It’s hard to know whether a new handbag is buy-able without a budget & why this matters to us.

Hello Thrivers!!

Can I brag for a second? I’m getting better at picking really good books for our Pearl Four book-dessert. I’m getting great suggestions from various Facebook pages and I’m also discovering new authors — like John Boyne and Rachel Joyce — and end up wanting to read all of their books.

I wanted to point out my favorite pearl today, but I think all five are impactful for our quest to lose after age fifty in a food-culture gone berserko. ♥

Pearl One

If you and I are talking money and I say to you, “Save more” you wouldn’t know what I meant in terms of your day-to-day money decisions.

Seeing you look puzzled, I might add, “Save, don’t consume.”

At that – and because you’re so industrious — you might begin to squirrel away every last cent. You won’t travel, you’ll buy your clothes at the thrift store, and you’ve ditched the idea of having grand kids because — hello?! — they’re expensive and never hit the clearance rack. (You have to remind yourself to give your adult kids your decision.)

Without a larger, overall financial plan, it would be natural for you to wonder, “Can I afford a fancy hand-bag? I’m not really sure.”

In this situation, you’re attempting to purchase an item without having a greater plan — in the case of money, we call it “a budget” –, and without that guiding light you’d have no idea whether you can afford an item or not.

But that’s exactly how it rolls when various and sundry people tell us, “lose a few pounds.” And yet nobody explains further. It’s as if somebody hands us a parachute and says, “You’ll be fine, just jump out of the plane.”

So, you see where I’m going with this.

For you and I to transform our relationship with food on a day-to-day basis, we must first create a big-picture plan that will help us make wise choices as we go about our minute-by-minute lives.

The Art of Going Rogue

Like using a budget, choosing an eating plan is vital for our long-term success.

In the late ’90s, I just happened to be on WW’s old points, liked the plan a lot, and have been on it to this day. But when they switched to “new points,” it was no matter to me, I just stuck with my pal, the old points system.

I thought, “if it’s not broke, why fix it?”

And bam! that was the dawning of my realization that our lovely diet-culture didn’t — and doesn’t — have my best interest at heart.

At all.

I sensed that switching eating plans every two or three years – old points, new points, colors, eat carbs, don’t eat carbs, fats are good, no they’re bad and so forth — would not help me in the least. (Years later, I agree with me even more today about keeping the same plan throughout your life.)

My Thought

Create your big picture plan. Write out exactly what you’d most love to have in life re: your weight, your clothes fitting well and the like. Maybe you want to be in great shape for the grand kids. Maybe you want to be able to easily ride your horse without worrying that you’re too heavy for him. Or even – like me – you grew up as a butterball and want to experience what a size-10 jean feels like for the next few decades.

Whatever your dream, journal-write about it, create an Oprah-like vision board, and plan to go a bit overboard as you bring your plan into reality. Remember, by calling losing after fifty a “part-time job” we’ve freed up time to let our unconscious speak to us through our pen or keyboard, and our vision board too. ♥

Pearl Two

This Pearl originally appeared in an earlier post.

I started losing weight in earnest back in ‘97 just before my sweet cousin’s wedding.

I was at the heaviest I’d ever been and, no, I wasn’t all lush and gorgeous like Christina Hendricks or Oprah.

Back then I attended weekly Weight Watcher’s meeting on the regular, and I’ll never forget one leader’s masterpiece of a metaphor.

Here’s the picture she painted:

Let’s say you need groceries.

You slide into your sexy red Corvette and drive to Whole Paycheck. Along the way you breeze through three green lights, park where nobody can scratch your baby, and head into the store.

All good, right?

But then the Weight Watcher leader said, “Wait! What if – as you’re driving to your favorite grocery store — you soar right through two green lights, but then come to a stop at a red?”

Do you roll your eyes thinking, knew it. Other people can go to the grocery store, I guess I don’t have what it takes. And then do you turn around and drive home?

Of course not.

That would be ridiculous.

But — her point was — we do exactly that when we swerve off the Smart Eating Path; we eat cake or Snickers or whatever and think, “everything’s ruined” and we commence to overeat for the next six months. Until many months later when we try again and end up in the same loop.

Year-in and year-out.

Manage Your Expectations

Here’s the thing: as you lose weight expect road bumps, slow trucks, and red stop lights.

Stop signs happen. We call them “slips.” Prepare for slips by creating a rock-solid back- up plan. (More on the back-up plan here.) ♥

Pearl Three

James Clear writes in Atomic Habits, “Conventional wisdom holds that motivation is the key to habit change. Maybe if you really wanted it, you’d actually do it. But the truth is, our real motivation is to be lazy and to do what is convenient. And despite what the latest productivity best-seller will tell you, this is a smart strategy, not a dumb one.”

There’s gold in them thar words. Mr. Clear is saying that the human being is motivated to be sloth-like and to do what is easy. My guess is that you and I love the easy life because our ancestors needed to conserve energy every chance they got in order to see the next morning.

So, awesome news: there was a time when our lazy gene served us well.

Even better, Clear is advising us to work with our lazy gene, and not against it. The idea is to make it difficult to get donuts, and super easy to pull together an oatmeal/blueberry bowl.

Clear is essentially telling us to get rid of the food in our kitchen that doesn’t have our best interests at heart, to put small hand weights in the bathroom where we’ll most likely lift them two or three times a day (ten reps each), and to carry a protein granola bar in our purse so we don’t stop at Burger King.

The plan: make smart eating super easy on yourself. Make it a pain in the neck to access the junk-food.

In the old days, motivation was all we knew, today we have a deeper understanding about humans in general and how habits directly affect the outcome of our lives. ♥

Pearl Four

I guess I’m a little bit of a book snob in that I’m far more likely to pick up a book that’s been at least nominated for a bunch of awards. But then I came upon Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. I opened the book only to find a page packed in awards, notables and honors. We’re talking “#1 New York Times bestseller”, “Winner of the Carnegie Medal”, a “Wall Street Journal Best Book” and on and on. Twenty in total. I’ve never seen a book’s list that garnered so many awards.

That said, I’ve only just dipped into Salt to the Sea’s first few chapters. Salt grabbed me on page one. Set in WW2, the book is told from four people’s perspectives. Reviewing the book, Booklist wrote, “An impeccably researched story of hardship and survival in Eastern Europe. “The New York Times said, ” Ruta Sepetys acts as champion of the interstitial people so often ignored — whole populations lost in the cracks of history.”

