Craft Revolution Monte Casino

So this past weekend I got crafty at the Craft Revolution at Monte Casino. This was a beer festival unlike any other because you won’t find any of your normal beers. At this beer festival, craft beer was king.

This is the first year the revolution has hit Monte Casino as the craft beer trend has only recently started to pick up true momentum. Due to its newness the revolution was relatively small, but let us remember, there aren’t that many nationally successful micro-breweries yet. But the ones there were all the ones most of us craft-o-holics know and love very well, with names such as Jack Black, Slow Brew, Cape Brewing Co, Devils Peak, Copperlake, Ace Brew Works, Boston, Brauhaus Am Damm, Brewhogs, Soweto Gold, Citizen, The Cockpit Brewhouse, Everson Cider, Smack Republic, Swagga and Loxton. With each brewery offering between three to six different beers and ciders there was something for everyone to try.

But of course, where there is beer, there must be food to absorb it. The Craft Revolution had this too with some of the yummiest food stalls like Tutto, Barbeque Rib Manufacturers (BRM), Reds Roasts Sandwiches, Hogshead, The Smoooth Wagon, Longtom (Who I got a dynamist cheese griller hotdog from) and Amexicano.

With some fairly good live music (even if the speakers where too loud for a small outside event like the revolution) the whole experience was a fun Saturday day out. Sadly the weather was rather grey which put a slight dampener on things.

Events like these are expensive though with R120 for entrance which included a Craft Revolution beer glass. Then once in, you need to buy your “Castros” which are the currency used inside the event. These come in R100 booklets of 20 (1 Castros = R5) and the most beers were 4 castros for a half glass and 6 for a full glass which is about what you'll normally pay for a large glass of craft. With that in mind, to really sample a bit of everything and indulge you need to be prepare with about R500 person.

What makes me happy as a craft lover is most of the beers from the revolution can easily be found at The Beerhouse in the Pineslope Centre, so anything I missed out on, I can go find there any day of the week.

The revolution may have been small this year but if this craft beer trend continues this will surely become one of the biggest and best beer festivals around.

But no, this revolution won’t be televised. 

The Beer House Fourways Johannesburg

Lately there’s been a sudden and overwhelming surge in popularity around craft beer. The variety of tastes and textures of beers and ciders seems to have sent everyone a bit nuts. I know I personally have a deep love of craft beer and cider and the more restaurants and bars that have it, the happier I am.

There’s even a craft beer event at Monte next week and one in Sandton next month. That’s how nuts people have gone.

In the last three months or so three new bar/restaurants have sprung up in the Fourways area and all of them are using the craft beer trend as a cash cow of note. Today I went to the newest of the three restaurants: The Beerhouse. This Cape Town import is situated situated in the Pineslopes Centre right at the bottom. If you can’t find it just look for the bright yellow building. You can even see it as you drive past on Witkoppen, or should I say you can’t not see it as you drive past.

I was at the Beerhouse today for about four hours and I thoroughly enjoyed it. From the time I arrived to the time I left it was packed with people of all ages. And this is only after the Beerhouse has been open for about a week and a half. But it’s not hard to understand why it’s already so popular.

Let’s start with its food! From the chips to their pork belly sandwich, it’s was all delicious! The food menu isn’t very extensive but I’m sure you’ll find something good to eat on it.

Now let me tell you about the staff! I can’t speak for every waster at the Beerhouse as we only had the one but he was the friendliest waiter I’ve ever had and on top of that he was fast and efficient. He even took our playfully abuse and jokes with a smile. Even the manager when he came past was warm and friendly and willing to joke and talk with the customers. People like these really are ambassadors for what a place like the Beerhouse represents.

Now, it’s time to tell about the name sake behind the Beerhouse, their beer and cider selection. Normally you go to a bar and its drinks menu is a page and the food menu is seven pages. At the Beerhouse, that’s the other way round. Whether you like IPAs, ales, weiss beers or ciders, they have it all. One thing I really liked at the Beerhouse is you can get 100ml glasses of all of their on tap drinks. These range from R7.00 to R15.00. So you can sample a little bit of everything without braking the bank or being overly inebriated. You can also get 330mls, 440ml and 500ml which all range in price. This makes the Beerhouse very wallet friendly as you can often only get one size glass of craft beer at one rather high price. They do how ever have a few drinks that’ll make you raise your eyebrows such as a particular cider which will set you back R300.00 for 750mls. Now I’m sorry ladies and gents, unless that cider contains the elixir of life, I’m not paying R300 for one drink, but if one of you out there has, please tell us what it’s like.

