Friday, you seem to come around faster and faster with each week that passes. I am thankful for this, because that means Ballet too, comes faster and faster with each week that passes. 

Tonight’s class was not as challenging as last week, but it was still a challenge in its own right. 

In barre, we focused on our grand battements, and raising our legs HIGHER. It’s so much easier said than done, but I feel that we are all improving from week to week in that respect. To build those inner muscles in the thigh is something that develops over time. Rome was not built in a day. 

In centre work tonight, we focused again on pirouettes and turns, like last week, however something clicked this week, and I felt a lot more confident with the pirouettes we were focusing on. I did practice throughout the week, so perhaps it payed off? 

My split is also getting closer and closer, and I feel that if I keep stretching for that good hour a day, I will have my right and left splits within the next month or so. My middle splits are further off, but I’m working on them, and have seen a lot of improvement from when I started ballet again. 

I also cannot believe that already, the wonderful Sarah had her THIRD class tonight. It felt like yesterday that I was telling her about our dance studio, and now she is well and truly in with the group. 

Bring on next Friday. :)

I visited a physio for the first time today and told him that my hamstrings have been giving me a lot of trouble in ballet and yoga, so he told me that it would take him around 60 seconds to fix them. 

He had me lay on my back and it literally took him under one minute to make my leg raise comfortably without my muscles pulling to way over 90 degrees (my leg wasn’t far from touching my chest). Before he did it, they were about 45 degrees and were hardly able to move past my hip joints. He told me he used the PNF method, which I have heard of before but never quite knew how to isolate my muscles to relax them. 

When I came home, I did some stretches and my turnout is almost 180 degrees. Mu turnout has NEVER been that good. My turnout has always been dismal, even when I took ballet as a kid. He aligned my hips, because my right side was more turned out than my left, but now they are pretty much even. Sadly, the results are temporary, but he proved to me that I do have the mobility to do these things, but I have to train myself to relax my muscles in order to do them which is going to take some time to learn. I’m going to see him a few more times, because he told me I would be amazed at how much progress he could make for my muscle tightness. After what he did today, I believe him 100%

Amazing!

We learn best from trying things that are a little out of reach for us. If something is too hard for us, we will only get better if we do more than we can do. 

SO TRUE! I am applying this to everything for now on. If I ever feel that something is out of reach, then I need to do it anyway, because I will only get better and better!

I have been unit planning ALL day, so now I’m rewarding myself with a run. I’ll probably end up walking a lot of it, because my foot is a little sore for some reason. I will try my best to run, run, run. 

I must admit, that I didn’t do a ‘full’ run today because it’s really hot outside and my body doesn’t cope well in hot conditions, so I walked briskly just over half the distance, and ran the last 2.4 - 2.5 kilometers which isn’t very long for me at all… The blissful thought of food at the end of the journey just kept my pace up until I got home. Then I stretched for a while… It was magical. 

I just got back from pilates, and it was fabulous as always, but it makes me sad, because my pilates course only has two sessions left, and I will miss it considerably. That being said, I’m starting Yoga soon which was recommended for me by my Pilates instructor… I’m pretty excited about it, because I do Yoga every day, and I feel that I can learn so much by doing this course. :)

I ate two pieces of my grandma’s homemade chocolate brownie today. It was AMAZING! Do you want to know what’s more amazing? I DON’T CARE. It was delicious, so I couldn’t give a single (insert profanity here) :’)

On the down side, the sugar has made me feel really tired and I can feel a headache coming along… I need vegetables pronto! 

This is what moderation is! This is the key to life. 

*I’m going to be quiet right now* 

okay. 

My run this afternoon was so disappointing. I have been feeling really tired and un-energetic all day, so I thought a run would help, but it didn’t. The whole time, I couldn’t wait to get back home!

You know those days where it feels like your legs have turned to bricks or something? I felt like I was trying to run through water, and it didn’t get any better the whole time… I ended up walking about quarter of the way, because I had to keep catching my breath. Ugh it was horrible… I came home to stretch, and instead of stretching for an hour, I could only cope with about ten minutes. Today obviously isn’t my day.

