Life happens. Plan for it to go your way.
Pearl One
Hello everyone!
We have new thrivers onboard and welcome! If you haven’t yet read “Begin Here”, I encourage you to. It’s the kind of info. that helps these posts make a lot more sense! The following pearls are partially from older pearls.
Pearl One
Some of us read every word of these posts—and I really love it when you point out typos! Really—while others read one post here and another there. But here’s the thing: by not reading 90 percent of this blog, you’re missing the full impact of how I was able to lose 55 lbs. and, 19 years later, maintain the loss.
As you know, losing weight after 50 and creating a forever-loss equals important mind-shifts, habits and tools. But if someone asked me right, but if you could only pick three important themes, what would they be?
I would pick these guys:
One — An excellent example of why I’ve been successful
As you know, there’s so much involved in losing weight. Sweeping the kitchen of calories, asking housemates to please eat junk food out of the house (said with a gentle smile), buying the right foods (and gear like an air fryer) to make the trek a smidge more doable, is all a crazy amount of work.
So, when I began thinking of losing weight after 50 as “a part-time job,” it gave me much-needed room to breathe. I wasn’t trying to cram my new Smart Eating Lifestyle into every spare nook and cranny of my life anymore (and getting super frustrated in the process). Instead, with that “part-time job” mindset, I found the space to open up windows of time that helped me set myself up for success. Once I was into maintenance-mode, I called it my hobby.
2. I don’t let myself get hungry
Could there be a more important strategy? You and I have a habit with hunger and it’s not a good one. Allowing ourselves to get overly hungry is the direct route to messing up our smart eating plans.
And I’m not only talking about famished-hunger, I’m talking about the kind of hunger that presents itself after a meal when we think, “a handful of peanut M&Ms sure sounds tasty.”
Which was me last night.
And after these many years, the cave woman part of my brain suggested this very handful of candy just last night.
It wasn’t ten or twenty years ago.
It was last night.
Before I started to vacuum up the calories, I realized what was happening — I was still merely hungry — and had a small bowl of cereal. Disaster averted.
My M&M craving? Gone.
Bottom line: nobody makes smart food choices when she’s hungry.
My default live life with your cold-tote — packed in smart food – by your side. Always Eat Before You Eat. And never, ever return home hungry.
3. I Plan and Plan and Plan.
I highly recommend planing your food and snacks for the day ievery morning.
Let’s say that my calendar shows that I have a snoozer of a meeting today, a meeting that invariably includes a pink box of donuts. That said, I plan for it. What can I plan to eat ten minutes before the meeting? During the meeting and after? A lot of us just sit through the boring meeting hungry and when it’s over we might grab a donut on way out. No. In the morning take time to plan out your eating day. –
Here’s the game plan: we want to increase our planning muscle those “donut moments.” It’s about, “just ask whoever’s bringing the donuts to please stop. The goal is to enter the meeting and not think about the donuts at all..
Losing and maintaining after fifty is no picnic, but using the right tools? We’re on our way. ♥
Pearl Two
Our journal writing prompts.
- Explain the one habit or rule you stick to no matter what, even when traveling or on vacation.
- Write about what you do in the first five minutes before overeating. how do you react? what would be at better response.
- Share how thinking of weight loss as a “part-time job” changes the way you approach it day to day.
- Talk about the foods you always make sure to have in your grocery cart and why they matter.
- Describe how eating before you’re truly hungry changes your ability to make good food choices.
- Explain the ways you plan ahead to make life easier for your “future tired self.”
- Share how you changed your mindset about exercise so it became something you could stick with long term.
- Describe how you organize your kitchen so it supports your weight-loss and maintenance goals.
- Explain why you plan more than you think you need to and how that prevents slip-ups. ♥
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.
Automatic Sequence
- Situation (be concrete, just the facts): In college, Jill lost fifty-five pounds, but after three babies she gained it back plus five.
- Knee-jerk thought: Why have I let this happen? What is my problem? Why can’t I get it together like everyone else?
- Feeling: She feels disgusted with herself.
- Action: Jill tells herself that she’s “fat and ugly ten times a day.”
- Result: She returns to the land of the ultra-processed.
Chosen Sequence
Situation (be concrete, just the facts): In college, Jill lost fifty-five pounds, but after three babies she gained it back plus five.
Chosen thought: Hey, with every baby comes weight gain (congratulations, you’ re normal. I’m going to look at my weight as a souvenir from my darling peanuts.*
Feeling: warm and mushy about my peanuts
Action: I started researching what new weight loss methods are out there. and I started the trek. Result: Jill’s down ten pounds and likes this new idea of “holding” for at least a month, giving her body time to get used the “new normal.” ♥
Pearl Four
If you’re a fan of Erik Larson (The Splendid and the Vile; Isaac’s Storm), then you’ll really enjoy the Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre. (I hear you. A spy book? Not for me. What else have you got?
But this true story is oddly compelling and reads like fiction. The author must have done years of research amount of research; the author keeps the s. It’s about a Russian highly-ranked KGB spy carefully indicates to the MI6 know that he’s ready and willing. As you can guess, MI6 was ecstatic.
I wasn’t paying attention to the Cold War during the 1970s and 1980s. I love when a book teaches me something new and tells a great story. Funny that I recommend this book now just as Trump meet with Putin. Mere coincidence. If you need a stay up too late reading, This is your book-dessert. ♥
Pearl Five
The mouth obeys poorly when the heart murmurs.” — Voltaire ♥
I would be so grateful if you’d leave a comment in the comment section below. In fact question: besides food, what soothes you when you’re feeling low?
Have a beautiful August week!
♥, Wendy
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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!!
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.
