Hop little bunnies, climb that pole!

Oh rainy days, oh rainy days, how I prefer you so much to snow!

Along with the rainy days I’ve also been able to clear out my garage a little. I’m hoping to get a bit more cleaned out this weekend, drop some stuff at my moms since she has way more storage room. I also have to wait for my bestie to bring me back my long extension of my pole. We used it over the winter at her house bring her pole upstairs for a bit but her ceilings are very high ceilings, so we needed the extension.

Soon my precious… soon!

My last class at pole was bitter sweet, I was so happy to be there doing what I love but I was also sad because it was the last time that these ladies and I would be together in the studio. Our theme for our dress up week was sexy bunnies. So here are the pictures from that!

 

I’d like to say that my body was very uncooperative in taking a couple of these pictures, I kept spinning whenever I’d get into a move and somehow my crotch would end up facing the camera. It made me laugh but at the same time I’m like oh so classy!

So that’s all for now folks! I’m working at getting my pole back up in my garage, the weather is still a little cold but by next week it’ll be staying up around 17 degrees so crossing my fingers I can go back to poling daily soon!

A Quiet Sadness

I love pole, I think about it all the time. When I’m eating I’m scrolling through instagram looking at various pole artists and their amazing moves wishing I could do that. When I’m falling asleep I’m planning out the next move I want to nail (right now it’s the superman by the way). When I go on a walk with my daughter I’m taking a double glance at a street sign or pole in the park that I could potentially flip upside down on.

That is why it pains me to think that I will no longer be at my home studio. I love it there, I love my teacher, I love my pole friends, but unfortunately the cost of such an amazing sport just doesn’t love me. I’ve made it up to level 7 and I have learned a lot, gained a lot of strength, and grew a lot of confidence. But I can no longer justify spending the amount I do every couple of months, it’s not fair to my family. Not that I’m saying they shouldn’t charge every penny that they do! They have amazing teachers that need to be paid and a beautiful studio to upkeep and pay rent at. It’s a personal choice I am making to take a break from my studio that I love so much.

Coincidentally, in my class of 3 of us, one decided that she was moving across country at the end of this level, and then my best friend and I both are unable to continue paying for it. We came in with each other, it’s only right that we all leave together. I was relieved to find out that I wasn’t the only one having troubles keeping up with the cost though, I felt really guilty telling my friend that I could no longer continue, only to find out that she felt the same way.

Now as sad as it is to leave my studio my love of pole isn’t dead. The weather is getting nicer which means everything in my garage will soon be put back outside and I’ll be able to set up my pole in my garage again. I’ll definitely miss the routines though, it was so much fun learning them. But I could now make up my own routines, and that may be fun to stick up on the blog. I find since starting pole I’m consistently on the look out (or ear out) for songs that would be perfect to dance to.

So my best friend will join me in my garage and we will practice together, continue to push each other, keep on motivating one another to be the best we can be. And one day we will return to our home studio, when we’re both in a better position to do so. Hopefully we’ll be just as good, if not better, so we can go straight to level 8.

You can expect more posts once my pole is up in my garage. For the moment I’ve taken up crochet to pass the time, not to mention a healthy dose of HGTV, all those home improvement and renovation shows that I love.

I like to make booties, so here are a couple of the booties I’ve crocheted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also like to make hats!

But I will always pole, it’s in my blood now.

Guess who’s back, back again!

So, I’ve been MIA for a while, it sucks, March was really hard on me this year. As I’ve mentioned before I’m bipolar and so winter is really tough for me some times, and because this winter has been especially long and especially cold, not to mention especially dark and gloomy, it has taken it has taken its toll on my mental being.

But alas, the winter is finally over, the snow is melting, the days are longer and getting warmer. It’s time for me to make my comeback!

Not only did I have trouble with March but I also missed 3 weeks of pole class! Unbelievable, I know! The first week was because of weather, we had a massive snow storm and let me tell you, one winter accident is enough for me! Then the next week I was beginning to get a sinus infection and tried to beat it by staying home and going to bed early, and then the next week I actually managed to get a sinus infection because my daughter was sick.

This Wednesday was the first day back to pole and I was still a little sick so it was really tough to spend the energy needed.

So this week I got a move called the rubber pencil.

It was really funny because I thought that I was way more bent than I looked. I was hanging upside down thinking, man my feet must be so close to my head. You get down and look at the picture and it’s like damn… not even close! But that’s okay, it’s a goal to work towards, and I’m fully aware my back flexibility isn’t that great.