Over all I give the Beerhouse an A++ for atmosphere, staff and food and drink and I’m looking forward to going back there again. 

100 Days Out the Box Challenge

Just about everyone out there has a 100 days challenge. They’re all designed to get you to push yourself to be healthier, be better, be stronger.

So I want to throw my own 100 days challenge at you. Except I don’t want to and I don’t want you to just try be healthier or happier. I want all of us, to stop being so complacent!

It’s so easy for us to complain about how terrible our lives are, how unhappy we are and so on. But at the end of the day, circumstance only plays a small part in the life you have. YOU play the biggest role in your own life. If you sit back and complain without doing anything about, it then nothing’s going to change.

If you want your life to change you have to change it and get out of your comfort zone. This is the point of the 100 Days Out the Box Challenge, to get you to live outside of your box. If you can make a conscious effort to get out of your box at least once every day for 100 days you can actually start to feel the confidence to make the changes that ACTUALLY matter!

So I dare you to join the 100 Days Out the Box and every day post a picture everyday of how you are living outside of your box. It can be something as simple as taking a new route to work or trying a new fruit juice or something bigger like starting a new hobby or maybe a new job. Post your picture on Facebook or Twitter with #100daysoutthebox. I am literally talking about something as simple as wearing your hair a different way or wearing that bright lipstick you’ve never worn. The challenge starts on the 1^st of August, so prepare yourself to get out of your box.

Take your life into your own hands and do everything you can to challenge yourself. Be the person you want to be, live the life you want to live and stop being complacent about the situation you’re in. 

100 Day Out the Box Challenge, it’s time to live the life you want!

A day in the life of a pole addict – South African Pole Sport Federation League July 2014

Today I competed in my first pole competition. The South AfricanPole Sport Federation (SAPSF) was founded by Karin Nicklin, Tracy Simmonds, Lindi Gyökösi, and, finally, a woman who is very close to my heart, Julie Swart. The federation, previously known as the Pole Fitness Association of South Africa, is designed to develop and uphold the standards of the pole sport industry in South Africa.

The federation holds the league four times a year in different provinces. It’s intended to be as easy entry into competitive pole sport for new comers such as myself. There is no “winner” as each dancer is competing against themselves. They can enter into the Bronze (beginner), Silver (intermediate) or Gold (advanced) division. Each division has its own required moves and obviously they get harder as the level goes up.

I’ve only performed once before at my studios annual showcase last November so this was only the second time I’ve ever danced in front of an audience. When I compare my first performance to today’s performance the difference is astounding. But as for it being a perfect performance, it was far from it. I ran into problems such as too much spin on a spinning pole and a double knee hook that just wouldn’t go in.

So if you’re going to be competing in your first pole comp anytime soon, here’s what I advise:

1.       Test your spinning pole before you start. I under estimated just how spiny the one at this comp was today and it showed in my performance.

2.       If you have to hold a move for three counts practice holding it for six. Nervous will almost always make you go faster than you should so what you count as six in your head is three in reality.

3.       Use really go grip. With good grip aid you can hang onto almost any kind of pole.

4.       Smile during your performance, there’s nothing worse than a dancer who doesn’t look like they’re enjoying dancing.

Thanks to support, encouragement, inspiration and care of the wonderful Julie, my instructor and pole role model, I have grown in leaps and bounds. The fact that I was able to do what I did today after only a year and four months of pole is partly thanks to the amazing teachings of Julie. So Julie, and my other Vertical Vixen instructors, Brenda and Rory, thank you! Thank you for being part of changing my life. Through all of you I have discovered a mental, emotional and physical strength I never knew I had. So thank you for helping my reach this point.

I can’t wait for the next league and I’m going to keep doing them until competing feels as natural as breathing. 

