First we create good-enough success, then comes the confidence. We circle back around, create good enough again and more confident ensues. Compounding confidence, it’s slow, steady, and totally worth it.

Hello everyone!

I haven’t had the greatest week. I dealt with a doctor whom I really love who was surly with me yesterday (I think we had a miscommunication that I need to address); I have a bunch of niggly things to do that are time-consuming; and I still haven’t gotten my Christmas cards out. (For future readers, it’s February 10.)

On with a happier topic: when I first began writing the Friday Pearls, I’d assumed that each pearl would be one- or two-liners max, but because I received such affirming feedback from you (and thank you!!) the pearls grew and grew into the phonebook that they are today.

So, thank you again.

These pearls exist because of you. ♥

Pearl One

(Your Version)

Today we’re talking about what I wish I’d known when I started losing in earnest back in ’97.

Choose Your Favorite

In Aunt Bea I write about the importance of marrying your favorite eating plan that you can live with forever. I like to think of my eating plan like this: I love my backyard and its fence (that keeps the coyotes out); but you should know that my neighbor has a sparkling, gorgeous, well-maintained pool.

Still, I know that I can’t hop my fence, help myself to my neighbor’s collection of pool floats, and kick back for a beautiful (SPF) day in the sun.

An eating plan is like a fence, it constrains our choices and sets us up for a long-term success. Do I have a preferred eating plan that I’m pushing? Nope, not even a little. Some of us need to be gluten-free, some plant-based and others Keto. What plan you choose is between you and your doctor. Once you’ve chosen your eating plan, expect to keep it forever.  One of the most negative things to come out of the diet culture is that a new weight loss plan is being pushed every two years. This is not in our best interest, it only benefits the companies. Find an eating plan you like, and use it as you’d use a fence around your backyard.

(If you haven’t received Aunt Bea just shoot me an email at Wendy@theinspiredeater.com and I’ll send her right to you.)

Jot it Down

Keep a pretty notebook with a pen next to your fridge, and record what and when you eat every single day. Recording food becomes second nature once you’ve established the habit. (And if you detest this idea, read on.)

Twenty-six years later, I’m still at it. Why? Because it keeps me honest and engaged with my daily intake. The whole goal is to stop being unconscious when we eat and become engaged on a conscious level with our food. Plus if you don’t write it down, it’s super easy to eat more than you realize.

If the idea of writing out your food intake sounds like a terrible idea, journal-write about your feelings towards tracking. Something is going on underneath not wanting to track. And by the way, women who don’t want to track are a thing. You’re not alone. Many struggle with the idea of tracking. Journal-write and explore what’s happening beneath the surface of tracking.

We can do this. I may sound cheesy and oddly cheerleady, but we can do this. Just follow my bread crumbs and we’ll get out of the woods forever.

It’s Not Only What, It’s When

It took diligent work and the power of time to develop the habit of not eating after 6 p.m. I’ve found that if I stop eating around 6:00 p.m., I wake up loving the scale.

You guys, if you think I’m full of hops (as my gram would say) check out these two links by heavy hitters in the science/health world:

ScienceDaily: “Eating dinner early, or skipping it, may be effective in fighting body fat.” (www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161103091229.htm.)

National Institute of Health: “Timing of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Effects on Obesity and Metabolic Risk.” (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6893547/.)

Ruin your Meals

I never eat hungry because I always “eat before I eat.” Always. Eating before eating usually means that an hour before a meal with others or any large, tempting meal, I’ll have something like one of the following: a small container of yogurt, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat (easy on the PB&J), an apple or grapes.

Super Smart Eaters

Years ago I learned – thank you Tony Robbins – that rather than asking, “Why Me?” to instead ask strong questions that actually serve you like, “How can I eat today for maximum health?” or “How can I take my spinning workout from forty- to sixty-minutes?“

But then I happened on this 180-degree difference of a question – by writer Dickie Bush — that wowed me:

What would I do to make today horrible? (LOVE this question!!)

Writing is a human being’s superpower. I keep my journal in my computer (One Note or Evernote) where I write and write and write to find answers to my problems. (Feel free to name your journal. Remember how Anne Frank called hers kitty? An adorable idea.)

Journal-writing brings my unconscious to life and the unconscious comes up with coolest solutions and/or mind-shifts. It’s like seeding your garden. Keep at it and beautiful blooms will appear. Just ask your brain strong questions and write out the beautifully scented answers.

The Beauty of Compounding

Say you eat a bowl of Ben and Jerry’s every single evening for a week. (We’ll go with Chunky Monkey.)

One bowl for a week? No biggie.

But say you eat a bowl of Chunky Monkey every night for a year?

Ohhhh, my bad! You wanted to fit into your bathing suit come summer? Sorry, but compounding is working against you when you OD on Chunky Monkey for 365-evenings.

Now let’s say that you’ve moved your measuring cups to an easy to reach cupboard  (at least two sets of course) and use them at each meal. Let’s also say that you’re eating healthy bites throughout the day like baby carrots, and you Eat before You Eat, and you celebrate your tiny-wins – every day. . . for a year? (Heck, even four months.)

Now you’re using the cool party trick of compounding for your highest good.

So, be-be gone Chunky Monkey! Hello sandy beach in June!

The Insidiousness of Self-Sabotage

Self-sabotage may turn out to be a human reaction that’s triggered when our unconscious – our cave woman — is merely working hard to protect us.

Her basic motto is: don’t reach for the gold. It’s way too scary. Just stay in your cave where it’s cozy and protected, and there’s loads of food in the fridge! Do any of these scenarios sound right?

Self-sabotage might be a learned behavior from childhood that we’ve carried into our adult lives.

Or maybe having been disappointed time and again, you’re sick of trying. (You’re done.) But that’s okay: feel “done.” Let your feelings surface and journal-write about them and how sabotage unfolds in your life.

The more you journal-wrote about how self-sabotage unfolds in your life, the more skilled you’ll become at catching the self-sabotaging behavior before it sneaks in and tries to wreck your plans. Don’t let it.

Learning to say, “I see you, self-sabotage, and I know that when you show up, something is likely frightening me” is a great place to start in your journal. ♥

Pearl Two

But what I really, really, really wish I’d known

Here’s yet another “fact” of life that the diet culture has long pushed. They like to tell us that when we do enough of a, b, or c, losing weight will become effortless. The weight will practically melt off. You’ll never have a serious craving ever again!

You guys, if someone tells you this – ever – they’re lying to you. Okay, maybe that’s too harsh, maybe they don’t know that they’re lying because they’ve never had much weight to lose in the first place, so they don’t understand how difficult this trek is for women over 50.

