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Monthly Archives: June 2017

On a journey… making changes

This year I have yo-yoed with dieting, fitness, etc. It has been something I know I need to make a real commitment to, but I had not truly done so, until this month. There are a few driving forces behind it, but mainly it was something Erin and I could do together for the first time in our lives. I would say of the two of us, I have always been health and fitness aware in some fashion. I have done several extreme diets (HCG anyone?), as well as through companies to help you lose weight quickly and I have made longer term commitments to programs like Weight Watchers. Of all the crazy things I have tried, Weight Watchers was by far the most successful. The program teaches you that all food has a value. You have “this much” to spend in a day… you decide if that will be on a cupcake and pizza or more, well-balanced meals throughout the day. I think I could have truly reached my goals on this, if I hadn’t gotten hurt exercising. And to take things a step further, even with dealing with an injury (that I thought at the time was much more severe than it turned out to be) if I had kept with things and not let myself “fall of the wagon”, I would have reached my goals. That is something I am keeping in the forefront of my thought process this go-round.

I have always enjoyed going to the gym, but I like to have someone to workout with. Not that you must be side-by-side or holding hands while skipping to the next machine. But more of the camaraderie you build in the journey you are on. Someone to call when your legs hurt so bad that you contemplating if using the restroom is REALLY that important or can you hold it… for another day?!? Or someone to tell you to get off your lazy @ss and get to the gym, “you have goals to reach that will not be attained from the couch!”. Just to have someone to keep you accountable, on track and working towards the same goals.

I have tried for years to get Erin to join the gym with me… but she was not having that nonsense. So, to say I was shocked when she beat me in joining this go-round is a severe understatement. I was so excited to have someone to go to the gym with! Due to our schedules, we only get to work out a few days a week together, but on those days, we make it count. Like yesterday we took our first ever Zumba class.  Erin officially hates me after said class, but we will be back at it tomorrow. It’s truly a love/hate relationship. And we won’t talk about how she felt after leg day. I really enjoy working out with her. I like the fact that we both push each other in areas that the other one of us lacks. We get to the gym to start our program for the day and suddenly two hours has gone by and we are drenched in sweat. It feels good to know each day we have pushed ourselves harder and further than the last.

I will leave it to Erin to share her journey. I am proud of how far she has come on her own. She has made great progress and is not showing any signs of slowing down!

Here’s to you achieving your fitness, weight loss and health goals. We hope to inspire you to be better & stronger in whatever journey you are on.

Stay Fabulous

Kim K.

#fatsisters2fitsisters

Goodbyes are hard

I have not written anything since January. That’s crazy to think this year has flown by so fast. It is also fitting that this would be the driving the force of me putting pen to paper again (OK really fingers to keys but that sounds crazy, lol.)

So I got a call last Friday that I really never thought I would receive. Daddy called to tell me Poco had gotten cast in the stall and he found him when he went out to feed Friday morning. Erin and Pop got him up, gave him a shot a banamine and monitored him. He seemed to be doing pretty well, just recuperating from a bad situation. I told them to keep me updated and to let me know how he progresses. Everything seemed fine… and then it wasn’t.

Jody called me while I was finishing lunch and told me that maybe I should come home in case the vet doesn’t think it’s good. I calmly said OK. I wrapped up what I was doing at work and headed home. I was really in no hurry, because I had this horse in my life for the last 20 years and I guess I assumed he would be here forever. I had a gut feeling this was the end, but I ignored it. Because 20 years is a long time! Every major event in my life has involved this horse in some form. What do you mean that will not continue? That was the hardest part to stomach. Realizing that I would no longer see him, have him rub white hair all over me on my way somewhere or hear him nicker when I walk in the barn.

I was not there more than 5 minutes before we had to euthanize him. I knew as soon as I saw him, the best thing to do was to let him go and not make him suffer a minute longer than he had to. He was an amazing horse that achieved more than anyone ever believed, other than me. I always thought he was something special, even though we only spent $1500 from a hole-in-the-wall auction, he had more heart than most other horses I have climbed on. That heart took us further than I imagined. He took me to my first Congress, my first world show, we were top ten in the Nation for countless years (in 3 different divisions) and he taught me everything I needed to know at the time. He was the perfect step from my Ol’ Faithful mount, Dunny. He was a pain in my butt at times, and the challenge I didn’t realize I needed. But he took me places I had only dreamed of. He wasn’t the best but he competed with the best and at times won. I couldn’t have asked for a more exciting, challenging or memory filled journey than the one we lived. He was honest and he always tried. He had more personality than most people. You never doubted what he was thinking, good or bad. He had a way, even after all these years, he could challenge me to be better. He just had a way of making you work harder than you had before to climb higher than you had before.

 

Jody and Erin made the decision to have him cremated. In all honesty they asked me, but I couldn’t think about anything. Not burying him, cremating him or even where I was. He is the first animal I have ever had cremated, but it only seems fitting for the journey we had.

The memories are what you cling to at a time like this. Sometimes they help and sometime they make your heart ache. I would like to think I have spent more time laughing and smiling about the memories this week than crying, but I am not sure that statement is accurate. Either way I can’t help but think any current or future horses have a big set of shoes to fill.