Oh that’s another thing I’m irritated about! Because of my 3-4 week “break” I’ve lost so much flexibility in my legs, I was so upset and disappointed. But my teacher said that I should be able to get it back a little easier now because I trained myself. So I felt a little better about that.

Anyways, how about I leave you with a delicious recipe since I haven’t done that for you in a while.

This is not a healthy recipe… not at all… but Easters coming up so why not be a little bad!

http://www.wearenotmartha.com/

Cadbury Egg Milkshake (makes 2)

• 20 wrapped caramel
• 1 T half and half
• 1/4 C chocolate sauce
• 3 C vanilla ice cream
• 3/4 C milk (I used Silk Vanilla Soy Milk)
• 1 C Cadbury Mini Eggs
• 2 Cadbury Creme Eggs

 

1) If making caramel sauce from scratch, melt caramels with 1 T half and half over medium heat and stir until smooth. Remove from burner to cool, stirring every now and then.

2) In a blender, combine ice cream, 3/4 C milk (of your choice), and Cadbury Mini Eggs. Blend until smooth.

3) Pour into a glass and stir in chocolate sauce and caramel sauce. Top with a Cadbury Creme Egg for garnish.

 

Until next week mes amours!

 

MIA

So I’ve been pretty MIA as of late, and I apologize, I’ve had some personal issues that I’m working on resolving but don’t worry they’ll be resolved relatively soon.

 I’m cutting down to a post a week, it’ll be on Fridays from now on but #FrontSplitsFriday will have to go on hold because I got an injury in pilates to my hip flexor that requires some rest.

I won’t be posting though until early April, so lets hope spring comes soon before I completely lose my sanity!

Keep Poling hard!

See you soon mes amours!

I’m a Rockstar, oh baby, I’m a Rockstar!

My goodness it’s been a long few days, sorry for being MIA but I was deathly ill and clinging to the toilet for most of those days. Not exactly sure how I got sick, it’s not like I’m ever around a lot of people and I’m pretty much in bed by 8 or 9 because my little one absolutely exhausts me during the day with her untapped energy source. I missed pilates on Tuesday because I wasn’t feeling tip top and decided that I didn’t want to miss Wednesdays nights dress up night at pole so I stayed home. I went to pole Wednesday although my energy was lacking, but it was still a blast to dress up and do the routine. I’m really looking forward to the next routine! And of course I have some pictures from our dress up night, the theme was rockstar!

So I missed front splits Friday due to being sick and I can’t say I’ve been practicing my splits or doing anything for that matter while I’ve been sick so hopefully my splits haven’t suffered too much. Instead of doing one for Thursday’s blog I’ll be just resuming it on Friday.

I’m crossing my fingers that these next 2 weeks go by rather quickly because I really REALLY want it to be spring. I’m so sick of the winter, it loses its enchantment in February for me. It’s like December everyone’s like “woohoo, Christmas, decorations, lights, jingle bells, jingle bells!” and then it passes, and then for me it then becomes 1 month away until my baby girls birthday, so that always goes by super quick. But after that, it’s likes molasses! February is supposed to be the shortest month of the year and let me tell you it is anything but for me! So I’ve been really looking forward to this snow just screwing off!

I got a new move on Wednesday, called Cupid, it really hurt the quad of my bracing leg at first, hoping that just goes away. It’s a very neat move, definitely bruised the back of my grasping knee though! This was my first attempt at the move in which my teacher kept telling me to arch my back and put my hips forward, my body was like NO! I tried though!

Well that’s all for today folks, my next post will be on Thursday and then Friday! Yes I’m changing up my posting times again, I figure with my class being Wednesday night, I may more exciting things to report on Thursdays! Which also means the new stretches will now be on Thursdays!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

New Stretches, Delicious Dinner, what more could you ask for!

New stretch Wednesday is here! Now I wasn’t able to take a picture again, I’ve been taking some time off, just haven’t been able to get my butt into gear to work out. This weather exhausts me and I can’t seem to shake it! I’ve had a lot of stuff on my mind as of late so that has also been hindering my attempts at hoping on the pole. I’ve literally been going to bed around 7-8 at night. I’m praying spring comes soon, before I completely lose my mind!

Here’s the new stretch for today!

PsycheTruth on YouTube

I’ve been trying out this new stretch routine by this YouTube channel called PshycheTruth. I’ve really enjoyed it, it has both an advanced girl who can do the splits so you know where you want to aim, as well as a novice girl who’s still unable to do the splits but it’s a bit more of reasonable for where most people are probably at.

