Month: April 2010

Yesterday was day 8.  I was outside from about 9am – 9pm last night, so I didn’t get to write about the day yesterday.  It  was another whirlwind.  I had my usual scrambled eggs and lemon water for breakfast.  I think they are starting to make me a bit sick.  Just the thought of eating eggs this morning makes me want to vomit.  So after the eggs, I headed outside to get Gus ready to go cross-country schooling at Twin Towers.  They are closing the course on Monday, and it is supposed to rain all weekend.  At 9:45am Wade, Gus, and I left the barn and headed to Ann and Jim’s (grandparents) house.  I dropped Wade off, went to the bank, and made it to Twin Towers by 10:30- ish.  In the truck I ate a small handful of carrots and drank the rest of my lemon water.  I headed home after x-c schooling, and grabbed one piece of leftover pizza and a cup of Mt.Dew for lunch.  I ran back outside to ride one more horse before I had to go back to Bellbrook to pick up some grain.  I did stop at the dairy shed in Bellbrook and got a small chocolate (soft serve) ice cream cone.  I even ate the cone.  When I got back home, I loaded up 3 more horses and girls the girls that go with them and went back to Twin Towers for x-c  schooling.  Once the girls finished, it was 6:30pm.  We headed home after a very successful trip.  On the way back to the farm, we stopped at Wendy’s where I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce only, a side salad (no dressing), and an unsweetened iced tea (with sweet and low).  I taught another lesson from 7:30-8:30, and did the last round of hay for the night.  I was inside by 9pm.  I had a handful of trail mix while I sat on the couch for a minute.  I was in bed by 10pm.   2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

OFFICIAL WEIGH-IN……. As of day 8, I have lost 4 pounds on the “non-diet”.

Today is April 28, 2010.  It may seem like a pretty insignificant date to you,  but on this day twenty years ago I had my first date with my husband, Jeff.  It was prom night 1990.  Twenty fantastic years later….. it’s hard to believe.

Okay, enough memory lane……Let’s get down to business.   In one week I have gone from a toast and Mt. Dew for breakfast girl to a scramble eggs and lemon flavored water for breakfast girl.  So today, that is exactly what I had for breakfast.  I went outside at about 10am to start getting my horse ready to go to my lesson.  Because I am gone from 11am-3pm on lesson days, I usually end up stopping at McDonalds for a fruit and yogurt parfait, a plain hamburger, and a large coke—and I mean LARGE.  This morning I threw a baggy of chipped turkey and a snack bag full of carrots into my purse as I ran outside to get Gus ready to go.  I dropped Wade off at my mom’s at 11:00am and stole a bottle of diet snapple tea out of her fridge as I ran out the door.  In the truck on the way to my lesson I ate the turkey and carrots.  The tea lasted the rest of the afternoon.  After my lesson, I picked Wade up at 2:30pm and may have eaten a very, very, small, bite sized, “Taffy-Taffy” (as Wade calls it).  I ended up at home by 3:00pm, just in time to feed horses.  Wade took his nap in the stroller while I lunged Rhyland and finished up some barn chores.  Kate got off the bus and took a riding lesson, and while she was cooling out Celine, I ate 2 pieces of Flying Pizza and drank a MT. Dew.  Once again, my 2 out of 3 rule wins out.  I headed back outside to teach a lesson, mow the grass, and medicate a sick horse.  At 9:00pm I fed the last round of hay and headed inside FINALLY.  I am about to drop over.  I am left to wonder if it is the “non-diet” that’s working or if it’s just that I never seem to be able to sit down enough to eat that’s causing me to lose weight?

This Saturday I will be taking 3 of our riders and their horses to the Dancing Horse Farm in Lebanon, Ohio for a dressage show.  This will be a dressage debut for two of our new combinations—– Elizabeth and McCrae, and Kate and Celine.  Michelle and Oreo will also be competing and are entering their second show season with us here at Wetherbrooke Farm.   We wish them the best of luck as they spend the week practicing their tests.

GO TEAM WETHERBROOKE!

