lucky fire dragon - something, nothing and all the things

[lucky fire dragon]

Hi there

 

 

It's been a while ... and I'm not sure I can call this a comeback or resurrection or whatever, because I've been absent from the forums quite a few times already and then come back and then fallen off the planet again and ... oh well you know what I mean

 

What I love is that so many of the friends I made here are STILL HERE - you guys are absolutely amazing 😍

I was looking for a little re-inspiration and it makes me so happy to see Lady Hatter, the Lady of the Shay, Elize and Elastigirl and so many more still rocking on - ahhh the joy of coming to a fabulous place that still is

 

Funny how my itch to check back in collided with the 10 year anniversary, so of course I have to be in for this again and tbh it's really high time again anyway!!!

 

RECAP:

I'll try to do a thorough recap here in honor of the 10 year anniversary thing, so it might get a bit long, sorrrrrrrrry

 

I joined the NF Forums in November 2014 when I had started dabbling in pole dance and wanted to level up my game, plus find a better work-family-fitness life balance. Also I wanted to shed some more of my mummy-tummy that seemed to grow with the kids instead of diminishing with time 😉 

I had a job I passionately loved and that kept me very busy and the challenges helped me to prioritize movement as much and enjoy it with a community of absolutely lovely people.

 

Over the years I did loose the mummy tummy (mostly) and gained a lot of strength (up to two full pull ups from hanging woot woot and lots of push ups and inversions, whooooheeeeee)

I struggled more at work and had some stuff creep in that took the joy out more and more, so eventually I stopped a big part of it and "only" continued working in my own praxis as a healing practitioner.

Started diving deeper into meditation and found a solid ground in that, that will always catch me now no matter how deep I fall (even if I don't feel the improvement straight away everytime - it does come and I am learning to trust it)

 

Due to the work shift, my budget changed, I stopped taking pole classes and as a result trained less and less on the pole overall. Sad thing that, but we won't dwell on that.

My weight kept piling up again and then I'd manage to get it down for a while, but it does still nag at me, because the ease with which I gain has increased a LOT over the past few years. What bugs me about it, is that it's visceral fat mostly and I am not keen on developing a metabolic syndrome or have it develop any further if that is what's already happening here.

 

In October 2018 I started going to the gym with hubby and picked up strength training where, which is great fun and I am super happy to do it together with him. By now our boy even joins us from time to time, when he's not working (time flies!! Can't believe one of my babies is studying already, the other working as an apprentice and youngest already a teenager in grade 8  )

Also started playing a bit with Intermittent Fasting but not very consistently and fell off again later on in the year. In spring 2019 I had gotten down to 67 kg which is not my ideal weight, but still feels quite fine to me, managed to keep it at 68 - 69 kg over summer but from October to December my weight went up to 74,5 kg and that was NOT going to go on!!!

 

So end of December I started experimenting with Intermittent Fasting more seriously again - I'll expand on that a bit more later, if you don't mind - and am thrilled to be at about 70 kg again at the moment. Best part being that the dreaded belly fat reduced significantly.

After 7 weeks of IF I am hitting a motivational slow down and even though I can see the continuous improvements, I somehow don't get that excited about them and am feeling a bit tired of the whole effort and all. I think part of it is the lack of inspiration and knowledge about what I WANT to eat when I eat and what would be ideal for my body.

 

Also I have taken on a new job beside my healing work again - and it's awesome, I absolutely love it, buuuuuuuuut it's a lot of desk work and I am becoming too stagnant again. So frustration might also just stem from inertia and how unfit I feel when I do exercise.

I find myself out of breath on hikes, that used to be a walk in the park and unable to do even a single full on push up  what is this?!!

 

What now:

I want to enjoy my days thoroughly with a healthy body, happy spirit and plenty of fun time as well as productive work time - is that doable? I don't know, but I'll keep going for it  

 

My goals for this challenge are therefor:

 

 

DO SOMETHING

 

Do some form of exercise 6 days out of 7

Be it a workout at the gym, a walk, a hike, using the 7 minute app - whatever - do SOMETHING

 

 

EAT NOTHING

 

Stick to those fasting hours!!! Eat nothing an average of 18h / day over the course of each week

keep tracking my stats and progress on that

 

 

EAT AND GROW ALL THE THINGS

 

Make sure I get plenty of goodies into my dear body when I do eat
Grow all kinds of sprouts and nut seeds to eat
Keep tending my Scoby for Kombucha

and try to eat mooooore veggies (how hard can it be?)

