New here... need to lose weight for my horse

shorepine

Hi everyone, I'm new here although sadly, not new to trying to lose weight and food tracking.

About 12 years ago I lost 30 lbs calorie counting and kept it off for 6 years. Then, I had kids. It came piling back on and then some! Last summer, I did Noom and lost 15 lbs which I kept off for only a few months as I'm a horseback rider and I had a goal of completing an endurance ride - I wanted to be at a lower weight for my horse. Then after the ride was over I promptly gained it all back and then another 10 lbs to boot.

Now, I'm at my heaviest weight that I have been at ever. I'm pretty miserable. I need to lose weight for my horse as I currently weigh too much for him. That is a rather depressing fact, as trail riding is my form of therapy. To be squarely in a healthy weight range, I need to lose approximately 45 lbs.

Because I have done this before, I know it's going to be super hard. I'm 41 and my metabolism isn't what it used to be. My first major goal is to lose 20 pounds, because then I'll be under the maximum weight range for my particular horse.

I'd love a few friends on here to help inspire me and support each other in this journey. Even better if you are a horseperson yourself- but I'd love all types of company with similar weight to lose. Thanks for reading, and good luck on your journeys!

Amanda_Devers

Best of luck with your journey stay positive and you'll get there ❤

Jthanmyfitnesspal

Well, I think that's a great reason! First time I've heard it. Your horse will certainly appreciate it and you will feel good every time you go riding. We all need something like that. (Vanity is a terrible motivator. It deserts you at dessert.)

shorepine

Thanks to you both! Yes it's a bit of an unique reason but it does tend to really motivate me. And I totally agree about vanity. I don't have much stake in vanity at this point in my life anyway- I'm in my early 40s, with two kids. I'm more interested in feeling great!

snowflake954

Any push to lose weight is good, however, this time I'd check into how to maintain that loss once you get there. As you've seen, that's the hard part. You have to think of it as a lifestyle change. It is not just a lose the weight--gain the weight--lose the weight cycle. I've been here 6 yrs and am still learning. Get out that digital food scale, and start weighing and measuring everything. I wish you and your horse the very best.

shorepine

Yes @snowflake954 that is indeed the hard part. I maintained a healthy weight for 6 years and considered myself a success story! It's easy to feel discouraged because of that. My problem is that it seems my only way to maintain is to continue to track food, and after a while of that I start getting obsessed and it negatively impacts my mental health. During the infamous 6 years of maintenance, I did quit logging but maintained my weight through a really heavy load of exercise (I love exercise). I exercised every day for several hours. However, once I had kids that routine was impossible to keep up.

One thing that is good is that despite the weight gain and other fluctuations over the years, I have never lost the exercise habit that I developed the first time round. So I have consistently been exercising over the years, even if it isn't quite so intensive. Now, instead of running a round trip 4 miles to the gym and taking a 60 min cross training class, I maybe fit in a 30 min slow jog. But still, it has helped my level of fitness and health.

I do need to figure out how to maintain healthy eating habits better- I love to overeat.

BellehavenfarmDawn

I am 50 lbs down and I am sure my boy appreciates it, Keep it up! I have an OTTB, 20 yrs old, I rescued him at 5, and did all his retraining. We love trail riding.

shorepine

@BellehavenfarmDawn that is so great! I just noticed your comment- happy to see another horsewoman here.

jeagogo

shorepine wrote: »

I maintained a healthy weight for 6 years and considered myself a success story! It's easy to feel discouraged because of that. My problem is that it seems my only way to maintain is to continue to track food, and after a while of that I start getting obsessed and it negatively impacts my mental health.

I've been there, too. I'm close to my goal now and I know maintenance will be the real challenge for me - for me losing weight (and gaining it) is the easy part. I think the biggest issue I had in the past was unrealistic expectations for myself, where I would try to reach a goal weight that just wasn't reasonable for my body.
I find that having a physical activity that you love, like riding seems to be for you, is amazing motivation and helps to set really clear fitness goals, too. I'm sure there are certain muscles that need to be strong to ride, so even if you are taking a break from riding while you lose the first 20 lbs you can focus your activities around your riding.