Q3 Health and Fitness Goals

I am not going to put a weight loss number on this post, either. BUT, the news I alluded to in my last post is: I signed up for a keto weight loss challenge, which starts on 7/1 and runs for 6 weeks. It's the same concept as a diet bet that one of my favorite keto bloggers runs. People rave about it. She provides menus and grocery lists for 5 weeks plus macros based on some information you provide to her. I seriously need the motivation. If there is money involved (spent and a chance to win plus giveaways!), I tend to stick to plan better. Realistically, I won't count on losing more than 2lbs a week (although she did say someone in her last challenge lost about 62lb!), but when I stick to keto and get into ketosis, the weight does come off quickly, so there is no way to tell for sure! 

So, here are my health and fitness goals for July through September:

• Complete 6 week keto weight loss challenge from 7/1 to 8/12.
• Track inches and pounds lost by completing weekly weigh-ins -- this is for accountability, plus chances to win giveaways!
• Follow meal plans and stick to macros.
• Increase and then maintain water intake.
• Do not fall off the wagon on the weekend!

• Workout at least 4 days a week, plus 1 riding lesson.
• LIIFT4 (not hybrid, didn't care for it) round 3 from 6/25 to 8/23.
• 4-week measurements 7/23.
• 8-week measurements 8/24.

• Work on hip flexibility and stretching at least 3x a week.

• Meal prep as much as possible over the weekend. 
• Plan to double most breakfast recipes and freeze half so I have a stash in case the hubby really likes something, plus less prep in future weeks!
• Prep breakfasts, lunches, and snacks so I can start (and stay) strong each week.
• Prep veggies and sauces for weeknight dinners to save time.

Q2 Goals in Review

Here are the results for my health and fitness goals for April through June!

• Workout at least 4 days a week, plus 1 riding lesson. Success! I had 2 weeks in June where I was traveling or had family visiting and I still worked out 2 of the days before we left and tried to get my steps in while we were gone. I only missed 1 ride because I was able to get a makeup ride for the 2nd one I was supposed to miss due to travel. And I had 1 partial week after one of those trips where I was so emotionally exhausted, I just couldn't even.
• Finish round 2 of LIIFT4 5/2. Round 3 starts on 5/6. Success! I finished round 2 and a few days later, I dove into a hybrid of LIIFT4 and Core de Force, which I don't like quite as much as the pure LIIFT4 program.
• 4-week measurements 4/4. Success! Up 2.5lbs, down 3.25 inches!
• 8-week measurements 5/2. Oops, forgot about this one!
• Need to buy 15 lb dumbbells for round 3! Success!

• 30 day keto reset beginning 4/7. Success. For a few days, anyway.
• 30g of carbs or less per day. Fail.
• MEAL PLAN and MEAL PREP are crucial to success. Success! I can't grocery shop if I don't meal plan.
• Eat out less, but make healthy, keto choices if/when I do. Ordering in is out, as we can only get 2 pizza places delivered to the new house. We did order in a whole lot less, but I don't think we ate out less. Our friends are moving out of state next month and so we've taken every opportunity possible to see them, which usually involves food, and I haven't made good choices.
• I am traveling for work 4/9-4/11, but I can still make keto choices! My choices were not keto, but I was barely on the wagon when I left. And, I didn't gain any weight on the trip, so I call that a win!

• Log food and water daily. Fail. Tedious task that just didn't get done. I knew it was a risk!
• This is especially important to track carb intake! Yup, didn't do this either.

Overall, I think this quarter was a success for everything except my nutrition. And I know what I need to do there, I just need to actually DO it. 

I had a LOT of strength/fitness gains and non-scale victories this quarter. On one of my vacations, we did a difficult hike in the mountains that we had done the year before. Last year, I found myself huffing and puffing the entire trail. This year, I was initially breathing pretty heavy on the way back (uphill, rocky trail), but once my heart rate leveled out, so did my breathing. This is a HUGE fitness win!

I've largely stayed off the scale. I don't like the number and to a point, I just don't want to know. My clothes are fitting better and I'm feeling strong. THAT is what matters. I'm going to have to pay attention to the scale a bit more for at least part of the next quarter -- but I'll get into that more when I post my Q3 goals :)

I'm back!