 

 

LIFE GOAL

 

uncluttering the basement to free my pole from all the clutter monsters and get it ready for a new challenge to come

 

 

 

That's my plan for now and I guess I will only find out if it makes sense, if I stick to it for long enough 😛 

I can promise pics of sprouts and scoby, haha, and hopefully of the occasional hike.
Next challenge after this might be more exciting again  

[Mad Hatter]

What a lovely surprise to see you back here! Welcome back! ❤️

 

1 hour ago, lucky fire dragon said:

uncluttering the basement to free my pole from all the clutter monsters and get it ready for a new challenge to come

 

Yessss!

[annyshay]

She's BACK!!! Yay!!!!

 

[Suzaqu]

Hiiiii! I saw your instagram post of sprouts and scoby and was hoping I'd see you here! That's awesome you have a job you love, but I totally feel the stagnation of a desk-based job. Any chance for lunch time walks? I've found incorporating that in the middle of the day has helped me physically and mentally.

[lucky fire dragon]

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

What a lovely surprise to see you back here! Welcome back! ❤️

 

4 hours ago, annyshay said:

She's BACK!!! Yay!!!!

 

 

 

Thank youuuuuuuu both of you! So awesome you are still here and never went away like flimsy me ❤️ 

 

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

 

Yessss!

 

 thought you might share my eagerness ... have very mixed feelings about it still because of dreading all the lost progress but at the same time I'm beginning to itch to try some things again. Headstand is still working fine - I kept at it after most gym sessions  so that's something

 

25 minutes ago, Suzaqu said:

Hiiiii! I saw your instagram post of sprouts and scoby and was hoping I'd see you here! That's awesome you have a job you love, but I totally feel the stagnation of a desk-based job. Any chance for lunch time walks? I've found incorporating that in the middle of the day has helped me physically and mentally.

 

HAIIII 

 

haha, yes I'd thought I better take those pics straight away, must admit the top layer of sprouts is already eaten  

Oh there are plenty of chances for all kinds of things, because I can work from home most of the time ... somehow doesn't mean I do it naturally yet, but that's the goal yes. I totally agree, it's not just physically helpful, everything feels better after some form of movement. I've started getting up when I feel stuck or unfocused and do a sun salutation or two and that helps so much already. Feels like being somewhat alive again  

 

 

 

[lucky fire dragon]

Week 1 Day 1

 

I feel like there is so much to catch up on still, but I'll rather do it over time and get to the actual stats for the day first...

 

DO SOMETHING 1/6

Went for a lovely walk with my parents today. It's my Dad's birthday tomorrow and I wanted to take him out for a hike, but he wanted nothing more than for my Mom to come along, so we did an easy walk instead. 

 

EAT NOTHING 20h

Yes! 20 hours - it's funny the first hunger pangs often come at 13 hours and are quite "loud", the next ones at about 15 hours were rather strong as well, but that would have been too early to break and at 16 hours it was time to go and after that it was actually easy again. Odd that, so often

 

 

EAT AND GROW ALL THE THINGS - good day

Pics of scoby and sprouts coming up...

Had some sprouts and peas with my rice and meat for supper

(also had a home baked chocolate cookie as I had baked for my Dad and then some for the family  plus a nice cup of hot chocolate, because chocolate is definitely part of all the things)

Baking bread right now ... have I turned into a proper housewife or what?!!  

 

 

LIFE GOAL

nothing done yet

 

[lucky fire dragon]

meh, tapatalk doesn't load my thread - how can I share my greeny and scoby pics from IG?? Oh well, it's not that important anyway

[Mad Hatter]

27 minutes ago, lucky fire dragon said:

 thought you might share my eagerness ... have very mixed feelings about it still because of dreading all the lost progress but at the same time I'm beginning to itch to try some things again. Headstand is still working fine - I kept at it after most gym sessions  so that's something

It's ok to start from scratch, it really doesn't matter. The great thing about pole is that you can do so much without doing any tricks, and still have a great time! I haven't been on the pole for a long time, but when you're ready I'm happy to support you in any way I can.  

[Elastigirl]

Yay, glad to see you. I hear you on gaining weight easier as you get older- it can be so frustrating. You are doing a great job with taking it off though!

[WhiteGhost]

OHAI, welcome back!

 

I think I just got here around when you started to be scarce so we didn't overlap much, but I do remember being impressed by the pole stuff you were doing.  Looking forward to seeing what happens when it gets sufficiently decluttered  

[lucky fire dragon]

23 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

It's ok to start from scratch, it really doesn't matter. The great thing about pole is that you can do so much without doing any tricks, and still have a great time! I haven't been on the pole for a long time, but when you're ready I'm happy to support you in any way I can.  