But when Salt to the Sea grabbed me from page one I thought, “this will be one amazing book-desert.“

P.S. The reason I’m not further into Salt to the Sea is because I was finishing up last week’s book-dessert: The Echo Chamber. Fun and highly recommended. ♥

Pearl Five

“There is no substitute for persistence. The person who makes persistence his watch-word, discovers that ‘Old Man Failure’ finally becomes tired, and makes his departure. Failure cannot cope with persistence.” ♥

Napolean Hill

When I visited CA last week, would you believe that I left my phone’s charging cord at home? And that the four stores I went to didn’t carry the “special” cord that my phone requires? In the end, it was totally fine. But the funny part was that my sister and niece were more horrified by the situation than I was.

I’d love a follow on Instagram or Facebook!

Have a wonderful weekend, All!!

♥, 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). 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!

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.

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. ♥

My favorite cold tote-bag to carry smart snacks.

My five-star book list.

A forever-habit that will always have our back.

Hello Thrivers!

Mid-October is the perfect time to say to friends and family, “please no food gifts in December.”

And to avoid a Halloween free-for-all, don’t buy candy that you love or even like a little.

Take me, I would never – ever — hand out Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (because I literally wouldn’t hand them out, I’d hide in the dark and eat them). ♥

Pearl One

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 a 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 Two

When I was a teenager, my first boyfriend – a dedicated weight lifter and runner – would watch me plow through a stack of Oreos in the afternoons (likely while watching Donahue), and finally one time said, “Now you’re just boredom-eating!”

“Um, I’m just what?” Back then, I’m fairly certain that I thought boredom-eating was just what one did.

I mean aside from meals, didn’t everyone snack on junk-food throughout the day and night? I mean, my friends all did (note: friends can make our ultimate success truly difficult).

Needless to say, I didn’t have a clue how to lose weight except to haul out my standard go-to: the yo-yo (which we now know doesn’t work anyway). If I’d only known the main pillars of smart eating, my life would have been so very different (for one, I’d still have my gall bladder. I miss that little guy).

Fast-forward to my early forties when I shifted from losing the fifty-five pounds to preserving the loss, and bringing my boyfriend’s simple comment from decades ago along for the ride.

As I held Peter’s words close, it also became clear that our culture encourages all kinds of eating-scenarios that aren’t in our best interest. Take a look.

• Entertainment-eating (the movies, eating in front of the TV, overeating at parties).

• Friend-eating (you overeat with specific pals).

• Impulse eating (someone brings home butter cookies in a pink box from a bakery).

• Distraction-eating (if I’m attacking the kitchen I can avoid thinking about whatever’s upsetting me).

• Evening-eating (when we inhale dessert after dessert at night).

• Exhaustion-eating (especially returning from vacation or a long day at work).

• The 3Es: every-emotion-eating (pretty obvious, but especially eating through grief).

• Weekend-eating (you let-loose for the weekend because you were “so good all week.”)

• Friday-evening-eating (same, love to inhale food after a stressful week work.)

A Better Plan for Our Smart Eating-Lives:

• Intentional eating (I plan and then make a plan to plan. Planning is like magic).

• Precision eating (I eat a small healthy snack every hour to get myself back on track after a free-for-all).

• Fuel-eating (I know that ninety-five percent of the time I’m eating for the energy I need for my daily life).

Journal-Gems

To get a better grip on why you reach for the highest calories around, start with your journal and give voice to your unconscious through your pen or keyboard. An excellent place to start:

• When did I first begin friends-eating?
• How did my friends-eating progress from there?
• How do I keep friends-eating habit alive today?
• What is a good habit(s) I can instill that will take the place of friends-eating? (Name at least three.)
• What would I most prefer that I do versus friends-eating?

While it’s not the last word on overeating, knowing yourself better will always play a pivotal role in how you engage with food. ♥

Pearl Three

The Pearl Three slot is now being dubbed “the habit pearl” where we’ll look closely at great books on habit.

In Atomic Habits, James Clear writes:

“The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom. We get bored with habits because they stop delighting us. The outcome becomes accepted. And as the habits become ordinary, we start derailing our progress to seek novelty. Perhaps this is why we get caught in a never-ending cycle, jumping from one workout to the next. As soon as we experience the slightest dip in motivation, we begin seeking a new strategy – even if the old one was still working.”

These words are gold. We know what’s it like first-hand to be in a never-ending cycle jumping from one eating plan to another. In the late 90s I picked a plan that I loved – WW old points – and I did not switch to the WW new points. I hear they’re doing colors now. We shouldn’t be changing our eating plan every two or three years. Choose one that you love and keep it forever.

Boredom is a huge obstacle to success to maintaining a Smart Eating Lifestyle. I even wrote the following post about exciting-eating: “Why Having a Food-Party in Your Mouth is Everything When We’re Losing After 50.” Read here.

Taking boredom seriously and addressing it in our lives is one of the pillars of self-care. When we ignore our boredom, we often default into food. I also wrote more specifically on boredom here. ♥

Pearl Four

• Did the book grab me from the first few pages? Five-Stars!
• Will the book keep me up late assuring that I’ll be a zombie in the morning? Yes, so set a timer.
• Did I learn something new from the book? Yes!
• Is the book good enough to capture my attention over a six-hour flight? Yes, yes, and yes!

I’ve read three of this author’s books and am stunned at how versatile he is. In one book, the back drop to his story is the history of Ireland from the 50’s to current day (The Heart’s Invisible Furies: Novel). So it’s easy to assume that he writes “historical fiction.” An excellent book, I highly recommend.

Another Boyne story focuses on a man attempting to reach the highest levels in the literary world (A Ladder to the Sky) and could be called “Boyne’s pointed thoughts about the ethics of book publishing” genre (Boyne skewers the publishing world). Also, an excellent book. Thoroughly recommend.

But right now, I’m smack in the middle of The Echo Chamber by our man, Mr. Boyne. Here the author takes on an entirely different genre. The Echo Chamber is written as a farce and very well done. In fact, the funniest line I’ve ever read in a book came from The Echo Chamber.

The main premise of the story might remind you of Schitt’s Creek: the parents are wealthy and their adult kids still live in mom and dad’s fancy diggs. The dad is a BBC famous talk show host awaiting a title from the queen, and the mom is a novelist who doesn’t write her own books, but hires someone to do the leg work.

In The Echo Chamber, Boyne mocks social media, political correctness, and the Woke culture as a whole. But even as he shines a light on our current cancel-culture, he stands solidly behind having a deep compassion for all. (He likely wrote this book in answer to his critics who took umbrage with a title of one of his books. He was 100-percent on their side and yet they went after him anyway.)

Trigger Warning (irony intended): I’m only half-way through this very fun read, so I don’t know anything about the ending, but I have heard that the turtle doesn’t make it. So proceed with caution.

