While at the lake recently with my dog, Hazel, she got cheat grass in her eye.

Unbeknownst to me, she scratched it all night, so her eye was swollen shut this morning.

We raced to the ER at 6 AM, where I found out the combination of cheat grass and scratching caused a cornea ulcer and significant damage.

Hazel went on loads of meds, ointments, and a serum, plus drops every two hours. Pain meds, too.

It was a rough couple of days, followed by a rough week, keeping up with her aggressive treatment…all while doing everything I could to keep her calm/comfortable.

I also had to make sure she didn’t scratch her poor eye. 

Thankfully, she didn’t lose her eye…and on a followup visit, it was deemed “good as new.”

Stressful stuff like this happens in our lives. 

It’s tempting to use food to cope.

But if you wanna get and keep the weight off, you’ve gotta find other ways to navigate stress.

Activities of all kinds can help.

And healthy eating definitely helps, because crap food makes stress feel worse and last longer.

One proven way you can better navigate stress is with enough support.

How much is enough depends on the person, but if you still turn to food instead of other people, you probably don’t have enough.

Who’s someone you can connect with to help you process it?

Could a therapist help you deal with it?

And what about communities? Are you a part of any positive, uplifting communities that can support you in navigating stress without things turning negative and gross?

With Code Red, we include ways to connect with other Rebels, because I know EXACTLY how important support is to staying on track when life’s stressful situations pull the rug out from under you.

Stop trying to figure it all out on your own, and get connected. It makes a HUGE difference in your ability to stay on track, get the weight off, and especially, keep it off!