IN IT FOR A LIFETIME

 circa 2005

On this day in 2006, feeling terrific after a 50 pound weight loss, I hit "Lifetime" status at Weight Watchers.  It felt terrific!  Here we are 9 years later and I'm close to that mark...only 5 pounds over it.
It was important to me as I lost weight to think of it as a LIFESTYLE change - not a diet - and as I sit here now, I can say that it truly was.  My food choices are most often healthy and I get exercise on a regular basis.

As I made small changes one at a time, I'd ask myself, "Patti, is this something you can continue doing (most days) for the rest of your life?"  If the answer was yes, I made the change.  If not, I didn't.


Thinking back the biggest changes were:

• I cut out soda and replaced it with water.  (Both regular and diet soda. I used to drink a lot of diet soda.)
• I eliminated most processed foods.
• I now eat mostly fruits, veggies, lean meats, low fat/fat free dairy, whole grains.
• I move more.  I didn't used to get much exercise, now the minimum I do is a 30 minute walk.  Many days I run, ride bike, or go to the gym. My goal is 30 minutes/day for MOST days.

My regimen isn't perfect, that's for certain, but I listen to my body and I feel good.

I guess it boils down to what you do MOST days because I'm in this for a lifetime.  

DO YOU LIVE IN THE FRONT ROW OR THE THIRD ROW?

This photo floated around Facebook a year or so ago and yesterday it crossed my feed once again.  I immediately felt like I could identify with the gleeful gals in the front row.  Having fun.  Embracing life.  Up for an adventure.  Filled with joy on the journey.

However I've been pondering the gals in the third row and would like to know their story. They don't look scared.  I'd say they look deep in thought, preoccupied, bored, or even sad. Perhaps one of them just found out heart breaking news. Perhaps they ride every day and it's no longer exciting for them.  Could it be that they are in a meditative mindset?  Do they see something the others have missed? Maybe they laughed so hard on the previous turn that they peed their pants and now they are embarrassed. Without knowing them, we just don't know.
  
Granted, while I would choose to live in the front row and I'm a firm believer in attitude being a choice, I think we've all been in both the front row and the third row at different times in our lives.

I guess it just depends when the snapshot is taken.    

Gesundheit!

Maggie, our 2 year old black lab, is the kind of dog they make movies about.  She's infuriating one minute then cute and funny the next.

Magnolia Rae is a southern girl.  She was born in Alabama on May 13, 2013, the 13th puppy and the runt of the litter.

I think when she was a puppy she developed a complex because of all the people who commented on how large her feet were.  We told her not to worry about what other people say, but we can tell. She's sensitive about her foot size.

Any time we sneeze she is immediately on high alert and comes running to make sure we're okay.  She's sound asleep in the other room and we sneeze?  She's there in a flash.  Playing out on the porch?  Yep, she's there immediately. It has gotten to the point where I sneezed last week while traveling in NYC and I looked around half expecting her to come bounding in to check on me.  I even had this visual in my mind of her leaping and bounding over the map covering the 1020 mile distance in 3.2 seconds and crashing over the skyscrapers to check on me.

She's a hoot.  She's drives us crazy.  She's our Mags and we love her.