An article from my Vitacost.com Daily Health News discussing the benefits of exercise as opposed to no exercise in a weight loss program recommends hiring a wellness coach to help you get fit, lose weight, and find what keeps you motivated!

- CLM

Hi Everyone,

First, allow me to apologize for being scarce on the blog these past few weeks. There have been a lot of things going on in my life that just haven’t left time for writing.

Alf in his outerwear during the cold snap

The cold weather this winter has been very hard on my horse Alf. He’s my boy, born and raised here at my farm, and was my riding, driving, show, and trail horse for many years until his official retirement two years ago. He has Cushings disease and is severely Insulin Resistant, but that is being treated quite nicely with Pergolide and a low-carb diet. Two years ago, he was diagnosed by ultrasound with DSLD/ESPA, a degenerative connective tissue disease. He has been stable on Dr. Kellon’s experimental protocol, but the cold (extra cold far earlier than normal) is wreaking havoc with him and he’s been having enough pain to go off his feed. The scariest time was when the farrier was trying to trim his hinds and Alf collapsed to the ground in a heap. He got right back up and we proceeded to trim him, but it was quite a shock to all of us, I think. He’s doing better now, but it has been a couple of weeks of adjustments to his meds and supplements — and, of course, some diligent work with Spirit — to get him there. As you can imagine, my free time has been consumed with making him comfortable and happy again.

For more information about the insideous disease commonly known as DSLD, go here: DSLD Website. The good people on this site are working to make everyone aware of DSLD and its ravages.

My friend’s Percheron had been going downhill as well, and recently had a bladder stone the size of a softball broken up and removed in a surgery that unexpectedly ended up taking about 5 hours. The horse is doing quite well at this writing, and I must attribute much of that not only to good surgical and post-op care, but also to intervention from Spirit. Shamanic healing can really enhance the results of conventional medicine. I smile quietly to myself when I hear that everyone is impressed with his rate of healing, especially when the odds were not in his favor to begin with, for I am keenly aware of the effort that the spirits contributed on his behalf from the Otherworld. I honor and acknowledge their gift of healing energy. I know my friend, the horse’s owner, is very grateful!

As far as my new healthier lifestyle goes, I am still plugging away. I have my good days and my not-so-good days, but overall, I am making headway. It’s all about discipline. Discipline is something I learned in Aikido, something that is actually very good for a person, especially when that person is trying to make changes. I know the word brings punishment to mind, but discipline is so much more than that. Discipline can be “training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character.” It can also be defined as “self-control.” These are the concepts that should come to mind when I refer to discipline. When we assert our discipline, we assert self-control and training which ultimately leads to perfection of our character. It is the manner with which we improve our Selves and our lives.

I had a friend and mentor from my Aikido days who imposed a “discipline” on himself every New Year. Since one of his favorite indulgences usually had something to do with sweets, he would impose a no-sweets discipline on himself until Easter. And he never broke that discipline, for as long as I knew him, in spite of many temptations. I admired his strength of purpose, and sought to emulate it in my own way.

So today I am thinking of my journey to fitness as a discipline much like the one followed by my Aikido friend. It’s just something I do.

Be Well,
CLM

PS – I am working on starting an e-newsletter, with informative articles, helpful coaching suggestions, and interviews with the movers and shakers of the equine world. If you would like to be privy to this publication, sign up to receive it on the bottom of the “Contact Us” page on the Black Horse Website.

Happy New Year, readers! The year 2010 is going to be a fantastic year. By now we’ve all made (or at least considered) our resolutions. We are going to slim down and tone up, ride our horses a lot more, take up Yoga, make more money…

Of course we will. I admire your enthusiasm! But we have to have a plan — a plan for when the enthusiasm wanes. We have to have a long-term plan, and then devise short term plans that will move us toward accomplishing that major goal. We have to chop it all up into itty-bitty peices that are easy to swallow. This is the area where most people fail. I hate to use that word, because what we currently recognize as “failure” is really is just another opportunity to learn how to do it right. A friend once told me, watch a baby learning to walk. Do they stand right up and walk immediately? Of course not. They try and try and try again, falling on their padded bottoms quite frequently (usually in good humor). But each time, they do something a little differently, so that soon they have it figured out. After a lot of trial and error, in incremental steps, learning a little something new from each failed attempt, they then reach their goal of standing, and then walking without assistance.

When we train our horses, we give them many opportunities to make mistakes. We never expect them to get it perfect the first time. In fact, that’s what training is all about…little steps toward a larger goal. We take them one step at a time. For instance, we never face a horse (or riding student) who has never jumped with a 3 foot jump right off the bat. We begin with ground poles, move to cavalletti, help him learn to gauge distance and timing…you get the idea.

