This is the fifth part of a series on my wellness journey working with Val from Equestrian Wellness. I will be talking about our calls, homework and my results over this series of articles. Perhaps seeing my journey will help you begin your own journey to paying attention to your own wellness (either with Val, or with another coach). This will be the last installment (at least for a while) as I put our calls on pause.
Two weeks later after that major revelation call and planet earth was a different place with everything locked down. No trips to the barn (except when I was working as staff). No going to the park. No going to work. Shopping became a nightmare. My husband was all of a sudden home full time. Life, habits, and the normal were gone just like that. It’s incredibly hard to make changes when everything in your life is changed and chaotic.
Val and I did have a 5th call…but most of it was to just go over that I’d been maintaining fairly well and told her the shocking results of a 7lb weight loss I didn’t try for (I do not regularly weigh myself and it had been about a month). That hasn’t ever happened in my life. I always have to try if I’m going to lose weight. My body likes being fat. Our 5th call was unfortunately in the middle of chaos…with my husband having a meeting at the same time (we’re stuck in a tiny apartment together) and Derby waking in the middle of it screaming bloody murder, needing attention and having a meltdown about not having 100% of my focus…so honestly I didn’t get as much out of this call and don’t recall any homework…but all that is on me.
However, I wanted to give you all the results of my time working with Val at Equestrian Wellness.
Results:
I feel better. My joints hurt less. My feet aren’t as much of a disaster as they were before. I’m getting stronger due to feeling better and having less pain in my body.
I’m less tired most days (when Derby sleeps).
I’m taking walks every day with Derby (weather pending). I am working out with weights at least once a week. I don’t feel like I’m dying when I try to stand up from the floor while holding a 20 lb baby anymore. I am crawling around on my hand and knees playing without feeling beat up. I am dancing with my daughter for songs in a row without needing a break.
I’ve lost 10 lbs since the start of the year…some of that is due to my eating habits changing, some due to adding in a strength work out once a week, and some is due to inflammation in my body decreasing daily. Weight loss isn’t the goal of this program, but in my case it’s a bonus to get closer to the weight I feel the most healthy and physically capable and it’s reducing the load on my joints, tendons and ligaments stressed from pregnancy.
I understand better what I like to eat and when I should stop eating, though this is going to be an ongoing struggle.
I am enjoying other foods I hadn’t been typically going to because of habit. I have been enjoying the hell out of eating a number of gorgeous veggies and fruits and trying a bunch of new recipes to mix things up and eat more consciously.
I understand better how eating different foods makes me feel and know better what certain cravings are actually trying to tell me.
I have to say I’m extremely impressed with what I was able to accomplish with Val in just a handful of weeks. There have been some major changes in a very short period of time and I know that while some will slip with time without regular maintenance, there are a number that will stick with me for the rest of my life. It’s been an incredible experience of self discovery and realization.
I am looking forward to future calls with Val to work on more improvements for my wellness.
We take such incredible care of our horses, I think we owe it to ourselves to give some of that care to our own health. If you are interested in talking to Val about starting your own wellness journey with Equestrian Wellness, you can hit her up on Instagram or message her through the website.