Cupcake-topper witch legs and photo are from SillyLittleSquirrels.
Happy Friday Everyone!
Pearl One
Waiting for my husband in Costco’s food court, I was being nosy checking out each cart as they rolled by.
At first, I was thinking, yum! Wish I was going home with that family. But then a cart went by with a lot of “clean” eating staples like eggs, leafy greens, apples and apples.
That cart got me thinking. We can use Costco in a way that doesn’t support our smart eating path or we can use Costco as yet another tool in our collection to support us in losing after 50.
This is how I use any food store, but I’ll specifically talk Costco here. Before going in, I eat something super filling. Shopping hungry is a dangerous game. Here’s what I typically do at Costco:
- I pretend like the candy and cookie/cake sections simply don’t exist. I never go near them.
- In their freezing cold room I get their bagged kale, baby carrots, and spinach (that I add to my green smoothie).
- In the right seasons I get a lot of fruit. The red grapes are especially good.
- I don’t buy eggs at Costco, but I’ve read that they’re a great deal.
- I often throw coffee and their tasty peanut butter into my cart.
- In the cold case in the middle of the store I buy a bag of frozen blueberries, a bag of frozen strawberries, and a bag of frozen veggies for stir-fry.
- I get their single-serving hummus cups. They come in 24 cute little cups that help me not overeat one of my favorite foods. My son loves them too.
- I haven’t tasted these yet, but I hear they’re good: Garden Lites Spinach & Egg White Frittatas.
In a regular grocery store, I do about the same. I stay out of the middle of the store that’s home to the cookie, chip, cracker and candy aisles.
I’ve always heard that it’s smart to shop around the perimeter of the store and that the overly processed junk food is in the center.
The one thing I do grab which isn’t probably the healthiest is Lean Cuisine cheese pizza but yum.
How my Mom Drew a Red Line for my Dad.
In 1976 when we moved from Reno to a house outside of San Francisco, my mom told my dad, “If you want to smoke, you have to do it outside. No smoking in this house.” The world was just catching on to how dangerous second-hand smoke is to our bodies.
Here we are 45 years later and we haven’t quite made the same leap that excess weight leads to serious health problems too.
If you’re shopping for another adult, take a page from my mom: have a long talk with your adult and stress that you’re shopping for fruits, veggies and the like from now on. Long ago, I told my scarfer-husband that if he wanted junk food, he’d have to shop and buy it for himself (and then hide it from me).
So far, so good.
The Real Takeaway.
Are you a good or a bad witch is a tongue-in-cheek way of saying, are you using your shopping trips to support your smart eating lifestyle? Or do you toss in “escape” food that you’ll inevitably overeat?
When we’re losing after 50, finding escapes that don’t involve calories is one of the secret sauces for success (good TV, great book, awesome music, a sweet animal are all zero-fat and zero-calories).
I encourage you to take a hard look at how you use your food stores. Write about food shopping in your journal and answer these questions:
- What do I do that’s really smart when food shopping. . .
- What could I improve . . .
- My obvious problems with smart-shopping are. . .
- A new habit I can work on adopting for smarter shopping is. . .
- A better way of shopping would be. . .
Losing after 50 is brutal enough, have your own back by embedding brainy shopping habits into your life. ♥
Pearl Two
Brides do it. People in boot camp do it. And parents of babies definitely do it.
It’s called immersion.
Often readers tell me that they “blew” their eating plan because family visited for a long weekend. Or they were on vacation. Or they had to drop their husband at the airport at 0-dark-thirty. There really are decent, perfectly understandable reasons for overeating.
And none of them matter when it comes to our smart eating path.
Immersion happens when we absolutely marinate ourselves in the world of smart eating after 50.
If you continue to attempt losing after 50 halfheartedly, you won’t eventually adopt the necessary habit changes for a successful loss and an even better maintenance.
When I lost my weight, I immersed myself in the world of healthy eating. I stocked the fridge with healthy food that I really like. I didn’t eat in restaurants much. I always had a healthy snack in my purse, a cold bag with food in the car, and plenty of healthy food in the fridge that I could quickly grab and eat.
I immersed myself.
My priorities were: my kids, my husband, our animals and my smart eating path. Nothing else got in the way. Or, I should say, I didn’t let anything else get in the way.
When you’re immersed in a world of smart eating, you can’t “blow” your eating plan. Really. When I overeat junk food I just think: huh, that wasn’t such a great idea. And then I go right back to my smart eating path.
Successful people do not ditch their plan because of a mere donut-frenzy. ♥
Pearl Three
My self-sabotage moments.