*tomorrow is a new day* *tomorrow is a new day*

Anonymous asked: Hi Kimberley! So , we talked a couple of months ago and I talked to you about health tips and all bc you posted your meals and they looked both so good and so healthy. So you really motivated me to lose weight! I went from an almost size 40 to almost fitting in a size 34 (i'm a guy btw) and I really don't see a difference but other people do. I have spring break this week (whoo) and I want to lose weight and try to lose stomach fat bc I really want a flat stomach. Could you maybe help me? xx:)

Hi there Anon, congratulations on your progress - that is excellent news! 

Sometimes it’s hard to see the progress in our own bodies, but you have already proved other people have noticed. You will notice in time, so try not to stress about that too much. Also, weight-loss isn’t just about the way we look… Do you feel a lot better now? Happier? Healthier? More energised? 

Unfortunately you can’t really spot reduce certain areas of the body, but if you keep doing what you’re doing, then your stomach will become flatter. Eat healthy foods and do plenty of cardio, as well as strength and resistance training - it will happen. These things take time. 

:) xx

Okay, I don’t mind getting questions about health/fitness/nutrition/anything else, but some questions I have been getting are really quite self explanatory.

If you send me a question comparing two foods and asking which is healthier, my answer will probably always be the same. Sometimes I will research it for you, but you can do that yourself too. The reason I know a lot about nutrition, is because I spend a lot of time researching and reading things about it. That doesn’t mean though that I know everything, and it certainly doesn’t mean I am a professional or that I’m going to tell you the ‘correct’ thing every time.

The thing is, there is so much information out there, and almost all of it will say something different than another source. Most information online is contradictory. 

My best advice would be to do what’s best for YOUR body, because we all function differently, and we all have different needs and lifestyles. What works for me, and what I eat will probably be completely different to your own unique needs. 

Also, don’t be afraid of food. Sometimes it does more harm than good to get too wrapped up in the nutrition of every single ingredient or meal that you consume. I know this because it took me a long time on my journey to health to realise this, and that it will likely un-inspire you in the long scheme of things. 

It’s OKAY to eat junk food. It’s OKAY to eat chocolate or fried foods or sugar. It’s okay to eat foods like this as long as you do it in MODERATION. As long as you eat healthily most of the time, and don’t deprive yourself of the nutrients that your body needs, then it’s perfectly fine. 

If you continue to worry about every single thing that goes into your mouth, then you will find that it’s more difficult to keep up a healthy lifestyle, because sooner or later, you will become bored, or give up completely. 

A healthy lifestyle is all about moderation. It’s about choosing the right foods for your body, not what other people tell you is right for your body. I, for example, don’t eat gluten or grains, and that works for me, but your body might thrive on these foods. Listen to your body and what it’s telling you, and you will get a lot more insight into your health than you would here on Tumblr. 

Bottom line: I love it when you guys come to me with questions about these things, but have a think about it first - do some of your own research, because that’s what I have to do if I want to find out something, and I always find the answers I’m looking for in the end. 

:)

Broccoli for dinner? YEAH!

I actually had a little bit of chicken and some other vegetables too. I’m a vegetable-eating-monster. 

Pilates was awesome tonight; for the first time, I felt as though I was truly challenged. I crave the burn in my muscles as an indication to know that I’m getting somewhere. 

Tomorrow, I have an assignment due, but it’s only 1,200 words which is nothing. It is planned out, so all I have to do is write it, which won’t take long. (half an hour maybe) Then I will edit and submit.

Most importantly, I have my fourth ballet class tomorrow night, and as per usual, I am SO excited. I wish I could attend more classes per week, but right now I’m too busy and that would get super expensive on my typical Uni student earnings. Maybe next semester… I’m just so happy that I have found something that I’m really passionate about again. I always regretted quitting ballet, but that doesn’t matter anymore, because I made that choice to return and the passion is even stronger than it ever was before.

:)

I have a private consultation class with my Pilates instructor today!

I’m so excited! I hope that this Pilates course will help me to get back my flexibility which will help for ballet. Perhaps it will help to speed up the process of that… Well, I’m hoping so anyway. :)