Footballers:Ballerinas

From Arshavin's Q&A on his official site:

From egor2000
Hi Andrey! I play football with friends every week. Could you please recommend to me how to protect the toes, nails in particular, as I always walk around with broken, "black" nails? How do professionals solve this problem, or you don’t have it?
Arshavin: This problem exists. It’s a professional footballers’ problem. It seems to be invisible, but many players suffer from ache in the toes after the games. I think that it depends on the foot structure. I don’t have this problem but some footballers bandage their toes with a plaster.

Just like ballerinas!!! Haha, this just caught my attention because ballerinas have the same problem. I don't really have this problem though, they say my feet are pretty considering that I'm a ballerina. I don't get those black nails, I don't get blisters or wounds on my toes. Though when I was just starting to dance on pointe shoes, I used to bandage my toes too with plaster or micropore tape to avoid those. Then I discovered the wonders of petroleum jelly, I put a bit of it to protect my toes from friction against each other and the very hard toe shoe box. I'm lucky I didn't get those icky things and I can wear my open toed heels/sandals/flipflops whenever I want to :P

I find it awesome and cool to see a lot of similarities between ballers and ballerinas :) the leaps, jumps, graceful running, flexibility, turns, fluidity and movement, sometimes even the kicks on the pitch actually remind me of dancing ballet. To me, it's like we speak the same language through movement :) also, ballerinas have the same athleticism as most athletes. Sure, the workout load and strength may be more intense for the serious athletes, but the way the body is worked out, and the way muscles are used and all that - it's the same. Especially with ballet, most of the work and movement is from the thighs, legs and feet. So yeah, if you saw my legs and thighs, I hate them so much because my muscles are huge. My feet even, they are muscley and the nerves are showy. The good thing about them is that they are powerful enough to knock out people, lol. Sometimes I like to think that I could be a good football player, I just need to work on my aim lol :P

As a popular saying for us ballerinas goes: We are athletes from the waist down, and performers from the waist up.

Man, I miss dancing so much :(

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I'm alive!

I know, this blog has been dead for some time now. I fail so bad.

Oooh btw, diet update: I lost 5 lbs in 3 weeks. Not bad, yeah?

Anyhoo, I have made a tumblr account and I am getting quite addicted to it. I think I may be posting there more often. If you want to follow my tumblelog, go here. :D

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DIET!

Ever since I started law school, I stopped going to ballet training and stopped going to the gym because of the lack of time and conflicts in schedule. Because of this, my dancer's body is gone and I am now full of flabs and fat (ok, maybe that was exaggerating). I used to think it's ok, I'm not that fat anyway, and I am not obese. But right now, it's not funny anymore. It takes me a longer time to get ready in the mornings because a lot of my clothes don't fit me anymore. I am a US size 6/UK/Euro 34 for tops and dresses, and a US 8/UK/Euro 36 for bottoms. But I do not fit in some of my clothes anymore!!! And the constant reminders of how fat I've become coming from my parents and my brother isn't really helping. This makes me very sad and frustrated. So now, I am so determined to get back into my dancer's body.

The main problem in my lifestyle is the lack of sleep, or the erratic bedtimes. I always have to adjust my sleeping hours depending on my law school workload. Getting full 8 hours is out of the question because I have to study/revise every night. But now I am trying to work on regular sleeping patterns. I usually get home early on Mondays and Tuesdays, so I get a bit more free time than the rest of the days. Going to bed at around 9-10 pm and waking up at around 3-4am works for me, I get at least 5/6 hours of sleep. On Wednesdays-Fridays I get home a bit later, also when there are footie games (yes, I must watch, they are non-negotiable lol) so I have to adjust the sleeping hours and maybe get fewer hours of sleep, but my main target is to get at least 5 hours. I can function well with that amount of sleep anyway. When I wake up, I drink water, sometimes skim milk, have a bit of breakfast (usually a toastie or two pieces of pan de sal), and a cup of coffee. I study for a bit, then at around 7/8am, I do 30 mins of Hiphop Abs (amazing workout program!!!) and 30 mins of yoga. When I get home from law school, I do another 30 mins of yoga to relax. On the weekends, maybe I shall go jogging in the afternoons after school, or maybe find a dance workout class or boxing class where I can enroll in. Or maybe just workout at home. I should buy a Pilates DVD.

As for the diet, I need to work out on something that will help me survive during the day. I need to have carbs because I am constantly walking and studying throughout the day, so a no carb diet will not work. So I am thinking of eating a fair enough amount of carbs in the morning, like a sandwich, then for lunch, I can skip the carbs. Or maybe half a cup of rice or pasta at the most if I am lacking sleep, just for an energy boost. I need to limit my dessert/sweets intake though, and I am working on that, because I really love desserts. I don't usually eat snacks, but maybe I should take small snacks before dinner so I won't go entirely hungry. Then for dinner, I should just eat a piece or fruit, or a piece of whatever is for dinner, like a piece of beef/meat/chicken and veggies. Or maybe a salad. My mama (my nan) is the one preparing our meals at home, and she also watches what I eat. Also, just as my bitch/diet mentor Elena says, the key to the diet is WATER!!! I have a water bottle that I bring with me to school, and I constantly refill it so I won't forget to drink lots of water. 8-12 glasses of water is the target!

Also, J and I usually eat out and try out new restos when we go out on dates. We should cut down on that. Or if we do eat out, we should order less fatty stuff, and order more healthy stuff. Maybe we can have a cheat day, like on the weekend maybe.

That's what I have so far. I have yet to see if this shall work. I hope it does! I need to get my body beach-ready anyway for April. I must make this work! I am really determined, and I know my mentor Elena will help me on this anyway. My friend Olivia from law school is also on a diet and she keeps on encouraging me. She even watches what I eat and guilt trips me when I want to eat unhealthy food (yes, she loves me that much lol). So yeah, with the help of my friends and my determination, I know and believe I can make this work! :)

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I fail.

I haven't been keeping up with my Project 365. I have taken pics, but the past two weeks have just been a busy blur and I haven't taken a pic for each day I missed, I don't think :( I shall post whatever I have soon, when I've sorted the pics out, and when my reading assignments go back to their normal load. I really want to finish this project, so I'll just do what I can to make it work.

I hate exam week. I need a massage after all that. Every muscle in my back hurts so bad, and I have a pulled muscle on my neck. Must book appointment soon. I need to do it soon before another shitload of reading assignments and cases washes me over...

Other than the hell that is law school, and the fail that is Valencia over the weekend, life is pretty much normal, I get my free time (or what little left of it lol), I'm getting time to go out again woohoo! And I guess life has been more than good to me these days. :D

So to make up for this pointless post, have a pic:

Hai there Negredo. And hai there Carlos.
yes I am ignoring the fact that Negredo is the enemy
and no I'm not denying that I'm in love with the Marchenator

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Project 365: 19/365

Crappy pic, but mai chewy peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies! Well, what's left of them, haha. Made a batch today, they turned out to be so yummy. There's some cookie dough left, might bake some more soon.

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