit of messing around — there was a variation that involved gummy bears — Marron crafted his own recipe with ingredients he knew would taste good.
One of those bars along with some fruit and yogurt rev Marron up in morning so he can jog over to Roosevelt Island or Mount Vernon, and then return to the restaurant to whip up dishes such as escargot gratin and profiteroles. And if he wants to indulge a bit, he can get away with it. "After a 16-mile run, it doesn't matter what you eat," he says.
Continue Reading "Fitness Food: Chefs Take On Sports Nutrition" »
LIKE EVERY OTHER serious contender for "America's Next Top Model," Isis King knows her stuff when it comes to makeup.
"A little lip gloss helps freshen any look," the Prince George's County native says. But when she offers another nugget of wisdom — "I've learned concealer is your best friend" — it's hard not to recall that King, who was booted at the end of last week's episode, is not entirely like the other women on the show.
Although they all had to work it in a series of shoots, King faced the additional challenge of posing in skimpy outfits while obscuring from view signs that she's a pre-op transsexual. Not that the other contestants and panel of judges weren't clued in. From the first round of the competition, her fellow models gabbed catty comments to the cameras. And host Tyra Banks sent her packing with a speech telling her she was already an inspiration to the LGBT community.
EXERCISE CAN'T HALT HEREDITY, says Pilates pioneer Mari Winsor. But having a healthy body helps tackle any disease. That's why she developed "Pilates for Pink" ($15, Gaiam). A dollar from the sale of each DVD goes to breast cancer research, but Winsor hopes there's a more immediate effect in anyone who tries the workout: a sense of newfound strength and joy.
» EXPRESS: What is it about Pilates that makes it beneficial for improving health?
» WINSOR: Pilates, to me, is the most perfect form of exercise. It's helped me through some bad times. I have aspergillosis, which means I'm allergic to black mold. Doctors thought it was asthma for the longest time. When I was finally diagnosed, and my doctor saw how much phlegm had accumulated, he wanted to know how I had managed to live. So that deep breathing kept me alive.
Continue Reading "Pretty Healthy: Mari Winsor's 'Pilates for Pink'" »
THERE'S SOMETHING UNIQUELY APPEALING about a 10-mile run -- just ask the 26,000 people who will be lining up this Sunday for the Army Ten-Miler. "It's challenging because it's not your regular 5K or 10K, but it's not so daunting as a marathon or a half-marathon. You can do it without being wiped out afterwards," explains Alisa Harvey, who makes it sound so simple because she's won the race four times.
While other folks might not be as speedy as Harvey, she thinks just about anybody has the ability to complete the course. But it could help to get some advice from her and from two-time Olympian runner Meredith Rainey Valmon, who are offering pre-race expo clinics this Friday and Saturday (at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel — see Armytenmiler.com for details).
Continue Reading "The 10-Mile Commandments: Army Ten-Miler" »
Dr. Andrea Bonior dives into the world of psychology.
GROUNDBREAKING NEW RESEARCH suggests that men who hold more egalitarian views of gender roles make less money than men who hold more "traditional" gender role beliefs.
Now, before we all assume it's because all the egalitarian dudes became kindergarten teachers, the most fascinating part of this finding is that it held true when comparing men across the exact same jobs and amount of hours worked. In other words, it isn't just that men with more egalitarian views are choosing lower-pressure jobs or working shorter hours to be with their families. It's that hour for hour, for presumably the same duties performed, men with more egalitarian views are getting paid less than those who see the world through Ward Cleaver's glasses. (Sadly, it comes as no surprise that women made less than both groups of men, with the traditional-gender-roled women making the least of all.)
Two basic explanations have been publicized for this rather surprising finding. Either the egalitarian men themselves are worse at negotiating their pay, or there is more systematic discrimination going on, in that those who don't conform to a certain stereotype are being punished via paycheck.
But thanks to a discussion with my (wonderful and egalitarian — Ramen noodles, anyone?) husband, further ideas have come to light. Although many job titles and descriptions might be created equal, office cultures — and bosses — certainly are not.
Continue Reading "Baggage Check: Paying for Pay Equality?" »
Addison Road