It’s too hard. It’s not worth it. It’s driving me crazy. Negative thoughts appear to be just a normal part of being human. And yet some people succeed outside of their wildest dreams. We’re stunned at their success, we wonder how did they pull it off?
My take? Those “lucky” few are able to turn down the volume on their self-sabotaging thoughts and get on with bringing something amazing to life. See Jeff Bezos, JK Rowling, even the Kardashian outfit.
Who would think that selling books online would lead to Amazon? That one book rejected by twelve publishers would become the Harry Potter franchise? Or that a sex tape — of all things — would create multiple gazillionaires in one family?
Turning down the volume on our self-sabotaging thoughts takes us towards our own wildest dreams. ♥
Pearl Four
Broccoli. It’s considered one of the superfoods and I’d always been taught to steam it. Which made it kind of soft and not tasty.
But I heard about searing cut-up broccoli in a pan with a teaspoon of olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. And omg, much, much tastier. Crunchier too.
My new system is to eat a cup of broccoli every day. On busy days I’ll pack the seared broccoli into a baggie and add it to my cold bag that I eat from while doing errands. I eat a lot of veggies waiting at the stop light. (For safety, be careful to eat small bites and chew really well.) ♥
Pearl Five
“What makes your heart smile? Yeah. Do more of that.” – Anonymous
The holiday season is near and personal me-time tends to disappear from the to-do list. Fight the full plate. Establish routines now that will support you when the world goes a little crazy in November and December. 🙂
My heart smiles for animals, good books, a clean car, a beautiful living room, kitchen, bedroom and so on.
What three make your heart smile? ♥
I hope you’re loving this gorgeous fall we’re having!!
♥, Wendy
p.s. Are you from TWTM? Thank you for visiting!! I highly recommend reading the Aunt Bea post (you’ll find her to the right on this page under my short bio.). My posts don’t make a ton of sense if you haven’t first read Aunt Bea.
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19 Comments
I didn’t know that about shopping the outside of the grocery store, but YES! I went over each of my stores in my head, and they’re all set up like that! Thanks for the eye-opener – you RULE!
I know, and must-have like any type of milk and eggs are in the far back. Those marketing people earn their keep!
W.
Another fantastic post. I am having a brain fart and don’t fully understand exactly how you are cooking the seared broccoli. Could you explain please? I am sure I will feel foolish when you do because it is probably pretty obvious, but I am lost.
Also, in another post you talked about starting the sentence with “no”. I have been practicing that and it really is a game changer. Thank you!
Awesome to hear, Cindy, that you’ve embraced saying no. I sure had to use it a lot in the beginning. Now people around me know the scoop so it gets easier.
Okay, broccoli. Put a teaspoon of olive oil (a good fat) into a frying pan, thrown in cut-up broccoli. Sear it on the stove. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper and you have a nice food for the car or with dinner!
W.
Hi! I found you from the Encouraging Hearts Linkup- so glad I did- loved this post and can tell you will continue to inspire and motivate me!
Wow, Holly, such a sweet comment! And welcome!
W.
Ooh, I felt as though you were talking directly to me, all through this post! This is all so good. I do usually try to eat before I shop and shop the perimeter of the store. (Emphasis on usually!) I have been known to ditch my plan, at least temporarily because of a momentary frenzy of some kind. Recently, my husband has been doing the grocery shopping, and he tends to bring more of my no-no foods into the house. But, mostly the blame is all me, and I need to do more of the immersion. Great post.
Thank you Pam! Tell your husband that I still massage River — a German shepherd — every night before bed like he does with Sunny. 🙂
My husband wants to do the shopping which is okay by me. He’s under strict orders to never buy “trigger treats.”
Thanks for writing!
W.
Definitely gonna try the broccoli!
It’s crunchy and good!
Thank you for commenting, Michele!
W.
Cool!
W.
More great tips Thanks!
Thank you Lauren!
W.
I was away on the weekend at a party there was so much food and they’d catered for me with my gluten free diet but it was sausage rolls and cake. It was noted I hadn’t eaten my share, there was some fruit but no salad, and it was obvious I hadn’t eaten all my food. I felt slightly uncomfortable saying I wasn’t hungry. Thanks for linking with #pocolo
Such a drag. I’m noticing that the more comfortable I am, the more comfortable that they are.
I love #pocolo!
W.
Thanks for sharing the My Big Fat Menopausal Life’s Share the Wealth Party – Have a fabulous weekend!
Thank you again. Love your blog!
Wendy
Another great bunch of tips, Wendy!
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
You are so kind Michelle!
I hope you’re doing well.
Wendy