catmoves2718
Forum Replies Created
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Hi Stephanie,
My pole is working just fine, but when I had difficulties with my older (2008) pole, you guys were awesome.
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Welcome!
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Second for call support. Or you can email them. They’re awesome and super-helpful.
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I’m so sorry you had a scary incident! And very glad that you made it through unharmed!
I have had a few scary incidents, but thankfully I’ve never been seriously injured. Safety mats can be a useful tool, but you want to be careful that you do not become over-confident just because you have a mat. You can still sustain injures, particularly neck injuries.
I think sometimes fear is something that you want to get over, and sometimes fear protects you, so it’s important to consider which is happening on a case-by-case basis. As Veena often points out it’s also important to realize that because of individual differences in anatomy, flexibility, etc. not every move is appropriate for every body. We tend to be conscious of this when we are talking about advanced moves, but this can be true of beginner and intermediate moves as well. For example, I’m not very comfortable with a cross-knee release, but I have a very solid cross-ankle release. The cross-knee release never felt very secure to me, but my instructor always said it was easier/safer than the cross-ankle release. Then I fell out of it, hitting my head and bruising my iliac crest (the back part of the pelvic bone). Thankfully I wasn’t seriously injured, but I generally don’t do it now. After thinking about the matter carefully, I’m pretty sure I know why I can easily perform the cross-ankle release and not the cross-knee release based on my anatomy. I share this as an example of how idiosyncratic our bodies can be, and how we need to be conscious of this, no matter how supposedly easy a move is.
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As Adventures of Alice said, I think you need to seek professional help for this. If your husband refuses to go, then please consider going by yourself. Personally it doesn’t bother me if my husband watches porn or goes to a strip club. But clearly it bothers you a lot. If you’ve told your husband this and he continues to do it and to lie about it, that’s a real relationship problem. If it is this painful for you, and he continues to ignore your feelings, then I don’t think it is unreasonable to consider divorce. Even if you end up getting a divorce, you might want to see a professional to help you work through the difficult experiences you’ve had in your marriage.
I hope that you are able to come to a place where you feel respected and at peace, with or without your husband.
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I’m glad you have found things that bring you joy during your dark times! I’ve had a decades long struggle with treatment resistant depression as well. I hope moving south makes a difference for you, it made a huge difference in my life. I didn’t fully realize how difficult winters were for me until my first fall. Also, for what it’s worth, having an work space with a window makes a big difference for me too.
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As others have said, this sounds like a bad match between you and your trainer. If you’re more comfortable writing a letter, then definitely do it that, but I’d say get out of there before you start to lose your motivation. You might find another trainer, but at the same time, if you’re doing yoga 2x/wk and Zumba 2x/wk, and presumably some pole as well, I wonder if you could see a PT less often, or not at all?
If you’re interested in moving towards being vegan, I highly recommend the books Vegan For Life by Messina and Norris and/or Vegan for Her by Messina and Fields. Messina and Norris are both Registered Dietitians, and all 3 authors are long-time vegans, so they are all very knowledgeable about the nutritional and practical aspects of veganism. All three also have good, evidence based information on their blogs/websites.
And as others have said, try not to beat yourself up about the weight gain. The number on the scale does not determine whether you are beautiful, awesome, or fit. I hope you are able to continue reclaiming your body and life back from depression!
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I have nothing to add, but I wanted to say welcome. So welcome!
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I’m in the same club. I don’t feel that I have the flexibility to perform twisted grip safely, so I don’t do it. Even if I did have the flexibility, I’m not sure I, personally, would feel it’s worth the risk–like you I’d rather just build the extra strength to use other grips.
As far as handling it, I think talking to your instructor about it outside of class is a good option. I would make sure to ask if it is an okay time to talk about something for a few minutes, maybe even email the instructor in advance. Be honest about your feelings and your concerns about *your* body (i.e. you’re not making a judgement about other people’s use of twisted grips). Ask if you can work on the same moves with other grips, or if there is something else s/he would recommend working on when the class is doing twisted grip moves. As long as you aren’t disruptive to the class, I would think that many instructors would try to work with you on this, and probably also be glad you’re respecting your body. If it is not something that can be worked around, that might not be the class for you.
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This is an awesome idea!
