Five Pearls to Fuel Losing After 50

No spoilers, but Betty Draper spits out her whipped cream.

This blog won’t make sense until you read the Aunt Bea booklet (you’ll find her on this page to the right, under my short bio). 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. Or just email me: Wendy@WendyIrvineWriter.com.

Pearl One

Let’s begin with commitment. Did you see Mad Men? The main character, Don Draper, is married to Betty. No spoilers, but in one season tiny-Betty gains a lot of weight (for her), and in another season decides to shed the pounds.

We watch as she participates in WW meetings so we get that she’s ready to lose, but it’s not until Betty arrives home one day that we learn how very serious she is about slimming down.

The scene: After yet another exasperating experience with Don, Betty arrives home and heads immediately to the fridge, pulls out a can of whipped cream, and squirts it straight into her mouth.

But then, we also see Betty run to the kitchen sink and spit the whipped cream out without having eaten any.

At that, we understand: the woman is committed.

Trust me, showing ourselves that we’re committed to losing/maintaining after 50 is crazy helpful. Here are a few ways I showed myself on the regular that I was – and still am — 100-percent-in!!

For example, I:

Devoted myself to losing slowly knowing that losing quickly throws our bodies into a state of panic worried that we’re starving ourselves and will die. Similarly when I plateaued I knew that my body needed the time to adjust to my most recent loss.

Called myself a “thriver” allowing me to look at my experience in the world differently: my life wasn’t stagnant, I was learning, growing and improving – in some way – every day. Even as I plateaued.

Learned to journal-write about living the smart eating lifestyle. I’ve learned so much from my own writing (because the writing moments are when our subconscious comes to life).

Emptied my kitchen of junk food and asked my husband to put his treats where I couldn’t see or reach them.

Stopped hanging out with friends who’d turned overeating into a hobby (I know this sounds harsh, but it needed to happen). More on this important topic here.

Decided to manage Costco’s treats by making a serious beeline around the junk food aisles.

Became really good at saying, “no, but thank you” when friends or family would offer food that didn’t agree with my smart eating lifestyle.

Took a cold bag of food with me into the car for errand-running, trips and so forth. I still take a cold-bag with me to this day. Being hungry in public is a major no-way.

Realized that I can “fun eat” five percent of the time, but that I’d “fuel eat” the rest of the time. ♥

Pearl Two

“Hope is not a strategy” say so many (but maybe Vince Lombardi was the first). I love this quote because it emphasizes the necessity of committing to making big wins real versus crossing our fingers.

But then, I wondered, what is the difference between strategies and tactics? Here’s what I found:

Strategy: I’ll improve my health by eating more vegetables every single day.

Tactic 1: I’ll eat a vegetable with every meal of the day.

Tactic 2: I’ll pack at least one veggie into my cold-bag every day for drives.

Tactic 3: I’ll snack on a bowl of veggies when reading or watching a show.

One more example.

Strategy: I’ll become super knowledgeable on how habits form.

Tactic 1: I’ll read – and re-read — Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. My review: Wish these two excellent books were around when I was in high school.

Tactic 2: I’ll pick one habit to create as I’m reading Atomic Habits.

Tactic 3: I’ll write in my journal about the positive habits I’ve already created. ♥

Pearl Three

Using Time for Good. I wasn’t that great at losing until I embraced the idea that losing (and maintaining) after 50 was a part-time job.

I needed to feel good about the hours of chopping veggies, boiling eggs, shopping for the healthiest food, taking a walk each day, filling a cold-bag for errands and so on.

Once I called losing a part-time job, the time I spent on developing better habits for a smart eating lifestyle felt beautifully worthwhile. ♥

Pearl Four

Snacking. Back in the day, I loved kicking back on the couch, reading, and sticking my hand over and over into a bowl or box of something tasty: Cheeze-Its were my go-to. But almost anything would do as long as it wasn’t real food. I’d crunch through caramel corn, Oreos, even baby marshmallows mixed with nuts and chocolate chips. (It was my own little food party.)

That’s how healthy I was.

Fast forward to today: I still love reading while dipping my hand into something for my mouth, but these days I make a bowl of petite carrots, baby tomatoes, and coined cucumbers. I love the crunch of veggies. Note: the baby tomatoes especially need to be fresh from the store. Wait too many days and they have a mushy mouth-feel to them that I don’t like.

Sometimes I chunk up a Honeycrisp.

In the summer it’s grapes, cherries and watermelon.

I worried about telling you how I snack because I’m afraid it makes me look goody-goody like, “well, isn’t she special?”

Trust me, it took mega-time to associate healthy snacking with a good book. But if I can do it, you can do it because I keep saying and will never stop: there is nothing unusual about me. The only difference between you and me is that I’ve accumulated these mind-shifts over the years. And that is it. ♥

Pearl Five

“To do anything to a high level, it has to be a total obsession.” — Conor McGregor ♥

Make it a fantastic weekend, everyone!

♥, 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). 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!

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