Priscillia

Thanks for that! Not that I need pudding but hey, if it's better for me and still tastes like chocolate I'll be set for life haha. I'm sure if you give it a go and replace it with Chocolate Whey Iso it should still taste good? I guess it depends on how much you like the taste of that?

 

Haha, they're a lot easier than it sounds - just focus on rolling from being flat footed to on your toes but using your arms and not your legs. Takes more brain power than arm power most of the time cause you really have to focus on not using your legs haha.

I need to google dumbbell rows & inverted rows, I have no idea what they are!

 

The worst part is when you start attempting tricks like the Superman

I cannot get that trick because I can't get past the pain yet! And I'm not flexible enough yet =/

But the hooha pain there is terrible, and that's just practicing to get in to it!

 

Yeah I need to get more in to Yoga, might give myself a challenge to try it in the next six week block or something.

The taste honestly depends on the Iso Brand/flavour I find.  I had a vegan one that was serviceable and now I have a GNC chocolate one that's pretty tasty with milk (the vanilla one sucks though).  I just need to bring some of the chocolate from work and grab more avocados next shopping trip.

Welp, I know what I'll try at Pole Jam on Sat!  And here's a post explaining dumbbell rows and inverted rows and how they tie in to pull ups

Hahaha, I must admit I do it sober too - I'm just less confident!

 

_{I think that is a good thing that you haven't been drunk, drinking costs too much and you always end up with bruises.... maybe that's just me though. Your wallet is happier than mine. Now I sound like an alco but I don't drink very often haha}

 

Don't be scared! Trust your body! It can do it There are worse tricks that hurt more than that! And yeah, behind the knee is bad! I hated the shin pain when I first started!

 

I am trying to get into the habit of not sitting in my chair when I first get home from work and it's hard but it seems to be working a bit! I just need to change it so as soon as I get home I get on the pole or take the dog for a walk. I haven't quite been able to resist the chair that much yet. lol

I guess the mantra from now on is truly "no pain, no gain", eh?  I guess I just need to give into it mentally.

I found that taking the dog out for a walk works better to get me out of the chair (or at least it did when she was capable of going for long walks).  I mean, how can you say no to this?

Haha thanks for the reminder ;P

 

I have a couple of photos to post to give me a starting point but I've ran out of internet on my phone so I have to wait for it to re-set or connect it to my boyfriends. There wasn't any toe pointing but I was wearing heels so that kinda counts right? lol.

I'm gonna say no?  I know if I want to stretch and I'm wearing heels it's hard to point them lol so that's what I'm basing my answer on.  And ugh! data caps!

Oh great! It is addictive!! Definitely be prepared for weird looks you get from people in public when you're drunk and decide to start street poling on anything that looks like it's stable and a pole.... I have done that way too many times & I'm too unco when I'm drunk so I always end up with way too many bruises.

 

One actual tip I can give you is don't pay attention to the tricks others in your class can do. Everyone learns tricks at different rates & some can do tricks others can't. Never underestimate your body, you'll be surprised when you can see what you can do when you press through the skin pain And there's always skin pain, my skin is in pain just talking about the skin pain... haha

 

Ooohhh silks!! I would loooove to give silks a go but I don't think there are any places near me (QLD, Australia) that do it =/ I saw you said you hoop as well? What is that like?!

 

I need to get my pole mojo back, I took a break for six weeks because I lost my job and couldn't afford it until I got a bit more stable in the job I'm in now & I have a pole at home but I struggle to get into it when I get home from work. (It's Autumn here so it's starting to cool down, making it harder! Even though it's easier to pole when it's cooler, especially when the norm is 30 degrees plus)

Who needs to be drunk for that! Bring on the weird looks.

I've actually never been drunk and since being diagnosed with Crohn's and buying my car, I tend to avoid situations where that's the outcome Dunno if that's good or not (well, I'm sure my wallet and tummy likes me at least)

Ughhhhh skin pain is probably what makes me so scared of lifting off fully.  Right behind the knee >.<

And I hear you about working out at home.  Especially after work when you just want to sink into that nice comfy chair...

