Inspiration

Fat Burners and Metabolism, My Intrinsic Link

fat burners and metabolism inspiration

fat burners and energy

Fat burners and metabolism my intrinsic link was something I discovered rather by accident. Again I’ve made it no secret that I’m no spring chicken. The struggle to accept that youth truly is wasted on the young. Learning to welcome the fact we all age, is a constant struggle I’d rather live without.

What I was able to accomplish in my younger times, seemed so easy, but as the years pass by, it’s a constant, now conscious struggle. My body slowing down, my mind and energy tiring, and the ever present struggle with weight management. My physical fitness routine, once accomplished with an element of ease to gain the results I so wanted, and got, is now a small battle of the bulge. 

Muscles get softer and harder to maintain, and my time spent at the gym, is just that little bit longer. Ho hum, it’s all of our realities, not just me. A slowing metabolism, that makes you listless, and gain that weight, even with all that careful dietary control and lifestyle changes. 

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Collagen, The Long Forgotten Protein Essential For Our Wellbeing!

fitness journey collagen

Collagen, the long forgotten protein essential for our wellbeing!

In 2015, I took it upon myself to do something a little different. Thought a little crazy by many, but to compete in a figure competition. It wasn’t so much a no brainer for me, but more the careful encouragement of my small group of close friends who believe in me.

I was already well into my physical fitness lifestyle of high cardio and weight lifting, but to be on a stage I needed to step up my game. If I was to get anywhere near what those career competitors were doing, buckling down, was something I had to get serious about.

So…..I decided to take the plunge after I got over my initial anxiety. Yes, my apprehension wasn’t just about looking good and being able to pass, but if I was truly capable of upping my game at the gym. 

For those of you that know my history, I’m careful to take great care of my appearance, and how I present myself to the world. I’m tall, and at 6’1” (however when I measured at the contest sign in, I was 5’11 3/4”, clearly I’d shrunk) consider myself to be fortunate in the gene department, making for what I call, an amazon. Better yet, a “glamazon”.

Not only did I have to lose some weight to fit within the designated classes, I also had to increase my muscle tone. Something most folks outside the world of body building just don’t understand. Almost all believe you need too seriously bulk to gain that muscle. Well I can honestly tell you, that’s not the case.

I got to it!

I upped my cardio, varying the activity within my 30 minute routine from the stationary bike, to the elliptical machine, rowing, and whatever else activity I could fluctuate between. If I wasn’t drenched in sweat, I just hadn’t reached my peak performance. When I couldn’t fit in a cardio session, which I did with every training, I opted to interval train. I upped the intensity during my training so I perspired as though I had used the cardio machines. 

Before and After

One key element to my workout I changed, was switching to body weight training. I did this to maximize my muscle tone development, and accelerate my weight loss. It worked like a charm. Trx straps, stretch bands, glide pads, cables, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, floor work, any activity that forced me to engage my core muscles. NO SEATED MACHINES!

What I hadn’t anticipated, was the dull ache in my joints that started to occur. First my big toes, then ankles, knees, lower spine, shoulder caps and finally fingers. It was this strange progression through my body that started in my feet.  A wearisome throb that took some time to dissipate after I had left the gym.

This just wasn’t going to work, especially if I was to traipse across a stage in 4” lucite heels, clad only in a bikini and a fake tan. 

Research,  so I got to work doing my homework on what I could do to alleviate this nuisance soreness. Thinking of my joints, the source of my burn, I came across Collagen. You know, Collagen?  

Wikipedia has it all for you here.  

The most abundant protein in the human body, found in the bones, muscles, skin, and tendons. The substance that holds the body together. Forming the framework to provide strength and structure. Wikipedia spells it all out for you!

It occurred to me, that this could quite possibly be the source of my aches and pains. The lack thereof, not from my diet alone, but from the natural aging process of the body. Yes I’m no spring chicken, but as my father says; “I want to live a healthy active life until my shoes are permanently parked by the front door”!

