Beautiful holiday dress and photo by Amordress.
We made it to Friday!! Go us!
Pearl One
Once Upon a Time the powers-that-be thought they knew the truth. (It would be a cool story, if people hadn’t actually died.)
Our “Happy Ending” begins.
Do you remember when ulcers were thought to be caused by stress? It was a common refrain, “I’m so stressed I’ll end up with an ulcer.” But then in the early 80’s two Australian doctors traced ulcers to a bacteria.
They discovered that ulcers were a simple infection; easily cured with antibiotics.
Did the medical world throw confetti and party-hardy?
Nope.
The experts completely dismissed the young doctors’ discovery for about a decade. Finally in ’91 the medical world conceded, and eventually the Australian docs shared the 2005 Medical Nobel Prize. See? An all is well, ending.
My point: nobody believes me when I tell them about a vital skill that I learned as I was losing weight with a forever-mindset.
Intermittent-maintenance.
As I lost weight slow as molasses while plateauing several times, I’d tell myself at each plateau that I was “holding.” I’d remind me that my body needed time to adjust to its new weight. My plan was simple: don’t wake the cave woman brain that assumes a quick drop in weight means that starvation is around the corner.
The slower we lose — with plenty of breaks for plateaus — the deeper our cave woman snoozes in her cave unaware of our ultimate plan.
We’ve proved through the decades that losing weight quickly, is a disaster, so instead I tried the opposite and lost slow as a sloth.
It worked.
Join me in believing the truth behind a forever-weight loss. ♥
Pearl Two
You know the most annoying part of losing after fifty? Losing a lot of weight only to have my tummy go all pot belly on me.
Here are the pot belly fixes I’ve considered:
CoolSculpting. I thought long and hard on this idea until a super model popped out of the woodwork to sue someone for her CoolSculpted face that she didn’t want to show in public. My review: Not enough research on this one, so no.
The Mommy Tuck. My cupcakes don’t really need work, but I sure could use a tummy tuck. Thing is, anesthesia is no joke. Like most of us, I’ve had major surgery but for serious problems none of which included snipping off my kangaroo pouch. Not to mention the money!! Review: No again.
Tummy spot exercises. Everyone seems to agree that spot exercises aren’t a thing. Also one can do 300 sit-ups a day, but if loose fat continues to embrace the stomach muscles, the muscles won’t show. Review: Phew, I didn’t want to do 300 sit-ups a day anyhow.
Spanx. Review: yes.
Peplum. Whether we’re talking cute tops or bathing suits anything peplum is a life-long friend to a pot belly. Review: truly stylish.
Camouflage, no, not that kind of camo. I don’t have a fancy life, but if I did, this is how I’d camo my tum: I’d paire a tulle skirt with a fun tee and statement earrings to draw the eye up. Review: creativity brings camo to life.
Embrace age. One of the best parts of being not 22, is that you and I largely don’t give a hoot what someone thinks or doesn’t think about our tums. Review: A keeper.
My babies. When I’d lost the 55 lbs. I looked down and thought, why do I still look like I’m carrying twins? Over time, I came to think of my pouch as a leftover souvenir from my darling boys. My kids are in college now, but I’ve trained myself to see my tum and remember my darling babies.
Review: best thing that ever happened to me. ♥
Pearl Three
The Self-Sabotage Department.
Truth be told, I procrastinate. I’ve often assumed that procrastination might be part of the human experience because so many of us do it.
But then I began family travel writing.
I never procrastinated writing my travel articles. Why? Because I knew first-hand what it’s like being a traveler with very little money, and not having a clue about how to approach a region.
And kids along for the trip meant the stakes were super high. Traveling parents have a limited amount of money, time and energy. Friends would ask, “Do you procrastinate writing the articles?” I’d answer emphatically, “No, I care about the parents too much.”
I wanted to tell parents everything they’d need to know to have a wonderful family travel experience. No way would I procrastinate when it came to families making memories.
And that’s when it hit me: I don’t procrastinate when I genuinely care.
Interesting, right?
These days I’m taking a hard look at how I handle my life: do I create Christmas-fun well in advance (freeze sugar cookies, buy presents early etc.) so that I’m not running around crazed trying to get everything done in the same week? Do I let my hair get pretty shaggy and then call my stylist at the last second hoping she can squeeze me in?
Yes, to both.
Bottom line: I procrastinate big-time when it comes to myself. And I’m betting you do too. We give and give and give, and then attempt to soothe ourselves with food.