This is the official SAPSF video

Build your body confidence with Pole Dancing

Hey ladies, do you hate your body? Do you look at it in the mirror and cringe or cry? I have. I’ve hated my body for not being perfect. The strange thing is I’ve seen women that I think have perfect bodies, cringe over the way they look. So who’s defining this idea of the perfect body anyway?

The truth is, the perfect body is one that’s health, strong and fully able. Your stretch marks and love handles don’t change that fact. It’s taken me a LONG time to realise that.

You want to know what helped me get to that realisation. Pole dancing. Since I started in March 2013 I have lost weight and there’s now some muscle definition around my stomach and even my legs, but at the end of the day, I still have big hips and thighs and I’m still a size 14 and I’m still more or less the same weight on the scale as I was when I started (yes I probably have changed some fat for muscle, but still).

Yet, I find myself enjoying my body now, so what changed if my body hasn’t that much? It’s simple, my perception of my body has changed. Since I started doing pole dancing my body isn’t this wobbly gross thing. It’s now a strong and powerful dancing machine that can do things I never dreamed of doing.

Even the way I think of my hips and thighs has changed simply because I need them. There are certain moves which you’ll struggle more with if you don’t have a bit of hip, or thigh or bum to grip with. So those body parts you hate suddenly become useful.

I haven’t stopped noticing those parts of my body and wishing they were smaller and more toned and I still envy the way other women in my studio look in their pole short. But then something special happens, I do a move that they can’t, a move they want to be able to do and they envy me. That’s when I’m reminded that I’d rather have this body, with its strength than their beautiful lean bodies.

Pole dancing has given me a confidence to feel sexy and beautiful no matter what I’m wearing. I’ve seen women who are two, maybe three times bigger than me, strutting around in their pole shorts like a size 8 diva and you know what, they look amazing. It just goes to show you, it’s not how much you weight or even your shape that matters, it’s how you feel that matters. No one can really pinpoint what it is about pole that transforms your perception about your body but it really works wonders.

So change your perception and improve your body confidence with pole dancing. Trust me, you’ll never look back.

PS. I’d love to hear your stories on how pole has changed how you feel about your body so please share them in a comment.

Practice a bit of body love

A good friend of mine, Esther Fennie, recently put up a post on her blog, HighHeels and Protein Shakes, about practicing body love and I decided this is a sentiment I want to echo.

You see, our mind set affects everything we do in ways we can’t even begin to understand. What this means is if you see eating healthily as a punishment, you’re doomed.

Just like if you hate your body and see it as fat, then that’s all you’re ever going to see. This is partly because even if you do lose weight, your mind says you’re still fat so that’s what you’re going to see, and then you feel like nothing works so you fall off the wagon and give you. The first step is to accept the body you have.

The next step is body love which is about coming to terms with the fact that healthy food is a reward not a punishment. As Esther put it, all she wanted was pizza and she felt like a naughty child who just wanted to break the healthy eating rules instead of obey them. This is all because of the mind-set, if you think good nutritious and healthy food is restrictive and punishing you, then you’ll want to rebel.

So in order to succeed you have to change your mind set. Every time you eat your plain oats, egg white omelette or chicken and broccoli, remind yourself and your body that this is a reward for the hard exercises it did or is going to do. You’re showing it love with good food instead of poisoning with crap.  

The same applies to exercise, you’re rewarding your body with an increased heart rate, endorphins and health. If you focus on this instead of the sore muscles or effort, then you’ll actually get somewhere with your fitness.

If you check out Esther’s article you’ll see she’s had great success since adopting this new mind set.

So change the way you think about your food and exercise and practice a bit of body love, remember, health is a choice and a gift, not a prison sentence.

Your cat could teach you a thing or two about your physical and emotional well-being

I’d like you all meet someone very dear to me, his name is Dali (after Salvador Dali), he’s about five months old and he’s my little darling

Yes, Dali is my kitten who I love madly. Dali is everything a kitten should be; he’s playful, inquisitive, energetic, he only wants and gives love on his terms and you know what, he’s perfect.

But, Dali is more than MY PET, he’s a creature that has taught me a few things. Sounds nuts right?

Well, not really, let me explain.