He’s right, a mantra to live by. 

With the help of my gang at Body Energy Club, I started supplementing with Collagen in my morning shakes, cereal and or coffee. Learning and sampling what the different kinds do, or can do. Getting the right one for me. Upping my doses to twice a day, once in the morning, and at night, usually before bed. Slowly but surely, over the span of a 3-4 weeks that nagging soreness gradually began to fade. 

My training got better, more intense, I got stronger, lost the weight, and gained the muscle tone I so desperately needed. Not only for the competition, but my everyday life. I feel more active and capable, quite possibly I could say refreshed. 

It’s a supplement I plan to keep in my routine, you should too. It works!

Figure Competition

Beauty with The AnteAGE Home Micro Needling System

The AnteAGE Home Micro Needling system for reduction in fine lines, smooth skin, youthful appearance

Beauty with the AnteAGE Home Micro Needling system is a treatment you can do in the comfort of your own home.

I got my system from the wonderful and knowledgeable women here in Canada, at Timeless Beauty Aesthetics. A 4-6 week program, that contains the roller, and 5 mini roll-on vials to use after each treatment. Time for each application is about 5-10 minutes, depending on your own threshold. 

If you’ve never heard of micro needling before, from the folks at AnteAGE, is commonly known as Collagen Induction Therapy (CIT), microneedling. An advanced skin technique that uses shallow needles of varying depth (.25mm-3mm) to stimulate the layers of the skin. From the top layer to the deeper dermis, of which needles of a .5mm or longer are generally used in professional applications. The treatments create a release of natural growth factors (utilizing your skin’s native regenerative proteins), to naturally stimulate and encourage rebuilding your own collagen and elastin. Thus creating a more youthful appearance.There’s more to read on their site, but the gist of it is that regular Home Microneedling has been shown to improve the appearance of:

  • Fine Lines & wrinkles
  • Sagging Skin
  • Texture & Tone
  • Pore Size & Discolouration
a reduction in fine lines with AnteAGE Home Microneedling System
fine line reduction
skin tone with AnteAGE Home Microneedling System
skin tone
skin tone improvement
skin tone

A more aggressive approach with Professional Microneedling helps reduce;

  • Scar Tissue
  • Target deep lines and wrinkles
  • Improve skin volume
  • Best for damaged skin

This particular system is recommended to be used in conjunction with a professional treatment. The idea? To keep the healing and rejuvenation taking place during the “downtown” between the more aggressive pro-treatments.

AnteAGE Home Microneedling System

Does it hurt? The most common question asked, you betcha! However with what I’ve put this body through, I can handle it! Truthfully, it’s not at all that bad. It’s done a few times week by a simple roll-over the skin’s surface 4-5 times in both directions during each session; up and down, side to side, or diagonally, your choice. The idea is to let the roller move over the skin on its own with gentle pressure. I on the other hand, am more aggressive, and I know for a fact, I apply more pressure than the average person. No pain no gain!

However, don’t go thinking a professional treatment is the same. Those treatments truly do require a good numbing, and will leave your face a bloody mess! Trust me on that one.

Does it work? Well when they boast ingredients like Human Bone Marrow Stem Cell Conditioned Media, you damn well better believe it better work. Actually the truth is in the pudding, I can see the differences. Smoother skin, reduced pore sizes, better skin tone a serious reduction in fine lines. The best, comments are from friends and family, even strangers; what have you done different? You look refreshed! Have you had work done? LOL!

Done morning or night, the choice is yours. I can tell you that done in the morning, your skin is left a little sensitive, even after the application of the solution from the mini roll-on applicator.

Even a cool breeze activates your skin’s surface and or the sun. It’s some what like your skin is “breathing”. Your skin can be red, and feel possibly like a mild sun burn.

I do suggest a night time treatment before bed, freshly washed, use the needle roller, roll on the solution, and head to bed after it has all absorbed. The dark helps it heal faster, while the sun, as we know, activates your skin. You’ll wake up not feeling a thing and can apply your make-up without a problem.

