Yesterday I had a riding lesson. It was the first time I’ve ridden a horse since I got pregnant with Aria, so it’s been well over two years. I’d say my first day “back in the saddle” went fairly well….except I couldn’t keep my feet in the stirrups. The reason? I was in my tennis shoes instead of my riding boots. My riding boots are lost somewhere in our garage. Here is how that happened:
About a year ago, my brother-in-law (Rich’s brother, Phil) volunteered to clean out and organize our garage. Yes, you read that right: he volunteered. I know what you are thinking….who would volunteer for a job like that? Well, you don’t know my brother-in-law. He’s borderline ADD and cannot sit still. Plus, he’s a clean-freak. One day while he was over here visiting, he looked in our garage and said, “How can you guys find anything in here?” and I shrugged my shoulders and said, “We don’t.” which is the truth enough. (we waste more money buying things that we already have just because we can’t find them in our garage.) Phil shook his head is disgust. The next thing I know, he’s pulling out all our stuff from our garage, placing everything on our driveway, and then putting it all back in new places. It took him almost the entire day, but our garage looked SO NICE when he was through with it!
Uncle Phil with Andrew & Aislynn in 2007
We really appreciated all the work he did….except now, a year later, I have no idea where my riding boots are. When I asked Phil where he thought they might be, he said this: “WHAT? That was over a year ago…I don’t remember where I put everything!”
And so, we’ve looked and looked but can’t find them anywhere. I’m quite sure they are high up in the rafters, in some random plastic container. Ugh. I hate to go out and buy new ones….but I have a riding lesson next week, and there is NO WAY I’m wearing tennis shoes again. No way. So either we find them before next week, or I’m going to have to buy new ones.
Anyway, back to the lesson:
I started off riding at a walk in the round pen. Nice and slow. I was on Goldie, a sweet 5-year-old quarterhorse, who is the BEST horse for taking a lesson on. She’s mellow and very gentle….very different from my fiesty 6-year-old Arab, who jumps and spooks at just about everything.
My horse Shay, looking out from the round pen
I rode Goldie at a walk in the round pen for a few laps, and then came the part that I was secretly fearing: the trot. The reason for this fear? I was afraid for my pubic bone. Ever since Aria’s birth, I’ve had pain there. She was born facing upwards, and her little chin hooked onto my pubic bone on her way out, and it popped! and separated. At the time, it didn’t hurt. I didn’t even feel it happen. But…in the days, weeks, and months following her birth, I had such pain whenever I did anything slightly exerting – such as walking up stairs, walking at a fast pace, walking for long periods of time, or standing for long periods of time. Even carrying something slightly heavy would hurt me. I had to see a chiroprator for a while so that I could be readjusted. It’s only been about 3 or 4 months now that I haven’t been feeling that pain anymore, so I’m guessing I’m healed. Finally! I heard it could take a long time to heal…but I never guessed this long.
Anyway, so I was worried that the bump! bump! bump! of trotting might hurt me. Thankfully, it didn’t! I had about an hour lesson, and everything went well. Yay! But of course…today my inner thighs and my bum are so sore! I’m walking like…well, like I just got off a horse. No surprise there, I guess, since it had been so long since I’ve ridden. Hopefully with each lesson it will get better.
I keep forgetting to blog about my decision to lose some of the extra weight I’ve been carrying. I was reluctant to mention it on my blog, but the more I think about it, I’m thinking… why not? I could use the extra accountability. So here’s what’s going on with that:
About two weeks ago, I made the decision to lose 25 pounds. Before then, I only wanted to lose 25 pounds. There’s a huge difference between “wanting” to do something and “deciding” to do something, by the way. Wanting is just a wish, and it doesn’t carry much value. A decision, on the other hand, is more like a committment. It is much stronger and more powerful than a mere wish.
Deciding to do something and committing to it is an important step in reaching a goal, but it is not enough. The next important step is to make some sort of a plan on how you are going to carry out or accomplish what you have decided to do. Without a plan, most goals will usually fail. Why is this? Well, it’s just like going on a road trip without a map. Say, for example, you decide to drive to New York. If you don’t look at a map, you won’t know which route to take, and you will eventually get lost. And once you get lost a few times, you will want to give up and go back home. A plan is like a map. It tells you what route to take towards your goal.
I have chosen to run. I plan on running every single day for at least 20 minutes. I have never been a runner, but I’ve always wanted to try it. My friend Marie runs miles, and I’ve always admired her for that (she also has a husband, 3 young children, and is going to school to get her degree. I don’t know how she does all that, but she does!)
