Hi Thrivers!

You’ll see a change in the length of these pearls (I was wearing myself out writing all five every week). So sometimes I’ll recommend the main pearl plus an amazing book for book-desert. Other times it might be the main pearl with a fabulous quote.

On with the show!

Last week a thriver wrote: “Now that I have you on the phone, so to speak, I have been wondering what with all the coverage your view might be of Ozempic and the like. Does it ever have a place in the eventual formation of smart eating habits – which can take a long time to form. It’s a complex issue with significant medical aspects, people are sensitive, and it’s easy for people to feel judged or judgy.  — M.

Great question.

About two years ago I wrote about the new meds and me: no joke, I’d have taken out a small loan to try these new weight loss meds.” I see it the same way today.

I don’t have a single judgement about anyone trying a new med. Take Oprah, like many of us, that poor girl has been battling the eating-urge her entire adult life. But here’s the thing: at her 70^th birthday she told People magazine that she was stopping the meds to see if she could maintain her weight on her own. She could not. She gained back twenty, and decided to remain on the med for life.

And side effects are a real issue for some.

My understanding is that several weight loss meds were originally made for those with diabetes. So why aren’t the people dealing with diabetes have the same terrible side effects than weight loss people do? What I found is that people with diabetes are given lower doses, but also have a different expectations of the drug (i.e. maintain the use of their feet versus fitting into that little black dress).

So to answer M’s question: the way forward depends on the person. These are our choices:

• Oprah’s way: take a forever med and then no need to learn how to preserve.
• Half Oprah and half me: Take the med to lose the weight initially, but join me in preserving your habits into your heart and soul a lifetime loss.
• All me: Lose weight and preserve the loss forever using to deal with food the way I do.

I don’t feel “better than” med users because back in the day I wouldn’t have hesitated to be one. But that said, either choice, you’ll whittle down.

Journal-write about why you’re thinking about meds; why habits are hard for you to embed; why losing matter\s so much to you.

Deciding about the weight loss meds isn’t simple. It’s normal to feel torn. Just listen to your body, and take it one day at a time. ❄️

Have a great beginning of March!

♥. Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And given that computers can be so difficult, always feel free to ask in the comments below for Aunt Bea and I’ll get her right to you!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or 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.

Hi everyone!

I’m so sorry for the hiccups I’ve had. Let’s blame it on the computer. lol. I’ll be back next with the usual schedule. Until then, I hope this short post speaks to you.

Do you lead from your external life or from your internal world?

I’m not suggesting this is a black and white question, we’re all somewhere on this spectrum. You know how I’m often asked, “how do I eat on trips? During holidays? And do i suggest intermittent eating or intuitive eating?”

I know I used to wonder how I’d ever keep the weight off when my world falls apart? in celebratory times? when I’m depressed? scared? excited? bored?

In short, I was once looking at how do I make losing and maintaining a large weight loss possible?

I can tell you this: As I make food decisions, the answers come from my internal world. So whether I’m on a cruise, enjoying summer or navigating a health crises, I stay firmly on my eating plan and use every smart hack I can make use of to deal successfully with the crazy external (trip food, fast food, food porn from store, huge restaurant plates and so forth).

Overtime I slowly shifted from responding to external-cues to responding to my internal landscape.

How do you “eat with strength” and override your external? Three journal-writing questions to ask yourself:

• Do I lead from my internal or external?
• If I make plans to eat with strength, what is the moment that I shift to being influenced by my external world?
• What are three ways I can consciously shift to my internal direction?

That’s it for me, see you next

♥, Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And given that computers can be so difficult, always feel free to ask in the comments below for Aunt Bea and I’ll get her right to you!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or 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.treatment.

Pearl One

It took many years for me to truly connect that eating several brownies starts with a thought in my brain. Let me give you an example. Say my husband’s company is downsizing and he’s laid off. I then have a thought about his being let go. From this one situation, there are many responses:

• First the thought: Omg.
  My husband is out of work. “We’ll lose the house!; then the feeling: fear.
• Thought: “Wow. I’ve wanted to start an e-business forever. Looks like now’s tr the time. Feeling: apprehensive, but excited.
• Thought: Awesome! We’ve been talking about moving to a new state for ages. Adventure: here we come! Feeling: thrilled.