The last few weeks have been kind of crazy, with 2 trips (one to the mountains for fun and one to visit my in-laws, which was anything but a vacation). I rode my normal lesson on May 28, then was able to get a spot on June 3, since I was no longer traveling, but still on PTO. I missed my lesson on June 9 due to the trip to visit the in-laws, but I rode yesterday and the week and a little off seems to have done me some good.

May 28: This ride was great! I was reasonably straight, G was going exactly where I wanted him to. It seemed like it all of a sudden clicked in my head and my body -- they were finally working together. I even remembered to breathe most of the ride! When T asked if I wanted to try cantering, I was hesitant just because I didn't know how my balance would be! But she told me that I could basically have G on the buckle and hold onto the surcingle with both hands. And obviously, I know him well enough by now to know that if I am off balance or tipping, he's going to slow down or stop. So, I was like, oh, well if I can hold on with both hands, let's do it! Needless to say, it was absolutely fine and I left feeling super confident and also really appreciative of how amazing her horses are. 

June 3: My best friend was still in town after our weekend trip the mountains, so she tagged along. It's been a while since she's seen me ride at all, never mind in a lesson, and even though the lesson was not great (my body was SO tight after sitting in the car so much) -- she was super impressed, not only with T's teaching style and how AWARE she is of every little detail, but she was blown away by the fact that I was riding without a saddle and not falling off! Me too, me too. She cracks me up. Anyway, this lesson was not great simply because my body was not cooperating. It felt like 4 steps backwards from the previous Sunday and was a little disheartening. But T reminded me that it is part of the journey and there were still moments of correctness -- so that is what matters most.

June 16: Yesterday's lesson was fantastic! I spent some time during the week doing some hip stretching exercises. Nothing super crazy, just trying to get my hip flexors to relax and release. It seems to have really helped. 

T asked if I wanted to do saddle or surcingle and if I want to ride G or Skylar. I said, I was debating saddle vs surcingle, too. I think I want to do surcingle. She said, ok, then G it is. Sweet! I'm really starting to like him more and more. I got on, and I felt really straight, although I did feel a bit tipped forward. After I did my 2 laps of walk, T had me halt in front of her and she immediately exclaimed that I looked SO much straighter and G was traveling in 2 even paths in both directions and had even halted straight in front of her. Woot!

She asked what I wanted to work on and I said, maintaining the straightness I'm feeling and maybe finding my seat bones because I feel tipped forward a little. So, she had me put each leg (one at a time) over the surcingle handles to find the opposite seat bone and then try to see if I could feel them with both legs around the horse. At the halt I could, so the challenge was to maintain that feeling. From there, we did a bunch of serpentines at the walk, starting with 2 loops from A-X-C and C-X-A, and then we did 2 loops across the school in various places, like E-X-B, etc. Some were better than others, but as a whole, I felt like I really had steering and breathing at the same time down! 

When she had me pick up a sitting trot, I first adjusted my seat by leaning over his mane and shimmying my legs deeper around him. I felt really secure and didn't have to work as hard as I have been to keep him going. I also didn't grab for the handles in either direction! T did have to remind me to breathe a couple of times, but for the most part, I think I was remembering, since G wasn't breaking gait. There were lots of exclamations and lots of clapping from T. The first time she asked me to do a thigh release from trot to halt, it was prompt and square and she was pumped! 

Our canter work to the right was really solid. G's stride was smooth and confident, he followed my body around the "box" of the arena and I mostly remembered to breathe. But I think I had used up my stamina because the left (which is typically my better direction) was not great. I struggled to keep him going, and started collapsing to the inside, which of course made him break. We finally got around about 1/4 of the arena at a good pace and without collapsing in, and called it a day. She told me I could cool him out on the same serpentines we'd warmed up with while she went to empty the manure spreader. I tried a few serpentines and it just didn't have the same feel because my body was done. So, rather than push it and get frustrated, I dismounted and called it a day. 

After I got G cooled out, I cleaned his stall and gave him fresh water and hay -- I needed the extra therapy after my own crappy week plus it 1 less thing for T to worry about, since she was having an even crappier week.