Cruella T'Kill

Be careful about flying into places with no money. If you look at the terms of visas, they usually stipulate that you (a) have an onward ticket or ( have enough money to support yourself for the duration of your stay. 9/10 times they probably won't check, but when I flew into England to stay for 3 months they wanted to see bank statements to verify that I had enough money. I don't know much about travel hacking and considering you are just graduating not sure how easily you will get approved for a credit card. But I do have a recommendation to help with expenses while in Australia (because it can be very expensive). www.helpx.net is a website that you can help you find places to exchange work for room and board. It is mostly farmwork, but there are sometimes places in the cities that need some landscaping or handyman work. You create a profile and can browse potential hosts and read reviews about other people's experiences. I used it a bunch when I was travelling around Australia and had such a great time. It can help get you to some out of the way places and meet some fantastic locals. Then you can save your money for the big cities!

I know it's been awhile since anyone has been in this thread, but looking for recommendations for makeup shopping in Australia. The best I can think of is Myer, but I've always been a little wary of the pressure at department stores...... Been enjoying looking through some of the techniques, even though my job doesn't really allow me to wear makeup. Also, wondering what people use for a cleansing routine? I have pretty decent skin to begin with, so looking for some more natural ways to cleanse. Thanks all!

This. I understand that it's a problem that needs a solution, but since when should the school be responsible for such things? It's just as bad as parents fobbing off sex education on the teachers. I'd be interested to see how many vending machines these schools have and what they offer for cafeteria lunches. Not to mention phys ed requirements. Fixing those things would do far more than fat shaming.

I wish my pool had a deep end; I actually enjoy treading water. It's only about 4.5ft deep, though I could probably still make those breathing exercises work. They definitely sound useful.

I was debating about wearing a noseclip, but in the end I figured it would be better to get comfortable in the water without one. When my SCUBA instructors have asked me to take off my mask underwater, I usually have a mini freakout and it's something I've always wanted to get over. I'm glad to hear endurance from swimming will cross over. My work collegues have got me going to this boot camp training session during the week and I can usually only get halfway through before I'm ready to collapse. I wonder how many strange looks the other lap swimmers would give me if they heard singing underwater. I'll bet Great Big Sea has some good sea shanties to swim to It's funny that the exhale is just as important as the inhale. I think it will just take lots of practice. Right now, as soon as I empty aout 3/4 of my lung capacity, my brain is already screaming "No air, breathe you fool!" Would it be beneficial to just practice breathing without actually swimming? Like, holding on to the pool edge and breathing/turning as if I was doing front crawl? Or is it better to get used to doing it altogether, rather than piece by piece?

I have been keeping my face in the water, though it be an unpleasant experience. I think I will start exhaling through the nose, I think that will help me be more comfortable (and probably leave snot hanging down my face...) Now that I think about it, I probably turn AND lift my head when I got for a breath; will have to focus on keeping my ear in the water when I go to breathe. And probably slow down the strokes until I get better at it. Got some stuff to practice now, will see how it goes!

The weather is starting to get uber hot out here, so wanting to switch from walks on my off days to lap swimming in the outdoor pool. I haven't really been in the pool like this since swim lessons in grade school and not finding at easy as I thought I would. I never really like having my face in the water. I used a noseplug for most of my lap swimming when I was a kid and still plug my nose when I jump into the water for recreation. I'm really getting into SCUBA diving, so figured being used to being in the water without plugging my nose would come in handy in case my mask ever got knocked off. Just the couple times I've been in the water so far, I try and block off that passage, but still seem to end up swallowing some water through my nose. Is this just something I need to get used to? I think it would help if I was exhaling air through my nose rather than mouth, but I'm not sure if that's the best way to learn for lap swimming? Also, usually have to take a break after swimming about 50m to catch my breath. I'm sure it's partially because I'm not in super conditioned, but the whole lack of air thing can't be helping much. Any tips for good breathing techniques? Also, getting pretty good belching power after a couple laps, does this just come with gulping too much air? Currently swimming freestyle with some breaststroke when my arms are tired.

Maybe try a guys shirt? I like to buy second hand ones and cut them up for better ventilation. Or just muscle shirts work too. If you wear one of those halter type sports bras underneath, they give good coverage so you're not flashing any cleavage.

Gone for a couple months and look where I find you! Yay warrior! Looks like the oly is coming along nicely, I'm jealous of your food discipline. I can't walk by the cake buffet at work without giving in.....

I was needing more inspiration and motivation for my main quest, so I made the following desktop background for myself. Wondering if anyone has come across inspiring female with a bit of body fat? I can't say that visible abs are on my list of things to acquire but that seems to be the majority of the "strong is the new sexy" pics floating around....

This gave me some nasty uni flashbacks.....

IMHO, CFL makes a way more interesting game than NFL. I am slightly biased though

I haven't hit a stall yet on StrongLifts, though I've noticed it's getting more difficult to finish sets than it once was. I can't always increase every workout, but I haven't had to deload yet. I'm keeping up with StrongLifts for the next 6 weeks while I'm still in town anyways. I just think I'm going to get bored on site having so many free evenings and would rather put them to good use. There is also the issue with workout time. Just the bare bones program takes at least an hour, nevermind warmup, stretching and some of the other stuff I usually throw in. Because my shifts are longer and meal time will be on a schedule, it's a lot to fit into an evening. Wow, this looks amazing. So much squatting, I might as well live in the squat rack! I'll have to do some more reading about 5/3/1, but I've always been under the impression that the progression is rather slow ie adding weight per month, rather than per workout or week. Or maybe squatting 5 times a week will make up for it? For some reason, the calculator isn't working for bench or press numbers.....

