Saturday, March 29, 2014

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Life!!

My life right now: turmoil, but in good ways, promise.

I'm now studying a Bachelor of Equine Science - it's a 6 year distance education degree through Charles Sturt university at  Wagga Wagga. This term it's Introduction to Equine Science and Chemistry. The chemistry is proving more difficult than expected. This week (the first week of term) I've probably spent about 15 hours on the course work.


I've also moved Allie to a property 6 minutes away from my house. It's amazing - I've taken over all her care and I love it. So far this week I've ridden 3 times. I'll probably have time for one or two more rides. Like I said, amazing.



I've started to wind back on the trimming. I'm not taking on new clients unless they are close to home or I can use them for case studies for my diploma. I just need a little extra time and to be honest the trimming business, while I love love love it, is the only thing totally in my control. I'm still trimming 5-10 horses a week, which is about half what I was doing.



Last but not least my new job starts in 2 weeks. I've been doing training for it and it looks really good. I'm ready for a change. New job is only 8 minutes from home so there is another chance to get some time back.

As for the fitness/health/weight loss thing - it's slowed down quite a bit. My eating is going well and I'm still loosing weight, but no more than 500g a week. I ate like crap for the last 2 days (to try to cope with an intensive programming course for my new job) but back on it tomorrow. I haven't been running in 3 weeks, but I haven't lost much fitness - I had to run today so I wouldn't be late and surprised myself with how easy it was.

My goal is once I start my new job and everything settles down again I will be able to get into a routine. Ride/run in the morning before work, opposite in the afternoon (or trimming) and then study at night, at least an hour or two. Saturday is my big trimming/ride day. Sundays are for adventures - hikes, bike rides, rock climbing, etc etc with friends and hubby.

Life is just amazing. I'm so lucky to have these opportunities and I intend on making the most of them.

How have you been going with your fitness? How do you get back on track when life gets in the way?

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Progress Shots

So, 4.7kg between the two photos below. I hit a plateau with my weight loss for a couple of weeks but I'm at 79.8kg today!





Not a huge difference yet, but most weight loss has actually been in my tummy area and also up high in my cheat too. Isn't it always the way?

Fitness wise I'm doing ok, considering I haven't pushed too hard. Natalie and I went to her gym on Sunday and smashed out some cardio which I was able to do without too much trouble. We did 8 mins straight on the bloody rowing machine which was the hardest!

I'm really happy with the healthy eating. Most days I'm making good choices, not feeling too hungry and feeling satisfied at the end of the day. I feel awesome most of the time, have plenty of energy. I'm not too stressed about going over my calories a little bit each day, as long as I've done some physical stuff that day.

As for fitting everything in, that's a daily struggle. I'm riding probably 2-3 times a week, running 2-3 times a week. Mostly I'm having to get up early to do it before work, which is starting to wear thin. This week so far I have stayed up too late doing other things to get up early. Tomorrow, hopefully!!

This coming week, I would love to stay solidly in the 70's with my weight, continue to plan my meals well and to run just that little bit longer or that little but faster.

How are your goals going?

Monday, February 3, 2014

Chugging Along

So I've been a little quiet here - sorry for that!

Weight loss has hit a little plateau - I'm keeping constant around the 80.5kg mark. Fitness wise, I haven't done much - I had a massive week trimming last week. I managed to ride once, but Allie is at the point of frustration with walking and wants nothing more than to trot (she is still on rehab). We did go swimming laps once but I'm a terrible swimmer!

Because I didn't do much fitness stuff last week, my run this morning was not very enjoyable. You could tell I went backwards with my running. Bum!

Over this week, I'm hoping to get out to run every day, ride once or twice, swim once if it's hot enough. I'm wanting to do something quite physical on Sunday - thinking a hike down to Wentworth Falls (HEAPS of stairs!) or possibly some cave walks at Jenolan Caves?

Diet is going well actually. I'm not concentrating on food as much as I used to. I can not snack too much and have smaller meals and be ok with it most of the time.

I'm going to take some updated bikini shots and post them over the next few days. I'm excited to see the difference already!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Weekly Weigh In

81.6kg this week. Those 70's are in sight!!

It was a busy busy week for me, especially at my office job. Hard to schedule stuff in! I had a few trims cancel or reschedule so instead of the 25 I was expecting to do I ended up with only 13. It was also stinking hot, which doesn't help.

Last week's goals:

- 2 walk/jogs - success!!
- 2 lunch time gym sessions - nope. Didn't make it over to the gym. In my defense, my fees are due and I just didn't have the money last week.
- 4 rides - fail again. I rode once, only bareback down to the dam to let her splash around. It was stinking hot last week. I couldn't do it to her.


Diet wise I did ok - much like last week. Friday was a massive blow out day and I didn't even log on Sunday as it was my sister's baby shower and I just grazed all day without logging anything. I hopped on the scale on Fri morning and I was at 81.3 but Friday put me back up to 82.3. 1kg in one day. JEEZ.

So this week, it's raining of course. I'm still hoping to get out to do 2 jogs, ride twice. I have 16 horses to trim this week. I think I will add some sit ups each day. Goal of 20 each day, various types. I love ab work. :)

Did you set any fitness goals for yourself this week? Did you reach them?

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Puffed

My walk today turned into a bit of a run :)


It might not look like much but it's a start and I'm so proud of myself for getting out there in the heat to jog/power walk after a long day. :D

Now, to find the motivation to do it all again at 6am tomorrow morning!!!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Weekly Weigh In

82.6kg today. Lost all the pre-Christmas weight. :D

This week has been a little hard to schedule in exercise though, so most of this weight loss has been diet related.