I’m not being cruel, I think we’re stronger and better equipped knowing the challenge that’s before us. I think anything less and the culture is infantalizing us when it says that “losing will be easy.”

Bring the right tools to the lifestyle and losing after 50 becomes a touch – just a touch – easier. ♥

Pearl Three

During the month of February, I’m leaving this slot for talking smart mind-shifts like how important it is to call this endeavor of losing after 50 a part-time job or a hobby.

Today’s mind-shift: we’re first generation trekkers. I’ve often used the image of trekking up the Matterhorn as being as challenging as losing after 50.

I call us the first generation of trekkers because we’re the first to have a handle on how to navigate our food-porn culture. I’m not saying we’re perfect, but I am saying we know so much more than our moms or grandmas knew, and we’re the first to put this intel into action.

Be proud of the role you’re playing in history and take notes as you lose and maintain so when someone asks “how did you pull this off?” you’ll have the details ready to roll. ♥

Pearl Four

If you’ve grappled with the medical system — and who over 50 hasn’t? — this memoir is like a gift from the heavens.

The Beauty of Dusk by Frank Bruni starts a tad slow. I found myself skim-reading and began to think that maybe the book should have been distilled down to the size of an article.

Thankfully!! I did not put the book down (after coming super close). In his early 50s, Bruni had it all: a phenomenal job (New York Times columnist and bestselling book author), friends, family, a partner: he was living his best life. But one morning he woke up with a blurriness in one eye that turned out couldn’t be fixed. Even worse, there’s a twenty percent chance his other eye could go down the same path, rendering him blind.

Bruni shares deeply personal stories about his life, his health and how he manages his world with a (mostly) invisible disability. Bruni layers into his memoir all that was involved with taking care of his once highly competent father who with Alzheimer’s, going through a break-up when he’d just learned his diagnosis, and incredible stories about how different people deal with disease or a disabling condition. Review: worth your time to read or listen on audio. ♥

Pearl Five

The greatest lesson I have learned in life is that I still have a lot to learn.” — Maya Angelou ♥

One fun thing about this week: we have snow in our forecast at 100 percent. If it snows in Atlanta, it’s usually a light dusting (what I call “pretty snow”). So wish us luck. Usually when the powers-that-be forecast snow, it doesn’t actually snow. But even the tiny snowflake on the weather report is fun to see.

One last thing: I got my Pringles (I mean, my shingle’s) shot this week. Years ago, my mom’s friend got shingles in her early 60s and it was not pretty. I vowed that I’d get the shot (there’s two at different intervals.) Consider this a gentle nudge.

Have a habit-fueled 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. 🙂

Weebles wable but they don’t fall down

Hello Thrivers!

I’ve been begging my computer to work all day, if you’re reading this I haven’t yet chucked it off the deck.

Let’s begin. 🙂

Pearl One

After Will Smith punched Chris Rock, there was talk that Smith’s career was over. But because I’ve been studying the ultra-successful for years now, my immediate thought was don’t count this dude out so fast, he may very well come roaring back.

Similarly, Elon Musk, interviewed a few years back by 60 Minutes was asked something like, “if Tesla doesn’t work out, will you quit”? Musk said, “oh no. I’ll never quit.”

Last story, did you see the hilarious Leslie Jones on an SNL bit, saying “Oprah got fired at the age of 23. Can you imagine firing Oprah?! It wasn’t a mistake, because she wasn’t Oprah yet, she was just some 23 year old punk who needed to get fired so she could become Oprah. Sometimes you got to fail to succeed.”

If you pay close attention to the successful “failures,” you’ll soon see that the ultras do not go “gently into the night.” They don’t give up because Kim Kardashian and Kanye West treat her badly on the world’s stage.

Of course, you could cry “confirmation bias!!” And in return I’d say, “I’m sorry I can’t really hear you because I’m too busy studying the successfuls and applying their strategies and tactics to my own life.”

The Ultras’ Playbook

Here’s the essential map to how the superstars navigate life: first, they dream BIG, then they create a written detailed plan and finally, they eliminate everything that’s not moving them forward. If a to z doesn’t work, they hop the back fence and kick down the kitchen door to move themselves that much closer to the winner’s circle.

If their country-western singing job wasn’t hitting the right notes, no big-deal, then they’d give being a pop-singer a go, but note how they give up. ♥

Pearl Two

I didn’t plan on writing about the new weight loss med, but the Scarfer said that I absolutely should. So here we go.

I’ve tried to stay mildly current on the diabetic med that turned out to have a nifty weight loss side effect. The diabetic med, now called Wegovy, has being hailed by many wealthy celebs for it’s amazing powers to get thin quick effect.

Here’s how Wegovy rolls.

According to YaleMedicine.org, “Not everyone is eligible for treatment with semaglutide (active ingredient in Wegovy). Doctors can prescribe it for adults who have obesity, with a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 30; or overweight, with a BMI greater than 27 accompanied by weight-related medical problems such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or high cholesterol.”

My first, second, and third thought is, awesome for those who would likely die young from diseases that can come from obesity.

Once a week you give yourself the injectable using the Wegovy “pen” that’s made to be both painless and easy to use.

Yes, there are possible side effects like diarrhea, fatigue, and nausea among others. But not everyone gets side effects and if they do, hopefully they’re mild.

My Experience with Fen-phen

You and I aren’t new to meds that create weight loss. Remember fen-phen?

Back in the 90s I had a friend who had an important high school reunion in her near future. Panicking about her weight she became a devout follower of fen-phen. She lost the weight and looked lean for her reunion. Upon returning home, she had a small stroke. It didn’t hamper her life in a significant way, but still. Scary.

I also found a doctor who prescribed the med for me. I took it for maybe two days before the Scarfer flipped out and said that I was killing myself.

But you should have seen how clean my house was. (We lose weight and have a clean home? Bring it!!)

But Y2K aside, the Scarfer wasn’t usually wrong, so I stopped. I hate it when he’s right. You probably know that the FDA flipped out too and in ‘97 pulled the med from the market because a study showed it caused damage to heart valves along with strokes. ♥

The Crux of It

Whether we try Wegovy today, tried fen-phen back in the day, have a stomach procedure, or use a starvation diet, every external “fix” requires us to embed smarter eating habits, mind-sets and tools into the fiber of our being for the weight loss to actually last.

We’re tired of losing weight with results that don’t last.

If a pill or a procedure comes along that lets us live on Pringles and donuts, sign me up!

But until that joyous moment arrives learning to deal with the food in our food-on-steroids culture is the surest way to maintain a forever-loss. ♥

Pearl Three

I’m keeping Pearl Three short so that this post doesn’t turn into a novel. During the month of February, I’m leaving this slot for talking smart mind-shifts. Today’s topic: I’ve had several ask me how I eat on vacation. Years ago, I would have gotten serious and explained why it’s so important to keep your great habits going no matter if you’re in the Virgin Islands or Vegas.