After having our feeling (fear, excited, thrilled) we then kick into action. Most of us — on this site – have

a feeling and overeat. It might be stress-eating or what I call the 3Es: every-emotion-eating.

One more example.

A young woman has been 30 pounds over her preferred weight since middle school. She often tells friends, “No matter what I do, I can’t lose. The weight will not budge.”

Our young woman gets engaged and drops thirty to fit into her dress.

Nothing changed.

Except everything changed: her thinking.

Losing and maintaining always begins in our brain. Every poor food choice starts in our synapses. Once you make this internal shift, you’ll approach weight loss in an entirely new way.

The diet industry has done a number on our culture. They’ve long framed weight loss as a food or a willpower or a “Just Do It” kind of thing.

It’s not.

It’s much bigger: it’s a thinking thing.❄️

Pearl Two

Our journal Pearl.

• What do you think that: it’s not a food thing, it’s a thinking thing?
• How do you use your thinking to eat fewer calories?
• Try to list the ways your thinking turns off and your cavewoman takes over?
• List the ways you can keep your thinking focused on your plan: a lifetime weight loss.

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff. Apply to your own life.

Initial Sequence

• Situation (be bare bones): Helen, 69, lives alone and her trash is picked up on Sundays. Her driveway is steep to bring trash outside on Sundays difficult.
• Initial thought: “I’m angry mainly at myself for not being able to do this like I once did.”
• Feeling: angry because she wants to feel independent, a Mary Tyler Moore ty;pe of person.
• Result: More getting mad at herself and coming up with lame solutions.

Chosen Sequence

• Situation (be bare bones): Helen, 69, lives alone and her trash is picked up on Sundays. Her driveway is steep making it hard to get the trash down on Sundays.
• Chosen thought: “It’s true. I like to feel independent so I’ll figure this one out. I can’t keep driving my trash to the curb. I’m not going to move into full on drama.”
• Feeling: “I feel courageous for looking carefully at the entire situation without flying into drama which is what I once would have done.”
• Action: she quietly sits at the kitchen table and makes a list of stuff she’s good at before making a list of ideas for her Sunday trash situation. She wonders whether the county trash up would allow her to leave the trash by her garage. The word “elderly” bugs her, but it’s a good  way to get the job done. She also wonders if the neighbor boy wants to make extra money moving the trash can.
• Result: Turns out the trash people put her under “elderly/disabled.” Problem solved. ❄️

Pearl Four

I loved Marianne Cronin’s The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot and would you believe that this is the author’s debut book. Such talent. I’ll never forget the funny opening line, “When people say ‘terminal,’ I think of the ‘airport.’” This book is a not-to-miss book-dessert.

The reason I mention Cronin’s first book is due to her second one that/z come out to great reviews.  Eddie Winston is Looking for Love, was released in 2024. I’m just now diving in, if it’s only half as good as her first, we’re in good hands. I’m leaning heavily on book-desserts in the evenings. ❄️

Pearl Five

“You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.” Anne Lamott ❄️

I’m sorry I’m so late. Too much time at the doctors.

Have a great mid-February!

♥, Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And given that computers can be so difficult, always feel free to ask in the comments below for Aunt Bea and I’ll get her right to you!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or 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.

Too cool for school? Not a brilliant plan.

Pearl One

Back when yo-yo-ing was my lifestyle, I would never have called myself “smug.” Most of the time, I was dealing with too little confidence, rather than too much.

But.

To be perfectly transparent, I remember losing ten or fifteen pounds, and turning moderately smug. As if I were too cool for school. As in, I’d never have to deal with weight issues again! (Awesome, right?)

But now – in my opinion – feeling smug is the very precursor to the downhill slide into re-gaining the fifteen + more.

Like all of us trying to lose weight, I was on an elevator that went up and down through the years.

And back then I didn’t know that what I put into my mind and heart was far more important than what I put into my mouth. I didn’t know that being smug would never be a helpful thought or feeling. It would always be the beginning of a downfall.

