Tuesday, September 13, 2016

What Do Wednesday: Routine

I might have touched on this before, but I know I have a few new readers and I actually love talking about this subject.

If you know me in real life, you know I live by my planner and routine and thrive on scheduling everything to a T. 

My Favorite holiday week besides Christmas
I hate it when people make me late, I do the same thing every day, almost every week and I DESPISE when people expect to me drop everything and come do X with them unless its scheduled out in advance and then get pissed when I say no. Most of my friends are aware of this now and plan accordingly, bless them. Yes, I am one of those people. I even have B’s rides scheduled out for about a month at a time.



My world changed when I took my new job back in May because I had been  working until 9PM 2 nights a week and then coming right back the next morning at 7AM, all while trying to Crossfit, spend time with SO, ride and do grad school work…AKA no sleep for me. It was horrible and I was miserable, even boarding at a barn with an indoor and lights.

Now, I am able to juggle my life a bit easier (thank the lort I don’t have human child) due to my incredibly flexible work schedule and badass bosses. They made it super easy on me and I can work from home if I want to, or come in extra early and leave early—it’s the best for pony time, gym time, sleepy time and homework time.

pony time always best
Normally my days look like this during the work-week:

5:30-wake up, eat my eggs, drink my coffee, get ready for work
6:15-leave the house
6:45-arrive at work
10AM-eat my oatmeal and almonds, drink second cup of coffee
11:45-run for 20 minutes outside
noon-12:30-ROMWOD (Crossfit yoga) & slam lunch
3PM-Drink my protein shake and eat my snack
4-leave work
4:30-Crossfit
5:30-leave gym for barn
6PM-8PM-BARN TIME
8:30-get home, pack lunch for next day, eat dinner, shower, etc
9:15-get in bed
until 10:30 sometimes 11, doing HW then I try to fall asleep

Sometimes I also might interchange a 5AM wake-up for Crossfit and THEN go to work around 7:30 AM, and get off at 6, and then go ride, but most days look like above.

& That is my day. Almost every. Single. Day. Weekends are for extended pony time, house chores and friend time. Usually though I am a work/gym/riding hermit and NEVER go out/stray from that routine. Having been an insomniac for years, having a set bedtime has helped, with the addition of whole body Cryotherapy. (Legit shit, btw.)

-178* baby
Pony time is needed, and even if I don’t ride I go to cuddle the boys, clean tack or watch lessons. My mental needs it. Gym time too, especially now that I’m almost fully healed, I enjoy feeling strong and fit again. So Crossfit (or at least a run or ROMWOD) is also needed.

lift heavy shit
Sundays are generally meal prep days and even though I swayed from that tradition for a few weeks, I am about to get back into it a bit more.

Equestrian at Hart and If The Saddle Fits posts recently inspired me to finish writing this draft that has been chilling for weeks, so I won’t feel offended if not many of you answer, but scheduling and routine mean a lot to me (obvs) and meal prep is part of it. I joked in my comment on ITSF blog that I’ve eaten the same thing for breakfast everyday…but I’m being serious. I count my macros and I figured out what worked and I pretty much stick with that. I also generally eat the same thing for lunch/dinner each week and just change it up week to week. This week is standard for me; lots of chicken boobs and veggies.

For noshing this week I’m diving into:
Breakfast-  strawberry overnight oats; 1 cup strawberries, 1/3 oats, 1/3 cup almond milk, 3 eggs+ 1 oz shredded cheddar and 9 almonds
Lunch- 5oz. Strip steak, cut into chunks, 4 cups lettuce/spinach, 2-3TBSP salad dressing with half an avocado
Dinner- 4-5oz chicken, 3 cups green beans, 1 cup of rice
Snack- 3oz tuna, 1/2 TBSP mayo, cup of applesauce
Shake: Beverly Hills UMP Protein
--sometimes if I’m short on macros or PMSing something fierce I’ll have Cheez-It grooves as a late night sinful snack
**also a shitload of water, nearly a gallon/day


Prepping ahead of time saves so much time later in the week so that I CAN do all my homework, workout, work my day job AND sleep a full 7ish hours and most importantly, RIDE! I consider food-prep the most critical factor in my overall well-being actually. Good nutrition is key!