I highly recommend you check it out, and if you have any more questions, ask me. You’ll see visible results. Better yet, head over to the lovely ladies at Timeless Beauty Aesthetics, they’d be happy to answer your questions, and or, provide you with your own kit.

Enticingly Yours

Velvet Steele

Sex, Health, Beauty and Lifestyle, My Mantra

conveyance of a lifestyle of sex, health, beauty

Sex, health, beauty and lifestyle. I’m all about them, call me shameless, see if I care? Unbeknownst to me they’ve been my mantra for quite some time, I’ve just never consciously put words to it. Why even in my own “dazed confusions” I’ve branded myself around those four ideologies. Jokingly I’ve proclaimed of myself as having said many times “I was never deep”, but humour aside, and for those that know me, I’m deeper than the oceans blue. So……. let me tell you what I’m up to, and I’ll break it down under each of those four principles .

SEX

the lovely Lip Love 8 Mode Suction

In all my years of service provision as a pro domina I’ve had the pleasure, and displeasure, of handling a lot of sex toys. Let me tell you, there is a lot of crap out there. I just don’t know who these folks are that come up with some of that stuff. If it’s just to make money, they’ve certainly succeeded in duping the unsuspecting consumer. Hopefully I’ll be able to shed some light on that with the reviews I plan to continue on.

However it’s not just about sex toys, lubes, lotions and potions, with sex, there is so much more. Sexuality, sexual identity, preference, activities, growth and healing, all kinds of aspects, and my opinions and musings to share. I think you get my drift.

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Resilience and the will to survive, that’s what’s sexy this week!

orange sexy face with red lips

Resilience and the will to survive, that’s what’s sexy this week!

Covid-19 has gripped the world in a state of panic riddled with anxiety and fear. Many are overwhelmed with thoughts of desperation and despair with no way out. Many are lost in thoughts of what to do, how to do it, and is it the right thing to do?

I’m no stranger, and very guilty of all of the afore mentioned trying to formulate my own way out. I’m equally lost, but still find myself antsy to move on, and find my direction. A direction to be honest I don’t know what is.

I think a lot, and get lost in those thoughts of doom and gloom, with no way out. I’ve read and listened to a lot of close friends caught up in the relative conspiracy theories. Friends I believe got, and are getting lost in many of the contradictory stories of who did what, why, and how, with that proverbial no way out. However none of these theories I’ve read allude to or even hint at a rational a solution. And why? They are conspiracies, theories that make you truly think, and for me, not get lost in them.

My attempts to shake up my friends from these thoughts, friends who are glamoured, I feel are lost. I ask them “but, what are you doing?” “how are you dealing with this?”. Questions that I believe are meant to focus on the positive. Yet, the response is always confusion and radical, confused solutions.

What to do?

I always find myself stepping back and taking a deep breath, a drink when permitting and direct my thoughts to those of something creative.

It’s never easy, and I know that, but here in this hot bed of talent I call home, Vancouver, so many of my friends have figured it out. The resilience and will to survive, even if that means thinking outside of their box to adapt and survive.

We aren’t all creative in the traditional sense, yes I know that, but creativity comes in many forms. It’s all how you interpret! Creative in art, life, love, happiness, business, finance, health and wellness, sex, sexuality, basically lifestyle.

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Commodity Me!

featured image

commodity[ kuh-mod-i-tee ]SHOW IPA
SEE SYNONYMS FOR commodity ON THESAURUS.COM
noun, plural com·mod·i·ties.
an article of trade or commerce, especially a product as distinguished from a service.
something of use, advantage, or value.
Stock Exchange. any unprocessed or partially processed good, as grain, fruits, and vegetables, or precious metals.
Obsolete. a quantity of goods.

I’m a commodity, commodity me! Most of us know what “commodity’ means, when applied to inanimate objects, but when applied to living beings, heavens forbid, a furor ensues. The belief held by many, that human beings just cannot, be commodified! Well guess what, you’re wrong!

