7 Myths of Weight Loss that Need to Go the Way of the Cigarette

What workout is “play” for you?

Hello Thrivers,

Once again, thank you for jumping to Mondays with me! I’m sitting here happy because I have a full bag of my favorite stir fry frozen veggies from Costco (you’ll find them next to the frozen strawberries).

My standard dinner is brown rice and vegetables from any store, but I love Costco’s by far the most.

As Shania says, “Let’s go, girls!

Pearl One

Myth 1: Working Out Works for Weight Loss

Working out is an absolute “must” for all of us of course, but every time I see a woman who looks like she’s being tortured huffing and puffing down the sidewalk, I want to stop the car, jump out and say, “You didn’t hear. Unless we’re training to be in the Navy Seals we don’t lose weight by chugging up and down the street.”

Weight loss is only impacted by what we eat (again, unless we’re a swimmer on the high school’s swim team).

My take? The best workout is choosing an activity that’s seriously fun for you because so much good comes from being active.

Endorphins from a workout are almost like a medication with the only side effects being a stronger heart (from cardio) and stronger muscles (from the we weights we lift). And an active lifestyle is said to combat falling and breaking a bone, several cancers, diabetes, and heart problems. Not to mention helping us sleep better at night and being less grumpy during the day.

Pick what’s most fun for you. I’ve seen women on the river kayaking, I’ve seen women surfing, and I’ve seen women taking long walks with their fur-kids. Pick a handful of activities you love and establish a strong habit of committing to your playtime five times a week.

The idea of getting sweaty everyday for thirty to forty minutes is the gold standard for healthy bodies. My point is: skip the unsustainable huffing and puffing and take a long walk instead. And consider adding weight lifting to your life too: every study tells us that weightlifting after age 50 is one of the best habits we”ll ever embed. ♥

Myth 2: Self-Control and Motivation Is Our Only Hope

Way back when, I wouldn’t have understood it if someone had told me that motivation offers false hope and won’t help us lose weight. (I would’ve thought, “well, what else is there?!”)

But today having preserved my loss for 18 years now, I can tell you unequivocally that motivation plays no role in losing and maintaining for the long run after 50.

Motivation is like Endora from Bewitched, it pops up when it feels like it and that’s no way to craft a life. The only way to lose and maintain is to develop ironclad habits.

If you find yourself hoping for self-control or motivation, dip back into Atomic Habits by James Clear to remember how crucial smart habits are when we’re trekking this weight loss mountain.

Myth 3: Calories In, Calories Out!

As I was losing 55 pounds (after my aha moment), and went onto preserve the loss for 18 years at this point it became clear to me that calorie eaten at 9 p.m. are different from calories eaten in the morning.

For example, I’m convinced that breakfast like a king, lunch like a princess, and eat dinner like a pauper is what’s made everything work for me. I encourage readers to combine what I call the Royal Eating Plan (REP) style with their eating plan of choice (Mediterranean, WW, Mayo Clinic and so forth).

But here’s people who wrote it much better than I did: Bust the Myth.

And these two studies back up my own experience of losing and preserving:

• National Institute of Health: “Timing of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Effects on Obesity and Metabolic Risk.” (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p.m.c/articles/P.M.C6893547/.)
• And ScienceDaily: “Eating dinner early, or skipping it, may be effective in fighting body fat.” (www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161103091229.htm.)

Myth 4: After Menopause There’s Just No Way.

Our culture has long trumpeted the idea that women “over a certain age” are simply out of luck if they’re hoping for a large loss after age 50 with a plan to maintain (preserve) the loss forever.

But here’s the deal, in these modern times you and I have smart eating tools and updated knowledge at our fingertips that our moms and grandmas never came close to having. It hurts my heart to think about how they approached weight loss, and how – while they might’ve pulled off ten or twenty pounds for a wedding or reunion – they had no idea how to preserve the loss for a lifetime.

Chuck the yesteryear playbook; we’re writing new rules to what women “of a certain age” can accomplish.

Myth 5: Losing Weight is Easy

Years ago — when I had my “moment of clarity” (habits first, then scale) — and began to lose in earnest, I never once thought, “hey, establishing habits is easy!” Let’s be honest, losing weight and preserving for the long run takes dedication and the use of super cool, modern tools to navigate our food-as-far-as-the-eye-can-see culture. Getting a college degree, becoming a great musician, losing and preserving for a lifetime: none of it easy. The main culprit who promotes the idea of “dieting can be easy” is the diet-cartel, the very people who have the most to gain in this arrangement.

