Getting fitter & losing weight to ride - tips & ideas?

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FleabittenT

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*This thread is not intended to be a debate about overweight or underweight people on horses, weight carriers, whether fat/skinny people can/should ride etc etc!*

I would like to be fitter to ride. We did a lot of canter work with my RI at the weekend, I was absolutely knackered afterwards!

So I'm now sitting at my desk, munching on a banana rather than biscuits ;)

For those of us who would like to be a lighter and/or fitter to ride, what do you find works for you? Any tips and ideas? Especially ideas that don't take long or save time, for everyone that juggles work, horses, child care etc.

I cycle to work now, which has helped my stamina and means I've lost a stone or so in weight, but I still have a way to go on the fitness side. And I truly hate gyms!

Any & all suggestions welcome :)
 
Diet wise - the asian diet. Just stick to small portions of fresh veg, meats (lay off the red meats as much as possible), white fish, eggs and very small portions of rice. Lay off the chocolate, dairy products, sugar, breads/pastas, fizzy drinks, coffee, alcohol etc.

Exercise - as much time possible in the saddle, I find you can go to the gym but gym fitness and horse riding fitness are 2 different things as you use different muscles. However, if you cant do this, here is an article http://www.horseridinglesson.co.uk/improving-your-fitness-for-riding.html
 
The gym sucks! :p

Try not to eat portions bigger than your fists and aim for 4 - 6 SMALL healthy meals a day rather than 3 larger meals. Also bare in mind when you are cutting down on fat not to over do the carbs and sugar as a replacement to the fat as these will just turn to fat anyway if you arn't doing cardio to work off the carbs .... all very confusing like! :(

Well done on losing the stone already! :D
 
I recently decided I wanted to lose a stone and I have near enough done it. I actually worked along the same idea as was on a CH4 prpgramme a while back (something about droppng a dress size or something). They restricted themselves to a 1200 kcals a day. I tried this and it did work. It actually wasn't hard at all to be honest, it's just going back to the old traditional method of calorie counting. I ddn't cut out any foods although I have watched my intake of chocolate/cakes and also cheese. I checked packs of pasta etc to see how many calories were in what weight and did weigh my portions to start with.

I don't actually feel i have cut down a lot at all and I still managed to lose weight pretty well (over about 2 months) and I have stayed at the lower weight now. I probably could have done even more had i cut out alcohol totally (I just restricted it to weekends only) and i do want to shift another half a stone so may have to have another go.

I would say aim for 1500 kcals a day to help with the weight loss and, as far as exercise goes, cycling like you are doing already is very good for you and I would also suggest swimming. Both activities don't involve putting any strain on joints and swimming works the whole body. Set yourself a programme for swimming (ie the amiunt of lengths per session and build them up each week). On top of this i would try doing sit ups every night/day (again build up the amount each week). The main point is don't expect quick results. The slower you get there the more likely you are to stay there and, i found the miore weight I lost the more energy i had so this will work in line with increasing your exercise.
 
Pilates classes are good for core strength, something I've found difficult to get back having gone through an illness that meant I lost all fitness and put on weight. I used to enjoy the gym, but find it a real effort to organise myself to go, but they do pilates twice a week and I'm going to try and get to at least one class.
I've lost nearly a stone by doing a bit more exercise (only general pottering at the yard and poo-picking), portion control, giving up alcohol (I seem to have become allergic to it :) )and also eating earlier in the evening. Try not to eat in the 4/5 hours before bed!
 
I did the cabbage soup diet a few weeks ago, it cost me a fortune and was rather yummy. But 4 days in I got so fed up of veg soup I packed it in.

Now following Weight Watchers points programme where you can actually eat rather a lot, just the right type of foods.

For example had 2 scotch pancakes for breakfast, then some cheese snack a jacks and houmous for lunch with some carrot batons. Then salad and fishcakes for tea later.

Also packed in smoking 4 weeks ago. So all in all on the right track. I think very much to do with portion control.
 