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If you didn’t fall off you’d probably find way more of your male colleagues finding reasons to drop by your office.
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Thanks polekat! (Do I type the or-bars or not?) I’ll try to find her!
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If the benefit of shoes is that they force good form (e.g. not jumping, landing with control) wouldn’t it just make more sense to focus on having good form regardless of what is on one’s feet? Also, perhaps some people find heels useful as form correction devices, but I’ve seen plenty of jumping, leg swinging, and hard landing in heels–poor form is possible in all footwear.
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For sure, sharing is good! 🙂 It’s always nice to hear about products we might not know about.
While we’re throwing in, Orgain is my favorite. I can actually drink their chocolate just mixed with water–it’s the only powder I’ve tried that I can get down without fruit, ice, etc.. Their premixed vegan chocolate shake is also really good, and the vanilla powder is great in smoothies, but too sweet for me to drink straight.
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Whether plant-based protein powders are easy on the digestive tract really depends on the particular source and the person who is digesting it. Some plant protein powders/isolates commonly cause digestive upset (soy, I’m looking at you), while others (e.g. hemp, rice) tend to be better tolerated.
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If we’re talking just about fitness, sure heels going to work your legs and your core (because of balance issues) more than going barefoot, but, and this is a big but, they’re also ergonomically terrible putting you at greater risk of injuries in the short term and other problems long-term. If you want to work your legs more, try just dancing on the balls of your feet, you’ll be using your leg muscles to hold you up, without making your doctor grimace. Another potential fitness benefit is that platform stripper shoes tend to be heavy, and some of them are really heavy, so you’re basically working with ankle weights. If you’re strong enough to perform moves safely with this extra weight you’re probably getting a better workout, but, if you’re not really strong enough to handle the extra weight on the end of your leg (think about the physics of even a small weight at the end of a long arm) you’re putting yourself at greater risk of an injury. I’m not anti-shoe, but I think their benefits are largely aesthetic, rather than improving fitness.
As others have pointed out, you tend to move differently in shoes, I certainly do. Part of it is that they let you pivot better than bare feet, but there are changes beyond that. Shoes effectively make your legs several inches longer, which changes your center of gravity, and shoes change the way your knees and pelvis are positioned, all of which mean you are going to move differently, even in the same move. Having weight on the end of your leg means that you can make some spins spin a lot faster, which can be fun. As others have pointed out, shoes can improve grip and protect your skin making certain moves easier–the first time I climbed in boots, I thought I’d gone to heaven. But I am unaware of any moves that cannot be done without shoes (some may need small modifications). And of course platforms allow you to do some rolls and other moves without dragging the tops of your feet over the floor and probably taking off skin in the process. Personally, I also just like smacking my platforms together or on the floor, it’s just fun. Some women find wearing shoes makes them feel sexier.
That said, products like foot undies or similar foot protectors will allow you to pivot nicely (assuming you’re up on the ball of your foot) and protect the tops of your feet in a roll, without the potential risks of shoes. There are also some similar products designed for pole dancers that protect the feet, and provide added tack to help you grip the pole. I have the “sole savers” by Mighty Grip which just covers the ball of the foot and the top right over the ball, but they make some that provide more coverage. Although I enjoy dancing in shoes, most of the time I dance in my sole savers instead. I find that I can do toe dragging rolls in them, as well as climb, and slide nicely on the floor in pivots.
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Perhaps I should clarify, I know where I can buy legwarmers. What I do not know when I purchase them online is how thick they are, and in many cases it’s not clear how big the thighs are (although some websites do provide some information and other threads have addressed that issue). I really want *thin* legwarmers, but unless the description says something like “cable knit” I don’t really know how thick they are. Are they thick like gym socks? Are they thin like trouser socks? That is why I was looking for specific recommendations of a model/style that is thin. I have a nice pair of thick, thigh high legwarmers that I love, but they get hot and can be a little bulky if I want to slide them down to get thigh grip, so I am trying to find something thinner.
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Phoenix Kazree, that’s a really good idea! Sadly, I think it’s beyond my sewing ability. I might be able to find someone else to do it though.
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Happy Birthday!
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What a beautiful pig! Is (s)he the same pig as in your profile pic?