Now for me personally I think the flexibility in my hip flexors is great, and if that’s all the splits depended on I’d already have them. Unfortunately my quads are not as flexible and I can feel them pulling every time I go down into the splits. So this stretch I found was really useful, it stretched my quads just like I needed. And to get an extra stretch out of this move, you follow up by doing these moves while your legs are in the same position.

PsycheTruth of YouTube

PsycheTruth of YouTube

For me the forward is what gives me trouble, I can lay flat on my back no problem, well a little problem, I can feel it pulling through my bent legs quad, but that’s exactly what I want it to do right? So it’s perfect. Fantastic round of stretches, if you’d like to see the video and follow along I’ll include that in today’s blog as well because I really enjoy this routine.

Lots is changing for me as of late, looking into getting a new car for the summer, rearranging  a lot of my house so I feel like I’ve actually moved in. I’ve lived here for over a year and I think this is the first time I’ve started to feel like we’ll be here for years that it’s not just a temporary living place. I only lived at my previous place for about a year so I haven’t had that feeling of a permanent residence before, and now I’m starting to. I’m thinking long term for once and while one of those long term thoughts is about our next house and saving up for a down payment, I’ve come to accept that we will be at this house for a while before we get a bigger place. I’ve even planned where I could fit another child in here, I live in a two bedroom, 4 story town house, but there’s still room for another bed room so it’s perfect. Not that that’s happening any time soon, just future thinking again.

I’ve been going Pinterest crazy lately, finding tons of things to do with Alice, foods, house things, even baby things. I do this every so often, there’s just so many things on Pinterest worth pinning. If you want to keep up with my pinning you can follow me here!

 

Here’s one delicious pin I found the other day, and I’ll be nice enough to share it with you!

Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken and Broccoli

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sriracha (more/less to taste)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 heads of broccoli florets, steamed
• Cooked white or brown rice
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped, for garnish
• Sesame seeds, for garnish

 

Instructions

Remove excess fat from chicken thighs and place in slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, tomato paste, rice vinegar, olive oil, sriracha (optional), onion powder, and garlic powder. Pour over chicken and stir to coat. Cook for 4-6 hours on LOW.

Remove chicken from slow cooker and set aside. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water, and stir into the sauce in slow cooker. Turn up slow cooker to HIGH and allow sauce to thicken, about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, shred chicken with two forks. Add shredded chicken back into slow cooker and stir to coat.

Divide rice among four bowls. Top with broccoli and chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions.

 

 

I love a good slow cooker recipe, especially anything with broccoli! So I hope you all enjoy this recipe and today’s stretches and I’ll see you on Friday for #FrontSplitsFriday week 5! How exciting!

A Short Post…it’s just cold in here I swear!

I had a very Canadian weekend! I was up bright and early on Sunday (although I’m up at 6:30 every day regardless because that’s the life you live with young children) to watch the gold medal game. It was a fantastic game, not just because Canada won but because of how well the boys played. But I have to admit, it was nowhere near as stressful as the Canada Vs USA game, it was a tense game! You know the whole arch rivals, grrrrr! Having gotten gold in both the womens and mens hockey made me very proud to be Canadian, I know it’s not the only game in the Olympics but come on, I’m Canadian, it’s the most important to me!

So I’d love to have some pictures up of pole, I really would but I’ve been having trouble getting the will power to work out, I’m sure it’s because of the winter, I’m sure it’s because my brain is so full of stuff right now it’s just weighing me down. On Friday I was attempting to get into the superman from the star fish on my pole at home and wasn’t able to get my leg around enough and dropped. When I dropped it sent a shooting pain through my arm, the pain I get from doing starfish and extended butterfly too much, but it was instant and it was sharp. So I’ll be going to the doctors this week or next because this is getting ridiculous. I had to stop after that because it was just too painful, but I still managed to stretch because I’m am determined to get my splits!

Do you ever have trouble motivating yourself to work out? What do you do to kick your butt in gear? Let me know in the comments below, I’d be eternally grateful!

Just so you know I’m switching back to my schedule of posting Monday, Wednesday and Friday until things become a little better on my end. So until Wednesday mes amours!

#FrontSplitsFriday & delicious mousse!

Today is #FrontSplitsFriday! And it’s week 4 which means it’s comparison week to the very first week and I have to say I’m pretty pleased with the results.

Here’s my splits for this week.