If you need something light and entertaining you will love this book. ♥

Pearl Five

The secret to permanently breaking any bad habit is to love something greater than the habit.” ♥

Bryant McGill

It’s going to be an interesting weekend. For our new readers, my dad died in August and so I’m meeting my sister in California to go through my parent’s things (my mom has Alzheimer’s and is in memory care near my sister), and choose what we’d like to have. Then my sister is putting the house up for sale. Okay, this is just getting plain weird. A new family will live in our childhood home?! But, but then where will mom and dad live?! Oh, yeah. Okay, give me a minute, I’m starting to get it. Surreal stuff this getting older thing.

Traveling to CA and then back to Atlanta is a lot of time in airports and on planes. Wish me luck.

And I’d love a follow on Instagram or Facebook!

Have a wonderful weekend, All!!

♥, 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). 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!

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.

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. ♥

My favorite cold tote-bag to carry smart snacks.

My five-star book list.

She’s baaack! After an illness lead her into the land of high-calories, she hopped right back onto the Smart Eating Path. Consider it our super power to rebound after going astray from the Smart Eating Lifestyle.

Hello Thrivers!

I’m feeling great today. Did you know that vitamin supplements can cause insomnia?!

I know!! I didn’t know either.

Many nights over the span of the last two years or more, I’d read and then turn the light off at night, and lay there for a solid one to two hours. It was awful. Not every night, but every other.

I finally figured out that Vitamin D has to be taken in the morning or it causes sleeplessness. Same thing with another supplement I take. Once I moved the culprits to the morning: no more insomnia.

Cookie Monster-relief. ♥

Shall we?

Pearl One

Our first pearl is from a Thriver — one who’s battled breast cancer and thankfully is in remission today — who had a difficult month and fell off the Smart Eating Path. She said, “I went for the pastries, ice cream, bread, and pizza,” but then she used her powerful brain to hop back on. Check out how she did it. And look what her doctor said!

Our lovely Thriver wrote the following.

“I’ve been having a rough time. I have several triggers that — when combined — have always led to a few (or more) terrible eating days.  Lack of sleep, lack of planning, overwhelmed, and any BIG emotion.  

This time the catalyst was being sick a couple weeks (followed by my teen getting sick just as I started to feel better).

I wasn’t sleeping well, all my usual healthy foods turned my stomach, and I was thoroughly feeling sorry for myself because life got in the way and I couldn’t just hibernate and take care of myself. 

I made some smart eating choices and truly did make an attempt to thwart the not-smart eating. But then my teen got sick, and I wasn’t completely well enough to have full energy to help her. 

Cue the pity party and cavewoman mentality. My stomach still wasn’t great (even the thought of veggies turned my stomach). Down the rabbit hole of crappy eating I went. Life has been extra busy (too busy for me).

Turning it – the Smart Eating Lifestyle — around is HARD!  It is MUCH easier to stay on the smart eating path. So, what I do is: no matter how off the smart eating path I get, I keep up my water intake (unless being sick prevents that, which this time it did). I continued to weigh daily (otherwise, whatever my last weight was is what I believe it to be; I need the scale). 

I don’t make giant pronouncements or set high expectations for myself because I know I won’t meet them and it will lead to further food issues and prevent me from getting fully back to my smart eating. I maintained my intermittent fasting schedule, I do not buy large amounts of food. These things help me minimize the damage. 

Now, I know where things got off track and I am MUCH better about keeping the wheels on the track, I have made serious huge progress since working with Wendy.  But this time, it just fell apart, but definitely not as bad as in the past and I refuse to beat myself up for it.

A few days ago, I realized that I was craving veggies finally!  I took myself to the store and immediately got all the fresh veggies that looked good.  I made healthy hummus. I got unsweetened vanilla coconut milk yogurt, berries and grape nuts (to put in the yogurt).

 My smart eating plan is solidly moving forward and I feel good about it. The very few pounds I gained will come off. I am slowly still inching my way to my ultimate goal weight range. My doctor praised me at my physical last week!  In fact, he commented I was “so thin I can feel your bowel” during the bi-manual exam. (Wendy’s note: she was having a pelvic exam which is why the doctor could feel her bowel.)

I assure you, I am not “so thin” but it was a compliment that warmed my heart and certainly helped me mentally start figuring out how to right the non-smart eating that has been going on.

Finally, I remember that I am a “foodaholic” (instead of an alcoholic) and like any proper addict, I take it one day at a time.

My note: I love how Teen-Mom maintained several of her habits even as she strayed from the Smart Eating Path. I love that she didn’t “beat herself up”, because – really — what’s the point? I’m sorry that Teen-Mom was so sick, but I love how she rebounded and stepped back on the Smart Eating Path. Bravo Teen-Mom!! That’s the way it’s done!! ♥

Pearl Two

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I use the words “our” and “we” a lot. I think it helps to know that we have a million sisters out there who totally understand us and how we interact with food. (We’re a vast, sweet group.)

The Economist magazine wrote, ” Loneliness is the leprosy of the 21st century.”

I agree. No longer do we live in tribes, small villages for life, or a home with tight family bonds.

Today we move 3,000 miles away from where we grew up. Some of us even move to other countries. I met a woman the other day: one son was living in London and the other in Japan.

I have a theory that our population stumbles onto a particular addiction – gambling, overeating, drinking – because there’s loneliness there that Netflix or chocolate cake just can’t touch.

So, I use “our” and “we” so that we all fully understand that we’re not alone, that there’s a legion of women who get it. Life is hard and porn-food is easy.

There’s nothing easy about trekking the “weight loss after age fifty” mountain, but it feels more doable knowing that we’re not alone; so many of us face the same challenges and sadness. But it helps to know that we’re not alone, that we’re making this grueling trek together. ♥

Pearl Three

In October’s Pearl Three we’re exploring: gems from Atomic Habits.

James Clear wrote, “People with high self-control tend to spend less time in tempting situations. It’s easier to avoid temptations rather than resist it.”

Which brings me to the Cheesecake Factory. I’ve been once. Enough said. I also won’t go near brunch buffets or any type of buffet (except occasionally on a cruise ship). I haven’t gone near the Olive Garden or those type of restaurants in well over a decade. Our people just don’t thrive at these high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar, high-sodium joints.

As Mr. Clear writes, “Avoid don’t resist.” ♥

Pearl Four

Have I mentioned that Pearl 4 — our book slot — is not a book review space? It only contains books that sing like Aretha. So you won’t find reviews here on books that didn’t quite live up to their hype.

I usually skim a stack before I find a book juicy enough to make it the book-dessert list.

And this baby I’m about to tell you about knocked it out of the park.