The point of all this is to ask what you all do special do squeeze in that riding time! I used to hardly ride at all or would try and get it in early early morning right after 6AM crossfit, before work at 10AM. UGH, awful. I love my job now.


So, dear readers, what do YOU do to streamline your lives so that you get all your pony time? Do you not get much pony time :( ? Is there a certain time a day you always ride, or do you squeeze it in when you can? Tell me your secrets!

24 comments:

  1. I feel like if you want horses in your life while in Grad School you have to make your life more efficient/streamlined etc. Meal Planning became huge for me because otherwise there was just no goddamn time.

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    1. Exactly, I got in to a terrible habit of eating out for lunch everyday for a few weeks while laid up with my back...did not help in the LB department

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  2. Stay at home mom with a farm to take care of, so totally different circumstances. Theoretically I have lots of time for everything but between farm maintenance, kids, and kid activities(huge chunk of time and money!) and general household stuff, things can get away from me. Kid stuff comes first, then riding and working out, then maintenance of everything. My farm and house are sloppier than I would like but kids are good and I ride or work out every day and sometimes both. Meal planning helps a ton and we tend to go through the same meals on a 2 week or so rotation. I keep a master calendar with kids, husband's work, and any other commitments and riding comes next. Also, as the kids have gotten older, they mow and do house work/laundry and that helps tremendously on busy weekends.

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    1. For real though, stay at home moms are always underrated. Don't discount your worth there! Running a family is rough and I know I am not ready for that responsibility yet! Master calendars are LIFE < 3

      I was a slave child once too, so I feel that. Work those kids! haha

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  3. I have to say that the biggest difference I have when I am riding versus when I am not riding is sleep! In order to make time to ride I would just sleep less, like a few hours less a night. I can say that I notice a difference between getting 5-6 hours and now getting about 8 and that is less migraines. I used to get a few a week and now I get maybe 2 a month. I did the whole work/horse/grad school thing myself and the best part about your life when you are done is that everything seems easy after that!

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    1. Oh my goodness yes! Establishing a good sleep pattern was the hardest thing ever for me, since I am legit an insomniac. Meds didn't get me restful sleep. Now that I have it figured out, it really is key along with nutrition!

      I can't wait to be done omg

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  4. That is an intense schedule, sounds like it gets the job done though. I am working on being more of a morning person... :)

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    1. Morning are hard! "luckily" my mom was a Colonel so we were up before the sun at a young age and I think its just ingrained in my system. Latest ever sleep is 9AM on weekends and even then I feel like i've wasted half my day!

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  5. I work three 13 hour night shifts (sat, sun, mon), am taking one class mwf 9-9:50, and other than that taking care of my lame horse on small pen rest and handwalking/riding at a walk take up all my time. Once I get my application to vet school submitted (I have 15 more days) I will have a little more time to relax. I need to start prepping meals because at the moment I eat in my car a lot (I live an hour from my job so think of it more like a 15 hour shift).
    I do pretty much the same thing every day minus the actually writing out of a schedule. And I have a tendency to say yes to things I should not say yes to (most recently, working 70 hours a week. Should have said no). A written schedule would likely help.

    I'm considering the idea of boarding the lame horse. Buying hay/feed/chores/walking him are eating up every last bit of my time. Including time I should spend studying.

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    1. I think I died reading this comment. Like actually shriveled up and died of exhaustion. HOW do you do this?? An hour commute?? 13 hour work day?? GAH. I would die. PLUS not boarding...you are my hero.

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    2. The sucky thing is I also live an hour from school. Because it's a senior level course I couldn't take it at the community college :(

      I do a fantastic job of pretending I'm handling things fine but truthfully I just sleep 12+ hours a day on my days off to counteract the dying I do on my work nights.

      The good news is I jogged the lame warmblood a couple days ago and he looks good. He is almost sound.

