Hazel (my Belgian Malinois) and I rode the elevator to the lobby of The Grove Hotel, which I live above, to pick up my Amazon package.

I requested the package from hotel staff, then moved off to the side and put Hazel in a “down” position next to my leg while we waited.

I noticed a man walking toward us. His head was down as he looked at his phone, but nothing about him was alarming, so I wasn’t concerned…

Until he walked right up to us and stepped directly on the middle of Hazel’s back.

Not on her paw.

Not on her tail.

Right on her spine.

Hazel let out a horrific cry and shoved herself behind my legs, trembling, as everyone in the lobby turned to stare.

“What are you doing!” I yelled at the man, because I was in 10 out of 10 protector mode. “You stepped ON my dog!”

“Sorry.”

“She was just laying there! You weren’t even paying attention!”

“I said I’m sorry. Just relax, would you?”

I was so upset that I laid into him for a few more seconds, and then he wandered off to the people he was meeting in the lobby. “What? I didn’t see her. It was just an accident,” he told them, sounding defensive.

Maybe you would have reacted the way I did. Maybe not.

Either way, as mad as I got at that guy for literally stepping ON my dog’s back…

I know it’s my fault he did it.

Not because I forced him to or anything, but because it’s my job to protect Hazel.

I saw him, and I could tell he wasn’t paying attention. But I never in a million years thought he’d actually step ON her body.

So I assumed he saw her lying there.

In hindsight, I could have assumed he might step on her instead, and said something before he got too close. But I didn’t.

There’s obviously nothing I can do about what happened.

What I CAN do is use it to do better for her if a similar situation ever comes up.

Same deal for you and your weight loss journey (and maybe your health in general).

Knowing what you know now, you’d have done things differently with choices that make a difference in your weight and health.

But I can’t change what happened to Hazel, and you can’t change your past choices.

What you can do is take what you’ve learned from those past choices and start doing better NOW, with real food, water, sleep, and a few simple rules…

And maybe, some nutritional supplementation to “plug leaks” that either a clean diet alone can’t plug, or that enhances what a clean diet is already doing for you.

You can’t change the past, but you can learn from it to start doing better NOW…so that the future you build is something future you will thank present you for.

Please don’t play keep playing fast and loose with your health. You can built a better future, and it starts with the choices you make TODAY.