u/carcinogen003

Kind of a rant, kind of a request for advice, kind of just seeing if anyone can relate?

I’m an adult skater (25) who started a bit over 3 months ago. I’m working on crossovers, backward 1 foot glides, two foot spins. My coach just introduced me to three turns and backwards crossovers.

I had avoided filming myself because I knew that if I saw a video I’d want to quit. I finally did it, and I was totally right, I look terrible.

Every time I thought I was getting speed and looked confident and like I knew what I was doing it looked bad. I looked stiff and awkward and not nearly as fast as I felt. Though it was helpful in figuring out what to work on it really killed my confidence and makes me feel like I should just relearn every single thing over again to try to make my skating look less ugly. It feels like all the progress has been false if the skills I’ve “learned” look so awful and inelegant when I’m executing them.

Additionally I’ve been really stuck on backwards one foot glides which frustrate me because I can do them forwards all day, but cannot apply the same concept going backward for some reason. I’ve worked on it with my coach, practiced these for about a month, understand exactly what I’m doing wrong (pronating) and yet cannot physically fix it. It’s so frustrating when I feel like I understand everything I need to do but just can’t do it for some reason, I don’t know if I just need to drill it 1000 more times but I’ve never been stuck on a skill like this and it’s making me realize how hard this sport is. I’m wracking my brain for some hack or some click moment to get these down and it just isn’t happening.

I kind of feel like a fraud practicing multiple times a week to just look terrible and not be able to get a backwards 1 foot glide after this long, and it’s making me feel like is it even worth doing this if it’ll take me 5 years to not want to curl up and die at the thought of even glimpsing myself doing this hobby? 🥲

If anyone has any advice (or backwards 1 foot glide tips lol) lmk

Have been stalking this sub for ages and every time I take the calculator test, I’m really disheartened by the results because I feel like there is genuinely no brand that sells this size. I’d like to experience the magic of having a bra fit perfectly as many of the people on the sub seem to have experienced, but I truly have not seen a bra in my calculator size that isn’t ugly or like $200 $80. What always has stopped me from posting here was the hesitation that if I go down this rabbit hole I will have to buy a bunch of bras online that I can’t even try in person and battle with international returns on the off chance that it might be the perfect fit, when I feel like my regular bras fit OK anyway?

I currently wear a VS 32D and haven’t really had huge comfort issues except for the cups being slightly small, after scooping and swooping (though the breast tissue that gets swooped in seems to settle back out after a few seconds anyway, so it seems like that’s not doing anything?)
The gore does not tack on any bra I have ever tried, but I only have about a finger of distance between my breasts, so I may just be very close set. Overall the VS bras I wear feel okay and I don’t have any significant gapping issues or fit issues other than that. Tried on the VS flex factor 32D and thought they were really comfy and fit well. However the calculator says that my correct size is a 28DDD, which would make my current size extremely off, contradicting how I feel about my usual bras comfort wise.

I went and tried an unlined wireless wacoal bra in a 30 band in an effort to getting closer to the recommended size by the calculator, and it was so uncomfortably tight there was no way I was getting it. So I’m a little confused by that.

TLDR trying to figure out whether it’s even worth trying to hunt for this dream perfect bra that fits if my current bra size is not causing me any discomfort and is way more accessible + comes in trendy styles. Any help would be appreciated!! As well as any bra recommendations!

EDIT: ideally US based bra recommendations with free returns… just got heartbroken looking up boux avenue, seeing they have cute styles in my size, and then finding out they’re international and don’t do free returns 😭

Loose under bust: 28
Snug under bust: 27
Tight under bust: 26
Standing bust: 33
Leaning bust: 34
Lying bust: 32

Currently trying to find a private coach after not having a great LTS experience (too crowded class leading to very little actual 1on1 instruction that I didn’t think was worth the price.) I have gotten 1 response to my coaching inquiry at my rink, but have since not heard back from them. I thought I would likely be able to try a trial lesson with different coaches, but I surprisingly only got one response so I am a bit worried if that one coach doesn’t work out scheduling wise I will be unable to get a coach at my rink at all. Hopefully I will get some more responses, since I am in a major city at a very popular rink.

Lately feeling demotivated to go practice because I’ve been doing the same skills with no feedback for about a month now. I am concerned about trying to move to stuff like crossovers without actual instruction because I don’t want to learn things wrong and have to unlearn and relearn, but as a consequence I feel bored practicing the same skills over and over not learning anything new.

Anyone have any tips for staying motivated without lessons or a coach? Is self teaching that bad?

Currently trying to find a private coach after not having a great LTS experience (too crowded class leading to very little actual 1on1 instruction that I didn’t think was worth the price.) I have gotten 1 response to my coaching inquiry at my rink, but have since not heard back from them. I thought I would likely be able to try a trial lesson with different coaches, but I surprisingly only got one response so I am a bit worried if that one coach doesn’t work out scheduling wise I will be unable to get a coach at my rink at all. Hopefully I will get some more responses, since I am in a major city at a very popular rink.

Lately feeling demotivated to go practice because I’ve been doing the same skills with no feedback for about a month now. I am concerned about trying to move to stuff like crossovers without actual instruction because I don’t want to learn things wrong and have to unlearn and relearn, but as a consequence I feel bored practicing the same skills over and over not learning anything new.

Anyone have any tips for staying motivated without lessons or a coach? Is self teaching that bad?

I rarely cook anything from scratch although I make good carbonara and vodka sauce pasta (to me at least!)

Today I tried this recipe from a recipe book, followed it exactly aside from these things:

Diced onions instead of thin strips
No marjoram
Used white wine vinegar instead of sherry vinegar

It was terrible. Bland af, only onions really tasteable, not salty at all, no spice, nothing. Sadly I threw it away because it tasted so bad. The recipe didn’t ask for salt or pepper so I didn’t add any.. only at the end to try to make it more edible as I was eating it.

I’m trying to figure out if it was cooking skill that’s the problem or whether this is just not a good recipe? Maybe let me know what you think… thanks!

Farfalle with Onion and Herbs
Serves 4–6
1½ tablespoons olive oil
1½ lb (750 g) white onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon honey
pinch of ground nutmeg
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cups (24 fl oz/750 ml) chicken or vegetable stock
1 lb (500 g) farfalle (bow-tie pasta)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh marjoram
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1½ tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1½ tablespoons sherry vinegar

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and toss to coat them in oil. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Add the honey, nutmeg, and garlic and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the stock and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid reduces by half.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan of boiling salted water cook the pasta until al dente; drain well.

Stir the cheese, herbs, and vinegar into the onion mixture. Add the pasta and stir until heated through. Serve immediately.