Rae’s Health Journey

[Rae-ann]

After hitting a new low and spring finally here, I’ve decided it’s time to get back into the swing of things.
But first, a few starting stats about myself.

I’m a 25 year old female and only 5’4
Current weight: 247 lbs
Measurements:
Neck - 14.3
Arm - 14.5
Chest - 49
Hips - 51
Waist -
Thigh - 29.5

I’ve never weighed this much before and I don’t want it to continue on this trend. I have horses and want to do more with them, but it’s hard to do when I keep putting on the weight. I’ve also noticed some not so nice changes.
I can’t get into the saddle as easily as I used to. Clothes fit differently, though most do still fit. I’m out of breath faster (I do have minor asthma and this isn’t helping). Crouching down and getting up is a bit more of a struggle too.

In the past, I’ve done keto and I feel fantastic on it. My sugar cravings also go out the window with it to the point watermelon is almost too sweet for me. And currently, all I want to eat is chocolate. So I think going keto again would be good for me. I’m not going to just jump head first into it, but I’ve already started taking steps to change my eating style. I’m also not going to tell anyone I know about making these changes, as I then don’t end up doing it. Not sure why that is, but it’s something I’ve noticed enough to know not to do it now.

Besides changing eating habits, I also want to start doing exercise to build up my strength and stamina. This will be the hardest part as I’m very much a homebody as soon as I step foot inside my home lol. I’m definitely going to have to push myself to actually get out do things. I did get a puppy last year in the hopes of that spurring me on to get out more, but I live on a farm so she gets tons of exercise on her own that way that she doesn’t need walks lol. So I’m working on finding ways to get myself out and moving.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and reading. I’m hoping to update this semi frequently as a way to keep myself accountable and moving in the right direction.

most recent pic I have of myself

 

[Llama]

Welcome to the forum, Rae-ann. Keto may not be for me but if it's something you can stick with and you're eating your greens I see nothing wrong with it. Best of luck and I look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Cate]

Hi, Rae & welcome to the forum. Keto is not for me either but I know it works. I love my fruit & veg too much to do it. What sort of puppy did you get?
Were you in the forum a few years ago? You look like someone who was. She also loved horses & lived on a farm.

 

[Rae-ann]

Hi, Rae & welcome to the forum. Keto is not for me either but I know it works. I love my fruit & veg too much to do it. What sort of puppy did you get?
Were you in the forum a few years ago? You look like someone who was. She also loved horses & lived on a farm.

She’s an Aussie cross (mostly Aussie tho) and pretty much the almost perfect puppy to get lol. She turns a year old today.

I was. Depending how far back it was, I might have had posts with my mare in them when she was just a baby. But I don’t remember when I was on here the last time lol.

 

[Cate]

I remember you. It's nice to have you back

 

[Llama]

That was you, with the new fole? I do remember! Good to have you back.

 

[Rae-ann]

With the weather having finally turned nice, I’ve been able to get out and work with my horses a few times this last week. I also did some fence repairs. These two things combined have resulted in me moving quite a bit more than I did during the winter. So I’m hoping this will also help towards weight loss.

My eating habits are getting better. I only have two cookies left that my grandma gave me and then that should be all the junk food gone. Now, if I want to snack, it has to be apples or carrots.
This weekend I also want to do a big purge and new organization of my place to help me get in a better mental space to be able to continue these positive changes.

Pic of me from yesterday. Still not happy with how I look, but it’ll be good to be able to have a visual to track any progress made.

 

[Llama]

You look strong and capable, and that's not a bad place to start from at all.

 

[Cate]

You do look strong & capable. It's good to have you back. You have done this before & you can do it again

 

[Rae-ann]

Thanks for the encouraging words


Little update.
Pretty sure I’ve been staying within calorie limit. Haven’t been able to fully track it but close enough that I’ve got a general idea. Plus I’ve been eating healthier foods than before so that should help too.
Went for another ride yesterday along with a little walk to get in some exercise. I was able to track the ride with an app and it also tells me how many calories I would have burnt during it. So that’s pretty handy to have.