In September I will be starting a new job on a FIFO roster and I'm wanting to adjust my program to take advantage of the extra time I'll have available to train (not to mention filling time that would be otherwise spent on my butt watching movies in my room). Stronglifts 5x5 has been working well, but I'm pretty sure it's too much to be doing more often than 3 times a week. Recovery shouldn't be a huge issue. I'll have access to pretty decent food in the mess hall and early morning shift starts will ensure I get to bed at a decent time. I may be competing PL again in December, so I want my program to support the improvement of the big 3. Specifically I want to be working to improve my bench; it's definitely my weakest lift. I also wouldn't mind including stuff to work towards a chinup/pull up (can't do either yet). I could probably use a day of conditioning as well but leaning more towards prowler/kettlebell work instead of straight cardio. Will it be as effective to scale back my workouts to about 45 minutes and spread them out over the week rather than the 1.5 hour sessions 3 times a week? Would it work to schedule 4-5 weight training days, 1 shorter conditioning day and a rest day? I was thinking the easiest way would be to keep the regular 3 day/week program (Alternating Squat/bench/row and Squat/ OHP/Deadlift but maybe 3x5 instead of 5x5?), then add 2 days of lighter assistance stuff for bench, pull up progression and posterior chain, 1 day of about 20 minutes of strength conditioning then a rest day. So it could look like: 1 - Workout A/B alternating 2 - Assistance 3 - Workout A/B alternating 4 - Assistance 5 - Workout A/B alternating 6 - Conditioning 7- Off My roster is 26 on and 9 off, so every 5 weeks I'd have a week to back off and deload. Thoughts, ideas, criticisms? Also ideas of how and what to schedule for assistance? I've also included stats and previous programming info below. Exercise Preference Power lifts - for competitionCurrent Physical Stats Female29170cm80kgPrevious Training History Standard circuit training for personal trainer - 4 monthsStarting strength (subbing rows for power cleans) - 6 monthsCurrent Training Strong lifts - 2 monthsCurrent 1RM 90/50/117.5Current Diet Normal with protein targetCurrent Resources/Limitations Gym Access1.5 hours/day in the evening

Train Back to basics! Compound lifts with accessory movements to help with some glute deficiencies, working out 3 times per week. Stick with the plan! Grading based on percentage of workouts completed without deviation. (STR: 4) Not super confident in my ability to predict actual numbers, but bonus points if I can hit the numbers below at the comp (STR: 1) Squat: 95kg Bench: 52.5kg Deadlift: 120kg Competition numbers: Squat: 90kg (10 kg PR) Bench: 45kg (Failed third attempt of 50kg) Deadlift: 117.5kg (10kg PR) I probably could have gone higher with the squat and I'm kicking myself for not just going with 120 for the deadlift, but it's still 2 PRs, so I'm happy. I followed my workout plan pretty closely, except for one week that I went off the grid, so B+ for this goal. It was nice to have an uncomplicated workout plan and not chasing after the "latest exercise". Still it did get rather boring, so I think I'll need to bring some flexibility back to the program now that I'm not training for anything in specific for awhile. Eat Eat food to fuel the workout, going for quality rather than quantity. Two parts to this that go hand in hand: Protein - Still not consistent with protein intake, so this will be the only focus for this challenge . Minimum 150g per day; more is better but consistency is key! Grading based on percentage of days I hit the goal. Batch cooking - My failure to meet previous protein goals comes down to planning. So let's try to batch cook once per week to take the guesswork out. Grading based on how many times it gets done. (CON: 3 WIS: 1) Batch cooking and pre-prep went rather well this challenge and I found it super useful so I wasn't eating crappy takeaway food for lunch. I still find it hard to hit my protein goal, but at least now I'm pretty confident in knowing the protein content of my day without having to track it. This will come in handy when I am travelling and working FIFO in 6 weeks. I stopped worrying about hitting a calorie goal and whether carbs were the enemy and just ate when I was hungry, tried to choose real over "fake" food when I could and indulged when I had cravings. It's hard to tell, but I think I gained about 1.5kg. My measurements haven't changed much, but my lifts have, so I'm confident it's mostly muscle gain. It's a lovely thing to know you can eat tons of food and not gain a lot of weight. B- for this goal. Recover Rest and rebuild! I want to increase my sleep from 7.5 hours to 8 hours per night for work nights. Going to try a new strategy. Setting two alarms, the first is a 20 minute warning to do my bed time routine and the second for lights out. No excuses, just follow the alarms! Grading based on percentage of days I'm in bed by 10pm. (STA: 1 CON: 2) I stared off not so bad with this, but progressively got worse throughout the challenge. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around? It didn't help that I did not have a boss at work for the last 4 weeks, which meant I wouldn't get in trouble for coming in late, which meant I slept in, which meant I went to bed later. Dfor this goal. Girlify I've got some pretty tomboyish tendencies, but I am still very happy to be a girl. Contrary to what most people think, I actually enjoy wearing skirts, doing my hair and getting my nails done. Just because I'm an engineer, lift weights, like horror movies, 4 wheel driving and raunchy jokes, does not mean I don't want to look pretty, dammit! But sometimes I think I've allowed my image to be dictated by how other people perceive me, especially at work. I've just fallen into a rut where the things that I enjoy feel awkward from disuse. So here is the list of things to accomplish in the next 6 weeks. Grading based on percentage of items completed (CHA: 3) - Buy a new dress, skirt and more feminine black work pants Bought new dress and skirt - Wear dress for a night out at least once Complete - Wear skirt to work at least 3 times Complete many times over I ended up setting weekly goals to help in my desire to be more outwardly girl at work and ended up hitting them most every week. I started to look after my appearance more and actually really enjoyed dressing up to go to work. I also realized that your appearance can alter your co-workers perception of you and it's less about looking girly and more about looking put together. I learned a lot, had fun doing it and changed some peoples opinions about me. A for this goal