 

That's what I'm trusting in  bought some wood today for the oven down there, the room got too moist and I'll have to clean a bit of mold off the mirrors and will heat it up with the wood stove a few times to dry it out ... small steps towards training, sigh

 

BUT big proper workout done, which is the much more fun step  towards training as well, YAY

Went to gym and followed through on my lifting workout for the first time in a month, oops my arms were fried  

 

1 x12  standard deadlift 20kg

1x12 standard deadlift 25kg

 

1x12 romanian deadlift (legs nearly straight, more hip hinge) 20kg

1x12 romanian deadlift 25 kg

 

2x12 how do you call the movement when you lift the bar up to the collarbone to prepare for the overhead press?? well that's what I mean here (20kg)

 

1x12 romanian deadlift plus overhead press (20kg)

2x6 romanian deadlift plus overhead press (20kg) - this was supposed to be another set of 12 but I didn't manage

 

followed by 

4x8 deep squats with the 20kg barbell (no extra weight needed  )

 

3x10 bench press with 30 kg

 

3x 8 knee tucks from hanging and 3x10 horizontal knee tucks and leg extensions

 

and 1 minute or so of headstand for funsies

 

Not sure if any of this will help prepare for the pole again, but it makes me feel badass and sweat my head clear and both hubby and our boy came along, so we all worked out alongside, which was super nice.

[lucky fire dragon]

18 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Yay, glad to see you. I hear you on gaining weight easier as you get older- it can be so frustrating. You are doing a great job with taking it off though!

 

Thank you, you're being amazing on this though!! I see one fit, defined woman there inspiring me 😍

 

11 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

OHAI, welcome back!

 

I think I just got here around when you started to be scarce so we didn't overlap much, but I do remember being impressed by the pole stuff you were doing.  Looking forward to seeing what happens when it gets sufficiently decluttered  

 

HAIII there 🤗

Didn't we work on some crow variations together with Mad Hatter and @@mu and @Norgaard Elastigirl and a whole bunch of others? I remember you as being strrrrrrrrrrong, dude!! If you were to try pole you'd soon impress us way more than the other way round - on second thought, don't try it, just keep believing we're amazing  

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

14 minutes ago, lucky fire dragon said:

Not sure if any of this will help prepare for the pole again, but it makes me feel badass and sweat my head clear and both hubby and our boy came along, so we all worked out alongside, which was super nice.

Doesn't matter if it will help if it makes you feel BADASS!

[lucky fire dragon]

Week 1 Day 2

 

 

DO SOMETHING 2/6

Yesssssssss, all the workout (see before)

 

EAT NOTHING 19h

Yes! Actually nearly 20 hours again. I was sooo hungry during the afternoon, but had to get some stuff done and suddenly I was past my planned 18 hours again. Nice. Also my pants are definitely more loose again and I reallly like that.

 

EAT AND GROW ALL THE THINGS - good day

sad story - my sprouts molded  I probably should have washed the dishes with some vinegar between the previous ones and these. Did that now and hope the new ones will be okay. For some reason about 10 -20 flies came into the house today and I have no idea where they are coming from in the middle of February  will have to shield my lovely sprouts from those as well

very happy thing is that right now my boy is cooking some dish with ALL THE VEGGIES. We were chatting on the way home from gym about ways to cook more veggies and which ones might be nice for what and him training as apprentice in a close by restaurant he says "I know a nice dish our customers love, I can cook it for tonight" am I the most blessed mom or what?!

 

LIFE GOAL

wood bought for stove

[lucky fire dragon]

1 minute ago, Mad Hatter said:

Doesn't matter if it will help if it makes you feel BADASS!

 

It so does! They have these 5kg discs that look huge and help me lower the barbell to the perfect distance to the ground, so when I started with those deadlift / overhead things my main goal was to be able to lift 20kg, so that I could use those discs  the bar is 10kg 

the other discs look puny compared and mental game is a real thing

[UnquietBones]

It's wonderful to see you back! I've done the same tidal visiting to the challenges and I loved seeing your posts go by, so I was hoping you'd be one of the folks who popped back in again. I'm looking forward to hearing more on the IF, I have a couple co-workers trying it out currently and I'm on the fence on if I want to give it a go as well... 🤔

[sylph]

7 hours ago, lucky fire dragon said:

2x12 how do you call the movement when you lift the bar up to the collarbone to prepare for the overhead press?? well that's what I mean here (20kg)

Hey, I know you!

 

And this movement, depending on how you do it, can be called a 'clean' a 'power clean' or a 'hang clean' (and probably half a dozen other things)

[Mad Hatter]

6 hours ago, sylph said:

And this movement, depending on how you do it, can be called a 'clean' a 'power clean' or a 'hang clean

What’s the difference between these? Hang clean is from the knees instead of the floor right? And besides that?

[sylph]

6 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

What’s the difference between these? Hang clean is from the knees instead of the floor right? And besides that?