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  6. I've got 3 human monsters. I'm lucky to keep everyone clean, fed and where they're supposed to be within a reasonable amount of time 😲 it I tried to schedule everything my kids would probably laugh in my face and use the calendar as toilet paper 😥

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    1. Human monsters are a world I don't want to get in to for a while- I respect you horse ridin' momma's!!

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  7. I made more time for riding by moving cities and changing my life pretty significantly.
    I honestly don't know how people fight in as much as you obviously do. I tried doing it and it made me f**king miserable. Now I actually get enough sleep (I need my regular 8 hours a night) and I am riding heaps more.

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    1. *fit in... although fight in seems kind of appropriate lol

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    2. Sleep is key too! Sometimes making drastic changes is worth it too. I was TERRIFIED to change jobs, but it turned out for the better!

      The only way I can make it work is to schedule schedule schedule. I am never late and I stick to that schedule. Off by a half hour and the rest of my day is screwed.

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  8. I have to ask....you put eggs and cheddar into your oatmeal? Or...is that separate?

    I too live by my planner and calendar, so I can relate to pretty much this entire post!

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    1. haha!! Its separate. Though I did try it ONCE when someone suggested it and it was disgusting. The cheddar goes in my eggs, and the oatmeal is eaten separate at a later time

      Planners are my life. I love planner.

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  9. I feel like I have no right to say I'm busy now. Your life is impressive, and I would totally end up in the fetal position crying. Also I'm jealous your muscles can go from gym to horses and still function because I would legitimately die.

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  10. Summer is awesome because I can ride after work. Winter sucks because riding involves getting up early and I tend to just decide to sleep in instead.

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  11. Pet-sitting life surprisingly is not very pony-life friendly... But it's something to work towards. Next step is meal prepping... Definitely would help just a little bit!

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  12. Oh my god this is beautiful. I've tried so hard but I haven't been able to successfully commit to a schedule like this yet (esp with eating). You are a fantastic inspiration though!

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  13. Changing jobs to work from home was the best thing I ever did to ensure I fit everything into my day!

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  14. Okay as usual your schedule makes mine look like a cakewalk haha. I'm an insomniac too so a sleep schedule is extremely important. I'm very disorganized and have horrible time management skills so I would legit starve if my husband didn't cook............ it's a system that works for us. He cooks and I clean lol.

    My schedule during the work week (Mon-Fri) is.

    6:30 - alarm goes off, hit snooze.
    7:00 - Usually still hitting snooze, but on the days I have to go into work early I am up getting ready for work.
    7:15 - If I hit snooze I'm up and scrambling to get ready for work or on early days I'm leaving.
    7:30 - On early days I'm at work and clocked in.
    7:45 - One normal days I leave.
    8:00 - On normal days I'm at work and clocked in.
    9:00 - Whoever heard of a nine am break???? I've only been at work an hour???? Since they are scheduled and we don't have a choice I eat my breakfast (can't eat it before work because of meds I have to take on an empty stomach) and bathroom break.
    11:00 - Lunch and bathroom break.
    2:00 - Afternoon break and snack.
    5:00 - When I'm supposed to be getting off work.
    5:30 - When I actually sometimes get off work.
    5:45 - When I usually get off work.
    6:00 - Driving home or at home.
    6:00 to 7:00 - Taking care of animals, take a shower, do chores.
    7:00 - Eat supper.
    7:00 to 9:00 - Free time to do what I want, try to wind down, read a lot so I can go to sleep.
    9:00 to 10:00 - try to fall asleep sometime in here.

    Wow I just realized how much I sleep........ I need a lot of sleep though. Without sleep I'm a horrible, cranky, headachey person lol.

    So when my horse isn't lame and I'm actually riding I ride at six when I get home and then just eat supper later and go to bed around ten and hope I fall asleep before eleven.

    Nowhere near as crazy as your schedule. What gets me is having to play catch up on house cleaning on the weekends because I just don't have time and then feeling like I'm missing out on so much of my free time... I really need better time management skills. Maybe I should plan everything out?

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