Thankfully I figured out trashing the smug thought was vital, and now I instead think, I’m always learning. I’m always discovering. I slip and that’s okay. I’ll just meet the new day and go for it again. Over and over and over.

I know that a lot of Thrivers are having amazing success. And don’t get me wrong, I love hearing about the awesome strides everyone’s making, but consider nestling this phrase into your heart forever.

♥ I’m not smug about losing.

♥ I’m not smug about losing.

♥ I’m not smug about losing.

If you’re having what anyone would deem “victory!!,” don’t be lured down the smug-pathway. It might seem like allowing ourselves to feel a tiny bit smug is the pinnacle of “success”, but it’s really the precursor to a downward spiral back into over chowing-land.

I’m not smug about losing. Let’s don’t me smug together. ❄️

Pearl Two

Our journal-writing pearl.

• What outrageous, wonderful, too-amazing-to-be-true-but-it-is successes have you had? Doesn’t need to be food related. It could be when you finished your PhD or adopted your daughter from Korea. Write out three to five wins.
• When I’ve felt smug in life what were the results?
• What does a smug person look like to you?”
• Feeling smug on one hand, but feeling rock-bottom low self esteem on the other hand are siblings. Why do you think they are? ❄️

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff. Apply to your own life.

Initial Sequence

• Situation (be very concrete):  Shelley, 64, had worked as an emergency room nurse for decades. She retired her sixty-third year after her best friend, Lisa, passed.
• Initial thought: “They told me to “live a little” while I still could. Well, I retired. Now what? I’m essentially bored and lonely.”
• Feeling: Sadness because she deeply wishes that she could return to her life of five years ago and make an entirely different decision.
• Action: Tends to stay home and babysit her grand kids. When Shelley’s daughter-in-law asks she just says yes and it turns into an always thing to pick the kids up from school and drive them home. She does some laundry and starts to make dinner for her son’s family.

Chosen Sequence

• Situation (be very concrete):  Shelley, 64, had worked as an emergency room nurse for decades. She retired her sixty-third year after her best friend, Lisa, passed.
• Chosen thought: “I’m new to being retired and like anything new I need to find my land legs. While I accustom myself to this new lifestyle, I’ll make rules for myself like “get out of the house at least once a day.” I can do this, it just takes time.
• Feeling: a little on edge, but excited. She can feel good things coming her way.
• Action: she meets with a group from church every month. and she loves meeting up with them for dinner and margs.
• Result: The group really bonds and start getting together even more often. In the spring they plan a group trip to see New York City. ❄️

Pearl Four

The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb is a quiet, devastating novel about grief, guilt, and what it means to keep living after irreversible loss. It’s deeply humane, emotionally heavy, and written with Lamb’s trademark compassion
Trigger warning: This book may be especially difficult for anyone who has lost a child
I highly recommend this book on audio. The reader did a fantastic job. Total book-dessert! ❄️

Pearl Five

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ❄️

Albert Einstein

If this post spoke to you, please share. I need to get my readers up. And thank you. ♥

Here in Atlanta more crazy ice storms, more sparkly trees.

Hope you’re staying warm and cozy.

♥, Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And given that computers can be so difficult, always feel free to ask in the comments below for Aunt Bea and I’ll get her right to you!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or 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.

Pearl One

Back in the day food was my entertainment. In my book, there was nothing worse than being bored. Food was the answer to any kind of boredom. Life gives everyone highs and lows, but in between it all, boredom is the featured guest. It’s boring to get my car tags every year. It’s boring to work out on a constant basis (at least for me). But the most boring of all is getting my teeth cleaned twice a year.

Turns out, feeling bored was never meant to signal us to absentmindedly eat handfuls of M&M’s out of large bag while staring at our phones (sounds fun, though, doesn’t it?).

I recently heard one prominent woman say essentially that life isn’t meant to be one firework show after another. It was good to hear from her because her life has had many spectacular moments so if she gets bored, everyone gets bored. It’s a human thing and it’s also a human thing to find solutions to the annoyance of boredom. Some thoughts on this often unaddressed subject.