Imagine what your life would be like if you were constantly curious, playful and energetic? See this is what my little bundle of fluff (or my bug as I nicknamed him) taught me:

Be curious: You never stop learning! The world is a massive place and when you stop appreciating that fact and stop learning and you stop growing.

Give affection on my terms: So often people will accept and give their affections just because they don’t want to be alone or they don’t think they can do any better. What happened to giving your affection because it’s what you genuinely want? My little fluffy reminds me that when it comes to love and my affections it must be on my terms, something my significant other has always understood.

If something interest me, I must pounce: Just like when Dali stalks something, it may disappear before he actually jumps and then it’s gone (normally because it’s a ribbon and I’m holding it) but this applies to life too. If you wait too long to grab onto the things that interest you they may disappear before you can catch them. So pounce, pounce today and hold on for as long as it has your interest. Whether it’s a new hobby, new job, new love interest, new adventure, seize the opportunity before it’s gone.

Remember play is important: We’re all so serious about meeting deadlines and making money that we forget how important play is. When we let our hair down and “play” we learn more about who we really are and that’s when we grow. Just like a kitten practicing its hunting skills through play, we must also learn through play. This is what pole is for me, it’s my space to play, explore and grow.

Listen to me body: We’re so cruel to our bodies these days. We feed them crap and then we starve them. We push them past the point of exhaustion and we hate on them. If we simply listened to our bodies, eat when we’re hungry, sleep when we’re tiered and be active when we have energy, then we’d be much happier and healthier.

How many times have you said, “I wish I could have my pet’s life” or heard someone else say it. Well you can’t have their life, but you can learn something from them.

What have your animals taught you?

The Art of Creating a Pole Dancing Routine

So, I’ve been dancing for eight years. And I danced for a bit in high school, as I mentioned in my “Why Dance” post and all that training has given me two pretty important dance skills:

1.     The  ability to understand moves easily; and
2.     The ability to understand how movement links together with music.

Now I don’t think I can help you with the first skill but the second one is easier than you may think. You just need to follow a few pole dancing principles and you’ll have a routine in no time.

So here’s my top ten LivingLovingLifestyle tips to creating a pole dancing routine:

Tips 1:  Have an idea of a few songs you might want to use even if you haven’t settled on one yet. Most pole dancers are notorious for constantly changing their minds about their music.

Tip 2: Vary the speed and level of your moves because if everything is performed at the same tempo, it may feel boring. Find moves you can do quickly and ones you can do slowly. Ones you can do high up and ones you can do much lower. And don’t forget to add in floor work!

Tip 3: Begin your routine with a move you can hold comfortably, whether it’s on the floor or the pole. You need to be comfortable so you can remain in that move for as long as it takes for your music to start.

Tip 4:  Put your hardest moves close to the beginning. There’s method to this madness I promise. If you leave your hardest trick for later, you’ll already be tiered and sweaty and they might not work. So do them while you still have energy and dry skin.

Tip 5: Spend as much time in the move you are most comfortable. I personally hate spinning so I’d rather spend as much of my routine as I can static. You may prefer a spinner. If so, stay there.

Tip 6: Try stay on the pole for as long as possible. It looks bitty if you have to keep coming down and inverting into your next trick.

Tip 7: Mix hard moves with easy ones. For example, knee hook or “Gemini” is easy and doesn’t take much effort to stay there. Use this move to catch your breath before you go into something harder, like a double knee hold.

I love these :D not a great photo though…

Tip 8:  If you need a moment to breath, go back to the floor. Even basic floor work is the perfect opportunity to catch your breath.

Feel free to browse my YouTube channel for inspiration on some floor moves.

Tips 9: Find a move that looks epic and/or difficult for your finish but is actually really easy. You’ll want to end on a high note even if you might be too tired to pull off THAT triple somersault off the pole. I like basic swan drops. Any time you look like you're falling then catch yourself, it has a big impact, but this drop is simple

Tips 10: Wear whatever makes your feel comfortable, confident and sexy!

So there you go, those are my top ten tips on creating your own pole routine.

Happy dancing!

Why Pole Dance

So after last weeks ‘Why Dance’ article, I thought why not take things one step further. I first wanted you to see why I’m so passionate about dance, before I introduced the love of my life… Pole dancing!

