Browband - from webbing & Vinyl

This is for all my ribbon and browband customers. Some information to help you make your browbands.
The following instructions and images are for a simple, easy to make browband using webbing and vinyl. My horse has been wearing the same browband for 3 years now, it has been re-covered a couple of times, but the browband is still sound.

What you will need
1" webbing (or narrower for a small pony)
vinyl (cheap flooring type will do)
needle and thread
ruler/tape measure
Stanley knife or similar

METHOD: (See illustrations at bottom)

Cut a length of webbing 13cm longer than actually needed to fit the horse it is intended for.

Fold over each end about 6cm to form the browband loops. Make length adjustments if needed and pin loops in place.

Stitch the loops into place, making sure the loops are big enough for you to thread your bridle strap through. Over stitch at least twice to make sure the loops won't come undone.

Cut a length of vinyl to the width of the webbing. Trim the ends so they fit over your stitches. Sew the vinyl into place, it doesn't need to be too neat as you will be covering the stitches with ribbon and bling. (see illustrations below).

Walla - you are finished - the browband is ready to be decorated however you like!!

Got to get back to basics

How long is it since I posted? several weeks at least. I've been so busy with piano, kids, work that I haven't given myself time.

Well that will change as from tonight. Back to tracking, tracking, tracking and healthy eating. havent gained too much weight over the last few weeks, but certainly need to get back on the wagon before that changes.

Swimming too has suffered, but will get a swim in tomorrow I hope.

And I'll post my food in the morning too. Truly back to basics, that is fruit, vegetables and whole meal.

new week, new start

Well it is more than a week since I last posted. So much has happened in that little week. From an eating and exercise point of view it has been pretty good. Weighed in this morning to a 1.2kg loss, so down to 75.8kg now, less than 2kg from the upper end of my healthy weight range.

Swimming has been really good this last week. Have fitted 4 swims in each of 2km or more, and getting faster and fitter too. Lots of walking as well only painful hip is restricting me from increasing the distance and time taken.

With the colder weather I have been eating soups, especially my favourite - pumpkin soup - . Otherwise my daily food diary is very similar to previous postings. And I have to say they work if I can stick to my plan.

Fruit is changing too, now that summer fruits are over, am enjoying the first navel oranges, and apples.

This week I plan to swim 3 times each increasing speed or distance, including more and longer sprint sessions. With only a few months till the World Games in October I have to seriously start training. Although I do want to be at goal before I really push myself to the limit. I'd like to be maintaining my weight whilst training as hard as possible.

That's about it for now, will post again soon, might even put some photos on the blog.

Difficult week, much to learn!

Well, I haven't posted for a week. The past week has been extremely difficult - I don't know why - if I did I wouldn't have made so many bad choices with food. It was busy, but that hasn't stopped me in the past.

Today I have looked really hard at my goals. I don't think I need to change them - maybe I have to reduce them.

It was weigh in morning and my weight stayed the same, but I do expect my follys of the past week to show up next week. You can't eat whole blocks (not just 1) of chocolate and not have some repercusions. However, it is too late to worry about what is past, and I must move forward.

On an exercise note - I swam twice last week, both good tough workouts the first of 2.1km the second of 2.5km and I will swim thisafternoon too and aim to swim 2.5 again as I've had 2 days off, my body should be relatively fresh.

Walked 4km thismorning - and might stick to the 4km for a while - 5km was taking too long and making it too difficult to deal with children issues, homework, getting to school on time etc!

It is now 5 months until the World Masters Games. I have to up my swimming just slightly from 2 times a week to a more regular 3 times a week.

Todays food plan:

Breaky: 1 crumpet with jam followed later by 1/4 cup natural muesli with 1.5 cups sliced rockmelon and 80g low fat fruit yoghurt (6)

Lunch: 6 rice thins with small spread of philly extra lite spread and vegemite. 1 cob of corn and pumpkin soup. (7)

Dinner: last nights leftovers - delicious beef stew with carrot, onion and mushroom. (recipe later). Mashed potato on side (mashed using skim milk - no butter). (5)

Snacks: apple (1), carrot and cucumber sticks (0), small banana (1).

Always come back on track

Well if I don't all the hard work will be undone. This morning was an eating disaster. Started out well, but soon found myself finishing off a loaf of home made bread (thankfully I left off the butter), but it still equated to 160g of bread (equivalent of about 6 normal slices I think). Then I felt so bad I even got into the cooking chocolate - I haven't eaten chocolate like that for more than 3 months. So that was bad.