I’m also planning to do a weigh in and measurements tomorrow morning to see where I’m at with the week being at an end. Hopefully there’s a little bit of progress, but I also could see it taking a bit longer to see the progress initially.


This is a pic from the app that tracked the ride, plus one of the view I had during the ride.

 

[Cate]

What a beautiful horse & a lovely, sunny day

 

[Llama]

Beautiful picture. Interesting that the app also counts the horse's energy expenditure but does it in joule. How does the horse only burn 550 kcal carrying a human while the human burns 601?!

 

[Rae-ann]

Beautiful picture. Interesting that the app also counts the horse's energy expenditure but does it in joule. How does the horse only burn 550 kcal carrying a human while the human burns 601?!

Horses calories are calculated with their info added to it. Like their weight, tack weight, and the rider weight. As well as what breed they are. Along with how easy/hard their work was. So a lot of things go into it.
They walk a lot each day too, so going for a simple walk ride really isn’t much to them, especially with how short our ride was.

On the other hand, the rider is using muscles they don’t use any other time except when riding so it can cause rider to burn more calories.
If the horses was doing more than walking or had to go up and down hills a lot, and use a larger variety of muscles, then their calorie expenditure would be bigger as well.

Hope that helps explain things a bit.

 

[Rae-ann]

End of week update

This morning I did the the weigh in and measurements. Some progress has been made which is awesome and a lot better than I was expecting.

Weight: 240 lbs

Measurements I’m going to post in a pic at the end since typing stuff up on my phone is challenge with this site for some reason. Some are better than before and others no real change. So I’m glad to see some progress there, even if it isn’t much right now.

I think doing little physical things around the farm and working the horses more has really helped with a good start at it.
That and the fact I’ve been eating a lot better too. So it’s probably balancing itself out there.

Hopefully this trend keeps going and I get back down to 200 pretty soon. That’s my first real goal is to get there. Once I reach that point, then I’m going to go on 10-15 lbs increments for goals since I’ve never really made it below 200 before. And the few times I did, it was only to 195 and then back up to 200.

 

[Cate]

You're off to a great start Rae! I think being more aware of everything you do, but especially being mindful of everything you eat makes such a difference.

 

[Llama]

Hope that helps explain things a bit.

It does, thank you. Nice to see you're starting from a better place than you were expecting. Being generally active and eating at least reasonably well makes such a difference.

 

[Rae-ann]

Did end up having a milkshake and fries today, but made sure to keep it small. Hung out with a friend and she got them for me and so I figured that would be my supper so that if it did bump me over my calories, it wouldn’t be by much.

Also went out to work my horse and my friend came along too. So I worked off some of that food with that. She also took some pics of me and seeing them really makes me cringe. I don’t like how I look and definitely is good motivation for me to keep working towards weight loss. Though I’m also trying to get better fitness too so that I can do more horse related things.

Here are said pictures that made me a bit more self aware of my appearance again.

 

[Llama]

I know that feeling of seeing myself in a picture and wanting to just... disappear or something.
A small milkshake and fries aren't going to kill your progress caloriewise but if you were doing low-carb they will probably push up your water weight for a day or two.

 

[Rae-ann]

I know that feeling of seeing myself in a picture and wanting to just... disappear or something.
A small milkshake and fries aren't going to kill your progress caloriewise but if you were doing low-carb they will probably push up your water weight for a day or two.

There’s quite the surprise in seeing yourself in pictures versus mirrors at home, that’s for sure. But ya, I figured a little treat isn’t the worst thing the world and if I restrict myself too much, then I’ll just be more likely to crash later and binge or something.

 

[Cate]

I do see a kind-looking person in those photos. I'm the same with photos of myself, but I think if we still can see the good person there we can eat better & do something about losing some of the padding. I find it hard to look after myself properly if I am feeling bad about myself.