Also, yeah, that is kinda an issue. I feel like there is a twerking joke in there somewhere, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
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Yes! The Veena Method teacher training is amazingly useful! I felt like I needed a “certification” for other reasons, but I learned a tremendous amount from Veena’s teacher training.
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I just finished the PoleMoves certification. You can contact me to talk about it if you like.
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Happy belated birthday! And thank you for the wonderful site!
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I agree with Natalianyx that caloric balance is the cornerstone of weight-loss and maintaining a healthy weight. But I think there is probably a bit more nuance to the issue, especially in terms of maintaining health and energy levels. Some attention to macro-nutrient balance is probably going to be useful for most people. For vegans there are some additional issues related to how to obtain sufficient quantities of certain nutrients.
It’s really not difficult to get sufficient calories on an inclusive vegan diet, by this I mean not eating any animal products, but eating a range of foods, including vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and yes, even moderate amounts of oil and other processed vegan foods, as well as, the occasional treat. If you’re having trouble getting enough calories on a vegan diet, increased intake of nuts, avocados, beans, whole grains and/or fruit should take care of that.
For tracking calories, macro-nutrients, and other values, I like the website myfitnesspal.com . It’s free, has listings for lots of foods, and has a nice user-interface. You can also access it via an ap on your phone. It’s easy enough to log calories by hand, but logging calories, fat, protein, etc. gets to be a little tedious.
Note that a lot of Morningstar Farm’s products are vegetarian, but not vegan, as they contain eggs and/or milk. Pretty much all fake meat is considered processed. I guess you could make an argument for unflavored seitan being not-terribly processed, but anything Morningstar/Gardein/Bocca/etc. certainly counts as “processed food.” However, the labels are not going to say that, if anything they’re going to portray the foods as “natural.”
As far as what kinds of bread or anything else is vegan, read the label, if the product contains meat of any kind, eggs, dairy, gelatine, or honey it’s not vegan. Meat-derivatives can be kinda hard to spot, since it can be included with “other flavors.” Milk/dairy, eggs, fish, and shellfish are all easy to spot as foods that contain these must be clearly labeled because they are common allergens. There are also some food additives (dough conditioners, flavorings, etc) that are not vegan, some people exclude those, some don’t. Note that a lot of the healthiest vegan foods will not be marked vegan, for example, produce, dried or plain canned beans, and whole grains. For things like canned beans I recommend checking labels just to be sure, but for the most part, single or few ingredient items are going to be kinda obvious.
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I really do hope that you see the changes you are hoping to see with the change in diet, but I also want to warn you that a lot of unrealistic claims about what vegan diets can do for people are made. I think in many cases, these claims are made with good intentions, by people who really are trying to help others, they just don’t happen to be well supported by nutritional and medical science. Despite what some people will try to tell you, there is no evidence that veganism is a magic cure for pretty much everything that ails us. Some people see improvements in their health on a vegan diet, others do not. Nor is veganism a magic key to weight loss. There are plenty of vegans, even whole foods vegans, who struggle to maintain their weight. From what I know about it, the Engine 2 Diet is a restrictive version of a vegan diet, designed in part to help people lose weight, so you may indeed lose weight on it. That said, it may be more realistic to hope for sustained, moderate weight loss, than rapid loss.
I am an ethical vegan, and the last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from becoming vegan, but I worry that when people go vegan with unrealistic expectations, they’re not likely to stay vegan. Despite the fact that they appear healthy, very restrictive vegan diets do have their own set of problems. One problem is that they can be more difficult to follow than more moderate approaches, for example, many of the recommendations made above may not be allowed on a whole foods plant based diet. These are just my opinions, but I am not alone in them. If you’d like to read more on this subject, written a Registered Dietician who is an expert on vegan nutrition (with citations to relevant research), there are links below. I do hope you will go vegan and remain that way. I also hope that you see the health improvements you would like to see.
http://www.theveganrd.com/2015/03/pinto-beans-or-tofurky-how-food-choices-and-motivations-affect-vegan-health.html
http://www.theveganrd.com/2015/01/why-do-some-people-fail-at-being-vegan.html
http://www.theveganrd.com/2015/06/will-going-vegan-make-you-look-like-christie-brinkley.html
