A Fib or Honesty: Which Works Best for Weight Loss? 101

Everything exquisite is much, much harder than it looks.

Wreath by theSplendidDoor

Pearl One

I’ve said, you’ve said, we’ve all said, “I’m going on a diet.”

As if a forever-loss is akin to saying, “I’m going to college.” Or, “I’m raising kids.” Or, “I’m training to be a heart surgeon.”

You and I know that college, kids and highly skilled jobs require – oh — about a gazillion-steps each. (Not to mention the exorbitant price tag.)

And yet we don’t accord ourselves the same respect when we say, “I’m going on a diet.” We make it sound like an easy one-and-done activity.

Our culture is entranced with the story of “easy.” Seriously, listen to how often the word “easy” comes up in the media, on product and store signage, and even in the language of you, me and everyone in our world.

We’ve all been trained to throw the word “easy” into whatever we’re talking about.

As if “easy” is really a thing.

Easy is not a thing.

Why do we banter the word around? My guess is because life is so very arduous and demanding (and sometimes tragic).

But can we blame our culture? Somewhat, yes. We can say that navigating our culture’s food is a sizeable part of the problem. If we’re drug addicted, we wouldn’t want to see cocaine drive-thrus on every corner. And yet those of us decreasing our food dependence face food-porn at every turn.

I know what you’re thinking: The culture will do what the culture is going to do, I’m the one to blame for my weight issue.

And to that I say, you’re wrong. Here’s why: It’s vital to acknowledge what we’re actually dealing with. We marinate in a food-on-steroids world, but act like it’s no biggie.

But as you know, it’s a biggie. Because if we don’t get this truth, then we don’t bring the right tools to the trek.

So, take this thought in and chew on it for a while: we’ve taken the enjoyment of food far past what our grandparents could have imagined. Today, we use food for entertainment, comfort, companionship, and for celebration.

And yet, our brains were never created to deal with so many calories so easily accessible on the regular.

So if you call yourself “weak” and think, everyone else can handle it, again, you’d be wrong. In our culture, most are grappling with some substance. If we’re not about to over drink, do drugs, or smoke, overeating is the next obvious choice when we need to chill.

Can we learn to live without overeating? Of course.

Is it easy? I’d be lying to you if I said “yes.”

You and I are trekking one of the Matterhorns of our lives — yes, you and I didn’t show up on the planet yesterday, we’ve been up many a Matterhorn — and it requires serious planning, practice, and tools. It requires the serious everything. Including the smart back-up plan.

And that’s our takeaway. Nothing about losing and maintaining after 50 is “easy.” Somebody has to be honest. Thing is, you already know what I’m saying is right. You’ve long known that our trek is super difficult. Now give your inner wisdom the floor, because she knows the truth. She knows that the emperor is wearing no clothes. ♥

Pearl Two

So what to do with the idea that losing after 50 and maintaining a forever-loss is akin to a PhD? I’m so glad you asked!

The coveted degree is buried in micro-moves.

You know how there are a million steps in attaining an undergraduate degree and many more in earning a Masters or higher?

The steps to getting degrees can fill books.

That’s how I look at losing 55 lbs. in my 40s and am into year 17 of maintenance. There’s a billion step involved.

(And, no, you can’t use the “I’m too old” excuse. Why? Well, that’s another pearl, but for now no “I’m an old dog” talk.)

In a sense, when you acknowledge the bajillion micro-steps you’re essentially writing your own book about how losing and maintaining after 50 is going down in your life. And I strongly encourage you to literally write every day in your journal the steps you are taking — daily — as you evolve into a smart eater.

You’ll be writing about actual eating (what are my worst times of day? What are my easiest? How can I plan for the toughest times? Like, do I have a play-book for Friday nights? Or long afternoons? Or lonely evenings?).

You’ll be writing about your emotional life (what is the emotion I struggle with most in life? In my life, I struggle big-time with self-forgiveness. Seems like the more mature I get, the more horrified I am about the antics of younger-me).