For starters, I learned to accept — not like, accept — that getting bored is a huge part of everyday human life. Now, before I eat, I always ask myself, “Am I really hungry?” If the answer is no, I find something else to do.

Of course, I prep myself for potential boredom eating saying “I don’t eat like that anymore, I don’t eat out of boredom, let’s crack a book.” In the beginning I said these thoughts to myself all the time.

Feeling bored challenges us to sit and daydream, write and even doodle in our journal and cuddle our fur-kids while we stare off into space.

Boredom isn’t the enemy. When we’re bored for a bit, our brains start wandering, new ideas pop up, and we even think about what matters most to us in life. It’s like giving our mind a mini vacation.

The power of boredom has been studied and all conclude that short-term boredom is good for us, that allowing our minds to free float is beneficial. It’s the chronic boredom that can lead to depression, overeating and risky behavior. Boredom isn’t wasted time, it’s our brain’s way of hitting “refresh.” Embrace boredom and let your mind wander, and watch creativity and insight flow through your pen onto your journal. ❄️

Pearl Two

Our journal-writing pearl.

• What kind of relationship have you had with boredom?
• Do you think that food and boredom can go together?
• What do you think about getting bored for ten minutes a day working up to more as you go (meaning no screens, not even a book, only your journal and a furry someone).
• If you think about boredom as being a friend instead of an annoyance, how could this perspective change the way you spend down time?
• Reflect on the thoughts about yourself or your life that tend to surface when you’re bored. What patterns or appear when your mind is quiet?
• Would you say that boredom is more short-term or chronic for you? ❄️

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff. Apply to your own life.

Initial Sequence

• Situation (be very concrete): Maisy is 72.  Her parents both passed in their mid-80s.  Maisy has five cats. Her daughter lives in Europe.
• Thought: “If I die, what will happen to my babies? I don’t know a soul here who’d take them.”
• Feeling: Maisy feels overcome with grief and is very upset on a daily basis.
• Action: She does a lot of worrying and hand wringing.
• Result: She continues to not have a plan for her kitties.

Chosen Sequence

• Situation (be very concrete): Maisy is 72.  Her parents both passed in their mid-80s.  Maisy has five cats. Her daughter lives in Europe.
• Chosen thought: “I’m trying something new. I’m researching and staying open to new ideas. Two of my cats are elderly and will likely cross the rainbow bridge before I do. But three are young. I need to stay chill. That’s my aim: to be chill, I can do this.”
• Feeling: She pointedly tells herself that she needs to pump herself up every day. She also tells herself that this part of life isn’t fun for anyone and might take many months of research before she picks the right path.
• Action: She talks the situation over with her vet and asks what others do. She writes on her Facebook page asking for feedback on what she should do. She’s gathering ideas and possible solutions. She even asks for suggestions from a neighbor.
• Result: Maisy makes a decision to visit her lawyer and puts her five cats into her will adding ample money so they’ll be fed and cared for. After talking with the local kitty rescue, she met one woman in her forties who heard her story and said, “I’m your back-up, I’ve got you.” Maisy now has a new friend who visits for food and talk about once a month. Plus her new friend gets to know the kitties. ❄️

Pearl Four

I tried, but while I dipped into several books that looked promising, all fell short for one reason or another. So the books that I’m bringing you today are two of my favorites.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I love novels that aren’t just an absorbing read, but also have a current or two streaming under the actual story. I turn the last page of an Amor Towles’ novel a better person or parent or friend; and definitely a more knowledgeable student of history. His other fun book (not quite as awesome as Moscow, but it holds its own: Rules of Civility. ❄️

Pearl Five

First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not.” ❄️

Octavia Butler

We were on the outskirts of the ice storm in Atlanta and thankfully didn’t get much snow or ice, but the trees all look lined in diamonds. Nature’s Christmas ornament! Really pretty.

I hope you have a really boring week! lol.

♥, Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And given that computers can be so difficult, always feel free to ask in the comments below for Aunt Bea and I’ll get her right to you!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or 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.

Eat a fun breakfast by 9 a.m. but don’t eat so much you won’t want lunch!

