Some thoughts and maybe some insperation.
ymaisred
Posts: 15 Member
Morning everyone (at least where I live it is),
I was talking to a MFP and real life friend of mine and just wanted to pass some thoughts along that we shared.
Dieting:
It's hard. Anyone who says it isn't, is nuts! We all know how we got to "this" point. "This" being the point where we knew if we didn't change something, our bodies were not going to change. Support everyone! I was asked by someone how much I was looking to lose “I responded about 25-30 lbs." They laughed at that amount. Maybe I should have told them to get my BMI from overweight to healthy, to get my cholesterol down from 200 (the highest it can be in the normal range).
-Whatever you’re fighting towards, keep fighting you're the only one that can make that change! (The rest of us are here to cheer you on)
Body image:
What kind of horse do you have? Most of us are lucky to have a horse we like (if you don't you would not have bought it, right). What happens if that horse does not do what you want or need (Minis should not enter the Puissance, haha)? We normally look for a different horse. When someone asks us about our horse we all start with the good: Diesel is a great hauler (walks right on to the trailer/is a perfect gentleman when tied when we get there), he is tall 16.3, he jumps everything (including the gate to get into his field), and is a great dressage horse too. Oh and he only has one eye. (All this is true about my horse)
Well ladies, our bodies are the only body we got to work with it, find the things you like and the rest will fall into place. I make a point of putting on lotion after every shower; I also have a full length mirror. The only way that I know things are changing is by actually looking at me. Look at yourself as a seller not a buyer: you are active, you are willing, you have great hind quarters, and you’re expressive.
-Stop looking at what you hate and focus on what you like.
Nutrition:
I bet every single one of you knows what your horse eats at each feeding, how much feed, the supplements they are on and what each of those supplements do for him. I can't remember what I ate 2 weeks ago. I once (maybe twice) ate an entire 5 lb bag of potatoes made into mashed potatoes over the course of a day, I also cannot store 50 lb bags of carrots at home (you will turn orange if you eat to many). If we let our horses eat anything they want they would colic. It is a good thing we don't colic or I would be in trouble. I also will forget to eat all day while I am at the barn then came home and fall asleep, but would be sorely disappointed if Diesel missed his morning feed. On top of all that, I hate choking down my daily vitamin, blah. Saturdays are worse because I was prescribed Vit D for a deficiency that is 2 pills...
Because we don't eat the same thing every day for every meal, recording what you are eating is such a good task. Eating the right things and eating the right amount is key (I worry about those that eat too few). Most of us need a multivitamin.
-Just like with our horses, we need to pay attention to our diets.
Annual vet checks (oops, I mean annual {human} checkups):
Who forgets to get their annual check-up? Who would ever think about foregoing a spring shots appointment or a farrier or equine dentist?
If you have not done so already, touch base with your general praticitonar. Have them do at minimum CBC/Metabolic/Lipid Panel, this is normal blood work to make sure your "healthy" (my GP does more, based on my age and history). Tell them you are trying to loose weight. This person is part of your weight loss team, use their knowledge to help you! They want healthy patients that care about themselves. Ask for your tetanus, if you have not had one. Barns are lovely places to get cuts.
- Make sure you are "healthy" and use your GP as a team player.
I think that we are "luckier" than some trying to loose weight because we know what the "right" things to do are. We do them every day with our equestrian companions. Applying the techniques and associating it to ourselves is the step that we have to make. Also, we have them to keep us motivated, so I am off to ride!
Have a great day!
I was talking to a MFP and real life friend of mine and just wanted to pass some thoughts along that we shared.
Dieting:
It's hard. Anyone who says it isn't, is nuts! We all know how we got to "this" point. "This" being the point where we knew if we didn't change something, our bodies were not going to change. Support everyone! I was asked by someone how much I was looking to lose “I responded about 25-30 lbs." They laughed at that amount. Maybe I should have told them to get my BMI from overweight to healthy, to get my cholesterol down from 200 (the highest it can be in the normal range).