There are lots of people who seem to believe in the myth that if you’re a pole dancer, then you must be a stripper. Those people can continue to believe what they want, but that isn’t the case. On the contrary, most of us pole dancers pay to dance instead of the other way round.

Pole dancing is basically a beautiful mix of dance, gymnastics and parkour.  It’s the grace and fluidity of contemporary dance; the hard, rhythmic, edgy stylings of hip-hop; together mixed with the flexibility and skill of gymnastics and the gravity defying stunts of parkour!

What could be better?

Well let me tell you…

Pole dancing or pole fitness is an amazing form of exercise. You’ve probably heard that before but imagine this: you could do your weight training AND your cardio AT... THE SAME... TIME!!! 

That is exactly what pole dancing is. 

You have to use your own weight to build your strength. The beautiful of this form of training is that you don’t just have a broad goal of “I want to have a six pack” or “I want to be stronger”. Your goals are supper specific based around a move you are trying to perfect. A happy consequence of those goals will get you stronger in the process. Maybe you are trying to do a one handed bow and arrow, which looks like this…

So you practise and practise and practise until you get the move right and in doing so, you get stronger and stronger. This means you are more likely to succeed because you can actually see your improvement week after week as you get harder moves right.

So that’s one amazing pole benefit or polefit J

There’s another one though! Pole has this incredible ability to change lives. You see, the stronger you get, the more you can do these gravity defying tricks. And if you can go from doing this...

To doing this…

Or this... 

Then hell, you can do anything right?

Suddenly, the things that used to hold me back are minor, my feelings of inferiority have dwindled and I feel invincible. I firmly believe every woman out there should stop making excuses and get on a pole. Pole has definitely changed my life, it’s given me strength physically, emotionally and mentally. It’s given me more confidence and taught me the art of perseverance. It’s taught me not to be afraid. 

In pole, there’s nothing that will hold you back more than fear. If you can take that and apply it to your life, there’s nothing that can stop you. And pole has changed the way I feel about my body.

If you’ve read my Beautiful Body Challenge article, you’ll know I’ve struggled with this curvy and somewhat wobbly body of mine, but pole changed that for me and many other women I know from pole. Not only is pole a great way to lose weight, which obviously makes you feel better, but it also just makes you feel sexy. I think it’s partly that feeling of strength and power where you know you’re strong and that makes you feel confident which makes you feel sexy. I also think that there’s a little bit of that “Hey I’m a pole dancer and I can do the kind of things men pay to see in strip clubs except I do it with a class and my pole clothes on” and that always just makes you feel sexy.

I love pole. I love my pole family. I love the women and man who teach me. I love the constant support and encouragement you find inside any pole studio. I love how we share our triumphs and our tribulations. I love how it makes me feel and what it’s taught me about myself.

Every day is a new challenge and a new achievement. So all of you, women AND MEN, please do yourself a favour and go try pole, because the only answer to the question “Why pole dancing” is because it will change you life…

Why dance

When I was in primary and high school, I used to dance. I did freestyle, hip-hop for a bit, modern and so on. But when I got into grade 10, I started to get really lazy and I just stopped.

I didn’t realise the loss until I started university and began my drama training. It was then, when I was thrown into movement training that I regretted those years of lost dancing. In my second year though I really found my way back to dance when I met a truly amazing South African dance talent. This man wasn’t just my lecture, but he was also the inspiration I needed to get my butt back into dancing gear.

But you see, there’s contemporary dance and then there’s contemporary dance training for theatre. The focus of the first is all about the technique. The focus of the second, is on the story, the creation and the feeling.

Dance, from my point of view is about inviting those watching into an emotional experience. And that is exactly what it should be when you dance, an emotional experience.

I’m a huge advocate for dance and the advantage it has in education and personal development. You see dance is a form of expression and because of this, including dance into the school curriculum could help teach children a positive way of expressing themselves. When a child learns to put their emotions into their movement instead of in to their fists or negative words they begin to develop stronger social skills too.

Dance isn’t just about looking pretty either. It’s about physical, whole-bodied creativity. People underestimate the importance of developing creativity in childhood development. Even for adults creativity is a vital skill that is often over looked. You see, creativity isn’t just about making pretty things or being an artist of some kind. Creativity helps with problem solving, innovation and the ability to think outside the box.

