Things started pretty normally for Hazel and me when we boarded our recent flight back from Salt Lake City.

I took my place in seat 1A, which had tons of legroom due to being near the bulkhead.

Hazel stood in front of my legs, sniffing the other passengers as they boarded, as usual.

Then the plane started taxiing to take off.

“Hey, your dog is really nervous,” the old man in the row across the aisle from us suddenly said.

“No, she’s not,” I assured him.

“Well, she’s panting,” he continued.

“It’s a bit warm on this plane,” I explained.

(Plus, panting is just what Hazel does when the plane takes off and lands. In between takeoff and landing, she stops, she lies down, and she goes to sleep.)

“She’s nervous. Aren’t you concerned?” he insisted.

“Not at all. She’s been on more flights than most people have been on in their entire lifetime, and she’s only two and a half,” I said. Already I was tired of his pushiness.

“Well, she’s acting awfully nervous.”

“She’s not nervous.”

“Well, I’m looking at her little butt, and it’s shaking,” he said.

“You do not know her, so you do not know what nervous looks like for HER,” I pointed out.

“Well, that’s true,” he finally admitted.

SHEESH.

This guy probably had good intentions, but he took one look at Hazel and decided he knew what was going on. He labeled her as nervous and uncomfortable and was adamant that I needed to do something about it.

And in all cases, he was WRONG.

Nervous for Hazel looks totally different from what she was doing. I’ve been with this dog 24/7 almost nonstop for two years straight. I know what nervous looks like for her.

In a way, this guy reminds me of people who get one whiff of your Code Red Lifestyle™ and start picking it apart, even though they don’t have ANY experience with it.

I’m talking about people who didn’t say a WORD when you were drinking a gallon of soda a day who are suddenly adamant that drinking a gallon of WATER a day is going to kill you…

Or people who didn’t say a WORD when you wolfed down two Dominos pizzas and guzzled two liters of soda all in one meal…but are suddenly adamant that a meal of a meat, a veggie, and fat aren’t good enough, and you should have “just one bite” of something else (usually sugar or junk).

🤦‍♀️

Being healthy in today’s world is hard enough.

Dealing with your own inner “fat girl” (or guy) is hard enough.

The last thing you need are people outside your head picking apart your Code Red Lifestyle™ that actually WORKS and is safe and sustainable to get (and keep) the weight off.

That’s why having a community of people who support you is critical to your success.

(I’d even go so far as to say that the more unsupportive – or just uninvolved – your in-person friends and family are, the more support you need to offset them.)

It’s also why we offer so many community options with the Code Red Lifestyle™.

From other Rebels, to me, to my Coaches and Mentors, there’s TONS of support to help you navigate challenges, stay on track, and take your life back.

Look, you don’t need to do this alone.

Your best chance at lasting success is actually to BE with people who are taking their lives back, too.

Whether it’s in a Code Red community or a few friends you see in person, get connected.

Trying to go it alone makes it WAY harder than it actually is.