As you’ll notice it is morning, I needed a break last night because my arm started to hurt a little so I didn’t work out last night. I did some stretches beforehand to try and warm up my muscles but I feel like I could have gone even further if it was after I had done some cardio and really warmed up my body. You can see I’m wearing my sweater because my house was really cold this morning.

And here’s the comparison.

My calf is definitely touching the group more which means my stretch is lower. As well as you can see less of the pole than the first time. So I’m relatively pleased with the results. It really helps to have a comparison I must admit, it’s such a small difference that if I wasn’t photographing it I probably wouldn’t realize it, and I would have slowed down on my stretches because I would have felt that I wasn’t making any progress. But now I feel like trying harder than ever, I am so hell bent on getting these splits down, I know my right side is going to be before my left side that is for sure. I’m going to try and stay in my splits for a couple minutes now and watch a tv show or something to distract me from the time.

All I have to say is TGIF! Not because I work but because my love works and weekends are the time we get to spend together that’s not just eating then bed a couple hours later. I go to bed relatively early because my daughter is exhausting. She’s a little bundle of energy that is like non-stop. So by the end of the day if I have enough energy to work out it’s a miracle.

So something fun today! PDBloggers have teamed up with bodybinds to have a contest and the winner gets $200 towards a purchase on their site. Let me tell you, you need the $200! There’s so much lovely wear and it’s so expensive. I guess not bad for some people but when you have a house and bills and a child to pay for $200 is a lot! But I have to say it looks like it’s worth it, they’re absolutely lovely and work so well with pole because you’ll still get side stick and every other stick while looking sexy as hell!

Just click on the image below to go and enter the contest!

Click to go and enter yourself!

I think once I have more of an audience I may try to run a contest as well. That could be fun, maybe have some art as a prize or something from Poleitical Clothing! It could be fun!

Alright now to leave you off with something delicious because I forgot to yesterday!

Since my other mousse was so successful, here is another one I happened to stumble on. It’s a bit easier to make as well, easier than getting prunes and pitting them because this is made with delicious avocado, and if you’re like “ewww Avacado and chocolate?!” don’t be ridiculous, that sounds delicious, and avocado doesn’t have a taste when mixed with other things…. In fact I’m going to make this today it looks so delicious… IN FACT I’m going to have this after I have my avocado grilled cheese for lunch! Now I’m just hungry…

Well that’s all for this week mes amours! Let’s hope next week is a better one, I know I’m expecting some cold weather here, but it’s kind of like jack frosts middle finger couple of days as we start to head into warmer weather because he can’t go quietly!

SAD & how you can help!

Hallelujah it’s a miracle! I did pole all last night and my wrist is okay today! I’m so relieved, I can now go back to working out at night. My stretching has suffered but it’s all for the greater good! We did the routine at least 3 times last night, practiced moves. It was also spinny pole night, which I loath. I’m not good with spinning pole, it makes me super nauseous, which I was all the way home and into bed. I fear that will be the main reason I will never compete, I just can’t handle it. I still want to teach though I feel like I could still do that and I still want to.

Alright today I’m going to talk about something not so pole related but effects a lot of people, especially in Canada and especially myself.

The winter blues…

The winter blues affects 15% of Canadians, or the more serious SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) affects 2% – 3% of Canadians. Why this is important to me is because I am also severely bipolar so imagine the uphill battle it takes to get through the winter, now add a bipolar boulder and you’ll get an idea of how this affects me.

When the Christmas high ends and you’re left with cloudy cold days that seem to last forever it’s no wonder we suffer. I am not a winter person at all either, I don’t snowboard, I don’t ski, I take my daughter out but I count the seconds until I can go inside.

What are the symptoms of the winter blues?

Low energy levels

Tired

Increase in appetite

Weight gain

Increased desire to be alone

It’s important to get checked by a doctor though, I am not a doctor, if you think you may have SAD then go to your doctor right away and see if they can make a diagnosis and makes sure it’s not something more serious like anemia!

Now I’ve hit lows lately of just bursting into tears because I’m going absolutely stir crazy in my house. So I started to do some research and these are some of the hints and tricks I found around the web. Although if you’re like me and bipolar is a serious issue for you then I’m not sure if they’ll work, but we’ll see, I’ll be the guinea pig!

Exercise

This is something I do nearly every day, and while it gives me temporary relief, mainly right after working out, it doesn’t seem to last, at least not for myself. Now this doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it, don’t get me wrong, it keeps my weight in check which makes me happy but it still doesn’t seem to last. So let’s move on!