Haha I did actually laugh at your comment about DOMS. I'm glad you had fun! Don't worry, your strength will increase quickly, especially in the beginning. At this point you probably just want to listen to your instructor and play around in order to get more comfy on the pole. And awesome job on crow pose! 

 

I hope all the stretching will work for you (and if nothing else you'll get super bendy!) but it takes a while to restore everything back to neutral. And it might not even be the cause. But it's certainly worth trying. I don't really see the point of locking your chair to a certain position though... We're not meant to be locked in, even if it's "perfect" posture. Especially not sitting! I would like to challenge you instead, to come up with as many different ways of sitting and standing as possible.

Re-reading my comment now makes it sound like a dominatrix standing or ahem on a dominatrix >.< I need sleep methinks

You're probably right on that aspect  I think I'll try to hit the Pole Jams for one of my 2 workouts just to get used to the pole (Wednesdays and Saturdays).  Though maybe not tomorrow... last time I felt DOMS this much I needed 2-3 days to feel normal (I overdid my first workout for New Rules by doing 8 sets instead of 2 alternating since I didn't "get" it at first lmao).

Well, I feel much bendy-er since starting yoga (and relaxed) so I'm all for it  And I guess I'm just impatient about wanting to go back to normal!  I never used to have problems with girl time when I weighted 150 lbs and having to go gung ho on a painkiller cocktail annoys me.  Especially since I'm stuck on daily Imuran pills for my Crohn's.

My co-worker won't like either of us with that challenge lol!  She sits right behind me!  I've actually been trying to unlock my chair but it seems to be stuck :/  Sketches or Photos?

I wish I could like this more than once! It takes ages (well it did for me anyways.. lol) to build up the strength to hold yourself on the pole to complete a sunwheel or a fireman spin (I love those two tricks!). When you giggle while doing exercise you know it must be good for you

 

A good way to build up arm strength is to pretty much do pull ups on the pole. Once you advance you can do it from sitting on the ground up but for now try standing, facing the pole with both of your hands gripped infront of your face (one above the other, even try swapping them around after a few reps). With you hands gripped you pretty much pull yourself up - but only pulling so you end up on your toes instead of flat feet (Don't use your leg muscles at all!!!). Once that gets too easy for you, you could try pulling yourself up so your legs/feet go infront of the pole (pole in crotch lol) - but only do this once you totally excell at the first one otherwise you'll end up with a sore hooha! If you get what I mean.. haha.

Hope that helps!

 

I am trying to get more flexible at the moment and its taking so long but I need to be more consistent with it =/ I made good progress last year (as I cannot touch my toes at all!) but haven't got any further because I stopped stretching..

 

I am going to find that pudding recipe too, sounds yummy!!

Pudding Recipe for easy access  I just finished the last bit of mine  I doubled it, but switched some ingredients (Honey, Vanilla Coconut Milk, Cocoa Powder and Avocado).  I'm actually debating on seeing if I could replace the cocoa powder with Chocolate Whey Iso without changing the taste much...

Oh man, I don't know if I'd be able to do the pole pull ups haha.  I'm still on dumbbell rows right now to get some strength for inverted rows  But I'm willing to try during Pole Jam (either tomorrow or Sat)!  And yea I wanna avoid getting sore there ;P  I think we all do!

I'm finding yoga helps for stretching/balance too.  It also has the benefit of totally de-stressing you mentally  It's also pretty addicting so maybe that can help with consistency?

I followed the trail from Priscilia's thread and found you here! To add to the excitement, yaaay, another poler! And what a cool main quest!

 

As for the next step, I'd suggest you post a 6-week challenge in the Level 1 Rebel forums for easy stalking until we kidnap you to the assassins muahahaha. It's technically two weeks in, but better late than never. 

 

And welcome to NF!

I'm tempted to call you Mad Hatter the kittynapper.  Or is that acro-kittynapper?

Haha I'm probably the easiest to stalk cause I have no idea what I'm doing really.. lmao

 

Awesome! Thank you for the help! I didn't quite know where to start at all

 

Thank you!! I'm so happy I finally made the decision to join up

Lmao you'll get the hang of it soon enough.  But we stalkers will still be there

Welcome to NF

 

2.3-7

Oh my I've been bad at updating lately. Things are plodding along nicely, I'm doing something everyday even if it's not that much. Though my diet has unfortunately slipped since the last challenge though so I need to get that back on track. I started today because I didn't want to lose any HP in habitrpg.

