Poletastic and the struggle to lift my own weight.

[Fridelisan]

Hi everyone!
Okey, so I've been on and off here for some time now. I have this thing where I get overly excited for a while about forums, webpages and stuff, and then totally ignore them for months on end. I don't know why, but I get really annoyed with myself about it. 
 
Since I haven't been here for a while, I guess it dosn't hurt to do another presentation about who I am and what I want to do.
 
I'm a 27 year old swede, currently studying in the university and spending all my time doing fun fun fun things. I have a few goals with my time here on earth, including finishing my studies, living a healthy and engaging life and doing the things I love. But who doesn't. right? When I was a kid a had a really active life, being a competitive swimmer I worked out 6 times (~15 h) a week. But that all changed when I abruptly stopped swimming and started doing nothing instead. The "doing nothing"-part of my life kept on for quite some time and it was really hard getting out of it. I put on like 50 lb while I ate candy and other sugary stuff  almost every day. So a few years ago I decided it had to change. I started going to the gym, mostly going to different classes, and sometimes using some of the gym machines. I thought I had it all figured out, but didn't realise I actually ate the same bad stuff as before, or maybe even more of it "to compensate" for my healthy lifestyle. 
Anyhow, almost 4 years now, I moved to another city to get my education. I had a really hard time finding a gym that I liked and was easy to get to from my place. My weight stayed the same for quite som time. Until about a year ago, when I came across this wonderful fitness workout, pole fitness. I got hooked immediately, despite feeling like this for the first few times I tried it out:

 

and the first times I actually managed to climb the pole, even just a feet or two, my fear of heights kicked in

 

Even though I progress really slow in comparison to the others on my dance studio, I really truly enjoy working out nowadays. I look forward to going to the studio every time. 
 

So what's my goals with all this?

 

I want to get strong. Every time I go to a pole dancing class I feel how much I improve and how much stronger I'm getting. But being able to do this would be so awesome:

 

 

I'm working on this goal by going to pole class at least once a week. Usually I also do open pole (working out by myself) once a week, and work on my core and arm strengt at home with bodyweight exercises.

 

 

I'm also working on my flexibility, to one day be able to do this

 

 

For this, I'm going to a flexibility class. Using foam rollers and balls, and stretching after all my classes. 

 

 

Til' next time!

[Fridelisan]

Yesterday was my first day in my new life. Or what should I call it? I mean, it's not that I haven't been exercising earlier. But I really like this idea about sharing a story and taking part in other peoples' stories (At first I misspelled this part, and it almost said that I like the idea to share my stirfry, which isn't actuallt wrong either. It's a nice idea!). And in many situations I could need someone to be accountable to, especially when it comes to food, and not eating all the sugary stuff. To be honest, I could also lose some lbs to make it easier to lift myself onto the pole.

 

So yesterday I decided to start over with cutting out most sugars in my life and other unhealthy foods (mostly the ones with to many addatives, sugars and other bad stuff), It's really easy for me to fall back off the wagon in these situations. And I hate it. Another problem that I face is the one where I don't eat enough real food. I usually skip eating breakfast in the morning because of a tight schedule, then eat lunch at ~12, snack on fruit on the afternoon and in the end don't eat an actual meal in the evening. I need to change this!

Therefore, I actually challenged myself to a 31-day sugar detox (meaning, no sugary things like candy, cakes, drinks etc).

 

 

 

 

Anyways, if I recall yesterday. I spent most of my day at home writing on a report for school. I didn't eat any breakfast, but at 2 pm I ate some salmon cooked in the oven with a lemon sauce and a handful of broccoli. I didn't get very satisfied by this, so I went back and forth looking for other things to eat and finally found a banana. I then ate a 70g bag of wasabi cashews, 6 satsumas, 2 plums and 4 ovenbaked sandwiches during the rest of the day. Not my proudest moment.

 

I also managed to do, like, 20 narrow push ups (is that what they a called?) during the day. 

 

 

Now let's se how this day goes.

[Fridelisan]

I'm back after a long weekend. I went to my man some 400 km away, so I didn't want to spend all my time writing here when I could socialize with him. I did meet som difficult moments there, though. Especially when it comes to all the sugary stuff. We went to a birthday party and they offered us cake (my favorite: princess), chips, candy and soda. But even though I was really tempted, I stayed strong and declined all that tasty sweetness. I haven't eaten any sweets or the like since I started my "detox" last week, which is a really big thing for me!

 

And now to the workouts.

 

I went to pole class on thursday. It was the last class of that "semester", so we checked what we were able to do and if we were ready to move up to the next level. I was really proud of myself that day. I've been struggling for more than half a year with some parts on that level (such as inverts, outside & inside leg hang, french press and the chopper), but I finally managed to do almost all of them! I'm starting to get quite good at inverts, even though I'm still kicking my leg up (which is the wrong technique). I really need to get stronger core muscles to be able to pull myself up into an invert. But that is probably going to take a really long time. I also managed to do an outside leg hang without holding on to the pole with my hands. I was so happy! 

