Spring and Goals

It's March 1st, and while there's still snow on the ground, you can feel that Spring is on its way. The sun is out, birds are singing, and the horses are starting to shed. There's a scent in the air that promises green grass and warmer days coming, and I can't wait.

With the coming of Spring, my thoughts turn to show and riding season. My list of goals in the side bar mostly deals with horses and riding, but I won't be able to accomplish most of them if I don't work on goal number 8: lose weight and get in shape. I'm currently 194 lbs, and at 5'4" that's around 60 lbs more than I should weigh. I also have no endurance and very little muscle tone in my core. This of course is a pain in the neck (and the back, knees, ankles, etc...), so I've decided to start up my work out routine again.



















I'm starting out slow and easy so I don't hurt myself, especially since my back has been twitchy lately. I have a belly dance basic moves exercise DVD that is low impact with lots of stretching and isolations that I'll do every morning in the break between feeding the horses and turning them out. Once I can get through the whole routine without getting winded and overheated, I'll switch to another DVD.

After the morning workout, I'll finish horse chores and clean the barn (muck stalls, sweep cobwebs, scrub and fill water buckets and tanks, etc...), come in and clean the house, and then I get to rest and work in the office for a while

In the afternoon I'll be walking, starting with a short distance at first and working up to walking around the whole block, which is about 4 miles, give or take. I'd like to jog eventually, but I need to either lose weight in my bodice area first (I'm a 38 DD) or invest (and I do mean invest) in a high impact sport bra. It's so hard to find a really good sport bra for big chested women that actually fits well. You certainly can't find them at Wal-Mart.

I'll also be changing my eating habits, much to my roommate's dismay. I'm still researching meal plans, but I want to eat more fruits and veggies, drink more water, cut back on refined sugars, and avoid white flour pastas and breads. It means meal planning and organized grocery shopping, but it needs to be done. I'm planning my veggie garden for this summer, so that should help with the grocery costs and give me more variety.

That's the plan so far. I'll be blogging to track of my progress and to help me stay on course. And I'll try to have actual horse related news and updates as well!