My friends often inform me that I’m naturally thin.
“Oh, no, no, no,” I respond. “I was a round kid, teen, and young adult. I’ve always been well-insulated. I lost slowly and didn’t lose the final pounds until my boys turned two and blah . . . blah. . .
blah.”
And I’m talking to myself.
Again.
Whenever friends ask “how I did it,” I’m happy to explain. But just as I’d start to share, they smile politely, and flee for higher ground.
Nobody wants to hear about my uphill trek (both ways, deep snow, and so forth).
Quick back story: For 14 years prior to Covid, I was a family travel writer. As we know, 2020 meant long days at home, so I created this blog — the Inspired Eater — to share the methods I used to to lose the 55 lbs. in the first place and still use today to keep those pounds off for 15 years (at this writing) without meds, surgery or creepy diets.
A suggestion: before reading this post, I hope you’ll first read Begin Here. Then this post will make more sense. 🙂
Tool One — Studies Say This Habit Is Vital.
This tool is one I can’t live without: I keep a notebook next to the fridge and I journal daily about everything I eat. I’ve written down my food intake for 24 years now and it’s the smartest thing I’ve ever done (after having kids and fur-kids).
Some of us track WW points (me), some track carbs, and others calories. Tracking is key to knowing how much we’re eating every day. Tracking my food has become such a habit that something feels wrong — like forgetting to brush my teeth — if I forgot to write down my food-intake that day.
Your journal needs to be easy and pretty. No keeping track on old envelopes or the like. You want to feel good about keeping track.
Give yourself time to embed the journaling habit into your daily life (a great ’09 study out of England concluded that we need to repeat an activity for sixty-six days for the habit to truly to become part of us).
Come On, Does it Really Matter?
“Who keeps track of their food every single day? That’s crazy,” a family member once said. But here’s the thing: developing and sustaining a smart eating lifestyle in our food-on-steroids world means playing a strong defense.
Track. It does a body good.
Tool Two: Best books ever for developing solid habits.
These two books are the best I’ve ever read on habits: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life by Charles Duhigg. And Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Ones & Break Bad Ones by James Clear.
I live at the library, but I recommend buying these two books. (A friend raves about the audio of Atomic Habits.)
Tool Three: Intermittent Fasting is the New Black.
Six years past menopause — I’m 56 today — this is one of my best invention hacks ever: combine several smart eating methods at once. It’s what I do to keep my weight where I want it.
I’ve found that combining the “Royal Food Plan” — breakfast like a king, lunch like a princess, and dinner like a pauper — with intermittent fasting produces incredible results.
Do you see how I’ve combined three Smart Eating plans?
- I track WW’s points like I have since ’97.
- I use the Royal Food Plan.
- I restrain my eating window from nine to six.
I don’t remember needing to combine weight loss methods in my 40’s, but in my 50’s: using two or three methods at once is a game changer.
Tool Four: Precision Eating.
Welcome to my most favorite tool ever. I call it “Precision Eating.” I rely on Precision Eating to clean up my weight — and how I think about food — relatively quickly if I’ve gained three or four pounds.
Precision eating goes like this: I eagle-eye what I eat every two hours from breakfast to late afternoon. Say I have a cup of chili at noon, I then check in with myself at two o’clock and if I’m even a tiny bit hungry, I eat ½ an apple or a teaspoon of peanut butter on a banana.
Bottom line, I don’t allow myself to get hungry. Period. And by avoiding hunger I maintain my Smart Eating habits.
I would love it if you’d share your favorite eating tools!
And remember health is hard (it’s not just your imagination)!
♥, Wendy
P.s. Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And always feel free to email me at Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com and I’ll get Aunt Bea to you right away!
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32 Comments
Wendy! lovely blog! and I can identify myself with your journey!
congrats on your weight loss!
i am a nutrition-based eater…keep weight off by gardening, eating 90% healthy, and 10% delicious junk food (lol! I am not perfect)…
xo Eva
Eva!
Your site is gorgeous! Guess what? We lived in Fair Oaks forever before moving to VA in ’10. Your retro costumes are beyond cool!
And I am not perfect either — that’s one of the secrets. 🙂
Wendy
Thank you Eva! (Delicious junk food is part of every healthy diet.) :):):)
These are great tools, Wendy! Thanks for sharing your knowledge! xo
Danielle, I love your voice. I know a writer when I see one. And thirty nieces and nephews?! Lady, you have kids!