Why did I do it? It is so silly, even more silly is to give in and do it again just because I've done it once. Well I won't. Not even tomorrow, starting right now. I will eat my alloted lunch (rice thins and vegemite), I will just have to live with the consequences of thismornings failings on the scales next week.

To get over it and move on - I will win this battle - for once in my life I will get to be a healthy weight, and it will be Before September this year, not the next or the next!

I lost 400 g this week so down to 76.8kg, but next week I don't expect to show a loss after this mornings effort. However if I don't get back on track - all is lost as far as weight loss is concerned. So I forgive myself, I will move on - the rest of my healthy life starts right now!

OK that said and done.

Exercise today - walked 5.2km in a slightly faster time than usual (55 minutes - so I am going faster than 5km/hr - that is good, when I first started a couple of months ago the same walk took 1 hr 10 min. Today is not a swim day, but yesterday I swam - 2km in 45 minutes - so I am swimming faster too.

500m freestyle,
2 x 400m medleys
500m alternate breastroke (easy), freestyle (flat out).
200m cool down (doggy paddle).

I taught Scripture today - the children are just gorgeous and so interested. Unlike us adults they haven't learnt to be so sceptical or complacent, they love to learn about creation and are happy to ask tough questions that involve very thoughtful answers. Today's lesson was the ressurection (can't spell).
Jesus is alive, God has power over death! as the headlines. Most of these children have heard this before, but they still ask relevant questions and want to know more.

Well it's off to work soon, so I'd better save and run.

Too sweet or not to sweet

I've been thinking about this for a while - Whether or not eating sweet foods increases the cravings for sweet foods.

YES IT DOES! - SO how to combat those cravings. Just don't eat the sweet foods? - I don't think it is as easy as that.

Here's how it started. Last time I joined ww to loose weight, I chose to try and combat my hunger by using very low kilojoule/fat/sugar yoghurts etc - this in an effort to increase my calcium intake as well, but it wasn't only restricted to yoghurt, I purchased and ate all sorts of items with manufactured sweeteners included.

I began to loose weight quite well, but by week 3 I was suffering the hugest cravings for anything sweet, chocolate, lollies, biscuits etc. So I turned to using diet labelled snacks. It didn't help, the cravings got worse. I struggled along till I'd lost about 8 kilograms and then gave up.

Soon after this experience I wondered if there was any relationship between the cravings and the use of sweet foods and foods with fake sweeteners.

My opinion is that YES - eating the sweet things whether they contained real (natural sugar), or manufactured sweeteners definitely increases the cravings for sweet things - WHY do I think this.

At the end of January 2009 I went back to ww to loose weight and consciously chose not to use sweeteners of any kind and to drastically reduce my use of sugar (like on cereal), biscuits, jellies, etc.

Now I am getting the fastest and most amazing results I've ever experienced with weight loss. So far I have now lost over 12kg, have had very few "bad" days and even less cravings, mostly I am only hungrey when it is appropriate to be hungry, and when I am hungry I turn to not so sweet snacks like - rice biscuits with vegemite, vegetable sticks (carrot, cucumber, capsicum etc).

I know my head space is in the right place at the moment, but it sure helps if you are not suffering from cravings - in particular cravings for sweet things.

Busy day Wednesday

An exercise rest day yesterday truly paid off, my knees and hips are thanking me. Only managed around 6000 steps on my pedometer. But thismorning managed 5.2km walk on fairly hilly terrain. And felt good afterwards, so that is a bonus, not hobbling around too much.

So later I'll be heading for the pool and will swim between 1.8 and 2km programm thus: but I must do 2 hours piano practice first. The swim is reward for putting my hands into gear and playing as I should.

1. 500m warm up freestyle
2. 200m breastroke
3. 200m backstroke
4. 200m butterfly
5. 200m freestyle
6. 5 x 100m medleys (freesyle, breastroke, backstroke, butterfly) reverse order.
7. 200m cocool down (dog paddle, walking etc).

Food today:

Breaky: 40g natural muesli, 200g rockmelon, 6 strawberries. (4.5)
Lunch: 8 rice thins with meagre spread of Philly extra lite spread and vegemite (my favourite lunch). (4)
Dinner: At my sisters, and I don't know what she is preparing, so I'll leave 10 points for that.
Snacks: carrot sticks (0) apple (1).