One Goal Down, Another One to Go!

If you remember from my post last week, I pledged to lose 35 pounds for Horses Plus Humane Society.


I'm proud to say that I've lost 3 pounds this week, thanks, in part to the following sponsors who have supported and motivated me!

Me (had to get the ball rolling :).......$2/pound
Frederic Gutknecht............................$1/pound
Shannon Mazourek.............................$1.50/pound
Vicki Morgan.......................................$1/pound

(And if you'd still like to be a sponsor, it's not too late--just let me know!)

I also went vegan for a week in order to help Horses Plus earn $2011! It was tough, but I learned a lot, including how to make a few yummy and super healthy meals, sans meat, cheese, eggs, or milk.

One of the items I survived on this week was a tortilla (lard-free, of course) with hummus, lettuce, and a splash of balsalmic vinegarette. It was something I just threw together on the fly and it ended up being one of my favorites! I love happy accidents like that. I never would have tried it all together, if I had cheese available. The hummus was a very tasty substitute.

Another feather I get to add to my cap is the completion of one more of my 101 Things in 1001 Days items! I had wanted to go vegetarian for a week, but I blew that away and went full-out vegan.

Now, I'm sure you're asking, "Are you going to stick with it?" Well, today I did have some cheese on my bean tostada I got at lunch, but...that's all I had. I had oatmeal for breakfast and my hummus wrap and a side of spinach for dinner. It definitely helps to go without cheese for a while, because now just the little I had at lunch went a long way.

Of course, my weight loss journey is far from complete. Thirty-two pounds to go, baby. Wish me luck!

Some Quick Shots

Thursday nights are sort of my "me" nights. Any other evening and all weekend long, I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get everything done--taking care of 7 horses, 3 dogs, a cat, and a 3 bedroom/2 bath house on 7 acres while commuting 100 miles a day working 40+ hours a week takes up just a tad bit of my time LOL. I don't have any satellite TV because it would be a total waste, so I've got my digital converter box and my rabbit ears that fortunately pick up the news, which I watch every morning while getting ready for work. If I can't get to sleep and want to watch something I can always turn to my Sex & The City or Will & Grace DVD's....

Anyway, Thursday nights is the one and only TV program I follow/watch--Hell's Kitchen. I'll admit it, I'm in LOVE with Gordon Ramsey LOL! I used to watch his BBC show all the time back when I had cable, so while I don't think Hell's Kitchen is quite as good, it makes a decent substitute.

Anyway, tonight was the finale, and thus the finale of any "me" nights for quite a while, which works out perfectly with the upswing of the "enjoying every minute outside that I can" season :))

My reason for this unneccessarily long introduction is I will really try harder to bring out my REAL camera as I know these are hard to see, but bear with me....GOOD pics soon, I promise! I moved around a couple horses tonight and grabbed these pitiful shots on my camera phone (and still got inside in time to warm up fix up my whole wheat pitas and hummus and settle in for my program):

Here's Paula, as promised. She's grown UP! (Can't really tell in the photo other than she looks a lot sleeker, but trust me--*I'm* the one who's going to have to get ON her! ROFL!!)

Then I caught Empress putting the moves on Paula. The poor girl needs a man so bad ROFL!! I can't help but laugh--I'm giddy with joy that she is not pregnant!!

I had to move Hope over to the yearling girls' pen. The girls won't go graze out on the pasture and I needed to move Paula over by Empress. Hope was so good, though, and didn't chase the girls around during feeding. She's such a pretty mare. I'll miss her when she goes back home.


A few more things to add:

First, my dad will be in town this weekend (yay) so sorry if I drop off the face of the earth shortly. The last time he was out he came up to haul water for me and take me to the doctor because I still couldn't drive, so it's been a while!

Second, I think I'll be saying goodbye to Fabian soon, but not in a sad way--he'll be going to live with a good friend of mine's (Colton's owner's) sister and be used as he's meant to be--roping, barrels, and perhaps shown some--and Truly's baby girl will be coming to live with ME! :)) Truly was such an amazing mare so it means the world to me to have her filly come live with me, plus Fabian is soooooo suited to be a good, working rodeo horse--he's going to LOVE it and I tell you what, these girls take such amazing care of these horses that I'm honored that they've chosen to keep these babies I've bred--these are horses I never, ever have to worry about!

Finally, I found this TERRIFIC website: http://www.fitday.com/ I've manage to stay down to the size I got to a little over a year ago, but I had even lost more weight that I promptly gained back after Layla's death (not caring what you eat is just not good, no matter what's going on in your life--I must keep that in mind!), so now I want to get back on that track and get down to a weight that I can comfortably ride and show at. I thought I was doing ok but this really showed me where my caloric pitfalls were and after just four days I've managed to maintain my calorie balance beautifully and lost 3 pounds! If I can keep this up, I'll be at my best weight in 8 years at the Five-Star! If anyone wants a motivation buddy let me know!

Have a terrific weekend!!