THE OBSERVATION BOOTH
OP-ED BY ANDREA DIALECT
BODY CONSCIOUS
As a photojournalist, my camera has gotten me out of a lot of trouble. So why would I not utilize it as my way out when I was panting like I had just run a marathon on that Friday night.
I don’t know which one was worst; my inability to keep up or my panting like a lap dog after a lengthy power walk. But in all honesty, it certainly had to be my inability to keep up with the woman 64 years of age standing in front of that class giving instructions and making those moves who they call Pastor P. It was a sad sight to say the least, not for once when I showed up to capture those shots for this article but the next time also, which was supposed to be my participating as a student when grabbing my camera once again as my reliable scapegoat.
I was conscious enough to know that my body at the time begged mercy and wouldn’t, I mean couldn’t handle it. Thank you, Canon lol…
Phyllis Ramey aka Pastor P.
High Intensity Zumba instructor
Contact Info: 862.755.4692
Photo Credit: Andrea Dialect
FIRST MOVE
“My name is Phyllis Ramey, aka Pastor P. I’m not new to this; I have been actively doing Zumba for years, but have been Zumba instructor for around 6 months. But my main gig is being a pastor. I have been a Pastor for over twenty years along with my husband. My husband is Apostle Sidney, and we have a church in Newark called Jesus Church of Deliverance Ministries and it’s located at 368 Hawthorne Ave.
“I’m also into Television Production. I started out in radio around 2004-2005. I was in radio than moved from radio onto television and that’s where I’m at now. Because of Covid, things shut down for two years and now it’s open. I’m doing Cablevision. It just reopened and I did my first show last Thursday.
“I did an interview because me and my husband actually are producing a movie called Destiny Seventy X Seven, which will be coming out October 13, 2022. There will be two showings at 4:30 and at 6:30, at the City Plex 12 Theater in Newark. Tickets can be found on social media. We have done three previous movies, but this is the one that were featuring.
MOVEMENT CONSCIOUS
Zumba is a fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance. It was founded by Colombian dancer and choreographer Beto Pérez in 2001, and by 2012, it had 110,000 locations and 12 million people taking classes weekly. Zumba is a trademark owned by Zumba Fitness, LLC. Wikipedia
“Around ten years ago, I was overweight I was wearing over one hundred fifty pounds and one day I looked in the mirror and it really hit me. I didn’t like the way I looked because I like to wear nice clothes and the clothes that I was wearing didn’t look good. I had a gut and my face was really fat, and I was really out of shape because I have a small frame which really, really made me look out of shape.
“So what I did was I prayed about it because I knew that it wasn’t something that I could do by myself. I had that talk with God. I said, ‘I want to lose this weight, but I can’t do it on my own I need your help!’ I was then moved to go on the internet and do some research. I found out my ideal height and weight for my body type; the best things to eat, how much sugar and salt intake and things like that. I changed my diet, starting a high protein low fat diet which consisted of chicken, vegetables and fruits and stuff like that. I took away the breads, white rice and junk foods and I strictly ate clean and healthy, and the weight started coming off.
“I knew that nutrition was good, but I also knew that I needed something else. I knew that I needed exercise, so again I researched and looked up what kinds of exercises I needed. But it’s kinda hard doing things on your own, because sometimes I’d slack off.
“One day me and my son Reginald was walking and there was a ramp on Main Street in Orange, NJ which is 439 Main Street. There was a boutique there and I went down the ramp to go into the store but then there was another door. I was curious so I went to take a look; now this was about ten years ago.
“I opened up that door and the first thing that I saw was a sign that said Herbal Life and I said, ‘Oh, my goodness this gotta be God because now I can get some help!’ So I went inside and there was a lady in there, (Noemi Sorto) she told me that ‘the best thing to do was to buy a protein shake.’ I got that and then she said, ‘Take your shake in the morning, have a decent lunch then take your shake in the evening time.’ She said, ‘Don’t eat because the shake is a replacement meal. So, I did that for a whole month, and the weight just fell off.’
GONNA MAKE YOU MOVE
“A lady that was there at the time, but she’s not at Herbal Life anymore. She was doing an exercise regimen. So I asked her what kind of exercise regimen it was and she said, ‘Well, meet me at Bell Stadium in Orange’ and were going to work out. That was the first time that I really started working out with someone. We all would meet up at Bell Stadium and we would work out and then would come back to Herbal Life and have a protein shake or something like that. So ever since then, I’d been going to Herbal Life all the way up to now.
