#FitGeekFriday: It Begins

Original image from Geek Fitness

#FitGeekFriday is something that Professor Beej has put together, once again, to share what he's geeking out about regarding the "...fitnessy, mindful, hodge-podge of cool stuff I’ve found." Way back when this was a linked initiative, I participated, so I figured I'd make it a thing on the blog again and participate that way, because I always write too much to make it viable for Twitter.

Pole Goals

Eda is one of the reasons I started pole.

I've mentioned it before (mainly on Twitter, but here as well), but pole dancing has consumed my life. I'll get into the details of why doing it as exercise has been good for me on so many levels in another blog post, but something that I'm geeking out about this week is the pole goals my instructor and I finally set in stone, and some are even checked off! I saw this idea in one of the pole groups I'm a part of, and I thought it was a really cool idea to try out to track my progress in pole. She has a book from when she got certified with X-Pole, and we went through it today, and I've completed pretty much everything in Level 1 of pole minus three spins, and all the stuff regarding climbing. For now, we're going to be working on the spins, and building up my core and upper body strength to start on the climbs. We figure, depending on when I can get a pole at home, that I'll be able to "test out" (there's no official test, though some places test your abilities to move into the next level of classes) of level 1 and into level 2 around August or September.

Quest Bars

Before I go to pole classes on Monday and Friday (which are late in the day), I've been eating a Quest bar for a protein boost and to have a snack because I won't be eating dinner until close to 9 PM at night (I don't like eating a full meal before exercise). I've had Quest Bars before, but never really got into them because I didn't like the exercise I was doing, and didn't care about nutrition and, well, I wasn't in the best place to begin with. However, recently, I've really gotten into them, and I've been warily trying out flavors based on what the grocery store has. My overall favorite so far is Cookie Dough, but the grocery hasn't had it, so I've tried Cookies and Cream, Double Chocolate Chip, and S'mores which have all been pretty tasty, too.

NCIS Binge

I cried so much... (Image from CBS)

I've been binging NCIS on Netflix because I needed a somewhat-mindless television show that, even when it had "IN THE FEELS" episodes, ended on a somewhat happy or bittersweet note. (My anxiety and depression have been in flux, and a majority of shows just don't feel good.) NCIS fit that bill perfectly. I'm surprised that I made it through all 13 seasons available. I usually "jump the shark" between season 3 and season 5. While I did think some of Season 11 and 12 were draggy, and the writing wasn't the best, and it was kind of annoying, it wasn't to the point where I didn't want to not watch anymore.

Epsom Salts

These are my new jam. Pole is fun, but it's a full body workout, and it's hard. And sometimes even two days later, a part of me is still sore, depending what I did in class. I've been loving soaking in these because I got a milk and honey one, and they smell amazing, and I hurt way less after soaking for a half hour or so. I've also been using these as a self-care thing when I'm not sore, and I love it.

Monstress

Image from Hypable

While I've been soaking in the tub, I've been enjoying catching up on my comic books. I've recently started Monstress, which my brother got me this past Christmas. I'm two chapters into the first volume, and I've found it enjoyable so far. I'm looking forward to finishing it, and putting together a more comprehensive blog post on my thoughts for the volume.