When I went to feel all the feels, I find a song. It has to be a thinking song. A song that makes me cry. It makes me think. It makes me grateful. A song that makes me feel things. Today was a day like that. 

It started pretty much like any other Saturday. Errands, eating, coffee. I initially planned on working out, but then started studying and I knew I needed to get my butt in gear on this current certification. Assignment #4 was giving me trouble. It wasn’t hard, just time consuming. I knew I just needed to make that a priority today. 

When I study or when I am working at home I always play music. Usually it is the playlist Peaceful Piano on Spotify. Today, I wanted more. Today, I needed more. 

Sometimes when I get stressed out, I don’t feel like I am stressed out and then this is what happens. The music happens. The crying happens. I realize that IS how I relieve my stress. It doesn’t happen too often. Maybe every few months. It just depends on what is going on my life. 

Today was a day like that. Sitting here. Working on my assignment. Listening to “Remember When” by Alan Jackson. On repeat, over and over. Listening to the lyrics. Really listening to that song. Going through life. Going through it. Vowing the vows and walking the walk and giving our hearts. That was us. That was John and me. 

I’m sitting here letting myself feel. Letting myself feel the music. “Remember when, 30 seemed so old. Now looking back, it’s just a stepping stone, to where we are, where we’ve been, said we’d do it all again, remember when?” 

“Remember when, we said when we turned gray, when the children grow up and move away, we won’t be sad, we’ll be glad for all the life we’ve had, and we’ll remember when.” 

So, I’ve been working for hours. Slowing feeling less stressed. Slowing letting it melt away. John walked by and now I grab him and make him slow dance with me. We both feel the music, we both feel our love that has not wavered one time since we first laid eyes on each other in May of 1997. There is no doubt our love was meant to be. The timing. The synchronicity. Every little thing that came before us, every little piece of life we lived before us, every action and reaction that came before us. What if something was different? What if something changed? What if something the night we met didn’t happen? We never would have met. We never would have come together. We never would have found each other. We never would have gotten married. We never would have had Tayler.

I thank God every single day for this life and this man. I am so glad for all the life we’ve had. 

This picture could be taken a number of ways. One could be asking me, “What the hell are you doing? Don’t you know that stuff is crap and is terrible for you?” The other could be wow, she is really enjoying herself and eating what she wants. 

I used to be a food snob. Like really bad. I was super judge-y of how people ate. I couldn’t believe when I would see some people eating fast food or chips or cheetos. It took me some time to quit being a food snob. But now, I am so much more than that. I know that sometimes those foods are what we need to be doing now in order to make progress. I really want people to realize that you can enjoy the foods you love and still lose weight. You really can. I eat a lot of food that people think is bad or not good for me and foods that are not considered “diet” food. I eat cookies, I eat lots of bread. I eat pancakes and waffles. I eat candy sometimes. I also eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and lean meats. I have a really good balance in what I eat. I don’t feel deprived and I rarely feel hungry. 

It has been a little over a year since I started eating macro style, or what I like to call Lifestyle Dieting. This has been such a blessing for me. I was able to lose over 40 pounds and have kept it off.  I have been able to help so many people find their way and navigate their eating and life. This is not a quick fix, but it is the magic pill people are looking for. This is not a magic powder, but it is a magic bullet. If more people would start tracking their food they would realize how much they are overeating. That could start it. That could start the way to weight loss. That could start the way to a healthier life. The awareness of tracking is huge! I don’t say that lightly. It can be life changing. 

So many people say they would never be able to track their food and enter what they eat. I ask those people why not? People complain all the time about being overweight, about not being able to sleep, about being tired all the time and basically about feeling like crap. Well, don’t you think your diet has something to do with that? I mean, seriously, how could it not. 

If you really need to get a handle on your eating, which really means habits and behaviors, try tracking, try coaching. What do you have to lose? The time passes regardless. I say that all the time because it’s true. The time does pass. Pretty soon it’s six months down the road and you wonder why you have gained another 20 pounds. If you had been tracking, you might be saying, I can’t wait to lose another 20 pounds. 

But guess what? It takes some work on your part. It just does. Nothing worth having is easy. You can’t expect to just wing it. You can’t expect to be able to drink and overeat every single weekend and be able to make up for it during the week. You can eat the things you want, just not in the quantities you want. You have to realize that there are consequences to how much we eat. If you’ve read this far, you know there are. We are always looking to make a change. This is a good change to make. This is a good habit to learn. 

Learning about food and portion sizes and actually what foods contain protein, carbs and fats, is a big eye opener for people. So many people just eat. I say eat with purpose. I give you your guideline numbers and you start eating. 

So many people say they can’t. Are you sure it’s because you don’t want to. Because that is what change boils down to. You have to look inside and ask yourself those tough questions. Are you content being where you are or do you want to change? Do you want to get healthy? Do you want to have control of your food? Do you want to have control of your diet?  

This style of eating is a mindset. It’s not about how much junk food or less optimal foods we can stuff down our throats. It’s not about thinking that is a healthier way to live. There is more to living than following restrictive diets. It’s living a life of flexibility. It’s living a life knowing you can enjoy a piece of birthday cake and not feeling that shame, that guilt and that remorse because you ate a piece of cake. That mindset that has been drilled into our heads for years and years. It’s knowing you can do that and then just move right along. It’s enjoying life and living life. This is the beauty of lifestyle dieting. There will ALWAYS be life things that happen. There will always be something that happens. There will always be family things, work things, and just things. That’s called life. Being able to navigate and figure out ways to handle these things is the key to being successful.