I lost my pooch !

Noooo... not the 'doggie' kind of pooch...

My BELLY pooch!

You know, the little tummy most of us get as we get older?

Well, it's GONE! (well, mostly.) And I have Robynn to thank!

I had just woken up this morning and I did a big stretch as usual...

and then for some reason, I ran my hands down my tummy... and something seemed decidedly weird.

Something felt weird.

So I felt some more.

I felt my belly and then the sides of my hips and it just felt strange... ya know?

And that's when it dawned on me.

I felt a much flatter tummy, far less 'love handles', and I even felt boney bits!

I have HIP BONES again, boys and girls!

And it's all thanks to Robynn and her 30 Day Throw Down!

Now, it does seem kind of strange to admit that I was lying in bed, feeling myself all over and thinking of Robynn and getting all excited... but that's exactly what I was doin'.

And I got kind of teary.

See, I knew all along, that I needed to make some changes in what I was eating, but it can be incredibly hard.

As most of you know.

So when Robynn suggested the 30 Day Throw Down, I have to be honest here ... I wasn't actually excited about it, but it sounded like something that I could easily do.

And I knew that I would be doing it with some pretty great people.

It was kind of like the whole "a burden shared, is a burden halved" kind of thing - ya know what I mean?

So I started.

But I started with the idea in my head that this was not going to be a diet.

It wasn't going to be about counting calories, or deprivation, or about kicking myself in the arse for making the occasional less-than-perfect food choices.

This wasn't going to be about weight-loss at all... but rather it would be a change in eating habits.

Choosing healthier alternatives, making better choices in general, and just fueling my body - the only one I've got - with better, healthier, and less 'tampered with' fuel.

If I lost weight - well, great.

But if I didn't... well at least I knew that I would be making much better food choices and doing myself and my body a favor.

Simple stuff.

Like choosing water crackers over Ritz crackers.

Cheese and veggies over a handful of cookies, when I was hungry at 10am.

Starting most dinners out with a big-ass salad - and then eating basically whatever else I had prepared.
lots more fresh fruits and veggies.

And yes... even eating fast food occasionally - but always starting that take-out meal out with a salad, so that I ate far, far less of the junk stuff.

And if I was gonna have a burger, at least it would be a simple cheesebuger rather than a Big Mac.

And if I felt like dessert after any meal... well dad-gumit, if I wanted it, I was going to have it.

But I didn't really want much.

Really.

Even when I was craving a slice of apple pie ala mode, I had it...I just didn't have the room for a whole piece.

So I ate a bite or two or three - and I was satisfied.

Okay, so maybe this isn't exactly what Robynn envisioned... but it was what I envisioned.

And it worked!

It's continuing to work and it probably will continue to work for the rest of my life.

It's about making better choices, not about counting calories.

Because to be honest with you, if Robynn had given us a calorie limit, or said that anything was banned, if she had said that this was a diet... well, I wouldn't have lasted a week.

I know that.

But instead, she encouraged us to think about what we were eating.

Yeah, we were supposed to throw down the junk - and I have, to a point.

A BIG point.

A very big point.

But we were also supposed to think about making healthier, more sustainable, more environmentally friendly food choices - and I'm proud to say, with the encouragement I/we've gotten; the menus or choices y'all have posted, and the just knowing that I was in some pretty special company... this whole "ordeal" hasn't turned out to be an ordeal at all.

Far from it.

I've been empowered - thanks to Robynn, and y'all !

Now I'm off to feel myself again.

And maybe check myself out in the mirror!

Because I've got HIP BONES again !!!!

* happy sigh*

And Robynn?

This is for you...