Lululemon Australia Sneak Peek

The  is live! Lots of items I’m loving in this upload. Especially both these Scuba Hoodie IV’s in Incognito Camo and Vintage Mauve. There are a few store photos of the Ready To Reach Dress from this weekends store drop. Obscured Black Dusty Mauve is a returning print, and actually, the other day when I was sorting my ‘for sale’ items I found mine in the bottom of a drawer and decided I loved them and wanted to start wearing them again. I love sorting ‘for sale’ items because you find stuff you forgot you had, and love to wear.

Scuba Hoodie IV in Incognito Camo and Heathered Vintage Mauve

Ready To Reach Dress

Spirited Sissone Pant

Antique Bark

Obscured Black Dusty Mauve

Moonphase

Shop Lululemon Here

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I did a P.E Nation Review last year after I discovered the coolest star print super-girl style leggings somewhere in an internet rabbit hole browse. Maybe I saw Kylie Jenner wearing them?  I’ve since been a little obsessed with the brand but I’ve only accumulated two pairs of leggings and a tee shirt which I got on Shopbop (my new favorite place to shop online). I just love the retro gym vibe with the rainbow side stripes and contrasting. P.E Nation also has this cool euro sport glamour theme going on, and influences from car racing which I think is really cool. I find the leggings from P.E Nation generally really slimming and I’m itching to buy another pair soon.

Brands like P.E Nation are pretty hard to find in Canada since we have a very limited shopping pool but recently the Nordstrom in Vancouver started carrying the brand so I got to actually try on a bunch of the products instead of just ordering blind online. I can’t wait till Nordstrom Canada gets Sweaty Betty in as well, which I’m told will be soon.

For size reference, I take a 10 in Lululemon and an L in P.E Nation.

P.E Nation Sport Parade Legging

These were my top favorite of the leggings I tried on and the most comfortable. Like I mentioned above, I have a thing for rainbow racing stripes so I automatically reached for these first. What made them my favorite though was the material. It’s a soft yet compressive material that feels similar in softness to nulu, but it’s thicker and compressive, so more like a smoothing scuba material. I don’t feel like these are delicate or will have a tendency to pill like nulu does.  I loved how black these are and that they are matte and I loved the little design features on them. There is a little tiny embroidered P.E Nation logo which you see in the last picture. They also have all the technical features that even the most serious athlete requires. higher waistband, flat locked seams, compression, moisture wicking etc. etc. These are completely opaque, super comfortable and very slimming. They are TTS and easy to take on and off unlike the next two that I’m going to show you, which I also liked but where a struggle.

P.E Nation The Glory Leggings

These were my second favorite pair of leggings and to be honest, I thought I’d hate them. I typically hate leggings that have this sheen because I find it less slimming than matte fabrics. Somehow, once I got them on I found them to be very slimming. I think the reason for that is because they are extremely compressive and opaque. Getting them on was a little tricky over the lower legs and if you’ve ever worn prescription compression stockings you know how hard it can be to pull them up over certain sections. Once on though they were really comfortable. They just lacked the softness that the Sport Parade Leggings have. These are TTS as well and I take a large.

P.E Nation Without Limits Leggings

The fit on this pair was similar if not identical to the pair above. I think I just didn’t love the peach panel and I am not sure I love the side stripe being on the outside of both legs. Other than not gravitating to this particular design, like the ones above I found these pretty slimming and smoothing. The white panel seemed to be opaque enough but that’s not an area that is especially challenging to opacity, it may have been a different story had the white panels been at the rear.

Don’t forget to check out my online store! If you are wanting to shop my Lululemon closet, click the blue link below to see what I’ve got for sale. I’ll be adding more items throughout the weekend!

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Shop P.E Nation Here
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These are the Fitspo Bloggers and fitspo professional athletes I love and feel inspired by! There is such an abundance of fitspo Instagram models that create the illusion that fitness and athleticism is unattainable, except for a certain body type. They either promote the idea that by doing xyz with absolute discipline you too can attain their body type, or that sport for women is merely for the purpose of achieving a certain aesthetic. Those accounts are highly, highly editorialized and they promote something entirely different from what these accounts I’m showing you value.  My favorite fitspo bloggers are vulnerable and honest and they remind me that a female athlete can come in any shape and size, and that sport is something you do because you are passionate about it, and you enjoy it, not because you are battling your body into the conformity of a certain aesthetic. It’s about loving the journey and acknowledging the struggles along the way. You can be an excellent and respected athlete, and still struggle with your own body image and not fitting into societies expectations of what femininity in sport is. There is a difference between discipline in perfecting a sport you love, and discipline in battling your body into some unattainable shape or size.