Why not put ourselves at the top of the list for a day, a week, or a month? Let’s show ourselves what we can do when we care about our own needs and wants. ♥
Pearl Four
I’m a huge fan of sweet potatoes. I clean a medium-sized sweet potato, place it on a paper towel, pierce it with a fork several times, and nuke it the microwave for two minutes (maybe more) on each side. Yum.
I add olive oil and black pepper. Or a few baby marshmallows and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Yum again. ♥
Pearl Five
“Seeing Is believing, but, sometimes, the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see.” — Conductor, The Polar Express ♥
Love to you and yours including, of course, the fur-darlings!
♥, 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). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. 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 right to you!
You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.
I am not an expert, a doctor, a surgeon, a nurse or a nutritionist: the information within TheInspiredEater.com is based solely on my personal experience and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. ♥
18 Comments
I love coming here – thank you SO much Wendy for your encouragement and fun on this treacherous holiday portion of the journey!
Oh, Barbara, thank you. I’m touched that you read this blog. And thank you for following on Insta.
Do you guys have a trip planned?
Wendy
Awesome, as always. Your advice is truly golden. I look forward to the inspiration/support next week.
Now I want a sweet potato!
I want a sweet potato too! Thank you for the nice words.
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
Thanks again fir the Friday Pearls. Funny you mentioned Spanx. I had an Amazon return, so while at Kohl’s this morning, I looked to see if they had some sort of Spanx more for smoothing out my back bits than for my tummy. What an experience. Regardless of size, most were so tight I couldn’t get over my head. The one that worked, I felt like a stuffed sausage and didn’t really see much difference. I’ll just keep on keeping on and let nature smooth me out.
Sloth like, I’ve been feeling that lately. I’ve had a good 25 to 26 weight throw away since August 30th, but I’m in a holding pattern too. I’m sure the needle will keep on moving and I must work on patience. Your Tuesday emails and Friday Pearls are much appreciated and give me the encouragement to keep on going. I’m sure they’re helpful to all your readers. Let Wendy know people, we want her to keep up the encouragement. Looking forward to the little pep talk emails next week. Take care. Margie
Wow, Margie, thank you so much. I’m with you, I don’t like feeling like a stuffed sausage either!!
Having thrown away 25 pounds is a huge accomplishment. While you’re letting your body adjust to the throw-away, work on strengthening a habit that matters to you. I’ll never stop saying: habits first. Then weight loss.
Kisses to Simon!!
Wendy
That fat freezing thing is so scary! I can’t believe what happened to that model.
Good luck with your endeavours and Merry Christmas.
I know Jody! At one point I was getting close to the cold therapy and my husband was like, “I’m not so sure.” Then the model situation.
Merry Christmas to you too!
Wendy
I can particularly relate to your first pearl of wisdom. I’ve lost and gained weight a lot over the years – 10, 20, 30kg. Most recently 45kg loss only to regain 25kg. But I’ve lost most of that again but am stuck. It occurs to me that the weight I am at the moment (still over 100kg) I’ve been ‘stuck’ at a number of times before and that perhaps I need to be kinder on myself and be happy with the 20-25kg I’ve lost this time around without berating myself for not continuing to lose.
Deborah, I’m glad you commented. I hope you’ve signed up to get the Aunt Bea article. It’s extensive. I’d love it if you’d write in and let me know what’s the hardest part about maintenance. Embedding both strong habits and intermittent maintenance are everything. I’m at Wendy@theInspiredEater.com.
Wendy
I can’t tell you how helpful your pearls are to me.
Lauren! Thank you so much!! So awesome to hear.
W.
Great advice. I read about the supermodel and the Coolsculpting thing. Scary.
And I am a big sweet potato fan ! Yummy!
Have a Blessed Christmas and Happy New year, Wendy
jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
So many of us love sweet potatoes! I think I once read that Martha Stewart would take one w/ her on a plane as a healthy snack! 🙂
Wendy
I love it: lose like a sloth. I swear a sloth is my spirit animal. Great tips, Wendy!
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
The sloth as a spirit animal is a wonderful image!! I really think the sloth applies: eat slowly, do weights slowly, lose slowly.
When you have a moment, I’d love to hear what’s helped with Fibromyalgia.
Wendy
Spandex sounds like a garment from hell 🙂 I just try to eat healthy most days and stay away from too much sugar and fat.
After 50 eating will always be a battle.
I’m looking forward to another year of your insightful and funny posts in the new year. The FWF party starts up again this Friday, January 7th.
Hope to see you there!
Happy New Year!
Rachelle
Hi Rachelle!
Thank you so much for writing!! Ha! Yes, Spandex isn’t my usual go-to. I prefer old pajama pants with lots of “give.”
January was lost to me — Omicron — but I’m back to normal so see you very soon!
Wendy