Here's some screenshots from my diet tracker, My Fitness Pal.





So I'm pretty much right except too much cholesterol (probably from all the eggs I've been having for breakfast). And of course sugar! Always too much sugar in my diet :p

I'm surprised that I haven't gone over with my salt! Might add some more bananas re: potassium. Vitamin A and C are low too. Where do you get vitamin A from?


As for exercise, here's what minimal stuff I did this week:

Sunday: swimming, a half hour of snorkeling. Only 170 calories burned.

Monday: 45 minute, 240 calorie burning brisk walk with Andrew.

Tuesday: rode Allie, 45 minutes, at the walk. Yay rehab. Also, trimmed 6 feet.

Wednesday: Gym, 100 calories on the cross trainer and 100 calories on the treadmill. On my lunch break at work so only had 20 minutes!

Thursday: trimmed four horses after work.

Friday: cheat day. Went WAY over my calories. Trimmed 2 horses. Felt weak and shaky all day - surprise surprise I was due, so that explained that.

Saturday: no exercise, had to cancel my trims as I had to take the horses to the vet early to get vaccinated for Hendra. Was their last day for a booster (thanks for that communication, Zoetis!) otherwise they would have had to start all over again. Was exhausted after 3 hours sleep so bludged on the lounge all day until I had to go out.

Anyway, that's my quick weekly wrap up! Next week, I'm hoping to get out on at least 2 walk/jogs. 2 lunch time gym sessions, ride 4 times, plus I have 25 trims booked over the week.

Wow. It's going to be a tough one!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Hungry Hippo!!

Im so hungry today! It's not even lunch time yet, I've had breakfast and all my snacks.

What's your go to healthy snack?

Monday, January 6, 2014

Goals

I don't like the word goal. A goal is an option - what I want rather are inevitabilities.
So - let's go about looking into how to set up my inevitable outcomes!


Weight
Let's face it - we all say we want to loose weight. Ideally, I want my weight right smack bang in the middle of my healthy weight range - 65 kg (143lb). That's 20kg (44lb) to loose. You know what though? I haven't weighed 65kg since I was about 21 years old. I'm 30 this year and I honestly do not think 65 is going to happen for me ever again.

I think a realistic goal, an achievable goal, is 69kg. It means I would we inside my healthy weight range at a sustainable level.

I would love to loose 500g to 1kg a week. More than that and I have to restrict my eating way too much, which I don't deal well with mentally, and I need more calories for the days I am out and about trimming horses especially.

I have lost a stack of weight (12 kilos or so) before. I know what to do, what foods to steer clear from, what portion sizes work for me, what healthy foods work better for me. I use My Fitness Pal to log my diet. I find it is a great guide to how my day is going. It motivates me to do that last ditch effort to get on the bike or go for a run to get my calories under for the day.

Sugar and lunches at work are my killers. I just need to make the time to plan.

Fitness
I have never been a runner. Up until a few years ago I couldn't even regulate my breathing while running. I've figured out my comfortable breathing now (in via nose for four, out via mouth for four. I have big lungs). I'm still not a fan of running, though. So I need help with this one. If you're a runner, give me your tips! :)

I do, however, enjoy weights and circuit type stuff. The gym is fun to me. I don't even mind all the meat heads - they're not looking at me anyway. Too busy trying to get a good spot for themselves I front of the mirror!

So my question on this one is - how fit do I have to be to event? What is a sustainable level of fitness? Your feedback on this one would be awesome.

Next up - my next 'inevitabilities' - mostly in relation to time management. It needs a post if it's own!!!


Allie is not quite sure about all of this....

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Statistics 5.01.2014

Alright guys - here's the dirty truth.

I've let myself get fat. I've let myself get lazy. I've let myself get unfit and honestly, I don't think right now I could sit trot for 3 minutes straight, let alone ride a dressage test or jump or gallop.

I'm going to get it all out there. There are cossie pics. Be warned. :P

Height: 168cm
Weight: 85.2kg
5km run time: 46.48 minutes

Bust, waist and hip measurements TBA as I need to buy a tape measure.

Now, I'm smiling because I am proud of my body - it's healthy, I can trim horses with it. I'm looking forward to the possibilities and I would't have that if my body wasn't perfect, like it is. I love progress shots though, so here are the start ones.


Wow - my hair looks so pretty. :P


Fit Enough to Ride?

Ok guys. This year, I'm going to go eventing dammit. If you follow my other blog (http://allieandgracie.blogspot.com.au) you will remember that I was just about to send my 7 year old mare off to the trainers to learn how to jump (finally) when she came up lame. This was back in September, and we now know that she suffered a suspensory/cannon bone fracture injury, which she is still rehabbing from.



She should heal just fine (knocking on the woodiest wood available right now!) so this year, my goal is to finally get out eventing, which has been my dream since I was a little girl.

Now, THIS blog is going to be about myself, getting fit enough to ride and event.

I need help, guys. I'm super super busy, with a full time office job, a part time hoof trimming job (my own business) and a husband who feels quite neglected when I don't ride, let alone when I do ride. My horse is not kept at home.

I need to be kept on the straight and narrow. I need to find the time to ride my horse and exercise myself. I KNOW I'm not the busiest equestrian out there. What are your tips on managing this whole shebang? What do I need to know?


Next post will be about my current stats.