Myth 6: Losing Weight is Impossible

It’s funny, but the group that tells us to lose forty pounds before a surgery are the same peeps who can’t really tell us how to lose the 40 pounds and certainly don’t know anything about how to create a forever-loss.

Myth 7: Losing Weight Has a Beginning and an End Point

If we’re being honest, we’ll admit that we once saw losing weight – or smart eating — as something “we did” such as, “I can’t wait to go off this diet so that I can have pizza again.”

Today we know that losing weight and preserving for a lifetime is what we’re shooting for. Learning how to live with pizza is the whole idea. I eat pizza two or three times a year and I keep it to one slice or if I want to eat more slices, I wrap them up and save them for the morning.

We no longer lose weight for the summer and gain it all back by the end of December.

We’re older, wiser and too tired to go along with the “weight loss is linear” myth that hogged all the limelight in the last century. Weaving smart, strong food habits into the very fiber of our being is the only way to a successful forever-loss. ♥

Pearl Two

Remember how we learned in middle school English to never — lol — use the words “always” or “never” when we write? Well, sorry Mrs. Garland, because here I go.

Do you want to know the one habit I never stray from? I always “Eat Before I Eat.” I never arrive at the dinner table, party, or restaurant hungry. Of course, I don’t show up full either, but you won’t hear me say, “I’m famished!!”

Here’s how to Eat Before You Eat: about thirty-minutes before a meal, have something easy like a handful of cherries, an open-face peanut butter with a touch of honey sandwich, carrots in hummus, a half-cup cottage cheese with grapes (one of my favorites), one banana and so forth. And if I’m driving to an event, I eat healthy snacks out of my adorable cold-tote.

Our mission: never begin a meal “starving”!

Taking the edge off our hunger by using the Eat Before You Eat tool is a massive game-changer because it puts us in the control-seat. No longer is the gorgeous plate of lasagna and crunchy garlic bread in charge.

Sorry beautiful food! Your spell over me is — poof! — gone.

Eat Before You Eat and your brilliant brain is back at the helm. ♥

Pearl Three

If you’d like me to include a bridge sequence just let me know in the comments below. This sequence is for all of us but especially new Thrivers:

Default Sequence

• Situation (be very concrete): I’m just beginning on the Smart Eating Path and Wendy writes that we need to put our scales in the closet.
• Default thought: What a stupid idea.
• Feeling: Hopeless. Angry. Stubborn.
• Action: I will not put my scale away.
• Result: I get nowhere. Nothing changes except that I’m constantly annoyed at myself.

New Sequence

• Situation (be very concrete): I’m just beginning on the Smart Eating Path and Wendy writes that we need to put our scales in the closet.
• Chosen thought:  I’ve chosen to take the risk of putting the scale in my closet because Wendy said that it’s not about the number at this point it’s about the habits.
• Feeling: Confident.
• Action: I write a plan for each day including obstacles I’ll face (like Judy’s bday party). I track my food with the notebook next to the fridge.
• Result: I feel good, I’m trying on a new way of engaging with food. I can see now that it’s habit first and the scale will follow.

P.S. I’m not anti-scale. I think there’s a time and place to use a scale, but strong food habits are what will have your back for a forever-loss.

Pearl Four

This is our book-dessert slot. And this week I came up empty book-wise. So, I thought it would be fun to share one of my most favorite books ever. This book should be included in all middle and high school reading classes.

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell tells a powerhouse of a story about an American woman who worked with England and became a spy behind enemy lines in WW2.

The author deserves all the accolades because Purnell tells a complex story and makes every chapter both riveting and scary. I’ll never forget the scenes when the Nazis are just inches from grabbing Virginia.

This book would make a wonderful gift for everyone, but especially teens and young women: it’s a testament to how much women are capable of. The only negative for this story? No mention of how Virginia was able to sleep at night behind enemy lines. Highly recommend.

Pearl Five

“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.”

Suzy Kassem

Have a fantastic week everyone!

♥, 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.

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, 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. ♥