 

During the weekend I only did some push ups during the days, but then I went to my dance studio again yesterday. I had really been looking forward to doing some pole dancing, but when I came there everything went wrong. Most of the poles were occupied, so I had to use one that was a bit loose, Then I tried some tricks, but nothing went as I wanted to. After half an hour I gave up and waited for my other dance class to start. It was a chair dance class, and it was super fun! It's more of a cardio class than to get stronger, and I feel that it has already had some effect on my general fitness since I started with them. The time went by so quick, and after that class I also sqeezed in a flexibility workout. Using foam rollers and traditional stretching we were going for the splits for an hour. I have a really long way to go with that,, but at least I'm going for it. I'm closer to the front splits than side splits, but I still have, like, 30 cm down or something like that.

 

 

Now I'm in my bed. I've gotten a cold and I'm trying to force it out with tea and warm clothes. I want to feel better til' thursday so I can go to pole class again!

 

[Fridelisan]

What a day. I mean, not in a "omg that was such a horrible day"-what a day. More like a.. "I can't believe I stayed in bed almost all day"-what a day. I've done next to nothing today. I've written some on a report for school, but other than that I've been lazy like hell. 

 

 

I've eaten at two occasions today. I ate lunch at about 2 pm (Geang massamancurry) and a late night snack around 9 pm (2 slices of bread with pb and banana). I've also had 2 glasses of apple juice and a cup of tea. Feels like I should be getting better at eating more and healthier. As I've said before, I'm really bad at eating breakfast and dinner. Most days I only eat lunch and a snack (or two) in the evening. How can I build muscles and get stronger if I don't eat enough? Maybe that's why I so often fall back into eating sweets in the evenings? That's usually a really big problem for me. I get all these cravings in the evenings. The last week without sweets has gone really good though.

 

 

Tomorrow it's time to get to school again and in the evening it's choir practice (which I started just a few weeks ago. It's super fun!). And I look forward to it quite alot.

[Fridelisan]

 

That was how I felt this morning when I had to get up and go to my lab. It was horrible. My cold isn't getting any better either. In fact, it feels like it's still waiting to peak. Despite that I managed to crawl the 400 m down to my "job". I haven't been efficient at all today. I barely know what I've been doing, if I'm honest. Blargh.

 

So I won'tbe doing my push ups today. I think that I need to take a few days to get better before I engage in any straining physical activity again. 

How do I feel about this, you ask?

 

[Fridelisan]

I'm so sad. I'm still sick, and today the fever kicked in. I hate being sick. 

 

The worst part is that I won't be able to go to pole practice today. I've been looking forward to it so much.

 

[Fridelisan]

And I'm back! It's been about 2 weeks since the last time I wrote here. I've truly been slipping in my health routine. I was sick for 2 weeks and by then I totally lost it. I ate candy and treats and all the tasty things I could reach. It all started with a dessert with family and from there it got worse.

 

 

But now I'm all back in business. I started going to my workouts this monday and has been to three classes since. I've danced my ass off with chair dance, stretched my splits for an hour and gone to pole class, where I've worked on my inside and outside leghang as well as my buttefly and layback spin. It actually went really well this week, with all my workouts.

 

I've also been starting to eat good food again. I've been making oven baked vegetables with oven baked salmon and a yoghurt sauce, and a fresh salad in bulk. They've been so tasty to eat for lunch many dark and boring days.

 

 

I won't be working out again until monday, but during this weekend I'll go in forest walks with my parents who're visiting me. It's gonna be great! 

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

Hope you don't mind if I follow along :-) I'm also aiming to be able to lift my bodyweight and could use some inspiration

[Fridelisan]

Hi Cephalopod! Of course I don't mind! Maybe we could help each other out with the inspiration part? I could use some inspiration as well at times.

[Fridelisan]

So I did my measurements today. Realised my waist is 5 cm wider than 2 months ago. I don't know it that's because I'm bloated or if I just haven't kept my calorie intake on a sensible level. It's all so difficult! I have my parents up here for the weekend, and they both buy alot of candy and snacks up here. I try not to get bothered by it, but then they leave it at my place, and I get these cravings for everything. So I eat it. Gaaaah. I thought I had better self control than that? 

But today is the mark for one month left until me and my man goes to Cuba for a vacation, and my goal is to only eat healthy food until then. Then maybe I can keep the snacks on a sensible level when we're there. 

 

I've done a couple of push-ups the days that I haven't been going to any workout classes. And I think I've noticed quite a big difference in my strength this fall. I'm not great at push-ups, I'm not going to deny that, but I'm at least getting better. 