 

Breakfast of champions - French toast with bacon and maple syrup

 

 

Pasta with chilli prawns in a lemon basil cream sauce

 

 

Other stuff.

 

Maple + Bacon = Win.  I just hope my keyboard doesn't die from all the drool...

Funnily enough this blog post came into my inbox today about periods which in turn linked to this post. I believe there's more on the website if you go hunting. This woman is pretty awesome and she talks about how tight muscles can contribute to period pains (and lots more cool stuff about how biomechanics and posture affects us.) Might be worth a read.

That second post where she talks about tight leg muscles... I wonder if that will change my next girl pains?  I mean, I'm doing much more stretching and roller massages to the legs now compared to a month ago... it's funny, I thought this was all weight related (and I'm sure now that it's a factor).

As for posture, my co-worker challenged me to lock my chair in a certain position at work  This is REALLY worth experimenting with...

Woooooow Week three already!

Week 3, Day 1 Recap

Log All The Food - Check!

Workouts 3X - 1/3 Pole Class

Yoga Stretching - 1/2 Yoga class

Draw and Post - Nada

Gold Quest - Done for Month, Next extra payment is in May

Lemme just say this.  HOLY DOMS.  MY DOMS HAVE DOMS.  I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD HURT THERE.

​Okay done whining.  Wait, no.  I CAN FEEL IT WHEN I USE THE STAPLER TOO!!!!  And I've got a hundred folders to staple!!!!

So now you can laugh Seriously, how can you feel that when you use the stapler?!?!?!

Food went pretty well.  If you saw the Choco Avocado Pudding pic earlier in the thread, that replaced my lunch (steak) which I had before class  It's good (I made it with honey and Vanilla Coconut Milk and fry's cocoa powder) and paleo, I can't recommend it enough if you want a chocolate fix because it taste EXACTLY like the boxed jello pudding.

Pole is definitively not as easy as it looks on youtube videos or how easy the instructor makes it look.  I knew it was going to be hard, but wooooooooow.  Expectations = Blown.  I thought I would be somewhat okay on just holding up on the pole, but nope. not even.  The class is a max of ten people (we're maybe seven I think?) and the instructor is awesome  She's very open and made us giggle lots (open your legs girls! ) with innuendos and just plain sillyness (Booty out! Really out!).  I feel like that's very important, that it makes me comfortable because I think I'm afraid of that pole lol!

I've noticed I have a big reluctance on dragging my other leg up to the pole (fireman, sun wheel? and another one were learned yesterday).  That I would say, if my biggest challenge atm.  Just bringing that other leg up!  And arm strength to hold me up long enough!  If anyone has tips & tricks for that...

We also worked a bit on a routine that we'll learn.  We're dancing to "Pony" (I think that was it...).  All in all, I loved it.  I also got to talk to our instructor about the stretch classes and she suggested certain things to help with splits and such (photos, at home).  She's also super bendy, I already want to be able to do what she can!

Yoga was lovely.  We did try crow pose and on the second try I "flew" for a few seconds.  I almost fell asleep during corpse pose though  I was pretty drained last night.

Also, a co-worker got me hooked on this;

Plan for today is rest, draw and SCALLOPS 8D

Forgot to post week 2 recap.  This before Week 3 Day 1 and my pole class impression

Week 2 Recap!

Log All The Food - CHECK and used 1/2 freebies

Workouts 3X - A - (2 BBWW and 1 Aquafit)

Yoga Stretching - A - 2 Yoga classes and 20-30 minute Rolling

Draw and Post - Passed!  Posted in Queue Sunday Night (auto post done on Monday)

Gold Quest - Payment Made  Next one scheduled in May.

How did your classes go? Did you do enrol to give them a try? I'm sorry for being so random on this post but I am always super excited when I read something about someone starting pole classes :3

Lol, no worries!  My normal modus operandi is to stalk pole threads (now I'm commenting on them)!  I've enrolled in them to give it a try  I'm a newbie to it, so if there's any tips or tricks, be my guest

Yay, another poler, what fun! There's not too many of us, there's us, Urzie and I know Twilight's dabbled. There's a few more doing other aerial, mainly silks. But it's ok, even if we don't do the same things we're all a big happy family.   