Aikido is similar. In the dojo, the Sensei will show a martial art move to the group of students a couple of times, and then it is up to the students to practice. It may at first seem like a futile exercise to new students, who really have no idea how to accomplish what the Sensei has shown, but eventually you begin to realize that with every bad start, you are learning to make the very small adjustments that will eventually take you on the long, interesting journey from newbie to black belt. We should approach all of our goals this way — the plan, and then the practice.

So back up, sit down and really think about what you want to accomplish this year, and how you will get there. What is one small baby step that you could take this week toward that goal, something at which you can’t fail? What do you need to happen? What do you need to change in order to get there? Who can support you through the changes? Remember that the journey of a lifetime begins with a single step.

Personally, my larger, long-term goal hasn’t changed. But this week I will continue drinking my 48 ounces of water, and begin walking 30 minutes each day. No, no, I must be more realistic. Perhaps I should begin by walking 20 minutes 3 times a week this week. I’m pretty sure that I can’t fail at that.

And that’s how it works!

For those of you hoping to join me on a weight-loss and fitness journey, so that we fit into our breeches and our horses aren’t rolling their eyes at each other when we try to mount, I offer this tip from RealAge:

5 Foods that Boost Weight Loss

Happy New You!
-CLM

This kind of losing is a good thing. It makes me a winner, not a loser.

I lost another pound this week — and I haven’t done anything different except drink more water. I’m up to 32 ounces a day now. It was really easy to transition from 24 to 32 — only half a bottle more than I drank last week. Every little bit adds up! So, I will do my best to get 40 ounces a day this week. That’s only 2 and a half bottles. I can do that.

The weight is going slowly. I started meds for a sluggish thyroid a few months ago. I was doing great, feeling wonderful, with lots of energy that I haven’t had since who-knows-when, for about two weeks — but I was noticing a few heart palpitations and blips along the way, until one day I woke up and knew that the dose I was on was too high for me. I stopped taking it entirely, and my heart episodes stopped within two days. I was then put on half that dose, and now I think it’s not enough. My endocrinologist appointment is in the beginning of February, so we shall see if there is a happy medium.

In the meantime, I will be satisfied with losing a pound a week, because after a few weeks, those single pounds will really amount to something! Yea!

Still looking for those dogs. Prayers for their safe recovery are certainly welcome.

- CLM

I know what you’ve been thinking, and I agree with you. It is a terrible time to try to change my lifestyle in order to lose 50 pounds. Most people don’t embark on a lifestyle change between the last week of November and the first week of January. Too many holiday parties in there. Too much temptation. Too much good stuff to enjoy. Let the feasting begin! We’ll worry about it on January 2nd.

But consider this: there is never really a good time to begin. After the New Year’s Eve bash comes Valentine’s Day…chocolates and romantic, fattening dinners. And then Easter…more chocolate, ham and potatoes or lamb and all the trimmings, good, stick-to-your-ribs (and hips) food. When the weather gets warm, there are pool parties and barbeques, graduations, birthdays… So you see, if I’m going to do this, I have to do it whenever. I have to do it through the holidays, through the pool parties, through Hallowe’en. It’s a lifestyle change, and that means that it has to become my lifestyle.

I quit smoking five years ago just before the holidays. If that wasn’t bad timing, I don’t know what is! But I love a challenge. Go ahead, tell me I can’t do something, and I’ll prove you wrong. “Can’t” isn’t in my vocabulary. (And I’ve already lost 4 pounds.)

However, I’m not going to get too cocky about my small success this past week. In order to continue to be successful (and that’s what it’s all about, continued success), I’ll have to take it one small step at a time. So, this week, I’m going to concentrate on drinking enough water. That’s all. I’m going to try to achieve at least six 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Because drinking 48 ounces of water a day is not a big deal to do, and yet it is such a big deal for my health…it just has to be done.

Why is water so important? Well, besides the obvious hydration issue, sometimes people can’t tell the difference between a hunger pang and thirst. If I keep myself well-hydrated, I not only do good things for my skin and metabolism, I also avoid mistaking thirst for hunger. That in turn will help me eat less.

So, that’s my action plan this week. I will drink 48 ounces of water a day for the next seven days. It will be water, not coffee or tea or milk. Pure, fresh water. And of course, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Now I have to confess something. My black mare, Connie, has an abscess in her left hind. She’s a Percheron that weighs a literal ton. I’ve had Percherons and Percheron Sport Horses all of my adult life, and I’ve never had any problem handling them or keeping up with them. I used to apply hoof black and roll manes on three horses in 20 minutes and never even break a sweat. Yet I found myself out of breath when I finished applying a poultice and wrapping my mare’s foot yesterday – and it shocked me. And it occurs to me that there is never a “bad time” to improve one’s health. In fact, I believe I have decided to restore my physical wellness just in the nick of time!