“Yes, I’m still with Herbal Life, still there. That’s also when I met Jackie Backer, who is also a Zumba instructor and a dear friend. Alejandra Churi at that time was a Zumba instructor who I also met, and Jackie was going to her, and I asked her how to get into Zumba. She told me and I went. I kinda got frustrated because I couldn’t keep up and I started to shy away from it.
But it kept calling me and I would go on and off, but Zumba wouldn’t let me stop and my will power would prompt me to do the classes. I was then moved to do a program on my own. That’s when I started last year at Bell Stadium. It’s called ‘Fit & Trim’ and it was free to the public. So, I started working out and instructing the classes and we did it all last summer, so that worked out.
HIGH INTENSITY
“I retired on January 18th. After retiring I asked myself, ‘What’s next?’ Then I said to myself, “You know what? Since I’m doing all this exercise and trying to stay fit and eating healthy, I think I should take a class and become a Zumba instructor.’
“This year, actually six months ago on February 8, I became an instructor. After completing the class, I asked myself, ‘Where am I going to go to teach Zumba?’ I remembered this place in Newark. I spoke with the owner, and she was okay with our using the place which is at 400 Bloomfield Ave. in Newark, and I’ve been there ever since.
MOMENTUM
“It’s funny that you ask me about my movement abilities. I practice, I do exercise and weights. I try to tone up the body so after over a period of years it comes naturally now. Zumba was a little intimidating in the beginning as far as movement and moves go but they say you don’t have to be a dancer to do it. I got there and they taught me the different base moves and then you add your own thing in. Everything that you saw was basic moves but I do my own thing to it. Those are my routines, so far I have ten routines but I am working on another now and that’s number eleven. Presently I have a class for kids. The location where I conduct classes also has a daycare so that makes it easy to work with the kids. I also work with older youths and adults. But one of my intentions is to work with our senior population.
ZUMBA 101
“Zumba originated in Latin America. The guy who started it originally had been teaching aerobics and he had his music that he’d use but one day he forgot his music. By chance he had some cassettes with him, and he played the cassettes and started doing routines that were dance routines instead of the usual aerobic routines and it caught on.
“People loved it then from there he recruited his partner, and his partner was a great addition because he exposed it marketing it all through Latin America and now it’s everywhere. When taking a class oftentimes you don’t hear many songs in English but mainly Latin American songs because it came from there. You may not understand what you’re hearing but the beat you can dance to.
“I choose my music from their music list which comes monthly. I usually go over the music, but the music has to move me and that’s how I choose it. Fast, slow, flow that’s how I choose; it has to make me move. Then I create my routine from there by adding my steps. The music for the Zumba kids is different of course its instructional and kid friendly. Any one of age or people of all age who find it challenging to exercise or stay fit and/or eat clean. I tell them for starts that movement is the key. Basic walking outdoors or indoors if they can’t get out, if they want to move to music, I recommend Salsa.
“When I cross paths with people usually, they have opened the door during our small talk or whatever and I talk to them about my process and my class. My classes are paid classes. But at the park (Monte Irvin Orange Park on Fridays at 6:00), because it is a public space, classes are free and that’s also one of my ways for promoting and recruiting. Things are growing, and we get a mix of both males and females, which is awesome and people of all ages.
“I do Zumba but I also do a toning class. Toning classes are one day a week on Wednesdays. I instruct classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Mondays, Kids Zumba, On Wednesday, it’s Fit & Trim. That’s when we do our weights and our cardio, we actually get on the floor, they bring their mats and we do upper and lower body training. Leg lifts, crunches and sit ups and stuff like that. On Fridays, its Zumba for the adults. Most of the time we’re outside, but when the weather doesn’t permit it, we go inside. We’ll likely be outside up until September. Last year, it was until October because of the weather that we had.
“Sometimes I have to really push because there are times that I don’t want to do it; But I push myself. When things get hard my main motivator is people because I don’t want to let them down. If I were to say something to motivate people out there to move and become more health conscious it would be ‘health is wealth,’ if I were to demonstrate that for them I would move!”
DID YA KNOW THAT…
Philosophically it is said that body conscious defined means being highly aware that bodies are sacred and no standards for perfection exist in real life (Urban Dictionary). In logical terms it is defined as body-con (aka body conscious) dress is a body hugging dress. The term in fashion generally means something that is fitted to your body. Some casting agencies ask for models to come in body conscious clothing so they can see their body type at first glance.
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