TBH, I don't want to loose too much more weight, probably just under another stone. My riding has improved so much as I've lost weight & started to get fitter, definately no co-incidence! It's more about fittening & strengthening for me, so I can hopefully keep improving.

missparis, thanks for the link, will have a read now.

I like the pilates suggestion, apparently there is a class in the arts centre just down the road from my house. Who knew?!

And I think everyone's definately right on the portion control! I find keeping busy in the evenings helps, so I don't sit & scoff sweet things after dinner ;)

NELSON11, congratulations on quitting smoking! Know how hard that is :D
 
you want to make a new friend AND lose weight?

Get a tapeworm!!!! :eek:


JOKE!!!! seriously, please dont anyone be offended by this - it IS a joke! ;)

Mucking out is great for core muscles and fitness, is there anyway you can muck out more than you already do? Are you on a yard or private? If yard and you have time maybe offer to do others stables for them in return for something else and really dig through the beds hard and fast and turn over the banks every day etc... you'll ba amazed how out of breath you can get by changing the rythym of mucking out!!! :)
 
Things that work for me:
Drinking loads of water. Substitute coke or pepsi (whichever type) or any such drinks for pure water. It makes a huge difference. Drink at least 4 pints of water a day, in addition to tea/coffee/whatever. Thirst is very often misinterpreted as hunger. Also, you can fill up a bit with water, and then have smaller food portions.
Train yourself to have tea or coffee without sugar. I'm in the second week of my "tea without sugar" training and have been told it takes 2 weeks. It already tastes alright actually. (and I have the sweetest tooth on the planet, used to have 4 sugars, managed to get it down to 2 previously!)
umm, not combining proteins and complex carbs. It's a bit of a faff to get used to, doing a bed of veggies for a meat sauce etc, but it's worth it.
portion control, and 'mindful eating' - paying attention to taste, texture, etc, not just stuffing it down while reading, watching tv etc. (in the past i've mainlined food while totally distracted, and then looked at the bowl and thought "where's it all gone? What greedy pig ate all that?"... ermmm....)
not having cake, biccies, sweets, choccies in the house. boring, but essential for me. I know not everyone can do that though.
having coping strategies sorted for different situations - e.g. i know what i'm "allowed" at an Indian Restaurant to stay within the boundaries of my 'diet'.
 
I don't like gyms either but over the years have managed to lose about 3 stone (now a size 10 - 12). I would highly recommend yogalates DVDs which can easily be bought on Amazon. They are by a lady called Louise Solomon and I love them! Some of the exercises do build muscle but it builds up good strength for riding and definitely helped me to shift some pounds. She has 'Yogalates for Weight Loss' which is very cheap and excellent in my opinion (I'm sure she's not very everyone!): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yogalates-F...ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1288184945&sr=8-1

As for food, I have a BIG appetite and love food so I'm on a constant battle not to overeat. When I am taking it very seriously I find that having a list of things I shouldn't eat is quite useful. I do think it's generally best to have a bit of everything but sometimes I have needed to be very strict so when I have been tempted, I would refer to my list and remind myself that some things were a no no! I also do not buy chocolate, biscuits, crisps, sweets etc. as that way I can't eat them. :D

I think that making the little changes is often the way to go - no butter on your toast, low-fat cooking spray if you need to fry, grilling meat where possible, skimmed milk etc. Also make sure that you drink plenty of water as sometimes feelings of hunger are actually thirst (or so I've heard). I also used to have a glass of water before my meal, eat half, have another glass of water, eat half of what's left, water etc. This has sometimes helped me not to eat such a ridiculous portion.

Nowadays I try to cook a lot of my meals from scratch as I know exactly what is going into them and can control the ingredients. Then I end up with a wholesome, healthy and yummy meal without being left hungry. :) I would also say to make sure you eat a proper breakfast to start your day well (I usually have a cereal bar, live yoghurt and a smoothie). Btw, congrats on your weight loss. :)

ETA: I've said some of the same things as kerilli in the post above!
 
