“OMG. What is that stench??”

I’d arrived at my cabin and pulled into my garage…

Only to be confronted by the overpowering STENCH of…get this…

…a dead body.

See, my dad was a cop and also the county coroner for a while when I was a kid.

Plus, we hunted and had a farm, and when you hunt and run a farm that involves animals, it’s inevitable that you’ll have to deal with dead animals.

So I know what a dead body smells like.

And that was the overwhelmingly AWFUL stench that about knocked me over and triggered me to puke when I pulled into my cabin garage this week.

After a little investigating, I found the culprit.

It wasn’t an actual dead body, thankfully.

Instead, the deep freeze in my garage had failed, and the frozen liver inside had spoiled and grown thick layers of mold.

DISGUSTING.

I called Tamarack Resort security, and they were gracious enough to drive over and haul my deep freeze to the dump.

Meanwhile, my whole garage smells overwhelmingly like a dead body.

So do my clothes.

So does my FJ40 Land Cruiser.

It’s SO bad that I’m surprised none of my neighbors called security to have them do a welfare check!

Yet as horrible and lingering as the stink is, it still doesn’t compare to the lingering “stink” of a really hurtful comment.

Sometimes hurtful comments bounce off your skin like a harmless piece of lint, but other times they seem to dig in like a tick burrowing into your skin and just sit there, sucking up your joy and brain power.

If you’ve got a lot of weight to lose, then you’ve probably experienced your share of hurtful comments that leave an emotional “lingering stench.”

It feels awful.

And after talking to Lory Stobart, who’s co-hosting the Grind to Goal with me and lost 205 pounds in 18 months on Code Red, I wouldn’t be surprised if fear of judgment and hurtful comments is one of the reasons you’re hesitant to come (if you meet the criteria), even though you really want to.

Listen, I know it stinks to feel judged all the time (by yourself as well as other people).

But the reality is, it’s probably happening, and for a LOT of reasons. Right or wrong, humans are in the habit of judging. 

And FEAR of judgment robs a lot of people of a lot of joy.

It’s a pretty discouraging way to live.

But if you’re reading this, then you’re probably a Code Red Rebel (or maybe interested in becoming one).

So rather than let fear of judgment (and the resulting emotional “stink” of hurt feelings) keep controlling you, REBEL. Stop isolating yourself and start living.

If getting your health and weight under control will help you do that, great.

Either way, life’s too short to spend it hiding from the world, okay?