"We Must Rescue Ourselves From Ourselves."

When I die, I want to come back as one of my dogs. I took this picture today, right before I went upstairs to get ready for work. These 3 freeloaders were in the middle of their late morning naps...to be followed by their afternoon naps. They are now enjoying their late evening naps. Must be nice! If I were one of my dogs, I'd also have someone paying very close attention to what I eat and making sure that I don't gain too much weight. I am VERY careful about keeping my dogs at a healthy weight. This is especially important for my basset hounds, Annie and Fred. Because of their long backs, it's dangerous for them to be heavy, because it puts a lot of strain on the back. I read once that the best way to ensure a long life for your dog is to keep him at a healthy weight (I bet the same could be said for humans.) I was totally mortified a few years ago when the vet told me that Annie needed to lose 10 lbs. The only things that she eats are the things I give her, so if she was overweight it meant that I was a bad Mommy, and it was all my fault. I got that weight off of her VERY quickly, and she's never put it back on.

All 3 of my dogs are rescues, and I am a passionate supporter of animal rescue and adoption. I will tell their adoption stories at some point for those who've never heard them, but for now I'll just digress for a minute and say PLEASE NEVER, EVER, EVER buy a dog from a pet store. Those dogs come from puppy mills, where their parents live in TERRIBLE conditions. Just don't do it. There are rescues for EVERY breed, and if you want a show-quality dog, find a reputable breeder.

Ok, off my soap box, but I am going somewhere with this. Right after I adopted my 3rd dog, Marty the Beagle, I got myself a necklace with a charm that has a paw print on it and the saying, "We Must Rescue Ourselves From Ourselves." That, for me, is what the W30 is...strict rules for me to follow so that I will stop bingeing on ice cream and fast food. Whatever your self-destructive behavior is, you are the only person who can stop it. When I lost my 40 lbs on WW, one of the things that made it work and stick (for the most part) this time is that I realized that I 100% could do it. There was no wishing or hoping. I often said that, unless someone was sneaking into my room in the middle of the night and feeding me chocolate while I slept, there was no way this could NOT happen if I wanted it to. That was the other key. I wanted it to. I wasn't doing it because my parents or my doctor or my school nurse said I should. I wasn't doing it to get some boy to like me, or to look pretty at my best friend's wedding. Sure I wanted/want to look good, but this time it was because I just wanted to be happy. I realized that I eat because I choose to. Not because someone said something mean to me when I was a kid, or because I had a bad day at work. Maybe those things are true, but I'm not the only person that these things happened or happen to, and not everyone goes home at night and eats a whole pizza and a pint of Ben and Jerry's. If I do, it's ONLY because I choose to. I can also choose not to. That is huge.

I'm starting to feel some of the magic! It started last night when I caught a glance of myself in the mirror. I was wearing leggings and a t-shirt and thought, "Do I look thinner? I think I look thinner!" Now, it's kind of hard to tell when you're wearing a baggy shirt, but something about how I looked was different, and I liked it. Then this morning I was about to sleep through a Zumba class that I'd promised myself I'd try. I had shut off my alarm and fallen back to sleep but, at 9:31, 1 minute later than I'd planned on getting up to get ready, my eyes flew open, I jumped out of bed, got dressed and went. It was hard, but FUN, and I was surprised that I was able to keep up after being inactive for so long. Finally, on the way to work (my 1st day back after 5 days off), I realized that I was happy...not happy to be going back to work, not happy that it was hot out, not happy that I wasn't thrilled with the pork dish I made last night, but just happy...for no real reason. Now this is the W30 I know and love!

PS-Check the Recipe post for the pork recipe. The sauce is really good, and I think the pork was just a bad cut of meat...I'll try it again, but maybe with shredded chicken, or maybe I'll splurge on organic pork from Whole Foods next time.