Society values female aesthetics differently from half a decade to half decade and it’s simply impossible to chase that and conform yourself to the taste of the month when that is not your bodies natural state. We are in a time right now where muscular, long and lean, but delicate and pretty is what’s valued most. Physical evidence of dedication and control. Femininity on someone else’s terms. Skinny but with huge butts and boobs, stylized faces and bodies. I’m so tired of the promotion of women’s sports with photoshopped bodies or promoting a certain age as being sexy while erasing and blurring all signs of aging. It’s exploitative and confusing! This is why I love these women that are swimming against the current and simply doing what they love, without apology.

These are the types of women I want activewear brands to take note of! This is who I want to see modeling the products. Women that inspire me to train hard, get aggressive when I need to, be feminine when I want to and exist in the clothes in whatever body type I am.

Please let me know of the female athletes that inspire you! I’m always looking for inspiring Instagram accounts to follow.

Meg Squats

I love Meg Squats. She is a terrific youtuber and a competing powerlifter. She’s body positive and talks a lot about training, off-season eating, body image, and all sorts of interesting content such as dealing with negative comments about her FUPA in her lifting belt. I love that she shares a lot of other athletes on her channel that include a 5-year-old powerlifter, male powerlifters, other female powerlifters and she occasionally dabbles with Olympic weightlifting. She’s not afraid to show herself fail at fitness endeavors and to challenge herself to try a different sport she’s not naturally good at such as sprinting. She does fitness videos, she does satire, she recreates popular fitspo Instagram photos. I just love her attitude.

My body is strong. It’s not like the others because It is mine. I feed and train my body for sport, for health, and for fun. I’ve spent so many years hating it, but it was essential for every success I’ve ever experienced. Those years, where I felt my body was never ideal, I struggled to change it, and wished it away. I listened to anyone selling a cream to clear my cellulite, or offering a diet suggestion that would make me lose the parts of my body that it needed and wanted. ? Today I stand proud, cellulite and all. Today, I am a semi-finalist for the @bodybuildingcom spokesmodel search. You will hear a lot of people in the fitness industry, who simply want to inspire YOU by living THEIR best life. But I call bullshit, and I’m not doing this to inspire you by the life I live. I refuse to pretend I can change things by simply being who I am. @Bodybuildingcom chose me as a semi-finalist, so that means they’re down wth the goals and plans I have should I win this search. Here they are: ⚪️ ??I’ll partner with @bodybuildingcom to bring MORE FREE STRENGTH and MUSCLE BUILDING PROGRAMS, written by and created for women. ⚪️ ?? I will be BULKING into the entire spokesmodel search. Planning to gain 7-10lbs by the time we get to the LAFitExpo (Goal weight will be between 150-155lbs) ⚪️ ?? I want to WIN this search, so that more strength athletes (powerlifters, weightlifters, strong(wo)men, and throwers) realize that their stories and ideas deserve to be heard. ⚪️ ??I will use @bodybuildingcom as an asset and platform to achieve my goal of getting a barbell in every woman’s hands. ? So. Are you with me? If so, I need your vote. Click on the link in my bio to enter in your vote so that I make it to the next round. Think about the woman or man you were before you had a barbell in your hands. What do you want her to see? Voting ends Sunday, November 12th. Get your vote in today! Voting link is in my bio —�> @megsquats

A post shared by Meg | Strength Athlete & Coach (@megsquats) on Nov 6, 2017 at 9:57am PST

Gabstrengh

I can’t remember when I started following Gabstrength but it was years ago. She’s done a number of really great posts on her journey with PCOS which is what I have as well (polycystic ovarian syndrome, which makes it impossible to lose weight amongs other things). She promotes body positivity and is passionate about powerlifting. What I love most about her is her thought-provoking blog posts on training mindset. Here is just one of her many great posts that she’s written –  Is There A ‘Right’ Way To Have A Body?