And, according to SocialDance, dance is a stress reliever and increases your serotonin which improves your sense of well-being. But they also say, that new studies have shown dancing actually makes you smarter. They site a study from the New England Journal of Medicine and in this study they examined the effect of different activities and how they may help an individual prevent dementia. The study showed that something like frequent reading offers 35% improved protection from dementia. But, dance offers a 76% improved protection again dementia. That was the highest improvement in the whole study.

Now, aside from the emotional and mental benefits of dance, let’s look at the physical benefits. Betterhealth.vic.gov.au list a number of physical benefits including:

·         Improved condition of your heart and lungs;

·         Increased muscular strength, endurance and motor fitness;

·         Increased aerobic fitness;

·         Improved muscle tone and strength;

·         Weight management;

·         Stronger bones and reduced risk of osteoporosis;

·         Better coordination, agility and flexibility;

·         Improved balance and spatial awareness; and

·         Increased physical confidence.

Not everyone enjoys running or cycling (in the gym or on the road). Dance is a great alternative to these

traditional forms of cardio. And because dance is a dynamic form of movement that requires you to use multiple muscles in many different ways, you’ll develop more over all muscle tone and burn calories without having to stand on a tread mill and just work part of your body. 

And above all of that, dance is fun, it’s challenging and it’s exciting. And I’m going to say this, whether or not anyone listens, but dance isn’t just for girls. The kind of strength and tricks that a man can do in dance is just too cool.

I’ve been teaching dance for three years now and I have seen the young ladies I teach grow in confidence and ability. So give dance a try, doesn’t matter what type it is. And if anyone asks you “why dance?” you can tell them it makes you fitter, smarted, more creative, confident, socially developed and hell, it’s fun.

Happy dancing!

Bringing back retro

Let's bring back retro fashion

Retro Fashion 

You can’t actually go shopping for clothes anywhere without saying the words “that’s so retro”. The fact is, retro fashion is back and the different eras are merging into one another.

I personally love retro fashion, but you do need to know how to wear it. Ever era had it’s good points and it’s not so good points. It takes some restraint to make it work.

So that’s what I want to do in this article. I want to show you, my spin on bringing back retro fashion and the good points I think you should focus on when you try put together your own retro fashion throw-backs.

Let’s get started with the 20s…

The 20s

The fashion of this era was fun and flirty. All you have to do is think of the movie Gatsby and you already know what to expect.

Now as beautiful as the 20s fashion is, I think you’ll struggle to pull of elbow length gloves and tassels.  But then what do I know, I’ve gone out for an evening of dancing in a red tops hat…

See?

Anyway, for some 20s fashion rather focus on:

•          A dropped waist;
•          Strappy heals;
•          Lots of beads and bracelets;
•         Fun hair accessories with sparkle and maybe some feathers; or
•          A cloche hat (as close to).

There’s my take, see dropped waist, hat and strappy heals.

So, nothing noteworthy happened in the world of fashion in the 30s and 40s. I think everyone was more worried about recovering from war to be fashionable. So lets jump to the 50s.

The 50s

This is another era of beautiful fashion and I personally advocate for drawing on your inner pin up girl as much as possible.

For 50s fashion, I’d say focus on:

·         Poka dots! And lots of them!;

·         High waisted;

·         High heals; and

·         Red, red lips!

Oh and curly hair is a must here, it adds to the flirtiness of this fashion. Here’s my versions.

The 60s

Now to another of my favourite fashion eras, the 60s. This era is fun, sassy and cute. There’s also lots to work with, so here’s what you can use:

•          High waisted pants and short (yes please);
•          Short dresses with a fitted waist;
•          Shirts and dresses with petter pan collars;
•          Caplets;
•          Fun bold prints; and
•          Of course, if you’re feeling hippy vibes, peace signs accessories.

The 70s

Now let’s bring back disco. The 70s were about fun and partying and the fashion shows that. So for your 70s through back, focus on:

•          Bold and psychedelic prints;
•          Boots. If I could find a pair of white GoGo boots, I’d be all over them;
•          Of course, there's the bell bottoms. Just be careful with these. If you’re big on top, then the bells may just make you look bigger; and
•          If you’re brave, a plunging neckline too.