But these days I explain it like this: Just like I’d never leave my meds at home, I don’t leave my smart eating habits at home either. Oh, I might have one detour a day, but mostly I stay firmly on the Smart Eating Path when I’m far from home. Who wants to return from the trip to having gained five? Not I and I bet not you either. ♥

Pearl Four

Two book-dessert suggestions for you today one non-fiction and one fiction. I love Stephen King, just not his horror-genre so I don’t usually read him, but I did read his amazing and popular book, On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft.

I know, you’re thinking, but lady I’m not a writer. Great news: the book is half and half. Part of On Writing is a master class worth of advice, but the book is also his memoir and includes details about the car accident that came very close to ending his life. He’s critical of the driver who plowed into him, of course. But he doesn’t hold back his fury at the two women who could have given him a heads up about the goofball driver in the first place, but didn’t. Phenomenal read.

The fiction that I’m loving is, Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiny. Yes, I mentioned her last week. When I find a good book, I search out the author’s other books. Now, had I known that this book were a compilation of short stories all wrapped up in conclusions at the end, I wouldn’t have ordered it at the library. I don’t think of myself as a short story lover.

But that would have been an a mistake.

Review: fantastic read when you need something light in the domestic-humor-fiction department. ♥

Pearl Five

“We are all failures – at least the best of us are.” – J.M. Barrie (Creator of Peter Pan). ♥

Have a beautiful 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. ♥

Did you know that the opposite of couch-potato inertia is Latin dancing? Well, it should be!

Pearl One

Our cave woman likes to think she knows everything, but she doesn’t get us — in total — at all.

Remember, the cave woman is the one who cheers us on when we feel the smallest twinge of hunger — along with emotional upset — to eat the highest calories around, but did you know that she also loves to muck up our dreams and plans too? Bummer because she rocks at messing up great ideas.

Let’s take that I’m trying a new Pilates studio. Take a look at how my own cave woman attempts to ruin my plans:

Knowing that I’m headed to an entirely new experience, she’ll come at me full-throttle hurling questions like, do you know how expensive that Pilates class is? What could you be thinking? You have two kids in college. Let me help you out, it’s raining and much too cold to leave the house today anyhow. Maybe come spring. Or once you’ve gotten into better shape so that you don’t embarrass yourself in front of all the scary, new people. (Cause no offense, but your muscles are like overcooked spaghetti.)

She thinks we’re nuts and that if it wasn’t for her wise protection, we’d have been goners long ago.

How to Manage the Buttinsky

Noun. Inertia. A tendency to hide indoors seemingly glued to the couch. Lumpish, draggy, lifeless.

Our cave woman undermines our best laid plans, but she hides behind the word inertia to avoid detection. I say, it’s time to blow her cover: the cave woman and inertia are one and the same!

So when we have phenomenal ideas, how do we override our cave woman’s grip on our life?

First, we acknowledge that our busybody is actually on the scene. She’s at her strongest when we don’t even know she’s around.

When she tells us that we’ll likely be rejected by the other Pilates hard-bodies (her wet noodle thing and all), and will literally die from being rejected, the cave woman is at her best. This is the moment when she’s distracted us with — what sounds like — crystal clear reasoning, but is actually just her way of trying to ruin our sparkling plans.

Inertia (aka cave woman) is relentless and will not quit until we’ve given up our “silly” ideas altogether.

So, how to politely give her a blankie and send her back into the cave?

As I’ve said, we start by overriding our cave woman when we acknowledge her presence. Not knowing that she’s in stealth mode is how she gets away with so much.

Second, we allow her to vent in our journal. We let her list every frightening concern she has and then tell her, “so noted, thank you for your participation.”

Remember eons ago, it was the cave woman’s task to hear the tiniest snap of a twig to then move like lightening to safety thereby avoiding an advancing predator. In modern times, the cave woman is always on high alert and assuming that a saber tooth tiger is around the next corner.

And trying to explain the difference between the saber tooth and a Pilates class leaves everyone frustrated and confused.

But great news: the cave woman is spectacularly wrong. Because in today’s world, her high alert mode isn’t needed to deal with our day-to-day lives.  

I’d like to tell you that as I became more aware of my cave woman it became easier to call her out and send her back to the cave.

But that hasn’t been the case in my life.

While I’m much better at giving her the slip than I once was, I’ve made peace with the idea that I need to use this muscle almost daily to keep my prefrontal brain strong and my cave woman snoozing. ♥

Pearl Two

Now let’s talk about one of my most favorite tools ever. For the win: what is the opposite of inertia?

That’s right!! Momentum! Noun. The more and more (and more) I stopped eating after 6 p.m., the more momentum’s strength fueled my evenings. Getting out of inertia is tough, but it’s worth it because everyone loves the thrill of momentum.

How do we Create the Superpower that is Momentum?

Here’s how I get myself out of inertia and into the beauty of momentum-land as quickly as possible.

Let’s say that you want to read more in 2023. Your to-do list shouldn’t say: read more. Better to chunk “read more” into small tasks for various to-do lists:

• locate the closest library.
• visit library and get official library card.
• At home, go online and order phenomenal books.
• When the books arrive, drive to library and pick up.
• Place books in your home where you’ll most likely read them.
• Now put “read book before bed” (or whenever works for you) on your to-do list.
• Suggest to yourself that you’ll read at least ten pages each time.

Et voila!

The funny thing is that unwelcome habits can be installed immediately. One time, I drove down a specific road and stopped for a vanilla shake — again, one time –, and thereafter my cave woman assumes that we’re stopping for a shake every single time I’m on that road. These days I stay off that road.

We all get that embedding a fantastic new habit into our daily life means a lot of conscious thought. Make it easier on yourself by using the power of chunking down to bring your new habit to life. ♥

Pearl Three

You know what? It’s tempting to think that losing weight is merely a vanity thing. Not something true adults really bother with. Eat when you’re hungry and move more. What’s so hard?

I also fall into the trap of wanting to look decent in my jeans, but this week I was reminded that being overweight is a lot more serious than merely how we look in our clothes. Being overweight is also the culprit in many dangerous diseases including certain cancers, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and gall bladder disease. (Been there, removed that.)

Problem is you and I were never taught how to navigate a culture layered in food-porn. As you know, it’s a real trick to stay at a healthy weight with donut shops in every bleeping inch of our lives.

And keep in mind, the diet-culture itself loses profit (actually risks going bankrupt) if we succeed at a forever-loss. Same with the fast-food joints and bright, shiny grocery store aisles that showcase chemicals and poison inside every alluring box or package.