If someone told me that I had to pick a favorite novel of the year, it would be Miss Benson’s Beetle: A Novel by Rachel Joyce. With this book on your night stand? Desserts don’t stand a chance. (Note: the title seems a little cheesy for how good the book is.)

I’ve heard that if you loved Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel by Gail Honeyman (and I did), then you’ll love Miss Benson too.

Joyce’s feel-good adventure opens with two women who couldn’t be more opposite who set out on a grueling quest, and deepen their friendship as their journey unfolds.

At a certain age, you and I know how important friendships are, but even so, this book left me appreciating the power of friendship ten-fold. And every time I dipped into Miss Benson, I just felt happy to be alive.

And over 13,000 gave Miss Benson 4.5 stars on Amazon.

Enjoy! ♥

Pearl Five

“You are never alone. You are eternally connected with everyone.” ♥

Amit Ray

Make it a wonderful weekend, Everyone!! (And yes I’m still working on the paperback: this is the weekend I plan to slay it!)

What are you slaying this weekend? Please share in the comments section!

♥, 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). 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!

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.

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. ♥

My favorite cold tote-bag to carry smart snacks.

My five-star book list.

Vets call my cats overweight. So, I feed them pricey diet food which they sniff at, take a taste of & then throw up.

Hello Thrivers!

I hope these pearls find you feeling good.

Pearl One

Our culture is currently having a body positivity moment which part of me fully embraces. I want everyone to feel included, and I never want to return to a time when it was okay to tease, bully, snub, or sneer at someone else because of their weight.

I mean, I want seat-belt extenders on planes, gorgeous clothes for every body size, and restaurant booths and chairs that’ll fit and hold all of us.

But here’s the thing, glorifying overweight like it’s a person’s “lifestyle choice” feels a little too “the emperor is wearing no clothes” to me.

The truth is that the emperor is living at an unhealthy weight, and needs to redesign his eating habits (if not for himself then for his loved ones). And I say this from personal experience: we had a dear member of our family die at just fifty years of age due to a heart attack that we assume was exacerbated by being severely obese.

And forever he’ll be severely missed.

By putting a positive spin on a dangerous eating disorder (binging and/or overeating), we’re doing a mammoth disservice to those who need our kindness, concern and care.

Not our complete and total denial. ♥

Pearl Two

You know how I have a four-pound weight window for maintenance? The lowest number in the window is super low for me, and the highest is flat-out “whoa, what’s happening here?”

Well, I’ve been focused on getting into the middle of my window, and lately am seeing the scale’s number go up.

For a nano, I hoped off the scale and felt myself getting furious at the number.

But then I remember to use my first mantra: “No drama; stay chill.” (No woe-is me. No WTF?!, No this stupid scale needs stupid new batteries because that stupid number cannot possibly be right!)

My first mantra leads me to the second: I remind myself, “Don’t get furious, get curious.” (In other words, I look back over my last few days and journal-write about what’s working and what’s not working. Like the following,

• Am I always doing errands with my cold-tote?
• Do I stop eating at 6 p.m.?
• Am I tracking every meal?
• Etc. and so forth.

Then my third mantra appears and I say, “It’s time to go food shopping for my most helpful and supportive foods.

When things go south, I go grocery shopping (on a full stomach) because when I’m eating poorly it’s a reliable sign that I don’t have the friendliest/smartest food available in my kitchen.

So yesterday I took out a small loan, and went to the grocery store in search of friendly/smart food like my favorite fresh fruit, frozen veggies, salad-stuff, baby yogurts, petite carrots, hummus, cereal and so forth.

The key words here being: friendly, smart, and favorite.

And that is exactly how I handle it when the scale’s number is annoying me.

I use mantras one, two and three and bamo!! I’m back on the Smart Eating Path. (P.S. these three mantras are at their most effective when written on stickies and kept near the scale.) ♥

Pearl Three

Our last writing prompt of September:

Most of us have thought, “why don’t they teach real-life skills in school” like the following:

• “Going Toe-to-Toe with Lawyers, Realtors, and Landlords 101.”

• “How to Travel Well & Spend Less So You Don’t End Up Living Under a Bridge.”

• “The Adorable, the Middle-Aged, and the Senior: What You Need to Know About Caring for Your Fur-Baby.”

Write about the class you most wish they’d taught back in the day. It can be about anything: marriage, money, home repair, self-reliance, castles of Europe; it can be about anything that you wished you’d learned in school.

Next, write about why this class topic matters so much to you and what it would have done for your life to have taken it.

Last, write about how you can bring the energy of your chosen class into your life today.

This is a powerful exercise, one I plan to use again and again. ♥

Pearl Four

Holy-guacamole. Love this author (I first “met” him when I read This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!) Since I loved Harriet so much, I went in search of the author’s other books. And the second one I found — The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving: a Novel by Jonathan Evision was just like Harriet in that Evision writes about serious topics, yet manages to wrap the seriousness up in humor. (Quite the talent.)

The overarching theme is about the redemption of the story’s dads. Each man had made terrible mistakes – one being a tragic mistake –, and their children had cut-off contact. Sounds like a downer, but the book has a very life affirming message. Highly recommend. Total five-star. ♥

Pearl Five

What I’m trying to do is to maximize the probability of the future being better.” ♥

I love this quote and used it as my journal prompt to write about what I can do today to maximize the probability of my future being better. ♥

And please write to me and share what topics you’d most like to see discussed here! Wendy@theInspiredEater.com.

Have a wonderful 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). 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!

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.

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. ♥

My favorite cold tote-bag to carry smart snacks.

My five-star book list.

Pearl One

Remember the time you went out for a birthday dinner with a dear friend, ate a lot of food and “wrecked everything”? (You were all, “Well, everyone was eating and drinking — and that beautiful cake — and I’m only human!” (No argument here.)

But then did you note how three days later you hopped back onto the Smart Eating Path? Sure, you were mad at yourself at first (helps nothing, but okay), but by deconstructing the day (in your journal) you figured out where your smart eating began to tank. that lead to overeating at the birthday party.

And yet when you think about that birthday dinner, you frame it in your mind as “terrible eating” and not “I got back on the Smart Eating Path quickly. Go me!!”

Here’s the thing, they believe we evolved to pay heightened attention to negative moments – like when we felt as if we were being stalked – so we’d stay alive to produce more babies who would also stay alive to produce their babies.

The happy result being you and me. 😊

That said, you and I are still looking for the terrifying, the stupid, and the problematic. What else are we going to do? Our people didn’t survive by joyously tip toeing through the tulips and getting devoured by a Saber-Tooth because we were focused on the pretty flowers.

