The Chocolate-Lovers Guide to Making Smart-Eating Decisions When We’re Losing After 50

Pearl One

Of course, pizza was a pain, but it was nothing compared to the difficulty of relegating chocolate to my “twice a year only” list.

Hands down, chocolate is one of the best discoveries of mom-kind (you’re included too fur-moms).

Chocolate is like the sun that my awful days, snooze-fest days, and just day-days revolved around. In my life prior to “seeing the light” there was always a good reason to have chocolate. (And if you live near a See’s Candy you have my sympathies.) 

Too make a solid dent in my chocolate habit I did the following. Do all three at once and you’re good to go.

1 – I took Tim Ferriss’s advice to make one decision thereby eliminating hundreds more throughout the year. In other words, if you’ve decided to take a break from chocolate for a year, you won’t have to give careful thought when someone offers something with chocolate, it’s just a simple, “Thanks, but I’m good.” (This is the moment to pull out your cold tote-bag and eat from it. I’ve also found that Clif Bars go really well with coffee. I usually eat half, and eat the other half later.)

In my case, one year of giving up chocolate turned into forever. I have some once in a while, but on the whole, it doesn’t take me hostage anymore. Eighteen years into this, it’s not that the chocolate doesn’t call to me, it’s just that my “no thanks” has developed into a much stronger muscle.

2 – I customize a plan – in writing — for every moment of a holiday or an event that I know will feature chocolate. I used to plan to the minute, how I would handle every obstacle that came my way. (People themselves can pose an obstacle all on their own too, so make a solid plan if you’re hanging with this person.)

3 – I keep a running list on my kitchen cupboard’s inside door. I’ve meta-noticed that when I’m on the hunt for food in my kitchen, I’ll head straight for the high calories. But if I keep a list on my cupboard door of what’s available smart eating wise, I’m far more likely to say: “Oh, yeah! I forgot I had grapes, pineapple, baby yogurt, baby carrots dipped in hummus, hard-boiled eggs” and so forth.

I’m not saying that giving up a favorite food like chocolate is easy, but I am saying that with the right mindset it’s doable and completely worth it. ♥

Pearl Two

Back when I was heavy, I was so tired of it all. I remember going to every activity or event always mildly hungry. I’d head out the door to go shopping or the library and my mild-hunger of course would turn into moderate-hunger and, especially if The Scarfer was with me, we’d end up stopping at fast-food or hit the grocery store for junk-food.

Back then I truly assumed that sticking to my eating plan meant being hungry a lot of the time. Now I just feel sorry for all of us who grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

• I didn’t know about Eating Before You Eat.
• Or always carrying a cold-tote packed in healthy food with an ice pack; taking it everywhere.
• I hadn’t learned the habit of always keeping a Clif bar as back-up in my purse.
• I was never taught that arriving to an event hungry would wake up my cave woman who’d assume that I was starving, take immediate control and begin her search for the highest calories around.
• I didn’t see the connect between hunger and a natural drive, not to look for an apple, but to head for whatever “full-bodied” food I could get my hands on.

You and I are “unlearning” so much from the past decades like that being hungry is part of weight loss (it’s not), or hard work outs will make us thin (only if we’re a teen on the high school swim team) or that fasting was a totally legit way to lose weight (remember Oprah’s liquid diet from the ’80s?).

Having grown up marinating in the yo-yo diet culture of yesteryear means we have a lot of unlearning to do. We’ve learned that arriving anywhere hungry is a red flag. We can identify red flags and customize a plan for each red flag that comes our way. We’ve learned: make a plan for the red flag and watch that flag disappear. ♥

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.

Let’s do a chocolate sequence!

The Initial Sequence

• Situation (be very concrete): The Scarfer brought home my favorite chocolate: Junior Mints.
• Thought: omg, yum! But I’m not doing chocolate this year. Stupid, stupid Smart Eating Lifestyle.
• Feeling: very irritated.
• Action: I down the junior mints (that’ll show the Smart Eating Lifestyle. Ha!)
• Result: After I eat the mints, I start beating up on myself and either spiral totally out of control immediately or tighten my eating to such a degree that I’d end up overeating anyhow.

It’s natural to often need a bridge sequence between your default thought to your chosen thought.

The New Sequence

• Situation (be very concrete): The Scarfer brought home my favorite chocolate: Junior Mints.
• Chosen thought: I immediately ask The Scarfer to put the junior mints into the highest cupboard so that I can’t reach the candy even with a step-stool. (I find that out of sight is out of mind.)
• Feeling: Matter of fact and positive.
• Action: I eat a cup of cold pineapple.
• Result: I’m a happy clam. ♥

Pearl Four

Italy’s part in WW2 has always confused me. First, they’re with Hitler, but then they teamed up with the good guy’s side. This book-dessert is about an Italian teenager and how he helps the resistance in German occupied Italy. What makes this story so interesting is that it’s based on a real teenager who shared all of the story with the author. One of the best books I’ve read this year. Over 200,000 Amazon readers gave it 4.5 stars.

This amazing story is titled Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan. You will devour this book-dessert.

Pearl Five

The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.” — James Clear in Atomic Habits ♥

Are you guys tracking? There are actually two kinds of tracking that I do: one, tracking and counting food at each meal. My notebook sits directly next to my fridge. And two, I track my scale’s weight for years now. To be clear, I didn’t get on scales — only at the pediatrician’s office — because I have a motto: Habits first, and the scale will follow. Give it some thought, because the motto will not let you down.

♥, Wendy

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I am not an expert, a doctor, a surgeon, a nurse or a 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. ♥