Hmmm Gonna need to find Urzie then  I've stalked Twilight's thread (haven't commented yet)

I'll post more tomorrow because...

...maybe I shouldn't have taken yoga after pole???

Holy Moly Jenn! D:  You are made of steel lady!

If the French doesn't get the melodrama across then the exclamation marks do. And the rest I'm just going to translate in my head to ALL THE CHEESE AND ALL THE FOOD! Even if you say something completely different.

 

Would something like this help? It's not useful for tutorials (there is a fantastic, though not free, resource for that) but it does show most of the moves very cleanly.  

Hahaha! It's more like I couldn't FIND all the cheese and all the food

Still missing a couple references, but that will work perfectly since I now know what to call them and can imagine the transition or find something on youtube!  Thankyouthankyouthankyou!

Nuala, found this for you!  And anyone else in Europe  There's a couple pubs they list in Paris and some cheese/gravy suggestions

that's part of why I got the mirena IUD... now I no longer have a cycle and therefore no cramps (well... really really really mild ones compared to what I used to have!)

 

 

my daughter takes raspberry leaf tea... it helps her with the cramping and the other aspects of it

Huh, never thought of using any type of BC.  Haven't needed it yet but maybe I should ask my GP?

Hmmm... I've never liked tea but that sounds worthwhile (I don't like being on a bunch of pills, but if it works -shrug-).  Any other teas that work well?  Especially if you're just starting to drink it

I may be French but I can't type in French on internet... It just seems wrong >_> That being said, J'ai eu l'occasion de manger un délicieux brie de Meaux farci à la truffe fraîche à Noël. It was nom

 

...

 

See, it looks wrong!

J'viens juste de manger -insertswearhere-!!!  Vous me faites envie de manger ENCORE!!!  Et j'ai meme pas trouver mes curds OU mon brie hier au supermarché... ou mes coquilles Saint-Jaques

Yep.  It does look wrong  It's just not the same as speaking it with the accents!  Although I guess I get the melodramatic of it across?

I was going to suggest naproxen (Aleve) before I got down further in the thread.  That stuff seriously works miracles for me in the lady department.

It does, it really really does.  I think I'll take it again next time because I am NOT going to put up with that again.  I'd been taking it for almost a year before noticing that it was affecting my crohn's (my uterus does that anyways, I didn't realize they were both affecting it!).  Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Omg... do yourselves a favor and try this.  And then use fruits as a dip (using mangoes here).  I feel like a very guilty cochon, but it's paleo!!!

...And there goes my lunch.

Brie you can find everywhere, so you'll be just fine. Plus there's soooo many other tasty cheeses!

 

Halloumi is squeeky, but it's also quite salty... Would that make a difference?

Mmmmmmmm cheeeeeese...

I'm not sure how the salt would affect it, but I do think it would.  Just not HOW.  I really need to try it and compare now...

Don't start me on cheese... just.. don't...

Hahaha sounds very familiar

Caution, French woman nearby!

Caution, French Woman AND French Canadian Woman around

Touche pas mon fromage! (man it's been awhile since I typed in french... been avoiding it since high school. Grammar and conjuguaison, blech!)

Those are awesome! What kind of drawing tablet do you use? Do you ever animate your drawings or are you just into character design?

 

 

Fried halloumi croutons! FTW! On a Greek salad. Can't recommend enough.

Hmmm okay, deffo looking for halloumi now!

Thanks I normally use an Intuos3 (wacom) but lately I've been sketching on my SurfacePro 2.  I don't like it for long colour paintings (rather use the 7 year old intuos3 for that) since the pen is just a weeeeee bit off.  But SP2 uses a modified Intuos3 tech from what I understand, which is reeeeeaaallly old (my tablet was bought when the 6x11 came out and Intuos4 was released not too long after with newer tech).

And wacom is NOT cheap :/ Their cintiq line is the industry standard, but there's smaller companies making a dent in the graphic monitor/tablet area now that are FINALLY viable.  Frenden has been really good to review the newer stuff.