I’ve been told that running is one of the best and fastest ways to burn calories. So for the past 7 days, I’ve been running (jogging) for 20 minutes each day. The first few days I had to run for a few minutes, and then walk for a few minutes, then run, then walk, then run, then walk. I could not run the entire time. But now, after just 7 days, I’m happy to say that I can run almost all of those 20 minutes! I walk maybe about a minute or two at the very beginning of the run. For some reason, I get tired at the very beginning of the run. That seems so odd to me. (To those runners out there, is this unusual? I sort of get into a groove after about 5 to 7 minutes into it, and then I feel like I could almost run forever, even though my heart is pounding and I’m sweating and breathing hard…I don’t really feel like stopping. But those first 5 to 7 minutes…I feel like I’m dying! and need to stop frequently. I really have to push through those first few minutes. I feel like quitting only in those first 5 to 7 minutes. Is this happening just because I’m new at this? or is that the way it is for everyone, no matter how long you’ve been running? I remember back in high school when I swam on the swim team, it was the opposite feeling for me. I got tired only after I’d been swimming for a long time, not at the beginning of a swim.)
Okay, so back to the weight loss: How did I come up with 25 lbs as being my target weight loss? Looking at me, it might not seem that I would need to lose that much. But when you are tall, the extra weight has more room to stretch out. It has a way of hiding. We tall people are lucky that way, for appearances sake. But believe me, that extra weight is there. I can see it, and more importantly I can feel the effects of it. I don’t like it. I would be healthier and have much more energy if I could lose 25 lbs. That would put me at just the right weight for my height. I know this because I’ve checked:
5′ 09″: 130-140 (small frame) 136-151 (medium frame) 145-164 (large frame)
I am 5’9″ tall…and my frame is somewhere between small and medium. But yet my current weight falls in the “large frame” catagory, and so that needs to change.
Two weeks ago I was at 165. Today, I’m at 162. So I’m pretty happy that what I’m doing is apparently working. It’s not much of a loss, but it motivates me to keep doing what I’m doing. I’ve only been running for 7 days, but I started eating better and cutting back on sweets two weeks ago after I made my decision to lose the weight. I realize it took me many months to put on this weight, and it’s going to take time for it to come off. I’m not planning any drastic crash diets or anything. Those never work in the long run.
According to the weight chart, I figure I should be at 140 lbs. That is right between the small frame and the medium frame. Perfect weight for me. I look my best when I’m 140-145 lbs. I feel my best at that weight, too. I was that weight before I had Aria, so I’ll get there again. It’s harder this time around, though. My age! I’m blaming my age and the slowing of my metabolism. I used to shed the weight after a pregnancy so easily. Most came off in that first month just from the breastfeeing. But it’s true about what they say once you hit your 40’s — your metabolism slows. I thought it would never happen to me! But it has! Darn!
So my goal is 140. I’ll be excited when I reach 145. But 140 is what I’m aiming for.
I asked my friend Su for advice on how to shed the weight. Su has 5 kids and is expecting her 6th in November, and she is just about the fittest person that I know. I admire her so much! She doesn’t diet, she just lives healthy, eats healthy, and exercises. I love Su, and here is what she suggested for me:
…..as for working out, pilates is the fastest quickest way to get a lean body. Get a video, and do some type of cardio for 20 min everyday, followed by pilates. 20 min cardio is all you need. But muscle is what burns calories for you all day long. Pilates creates natural muscle tone. No bulk. Its easy on your body and you see the results. Running is tough, but you will melt off the extra fat very quickly if you get into a 20 min running routine daily…..
So this is why I started running each day. I still need to incorporate the Pilates into my daily routine. I have a DVD here somewhere (probably in my garage!) and once I start doing that in addition to the running, I’m hopeful that the pounds will start to come off quicker.
In addition to the running that I’ve been doing, I have also been very careful about what I’m eating. That’s much harder for me, actually. I have a serious sweet tooth and not much will power when it comes to resisting ice cream, cake, candy, etc. So I struggle with that. But these last two weeks since I’ve decided I’m going to lose 25 pounds, I’ve done amazingly well with the food I choose to put in my mouth. I’ve been doing my best to follow what my friend Su says about eating:
“About detoxing….I did it 4 months in a row [one week out of every month]. It changed my metabolism completely and I was probably the healthiest I had ever been. One time does not do it. It starts the process, but your colon needs major cleaning. We have no idea how many toxins we actually take in. My second suggestion is to eat all day long. Little bits of something every 30 min. or hour. Veggies if possible. Celery, cucumbers, cooked broccoli, fruit, almonds, piece of lunch meat, string cheese, non fat cottage cheese, etc…when you crave something yummy, eat fat free sugar free chocolate pudding with fat free cool whip and strawberries. Just some ideas, but your metabolism needs a jump start again.”
