Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts

Sunday, 26 January 2014

Eat Good! Feel Good! Link up - It's already Week 4...

I am going to start by saying that I did not have the best 'healthy eating' week. It's been a a bit of a topsy turvy week so to say. Not the easiest and I think that didn't help me at all. So let's get to it, here's how my week went.


My Week

 
* I finished my 'weaning off' phase of one set of meds and began a new set. The weaning of phase had me losing my appetite which did not help me want to eat anything, let alone eat healthy. 

* I have ate my salads for lunch and kept up with the fruit which is one good thing.
* I also got back to proper Pole workout this week and did two, hour workouts. This made me feel bruised but great. 
* I have had no problems sticking to my green tea and chamomile tea drinking throughout the week. This kept my blood sugar levels more calm thanks to not drinking fizzy drinks. To be honest, I rarely even crave a can of Pepsi these days. 
* I still have chocolate everyday, this is something I am not trying to change.
* Thursday night I was rather naughty and stopped by McDonalds after workout session - terrible, I know! But it was so good!
* Then Saturday, I had a rather nice afternoon drinking session of cocktails! It has been a while since I have drank so much alcohol and of course fizzy drinks. I then ended the evening with a Domino pizza order with my BFF. So Saturday was totally a cheat day. I had fun and enjoyed myself so I really don't feel bad at all. 

My week in pictures.

Grab a button and link up below - share your healthy week or fitness posts from the week! I look forward to reading them all!

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Take All Chances

Thursday, 29 August 2013

The first time I felt the fear ... and needed crash mats for pole class!

I have been pole dancing (for fitness) for a number of years now and I love it. You can read about why I started here and check out one of my moves here. I have never felt scared of any of my moves before, and than incldes hanging from the pole with one knee!

That was until yesterday... duh, duh, duuuhhh. My pole instructor gave me a new move. I have been working on a twisted handspring for many weeks now and whlie I an hold the move if helped into it with a little push - I can't quite get there yet. It is starting to furstrate me and my arms are finding it wearing. So the new move came.

"Missy - I want to work on the Russian Splits with you today," was her introduction. In my head all I could think was - But i can't do the splits? Apparently that is not needed (regardless of the name). So we got to it, my instructor got YouTube going and showed me the Russian Splits. My mouth dropped and my first impression was WTH? How was this possible? How would I not fall off the pole? 



Just to clarify, this is not me (I wish!)

Then the fear gripped me. It was something which I had not encountered with a pole move before. Normally I have a sense of excitement and feel ready to get to grips with the move. This time, fear was mixed in with it. We began the move from the ground which was not all too scary, just taxing on my body. However, the thought of working my way up the pole into this crazy move was playing on my mind.

By the end of the session I had managed to complete the move from the ground a few times but more often than not I found myself tumbling off the pole. Needless to say, my instructor and I had a good laugh with this one. She has not done this move before and was attempting it for the first time. We had a number of yoga mats piled up as crash mats which were most definitly needed. I don't know how long this will take to get or if I will ever get to the point of doing this from higher up the pole. I will keep you all up to date with this one.


Have you ever had a workout challenge?

Tuesday, 13 August 2013

Why pole dance?

Today I have linked up with Pole Freaks blog, my first article has been featured which I want to share with you all too!
 

When people ask me why I pole dance, I want to answer – Why not? There are so many things I love which keep me pole dancing: enjoyment, challenge, toning and empowerment! I started pole dancing about 4 years ago (with a break in between) and on my first lesson I was unsure, like most people, of what to expect. The first move I was taught was the fireman’s spin. Nervously, I stepped up to the pole, full of excitement for my new workout. On my first spin I was hooked!
I loved my first lesson, regardless of the couple of bruises which developed. This was the main factor which led to me going to the next lesson. I had fun. I loved swinging around the pole and the enjoyed the challenge. From being younger I danced and this was a new challenge. My body ached and I liked that ache. I hadn’t found a workout which I not only enjoyed, but which worked muscles I never knew I had. I even began to make friends in the class.

Smile!
[Source]

The challenge is definitely something which keeps me going back to pole dancing. I picked up the first few moves easily; I think this was partly due to the enjoyment of the classes but also my dancing background.  It is the only workout which I feel has ever really challenged me. After developing my ability to spin, I began with inverts and this was where pole dancing became really challenging for me.  I would spend weeks on a new move. I saw people stop dancing when they reached the inverts – but not me. I kept at it; I pushed myself harder than I had ever pushed myself. I knew I would feel proud of myself when I finally managed the move which I spent weeks perfecting.  After all this time, I still get that rush when I perfect a new move.


Through pole dancing, my body has toned brilliantly. My core strength is strong and my arm muscles are toned and defined. It always surprises people how much their body can change taking part in pole dancing.  I for one was amazed at how my arms shaped up and even when I have taken a break from working out, it’s a matter of weeks before my arm muscles develop again. The core strength develops so naturally, there are very few exercise routines which involve holding your own body weight. This helps out with my overall toning and balance.






Yep...I can do that!


My final reason for continuing pole dancing is the way it makes me feel. I always leave the lessons feeling strong and empowered as a woman. I am well aware of the connotations of pole dancing. Especially when men find out what I do for a workout, they think I am some kind of stripper. I am past the point of trying to explain it to them now. I just let them think what they want, knowing I am probably much stronger than them! I feel empowered as a woman at the strength my body has and some of the tricks which I can now do on a pole!



So, if you’re thinking about giving it a go. My only advice is to go for it! It is something which I have been hooked on now for years and love how it makes me feel. Good luck and get spinning!



Check out my: 

Wednesday, 8 June 2011

Back on the er...pole

With all the knee problems that I'm having, I am getting extremely frustrated at my lack of being able to do anything. I don't exercise to stay slim, I do it because I enjoy it therefore not being able to do it since last October has been pretty rubbish. All I want to do is prance about. After numerous visits to Mr Knee Man (I don't know his real title but I have used more colourful words to describe him at various points) and a scan it appears that the damage is low level. What does this mean? Well I'm not that sure as Mr Knee Man can be rather vague. I have seemed to ascertain that I need to build up knee and quad muscle again and that more than likely somewhere in the future I can get back to running and high impact exercise. It seems like it can't be 'fixed' as such just worked around with some well developed muscle!!

So he has given me a list of exercises which are boring squats and leg extensions. I have decided (wrong or right I don't know) to go back to my pole dancing. This is because I reckon it's not too bad on the knee and you use a lot of core and upper body strength. I went to my first lesson in a year today and I absolutely loved being back. It's one of my most enjoyed exercise ever and I always say it's the best exercise I've done to tone up arms and stomach. You just have to not mind a couple of bruises while learning!!! It wasn't long into my lesson that I was attempting my upside down spins and didn't fair too badly... woo!!!

As it was my first time back in a while I decided on the beginners class. This led to my favourite quote of the day from my instructor:

"That girl over there just asked me if you're a professional."

This amused me due to the fact that I haven't done it in so long!! Clearly I'm still not so bad at it. However I'm not so sure whether I should be worried or flattered by this remark! The way I look at it, the weekly lesson along with all the exercises given by my doctor she set my knee up well.Now I have the fun of not being able to walk for pain after my first work out in 7 months.

I'm sure everyone has their one type of exercise that they love more than anything else?
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