Eat healthy

Quinoa Edamame Salad

This is something I need to work on, refined and processed foods devoid the body of nutrients it needs, and that effects your energy level and moods. You need to eat more complex carbs such as whole wheats, veggies and fruits! I am definitely lacking in that department, my appetite has done the exact opposite and I don’t eat as much right now because I’m just too upset to eat. So I guess my grocery list will be a little different this weekend.

Let the sunlight in

Open those blinds, pull back those curtains and let the sun shine through, you need it! Sun boost your serotonin levels which is the body’s natural feel happy hormone. Now this isn’t always easy to get in the winter, winter is so dark a lot of the time, but now that were reaching the tail end of February the sun will be making an appearance more frequently. Now I know for myself, the morning is full of sunshine through my front windows, so I’m going to try to just lay on the ground in the sun for 15 minutes. See how that works out. If you’re not afraid of the cold, get out for a 15 min walk every couple of days.

Throw a party!

I like this suggestion, it sounds fun. Don’t use this an excuse to drink your face off because that can actually be counterproductive. Something you could do is plan a murder mystery party, they’re loads of fun and can be done at any point in time, and it’s not just for Halloween.  Having some social support around you might be just what you need, I know that when my best friend comes over I always forget about being sad and have lots of fun chatting with her and just hanging out.

Get that Green Thumb out

Peace Ivy

Apparently something that is suggested is to get some house plants and get gardening. Plants brighten up the place, and if you get something like a peace ivy that has air purifying qualities and that’s even better! I do love plants so this might be something I take a look into.

Artificial Light

Light therapy has apparently worked in 80% of SAD, you can buy a machine off of Amazon, they range anywhere from 40$ to 140$ and up. Light therapy works by mimicking natural light to give you that release of serotonin that the sun does.

So these are just some of the things you can do to try and nip that SAD in the butt. These were the ones that made sense to me, but do your own research as well on different sites because you may find something that sounds like it would work even better for you personally.
And just think of it, spring is just around the corner, only a little more of a push. I am crossing my fingers that I can just push through it without losing my mind.

New Stretch Wednesday!

Sorry for being MIA yesterday! My daughter is sick again and I spent the whole day in bed with her, which I can’t say my hips enjoyed. Every time I sleep my hips are sore when I wake up, so laying bed all day really didn’t do them any good. At least today I’ve managed to get her out of bed!

So I got spoiled on Monday, since my boyfriend worked on Valentine’s Day and doesn’t get home until about 7, he decided to bring me out on the Monday instead because it was family day and he had it off. So he brought me to a super swanky sushi place that was ridiculously expensive but honestly worth every penny.

I ordered this combination knowing it was big, but not anticipating just how big it really was. In the picture I’ve already eaten a couple of things. I was stuffed by the end of dinner but wished my stomach was bigger so I could have eaten it again. Some of the best sushi I’ve ever tasted!

Still not much to report on the pole frontier, I still haven’t tried to pole since taking a break due to my wrist, this break really blows. But today is the real test because tonight I have pole at the studio. What makes it even better is that my best friend is finally back from Florida and will be coming to pole! I’m so happy she’s back! I missed her so much in class, it’s honestly not the same without her.

Tonight is also spinning pole night, aka Elise’s exorcist night! Makes me so ill, but I’m still looking forward to it, I want to see what moves I can do while spinning. Next week is even more exciting though, it’s dress up night, and our theme is rockstar, obviously since the song our routine is to is Rihanna’s Rockstar 101. I have my outfit picked out already because I love to dress up so I do it way in advance!

Today is also stretchy Wednesday! So here’s your new stretch for the week, again by Julia Wahl because I just didn’t have the opportunity between a sick little girl, dinner and pilates to take a picture. All my pictures are done at night because I’m a stay at home mom, so my days are filled with kids activities and once my daughter is in bed is when I work out. Which let me tell you is exhausting because honestly by 7 I just want to go to bed, she is an energizer bunny and a half!

Anyways back to the stretch, another simple stretch that stretches out your hamstrings. While she pretty much touches her face to her knee, don’t be worried if you can’t do that, I can’t even do that!

Julia Wahl of YouTube

It’s a good stretch to do right after you do your hip flexor stretch since you’re already down on your knee. Hopefully next week I’ll have the time to take the picture myself. I’m also hoping that this break for my wrist hasn’t affected my flexibility too much.

Tomorrow will most likely be a short post because my daughter has gymnastics in the morning but I’ll give you a delicious recipe to make up for it! Until tomorrow!