I’ve been wanting to come back for a while, but it seems like things get so busy and overwhelming that I never actually sit down to do it…but today seems like a perfect day. It’s the first of May, there’s a lot going on, a lot has happened, and I don’t want to do my actual work 🙂

Last September I was slowly convincing myself to get weightloss surgery. I was pretty much at my wit’s end – my weight was slowly climbing, I was tipping the scales at 274 lbs, pretty soon I was going to be too fat to ride, I had officially purchased my horse in just the month before, and, I was just out of ideas. I even had an appointment with Dr. Nowzarden, who you may recognize if you’ve ever watched the show My 600 lb. Life. I figured if I was going to do it, go with the best. Anyway, I had labs done in June, and kind of hemmed and hawed, and then went to my local doc in September and asked her “Should I just have the surgery?” And she smiled at me. “Oh girl,” she said, “I got you.” Left the room and came back with a box of Mounjaro. It’s a GLP-1 medication you inject once a week. “Try this,” she said. “It’s working for a lot of people.”

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

I lost 20 lbs that first month, but more importantly, I experienced what it feels like to be fucking NORMAL about food for the first time in my entire life. I used to be so jealous of people who ate tiny bird-like portions…now that’s ME. I STOP EATING. I forget to eat! I get full! I. STOP. EATING.

There will be more about Mounjaro later but for now, I’m down to 226 lbs. which is just incredible. I could not tell you the last time I weighed this little. I wear an extra large shirt!

In late October, Griffy got injured. After a few months of rest, vet visits, and nerve blocks, we found the problem to be his left hind suspensory ligament, which takes 8-12 months to heal. That really sucked. I couldn’t ride for a long time and was really depressed about it. Simultaneously a new bar was being built which meant Griffy was cooped up a lot which made him a crazy horse. We could barely walk down the street without him getting spicy – rearing, jumping, spooking, which made me dread walking him rather than enjoy it. Things are better now – he can be ridden 4x a week at a walk for 15 minutes, which is something. The new barn is done and when he’s not cooped up, he’s back to my normal lazy boy. I also found a barn that accommodates larger riders – it’s an hour away, but at least I can take a lesson a week so I don’t feel like I have NOTHING. And, I got to ride Merlin a few times which is…challenging, but hey, that’s what makes us better.

All right, there’s a lot more to say, but I have shit to do, so I’ll just close by saying I signed up to do a triathlon for some reason….I can’t run, I can’t bike, I’m a good swimmer so that is the shortest part of it of course. I wanted to be able to talk about training for it which is why I’m here now. More to come, and not like 8 months later 🙂