Why Customizing How You Eat Is Better for Losing After 50

We customize our lips: I wear a pink lip. You’ve always looked awesome in red.

Hello Thrivers!

I emailed a friend, “I’m pet sitting alone this weekend (two darling snickerdoodles).

She wrote back, “ALONE?!! Heaven, pure heaven.”

She gets it. (Most of us do.) ♥

Pearl One

I love my eating plan, but it’s different from the one you prefer.

I count old – I mean, really old — WW points, you count calories.

I journal-write on my laptop. Others swear that handwriting is far superior.

My triggers are cake or ice cream. Yours is chips and crackers.

I’m a library-fanatic. You love to buy books, underline your favorite passages, and keep your friends on the nearest shelf.

I light up when my smart-list reminds me that I have (homemade) whole-wheat banana muffins in the fridge. You’d rather have a cup of yogurt (especially sprinkled with a bit of Grape-Nuts for crunch).

Podcasts energize me. Podcasts put you to sleep.

I’m an early bird. You get the most done at night.

One size does not fit all. Make smart choices as you tweak your smart eating plan to make it better for your lifestyle. ♥

Pearl Two

I found the day-in and day-out, the decade-in and decade-out of being heavy to be seriously no fun. When I’d go to any event – like a day at the beach or a night of fireworks – I was focused the entire time on my jeans cutting me in half, and planning (silently in my mind) how I’d start a new diet on Monday; the second I got home, I peeled those jeans off and climbed into comfy jam-jams.

There was another part of being heavy that I detested; I showed up at every event or activity actually hungry or on the precipice of hunger.

I didn’t know about Eating Before You Eat. I thought that sticking to my eating plan meant being really hungry.

I hadn’t learned to pack my cold-tote and take it with me everywhere; I didn’t yet have the habit of always keeping a Cliff bar in my purse.

It didn’t occur to me that arriving somewhere hungry would wake up my cave woman who’d take immediate control and begin her search for the highest calories around.

I didn’t see the connect between hunger and a natural drive not to look for an apple, but to head for whatever “full-bodied” dessert I could get my hands on.

Nobody told me that – when away from home — a banana can fix everything. ♥

Pearl Three

Pearl Three’s topic of the month: revisiting Atomic Habits by James Clear

James writes in chapter two’s summary,

“There are three levels of change: outcome, changes, process change, and identity change. (Our goal is identity change. ‘I’m not a donut-eater. Even one leads to four.’)

The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achiever, but on who you wish to become. (‘I’m not someone who eats random food, I much prefer the smart food in my cold-tote.”)

Your identity emerges out of your habits. Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. (I know that every time I dive into my cold-tote, I’m reinforcing the behavior.’)

Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity. (‘I don’t even look twice at fast-food when I’m running errands, my cold-tote is becoming my best pal.’)

The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results (although they can do that), but because they can change your beliefs about yourself.” (‘Holy cow! I AM a person who uses her cold-tote for my highest good!’) ♥

Pearl Four

I love memoirs. I could joke and claim to be nosy, but reading memoirs really drives it home that I’m not alone in life with struggles, diagnoses, embarrassing moments, difficult family members and so on. And I love reading about how the hero or heroine triumphs in the end.

I came close to not sharing this book because it’s an extreme version of someone’s life.

It’s about a psycho stage mom in Southern California who made Gypsy Rose Lee’s mother look like Mrs. Brady. The mother turns our heroine into a Nickelodeon kid-star thereby ruining her daughter’s childhood. Jeanette spent her formative years making bucks and working like an adult on iCarly and Sam and Cat. (If you hadn’t heard of the shows, neither had I.)

The title – I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeannette McCurdy – sounds awful (or like parody), but when you read her story the title will make sense.

My review: a super absorbing read and once I was three or four chapters in, I put everything aside to finish this book. (Other favorite memoirs: Kevin Hart’s, Linda Ronstadt’s, Gabrielle Union’s, and Can’t Hurt Me, just for starters.) ♥

Pearl Five

“You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way as you select you clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That’s the only thing you should be trying to control” — Elizabeth Gilbert ♥

If you haven’t yet read Aunt Bea, just shoot me an email: Wendy@WendyIrvineWriter.com! 🙂

♥, 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. ♥