FLAWLESS - July 2007 - Eddie Carrington

1. Tell me about yourself. where are you from? tell me about your family? I'm from "Upstate" New York, Liberty, New York to be exact; it's about about two hours Northwest from Manhattan. I was born in Yonkers, however I grew up in a small predominantly Jewish community. I feel the opportunities that I had growing up were available because of my community, however I know I could never live in a small town, with such a lack of diversity, like that ever again. I was the youngest of three children. I say was, because my sister passed away from cancer about ten years ago. We were a very tight knit family so I really miss her and my mother's company immensely. My mother passed away a year and a half after my sister. When adversity strikes it is imperative to push through the pain and come out on top. My sister was the first person that ever told me I could do modeling. If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have been confident enough to do everything I've accomplished in life.

2. You have an amazing body. Were you born with it or did it take years of building it up? No, ninety-nine percent of the population with great bodies typically do "something" to maintain their physique. In my case I was always in sports growing up. When I graduated high school I excelled in track and football, and I was on the basketball team. I'll keep it real with you, I sat on the bench on our basketball team, but at least I made the team. I started running track in college, discovered weight lifting, and began taking dance very seriously. I'm still dancing and teaching class, and a few years ago I was internationally ranked on a trio team in Sports Aerobics. We were first in Nation and fourth in the World. It was an amazing time in my life.

3. If you had to choose (3) fast food places to dine where would you dine and why? Wow, aren't I supposed to lead people to believe I never eat fast food. Well, contrary to popular belief, that's an assumption, I do eat fast food, however I try not to eat it very often. I love Quiznos. I think they have the best hero sandwiches. Wendy's is good too! I don't go there that often, however, when their food is "fresh" and hot, I admit I really enjoy my dining experience there. For my third choice, which I rarely ever eat I guess I would say Kentucky Fried Chicken. I love chicken, call me stereotypical!!

4. What suggestions do you have for someone who wants to lose weight and start developing a better and healthier body? Set small incremental goals. Definitely have a long-term goal in mind, however if you set small goals and strive hard to accomplish those small goals then it makes the process of losing weight a lot more rewarding!!! Also, stay consistent and don't give up. It's very easy to loose sight of your goals when you don't accomplish them right away.

5. How do you deal with your frustrations and the craziness of this fast paced world? How do you handle depression? I don't know if I would use the adjective depressed. I do get down on myself and occasionally I feel stagnant. Everything around me seems to be progressing and I may be feeling steadfast and immobile. Fortunately, those moments don't happen very often, however, when I do find myself confronting those situations, I allow myself a moment to explore how I'm feeling. I don't like to run away from my emotions. I use my optimism and generally great attitude to persevere and break out of that slump!!

6. We all have had embarrassing moments. Tell me about one of your embarrassing moments. I was on the Cross Country Track team in high school. One of our activities was to do a ten mile run. Now if you remember I'm from the country so there are lots of trees, grass, and open space. I found myself, half way into the run having to pass gas, fart. Well, I was alone and there isn't anything around so who cares, well what I thought was a fart wasn't. I shit all over myself and still had about five miles to go to get back to the school. I got rid of the underwear, however, some of it had stained my shorts as well and I had to go back to the school, finish our workout, and get home. Running back to the school was absolutely an embarrassing and humiliating experience. Even though I don't think anyone realized what happened because I did a good job of keeping it a secret I felt like everyone knew what had happened. I can't believe I just told you that story.

7. Describe a romantic evening that you might plan for someone. I love to give surprises. So, when it comes to being romantic I love the element of surprise. I would purchase a trip to somewhere overseas, maybe Madrid and book a very expensive hotel, like The Sol, one of the leading Hotels of the World. One night order room service, have wine, fruit, cheese, etc. and hang out in the hotel all night and half of the morning making love and enjoying one another's company. I also like learning about other cultures so sight seeing, hitting the musuems, and the night life is a must. I love discovering a new place with someone I consider very special. Now, I know I gave more than just one night but I think creating memories that are long lasting is so important. Unfortunately, my idea may not be sordid but it's defintely romantic; it's also something I've done!!