Miracles are Down to Smart Mind Shifts (aka Believing in Ourselves)

Welcome to our new peeps! The red carpet is rolled out for you. So happy you’re here. As Tim Ferriss said, “people don’t want more information about their problems. They want solutions to their problems.”

Below in pink you’ll find five super important posts. The regular Monday post I send will make a lot more sense after you read these pink titles. And if you haven’t received your Aunt Bea copy just write in the comments below and I’ll shoot it right over.

• Begin Here
• This Metaphor Is My Constant Companion as I Preserve My Weight Loss After Age Fifty
• Brownies for Breakfast
• 6 Pillars of Losing Weight After Age 50
• How to Conquer Your Evening Sugar Cravings

Pearl One

Are you okay with being different? I sure wasn’t. We moved enough when I was young, and I was terrible at being the new girl in class. Breaking into cliques wasn’t my forte, so I’ve found myself with a lifelong feeling of wanting to blend in.

But the way I see it, you and I are the first generation of women over 50 who are taking our food-porn culture by the scruff and telling it, “You’ve done enough damage, we’re taking back our health one smart, ingrained habit at a time.”

Thing is, it’s important to make peace with being different.

• Different is telling an eating-buddy that you can’t meet her anymore at the cute bakery because you know you’ll overeat the “muffins” (really cupcakes minus the frosting) in the glass case.
• Different is putting your foot down when someone tries to schedule an activity during the day and time you’ve set aside for your Pilates class.
• Different is asking the server “too many” questions about the ingredients in the food at the restaurant and getting the side-eye from your partner.

I’ll say it again: we are the first generation of over 50s who can – and are – taking ownership of our health and our bodies. We determine our weight-fate, not Ben & Jerry’s.

And this requires swimming against the tide.

We can learn to navigate our culture’s gazillion calories, but it’s very unfamiliar territory. It requires entirely new food habits, new ways of eating with friends and family, and new reframes.

There’s nothing special about me. My dad never won Olympic gold. My mom was never a Rockette. My point is that I’m very average. If I can do this, you can too. ❄️

Pearl Two

Pull out your journal and get feedback from the wisdom inside of you!

• In what ways has my age made weight loss more sustainable?
• What patience or boundaries do I have now that I lacked before?
• How has my relationship with food matured along with me?
• What has my body taught me in this season of life that it couldn’t teach me when I was younger?
• Which weight-loss “rules” no longer apply to me and what good can come out of letting them go?
• How has my sense of worth changed with age? ❄️

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff. Apply to your own life.

Initial Sequence

• Situation: Margaret, 68, notices that her grandson’s college application essay contains five serious factual errors as he prepares to submit it.
• Knee-jerk thought: “If I intervene, I might embarrass him and undermine his independence. If I stay silent, the mistakes could affect his chances of getting into the school.:
• Feeling: Confused about what to do and scared of doing/saying the wrong thing.
• Action: Margaret ends up staying silent. She decided to stay out of it.
• Result: “Ultimately,” she thought “getting into a particular school was between her grandson and his parents.” There was nothing she could do.

Chosen Sequence

• Situation: Margaret, 68, notices that her grandson’s college application essay contains five serious factual errors as he prepares to submit it.”
• Chosen Thought: I may make my grandson mad, but I can’t let him send off the essay with those errors. This is the perfect time for me to make “a sandwich (say something positive, point out the mistakes, and finish up with another positive).”
• Feeling: Margaret feels a sense of pride in her own abilities to handle the situation whether her grandson gets mad or appreciates the feedback. Either way, she’s feeling positive.
• Action: Fixing the mistakes on his essay takes time and her grandson gets grumpy, but Margaret simply responds, “Anyone who has ever written anything has had to work on their copy.” At the end of the day she thinks that it’s about integrity to speak up in a gentle way.
• Results: Margaret can feel it. Her relationship with her grandson has deepened and it means the world to her. ❄️

Pearl Four

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler features two women: one is young and raising a family, the other elderly. The story is about their friendship and is a slow-burn read, heartwarming, and emotional. Excellent book-dessert. ❄️

Pearl Five

Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe.” ❄️

— James Clear

If you’ve lost weight, December is the only month in the year to keep your weight stable (within a four-pound window). But whatever you eat, keep your habits protected and safe from the holiday buffet line.

Stabilizing — what we once called plateaus — will give your body and mind the necessary and important time to adjust to your new normal weight. Stabilizing is the magic way to overcome the body’s “set-point” theory (that bodies always return to a certain weight). Blow your own mind by keeping your focus on stabilizing.

Have a great week!

♥, Wendy

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.

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I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or 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.