The whole damn house is on a diet, even the cats LOL. That’s not strictly true, we (the human residents) are adhering to a sustainable and satisfying eating lifestyle.  As a result, we are also losing weight. The cats are just getting a better grade of cat food.

I know it’s not a diet because I don’t have to eat celery, or carrot sticks. No gnawing my way through a mount of raw veggies adorned only with a squeeze of lemon juice and pretending it’s dinner. The food scale is gathering dust in a cupboard in the garage. I’m not sneaking a candy bar every time I go through the grocery check out line. Definitely not a diet.

Just before we left California my husband and I were at a satisfactory weight, not ideal but a whole hell of a lot closer to ideal than we are now. Once we arrived in Arizona all the good habits flew right out the window.

One year and 25 pounds later plus the inability to button my keep-me-honest jeans signaled it was time to get back on track. Bye-bye ice cream most every night. Farewell monthly Tuxedo cake from Costco. Adios bread, baked potatoes, and flour tortillas. It was fun while it lasted but we must stop seeing each other.

I admit that the timing to do this was triggered by my husband’s youngest daughter arriving for an extended visit. Part of the reason for her visit is to see if adopting our diet eating lifestyle will work for her. And to find out if some of her physical ailments will improve in our warm, dry climate. Quite a contrast to Portland OR.

It’s been just a little over 2 weeks and it’s working. Every morning the scales tell the tale. And our house guest…no flare ups of her chronic pain.  Plus, she has discovered the delights of exercise in the walking pool. No pain, losing weight…she may never go back to Portland! But if she does, there will be a whole lot less of her when she goes.