No, we evolved to default to the negative, so therefore it becomes imperative that you and I consciously call on the skills and talents of our prefrontal (the planning, logical side of our brain) to focus on the small wins that show up during the day.

Give your prefrontal the job of keeping track of your wins each week. And no, I’m not talking scale-wins, I’m talking habit-y wins like the following.

That time when you intentionally began eating a bowl of grapes, cherries, or a yogurt cup after lunch. A great win.

How you habituated yourself to taking an insanely delicious book to bed around 8 pm.-ish every evening. Brilliant win.

And, as mentioned, the time you got pulled into the birthday girl’s overeating, but later got back on track. No question, fabulous win.

Remembering to stack your wins is key to your forever-loss. And because we’re such negative creatures, it’s important to write down your small wins throughout the day, and then stack them in your journal, and finally onto your sticky notes. Read those stickies enough times and they’ll eventually lodge into your heart.

Another fun way to remember wins: start the day with bracelets on your left arm, and for every small win transfer one bracelet to your right arm.

And while I encourage you to stack wins for the week, you can also stack summer-wins, January-wins, cruise-ship-with-a-ton of food-wins and so on. It’s a total blast to start noticing when you’ve rocked it.

You can also make a game of it by telling yourself in the morning, “I will find at least three small wins today.” Kind of like those who “get in their steps.”

It’s important that we notice our small wins and give them to ourselves with a handful of figurative confetti. You don’t want to score win after win while living on the Smart Eating Path and not notice your successful moments. We flourish with positive feedback; because remember we’d all be size 0 if turning on ourselves actually produced anything.

In modern times, the saber tooth tiger looks an awful lot like a gorgeous birthday cake. The next time you’re staring down a cake-a-saurus, plan to “eat before you eat”, thereby robbing him of his (scary, but delicious) power.

Ooh, that’s a win. Write it down!! ♥

Pearl Two

I know a man who created a super successful career making great money all while actively over drinking. After an intervention with loved ones, he committed to AA and he’s now fifteen years sober.

I was floored.

Could you really create such wild success – incredible job, off-the-chart money – when you’re getting drunk every day of the week?

Before knowing this man, I had no idea. I thought that you had to have your act together before the jewels of life would rain down.

This little story is my way of telling you that when I had my “moment of clarity” (AA’s term) and began losing weight in earnest, I was as much a goof-ball as I’d ever been.

Trust me, I did not have my act together in any way, shape or form.

If your life isn’t “together”, can you create a forever-loss for yourself? I’m the walking, talking poster child for it.

Life doesn’t seem to really care one whit about my smart eating habits; it still pelts me with curve balls every chance it gets.

The takeaway: as Life is hassling you no end, hop onto the Smart Eating Path. Then, when you careen off the cliff (because Life) hop back on again, and again, and again.

You don’t have to be “perfect” to get down to your preferred weight and preserve the loss for a lifetime.

You just have to get good at the “again” thing. ♥

Pearl Three

Our subconscious gets excited to be invited to the party. When you’re journal-writing, you’re rolling out the red carpet for her.

Today’s prompt: Such-and-such has become second-nature for me.

And please, take a moment and tell us what’s become second-nature for you in the comments below. Let’s share! ♥

Pearl Four

You might want to sit down for this one. A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne is the same brilliant writer who brought us The Hearts Invisible Furies (also highly recommend). If the plot doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, give it a go anyway. It is so good.

The main character is an unusually attractive young man who wants to reach stratospheric heights in the world of literature except for one little problem: he doesn’t have an original thought. I was drawn into Boyne’s story from page one – a favorite check-box of mine to tick — where we meet an older successful writer who’s drinking alone in a hotel bar in West Berlin just a year before the wall came down in 1989, and the story spools from there into present day.

If I say too much more, I risk leaking spoilers but I can tell you that the ending is one blockbuster of a conclusion. My review: this weekend order A Ladder to the Sky, put your phone on airplane-mode, make your bed cozy, and sink into one h-e-double-hockey-sticks of a story. ♥

Pearl Five

Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.”  ♥

Napoleon Hill

My good friend here in Atlanta moves to the Villages in Florida this week. Happy for her, but bummed for me. On the plus side, I do love visiting the Orlando area so there’s that. Plus my friend wants to do a cruise, and I’m always up for a cruise if it isn’t too pricey.

I’d love a follow on Instagram and/or Facebook.

Have a wonderful 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). 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!

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.

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. ♥

My favorite cold tote-bag to carry smart snacks.

My five-star book list.

Admittedly I do have friends who overeat as much as they possibly can. They’re called dogs.

Pearl One

I once had a casual friend who was an eating-buddy of sorts. I mean, we worked together, and then began meeting for lunch and no way were those lunches small bites and large salads.

But when I began my weight loss trek (in earnest), and we were out to lunch together I’d order veggies and brown rice.

Guess how that went over? Clearly bugged her.

I didn’t purposely pull away from my friend, but that’s exactly what I did.

They’ve done studies and have concluded that habits are contagious. No matter whether we’re talking good habits or bad.

Like a bad virus?

Precisely.

They also say that we can catch habits from our friends’ friends. Makes sense if you think about it. If my good friend, Sarah, has a good friend named Sally and Sally thinks that drinking a bottle of chardonnay on her own every night is just the thing, then Sarah might end up drinking more and subsequently pass the attitude of over drinking onto others.

That’s how huge habits are in our lives: they can present in a big, “After a long day, a margarita is my best friend!!” way. Or the message can slither in and make implications about over drinking.

Here’s my point: We all have to give careful thought to who we allow to stay in our lives.

I hate to sound so inflexible, but when it comes to weight loss after age fifty you have one of three choices:

1) Encourage your eater-friend to see how amazing it is to live the Smart Eating Lifestyle.

2) Suggest to your eater that you meet in some other spot: i.e. not the Olive Garden.

3) Keep your eater in your life and just have a massively difficult time lunching with her every month because you can either join her in giant meals big enough to feed three, or feel annoyed when she gives you the side-eye as you order veggies and brown rice.

Eventually, the fettuccine will hit the fan and you’ll have to make a choice between your weight, your deepest wants, and your friendships. I never said it’s easy walking the Smart Eating Path, but it’s worth it. ♥

Pearl Two

I won’t waste your time telling you that the fall drink menu at a specific coffee house (and a donut shop) involve shockingly high numbers like 50 grams of sugar in a medium-sized “coffee.”

Or instead have two full-sized Snicker bars.

When you think about buying a pumpkin spice caramel hint-of-cocoa latte, ask yourself this question: would I cook, bake or brew with these ingredients at home? If the answer is, “not in a million years.” Then say, “Not interested, but thanks for the offer.”