Tapeworm! Now why didn't I think of that? ;)

Hollywoozle, will have a look at the DVD, thanks. Thanks too Kerilli, little changes like you suggest are fab, guess it doesn't feel like too much of a hardship then! Will resist the sugar in my 3pm coffee...

It's weird, the more I tell myself I'm 'on a diet', the more I eat. Anyone else find this? :confused:
 
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Just a short 10 minute jog (with walks in between), even if it's with the kids or the dog, do it on a daily basis and after a few weeks you'll notice a huge difference both weight and fitness wise and you'll certainly notice it when your riding, specially schooling.

Jogging in the morning first thing is better than evenings, not only that, you get to keep your family fit as well. :)
 
If your not keen on the tapeworm.. Buy a hyper shetland and try and get him to trot not canter? cue lots of jogging til he can't be bothered no more! :p

Seriously thought.. lots of gyms do good deals if you sign up? going to echo what people have said about portions as well.. :)
 
Poo picking gives me the same aches as yoga does - both are excellent. walking to the supermarket with a rucksack, you find a) it is exercise and b) you only buy what you can carry! Get a bike and ride to the yard on the weekend maybe ?
 
Im trying desperately to lose a bit of weight too after a knee injury. Going to the gym alot but it doesnt seem to be shifting! I did notice that when I was riding every day and mucking out both boys in the morning I stayed a size 10-12 and scoffed what I liked! Now I am posted to London they are both in livery and I only get to ride at the weekends (or not seeing as they are both broken for the next few weeks -:(). Weight has subsequently piled on!! So I think ride lots and muck out more is the answer to staying thin!! :)
 
Hi

If its your cardiovascular fitness you want to improve then something that is really good is interval training. It can be done for all levels of fitness. Basically it means doing 20mins of exercise 2-3 times a week and involves doing say 1 min walking followed by say 30secs of jogging/running then another min of walk and increasing as you get fitter. This really worked for me as I started off not being able to run at all and am now running and can run up to 30mins constantly. It has really improved my overall fitness. Riding is difficult to train your body for as the muscles you use are very specific to riding and the fact you have a moving horse underneath you. But general strength training with weights can help, but depends on how much time you have and how commited you can be. Hope this helped.
 
Take up womens rugby. I hate the gym but going for a chat with the girlies isn't so bad. Ours happens between 7 and 9 on wednesdays under floodlight so late enough for small people to be in bed and husbands to be installed on the sofa. We play on Sunday afternoons and women bring their kids to stand on the edge of the pitch with the coach and subs, they even sometimes have a picinic! Its so differant when you have friends around and is a sport where whatever your size your needed somewhere. Actually has changed my whole attitude to my weight now I've been somewhere where you can be fit and not 'skinny'. :D

Or get a havasac for child (depending on age) get a dog (or borrow one) and set off on a long walk!

NB don't do it on the same day as the rugby. lol
 
I heard that the tapeworm is actually used as a way for models to keep thin. Someone who modelled in Germany was staying with us and said that it is quite common there - they swallow a capsule containing a tapeworm egg and it keeps them slim and they can eat lots. Not sure if he was being serious or not - anyone else heard of this?!
 
QR-

This is what worked for me a few years ago when I was seriously overweight and horribly unfit after 4 years of back pain ...

First thing, don't diet, or change your eating habits ... start exercising, walk as much as you can instead of using a car or whatever. I have a step aerobic video (that's not available to buy any more, unless you can find it on eBay) I started doing that, twice a week, and once I was able to do the whole routine without collapsing I built up till I was doing it 5 times a week - I dropped 2 dress sizes without having to diet... once you've started to shape up you can start to introduce changes to your diet, don't buy diet foods - they may have had the fat removed but they have loads of sugar in them! Cook your own food from scratch whenever you can.

Once you have met your target weight you have to keep eating sensibly and exercising, you won't stay that weight if you stop exercising and start eating any old rubbish.

It's perfectly okay to eat the odd takeaway and chocolate!

I maintained my general weight/shape for over a year until I got the flu earlier this year and was bedridden for a month...