-Whatever you’re fighting towards, keep fighting you're the only one that can make that change! (The rest of us are here to cheer you on)
Body image:
What kind of horse do you have? Most of us are lucky to have a horse we like (if you don't you would not have bought it, right). What happens if that horse does not do what you want or need (Minis should not enter the Puissance, haha)? We normally look for a different horse. When someone asks us about our horse we all start with the good: Diesel is a great hauler (walks right on to the trailer/is a perfect gentleman when tied when we get there), he is tall 16.3, he jumps everything (including the gate to get into his field), and is a great dressage horse too. Oh and he only has one eye. (All this is true about my horse)
Well ladies, our bodies are the only body we got to work with it, find the things you like and the rest will fall into place. I make a point of putting on lotion after every shower; I also have a full length mirror. The only way that I know things are changing is by actually looking at me. Look at yourself as a seller not a buyer: you are active, you are willing, you have great hind quarters, and you’re expressive.
-Stop looking at what you hate and focus on what you like.
Nutrition:
I bet every single one of you knows what your horse eats at each feeding, how much feed, the supplements they are on and what each of those supplements do for him. I can't remember what I ate 2 weeks ago. I once (maybe twice) ate an entire 5 lb bag of potatoes made into mashed potatoes over the course of a day, I also cannot store 50 lb bags of carrots at home (you will turn orange if you eat to many). If we let our horses eat anything they want they would colic. It is a good thing we don't colic or I would be in trouble. I also will forget to eat all day while I am at the barn then came home and fall asleep, but would be sorely disappointed if Diesel missed his morning feed. On top of all that, I hate choking down my daily vitamin, blah. Saturdays are worse because I was prescribed Vit D for a deficiency that is 2 pills...
Because we don't eat the same thing every day for every meal, recording what you are eating is such a good task. Eating the right things and eating the right amount is key (I worry about those that eat too few). Most of us need a multivitamin.
-Just like with our horses, we need to pay attention to our diets.
Annual vet checks (oops, I mean annual {human} checkups):
Who forgets to get their annual check-up? Who would ever think about foregoing a spring shots appointment or a farrier or equine dentist?
If you have not done so already, touch base with your general praticitonar. Have them do at minimum CBC/Metabolic/Lipid Panel, this is normal blood work to make sure your "healthy" (my GP does more, based on my age and history). Tell them you are trying to loose weight. This person is part of your weight loss team, use their knowledge to help you! They want healthy patients that care about themselves. Ask for your tetanus, if you have not had one. Barns are lovely places to get cuts.
- Make sure you are "healthy" and use your GP as a team player.
I think that we are "luckier" than some trying to loose weight because we know what the "right" things to do are. We do them every day with our equestrian companions. Applying the techniques and associating it to ourselves is the step that we have to make. Also, we have them to keep us motivated, so I am off to ride!
Have a great day!
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Replies
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Very well said! And I need to start doing some of that too. And I need to get myself a full length mirror.
When I got kicked in the chest last year, I was getting really annoyed with the doctors because they wouldn't or couldn't tell me what I could eat, how much i could exercise , medication etc.
So i finally said " Ok going to treat myself like i treat my racehorses when they are injured." And I went through everything one thing at a time. " Stall rest? Yes How long? month. Medication for soreness ? Advil .
The doctors actually laughed when i said that and started going through it. Hey got my answers that way! lol
P.0 -
You speak very true words. I always said that I want to come back as my own animals, I take such good care of them, why can't I take such good care of myself? LOL0
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Great post. If someone would treat me like my horses, I would have a regulated diet & exercise regime with NO choice!!
Also I am definitely in the "honeymoon has worn off" part of this - started out really well in January, now struggling more. I know how that feels when a horse is on stall rest, yet somehow I always push through and follow the program religiously, since I know it will be worth it in the end.
Why is it so hard to treat ourselves with the same principles?0 -
LOVE this post!!!
As an eventer I pay very close attention to my horse's conditioning schedule. He has gallop days, rest days, long slow hacks, dressage and jump days. If I paid HALF as much attention to my own fitness I'd really get somewhere!0 -
GREAT THOUGHTS! and rings of truth to me...
It is very true, I know more about horse nutrition, health, anatomy, fitness, training than I do about the same human subjects.
I also have for years taken better care of my horses than I do of myself. I am in this boat because of certain choices I have made. And now is the time to start looking out for me as well as I look out for my horse.
Yes, my husband laughs a me when I think things out starting with... "If I were MY Horse, how would I Treat This?"
J 0 -
Awesome thoughts.
All I could think of though when you mentioned the dreaded vitamins, is that I would be like Sport and they would definately need to be hidden in something. :-)0
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