However, I do want to share a dessert that sounds like an autumn dream and is totally healthy-ish.

Pumpkin Spice Dole Whip

4 servings

• 1 cup peeled and chopped sweet potato
• 1¾ cups chopped frozen pineapple
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened dairy-free milk beverage
• ½ teaspoon + ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, divided

Place the potato and 2 tablespoons water in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap, but leave one edge slightly open to vent. Microwave the potato on high for 3 minutes or until very tender. Drain the potato and let it cool completely.

In your high-power blender or food processor, purée the cooked potato, pineapple, maple syrup, milk beverage, and ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides, as needed.

Divide the Dole Whip between 4 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with the remaining ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, and top with pecans and coconut chips, if desired.

It’s supposed to end up looking a bit like soft-serve ice cream and really looks glam in a stemmed glass dish.

Nutritional Information

Serving size: ½ cup Calories: 90 Fat: 0.2g Saturated fat: 0.2g Carbohydrates: 22g Sugar: 14g Sodium: 20mg Fiber: 2g Protein: 1g Thank you to GoDairyFree.org. ♥

Pearl Three

Today’s prompt for your journal: A time you knocked it out of the park.

Remember, just write in your journal free-style. Next: meditate on this “win” three times a day until next Tuesday. Can you do this? I know you can. ♥

Pearl Four

In the mood for something on the lighter side and easy to consume? Then this book suggestion might just hit the spot. In five years: a novel by Rebecca Serle is set in modern-day New York and tells the story of two friends within a time-travel environ. It’s easy to assume this is a rom-com, but while it touches on romance, it then dives head first into a fairly gripping story. There are fun twists and a great conclusion that you likely won’t see coming. I give it four stars. ♥

Pearl Five

“Write the story of your life. Sharpen your pencil, freshen the ink & get to it. You are the author, the world your pages. The hero or the villain. You decide.” ♥

Megan Hine

For sure, it will be ready to rock and roll next week.

If it sounds interesting, I would love a follow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Hope you have time to read during the coziest season of all.

♥, 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). 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!

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.

My favorite cold tote-bag to carry smart snacks

There’s nothing easy, tranquil, or beautiful about losing weight after fifty, but specific tools can make it less annoying.

Hello Thrivers!

I’m looking around my home thinking that it needs a spring cleaning, but right now during the fall. I know how to lose weight and maintain the loss, but I bet you’re way better at other activities. Take house cleaning, if you have any amazing tips please share in the comments below! 🙂

Pearl One

Long story, short: I had a broken foot making it difficult to take our kitty to the vet to get his monthly anal expression (don’t ask).

Hobbling around with a cane – my cast had just come off — while carrying a carrier with an enraged passenger wasn’t pretty.

For various reasons, I was on my own each month and one day, it dawned on me that I needed a cat carrier with wheels.

And with that thought – thunk – I fell over with happiness because in that moment, life just got a whole lot easier.

Our Takeaway

Clearly. Obviously. Plainly. Losing weight after age fifty is no day at the beach. No argument from me, it’s hard times a billion.

But here’s the thing: you and I can make our difficult trek of losing weight after age fifty a smoother experience by using the right wheels, or in our case, tools.

In other words, don’t make the trek harder than it needs to be. For example, when I need to reign in my eating, these are my immediate go-tos:

1. Motivation and willpower doesn’t work beyond a day or two. I’m always shooting for smart habits and if you haven’t yet read my two favorite habit books, spend your weekend with a yellow highlighter and these two babies: Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.
2. This is one of my favorite no-brainers. Eat before you eat (eating a half cup of cottage cheese with red grapes; half an apple with a smear of peanut butter; or a small yogurt cup about thirty minutes in advance of a meal painlessly lops off your appetite giving you the most amazing control at dinner, brunch, or for whatever meal looks daunting.
3. I know to stop eating by 6 p.m. Studies are bearing out that a large breakfast, a moderate lunch, two healthy afternoon snacks, and a tiny dinner is the path to an easier weight loss. If I’m at the higher end of my preferred weight window, my hard-core reliable is to have the tiniest of dinners (sometimes just a smoothie or a small bowl of cereal).

Losing weight after fifty is plenty hard on its own, don’t take the harder route; make the trek a bit easier on yourself by wringing every bit of assistance out of the smartest of eating tools. ♥                                                                                                                          

Pearl Two

As many of you know I’ve taken the no-sugar challenge and am now on my forty-seventh day of very little sugar (quite a bit under the twenty-five recommended grams a day suggested for women). And, as you also know there’s a study out of England that says it takes us sixty-six days to shift an activity into the automatic part of our brains. So, wish me luck, I’m almost there.

As I’ve mentioned the first sixteen days were the most difficult, and I only slipped one time (with a small piece of cake), but I haven’t slipped since.

Has no-sugar kept me at the lower end of my weight-window? It seemed like in the beginning it was helping, but I think my inner cookie monster just moved from sugar calories to cereal-calories or bagel-calories. What have I learned? Well, once I’ve completed all sixty-six days I plan to stick with the no-sugar plan, but will allow myself a bit of cake or something like it once a week, but I won’t be returning to having sugar in the morning. (That said, if you want to have your “Brownies with Breakfast”, go for it. Years ago, I found this hack to be immensely helpful when I was trying to get off of nighttime sugar.) ♥

Pearl Three

September’s challenge: Journal-write to a new prompt.

September 1 prompt: fried-Oreos (write about the good, the bad and the ugly. You don’t have to like the idea of fried-Oreos, write about what the idea of fried-Oreo brings up?).

Today’s journal prompt: How do I sabotage what I say I most want?

Remember, just write in your journal free-style (what it brings up for you). ♥

Pearl Four

Life’s too short to read boring books

You guys, I have the best book to recommend today: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. I had just finished a phenomenal read, and so wasn’t expecting much when I picked up Behold the Dreamers and casually started reading. But — holy cow –the story grabbed me immediately. One hundred pages later, it was time to turn off the light and go to sleep.

Phew. I love a book that grabs me from the first page.

The story takes a good look at the wealthy in New York and juxtaposes their life against the working poor. Doesn’t sound like a great story? Read it anyway. You might even plan to take this book-dessert to bed even earlier – like at 7 p.m. – so you can get to page 100 without ruining a good night’s sleep.

Behold the Dreamers is sweet, yet meaty and so good. Also, an Oprah pick. My review: Five thousand stars. ♥

Pearl Five

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. It’s about creating yourself.” ♥

George Bernard Shaw

I’m spending this weekend coloring my grays, decluttering (I get inspo when I see a hoarders episode, yikes-city) and watching season 12 of Call the Midwife!! Have you heard? The new season is now streaming on Netflix!!