Pearl One

My mom once said to me, “eating out when we’re traveling is so hard” and in response I said, “you know, it doesn’t have to be.” Here’s how I roll when dining away from home.

I look at restaurants as I do grocery stores: friends, we’re going behind enemy lines every time we eat in a restaurant, so it’s critical that we play a strong defense to coax our dreams — a lifetime weight loss — to come alive. Join me in not heading into a restaurant without considering the following:

Look an hour into your future and ask yourself how you’d like to feel when you exit the restaurant? Do you want to be mildly full? Not at all stuffed? Pleasantly looking forward to your next smart bites? I say, “yes, yes and yes!”

In advance of arriving at the venue I already know which restaurant-method I’m using from the below list.

Method 1: Days before a restaurant date, I pull up the restaurant’s online menu. While scrutinizing the menu’s sections closely, I hope to find a sides section. Then I cross my fingers that the sides include brown rice and veggies. When I find a good side orders section, I order two veggie sides and one brown rice side. The servers tend to bring out three separate plates of food so at that moment I ask them to bring me a large bowl and I mix it all together and add just of pinch of salt to make the veggie flavors sing. (I was once served veggies that looked black and icky. I was too involved with the conversation I was having with a friend to bother sending them back. Don’t be me: send unappetizing food back). Because brown rice and veggies with a pinch of salt is tasty times a million.

These days the wait staff and cooks are accustomed to special requests. If you’re nervous about seeming “pushy,” start small by asking for one food item at a time to be changed, and once you have your land legs, as Prince instructed us, “go crazy!”

Method 2: Let’s say that I’m traveling and eating at various and sundry restaurants and bakeries. If I’m not doing brown rice and veggies, I peruse the salad section and usually choose a Greek salad. I don’t add dressing to the Greek salad because the feta cheese does the job. If I’m getting a salad at a Mexican restaurant, I usually ask that everything in the salad be brought on the side making it easy for me to cut the sprinkled cheese in half, chuck the sour cream, and hem and haw about what to do with the guacamole (as long as it’s not made with mayo or sour cream it’s a healthy choice). I always ask before I eat.

Method 3: This method is only for the really determined to lose weight or keep it off. I order a certain burrito at my favorite Mexican. No way is this dish for one person. It’s huge! When the server brings our food, I cut this bad boy in half and place the second half into the Tupperware container I keep in my purse (when not in use, it folds flat like these).

Method 4: Again, this one is for the truly advanced among us. When I was on the cruise with my friend, we went to the ship’s Mexican restaurant and she ordered a meal and I ordered exactly what I wanted: the Tres Leches dessert. So rather than eating a full dinner and not having room for dessert, I only ate dessert. And – as you likely know – that Tres Leches was gooood. Keep in mind that I gained six ounces on that cruise. My smart eating tools work.

Method 5: If I know in advance that I’m staring down a particularly tough restaurant experience, I have more than just a healthy snack before leaving for the restaurant. My goal is to not only curb my appetite but to pretty much eliminate it entirely. Tough times call for tough measures.

This is a good time to tell you that I don’t allow myself to get smug about my low weight or my smart eating restaurant habits. If there’s something to celebrate. I let myself do a happy-dance for maybe eight seconds. After those seconds are up, it’s back to my smart eating life where I quite humbly helicopter my food choices meal in and meal out.

It can’t be said enough: being smug is the beginning of a slippery slope back into “funky-eating-ville” and since that was not happening on my watch, I remind myself often that being smug leads to a fall.

If you’re still feeling wobbly about eating out, be patient with yourself. This is another skill to learn, not a test. With practice, you’ll find your way: one menu, one meal, one confident choice at a time. ❄️

Pearl Two

Our journal-writing prompt pearl!

• How do I feel when I see other people eat foods I’m “avoiding”?
• How can I prepare mentally before dining out to make choices that feel satisfying and safe?
• Which restaurants or dishes have I found easiest to navigate while maintaining my goals, and why?
• Recall a recent time you ate out — what went well, and what would you do differently next time?
• How do I want to remember my relationship with dining out in 5 years: empowering or regretful?

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff. Apply to your own life.