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

Congrats on push-up improvement! I'm trying to get the hang of them and I find that progress is soooooo sloooooow. Any progress at all is great  

[Fridelisan]

Oh, I totally agree with you Cephalopod. I progress sooooo slow on almost everything that has to do with strength. I've always been weak. Even when I was younger and a competitive swimmer, and worked out 15 h/week I couldn't do push ups. So I really see this as a big improvement!

[Fridelisan]

So I've only been to pole class the last two weeks. I've been doing a few minor workouts at home, but that's just been so that I don't grow into my couch. 

 

The last two pole classes we've been working on acrobatics, such as headstands and handstands, which has been really challenging. I've always wanted to  learn how to do handstands, but I'm too much of a coward to kick my legs all the way up. So I've used our instructor for help a lot these last few times, and I'm actually becoming better. And headstands are even better! I'm looking forward to working on my headstand again soon.

 

Oh, and btw. We're having this thing called 'family and friends' on our dancing studio, where we put together a choreography for the class and then perform in front of.. well, family and friends, and all the other students at the dance studio. And I'm actually considering joining the performance. It's gonna be so fun! (If I manage to memorize the choreography, that is.)

[Fridelisan]

It's almost one week since I wrote here last, but I'm determined to keep at it! It's really late here, but I'll just write something short. 

I've been eating more vegetables the last few weeks, reducing the amount of meat. I feel good not eating to much red meat, both when considering how cattle and other farm animals are handled, but also regarding our climate and and my own lifestyle affect it. So more vegetarian food for me! Yay! I've also come across a cook book with vegetarian recipes that are so, so good. 

 

I've practiced more on my head- and handstands. It's super hard, especially the handstands. I can manage to get up on headstand on my own now (if I'm standing against a wall), meaning I can focus on strengthening my core there. I've been taking my pole instructor as help for the handstands. I have such a hard time kicking up against the wall, I guess because I'm scared that I'll fall on my head or that I wont be able to hold my own weight. And I am quite unstable when up there. But it's still super fun, and I've had a goal to learn how to do handstands for a long time. So I should be working harder with that! Anyone got a suggestion on how to get better on handstands?

 

Oh, and I've totally been progressing with my gemini/scorpio on the pole, which is super fun and motivating! 

 

I really want to share this progress with anyone who cares, so if you're interested pics can be found here and here.

[Fridelisan]

 

OMG it's so frickin cold here right now. I'm sitting in my apartment almost shaking, because apparently my landlord don't believe in the winter. But let me tell you, winter is coming. Whether we like it or not.

If I don't drop 10 pounds this winter just because of the cold, I would actually be surprised. That's how cold I am.

 

So anyhow. 

 

I went to pole class again today. It did not at all go as well as I had hoped. I could barely invert, even less so to do leghangs. It was a sucky day. Plus, it was really cold in our studio as well. I also managed to rip up a callus during the workout, only noticing it when I went to use some grip aid on my hands. Then it hurt like hell. Kind of how it feels when you put alcohol in an open wound. Not the nicest feeling ever. I'm still considering working out a little tomorrow as well. Maybe work on my head stands and hand stands after my work shift ends. Maybe working on some dance moves and putting it together to make it look nice. I have a really hard time doing that. Putting things together to make it look nice, I mean. It's super hard. And maybe do some light stretching. Yes.

 

/Rambling over.

[thewrittennerd]

Hi there! I'm just returning to this site and it's with a curiosity for bodyweight things/more 'gymnastic' applications of getting stronger. I've been intrigued with pole stuff since I was introduced to it as an actual exercise about a year ago, but I've never attended a class! I hope you don't mind me following along here - I'm really happy to see someone who enjoys it. It makes me want to try it out too!

Also congrats on the med school! I'm currently in a bachelor's program but the final goal is a doctorate of physical therapy - med school is rough, go you! What specialty, or do you plan on being a general practitioner? (I'm unsure if the structure is very different in Sweden!)

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

I'm sorry you had a rubbish day, it happens to the best of us.

 

I've been catching up on your thread though and it sounds like you're generally headed in a really good direction! Hold on to how far you've come and dont let a disappointing day bum you out too much x

 

Re: hand stands - I soooo want to be able to do that, I signed up to a 28-day handstand challenge. I failed. Hard. well done you on actually making progress! I think I'll try it again  

[Fridelisan]

I only now realized I haven't been writing here for almost a month. It has happened quite alot since, actually. 

During the first week of december, we had a showcase at our dancing studio. Me and one other girl performed together in front of 50-something people, and I managed to get through 2,5 minutes of dancing without falling down! I was so happy! And it was really fun as well. 

 

Right after that, me and my guy went on a vacation to Cuba. So aside from activites like walking, hiking and swimming a little, I haven't worked out for a while. We did manage to eat quite healthy while there, though. Much rice and chicken and vegetables, and soooo much fruit! Cuba was great, and I really long to go back again soon!