This week I’m thinking about a Thriver’s loved one who passed. I wish I’d known W. and had a heart-to-heart with her, maybe could’ve suggested a few ideas. At the very least, tell her that she wasn’t alone, that so many of us fight the food-drug.

It’s my belief that our culture hasn’t done right by the Ws of our world. We haven’t had a conversation about navigating this ever-present substance that’s so available and so easy to abuse.

K, today’s post is dedicated to you and W. ♥

Pearl Four

The Pearl Four slot has become the book-dessert slot where I share what I’m reading and loving this week (thank you once again to Thriver, Ms. B for this wonderful idea). I should tell you that I won’t be suggesting book genres like chick-lit (for the most part), horror, or mysteries (maybe one day, I’ll get into mysteries).

I love books that teach me something amazing, but are also funny, and 100 percent entertaining to read like The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.

My book-dessert this week is Standard Deviation by Katharine Heiny and falls under the genre of “humorous/domestic fiction.” Standard Deviation is easy to read (meaning not War and Peace) and I read it in a week of two-hour chunks of time. (I’d make fun of her last name, but I keep repeating to myself, I’m a grown up, I’m a grown up, I’m a grown up.)

The story is about a modern day couple living in Manhattan who’re raising their 10-year-old son who has Asperger’s. But Asperger’s is more of a sub-theme, I’d tell you the theme-theme, but that would spoil the book for you.

I highly recommend this sparkling and touching story. ♥

Pearl Five

Life leaps like a geyser for those who drill through the rock of inertia.” – Tony Hsieh ♥

You’ve all been so sweet writing to wish me luck with my parents moving into their home. They’re going to a beautiful place right in their suburb. Thank you so much for writing and inquiring.

As always, if you liked this post, please share with a loved one.

Have a dessert-book-ish 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 get some moolah. 🙂

Capital “LOVE” is for our peeps, furry babies and coffee. Lowercase “love” is for food.

Beautiful rustic sign from FarmhouseDecorArt.

Hey Everyone!

Let’s get right to it!

Pearl One

Some of us read every word of these posts – and I love it when you point out typos, I really do! – while others read one post here and another there, but here’s the thing: in not reading 90 percent of this blog you’re missing the full impact of how I was able to lose 55 lbs. and, 17 years later, maintain the loss.

I approached my own initial forever-weight loss and maintenance differently than we’ve long learned to do from your average diet company, diet book, or strenuous, unsustainable boot-camp approach.

Problem is, I haven’t figured out how to say that I have a better way without sounding cheesy.

“I lost 55 lbs. and you can too!”

See how goofy that sounds?

If you have any ideas re: how to de-cheese me, I’m all eyes! 🙂

My Can’t Live Without Strategies & Tactics for Losing after Fifty

I happen to agree wholeheartedly with myself that losing after 50 and creating a forever-loss equals about — oh — a million or so mind-shifts, habits and tools. But if someone said, “right, but if you could only pick three important themes, what would they be?”

I would pick these guys:

1. The Pivotal Reframe that Makes Losing Possible

Years ago, it dawned on me to call losing weight, “my part-time job.” Seventeen years into maintenance I now call it “my hobby.”

As you know, there’s so much involved in losing weight. Sweeping the kitchen of obstacle-calories, asking housemates to please eat junk food out of the house (said with a smile), buying the right foods (and gear like an air fryer) to make the trek a smidge more doable, is all a crazy amount of work.

So, calling this process of losing after 50 “a part-time job” immediately gave me room to breathe. I wasn’t trying anymore to cram my new Smart Eating Lifestyle into every spare nook and cranny of my life (and feeling boiling resentment along the way), but with the “part-time job” reframe, I had the luxury to open windows of time that allowed me to set myself up for success.

2. I don’t let myself get hungry

Could there be a more important strategy? Me-thinks not. You and I have a habit with hunger and it’s not a good one.

Allowing ourselves to get overly-hungry is the sure-fire way to mess up our smart eating plans.

And I’m not only talking about famished-hunger, I’m talking about the kind of hunger that presents itself after a meal when we think, “a handful of peanut M&Ms sure sounds tasty.”

Which was me last night.

And after these many years, the cave woman part of my brain suggested this very handful of candy just last night.

It wasn’t ten or twenty years ago.

It was last night.

Before I started to vacuum up the calories, I realized what was happening — I was still merely hungry — and had a small bowl of cereal. Disaster averted.

My M&M craving? Gone.

Bottom line: nobody makes smart food choices when she’s hungry.

My tactics: live life with your cold-tote — packed in smart food – by your side. Always Eat Before You Eat. And never, ever return home hungry.

3. I Plan and Plan and Plan

In case you’re wondering, maintaining a 55-pound loss after age 50 is no picnic. So planning is a monumental part of my day-to-day.

My tactics: On Sunday afternoons, I make food that I can grab on the run like my whole-wheat pumpkin muffins; I hard boil eggs. I make two servings or so of brown rice. I read restaurant menus online in advance of entering the venue. I keep junk food out of my kitchen and smart food beautifully displayed in it. ♥

Pearl Two

If you’re new to the Inspired Eater, you should know that I was a butterball from age seven or eight until about the age of 42. (If you’d like the details re: my fun life with food, check out theses two links: About Me and Begin Here.)

One time in my 30s, I was at a casual meeting with four or five colleagues and the issue of weight and healthy eating came up. The group started chattering away about how they eat well by bringing such-and-such to work and . . . then they all looked at me, grew silent, and quickly moved onto the next agenda item.

And you know what?

It didn’t really bother me – yes, it hurt a little – because at that point I’d already lost ten or fifteen pounds and knew that I was headed for a forever-loss. I was new to the group and these women didn’t know how far I’d already come.

This sort of experience is why I say, “I understand. Being heavy is hard for a gazillion different reasons and losing the weight is super hard because, well, we LOVE food!!”

And that’s my point: we don’t need to love food in all caps ever again. We’re taking ourselves from capital LOVE to lowercase “love” when it comes to food.

Same with actual meals. Don’t make dishes that taste GREAT!

Make delicious food that’s good enough.

See the difference? We can love food that’s a B- and keep the A+ gob-smacking, unbelievable food as the rare treat.

Let others think what they will, we know we’re headed some place special (and it’s called a “forever-loss”). ♥

Pearl Three

A funny celebrity story. Remember how Renee Zellweiger gained about 30 lbs. for Bridget Jones’s Diary? Well I laughed when I heard her once say – and I’m paraphrasing – that she was perplexed to realize that to gain weight, one donut wouldn’t do the trick and that she’d had to eat many calories along with other high-fat foods to plump up for the role.

