Red Panda: Cute but fierce!

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Red_Panda

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So I decided it was time for a new journal, since my last one was pretty much centered around my goals for December (which I met and exceeded!). Here's a recap of where I started when I first set foot on this forum in August...

Basics: 22 year old female, 5'11"

As of 8/11/08:

Weight: 168lbs
Bust: 36 inches
Waist: 33 inches
Hips: 41.5 inches
Thigh: 24.5

And as of today, 1/11/09 (exactly five months later):

Weight: 139lbs
Bust: 34 inches
Waist: 27.5 inches
Hips: 38 inches
Thigh: 22 inches

So I have lost almost 30 pounds in these five months! :sport: Woot! This was achieved through watching what I ate very strictly and a combination of cardio (running, Bosu ball), yoga, and some weight training. There have been many ups and downs in my health but even during times I was unable to work out just dropping my caloric intake to match the lower activity level kept me on track.

So moving forward I don't think I need to lose much more weight. I still have a few flabby areas I would like to tighten up here and there but I'm sure it will happen! I'm slowly getting back into modeling, and I'll get some pictures up here for you all soon to show off my fabulous new look. My fiance also lost weight in his army training, so our "grand reveal" when he came home for holiday break was pretty fun since we both had body transformations over the months :)

My seizures are under control and my meds are finally all sorted out, but now I seem to have some calcium deposits forming on my ankles... probably a late side effect of the progesterone injection from back in July (its evil still lingers!!). The doctor is looking at them soon and I'll probably need cortisone injections to dissolve them and something to help me metabolize the excess calcium or something like that. Guess we'll see. So let the new journal begin!
 
I demand pics!

Congrats on smashing your goals! Much more than I can say for myself.
 
So wish my new physique comes new confidence! I went clothes shopping for the first time since losing the weight... everything looked so darn good! I bought three new dresses. Short dresses. One was even sleeveless. I would never have dared before but now they just look so cute! They are now safely stashed for summer. I can't wait!

Also... you know what they say, if you're body gets bored your workouts become less effective. Time to shake it up. My new-found confidence and I just signed up for a Pole Dance fitness class... oh my! :D Starts either this week or next month... depends whether this session turns out to be full, right now I'm wait-listed. Wish me luck with that! I'm excited, and really glad I started the yoga - I have a feeling it will come in handy on that pole!
 
Congrats , enjoy the confidence and joy your new body brings you. Also good luck on the pole dancing. I see the girls do it at my gym, it's tough work.... but its a pleasure to watch hehe!
 
Update on the Pole Fitness: I got in to the months session! My first class is Wednesday night :D Woohoo! I'm really excited, it should be fun. As for my ankles, no word yet on the calcium deposits, still working on getting an orthopedist to look at them. Alas. Its interfering with my yoga a little (mostly with things like Dolphin that put strain on the ankles) but I'm keeping it up and modifying as necessary.
 
Today was my first day of my other "shake-it-up" approach to burning calories... belly dancing! And let me say, it is super fun! And the hip movement comes really naturally to me - I guess I just have that swivel and sway haha. Only thing that is giving me trouble is that darned body wave... I can do it going upwards but going down I get all jammed in the spine. But for day one I think I did great. And I feel it in my shoulders from all those "snake arms"! I'll post a video of me belly dancing once I nail that freaking body wave haha.
 
Typhon said:
That should be good, pole dancers have amazing physiques (not that I would know)
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I have full confidence that you are an expert on this species :p

My fiance went to his first strip club with the other soldiers yesterday (with my permission haha) and he called and was like "they were spinning so fast on the pole it was amazing!" I got to be the one to tell him that professional stripper poles come equipped with 12 ball bearings for maximum spinning speed... And he thought it was all them. Pfft. (I may have been researching poles for future home installation should my classes prove super fun... haha.)
 
Red_Panda said:
I got to be the one to tell him that professional stripper poles come equipped with 12 ball bearings for maximum spinning speed...
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What!? :bncry:

This is almost as bad as the time I did the math on Santa's sleigh.

But yeah, I think you've definitely got the right idea. It's all aboot makin' it fun. =D

Also nice to have a plan B, y'know? :p
 
Red_Panda said:
I have full confidence that you are an expert on this species :p

My fiance went to his first strip club with the other soldiers yesterday (with my permission haha) and he called and was like "they were spinning so fast on the pole it was amazing!" I got to be the one to tell him that professional stripper poles come equipped with 12 ball bearings for maximum spinning speed... And he thought it was all them. Pfft. (I may have been researching poles for future home installation should my classes prove super fun... haha.)
Click to expand...