I included what she says about detoxing because that is key when you are trying to lose weight. You need to do that first. (I mentioned detoxing in one of my posts a few weeks ago.) I am going to do another 7-day detox starting this Sunday. Both Su and I do the Arbonne 7-Day Detox. I am partial to Arbonne’s products because I’ve been a consultant since 2006, and I really trust their products. They are a Vegan-certified health and wellness company that has been around for over 30 years. I aslo use their anti-aging skin care – that is what first hooked me (the stuff works! I don’t look a day over 20, right? haha) Anyway, there are other detox products out there, and I’m sure some really good ones, but I can’t vouch for them because I have never used them. But I do suggest before you start a weight loss plan that you first detox. It should be the first step. Detoxification mostly involves blood cleansing by way of eliminating impurities from the blood in the liver, through kidneys, lungs, intestines, lymph and skin. When your energy levels are very low, it is time to detox your body.
Okay, so now that I’ve shared my weight loss plan and put my weight out there for everyone to know, I will give an update every now and then to let you all know how I’m doing!
Wish me luck!
Oh, one last thing: the BEST part about the running is that Audriana and I can do this together! She has been looking for a way to exercise. Because of her disability, she is limited on what activities she can use for rigorous exercising. She can do almost anything a little bit, but not well enough to exercise. (for example, she can swim, but cannot use the right half of her body to actually do strokes in order to do laps for exercise. She can hit the ball for tennis, but cannot run quickly to return the ball if it is not hit directly to her. She can ride her 3-wheel bike, but not fast enough to work up a sweat…things like that.) But…she can JOG perfectly well! She walks with a limp…but when she jogs she has no limp! And she can keep up with me, or rather I can keep up with her! And so this has been great for us. It’s something that is just ours, you know, and it’s special. We both look forward to our runs everyday.
I really like running. It clears my head, and it feels good. They say once you do something every day for 40 days it becomes a habit. Is that true? I’ve never tested it. I want running to be my daily habit. I hear people say it’s addicting, like you start to crave it everyday. I am not to that point yet. I don’t crave it. It’s hard work! (believe me, if you could burn calories by sitting at the computer all day or lying on the couch reading a good book, those would be my choice of weight loss activities before running would be!) But even though at this point I don’t actually crave the running, I do enjoy it once I’m out there, and I feel super good once I’m done with my 20 minutes. And that’s reason enough to make me want to do it the next day, too!
Awesome that you are getting out there to run/jog!
I am on the journey to losing 40 pounds. Thus far I have lost 10. I guess it’s been a few months since I decided to lose the weight. And yep…I jog/run. I started with the walk/jog. I do a 2 mile jog around my neighborhood (4 laps) and this currently takes me about 25-30 minutes (depending on how tired I feel). I usually do my runs in the morning due to the hot florida weather. I jog right at sunrise.
I dread the first 5 minutes and I walk it first, but then I can jog almost the whole rest of the way. I’m hoping to increase in mileage but will stick with my 30 minute time.
I am going to have to look into pilates. I definitely need some muscle tone after birthing my 8…
I am so excited I have a virtual “jogging” buddy. ha ha
Chris xoxo
I know all about the pubic bone thing and the “feared trot”! I’m able to ride again and it feels just wonderful.
Great job deciding to lose weight. I’m trying to lose five pounds and it has been heck on earth. I am so used to eating whatever I want because of nursing. My habits are horrible. I can’t exercise because of hubby’s schedule and the little ones, but I can control what I put in my mouth. Some days it is so hard.
good job Trina!!! that is exactly how I started (run, walk, run, walk) until I could run for 30 minutes straight! I remember how excited I was that I didn’t have to stop once for 30 minutes.
yes, it’s still like that for me, the beginnings are so sluggish and i want to stop, but then i get going in the middle of the run and by the end, i don’t want to stop.
try listening to some motivating music. since you run with Audriana, try putting the headphone in just one year so you can still chat with her. music helps me get going in the beginning.
let me know how you feel about pilates. i’m so unflexible that i’ve never tried it. i’ve done yoga and i’ve never been so sore before but i feel so retarded in there because of how unflexible i am.
my new eating habit is “no more sh*t food”, no more fried anything, no more doughnuts, no more crap. a cupcake here and there is fine but it’s all the fried stuff and drive thru food that i’m trying not to eat anymore.
keep us updated!!