There’s nothing easy, tranquil, or beautiful about losing weight after fifty, but specific tools can make it less annoying.
Hello Thrivers!
I’m looking around my home thinking that it needs a spring cleaning, but right now during the fall. I know how to lose weight and maintain the loss, but I bet you’re way better at other activities. Take house cleaning, if you have any amazing tips please share in the comments below! 🙂
Pearl One
Long story, short: I had a broken foot making it difficult to take our kitty to the vet to get his monthly anal expression (don’t ask).
Hobbling around with a cane – my cast had just come off — while carrying a carrier with an enraged passenger wasn’t pretty.
For various reasons, I was on my own each month and one day, it dawned on me that I needed a cat carrier with wheels.
And with that thought – thunk – I fell over with happiness because in that moment, life just got a whole lot easier.
Our Takeaway
Clearly. Obviously. Plainly. Losing weight after age fifty is no day at the beach. No argument from me, it’s hard times a billion.
But here’s the thing: you and I can make our difficult trek of losing weight after age fifty a smoother experience by using the right wheels, or in our case, tools.
In other words, don’t make the trek harder than it needs to be. For example, when I need to reign in my eating, these are my immediate go-tos:
- Motivation and willpower doesn’t work beyond a day or two. I’m always shooting for smart habits and if you haven’t yet read my two favorite habit books, spend your weekend with a yellow highlighter and these two babies: Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.
- This is one of my favorite no-brainers. Eat before you eat (eating a half cup of cottage cheese with red grapes; half an apple with a smear of peanut butter; or a small yogurt cup about thirty minutes in advance of a meal painlessly lops off your appetite giving you the most amazing control at dinner, brunch, or for whatever meal looks daunting.
- I know to stop eating by 6 p.m. Studies are bearing out that a large breakfast, a moderate lunch, two healthy afternoon snacks, and a tiny dinner is the path to an easier weight loss. If I’m at the higher end of my preferred weight window, my hard-core reliable is to have the tiniest of dinners (sometimes just a smoothie or a small bowl of cereal).
Losing weight after fifty is plenty hard on its own, don’t take the harder route; make the trek a bit easier on yourself by wringing every bit of assistance out of the smartest of eating tools. ♥
Pearl Two
As many of you know I’ve taken the no-sugar challenge and am now on my forty-seventh day of very little sugar (quite a bit under the twenty-five recommended grams a day suggested for women). And, as you also know there’s a study out of England that says it takes us sixty-six days to shift an activity into the automatic part of our brains. So, wish me luck, I’m almost there.
As I’ve mentioned the first sixteen days were the most difficult, and I only slipped one time (with a small piece of cake), but I haven’t slipped since.
Has no-sugar kept me at the lower end of my weight-window? It seemed like in the beginning it was helping, but I think my inner cookie monster just moved from sugar calories to cereal-calories or bagel-calories. What have I learned? Well, once I’ve completed all sixty-six days I plan to stick with the no-sugar plan, but will allow myself a bit of cake or something like it once a week, but I won’t be returning to having sugar in the morning. (That said, if you want to have your “Brownies with Breakfast”, go for it. Years ago, I found this hack to be immensely helpful when I was trying to get off of nighttime sugar.) ♥
Pearl Three
September’s challenge: Journal-write to a new prompt.
September 1 prompt: fried-Oreos (write about the good, the bad and the ugly. You don’t have to like the idea of fried-Oreos, write about what the idea of fried-Oreo brings up?).
Today’s journal prompt: How do I sabotage what I say I most want?
Remember, just write in your journal free-style (what it brings up for you). ♥
Pearl Four
Life’s too short to read boring books
You guys, I have the best book to recommend today: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. I had just finished a phenomenal read, and so wasn’t expecting much when I picked up Behold the Dreamers and casually started reading. But — holy cow –the story grabbed me immediately. One hundred pages later, it was time to turn off the light and go to sleep.
Phew. I love a book that grabs me from the first page.
The story takes a good look at the wealthy in New York and juxtaposes their life against the working poor. Doesn’t sound like a great story? Read it anyway. You might even plan to take this book-dessert to bed even earlier – like at 7 p.m. – so you can get to page 100 without ruining a good night’s sleep.
Behold the Dreamers is sweet, yet meaty and so good. Also, an Oprah pick. My review: Five thousand stars. ♥
Pearl Five
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. It’s about creating yourself.” ♥
George Bernard Shaw
I’m spending this weekend coloring my grays, decluttering (I get inspo when I see a hoarders episode, yikes-city) and watching season 12 of Call the Midwife!! Have you heard? The new season is now streaming on Netflix!!
Have a wonderful weekend, Everyone!
♥, Wendy
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