 

My pole dancing has progressed a lot during this fall, and I'm so psyched about it, but I really have to get stronger. I'm noticing it in some of the moves we're learning at this level. I'm afraid that I'll injure myself if I don't progress in strength soon. I especially have to get stronger in in my arms, back and shoulders, but have a hard time getting around to do extra workouts for this. Any suggestions on good but easy exercises?

 

As with the hand stands, it has gone quite slow as I don't dare to work on them on my own. Hopefully we'll work more on them in pole class, but I'm not sure if it's on the schedule yet. Head stands, on the other hand, is starting to get quite easy now, as long as I have a wall behind me. Now I just have to learn getting up using my core muscles in stead of kicking!

[Fridelisan]

Thewrittennerd, Of course I don't mind! Welcome! It's always fun to get to share the progress and thoughts and everything else with others! Pole is a wonderful workout form, and I'm surprised not more people are doing it (even though it is a growing sport). It challenges you both physically and psychologically with difficult moves, hanging upside down, being able to ease on the grip on the pole and just believing that you can do it. I just love it! 

If you're interested in pole, I would absolutely recommend going to an introduction class if there are any available nearby, just to get a feel to it. 

 

Thanks! Yes, med school is hard, but in my opinion, the first two years was the worst. Now after 4 years, things come easier. I absolutely want to specialize in something after getting my degree, but I'm not yet sure in what field. Hematology is really interesting, but so is a many other fields as well. All I know is that I won't become a surgeon or a pathologist.

I think physical therapy is really interesting as well, although that is really difficult (at least to me). 

[Fridelisan]

Cephalopod, thanks for the encouraging words! No, bad day comes to us all, as you say, and one better learn to handle them as good as possible I guess. But I've had good days since last time, and I won't get discouraged that easily! 

 

Yes, hand stands is a real pain. I think they are super hard, and I won't work on them by myself yet for a long time. There are so many things to consider when working on hand stands. I mean, just being upside down can confuse a lot of things. And then there's the balance thing, with using the core muscles and glutes and arms and everyhing. And to not forget to breath! I would never manage a 28-day challenge without an instructor helping me, so cudos for at least trying! You'll have to let me know how it goes!

[Fridelisan]

Happy new year, friends! Hopefully, 2016 will be just as great as the year 2015 was. 

 

 

It always feels strange with a new year to me. Or at least, it feels strange with the ideas surrounding it, with the "new year, new me"-thingy. I've always had a hard time believing that people can change over night like that. Just because it's a new year. And people always put up goals that are totally unmanagable, resulting in crowded gyms all over the country for about two weeks, before they give up on the idea to get more fit/stronger/lose weight. Therefore, I don't have any special new years resolution. I only want to keep on getting stronger and live a healthy life. This can be interpreted in a lot of different ways, but I'll just focus on living a life that I enjoy.

 

Soooo. The last week has been a big feast of sugar coated everything. Too much candy, too much chocolate and too much cakes. It ends today. I'm starting to plan my goals for the upcoming challenge, which will be my first for something like 2 years. So I'll start all over this time. 

[Fridelisan]

Oh, right. I forgot to tell how my day was. It started with a bowl of porridge with a banana sliced into it. We said goodbye to a couple of friends who stayed the night and then sent out for a walk around a small lake nearby, ending in a little more than 10,000 steps. At least we activated our selves a bit, after a week with almost no activity (except from walking home from the store the other day. We vad to stop every 100 meter or so, because the grocery bags were too heavy. I used the opportunity to get a workout for my shoulders). And it was beautiful outside! We hade finally gotten some snow up here in the north, and it's lovely!

[Fridelisan]

I'm finally on my way home after a little bit more than 4 weeks of travelling. I've been on a vacation, then in my hometown for christmas and at my boyfriends apartment the last week. Now that I'm on my way home, I'm gonna get a structure to my life again. What I've missed the most is the workouts at my dance studio. It's gonna be so fun to get back on the pole!

And today, I'll finally join the 4 week challenge! I haven't created a log for that yet, but when I do, I'll put a link in here.

Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk

[Fridelisan]

Yay, my challenge log is up! It can be found here.

 

So I'm back home since two days back. I haven't done much yet. I think that I'll maybe go on a pole class tomorrow, depending on how late I'm finishing in the lab. But the idea is to get back up on the pole as soon as possible! 

 

This is my third day without any added sugars (fruit is allowed, no candy, sodas, or other sugars), and I had to struggle yesterday not to buy donuts when I was buying groceries for today. Blah. It's always a struggle these first few  weeks. But I'll manage it!

[thewrittennerd]

I checked out your challenge log earlier, good luck with all of that! Giving up added sugars completely is a huge thing, but I'm sure your body will adjust with time.