Have a wonderful 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). 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!

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.

My favorite cold tote-bag to carry smart snacks

My five-star book list

It’s not just a “nice idea” to know which smart foods you love. It’s imperative to your success. Period. End of story.

Dear Thrivers,

I have heard from so many that you’re only interested in buying the Inspired Eater: the Paperback.

Fair Enough.

Like you, I much, much prefer a book in my hands.

So, I’ll be spending this weekend bringing the paperback to life (I hope). ♥

Ready?

Pearl One

• I love the frozen veggies at Costco (a giant bag labeled “Stir Fry” next to frozen strawberries and blueberries which I also grab).
• My other Costco faves: frozen dark sweet cherries (for oatmeal), all the fruit especially the red grapes that I eat with cottage cheese, Sweet Kale (in cold section behind fruit), frozen dark sweet cherries, packaged plums (also just made for eating on the run from your cold-tote).
• I also love the focaccia in roasted tomato & Parmesan (find in bread section. The chewy texture makes it so tasty. (My son even commented.)
• My other TJ faves:“Multigrain Trader Joe’s bread” that sits on the top shelf in the bread section f, I only eat half at a time, major-delish) vegan chicken (near OJ), small yogurts (also near OJ and perfect for your cold-tote), nuts, the hummus (any and all), and when I was eating sugar, the macarons (in the middle cold aisle).
• And just adding for fun: I really, really, really love my overnight oats recipe (at the very end).

Here’s my point: if we’re wanting to be lean-after-fifty, you and I cannot live our eating lives without employing serious forethought. It’s critical that we figure out which foods we most love, and carve out the time needed to drive to the right stores and shop for exactly what we want. Which is precisely why I call losing-after-fifty a part-time job because so much is required to make losing and preserving a weight loss for the long run, a reality.

Our days of living “afterthought” lives are over. (And, for those who grew up rail-thin, you likely need to mourn your old way of life before you can embrace your new normal.)

Our lives today require a deeper knowledge of ourselves (what foods we love, what motivates us, what drains us and so forth) and mondo preparation for the daily and weekly engagement with our food-on-steroids planet.

If getting to — and preserving — your preferred weight is something that matters deeply to you, plan to plan for — like — ever.

Do you have favorites at Trader Joe’s and Costco? Please share your finds with all of us in the comments below. ♥

Pearl Two

Every day of our lives we’re practicing how to flourish as women who’ve made it a part-time job of losing weight after age fifty.

We’ve learned that embedding smart eating habits is not a one-and-done type deal, but instead requires a lifelong commitment.

We know that it’s brilliant to lose weight and maintain the loss forever because it helps our hurting back so much when we’re at a lower weight.

But, we also know that it’s okay to commit to losing and preserving solely because we want our size-12 jeans to fit again. We know that there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be cute and comfortable as we live our lives.

We understand that losing and maintaining for a lifetime is a process, that we’ll never “be there” because there is no “there” to get to.

Our daily practice is the only “there” we’ll find.

And so, we practice spending Sunday afternoons air frying, cooking, baking and prepping our food for the coming week. We practice going to bed with an amazing read at around 8 p.m. no matter if others laugh at us. We practice going to sleep a smidge hungry because a very light hunger is to be expected. (Note: if I’m actually hungry-hungry, I’ll eat half an apple or banana.)

There’s no destination. There’s only our practice. ♥

Pearl Three

Every month we’re working a new challenge.

The challenge in September is: journal write three paragraphs to the following words (and it’ll be a new word each week), today’s prompt:

Deep-fried Oreos.

Go! And if you’re up for it, share your response in the comments below. I’m greatly hoping you do, I can’t wait to read your thoughts! ♥

Pearl Four

Books love us and want us to be happy.

I’m in and out on the writer Bill Bryson, but when I’m “in” I’m all-in. A few years back I stayed up way too many nights reading  A Walk In the Woods by Bill Bryson. I was one-more-paging-it into the wee hours.

In this non-fiction, the author and a friend walk the Appalachian Trail. Bryson’s buddy is a colorful character and adds plenty of drama and comic relief. Bryson didn’t attempt to hike the AT all in one go; he’d planned to hike it in chunks so that he could go home, spend time with his family and then return to the trail. Bryson details where he slept, how he ate and so forth, but he also sprinkles in absorbing history about the trail and the wildlife like black bears that call the trail home. Highly recommended, five-stars.

So, after a foray into the woods, Bryson then set off for Australia. Smitten with Nemo’s temporary home, he delivers the best of what the country has to offer in In a Sunburned Country. That said, I have these important words for you: box jellyfish, spiders the size of dinner plates (his words), and paralysis ticks. Australia might have the deadliest creatures on the planet, but Bryson also points out that Australia is known for her friendly people and gorgeous birds (pelicans, parrots and Cockatoos to name three of the 850 species). Fabulous book that you’ll remember for a lifetime. Five-starfish. ♥

Pearl Five

On self-talk. Add the word “yet” when you find yourself saying you can’t:

“I’m not there yet”

“I can’t do that yet”

“I’m not brave enough yet”

No matter what it is, you will get there. Lovely girl, you are strong.” ♥

Nicole Marie B.

I love the word “yet” because it’s a phenomenal bridge word: it helps us get that much closer to our new reality. As we cross the “yet” bridge we go from “won’t happen for me” to “it hasn’t happened yet” to “something’s shifted. It’s happening!” ♥

If this post speaks to you it would be so awesome if you’d share it with a loved one.

♥, 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). 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!

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.

My favorite cold tote-bag to carry smart snacks.

My five-star book list.

My Favorite Overnight Oats recipe:

Half cup oatmeal

Half cup almond milk (or you’re preferred milk)

A quarter-cup vanilla yogurt

I let the oats soak overnight and the next day add a cup of blueberries, half a chunked up apple.

Yum. Mee. ♥

Did you see the movie with Meryl Streep — Defending Your Life — where she dies and lands in limbo featuring food with zero calories? Streep’s Julia happily slurps a plate of fettuccine Alfredo, plows through crusty bread and drinks incredible wine. Women everywhere we’re like, “OMG. Hope limbo exists!”

But here on Earth magnificent calories are everywhere:

• We watch coworkers inhale enormous Chipotle burritos for lunch.
• We see our family plow into bowls of cookies & cream after a lasagna dinner.
• And we’re besieged with food-porn: on commercials, on shows and movies themselves, and splashed across social media.

It seems like everybody gets to eat! All the time!

Except us. 🙁

Tough Love That Ensures Loss.

