Breaking the Habit You Didn’t Know You Had

A cool new habit can throw a bad habit off the cliff!

Hello Thrivers!!

I’ve returned from an exhausting week. Nothing bad to report except two very long flights. If I plan far enough in advance – Southwest can be booked six months prior – I’ll still get the great rate without the insanely long day.

I know, gas prices are bonkers, but if you’re going somewhere fun this summer, share your plans in the comments below. I love hearing about trips!

Onto our pearls.

Pearl One

It’s my belief that you and I are at the dawn of a new era where we crush the myth that women over 50 can’t lose or maintain weight loss.

Here’s why I’m optimistic: we’re beginning to note how invested our culture is in romanticizing enormous food intake.

Consider Carrie Underwood who came out with a new song last Thanksgiving called Stretchy Pants.

The lyrics go:

I’ve got my place at the table, can’t fit no more on my plate
I’ve got my fork in my hand ready to stuff my face…

Lovely.

And it would be lovely if our culture only chowed with abandon once or twice a year, but instead we’ve been habituated to think that every co-worker requires a birthday cake; November and December is about inhaling trillions of calories; and summers wouldn’t be summer without a freezer packed in ice cream.

And these days people wonder why so many of us reach for our stretchy pants year-round.

Attempting to maintain a loss after 50 is not possible without first fully absorbing the idea that our food’s on steroids and is being “pushed” at us every day, in every way.

The Mad Men behind the food products are paid well to create powerful ear-worms that do their duty long after we’ve heard a commercial. I know you remember:

Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce,

special orders don’t upset us…

Or:

Oh, I’d love to be an Oscar Myer Weiner,

That is what I’d truly like to be…

Food-pushers spend bucks on TV commercials, billboards, podcasts, print ads and the like telling us that our lives aren’t good if we don’t eat their burgers. So their ads encourage us to buy more and more of their product.

Because, let’s be real, nobody creates ‘hit us over the head’ ads for broccoli.

My point: when we struggle to lose after age 50, it isn’t a testament to our lack of control in the past that we’re down five pounds, up eight. Our food-porn world pushes calories the way cigarette companies once pushed ‘coffin nails’.

And then we also have the diet-industry that hocks ‘lose 10 in ten.’

Between these two giants — food-porn and the diet industry — we shouldn’t be so fast to skewer ourselves for not fitting into our size 10 shorts.

Understanding what we’re up against is required for our ultimate Smart Eating success.

The Takeaway: Start to notice the endless food ads in your life and design an entirely new thought-habit for yourself. Say, hmmm there’s another and another and another food ad. These food-pushers really are everywhere. I think I’ll count how many fast food stops I see on my way to work today.

And a supportive habit takes root. ♥

Pearl Two

For months now I’ve noticed that I use new vocab for living well on the Smart Eating Lifestyle. It’s occurred to me that a glossary of sorts would help new members come aboard more seamlessly.

I don’t have the full glossary created yet, but here’s a sampler of what I do have (and if you have suggestions for the glossary, email away!! Wendy@theInspiredEater.com).

Our Glossary 🙂

Ban perfectionism – Attempting to be perfect is just one more way that we give up on ourselves.

Bite-o-meter – How many delicious bites we get from a food. (Ex: salads deliver a lot on the bite-o-meter.)

Book-in-the-bed – Wonderful way to ditch the evening calories and chill before sleep.

Conscious deserting – thoughtfully choosing a dessert like these.

Cookie Monster – Going berserk and inhaling the highest caloric items we can find.

Contrarion – Living quite differently from the larger group.

Daily details – Setting ourselves up for success is in the daily details.

Distraction eating – Boredom eating is a sign that we need some excitement in life.

Dessert-book – The lowest calorie option for “something good” after a tiny dinner.

Drastic dieting – The old, unproductive way of attempting to decrease weight.

Errand companions: car-banana or my cold tote filled with healthy bites.

Feedback device – Our scales (I didn’t use when losing, but I do use to maintain).

Food titans – the people behind the mass, brainwashy food ads: fast food, grocery stores, restaurants.

Food tools – Actual food for our kitchen that supports our Smart Eating Lifestyle.

Maintenance – Protecting our hard-won losses.

Mouth happiness – Healthy food that’s fun to eat like cherries or petite carrots with hummus.

My tummy — A souvenir from the babies.

Smart Food List that we keep taped inside a cupboard. This important list reminds us how to fill up and get out of a hunger zone quickly:

• My blueberry-apple-oatmeal bowl.
• Small cup of yogurt.
• The whole wheat, one-teaspoon peanut butter and half of sliced banana.
• A hard-boiled egg on toast.

Snooze-food – Healthy, but excruciatingly boring food (e.g. the old way of eating).

Strengthening and holding – What we once called ‘plateauing,’ we now know is strengthening our current loss.

The Elaine – order two side salads and combine in large bowl.

The skill to chill – Working with ourselves on how we best relax vs. inhaling the kitchen (different for everyone).

The three E’s — Every-emotion-eating (or stress eating).

Thriver – You and me, our group living the Smart Eating Lifestyle (who understand that slips are part of the game). ♥

 Pearl Three

Let’s live differently. Visiting my parents was interesting. My mom has Alzheimer’s and my dad is taking care of her and I’m still stunned at how well my dad is managing.

That said, he practically embraces anxiety. He even said, “Well, we got everything done today. Now I need something new to worry about.”

It’s funny until you realize that he’s serious. It’s like he adopted a bad habit of needing something to ruminate about even when all is going well.

So, then I wondered, do I do something similar?

I don’t look for anxiety, per se, but I have caught myself feeling sad at times when given two seconds of thought deep-down I felt happy. It’s possible that somehow I feel safer aligning with the negative feeling assuming that if I feel too good the other shoe might drop. (I’m not suggesting this makes an ounce of sense. It’s another bad habit I need to break).

My takeaway: there are times throughout my day when I consciously tell myself, It’s okay to feel good. You love your writing (this blog). The kids are doing well. You’re planning a Trusted Housesitters (.com) ‘job’ for the summer. And the rug is vacuumed. Things are good.

Writing this message on note card and perching next to laptop. ♥

Pearl Four

Food! I’ve long had a habit of loving to read while crunching something like Cheeze-Its. And those salty orange guys don’t exactly fit into my life anymore.

But here’s what I can crunch without a second thought:

• Cherries – Late May to late July.
• Watermelon – arriving in June!
• Cut up peaches – May to August.
• Strawberries — June.
• Petite carrots – not a fruit of course, but a bowl of petites deliver crunch and sky-high nutrition.

This weekend you’ll find me at Costco filling my cart with fruit. ♥

Pearl Five

A nail is driven out by another nail; habit is overcome by habit.” — Erasmus ♥

I’d love to share your success story. Anonymous of course. And a ‘success story’ doesn’t need to be pounds lost. It can be establishing a new habit, embracing a new mind-shift or dealing well with a challenging event.

A positive habit, new mind-shift, or meeting a challenge is true success. Send your stories to me: Wendy@theInspiredEater.com.

I’m spending the weekend getting back on schedule from my California trip’s jet lag (made worse by terrible flight schedules).

Have an uneventful, relaxing weekend and see you on Tuesday!

♥, 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 right to you!