I’m a sex worker, a service provider of fetish and a good portion of interests therein. I write a ‘good portion’ simply because I have my boundaries, I’m not a “free for all” provider, but a professional that caters to a select set of interests. Just ask me, I’ll gladly supply you with that info.

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Ageism, It’s Plain Ugly

Ageism-plain-ugly-2

age·ism
/ˈājˌizəm/
noun
prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s age.

Let’s be honest, there is no better to way to describe ageism but as plain ugly, and for many engaged in sex work, they too are no strangers to the ageist attitudes of those ugly enough to inflict it.

Sex work is complex delicate work that nurtures the souls of those that seek out the services of providers gracious enough to that provide what they need. A delicate nurturing of mind, body, and soul, so it’s no wonder that those who become attached to their provider, stick with them for a very long time. Over the course of that relationship factors that usually dictate otherwise are obvious, retirement, an address change to a new city or location, and in many circumstances, even death. Just to name a few.

Sex work is an industry that has nurtured a youthful appearance towards sex and sexuality, in favour of overlooking the fact, the population ages. That sex is only for and had by the physically young, which begs the question; what of the young at heart, mind, and soul? Bonds between a client and provider are forged in steel and for those that are willing to go that extra mile, these bonds can be everlasting.

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The Beautiful Colours of Springtime, That’s What’s Sexy This Week

sexy-this-week-Colours-of-Springtime

The beautiful colours of springtime, that’s what’s sexy this week.

I’m an old punk rocker from way back. Goth, alternative, new age, new wave, but one thing that was consistent was my trade mark black. My black wardrobe from head to toe! It made me feel strong and confident, slim and sexy, and it looked cool! It still makes me feel all those things, and I know I look good in black, and I know, I wear it well. Trust me there is nothing like sexy black and I still love to wear it.

However, over the last 10 years or so, for reasons I have no answers to, I started to introduce colours into my wardrobe. Beautiful colours to reflect my ever changing emotions, passions, and personality. Colours that are also a reflection of the ever changing seasons that we have in this beautiful country I call home, Canada.

As I’ve written before, I find it interesting how the fashion world for the most part dictates when colours are to be worn, keeping the darker months dark and the brighter months bright. I wear what I want and when I want, all year long, and not because someone tells me to or that it is written in a book somewhere as gospel, but because……I……want….to!

How about you?

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Lip Prints

sexy-this-week-lip-prints-1

Lip prints left behind for all to enjoy!

The application of lipstick truly is an art form. Luscious lips enhanced in vivid sensual colours to enlarge, define and captivate curious onlookers are all the rage world wide. Well maybe not the “rage”, but certainly a fashion statement that for those in the know are worn well for all the right reasons.

Reasons of my own, but reasons surely shared by the many who adorn those beautiful lips, and certainly those who adore them. Yes I’ve written about painted lips before, and I know I’ll be doing it again and again. Musings that don’t tell the average person who “get’s it” to think twice about it, but rather hopefully encourage those that don’t.

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Quiet Reflection and Contemplation, That’s What’s Sexy This Week

a moment of quiet reflection

Quiet reflection and contemplation, that’s what sexy this week.

For many of us, we’re moving at the speed of light into a brick wall or two, not giving ourselves a chance to slow down with time for ourselves. We’re wired to the world, attached to anything and everything hoping for that next big break. The “big break” we are conditioned to believe is just around the corner.

We are wired to social media, posting if not once, but several times a day exposing parts of our lives we wouldn’t share with our parents. Feeling guilty if we miss a beat and in the process letting down fans and followers. Better yet, as the influencers many of you are, showing and selling products you’ve never even used, let alone know much about.

Then there’s the cost of living! Inflation doesn’t stop, it only seems to go up and up and up creating a whole different type of stress when it comes to paying the bills. Work work work, all work and no play, most certainly doesn’t allow for a time out moment. Most of us are way too busy living to work, when we should be working to live, and enjoy life.

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