Today has been a really hectic day.  It started early and ended late.  In between those times I ate scrambled eggs (with Pam instead of butter on the pan) and a lemon flavored water.  Wade and I took “Alligator” to the vet’s office and then I taught a lesson and worked out in the barn until it was time to drop Wade off at my in-laws’ house.  After I dropped him off,  my car somehow ended up in the Taco Bell drive thru.   I heard myself ordering a medium (at least it wasn’t a large) Mt. Dew with extra ice.    I went straight home after that to eat my leftover tuna fish on 2 pieces of whole grain bread.  I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening working in the barn, riding my horse, teaching lessons, and giving my new horse, “Rhyland”, his shots.  At about 5pm I ran up to the house to grab a handful of carrots, and I finished off the rest of my watered down Dew—–not a drop can be wasted.  At 7:30pm I finished with my lessons, and headed back to Bellbrook  to retrieve my children.  I was too tired (and in a hurry to get back to watch American Idol) to think about preparing a gourmet meal.  Jeff was at a meeting and wasn’t going to be home for dinner, the kids ate at the grandparents’ house, and I was looking for a quick (which I believe is how I got into this mess to begin with) meal.  I stopped at McDonalds to get a plain cheeseburger (I fed one half of the bun to the starving kids in the back seat) and a soft serve ice cream cone (and I also fed the cone to the starving kids  in the back seat).  I had an un-sweetened iced tea for a drink–which I helped along a little bit with some sugar when I got home.  While I watched American Idol I ate a handful of  mixed nuts.  All in all, I would have to say that I am successful with 2 out of 3 meals per day.  I am not sure that my percentages are going to get much better than that.

Day 5 is on its way to being successful.  I woke up this morning and had 2  pieces of really good toast on whole grain bread and some diet green tea with citrus flavor.  For a snack at about 10am I had some baby carrots and the rest of my tea.  For Lunch I drained some canned tuna fish (canned in water-not oil) and mixed it up with a little bit of miracle whip (just enough to make it wet, but not WHITE) and a ton of celery.  I ate it straight out of the bowl instead of putting it on bread or crackers—which I would normally do.  It was actually quite filling.   I spent the rest of the afternoon out in the barn while Wade took a long nap in his stroller parked nearby.   Tonight I am headed to Lowes to buy some things for our new stalls, and I am going to make my way to Aldi’s for the first time ever.  Because we have a lot of errands to run, we will probably end up eating out for dinner.   It may involve Skyline.  That is probably not good for the diet, but I will have a Southwestern chicken salad with no salsa or sour cream.  I need to do some research on what kind of carbs that one has, but it is probably not too terrible.  I usually eat a ton of the little crackers, so that will be my biggest temptation.  I will get to have a mountain dew—I find it slightly amazing that I haven’t missed it as much as I thought.  The trip to California gave me a little head start on breaking that addiction because every place seemed to serve Coke products.

****As far as the official weigh-in went…..At 8am this morning (after 4 days of the non-diet) I  had lost a little more than 3 pounds.  I felt pretty good about that.   I would love to lose about 15 more!

This morning before Kate went outside to catch the bus, the three of us (Kate, Wade, and myself)  had a discussion about what the two of them would like for their birthdays.   Kate requested the normal Kate stuff.  She has grown about 6 inches in the past year, so besides books and horses, a great deal of her requests involved clothing.  Wade, on the other hand, had his own interesting requests.

For those of you that know my Wade, this list will put a smile on your face.

1.  guitars

2. big squishies

3. dinosaurs

4. dragons

5. metal lunchboxes (because the one he keeps his treasures in is almost full)

6. bendables

7. drums (Kate rolled her eyes and whispered “yeah, just what we need.”)

8.  robots

9.  small squishies

10. race cars

11.  toy schoolbuses

12. office supplies (especially the ones that make holes in stuff)

13. dog treats

14. chewy toys for dogs

15. new toothpaste ( because he’s worried about a shortage?????)

and my very favorite…..

16.  teeth that open and close ( they are red, the teeth are white, and they don’t have a body —and no legs or feet or bottom)

What more could an almost 4 year old ask for ?????