The thing that killed it for me was when a lady comes on between dancers and and spays the pole with anti bacterial spray. I know it's vital to do it but you don't want to be thinking about the infections they've got while spinning round with their legs open
 
they do that because guys like Marko go up and lick the pole between dancers! that thars some majoir germs!

hahahaha

this is way off track,...

poor thing is fgunna have to start a new jounral.... too bad too, cuz "cute bt fierce' was a good name.
 
I had my first pole fitness class last night and it was super fun! I had to go and buy shoes for it because as it turns out none of my "stripper heels" were quite the right kind :p They have to have just the right over-toe strap to hold the foot in, and just an ankle strap with no back on it because the leather would cause friction on the pole.

Anyway, we started with a sexy and intense floor workout to prepare our muscles, then we learned some basic stuff - how to hold the pole right without "wrapping" our wrists around it in a way that can hurt the tendons, how to do a basic swing around it, getting the feel of lifting our feet of the ground, just playing around. Then we learned two basic moves: the Fireman and the Sun Wheel. And my muscles are burning! My calves and quads are the worst, closely followed by the muscles in my back and shoulders that are used in staying up on the pole (its not so much in the arms as it turns out). But it was a great class and I can't wait for next week :D

Oh and fun fact: That stuff they spray on the pole is not antibacterial spray, its rubbing alcohol. Its not just for disinfecting, it helps get hand oils off the pole so we can hold on to it properly and not slide off. We had to use it periodically throughout the class with so many of us sharing poles. We also can't wear any hand lotions - slippery poles don't work so well.
 
I am sore in muscles I wasn't sure I used for anything in that pole class... argh! Yoga felt like torture at the beginning of the class because its so cold out that not only was I sore, but I was stiff! But as I warmed up it felt soooo good to stretch everything and loosen up those muscles! I felt a lot better afterwards, so in the end it was a good way to start the morning.

In yoga we're always reminded to be very aware of our bodies, our breathing, our moving, everything about ourselves - and as I was being aware of myself today it got me thinking about how being almost 30 pounds lighter still feels surprising sometimes when I bring my awareness to it. Sometimes in the morning I get out of bed and I just feel so light and tiny. Its great, but so weird too! I remember before when I would walk, those little rolls/indents on my sides would bug me so much because I could feel the skin touching itself there sometimes and it disgusted me constantly. Now I am very much aware of the absence of that feeling, and its wonderful! The way you feel your sides open when you stretch them, its like I have that feeling in my skin constantly; there's no better way to describe actively feeling the lack of a roll in your body I guess. I'm also very aware that my inner thighs no longer rub together when I walk - that used to bug me to no end!

Even little things like bending my body and noticing that there is less "me" in the way are still amazing to me. I guess it will take time to get used to not having those bulges pop up when I bend forward or to the side, but its a very free feeling. I know they were never really large bulges, but they were annoying all the same. I thought losing 30 pounds gradually, I just wouldn't notice... the way you don't notice your puppy growing into a dog until one day a friend stops by and says "wow, he got big since last time I was here!" you know? Its so slow the subtle changes pass you by... but as gradual as this was the difference does hit me every day. I wonder how long the novelty of it will last :)
 
Had another photo shoot yesterday - it was really fun! And some of the other models noticed I'd lost weight =P Pretty good feeling to have a model say "Hey, you look skinny, did you lose weight?" Hahaha. The shoot was a workout in and of itself - I mean come on, those six inch heels work the calf and quad muscles like you wouldn't believe! And holding some of those awkward poses... you start to feel shaking in your muscles after awhile. They even requested that I do some of my yoga for the fun of it... I wow-ed them with a Bird of Paradise bind. They thought it was pretty awesome =P
 
Update on my pole classes: Just went to another yesterday (they are usually Wednesdays but we got a snowstorm so it got postponed until Saturday). We're learning more moves every class; this week we worked on the ballerina. The classes are sooo fun, and during the class I feel some burn, but its the day after when I really start to feel sore - its hard work! Especially on my upper back muscles (used to hold me up on the pole) and my quads and thighs. We also do floor work before the pole work starts that is killer on the abs.

The yoga is going well, slowly strengthening my shoulders by racking up those down dogs and dolphins - working up my push up count little by little. Also my flexibility is continuing to improve, which is exciting for me who has been stiff for years! The belly dancing is also working my shoulders (yes, shoulders, all that arm movement!) as well as, of course, my abs and such. Anyway, just popping in to update on that. I'll try to get some video of me belly dancing at some point =) At the end of the pole dancing course (in a few weeks) we have dress-up and choreography day so maybe I'll ask someone in the class to film me and I'll share... If you're good!
 
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