Initial Sequence

• Situation: Deborah, 64, has been widowed for ten years. She loves living on her own. Now the sweetest man from her book club asked her out on a date.
• Initial thought: “For crying out loud, oh boy. I love living alone and I can’t fathom going into the relationship thing again.”
• Feeling: Semi-annoyed at being caught unaware that this kind of suggestion might come at her.
• Action: She tells this man that her life is too full and maybe in the future they can go forward.
• Result: They see each other at the book club meeting and let that be enough.

Chosen Sequence

• Situation: Deborah, 64, has been widowed for ten years. She loves living on her own. Now the sweetest man from her book club asked her out on a date.
• Chosen thought: “Take a deep breath. Maybe this could be fun with a man I already know (albeit casually). This is how adults find a new partner by being at the Neighborhood Watch meeting, realizing that you’re seeing the same man grabbing coffee same time, same place as you, or meeting at a book club.”
• Feeling: Tentative, curious and determined to maintain her current lifestyle.
• Action: Deborah agrees to a casual dinner out. She’s dedicated to making sure getting to know each other moves slowly.
• Result: Debora maintains her strong boundaries and the two see each other at the book club and spend the weekends together. ❄️

Pearl Four

I found two great things: one, a book that you might love digging into and two, a prolific author. A Place to Hide by Ronald H. Balson is the author’s newest book that falls into the historical fiction genre and was chosen as the National Jewish Book Award winner when it came out in 2025. I love reading about World War II from the many different perspectives. This read is about a US diplomat in Amsterdam who uses his position to save Jewish refugees from the Nazis in 1938. Excellent book-dessert. ❄️

Pearl Five

The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. ❄️

-Albert Einstein

I only need a handful of new readers to get to 1,000. Yes, I’m sending out an SOS, I need help. I get why celebs have enormous followings, but for regular people I can’t figure out how they get to 21K or 50K. It’s mind blowing to me.

Make it a week to remember!

♥, Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And given that computers can be so difficult, always feel free to ask in the comments below for Aunt Bea and I’ll get her right to you!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or 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.

We don’t have to “fatten up” for winter anymore!

Pearl One

Okay, somebody has to keep saying it. I guess it’ll be me. You may want to sit down, but hear me out.

All of us need to stop framing food and weight issues as “it’s up to the individual,” when in reality much more is at play than “she just didn’t have the willpower.” Our greatest of great grandparents were survivors of a very harsh environment. They survived using their smarts and cunning. Others died off, but ours flourished. Ours went from hunting/gathering to farm life, to finally our Twinkie-generation where we practically mainline Big Macs and supersized fries. In other words, you come by issues with food and weight honestly. A billion years ago, it was that kind of intelligence that kept our great grandmas alive through the winter.

When you feel like you’re constantly fighting food and weight, train yourself to remember whose DNA lives inside of you.

Imagine having all that kick-ass DNA and still live within our food-gone-wild culture. We can hunt and gather at Dunkin’ Donuts all day long, no problem. And because our DNA tells us to eat as much of the high-calorie pizzasuras as possible, we comply. Because our DNA is rigged to get us chowing all summer and fall so that we’ll successfully survive the winter.

Problem is, that same strong DNA also figured out pretty quickly how to make the best junk food, the best fast-food, and even incredible food-food the planet had ever seen. And don’t forget that we eat the fabulous food in immense portion sizes. Our DNA tells us to fatten up now and we’ll survive the winter.

What can you do with this information.? Cut yourself some slack. When you eat too much at the Mexican restaurant, or at Christmas or over the summer, you’re merely being guided by your DNA.

My suggestion for engaging well with our DNA and not allowing it to run the show: keep our body fed. If you’re imagining how good a bowl of ice cream would be, you’re still hungry for real food. Don’t get ice cream, get the apple with a smear of peanut butter. Always take your cold-tote with you packed in smart bites. And never sit down for dinner, run errands, or shop without “eating before you do anything else.”

Does it sound like a lot of planning? When it comes to DNA and food I’m firmly in Team Yes! ❄️

Pearl Two

Our journal-writing pearl!