Thing is — after menopause — to exist in our food-wealthy world and simultaneously keep our weight down, we have to be dedicated to developing the necessary muscles to make weight loss happen.

To lose fifty-five — and later, maintain — I developed the muscles slowly over many, many months. Some muscles took years. And, let’s be honest, in the beginning my muscles were like over-cooked pasta.

I love how Seth Godin says, “take the long-cut.” Get it? Instead of trying to find the short-cut, plan to take your time — habits require time and conscious effort to truly embed themselves into our lives.

The bottom line — no pun — is that you and I must be smart about how we engage with food if we want to stay at a specific weight.

Best Question Ever to Ask Yourself.

As I’ve re-trained my brain to make smart food choices, I default into this question all day long:

• Do I want to be a size 8 or do I want to have pancakes on Sunday with the family?
• Do I want to be a size 8 or do I want to chow down on the (awesome) plates of Mexican food everyone’s having?
• Do I want to be a size 8 or do I want to dive into pizza with the kids (this last one was tough, but giving up pizza helped me drop five. Today I eat pizza twice a year, not twice a month like I once did).

Keep in mind that I did not use this question when I was wearing a size 16. I took my goal of losing fifty-five pounds one step at a time, so back in the day I’d ask myself: Do I want to be a size 14 or do I want to eat several Kit Kat bars?

Fine-tune this question to your life. Try one of these and see how it feels:

• Do I want to fit comfortably into my jeans or do I want BBQ?
• Do I want to lower my blood pressure or do I want an ice cream sundae?
• Do I want to be down five pounds for Thanksgiving or do I want waffles?

Do I Take the Question on Vacation?

My bullet-proof question is never off-duty. It works on special holidays, at work, for birthdays, and it does double-shifts on vacation. The deal I make with myself is that if I want to go on a trip, the question comes too.

Take last weekend, we spent three memorable days visiting my husband’s brother and darling family in Savannah, and I asked myself on the trip, “Do I want to be a size 8 or would I rather eat one of those gorgeous maple bars everyone is having for breakfast?” Believe me, I asked variations of this question a lot.

Back from the trip do I feel like I ruined our weekend by not eating the calorie-crazy food? Not even a little bit.

Is it Fair?

It’s not at all fair that everyone gets to have a daily food party, except for you and me. But nobody packs on weight like women over 50. Our bodies horde calories like we’re preparing for a long Dakota winter.

The habit of asking yourself this invaluable question does not develop in a day. Do everything you can to remind yourself to use the question: tape sticky notes around your house with the question. Create a screen saver with the question. Alarm your phone so that when the alarms go off you’ll remind yourself to ask the question. Tattoo the question on your arm (kidding, but you get the idea).

And don’t forget that it takes 66-days (based on the study I love out of England) to form a solid habit. Take Seth’s “long-cut,” you’ll see amazing results. And once you establish the habit of asking this important question? Keep it close to your heart forever.

I’d love to hear what Q. you’ll ask yourself!

And remember, it’s not just your imagination. Health is hard!

♥, Wendy

Q and A day!

And on that note, if you’d like to ask a question about how I reined in my eating to be answered in a September/October post, please ask in the comment section below! (All names will be changed.)

A reader says:

My husband is an eater and doesn’t care that he’s heavy. It’s hard to eat well around him. I end up having what he’s having.

He ruins my eating plans entirely.

Anne-nonymous

Dear Anne,

This was my problem in spades when I first decided to lose for good.

I call my husband The Scarfer (a nickname that would horrify me, but he finds hilarious).

Turns out my sweet husband has “food insecurity” (his term) from kid-hood. At times, there wasn’t enough food on hand for a family of seven, and he learned young to eat as much as possible when the opportunity presented.

But I didn’t know this back in the day. All I knew was that I’d married a devoted eater. One day, it occurred to me that I had to separate my eating issues from my husband’s — or I would always be at a weight that didn’t feel good to me.

In therapy-land, my aha moment is called “individuation.” Meaning I realized that I needed to establish in my own mind that I was a separate person entirely from my husband and his tendency to eat a dessert or three every evening.

Look at it this way: say your partner prefers to get up every morning at four. Or smokes. Or runs ten miles every other day. In all of these examples would you join him or her?

No way, right?

You can see the individuation with more extreme examples (up early, smokes, runs ten). Now apply that thinking to your own relationship.

The Art of the Friendly Request

Once I fully embedded my aha moment into my very being, I could then make smart, kind requests of him like:

• “Could you put the Entenmann’s cupcakes in the far back of the top cupboard where I can’t see or reach them? (Perk of aging: If it’s not in front of me, my memory is wiped.)”
• “If you want to make something for the kids on the weekends: could you make pancakes instead of waffles?”
• “Can you not buy Chunky Monkey or Rocky Road? But by all means, get the kind you love!”

Thinking Outside of the Brownie Box

When you’ve embedded that to live happily ever after, you must separate your eating from your partner’s, then the “how to live with an eater” ideas burble to the surface. For example:

• A coworker’s wife insists that he keeps his junk food at work — and out of their kitchen — and he happily complies.I eat very light at dinner. I’ll either make a salad or eat what the family’s eating, but I keep the portion small. (Note: the latter is only after twenty years of practice. You might want to stick with the salad for now.) Is it more time-consuming to make a salad for myself? Totally. And that’s okay. Nothing about losing after 50 is a breeze. Plus bonus: family members have gotten more involved in cooking! I know!!
• I tend to go to sleep early before the dessert extravaganza erupts in our kitchen (two young men-children plus The Scarfer).

The thing is, my husband has seen the eating changes I’ve made through the years, and has had his own success in eliminating some food-porn like chips from our grocery list. He’s somewhat living an intermittent fasting lifestyle, and has lost twenty. But through the years, I never said one word.His food anxiety. His body. His decisions.

I have my own eating issues and they’re different from his (noting the difference — learning to make peace with difference — is part of individuating).

We all engage with food differently: for many, food is love, for others a fun distraction from boredom, and others a habit entrenched when we were young.

In the end, I had to change how I related to meals and snacks with my husband in my life. My days of joining him in this were over.

I was never hostile or naggy or “disappointed in him.” I was simply firm, but smiley: “no donuts for me,” “I don’t eat ice cream anymore,” “if I eat pizza it’ll be at breakfast.” Note how often I use “me” or “I.” I don’t say, “You shouldn’t eat donuts!” I say, “No donuts for me!)

There’s no end game to losing and maintaining after 50. We have today, this hour, this minute to make our smart eating choices.

Because you and I will forever be beautiful works in progress.

I try to remember this thought throughout my day. Let’s remember it together.

♥, 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). 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!

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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. ♥