It’s good intell for you and me. It’s not one cone, one slice of birthday cake, or one bowl of mac ‘n cheese, it’s the amount that matters (and, yes, I know you know, but I wanted to share anyway).

You and I aren’t usually food-hungry or we’d stop at “one” of whatever food. When we plow through many, many calories we’re starving for something much deeper.

And the only portal I know of that takes us to our super wise sub-conscious — on a daily basis — is journal-writing. Ask yourself quality questions such as, what was happening inside of me the moment before, the hour before, the day before, the week before, and the month before I chowed the leftover pizza from last night (my sons were all, “what happened to the pizza?”). It’s powerful: give your highly-evolved sub-conscious a voice and watch her amaze you. ♥

Pearl Four

For some time we’ve used Pearl Four to talk food that’s both tasty and nutritious, but I’m pretty tapped out. I think I’ve shared my reliables: stir-fry, whole-wheat pumpkin (or banana or apple) muffins, really good fruit in the summer, and smoothies. If you’ve found a super helpful food please share in the comments below. We can all use a new food that makes our trek a little less daunting. Include how I make smart food on The Inspired Eater: Fed Up.

That said, have I shared with you that there’s an almond milk that’s just 30 calories? I live on it. While it comes in plain, I love “vanilla.” You’ll find it at your grocery store with the other milks.

Our new Pearl Four is thanks to a suggestion by Ms. B, who asked that I share good books. Great idea!

Here goes.

My habit is to try several books each week and ditch the ones that don’t work for me. I read to about page 10 or even 20, but if something doesn’t improve, back into my library bag it goes. I promise to only share amazing books that I LOVE (caps intended; books deserve it).

The author I have for you today is Matt Haig who authored two incredible, wowza books:

The Humans. When you first start reading The Humans you might wonder if it’s a non-fiction and then think that maybe it’s sci-si. It’s neither. It’s a five-star read, infused with a bit of magic, that’ll make you happy to be a human. The story is about an alien who’s been tasked with visiting Earth to see what humans are all about. The alien inhabits a dad’s body and goes home to “his” family. It’s a fish-out-of-water story and has humorous moments, but it’s touching and wonderful and please read it.

The Midnight Library. This Haig-masterpiece is about a woman who isn’t so thrilled with her life. Nothing’s going her way and she’s done. She ends up in a purgatory that takes her down several cool life-threads. If you’ve ever wondered, what if?, this is your read. And Haig outdid himself with the ending.

I highly recommend both The Humans and The Midnight Library. They’re easy to read and you can plow through each in a weekend. ♥

Pearl Five

“What did you think? I would not comeback? See I am back.” ~ Invajy ♥

I LOVE this quote (again, caps intended). The idea being: don’t ever give up. So what if you ate the entire bag of Doritos and your tongue is numb and orange? Ditch the drama, journal-write about what went south that lead to the emptied Dorito bag, and then do your “ta-da” comeback (we’ve so got this).

I would love it if you’d follow me on Instagram and/or Twitter!

And if something touched you in the post, I’d appreciate it so much if you’d share it with a loved one.

Have a dessert-book-ish weekend!

♥, 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. ♥

Everything exquisite is much, much harder than it looks.

Wreath by theSplendidDoor

Pearl One

I’ve said, you’ve said, we’ve all said, “I’m going on a diet.”

As if a forever-loss is akin to saying, “I’m going to college.” Or, “I’m raising kids.” Or, “I’m training to be a heart surgeon.”

You and I know that college, kids and highly skilled jobs require – oh — about a gazillion-steps each. (Not to mention the exorbitant price tag.)

And yet we don’t accord ourselves the same respect when we say, “I’m going on a diet.” We make it sound like an easy one-and-done activity.

Our culture is entranced with the story of “easy.” Seriously, listen to how often the word “easy” comes up in the media, on product and store signage, and even in the language of you, me and everyone in our world.

We’ve all been trained to throw the word “easy” into whatever we’re talking about.

As if “easy” is really a thing.

Easy is not a thing.

Why do we banter the word around? My guess is because life is so very arduous and demanding (and sometimes tragic).

But can we blame our culture? Somewhat, yes. We can say that navigating our culture’s food is a sizeable part of the problem. If we’re drug addicted, we wouldn’t want to see cocaine drive-thrus on every corner. And yet those of us decreasing our food dependence face food-porn at every turn.

I know what you’re thinking: The culture will do what the culture is going to do, I’m the one to blame for my weight issue.

And to that I say, you’re wrong. Here’s why: It’s vital to acknowledge what we’re actually dealing with. We marinate in a food-on-steroids world, but act like it’s no biggie.

But as you know, it’s a biggie. Because if we don’t get this truth, then we don’t bring the right tools to the trek.

So, take this thought in and chew on it for a while: we’ve taken the enjoyment of food far past what our grandparents could have imagined. Today, we use food for entertainment, comfort, companionship, and for celebration.

And yet, our brains were never created to deal with so many calories so easily accessible on the regular.

So if you call yourself “weak” and think, everyone else can handle it, again, you’d be wrong. In our culture, most are grappling with some substance. If we’re not about to over drink, do drugs, or smoke, overeating is the next obvious choice when we need to chill.

Can we learn to live without overeating? Of course.

Is it easy? I’d be lying to you if I said “yes.”

You and I are trekking one of the Matterhorns of our lives — yes, you and I didn’t show up on the planet yesterday, we’ve been up many a Matterhorn — and it requires serious planning, practice, and tools. It requires the serious everything. Including the smart back-up plan.

And that’s our takeaway. Nothing about losing and maintaining after 50 is “easy.” Somebody has to be honest. Thing is, you already know what I’m saying is right. You’ve long known that our trek is super difficult. Now give your inner wisdom the floor, because she knows the truth. She knows that the emperor is wearing no clothes. ♥

Pearl Two

So what to do with the idea that losing after 50 and maintaining a forever-loss is akin to a PhD? I’m so glad you asked!

The coveted degree is buried in micro-moves.

You know how there are a million steps in attaining an undergraduate degree and many more in earning a Masters or higher?

The steps to getting degrees can fill books.

That’s how I look at losing 55 lbs. in my 40s and am into year 17 of maintenance. There’s a billion step involved.

(And, no, you can’t use the “I’m too old” excuse. Why? Well, that’s another pearl, but for now no “I’m an old dog” talk.)

In a sense, when you acknowledge the bajillion micro-steps you’re essentially writing your own book about how losing and maintaining after 50 is going down in your life. And I strongly encourage you to literally write every day in your journal the steps you are taking — daily — as you evolve into a smart eater.

You’ll be writing about actual eating (what are my worst times of day? What are my easiest? How can I plan for the toughest times? Like, do I have a play-book for Friday nights? Or long afternoons? Or lonely evenings?).