2 years apart. Change is s l o w and that’s okay! This doesn’t happen in 30 days, 3 months, or even 6 months. …………………………. One of the BEST things I have ever done for my health, strength, performance, and physique has been spending a significant amount of time *not* dieting. I spent nearly a year eating a lot and lifting a lot and as a result, my PCOS is under control, my amenorrhea is gone, and have gotten real strong. I’ve been able to diet for the past 6 weeks with my calories only being lowered once…and I’m eating what used to be my maintenance level calories. Was it comfortable? No. Was it worth it? Hell yes. …………………. A big thank to my coaches @anniegunshow (programming) and @dorazioanthony (nutrition) for all of their guidance! Can’t wait for 2018 competition season ? #completehumanperformance #girlswhopowerlift #girlswhostrongman #powerlifting #strongwoman #mysumostillneedsworktho

A post shared by Gabby (@gabstrength) on Nov 18, 2017 at 11:03am PST

Lydia Valentin

Lydia is an Olympian and world champion in weightlifting and she’s from Spain just like me. When I started Olympic weightlifting I immediately gravitated to her as she has a similar body type to mine, petite-curvy and a lot of naturally bulky muscle. I love her style and how she displays femininity in a traditionally masculine sport – and she’s unapologetic about it. She will show biceps, or mini skirts and manolo blahnics and she often competes wearing her pearl earings. Like my coach says, she’s a sweetheart and a total babe!

A post shared by Lydia Valentín (@lydiavalentin) on May 24, 2018 at 12:12am PDT

Serena Williams

The queen! I don’t think I have to explain her importance. She’s the greatest. I love her even more since she’s become a mother.

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Jul 3, 2018 at 7:30am PDT

Fitness By Jana

Jana is a local well known crossfit coach and boxer in Vancouver and I got to take a class of hers last summer. The class was a body weight CrossFit gauntlet that seemed really simple, but man, it kicked my ass so hard. Jana recently became a Lululemon ambassador and I feel they are so lucky to have her.  She’s incredibly cool and well respected in the Vancouver fitness community. I love following her Instagram feed and am always interested in what fitness projects she’s got going on. She’s a rising star!

The #fight is 2 weeks away! I’m ready! Immune system is ramping back up, got about 3lbs to lose, some sparring to do, getting one more IV this week @theivwellnessboutique to super charge and hitting @bodyenergyclub for all my #nutrition and #mealprep. Come #sweat with me this week and prep your body for greatness!

A post shared by Fitness By Jana (@janarhn) on Jul 3, 2018 at 5:56am PDT

Who wants to keep talking about the NSALE? ?? Just joking (sort of). I know I posted a ton of content this past week almost exclusively NSALE. In my defense, nobody got mad and I had a lot of emails really happy to see the coverage – If you want to go back and check it out, here are the Nordstrom posts in order. The sale is now open to the public and runs through to August 5th. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed posting about it and shopping it. Now let’s talk about the new Carbon 38 La Plage Crochet Collection!

Carbon 38 is just hitting it out of the park lately! The Sayang Collection was hugely popular in The Sweat Edit community and Carbon 38 La Plage Crochet Collection is probably going to be even more popular, but I’m a little biased with the crochet contrast detailing. I really love crochet details like this and was actually a little obsessed with this bathing suit line I saw a few months ago called Kiini which has a very similar look to it. The problem with this bathing suit brand is that it’s made for the very tiny, and very young and it’s also super pricey.  The full piece bathing suit would be perfect if only it had a full bottom and less of a scooped out back. I found myself the perfect alternative to the Kiini in this La Blanca bathing suit from last season, and I’ve been loving it this summer. Another very popular on Instagram bathing suite (and much more wearable than the Kiini)  is this one that looks amazing on the petite and the full sized woman and it has a different version of crochet detailing. Anyways, moving on from my crochet tangent. I love that the Plage Collection is something that translates the look for more day to day wear, and into activewear. This is a much more wearable version of the trend for me.

Carbon 38 La Plage Crochet Collection

I’m loving the sweat pant, the sweatshirt and the twist back tank. I’m also loving the tights and the bra in the nude color (they won’t work for my skin tone though).

Shop The Carbon38 La Plage Collection Right Here
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