Yep, hang clean starts off the ground.

 

As far as I know, a power clean is a much more dynamic movement that involves a deeper squat and more momentum compared to a 'regular' clean. I'm not an Oly lifter or a cross fitter, though, so take that with a grain of salt.

[lucky fire dragon]

22 hours ago, UnquietBones said:

It's wonderful to see you back! I've done the same tidal visiting to the challenges and I loved seeing your posts go by, so I was hoping you'd be one of the folks who popped back in again. I'm looking forward to hearing more on the IF, I have a couple co-workers trying it out currently and I'm on the fence on if I want to give it a go as well... 🤔

 

awww that is so kind of you, thanks 🤗 
IF is really interesting and quite diverse in its possibilities, I am happy to share more in depth soon, just got some work projects that need completion first where I don't want to fall behind and it's so easy to lose track of time here on the forums, so I am trying to keep my updates short for now.

 

15 hours ago, sylph said:

Hey, I know you!

 

Hiiiii there flying lady  

 

15 hours ago, sylph said:

 

And this movement, depending on how you do it, can be called a 'clean' a 'power clean' or a 'hang clean' (and probably half a dozen other things)

 

Ah, yes "clean" that's it, thank you!

 

2 hours ago, sylph said:

Yep, hang clean starts off the ground.

 

As far as I know, a power clean is a much more dynamic movement that involves a deeper squat and more momentum compared to a 'regular' clean. I'm not an Oly lifter or a cross fitter, though, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

Then mine won't count as a power clean I guess as I take a bit of bounce with it for momentum but no squat for that part. I deadlift off knee height (that's what the big discs are for) to hip height than raise quickly up front and shift the wrist up at the collarbone height. That's what I do need a little momentum for but as I say no real squat. 

I am really bad with terminology and of course on my workout plan given to me by the coach the terms are all in German ...

 

[lucky fire dragon]

Week 1 Day 3

 

 

DO SOMETHING 2/6

eh, not yet - I gave a shiatsu massage to a patient, so that is at least better than the hours at the desk but too little to count really

 

EAT NOTHING 19h

Yes! 19 hours again - very hungry in the morning (probably because I really did eat ALL THE THINGS last night, including crisps and a whole bar of chocolate, ooops plus had some wine and that usually make me hungry early the next day, so it's my own fault, but somehow I don't regret it anyhow  might be the regular fasting lets me get away with it anyway)

 

EAT AND GROW ALL THE THINGS - so far so good

new sprouts looking good so far, bread turned out nice and just now I will reap the combucha from scoby and give them a new "home", also the scoby has grown so thick, it's time to take a layer off. Am a bit nervously excited here for my baby  

Sunflower seeds had not thoroughly sprouted yet, but I tried some anyway and they were so nice and juicy I ate the whole dish  

 

LIFE GOAL

nothing today

[@mu]

hey!! hellooooo! Welcome back

[lucky fire dragon]

1 hour ago, @mu said:

hey!! hellooooo! Welcome back

 

 

thank you  it's always good to be back here!

 

[lucky fire dragon]

Week 1 Day 4

 

 

DO SOMETHING 2/6

meh - nothing again and it was a pathetic day. I was simply slouching and slow and blah, had to push myself into doing anything and only got half the work done that I wanted, a little housekeeping and no movement, sad situation  

 

EAT NOTHING 17h

went okay - treated myself to an earlier break-fast (well not the traditional breakfast time, but you know what I mean) and closed my eating window earlier as well, which is good, because I feel it's harder when I eat too late at night still

 

EAT AND GROW ALL THE THINGS - good day

harvested a few sprouts and all are doing really well this time again. Only Scoby looks a bit sad since I took the older layers off. First stood vertical in the jar and then sank halfway down ... hope they're okay.

Did not eat any veggies that day, but had some freshly squeezed orange juice which was YUMMY  

 

LIFE GOAL

nothing 

 

The bright part of the day was definitely choir rehearsal. We worked on "luminous night of the soul" by Ola Gjeilo (isn't it so nice that someone presents a counterpart to a dark night of the soul?? I love that) and it was like swimming through different layers of color. Very uplifting to sing. It's funny really, most of the music we sing I would normally not listen to at home, but to sing it ... whole different story 🥰

 

[Mad Hatter]

1 hour ago, lucky fire dragon said:

meh - nothing again and it was a pathetic day. I was simply slouching and slow and blah, had to push myself into doing anything and only got half the work done that I wanted, a little housekeeping and no movement, sad situation  

It’s ok to have days like that, doesn’t make them or you pathetic. Kudos for pushing yourself and doing anything at all!

 

Beautiful piece!