Sorry, art tech = <3 I'm geeky for it and WoW

As for animation, I admit I really prefer layout/character design over builds+animating in Flash.  I really haven't found the time to actually animate since I left college xD  Which is okay, since I want to do concepts and layouts/bgs at the studio I work at.  Although...

Your artwork is adorable! 

 

Greek salad makes me yawn, but halloumi = WIN!

Thank you!  Btw for the sake of art + animation, are there any websites that show the proper names and technique videos for pole moves that you would recommend?  I want to do something a la G.U.Y. (Lady Gaga) and need good reference for the timing

WOW!!! I disappear for a week or two and there is such intense amazingness that I wanna scream WOOT!!

 

pole dancing! and fries (the rest of the gravy cheesy curdy stuff I can do with out... but TATERS!) and extra car payments!!

 

 

 

 

as for the girly cramping... I find that taking ibuprofen a day before the cramps SHOULD start (being super regular helps) and then taking it 3 times a day for the first couple days REALLY helps

Yaaaaaaay!  I'm finding it hard to keep up with all the awesomeness in the Lvl 1 forums never mind the guild ones

And taterssssss... Sweet potato taters yum yum.

I wish I could take ibuprofen, but it doesn't play nice with my crohn's.  Even when I'm feeling perfect it hurts quite a bit :/  And the tylenol + acetaminophen midol doesn't seem to make a dent either (actually I use it just like you suggested, go us!).  I've got NSAIDs (Naproxen) which is supposedly a no-no with the crohn's but taking that vs a repeat of that weekend... I'll take the NSAIDs and screw the crohn's.  At least I can work with the Naproxen

Nope, it's a very regional thing. I don't know if they use it for something else actually.

Yeah, I never really saw cheese curds here so I suppose the leftovers are used for something else.

Well poop. Eh, as long as there's brie to replace my obsession with curds then I guess it's fine if I ever wanna go live there for a year or two.  But man that puts a damper on it.

I've never tried halloumi, so I don't know if it would work.  I don't think I've seen it anywhere in our supermarkets either... I'll try hunting it down to take a bite  Mozza's the only other one I think of that can come close for poutine...  Unless you wanna try making your own curds

I'm lurking to see your sketches, but have not been successful yet. Would like to sees them... or maybe I just missed them somewhere.

 

Also, I think I head-butted my screen when I saw those fries. I want to have them and shove them into my face.

That would be my fault!  The Tumblr in my sig is for my personal one, the sketchblog is where I put all the WIPs (added it and my portfolio in my sig).  Sorry!  I normally cross post them to my personal one but my queue hasn't scheduled anything until 3 PM today for that post.

Haha I would too

I never got the nerve to try Poutine, first because I'm European and I'm afraid it would just be a pale copy of it, secondly because I heard that in Poutine the cheese is squeaky... I can't even imagine that! I've seen running cheese, jumping cheese, moldy cheese, melting cheese, hard like wood cheese but never squeaky!

The squeaky is from the cheese curds (omnomnom).  I can totally understand, doing a homemade poutine doesn't really compare to a chip wagon one unless you're doing home fries, cheese curds and a good gravy (haven't managed to find the good gravy yet).  I've done it with homefries, mozzarella and Poutine gravy mix from club house but... yea, no comparison to a take out one (except ones from McDonalds and all those other places.  Homemade is better than that crap poutine).

... waaaaaaaiiiiit a minute.  Does Europe not have cheese curds?  I mean, that's the leftover whey/fat from when you start cheddar batches, so do they sell that or do they use it for something else?

Oooh kettlebells.  Keep us updated on that, yea?  They seem really interesting :3

Week 2, Day 6 & 7 Recap

Log All The Food - Check!

Workouts 3X - Did BBWW (almost 3 circuits!!!) Sunday

Yoga Stretching - Roller for 20--30 minutes Sunday

Draw and Post - Posted sketch to Queue last night (will auto post today at 3PM, my window is 9am-9pm and I posted after 9pm)

Gold Quest - Done for Month, Next extra payment is in May

Sat was a lazy day as mentioned before.  I didn't go to yoga, and you know what? Lazing about after this week was nice

Sunday is another story.  Did cleaning, cut up a bunch of fruits&veggies didn't get to make my own supper since the supermarket blew my plans to smithereens (fresh scallops were on sale and they didn't have ANY but the frozen ones...making those Tuesday).  So i was lazy with supper :/

Thanks Raxie for the post on using the massage roller BEFORE workouts!  I think it really helped me almost get through a full 3 circuits  And too true on the IT Bands.  Midway to the knee is where it always "hurts" mosts.