You’ll be writing about your emotional life (what is the emotion I struggle with most in life? In my life, I struggle big-time with self-forgiveness. Seems like the more mature I get, the more horrified I am about the antics of younger-me).

You’ll go into the entertainment part of your life (what do I do for fun? Besides eating or cooking or watching shows about eating or cooking).

You’ll consider how you soothe you (how do I calm myself when it hits the fan? Besides any of the crutches).

I could go on and on. Because so much is involved in losing and maintaining. Not to belabor, but the very notion that any of this is “easy” is preposterous.

Once you’re onboard with how many micro-moves are involved in creating a forever-loss, the closer you’ll be to creating one. ♥

Pearl Three

I can’t emphasize enough that if you love to read, the power of book desserts can create a new habit for yourself that sees you going to bed early, dessert in hand, and reaping the rewards.

A thriver – Ms. B. — suggested that I share the book I’m currently reading and also share what I’m reading next (see below). Now, the reason I haven’t shared is that I assumed that you only wanted to hear about the five-star books. But I like your idea, B, because why not share 4.5 star books too?

They’re still exceptional reads.

I just finished a book from one of my favorite authors, Erik Larson. His book Thunderstruck tells how Marconi’s invention of wireless communication went hand-in-glove with England’s second most famous murder (after Jack the Ripper). And the second most famous murder wasn’t serial-killer, gory stuff. (There’s a different reason that the murder was so well-known in England.)

You guys, the ending to this book is astonishing. If you haven’t read Larson he shares stories from history and tells them in the most insanely exciting way possible. (And Larson explains how he finds and uses primary material: his goal being to take solid facts and spin them into a jaw-dropping story.)

Review about Thunderstruck: because Larson was still relatively new to this genre — creating roller coaster reads— the first 100 pages were a tad dry. They were about Marconi and his place in our world.

But around page 100, the book picks up and soon soars. I highly recommend Thunderstruck, but if you get bored, just skim like I did. At a certain point your skimming days moments will be over.

My favorite Larson books: The Splendid and the Vile, Dead Wake the Last Crossing of the Lusitania, and Isaac’s Storm.

My Next Book: The Winners by another favorite author, Fredrik Backman (A Man Called Ove).

Great idea B!! ♥

Pearl Four

In 2022 I set aside Pearl Four to talk healthy, tasty food. Honestly, I’m pretty sure that I’ve hit on the various foods I use regularly to make the losing-after-50 trek more fun.

But reader M has made two variations based on “my” (found in a local mag 20 years ago) whole-wheat muffin recipe.

There was a time when my picky-eater son only ate about five foods, and the whole-wheat muffin recipe in pumpkin was one of them.

But as he grew, I branched out and swapped bananas and walnuts for the pumpkin. Reader, M, went a step further, she emailed:

Hi Wendy,

I thought I’d show you my newest variation on your whole wheat pumpkin muffin recipe (scroll to Pearl Four to see details on how to bake these gems).

I had some apples I wanted to use, so I cut them into chunks and microwaved them at 50% power for 1 min, several times until they felt squishy with a fork.

Then I made your recipe and used them instead of the pumpkin. I realized when I was spooning the batter into the muffin cups that I should have gone ahead and mashed up the apples into a kind of puree, but too late!  So some of the muffins might have little or no apples in them, oh well! Live and learn hopefully!

Oh, I also added some sprinkles to the dough, but I don’t think they show up very well.

I don’t know how they taste yet, but they smell good!

Muffin review:  Update! They are yummy! I have to say, next time, maybe I’ll mash most of the apples, but leave a few chunks to press into each muffin. The sensation when biting into one of the apple chunks was YUM!

Okay, I’m in. Using apples in this recipe sounds awesome. I’m wondering if M added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batch to make it taste more apple pie-ish. Thank you M for sharing a moment in your life with us! ♥

Pearl Five

Real transformation requires real honesty. If you want to move forward – get real with yourself.” – Bryant McGill ♥

I would love it if you’d follow me on Instagram and/or Twitter!

Have a great 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

Back in the day, I always felt a surge of excitement when I’d start my “diet” whether it was on a Monday morning, at the beginning of May (to be ready for summer) or on New Year’s Day.

And, in every scenario, I’d crash and burn within weeks (sometimes days).

Never once did it occur to me that committing to a future time-frame (I’ll start Monday) went hand-in-glove with the inevitable decimation I’d have a few weeks later.

Now that I’ve maintained my loss for 17 years, it’s become blindingly clear that creating a forever-loss involves about 102 different mind-shifts, skills, and habits.

Our culture pushes the idea that the cool kids live it up over the holidays, but batten down the hatches on January one.

When the new diet loses its luster, it’s become a hilarious cultural norm to say, “At least I made it to February with my resolution intact!!” (Yuck, yuck, yuck.)

But, when we’re alone, we’re not laughing.

If you’ve started the year with a resolve to eat well, take a look at my top tips for spinning a traditional resolution into a forever Smart Eating Lifestyle.

1. The Clarity Anchor.

In Atomic Habits, James Clear writes, “Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.”

I recently heard that the addiction world calls it “a moment of clarity” when something huge has happened to us and we’re changed, but I call it, “deepening our why.”

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve never been one to maintain a workout schedule. So for the first year when I started my yoga/Pilates habit, I’d drive away from my cozy home thinking, it’s for the boys, it’s for the boys, it’s for the boys.

But by the second year, my mantra morphed into, “community! Friends! Strength!”

When we’re burning out on an activity it’s vital to return to your “why” and journal-write about it. Your why may have changed and you might need to ID an entirely new why for the current day.

Put the question to your subconscious and let it solution-solve for you. Journal prompts: I’m so tired of a, b, and c. Which part of the new habit do I particularly dislike? What part do I love? What’s my original why? Does it need deepening? Or do I need a new why altogether? What excuses do I lean on to end the new habit? How do I navigate “boredom”? How do I manage disappointment?

2. Do you Accept Your Natural Rhythms?

As you’re developing a smart new habit, are you working within the parameters of your personality? For example, I’m a morning person, I love animals, and I never embraced skiing (after years on the slopes).

When I make a forever-change in my life I work with who I am. In other words, I’m not a giraffe trying to be a parrot.

Problems often arise when I work way, way outside of “me.”

Example, I can goal myself to create a morning run schedule that sees me heading out the door at 5 a.m. for a run, but – bahaha – I crack myself up.

Will never happen.

My most productive writing time is in the morning from about 8 a.m. to noon. I schedule appointments for the afternoon, when words are difficult and make writing pointless.