• When i think about my weight, whose voice (or group of voices) do i actually hear in my head?
• How has society’s focus on thinness or dieting influenced my self-esteem or behavior?
• If your eight-year-old could talk what would she tell you about weight and food?
• What would you tell her?
• If you give a name to your deepest wound around food and weight, what would that be?
• Now write how you might heal from the food and weight wound. ❄️

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff. Apply to your own life.

Initial Sequence

• Situation: Mandy who is 66 has a 16-year-old granddaughter who drove her car into Mandy’s garage, but hooked the side of the car onto the wooden railing that takes you into the house. The entire railing fell off.
• Initial thought: “When I heard the noise in the garage my heart sank. Just what I need: another house bill.”
• Feeling: Some annoyance because her granddaughter bristles every time she tried to share her driving-wisdom.
• Action: She plasters on a smile and told her granddaughter “no problem we’ll get it fixed.”
• Results: Later Mandy talks to two friends about her granddaughter’s driving problem.

Chosen Sequence

• Situation: Mandy who is 66 has a 16-year-old granddaughter who drove her car into Mandy’s garage, but hooked the side of the car onto the wooden railing that takes you into the house. The entire railing fell off.
• Chosen thought: “I need to chill and take a deep breath. Before she go the garage, she remembered how important it is to have a good relationship with her granddaughter.
• Feeling: Somewhat jittery, but happy that she hadn’t gotten angry at her granddaughter.
• Action: Tells her granddaughter, “I was planning to take the railing off anyway. All is well. So thank you’s are in order!”
• Result: Mandy and her granddaughter go into the house and over tea and cookies, Mandy tells her granddaughter stories about her first few years of driving.❄️

Pearl Four

I’ve only just cracked this book open, but I was excited to see that the book has over 300,000 4.5 reviews and it just came out in January 2025. None of this isTrue by an author who has a immense fan base. Apparently this book is one of Lisa Jewell’s best jewel. Also, I love how I was immediately drawn into story from the first page. Tasty book-dessert.

Pearl Five

The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”❄️

Jalaluddin Rumi

If you like this post, I’d love if you’d share it with others.

Have a peaceful week!

♥, Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And given that computers can be so difficult, always feel free to ask in the comments below for Aunt Bea and I’ll get her right to you!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or 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.

Pearl One

I tend to get on the poor high school teachers. Why? Because I’m always thinking “instead of teaching blank-blank they should be teaching life skills like navigating finances and eating within our food-on-steroids culture.” Poor high school teachers: they don’t dictate the curriculum. They’re the real heroes, trying to teach kids amid a smart phone world. Today’s topic is about what I’ve long thought our world needs.

The Importance of Plan 2.0

Forever we’ve wondered how can we stop ourself from slipping (what we once called cheating)?

In other words, what’s our personal plan after a “big” slip?

Everybody slips off the Smart Eating Path because we’re human and our world is layered in food-porn.

A much better question to ask yourself is after I’ve slipped, how do I get back on the Smart Eating Path?

Nobody taught you and me how to plan for our next slip and what — specifically — do we plan to do.

That said, create a strong and reliable 2.0 plan for yourself and tape it inside a kitchen cupboard. And please, don’t just keep your individual Plan B in your mind. Actually write out your entire back-up plan.

Having a written Plan 2.0 where we can see it everyday is a key to forever weight loss and posting the plan somewhere we’ll see it is the secret tip.

One

Before I slip, I ask myself: Do I want the The Scarfer’s chocolate stash I found or do I want to be a size 8? That usually brings me back to the party.

Two

Let’s say I eat the junky food. My Plan 2.0 reminds “take two inspirational podcast episodes and call me in the morning.”

And this is exactly what I do. I have a list of music, Netflix shows, and podcasts that put me into a different frame of mind. Also, if I’m trying to curb overeating at night I grab a good book and head upstairs to brush my teeth, get into my pajamas and read a fabulous book in bed. I remind myself that I’ll feel much better in the morning.

And I always do.

Bottom line, I have a real Plan B that works wonders in helping me to contain the damage. I have a safety net of sorts. I stop the free fall of poor eating habits.

