by jberman
Thrilled to announce that I am part of The Huffington Post Blogger network! Yesterday, two of my articles were published – click here and here. So excited for what is to come. And thank you thank you to Mary and Lisa for the introductions! Please share, tweet, follow, like and spread the love!Social media and PR experts out there? Help! Any chance you want some nutrition counseling in exchange for some pearls of wisdom in helping me out? Email me! (Most of you are not even a little surprised that I am a bit technologically and pop-culture challenged!?!)

All righty…Back to our regularly scheduled program….

Back in the Saddle

A few months ago, I fell off a horse. Yes, I just wrote that. And I am being literal – I have started horseback riding and I literally, fell off the darn horse. I used to ride as a kid and am loving getting back into it. Wow it is fun! But my goodness, it is difficult! I do not remember it being such a workout but am loving every minute, except falling off…

So I have been improving and challenging myself and was doing a drill and my horse went a bit faster than I would have liked and I just fell off. It hurt…badly. Tried to be tough, but my back and hips were in serious pain. Thank goodness nothing too serious, but ouch, it hurt!
So what to do, give up? Do nothing and hope it gets better soon? Nope.
Instead, I did the following to heal smart and fast and keep moving forward:
  • Asked for help. I reached out to my network of health providers and injury specialists to get me feeling better. A mix of getting my bones back in place, muscle work and stabilization and good advice all certainly helped.
  • I kept moving! I went swimming everyday, Pilates and whatever type of exercise I could do that did not cause pain. Doing nothing would have been the worst thing for me, but so often we think that is best.
  • Took it slow, rested and avoided doing anything seriously stupid.
After 3-4 weeks I was back. Phew! Am back in the saddle and riding again and I am having so much fun.We all have setbacks. Whether it be an injury, or a stressful week, or vacation or a life event that gets us off track. That is ok. It happens and will continue to happen.

How we handle those setbacks is crucial to behavior change. Keep moving forward.

Put one foot in front of the other, breathe, believe in yourself and know you will get through this. Eating well and exercise is not always going to be “perfect” and work accordingly to plan. Regardless, take baby steps towards your goal and you will get there.

You got this.