Things I noticed;

• Squats are getting faster.  I'm pretty sure I kept form but I'd need a mirror to be 100% sure (20/20/20).  They also didn't affect me as much as normal (I think that's the roller talking to my muscles)
  
• Push ups are still on the wall, but went well (10/10/12).  I'm going to try going lower next time.
  
• No Lunges (still hurt)
  
• Dumbell rows.  Eh, not sure if there were any changes.  I may try adding the last disk on my dumbells at home next time.
  
• Planks; 1m and 50s respectively. Didn't do the third one.
  
• Jumping Jacks; 30/30/30
  

You can't steal my budget     I need that for the noms!  Maybe we can steal them from the pale/clean crowd?  Poutine is definitively NOT either of those >D

Thanks!  I've been looking at those classes for years and always putting it off with "Oh I don't have time", "Oh it's during raid time", "Oh I don't have the money" and stuff like that everytime I get those emails.  It feels nice to finally say "Screw It, let's Go!" :D

Also, there's a Pole Jam and Stretch class with a portion dedicated to splits that's included, which I really want to try (the splits).

Week 2, Day 4 & 5 Recap

Log All The Food - 1/2 Freebies Used (Day 4) Check! (Day 5)

Workouts 3X - Rest Days

Yoga Stretching - Rest Days

Draw and Post - Nothing done

Gold Quest - Put in my extra Payment

Thursday was Poutine Fest (French Canadian Meal consisting of french fries, cheese curds and gravy) so I took one of my two freebies on the first goal and a risk with worsening my flare.  So far this week, it's actually been really good, I'm not sure if that's due to no girl problems, eating or the increase in Imuran (my medication).  But so far so good on that front, which made me take a chance on this event.

I decided not to overdo it and shared some with my best friend.  In all, the variety was amazing!  And even if it wasn't healthy, holy cow was it ever good.  Chicken Shawarma, Pad Thai, Spring Roll, Triple Bacon and Duck&Brie were the ones I tried.  I didn't touch the Curry one since normally curry doesn't work well unless I make it very mild.  Still kinda wish I tried the lobster bacon one but at that point, I think it would have been pushing it.  We took sample portions (8 oz about) and shared between us.  I definitively went over my calorie budget, but for good company and good food? Worth it.

Argh... how to make those photos smaller...

Friday was another rest day since my muscles under that left shoulder blade started aching again (it was non-existent Thursday).  I crashed pretty early yesterday night and today is shaping up to be one of those relaxing days where you only cook/clean/draw/read.

I have, however, made an extra payment on my car!  So proud of myself  I actually got a larger then expected tax return, waited for the letter to confirm it was right (Friday) and then made my April payment + the tax return.  So Gold quest is doing real good

3. Bike. Went out on the bike Tuesday and Saturday. Crashed on Saturday but survived with mere bruises. Is it bad that when I landed on my shoulder my first thought was 'I hope I can still do pushups'?

Sounds normal to me

Thanks! The pushup thing is crazy, I basically managed to 'get' it in yoga, of all things, going from down-dog then lowering into plank and cobra, and I thought "oh, right, elbows in, this is a push up." That scored me around 1-5 of them. My husband wanted to know what I meant by 'elbows in' (he tries wide-arm ones and says they hurt), so maybe it was because he was watching, but I cranked out 8 of them while showing it off. I said "OK that's as many as I've ever done... let me try for ten." Once I'd done ten, it really did feel like levelling up. I was surprised at just how much I felt it through my core. I guess I needed that core strength to move on.

I... am absolutely speechless.  I swear reading this was like an epiphany.   It makes so much sense!!!

Also sounds like you've had an exhausting but really progressive time this week  With the exception of the Easter chocolate of course (but who doesn't??).