In other words, I work within my natural rhythms. Anything less and I’m taking a difficult trek and making it that much harder. Journal prompt: When you hit burn-out, are you working with who you are at your core?

3. Toto, We’re Not in High School Anymore

I call our larger culture “the cool kids.” Thing is, if we live the larger culture norm we’re overeating, yo-yo dieting, and going in and out of a gym membership. The larger culture also spends a fortune on weddings, houses, cars, vacations, clothes, and make-up.

Yes, we have Clark Howard, but mainly we live in debt because, well, “everyone else is.”

Same with overeating. We’re in overeating-debt hoping that the new diet “will work”; the rest of the time thinking, everyone else gets to eat, why not me?

We might even think, it’s silly to spend so much time buying the right food, preparing the right food, and keeping the right food with me in the cold-tote. I mean, who pulls menus up online before eating in a restaurant?

Actually, when weight begins to impact our health, it’s silly not to take losing seriously. Will you have to be super serious forever? (Only if you want to maintain your weight, otherwise meet up with the cool kids for a margarita and a plate of nachos, and call it good.)

4. A Smidge of Tough Love

Become comfortable with the idea that incorporating a new habit is very challenging. Give that to yourself. In other words, instead of asking yourself, “what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I do this? Other people do.”

Tell yourself, “a lot of people can’t – or won’t – do the habit I’m now embedding.”

Whether your goal is to give up ice cream or walk 30 minutes a day, “most people” are struggling. Our culture is packed in food distractions, tech distractions, drinking distractions.

Mainly, we’re living a distracted life.

So when you’re consciously embedding a new habit into your daily, once the honeymoon part of your new habit has spun into the “messy middle,” explain to yourself that what you’re doing isn’t for the faint of heart.

Remind yourself: this is a hard trek we’re forging. If you tell yourself anything less, you won’t bring the right tools and attitude to your new habit formation. Journal prompt: where did I get the idea that losing weight should be easy? Does my family of origin have weight issues? How have they handled staying healthy?

5. Culturally Sanctioned Sky-high Expectations

This title pretty much says it all. We’re bombarded with the idea that weight loss after age 50 “is easy.” Here’s the thing, anyone who promotes the idea that weight loss at any age is easy, has their hand on your wallet.

Maybe if we lived in a wonderland where fast food only sold beautiful salads and fresh fruit, high sugar and salty treats weren’t a thing, and cars didn’t exist and bicycles ruled the world, then we’d all be in amazing shape.

But in our world, we’re trekking the Matterhorn. At least with drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol the larger culture understands why someone would go to rehab or get dry. But tell someone you’ve given up pancakes and waffles, and they might roll their eyes and want to know why.

The larger culture pushes the food-drug as being a happy, celebratory part of our lives. Problem is, we treat every day like it’s Christmas morning. The old days when special food appeared once or twice a year have left the building. Journal-prompts: What are your expectations for yourself? Are you hard on you? How do you internally speak to yourself? How do you manage disappointment? How do you cheerlead yourself?

Burn out is a fancy way of saying that we’ve lost touch with our deeper selves. Embrace your new habit by journal-writing as you go. Stay in touch with you. (Only remember to feed yourself great books, yoga classes, Broadway shows, a rescue dog that’s a whole lot of work, but totally worth it and so forth.)

Maintain what matters most to you.

And breathe in a successful experience. ♥

Pearl Two

Do you mind another James Clear quote? In Atomic Habits James writes that “the greatest threat to success is not failure, but boredom.”

I couldn’t agree more. I’ve done a ton of dumb stuff in my life merely because I was bored. And – as we all well know — eating fun food is surefire way to pinball us straight out of boredom (at least for the moment). Fun food is cheap, fun food is a breeze to attain, and fun food is sanctioned by the world.

When fun food calls to me it means one of three things. I’m either hungry, tired or I’m bored. If I’m all three, I’ve really entered the twilight zone.

Getting un-bored with our new habit isn’t a walk on the beach. The smartest way to give our subconscious a way to “talk” to us is through journal-writing.

Pick up the pen – or keyboard- and discover what makes you sparkle and come up with creative ideas to bring the sparkle to life. ♥

Pearl Three

Our January topic: Dealing well with plateaus or why I ♥ plateauing. Our culture has drilled into us that plateaus are bad and decreasing body weight in a linear fashion is good.

Nope.

Here’s the truth: when we quickly go down, down, down in weight, our cave woman brain wakes up, thinks we’re in a developing country’s famine and gets to work “saving” us (leading us to the highest caloric food she can find).

Our goal is to keep our cave woman snoozing happily and not bothering us. That’s where the plateau is our friend. What comes after a ten pound loss? A month of what I call “holding” or what our culture calls plateauing.

It really is that simple. Become fine with the plateau and let your body adjust to your new weight. After a month of holding, then begin to lose slowly again. ♥

Pearl Four

What I’m packing in my cold-tote this week. I can’t be trusted around nuts. Almonds, walnuts, peanuts (and don’t get me started on pistachios). If I start with one small handful it’s an immediate slide into (many) more handfuls.

Hence, this workaround. I only allow myself nuts that I’ve bagged up in a reasonable portion size and put into my cold-tote. As you know, I take my cold-tote with me when I’m out and about. The cold-tote packed in healthy food keeps me out of the fast food drive-thru and safe when I grocery shop. ♥

Pearl Five

The No. 1 cause of burnout is doing the same thing over and over again and not seeing results.”

— Steve Kaczmarski ♥

And the golden-takeaway is that “results” are different for different people. My result might be having successfully contained my Cookie Monster after 9 p.m.

While your successful result is having created a habit that sees you eating apple slices dipped in peanut butter rather than your afternoon bag of M&Ms. ♥

Also, in the New Year I’ve begun my e-coaching program that will focus on ironclad solutions to your most annoying food problems. For three months (or more, your choice) we’ll email each other at least three times a week looking specifically at how to shift your eating patterns with a goal of a forever weight loss. For the details email me at Wendy@theInspiredEater.com. The price for e-coaching is $49/per month.

Following me on Instagram and Twitter would be awesome!

Have a wonderful week 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. ♥

If I’m out-and-about I always, always, always take smart food in my purse or tote.

Pearl One

Even as a teen I could see that the women’s magazines often had, say, a gorgeous photo of strawberry cheesecake with recipe just a few pages from “Lose Ten in Ten!”

And today it’s no different.

We might hear from our doctor that we need to lose 40, but on the drive home we’ll also pass a gazillion fast food drive-thrus, a million restaurants, gas station mini-marts also packed in junk food, even libraries with a vending machine (the only place I can think of that doesn’t push food is the dog park).

I’m big on acknowledging what is. While I don’t blame anyone for my extra pounds, I know – beyond a doubt – that you and I eat better today than any culture in human history.