You’ll go into the entertainment part of your life (what do I do for fun? Besides eating or cooking or watching shows about eating or cooking).

You’ll consider how you soothe you (how do I calm myself when it hits the fan? Besides any of the crutches).

I could go on and on. Because so much is involved in losing and maintaining. Not to belabor, but the very notion that any of this is “easy” is preposterous.

Once you’re onboard with how many micro-moves are involved in creating a forever-loss, the closer you’ll be to creating one. ♥

Pearl Three

I can’t emphasize enough that if you love to read, the power of book desserts can create a new habit for yourself that sees you going to bed early, dessert in hand, and reaping the rewards.

A thriver – Ms. B. — suggested that I share the book I’m currently reading and also share what I’m reading next (see below). Now, the reason I haven’t shared is that I assumed that you only wanted to hear about the five-star books. But I like your idea, B, because why not share 4.5 star books too?

They’re still exceptional reads.

I just finished a book from one of my favorite authors, Erik Larson. His book Thunderstruck tells how Marconi’s invention of wireless communication went hand-in-glove with England’s second most famous murder (after Jack the Ripper). And the second most famous murder wasn’t serial-killer, gory stuff. (There’s a different reason that the murder was so well-known in England.)

You guys, the ending to this book is astonishing. If you haven’t read Larson he shares stories from history and tells them in the most insanely exciting way possible. (And Larson explains how he finds and uses primary material: his goal being to take solid facts and spin them into a jaw-dropping story.)

Review about Thunderstruck: because Larson was still relatively new to this genre — creating roller coaster reads— the first 100 pages were a tad dry. They were about Marconi and his place in our world.

But around page 100, the book picks up and soon soars. I highly recommend Thunderstruck, but if you get bored, just skim like I did. At a certain point your skimming days moments will be over.

My favorite Larson books: The Splendid and the Vile, Dead Wake the Last Crossing of the Lusitania, and Isaac’s Storm.

My Next Book: The Winners by another favorite author, Fredrik Backman (A Man Called Ove).

Great idea B!! ♥

Pearl Four

In 2022 I set aside Pearl Four to talk healthy, tasty food. Honestly, I’m pretty sure that I’ve hit on the various foods I use regularly to make the losing-after-50 trek more fun.

But reader M has made two variations based on “my” (found in a local mag 20 years ago) whole-wheat muffin recipe.

There was a time when my picky-eater son only ate about five foods, and the whole-wheat muffin recipe in pumpkin was one of them.

But as he grew, I branched out and swapped bananas and walnuts for the pumpkin. Reader, M, went a step further, she emailed:

Hi Wendy,

I thought I’d show you my newest variation on your whole wheat pumpkin muffin recipe (scroll to Pearl Four to see details on how to bake these gems).

I had some apples I wanted to use, so I cut them into chunks and microwaved them at 50% power for 1 min, several times until they felt squishy with a fork.

Then I made your recipe and used them instead of the pumpkin. I realized when I was spooning the batter into the muffin cups that I should have gone ahead and mashed up the apples into a kind of puree, but too late!  So some of the muffins might have little or no apples in them, oh well! Live and learn hopefully!

Oh, I also added some sprinkles to the dough, but I don’t think they show up very well.

I don’t know how they taste yet, but they smell good!

Muffin review:  Update! They are yummy! I have to say, next time, maybe I’ll mash most of the apples, but leave a few chunks to press into each muffin. The sensation when biting into one of the apple chunks was YUM!

Okay, I’m in. Using apples in this recipe sounds awesome. I’m wondering if M added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batch to make it taste more apple pie-ish. Thank you M for sharing a moment in your life with us! ♥

Pearl Five

Real transformation requires real honesty. If you want to move forward – get real with yourself.” – Bryant McGill ♥

I would love it if you’d follow me on Instagram and/or Twitter!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

♥, 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!

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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. ♥

My favorite cold tote-bag to carry smart snacks.

My five-star book list.