Just please no yucky tassels.  Those are a bad through back.

Now, let’s get colourful

The 80s

Let’s not lie, the 80s were bad. Bad, bad, bad! Too many mismatched colours and some fabric textures that should never be repeated.

So if you’re going to try pull off the 80s, stick to:

•         Bright colours (a few but not too many);
•         T-shirt with bold slogans and pictures; and
•         Layers.

My version doesn't look very 80s at all I know, but I kept it to the 80s use of bright colour with neon pinks and green.

If you want to do more than that… good luck and please send my photos!

But… in the spirit of retro fashion this did happen…

Yeah… anyway, onto our last era.

The 90s

Oh the bubble pop and girl power. With the influences of the Spice Girls there was a lot of pink and sparkle. This was this era of the platform sneaker thing and pigtails, not to mention my childhood.

To pull off a bit of 90sness go for:

• Crop tops (if you’re a prude like me just wear a tank top underneath it);
• Bell bottom jeans;
• Lots of pink;
• Sneakers (if anyone still has their spice girls shoes, then you’re my hero);
• Acid washed denim shorts and shirts;
• Tommy takkies;
• Floral and plaid prints; and
• Over sized shirts. 

Here’s my 90s throw back.

With all of these things, restraint is key. Pick one or two focus elements and make them stand out.

Retro fashion is about having fun and mixing it up.

So go get your retro on and I’d love to see photos of your retro fashion.

I'll leave you with this image of boyfriend (he's meant to be Prince) and myself before hitting Flash Back Friday last night.

Yes... I went 80s...

Cake or death – A dieter’s worst mistake

When it comes to diets, there’s hundreds, all of which comes with strict dos and don’ts. Now for most people, if they say they’re going on a diet, they mean all in, living on salad and water.

But then something terrible happens. They keep at it for a week and then they’re faced with a slice of cake and they cave. Within seconds they’ve gone from driven to eat health and be better, to rolling in the dirt covered in cake crumbs while the band waggon leaves them behind.

At this point they’ve given up. They think because of this one piece of cake, their diet is ruined so they may as well give it up.

I call this the Cake or Death approach to dieting. This is the number one biggest mistake a dieter can make.

The reason for this is if you’re so strict on yourself with your diet, you are probably going to fail. And when you do, you think it’s ruined and there’s no point in trying again.

When realistically, if you’ve been eating well for two weeks, then one slice of cake isn’t going to suddenly undone all that good work.

This extremely approach to dieting is very hard to stick to and is the wrong approach.

If you want to lose weight, you need to be going for a long term and sustainable approach because this may be much slower weight loss, but you’ll actually be able to maintain the weight loss.

Here’s my alternative to the Cake or Death approach to dieting.

1. Don’t go extreme. Base your diet on true balance and on good healthy nutrition. That means lots of protein, lots of veg, a small amount of carbs, and the occasional treat. Remember you can have that slice of cake, just not every day or even every week. They’re treats and you must treat them that way
2.  Don’t have a set ‘cheat day’. What happens with a cheat day is you’ll cheat just because you can. If you’re going to have a treat, have it because you’ve been wanting it all week and you can’t stop craving it, not just because it’s your cheat day and you can have something ‘bad’.
3. Don’t diet, change your lifestyle instead. No strict diet in the world will help, if you drink wine and beer every night, just like cutting out everything sugary doesn’t help if you’re eating endless amounts of bread and potatoes. You have to change your lifestyle and make it one you can maintain.

And don’t forget about exercise.

If you want to read more about the kind of eating plan and exercise I’d include in this healthy lifestyle, you can check out my blog post about the ‘Get-Fit-Not-Thin Revolution’.

Don’t try be skinny, try be health and a better body will follow on. One slice of cake doesn’t ruin everything, just keep it balanced and you’ll be well on your way to feeling fit and healthy.  

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Ripped Freak – The Review

In this Article I’m reviewing a product called Ripped Freak. This is a fat burning tablet supplement which I've been taking for the last three weeks. Ripped Freak has been created by the people at Pharma Freak.

