Horse riders - weight loss

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JessicaEvans22
JessicaEvans22 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I left working with horses 2 years ago, to create a second (back up) career in admin. whilst this was happening I gained 4st and I couldn't stop it, let alone loss it. I have just taken up a job part time (4 days) and hope this is going to help change it again. I tested this but sharing a horse (riding regularly, mucking out, etc) and losing 5lb in 2 weeks and then stopping for 3 weeks (due to injury) and gaining it again.

So my question is, has anyone found this to work?

Thanks.

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    You need to look at what you're eating
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
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    What works is burning more calories than you consume. Are you logging? Are you logging accurately and being honest with yourself both about how much you're consuming and how much you're exercising? If so, then this will work. Go to The Success Stories forum if you don't believe me. There are thousands of us who have lost and are losing, and are getting fit.
    Just as a suggestion, you might want to add exercise beyond horseback riding- walking, some weight lifting, etc. :)
  • Charlot4444
    Charlot4444 Posts: 170 Member
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    I work with horses and everyday I do, I burn a ton of calories. Which is great however I know the days I'm not at the barn I have to adjust my calorie intake accordingly... Even though I go to the gym for hours when I'm not at the barn it doesn't burn anywhere near the same amount. Hence I follow a weekly deficit (instead of daily works better for me) as my days really depend on what I'm doing.
  • bubbajoe1066
    bubbajoe1066 Posts: 95 Member
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    I own a horse stables.... everyday i clean stalls(50) turn out 20 and do a host of jobs to long to list... and i got fat doing it... to the tune of over 100 lbs overweight.... it has nothing to do with how hard you work and everything to do with the calories consumed in a day.... i have come to learn this in the last few months.... if you are burning 2,000 calories working but communing 2500 you will gain weight... once i gained a grasp of this far to simple concept of calories in vs. calories out, i began to lose weight.... in the last 90 days i have dropped 45 lbs... just by weighing and accurately logging my food and keep under my daily calories goal and not eating back any calories gained from excersise...Walking has been my daily excersise.
  • Bluepegasus
    Bluepegasus Posts: 333 Member
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    Mucking out the horse and riding didn't stop me getting fatter! It's all about what you eat.
  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
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    According to Harvard Medical School, general riding burns 149 calories in a half hour--if you are jumping or doing a lot of two-point position/posting it would be considerably more, but this is a good rule of thumb. For mucking out stalls, I would go with Harvard's "Digging/spading dirt" which is 186 cals in a half hour. Both are for a 155 lb person. Here is the full study with many different activities: http://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/calories-burned-in-30-minutes-of-leisure-and-routine-activities

    Horse and Rider also has a calorie count that might be helpful. Makes me want to get out and stack some hay bales (373 cals in a half hour) or canter cross-country (279 cals in a half hour). :)http://horseandrider.com/article/countingcalories_122006-17266

    As the posters above noted, it's important to accurately assess both your calorie burn and your intake to lose weight. But working with horses is definitely an excellent way to burn calories and build muscle--as well as being therapeutic and peaceful for the soul side of the equation.

  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    If you eat at the same level all the time, then yes, you will lose weight doing and active job and gain weight doing a sedentary one.

    If you are changing activity levels, your maintenance calories change, and you must adjust what you eat... Heavy laborers, for example can eat 3000-4000 calories a day and not gain a lb, because they are on their feet all day doing hard work and burning it off again. The exact same person could switch careers (maybe they get promoted to a desk job) and suddenly gain tons of weight, because now they are sitting all day.

    Same principle.
  • Lydilod
    Lydilod Posts: 135 Member
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    I mucked out two stables the other day. In 59min my HRM said I burned 348cal.
  • TinaGA2015
    TinaGA2015 Posts: 83 Member
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    This is a good thread! I have horses and really want to lose my extra weight so I can be a better rider and my horses will love me more too :)
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    I ride some and trim hooves ob the weekends. I also have a highly active job taking care of monkeys. I burn A LOT of calories in a day. Used to wonder how it was I wasn't losing weight. Until I got a food scale and started using MFP and realised just how much food I was actually eating. I still eat a lot but it is a lot less than I used to eat.

    Eat less than you burn. That's how you lose weight.
  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
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    shadowfax_c11 wrote: »
    I ride some and trim hooves ob the weekends. I also have a highly active job taking care of monkeys. I burn A LOT of calories in a day. Used to wonder how it was I wasn't losing weight. Until I got a food scale and started using MFP and realised just how much food I was actually eating. I still eat a lot but it is a lot less than I used to eat.

    Eat less than you burn. That's how you lose weight.

    Your second sentence utterly delighted and amused me. Thank you.

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