On top of all of the craziness of the last week….between the diet, the traveling, the volunteering at Rolex, and my normal craziness…… I ended up with a new horse.  He is an almost 6 year old bay thoroughbred gelding that I named “Rhyland”.  He is super cute with a white star on his forehead and a white sock on one hind leg.  He is currently in the transition stages from being an “outdoor” horse to becoming a mostly “indoor” horse.  So far,  he is spending a great deal of time outside.   He seems to be pretty quiet and is very balanced on the lunge line.  We are in the  process of buying him some brushes, fitting some tack to him,  and figuring out what all he knows.  Rhyland will be my new “project horse” since I sold McCrae to one of my students.   I’ll put some pics of him on here soon.

On a side note…… We ( I should say Jeff and his dad) finished the second stall in the South Barn.  Only 4 more stalls and a tack room to go!

Today has been a good day for me.  I started the morning out with some scrambled eggs (I used Pam instead of butter to grease the pan) and a vitamin water for breakfast.  My daughter had a friend over to spend the night last night, so after church we took them to Wendy’s for lunch.  I had a grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce only (no condiments), a side salad with no dressing, and a REAL COKE!  I spent the rest of the afternoon outside riding my horse, playing with the kids and dogs, and watching Jeff and  my father in law build some stalls.  I just came inside for a minute to blog about the day, and I grabbed a handful of carrot sticks as a snack.  For dinner I am  going to have taco salad and a bottle of lemon flavored water to drink.

On a side note…..I weighed myself after I had eaten breakfast and drank a vitamin water, so it wasn’t an “official” weigh-in.  With that said, it looks as if I lost 2-3 pounds.  My official weigh-in will occur tomorrow morning at 8am before I have eaten breakfast.  That was the time and conditions I used on the start date.  I will give you the official information in tomorrow’s blog.  I am sure you are all holding your breath!  I will be sucking it in—–does that help ????

Same diet, different day.  Today I woke up in my fancy Motel 6 room wondering what I would be able to scrounge up for breakfast.  Normally when I am at a horse show I go to the nearest McDonalds for a biscuit with strawberry jelly and a coke.  I was feeling like that might not fit into the new regimen.  My husband, trying to be helpful, brought down a box of doughnuts for us to eat this morning.  I called him “Satan with a box”.  He is extremely healthy and fit, so eating a few doughnuts every now and then doesn’t affect him in any way.  I guarantee you that I would have gained 5 pounds by eating just one!  I once again resisted the temptation to cheat, and went to the nearest Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping before we went to watch the cross- country portion of Rolex.  For breakfast I had a piece of whole grain bread,  a cup of pineapple, and a vitamin water.  For lunch (while out on the x-c course) I had a turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with a thin slice of cheese (no condiments) , a banana, and a diet green tea.  They finished x-c early today due to an impending storm, which caused us to eat dinner at the “blue haired” hour of 4:00pm.  I figured if I was going to spoil the diet in any way, I might as well do it at the earliest possible hour.  We ended up back at my new favorite pizza place in Lexington, Fat Catz, and I had 2 slices of sausage pizza, a side salad with no dressing, and a MOUNTAIN DEW.  Once again, the Mountain Dew was spectacular.  It is now 10:00pm, and I am starting to be a little hungry since we ate at 4pm.  I am going to eat a handful of steamed broccoli and call it a night.  All in all I feel good about the new eating style.  It fits my personality, and it has never left me hungry.  Let’s hope it works.  Tomorrow I will check the scales.  They had better be kind.

Okay, so people have started asking me exactly what this non-diet entails.  I don’t know that I’m truly qualified to explain it, seeing as I learned about it all in a few hours in the middle of the night.  From what I remember and understand, it involves eating less carbs, less sugars, more all natural foods, and the time of the day in which you eat things.  Here is a list of things that I believe “Fred” told me in the air.

1.  Don’t drink pop (or limit it to one or less a day)

2. Eat fruits ( due to the sugar) in the morning or early in the day

3. Eat your breads early in the day, and try to eat whole grains

4. Eat proteins and vegetables at dinner (carrots earlier in the day due to sugar)

5. Don’t eat foods where sugars and fats are combined.  They are very tasty, very bad, and very addictive.

6. Try to eat foods that are un-processed or processed as little as possible.

7. Eat several small meals per day.

8. If you know you will eat poorly at some point during the day, eat lighter at another meal.

9. Avoid eating late at night if possible.

10.  Don’t drink pop ( I think he might have mentioned that more that any other point, so I am giving it 2 slots)