Week 40: Monday 11th October - Sunday 17th October 2021
"You don't have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great"
To say that I'm 'not great' at pole dancing would be the world's biggest understatement. I'm definitely 'not great' - but at least I've made a start - and everything, absolutely everything, comes with practice.
Why I decided to try pole dancing
A year ago, before I started all of this health, fitness and weight loss stuff, I don't think I would ever have thought of myself as someone who might enjoy pole dancing. I'm a bit of an all or nothing person though, and over the last 10 months I've become increasingly determined to keep improving my health and fitness. The more I improve, and the better I get at things, the more I want to do to keep improving further.
Pole dancing is an amazing way to improve health and fitness.
Pole dancing requires you to lift your entire body weight, sometimes with your arms, sometimes with your legs, sometimes with a bit of both. Pole dancing requires a tonne of upper body strength, a tonne of leg strength, super-strong core muscles, and plenty of flexibility.
The benefits of pole dancing
The list of health and fitness benefits for pole dancing is seemingly endless. Here are just a few of the things that pole dancing is supposed to be great for:
- burning calories and losing weight
- boosting metabolism
- toning and strengthening the core muscles
- toning and strengthening the upper body
- toning and strengthening the entire body
- Improving posture
- Improving co-ordination and balance
- increasing flexibility
- increasing confidence
Pole dancing is frequently quoted as being resistance, cardio and flexibility training, all rolled into one; it basically achieves all of the things that going to the gym achieves - but in a much more fun and creative way.
My first pole dancing class
So this week I spent some time searching for pole dancing classes near me and came across Chrome Roses pole dancing in Cardiff. It looked like a friendly and professional studio so I booked myself onto their beginners pole dancing class.
My first pole dancing class confirmed all of the things that I already knew - that I have no co-ordination, no ability to dance, or follow moves, or remember sequences. I'm seriously lacking in upper body strength. I'm stiff, I'm inflexible, and I'm completely terrified! Professional pole dancers make it look so elegant, effortless and easy - but it's definitely not easy at all. Especially if you're me.
I left the session with my brain frazzled from all of the concentration, and my arms feeling like they might fall out of their sockets.
Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun and I did really enjoy it. Despite being totally hopeless at it. I know that I'll get there eventually.
It may take me a while, but I'm hoping that in a few months from now I'll at least be able to do some basic moves and sequences with ease and confidence. I'm also hoping that I'll have developed enough upper body strength to finally be able to do that pull-up in the gym that I so desire to be able to do.
Stay tuned for some improvement photos and videos coming soon...!
Thank you for reading this post!
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Lisa
Lisa
This week I have been eating...
Breakfast: One (chunky) piece of brown toast with butter and marmite. Two cups of black coffee.
Snack: None today.
Lunch: Scrambled eggs on one piece of brown, buttered toast, with spinach.
Snack: Two cups of tea, each with a dash of oat milk.
Dinner: Mindful Chef's Italian tomato ragu and butter bean mash.
Snack: A small bowl of muesli with oat milk.
Breakfast: Two Weetabix with oat milk. Two or three cups of black coffee throughout the morning.
Snack: None today.
Lunch: Two soft boiled eggs, with brown buttered bread and spinach. A Mindful Chef smoothie.
Snack: Two cups of tea, each with a dash of oat milk.
Dinner: Mindful Chef's Italian tomato ragu and butter bean mash.
Snack: A small bowl of muesli with oat milk.
Breakfast: Two Weetabix with oat milk. One cup of black coffee.
Snack: None today.
Lunch: Two soft boiled eggs, with brown buttered bread and spinach. A Mindful Chef smoothie.
Snack: Two cups of tea, each with a dash of oat milk.
Dinner: Mindful Chef's salmon, beet sauerkraut and mustard potatoes.
Snack: A small bowl of muesli with oat milk.
Breakfast: Two Weetabix with oat milk. Two or three cups of black coffee throughout the morning.
Snack: A banana.
Lunch: Baked beans with spinach and an egg, on brown buttered toast. A Mindful Chef smoothie.
Snack: Two cups of tea, each with a dash of oat milk.
Dinner: Mindful Chef's salmon, beet sauerkraut and mustard potatoes.
Snack: A small bowl of muesli with oat milk.
Breakfast: Two Weetabix with oat milk. Two or three cups of black coffee throughout the morning.
Snack: None today.
Lunch: Three scrambled eggs on brown buttered toast. A Mindful Chef smoothie.
Snack: Two cups of tea, each with a dash of oat milk.
Dinner: Mindful Chef's balsamic-glazed chicken with honey roast squash.
Snack: A small bowl of muesli with oat milk.
Breakfast: Two Weetabix with oat milk. Two or three cups of black coffee throughout the morning.
Snack: None today.
Lunch: Three scrambled eggs on brown buttered toast. A Mindful Chef smoothie.
Snack: Two cups of tea, each with a dash of oat milk.
Dinner: Mindful Chef's balsamic-glazed chicken with honey roast squash.
Snack: A small bowl of muesli with oat milk.
Breakfast: Two Weetabix with oat milk. One cup of black coffee.
Snack: None today.
Lunch: Three scrambled eggs on brown buttered toast, with spinach.
Snack: Two cups of tea, each with a dash of oat milk.
Dinner: Mindful Chef's sweet and sour sticky tofu, rainbow chard and rice.
Snack: A small bowl of muesli with oat milk.
Up next - my weight loss journey week 41
Lisa
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