I don’t tend to slip in the daytime, but if I do slip it’s usually because I’m bored. My Plan 2.0 outlines what to do when life gets old. Don’t underestimate how being bored or tired can send you straight to the Oreo’s. Create a Plan 2.0. Keep it front-and-center where you’ll see it every single day.

Notice what I don’t do when I slip? I don’t beat myself up, call myself names and spin into the hopeless/helpless zone. Not only do I contain the caloric-damage, but I contain the emotional-damage too.

Three

The morning after overeating I get right back onto my my Smart Eating Path — keeping in mind that slips are just part of life — and am extra gentle with myself the entire day. After slipping, I’ve bought flowers for my desk, once had a pedi, and another time let myself get cozy on the couch with a book during “work hours.”

You’ve Got This

Now for the fun part.

Take creating your own Plan 2.0 seriously. Journal-write about it and admit to yourself how — and in what quantity — slips happen in your life. (Good place to say: If specific foods are a problem, ban them from the house for the next year or ten.)

Plan exactly how you’ll recover and only include plans that you can actually envision yourself doing.

We’ve had it backwards the whole time. We thought slipping meant we should yell at ourselves when really, it’s the most important moment that we have our own backs. ♥

Pearl Two

For your journal.

• Describe a challenge you faced recently. What lessons came out of it?
• What’s three of your proudest moments in life?
• Have you ever created a plan to address the “fed up feelings” that come after a lot of overeating?
• In the past we resorted to beating ourself up, can you devise a plan that helps, rather than hurts you?
• Take your time to write a detailed written plan – based on what you most love in life — that will help you jump out of the Doritos bag and back to eating with intention. In your plan include when you’ll immerse yourself in your favorite music, when you’ll take a great book to bed, or using the Drip, Drip, Drip method of getting back to smart eating (my favorite).

We’ve all slipped, but we can build a plan to get us out of the doldrums and back onto our Smart Eating Path. The plan is everything. ♥

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff. Apply to your own life.

Initial Sequence

• Situation (be super concrete): After decades of trying to lose weight, Colleen, 66, stands in the grocery aisle staring at the many types of cereal.
• Initial thought: “Here we go again. I question myself all the time: which food should I get? Am I using the Mediterranean, high protein or no-gluten?
• Feeling: She’s annoyed at the entire vibe of the weight loss culture. She’s been trying to lose weight for years. Mostly she’s mad at herself.
• Action: She bought her favorite chips and dip, and “will start over on Monday.”
• Result: She overeats all weekend and starts a new (to her) diet on Monday.

Chosen Sequence

• Situation (be super concrete): After decades of trying to lose weight, Colleen, 56, stands in the grocery aisle staring at many types of cereal.
• Chosen thought: “How I work with my brain leads directly to the food I choose and eat.”
• Feeling: Excited and proud that she’s taking care of herself.
• Action: Colleen now eats before shopping to eliminate impulse buys. If she’s hungry while shopping she keeps a Cliff Bar in her purse and isn’t shy to eat while shopping and, of course, only shops with a list with her favorite smart foods items on the list. She never buys food that could trigger her info an overeating episode.
• Result: Colleen gets into the groove that smart eating begins with smart grocery shopping. ♥

Pearl Four

I have an amazing book-dessert to share with you today! The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is literary fiction gold. It now sits on my favorites list: Pachinko, the Daughters of Shandong and the Good Earth. Now we also have the Four Winds. I have more books on my “very favorites” list, but these spring immediately to mine.

The Four Winds is a deeply moving story about a woman trying to keep her family together during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression: a reminder of what people endure, and the strength it takes just to keep going. Yes, it sounds like Grapes of Wrath — another outstanding book-dessert. You have great reading in your future – have fun!! ♥

Pearl Five

“Miracles come in moments. Be ready and willing.” ♥

Wayne Dyer

We’ve living a roller coaster ride of weather here in Atlanta. It’s seriously cold, then surprisingly warm and then back to super cold.

Have a smart eating week!

♥, Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And given that computers can be so difficult, always feel free to ask in the comments below for Aunt Bea and I’ll get her right to you!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or 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.