Wendy
Thank you Danielle! That means the world to me!
Wendy
Yes it is about habit and changing them for more healthier options. X #kcacols
You’re right. Habits rule.
Wendy
Love the site! I think you made such a nice aesthetic and I really dig the tips and discussion included in this post. I find IF, food tracking, and the like very helpful too. Honestly I have no real negative feedback on the blog except that the sections you’re grouping posts under feel slightly confusing, like maybe the tag should be more discreet? But the actual content is great.
Arctic Mama 🙂
Hi Arctic Mama! I don’t mean to sound corny, but I’m deeply thankful for such a positive response. Excellent suggestion re: the grouping of topics and the tag. I’m on it! Thank you again! W.
I love your feedback — on it!
Wendy
Wow 23 years! That’s amazing. I love the Atomic Habits books. I’ve heard I should try intermittent fasting. You might have convinced me. My husband does it but I always feel it makes me moody. Do you exercise in the AM? I’m starving after that. Love this article. Found you from Between Naps on the Porch
Hi Andrea!
Huge thanks for the compliments. That means so much to me. Atomic Habits rocks, right? I just checked out DesignMorsels.com and holy cow: you have the hair I want!! Seriously, is there anything specific you use to get the spirals? Gorgeous blog! 🙂 — Wendy
I’m late 40s and perimenopausal, eat too late at night and drink too much wine. I think I might try restricting my eating hours – your ‘Royal Food Plan’. I’ll let you know how I get on! #KCACOLS
Martina,
The “Royal Food Plan” absolutely works. If I could only do one thing to keep my weight down, the Royal Food Plan would be the one.
I would love to hear how it goes!
Wendy
I’ve been thinking about intermittent fasting as well but as Andrea said above, I’m a bit concerned that its going to make my grumpy. I think putting a hard cap on the time of day when you stop eating is a good trick that I’m going to implement #KCACOLS
I know of a guy who has been doing intermittent fasting and has lost a lot. But the funny thing is: he only eats within a five hour window, but he always ends up having at least one fast food meal. Which is hilarious. It’s working for him. Sort of.
Thanks for commenting!
Wendy
Wow, you’ve shared some great tips for those who want to get back track. We have been intermittent fasting for a while and it’s the best way for us to lose weight. Thank you so much for joining us for #KCACOLS and we hope to see you next time.
Intermittent fasting works!
Wendy
Great tips! Thanks for sharing on Happiness is Homemade! We’d love to have you share on Traffic Jam Weekend (Thurs @5pm to Sun) on https://LifeasaLEOWife.com. I think our readers there would enjoy this post as well! If you don’t already, you can also share on You’re the Star Blog Hop from there as well. I’ve never had to try to lose weight until the past year. It is not fun! I’m going to try a few of these ideas!
Thank you Niki!!
The habit books are a great place to start: Atomic Habits and The Power of Habit. Both are so good.
Wendy
I love this post, especially because I am now in my 40’s and at that time of life when I have noticed changes with my body. I have noticed how my metabolic rate has slowed down with age. I have tried most of these methods but, like you have mentioned it takes 66 days for something to register! Unfortunately I do get bored of something very quickly so, I will strive to get past that time period.
Thank you so much for joining us for #KCACOLS and we hope to see you next time.
Getting bored is a big problem for me too.
Thank you back!
Wendy
We are back in lockdown and I am packing on the pounds. I do know when we are out and I go back on my cholestoral lowering diet they will fall away like before., Very quickly. But for now I’m just getting thru the day and trying to make the world a little more interesting…#KCACOLS
Hang in there, Lydia. Where are you on lockdown?
Wendy
The two books you mentioned sound really interesting. I’m going to look them up.
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
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Love your blog!
Wendy
Hi there. Just wanted to congratulate you as you’re our chosen blogger and will be highlighted in the 4T’s newsletter which will go out tonight. Thank you for your participation and the post links you share with us at the weekly Inlinkz at Senior Salon. Please keep it up and share it with your own followers and we hope that they will also come and join in the fun as they can also be on the podium or featured bloggers. Thanks and congratulations again.
Thank you! I’ll check it out!
Wendy
Hey there! I’ve been following your web site for a while now and
finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from
Houston Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the fantastic work!
Oh, Alma, your words made my whole week. Thank you so much. Please feel free to send a question. I love readers’ questions, it helps me to know what topic is the most annoying at the moment.
Wendy