Another weight/height question

Well done on your weight loss progress!

It's a tricky time to do so, over the Christmas period and the cold months where you just want to snuggle up with comfort food.
 
Jenko109 said:
Well done on your weight loss progress!

It's a tricky time to do so, over the Christmas period and the cold months where you just want to snuggle up with comfort food.
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Thankyou!
Yes it has been hard and ultra slow (with a pause around Christmas) but weight HAS shifted 🥳 and I’m hoping should make a difference
 
Are you riding currently? Keep up with the fitness while you're looking. Well done on the weight loss.
My boy is a 13.3 Dales cross (Clydesdale blood) as per my profile pic, and I have very short legs hence me going for a pony I can hop on and off easily, rather than a horse.
I'd look at a draft cross maybe Clydesdale? You might not be able to hop on and off so easily but you wouldn't worry about the weight ratio as much. They've increased in popularity as riding horses now.
 
This is he - I was about 70kg in this pic and he was about 600kg (I've lost a bit of weight since and am now 62kg). He weighed in at 575kg on the bridge last summer at what I would consider his 'best' weight so a bit leaner than he was here, 625kg when he's fat in winter! 🙈

Excuse the saddle, I don't normally do flatwork in his jump saddle as he can only take a 17" and my dressage saddle is much more forgiving of my long thigh bones but it was away being reflocked 🙃
 

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KikiDee said:
This is he - I was about 70kg in this pic and he was about 600kg (I've lost a bit of weight since and am now 62kg). He weighed in at 575kg on the bridge last summer at what I would consider his 'best' weight so a bit leaner than he was here, 625kg when he's fat in winter! 🙈

Excuse the saddle, I don't normally do flatwork in his jump saddle as he can only take a 17" and my dressage saddle is much more forgiving of my long thigh bones but it was away being reflocked 🙃
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He’s lovely. I just want to find a 14 to 15hh if I possibly can. And if I can drop some more weight! It’s a hard struggle.
 
toooldtofalloff said:
Are you riding currently? Keep up with the fitness while you're looking. Well done on the weight loss.
My boy is a 13.3 Dales cross (Clydesdale blood) as per my profile pic, and I have very short legs hence me going for a pony I can hop on and off easily, rather than a horse.
I'd look at a draft cross maybe Clydesdale? You might not be able to hop on and off so easily but you wouldn't worry about the weight ratio as much. They've increased in popularity as riding horses now.
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I had not thought of a draft cross. Like you I have short legs so a wide horse is more tricky for me anyway.
I think riding is designed for thin tall girls.
I love the look of Fell and Dales ponies. There aren’t many around though. Highland ponies too but again not so many especially in England.
I am still riding and going to the gym 4 days a week. It’s a mission and it’s all about getting fitter and stronger and lighter for riding. It’s working but I wish my riding was improving as fast as my strength in the gym! Patience is not my best attribute!
 
Fells are easier to come by than Dales and they are ridiculously strong. A nice fit sound one will carry a huge amount of weight for its size....I'm 70kg and my neighbour's Fell mare, who probably doesn't reach 13hh, will carry me quite cheerfully (she's much faster than my 15hh cob) for steady hacking. She also has plenty of neck, which sounds silly but I have ridden Exmoors who were taller than her but had a disturbingly short neck!

As a caveat, I wouldn't ride her regularly or ask her to do anything other than hacking, and if I was buying one for myself I'd want another couple of inches in height, but my point is that a good Fell will carry an adult.
 

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Crackerz said:
Also depends on saddle type my 13.2hh is in a 17" show saddle and my 14hh in a 17.5" jump saddle, and they are pretty compact types!
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Saddles vary hugely in how much space they take up on the horse's back, and in how much space they have for the rider. Fyldes, for example, come up 1/2"-1" smaller in length for the horse, and lack space for the rider, compared to other English brands. No-one should set their mind on one size of saddle as being perfect for them and their horse, they might even find one that is short enough on the horse, sounds like a decent seat size for the rider but it still comes up too small, especially if the rider is pushed back and feet pushed forwards.
 
I wish you were local to me.

