Do Tiny Wins — like Losing Four Ounces – Really Move the Needle?

Art flourishes when we live out of the box.

Hello Thrivers!

Let’s jump right in!

Pearl One

Every year my town center displays the most beautiful Christmas tree I’ve ever seen. It’ s made from various-sized, all white-lit globes with the largest globes sitting at the bottom, getting smaller as they ascend into a traditional shape.

It’s a work of art. Every year I’m surprised to see the tree because — in my mind — a bureaucracy is about long lines, initialing twenty-thousand forms and hearing, “we don’t do it like that. Next!”

But turns out, my assumptions about government weren’t keeping with the times. I forgot to factor in the baby boomers who’ve – in my town’s case – installed wondrous and/or super cool art in all five parks. These are some forward thinking people. And I know that other towns and cities are going all-in on art too.

Photo courtesy City of Suwanee

Why Group-Think is a Liability

I don’t know how I knew, but something inside told me that (in this case)the herd was wrong; a slow weight loss – a pound here, half a pound there — took me to my preferred weight. Keep in mind that I only weighed myself when I had the boys at the pediatrician’s office.

Otherwise, I put my scale away and focused only on building strong habits.

Funny enough as you begin to notice more of our culture’s “truths” about weight loss and develop your own, the quicker you’ll actually lose weight.

Keep your eyes peeled for the automatic assumptions that are rife in the weight loss culture. ♥

(p.s. I know that many, many women love decorating their Christmas tree creating their own works of art. I was using the white tree as an example.)

Pearl Two

To engage with your unconscious, journal-write to these questions:

• what do I automatically think when I hear, “tiny wins really do add up?”

• How can I break though this vintage thinking and give “lose slow” a try?

• What worries me about thinking differently about weight loss?

• Has the herd’s understanding of weight loss impacted my success?

• What are my automatic assumptions around weight loss? (You may need to journal-write to this question a lot: it’s hard to see our assumptions.)

• How can I reframe old assumptions into fresh and new thoughts and habits.

Consider that the “experts” in weight loss don’t really know why one woman is 20-, 60-, or 400-pounds over a healthy weight. (Although they’re certainly trying.)

You know how some people are the “but why” folks? And no matter the situation they’re usually playing devil’s advocate?

Well, you and I need a bit of their fairy-dust starting with: weight loss only works with a scale and at a fast clip loss.

A great example of vintage thinking. ♥

Pearl Three

I’m keeping pearl three for something fun that I want to share

Have you heard of a “food-puzzle” for cats? Omg, I love the food puzzles!

Max is – let’s just say – well-insulated. The vet gets on my case about his weight every time.

We use two food-puzzles: a puzzle-ball that Max rolls around to get food to appear.

He also has what they call a Tower food-puzzle which Max loves too. Like the ball-puzzle it slows down his eating. ♥

Pearl Four

Pearl four is where I share phenomenal finds to keep book-dessert present and vibrant in your life

I know that I’m probably one of the last on the planet to read this marvel of a book, but I finally got to The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This book spent ten years on the New York Times best seller list who called the book, “brilliant. . . it can be the type of book that’s life-changing.”

It’s set in 1939 and we meet a very poor German family. I tried to skim-read the conclusion so that I could recommend all of it to you, but every time I tried skim-reading, the book wouldn’t let me. I kept getting drawn into the story.

If you love historical fiction, you’re probably already read this book. But if Nazis and concentration camps upset you, there’s not a lot of typical Nazi stuff here. The relationship of the characters with each other makes it work so well.

Loved this book. Total Book-Dessert. ♥

Pearl Five

There was a calling to my life and I responded to the call.” — Oprah ♥

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Have a beautiful weekend, everyone!

♥, Wendy

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