Ripper Freak is actually a fat burner designed for body builders. The big strong, manly muscly kind. It was even recommended to me by a friend who I’d stick under the body building category. You can’t miss its very masculine yellow and red box. It's is kind of a funny contract to the pleasant raspberry taste and smell of the tablets themselves. The reason for the raspberry is everyone’s favorite, Raspberry Ketones.

It’s been said that the claims that Raspberry Ketones help burn fat were never really tested on humans. Only on rats… But it seems, judging by all the success stories springing up from them, there must be some truth to the claim.

Now, some may say it’s a little hypocritical to have a challenge for women to start loving their bodies one week, and to then start taking fat burner the next. But there’s more to Ripper Freak than just its claim to being an amazing fat burner.

Firstly, one Ripped Freak tablet is equal to about three cups of coffee. This is probably why I’ve been able to cut my coffee consumption down to just one cup with breakfast. The beauty is I’ve generally had more energy with Ripped Freak than I would just with coffee. And it’s not just ‘I’m awake' kind of energy, but strength energy.

During pole I’ve found that I feel stronger and able to push myself further. So Ripped Freak has done more than possibly help me lose weight, but it’s helped me push myself and get my pole mojo back. Big thumbs up on that front.

Another huge benefit that I’ve found while using Ripped Freak is that my cravings for sugar have dropped drastically. Before I started taking it I found I was really struggling to say no to sugar, but now the cravings really have dropped to almost nothing. I really noticed it when I decided to have a few Love Hearts which are my favorite sweet in the whole world. Now normally when I start eating them, I can’t stop until the role is finished. This time I had about 5 or 6 and then put them away. So another awesome benefit.

Ripped Freak is a really easy to use product as well. It’s just one tablet first thing in the morning as soon as you wake up. That’s it. You can take a second one if you choose to but then it’s normally around mid-day. You just have to take it at least three hours before go to sleep. Otherwise that caffeine kick’s going to have your up forever!

The instructions say you should take your tablet with a minimum of 8 ounces of water (It’s an America product hence the ounces) which equals a small glass of water. This sounds like an old ‘rule’ but trust me, if you just have like a mouthful of water to get the tablet down, you’re looking at some rather unpleasant heart burn. I found that out the hard way.

Something else I really like is the bottle comes with a diet plan and exercise plan (that's the card you can see in the picture of the product). Both are designed for those muscly gym-loving body builders but they’re awesome to use as guides. I use the diet plan as a guide to the short of things I can and should be eating at certain times of the day. So that’s really useful.

Ripped Freak is very expensive. R599 for 60 tablets, so it’s a two month supply. There is a benefit to buying expensive diet supplements like this though, or at least I think so. Because of the fact that there is no perfect miracle fat burning supplement on earth that will get rid of your fat while you sit on that couch and eat cake, you become more aware of what you eat when you’ve paid good money for a supplement. Knowing this is an expensive product you don’t want to waste your money by eating junk and therefore not getting the full benefit, so it really help give you motivation to stick to a healthier diet.

Ripped Freak isn’t readily available in South Africa but you can buy it from Chrome Supplements. I went to the one in Bel Air center.  

Now for the part that really matters. The weight lose...

On the left is the photo I used in my beautiful body challenge, on the right a photo taken last night after using Ripped Freak for three weeks.

Now, I'll be honest, I definitely haven't lost as much as I'd like to have, given I've seen and heard reviews of this product where people have see visible results after only two weeks of use. But maybe that's because I just don't exercise enough. Maybe teaching two dance classes a week and poling at least three times a week just aren't the same as going to the gym every evening. 

But I will say this, if you look closely, not too closely though, at my after photo, I do think my hips look marginally narrower and I feel when I look in the mirror that I've got more definition in my stomach. Sadly even the best fat burner in the world can't directly target my stupid thighs but again it has only been three weeks. 

Over all, Ripped Freak is a nice diet supplement that's helped with my energy levels, my cravings, my motivations and my eating habits. Whether or not it's truly an effective fat burner for an average person like me who doesn't live only in the gym, the jury is still out.

But I shall up date you after I've finished my full two months and let's see if my opinion has been changed.