Learning how to manage our hunger and navigate the “food terrain” as we go about our day is critical. If we’re out in the world without easy access to something healthy to tide us over, we will find something to eat that would never be called smart food. I mean, who stops at the gas station mini-mart for a banana?

We can’t legislate bans on fast food. But once we fully understand that our culture does not support us at reaching – and maintaining — our preferred weight, only then can we move forward stronger and wiser about how to successfully create a smart eating lifestyle.

The convenient mini-marts, the Burger Kings, the Cheesecake Factories and so forth are only around to make money. ♥

Pearl Two

We have so many new people – and welcome!! – so I’m using this pearl to revisit Aunt Bea. Plus I’ve added new material.

If you didn’t receive your Aunt Bea, just email me: Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com.

Today I’m focusing on Aunt Bea’s Tool Twelve.

The Secret Sauce: Preparation

We’ve been on this planet long enough to know: Life is hard. And staying trim is super-duper hard in our culture packed in calories.

That said, take the 66 days required (according to my favorite ’09 study out of England) to establish a solid habit by embedding the shifts below into your daily. A sure way to set ourselves up for failure is to try to embed too many habits at once. Take it slow.

When eating in a restaurant, I never eat a full plate. (Only the really high-end restaurants serve small dishes). When the server brings your dish automatically ask for a to-go carrier so that you can put half of the plate of food away immediately. (Remember out-of-sight, out-of-mind is a phenomenal tool.)

I never eat hungry because I always “eat before I eat.” Always. Eating before eating usually means that I have my daily oatmeal bowl (an hour in advance), a scrambled egg, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat (easy on the peanut butter and jelly) or in dire circumstances I’ll eat a teaspoon of peanut butter right out of the jar. (Small amounts of peanut butter are my go-to.)

I know this sounds like a downer, but I always read nutrition labels these days. Why? Because I’ve noticed that the more educated I get about a particular junk food, the less likely I’ll be to chow with abandon. I once read the nutrition label on Oreos and learned that a serving (three) has 160 calories, nine grams of fat, and 14 grams of sugar. And, really, who eats only three?

It took hard work and time, but I developed the habit of not eating after 6 p.m. (6:30 at the latest). I’m not a hard-core intermittent faster because my “fasting” time isn’t that high. I don’t eat for 14 hours (mostly while sleeping) and I do eat for ten. I think intermittent fasting has been an awesome way for so many to reduce calories, so please don’t get me wrong. I love IF. But in my experience I’ve found that if I stop eating around 6:00 p.m., I stay at my preferred weight.

To this day, I don’t leave my house without my cold bag filled with two or three of the following: petite carrots, sliced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, maybe yogurt, a hard-boiled egg and you get the gist. The bag goes into my car and I snack as I do errands or wait too long at a medical or hair appointment. This way, I stave off hunger and increase my vegetable intake while driving. Win-win. (I eat carefully to avoid any chance of choking.)

I cook foods in advance. I make a vegetarian chili on the weekends and leave it in the fridge for later in the week (I love cold food). I also nuke polenta that I add to my salads (in log form found at Trader Joe’s). And I hard-boil eggs every Sunday so I have something easy to grab during the week. Put it this way: if you’re not prepping food daily, you’re not losing weight. Prepping is that important. ♥

Pearl Three

Thinking Big. It’s entirely human to assume that thinking big also means that the big thing is not coming at Amazon speed.

Even though logically I know that Amazon won’t deliver whatever big thing I’m shooting for quickly, I often hope (secretly) that maybe something magical will happen that’ll bring my big thing to me right away.

But instead of hoping for magic, I’m much more successful when I see a new habit formation to be similar to creating a beautiful garden. For example we know that tending a garden:

• requires time (we learn what’ll flower and/or produce in which season).
• allows for mistakes (oh, no, the deer ate all the grapes?! Time to figure out a way to get my fair share next year).
• needs specific “tools” (the right soil, amount of sunlight, and fertilizer for the plant. Not to mention water).
• calls for regular care (as in weeding and pruning).

I’m journal-writing about how to tend my smart eating lifestyle “garden.” How do I respect the necessary time involved? How do I handle “mistakes?” Am I cruel and disgusted with myself? Or do I have a “lessons learned” thought process? Hint: you want the latter. Do I keep my “tools” on hand (a kitchen stocked in smart foods)? How do I take care of myself (however that factors into your life: some like a beautiful manicure; others a clean car)? ♥

Pearl Four

First, a caveat. You guys know, but I need to say: I’m not a nutritionist, dietician or medical doctor. Talk with your own general practitioner before using any of my ideas.

Back to the show.

I once watched a friend nuke a Trader Joe’s bag of (snap) green beans. After nuking she opened the bag and added a light sprinkling of salt before eating the crunchy beans with fingers straight from the bag.

Watching, my eyes grew wide. Are we allowed to do that? Actually use salt?! (I’d been eating bland food for years.)

Pam’s light sprinkle of salt was my first introduction to the very idea that I could make healthy food a bit tastier (I’ve learned that cooking without salt, but then adding a sprinkle right before eating delivers the most flavor). Again, check with your GP before using salt.

A round of applause to Pam because these days I’m always on the lookout for ways to make food more fun. Here’s a sample of how I jazz up my food today:

• I add sliced olives and a heavy sprinkle of crushed red pepper to my Lean Cuisine cheese pizza. Ups the flavor.
• I often top my first cup of coffee in the morning with whipped cream Starbucks style. Silly, but fun.
• Dill and feta cheese. If you haven’t yet tried this taste combo, let me just say: yum!! Years ago I followed a recipe that called for pasta, veggies, feta cheese, and dill. And awesome news: there are a ton of pasta substitutes that are healthier than white pasta like whole wheat pasta, squash noodles (that a friend swears by) or Zucchini Noodles (Zoodles).
• If I don’t have leafy greens in the fridge, I make a salad with petite carrots, cucumber and cherry tomatoes. To add a touch of flavor I put a tablespoon of ranch dressing onto my veggie plate and I lightly — very lightly — touch a veggie to the ranch. I end up with a blob of ranch on the plate. That’s how lightly I use the ranch. It’s like a spice, not a dip or full-on dressing.

I’d love to hear in the comments below. How do you infuse flavor into your smart eating day? ♥

Pearl Five

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh ♥

I’m spending the weekend doing a bunch of small, but significant things! Running my sweet dog, River; vacuuming; and cleaning the bathroom. And reading. Lots and lots of reading! Need a great book? These are my favorites.

Have a wonderful weekend! Again if you haven’t received Aunt Bea please let me know and I’ll get it right to you. My email: Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com.

♥, 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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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. ♥