YMMV
 
FleabittenT said:
It's weird, the more I tell myself I'm 'on a diet', the more I eat. Anyone else find this? :confused:
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Oh gosh yes, absolutely, and if i'm dieting really hard i feel like i can't think or talk about anything else, soooo boring, so obsessive.
hence the little changes i listed instead of some draconian impossible-to-stick-to regime.

also human nature - forbidden fruit is the sweetest and all that, the moment i think i'm not 'allowed' something i obsess over it. :( :( :(
 
I've recently taken up spinning!

It is a full on, intense class, but I just took it slow the first lesson and went at a speed I could manage.

You get lost in the music and I think its great! Mad, but great!
 
I should have mentioned spinning too - 45 mins it makes you feel sick great for your core you don't get bored and you burn about 500-650 cals

It does make a differance
 
another one for the walk run as that was good for me but have stopped with younger dog refusing to do it any more (he is recovering from elbow displaysia) so its the wii instead!

but when I actually did need to build up my muscles for XC riding and being able to hold myself out of the saddle, I used to go into XC position when doing trot work up the hills. Completely kills the first time but you fitten up very quickly!
 
myhorsefred said:
I've recently taken up spinning!
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For a second there, I thought you meant spinning round & round with your arms out, 'til you get dizzy & fall over, like we used to do as kids :D

amanda1788, thanks a lot for this. I walk the dog before riding in the evenings, usually just around the fields at the yard. So stuck my trainers on last night (with breeches, looking good! ;)) and introduced some jogging. I'm so bloomin' unfit! But hopefully, as you say, this will improve with time. Just gotta keep it up now!

Also making lots of little changes, a la Kerilli :) 'Never eat on two feet' and all that! Hopefully it will all pay off, determined to shift this last stone...

Thanks all for the suggestions, much appreciated :)
 
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Llewelyn said:
I heard that the tapeworm is actually used as a way for models to keep thin. Someone who modelled in Germany was staying with us and said that it is quite common there - they swallow a capsule containing a tapeworm egg and it keeps them slim and they can eat lots. Not sure if he was being serious or not - anyone else heard of this?!
Click to expand...

Eeeeeewwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek:
As amazed by this as i am....it actually doesn't really surprise me!:o It would make perfect sense, just gross!!
 
To lose weight? Swimming World's worked wonders for me: along with my gym work I've lost 2 stone in just over 2 months. Even without the gym and a bit more time, I know I'd get there. I like it because carbs aren't the enemy - I don't know how I'd live without potatoes, rice and pasta.

To be riding fit in terms of not being red and panting after e.g. canter work, any cardiovascular exercise is good - walking, running, rowing, cycling, cross-training... personally I like rowing and running best. Rowing also builds up my 'stop' muscles in my arms and back for when I'm on a strong-in-hand horse, and running is the fastest way of building up my maximum time or intensity spent doing hard exercise.

The muscular strength/endurance/fitness to ride: I'm still working on, and will be gleaning advice from here too! I feel like my hip flexors and groin muscles are my limiting factors and I do a range of weights and yoga to help (weight 3times/week, yoga 2/week). They're still sore for a day or two after riding though - I think more riding's the answer!

Anyhow, with willpower and being open to trying different things to find what works for you, I've no doubts you'll be in the shape you want to be (physically and in terms of fitness) in no time 80)
 
i'm loosely following slimming world as some friends at work are doing it and the chef at work just cooks an extra portion of what they're having for me.

but I've started going to British Military Fitness (www.britmilfit.com) and it's brilliant. I've lost half a stone in about 3 months which might not sound much, but it's made a huge huge difference to my fitness and core strength and I've really changed shape. Even my mother has commented which is a bloomin miracle believe me! ;)

Each session is different, so you don't get bored like at the gym or whatever, and because you're in a group of likeminded people you start to get competitive and work harder. There's 3 groups so if you're not fit you're doing different exercises to those insanely fit people in the top group. I go once a week, OH goes two or three times (but he's a)freakishly fit b)an instructor and c)in the mentally fit group)
 
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