You actually sound like you really know your stuff and it would be comforting to have you fit a saddle that would do more than just fit the horse.
 
OK so I'm gonna do what you asked people NOT to do, and that is mention the "food" & "weight" issue.

As a fitness professional (dance teacher), casting my eye over what (or rather what "NOT" you are eating) I am rather concerned that your weight is not reducing sufficiently, as what you are on is basically a reducing and indeed what amounts to a diabetic diet.

As I am not a qualified dietition, I will not comment further. However, I am going to be absolutely brutal I'm afraid here, and ask you straight out: are you actually drinking alcohol more than you'd like to admit to yourself......... ?? Sorry, but it is very easy to do this. OK, I am trying to be as kind as I can when I say this, but you say you are currently drinking enough wine to add 80 calories per day......... but what concerns me is that you are drinking "every day". May I encourage you to perhaps restrict yourself from drinking alcohol to maybe just weekends?? Alcohol is basically consuming liquid calories, and if you are having it every day, your body is "wanting" it every day, and is responding by producing adipose tissue (fat). By reducing alcohol consumption to weekends only, you would be losing a lot of calorie consumption during the week!

I am rather concerned too that you say your experience of Intermittent Fasting was "to make your hair fall out". If done correctly, and moderately, IF shouldn't be having this effect on anyone, and I'm not quite sure why you had this experience.

The other observation I would make is your exercise regime: you are doing resistance training 3X a week; and riding, yes. But I would encourage you to perhaps consider varying the type of exercise you are doing, to perhaps include some more aerobic exercise such as dance, which would motivate your cardio-vascular system, and include something like cycling as well; cycling is particularly good for horse riders as it uses a lot of the same muscles. You need a balanced mixture of exercise. Variety is the key! Doing one type of exercise all the time (particularly gymwork) can create boredom and sets you up for lack of motivation. Sometimes you need something like dance or team-sports even, which gives a more "creative" outlet. Some of the girls from my yard have got themselves into a weekend walking group; they recently did a charity walk for the local Air Ambulance. I would also add into the mix something like aquarobics if you can find a good class (or swimming); and something like Tai Chi to increase your balance & co-ordination and give some variety. Also I would recommend a Pilates class to help you with your core strength and suppleness, and this should give you some breath-work as well which is vitally important as "exercise" isn't just about getting hot & sweaty, it is also about learning to centre yourself, and to relax. The other thing I would say to you by way of encouragement is that whilst it is easy to be morose about one's personal weight issue, do bear in mind that muscle-mass does weigh more than adipose tissue (fatty deposits) so it is not an uncommon thing for people to actually gain a little weight as they get fitter; this however should be reducing over time as the body percentage of adipose to muscular tissue develops, so if your exercise & diet regime is not helping you to actually lose weight in the longer term - and/or you are not noticing that your clothes are getting smaller! - you may need to re-jig your exercise regime. I hope I am making sense.

I would suggest you go back to your doctor and ask about your thyroxine medication, maybe this needs adjusting and/or an appointment with an Endocrinologist would be appropriate (going back to the IF/hair falling out issue, this might indicate a hormonal/endocrine issue somewhere), so I think you should press for this. I would also suggest you get a route diabetes check as well if this isn't already in place. I would also ask for an appointment with a dietition (if you are not already seeing one) as they may be able to help you further with your diet and give you some support and practical advice.

Re. a possible horse; I think you just need to see what's out there. All I'd say (being short-legged myself!) is that a narrower horse will likely suit you better. Something like a Welsh D, or one of the heavier natives such as Dales/Fell/Highland maybe?

Hope this is helpful; and I'm sorry to have been stern with you, but I do actually admire you for adopting what is essentially a very strict diet, and with a few tweaks to your diet/exercise regime I would have every confidence that you should achieve your desired result. But I do think perhaps your meds need a bit of tweaking as well, and a referral to a dietitician (and maybe Endocrinologist?) would I think help you as well.
 
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I met someone very recently who had been on a very strict CC diet and when she went to the nutritionist who actually helped the most with her weight loss they made her eat more. Again I will always refer to @rebelfit on Facebook, HOW we get to calorie deficit is critical.
 
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