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In Snuggly Winters

What the Weight “Experts” Don’t Know that Makes Losing & Preserving More Do-Able

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When we’re in it for the long haul: ice cream is gonna happen. It’s what we do next that matters.

Pearl One

It’s important that I woman-up and admit the truth: I ate a bowl of Kraft Mac & Cheese last night for dinner. I know, it’s highly processed crappazola, and yet, exquisite in its own weird-orange-powdery way. I’m currently at the low-end of my weight-window so I knew that if I had a small cup’s worth, I’d be fine. And this morning the scale said I was good-to-go, but what the scale can’t tell me is: how strong are my smart eating habits after I chowed mac and cheese? Did the mac and cheese help my habits or hurt them? (Well, duh.)

When I seriously detour off the smart eating path, the next morning I pull out my journal and ask myself “why” and “what” questions like why am I mad at myself this morning? Why do I feel unsuccessful today? Why am I feeling disappointed in myself? What does “slipping” off the smart eating path mean to me? What kind of importance do I put on slipping?

Our unconscious mind speaks through our pens and keyboards; after I write in my journal, I can feel space between my heart and the “bad” feelings about overdoing junk-not-food.

I write and write and write, and discovered that when I don’t have the ingredients in the kitchen to create quick grab-able food, I easily get lured to the dark-side. I share what foods I have to have at all times in the kitchen here: the Inspired Eater: Fed Up!.

Learning how to live within our mac-and-cheese world is merely a set of steps to take, a new habit to embed. Each of us have our mac-and-cheese moments, it’s how we guide ourselves through those moments that really count. ♥

Pearl Two

I think it’s important to work hard to dial down the “drama” that tends to descend on us after eating a full meal polishing it off with two slices of cake.

Let me give you some examples of of what I call “drama”:

  • “I’m so fat and ugly’ it doesn’t matter what I do.”
  • “Some people have fat DNA; smart eating is just hopeless for me.”
  • “Women over fifty, can’t lose weight. We’re all just kidding ourselves.”
  • “I got on the scale this morning and OMG!! It was a nightmare scale-number.”

See? All drama, nothing actually helpful.

It only makes the diet-cartel even wealthier when we swing back and forth between “I’m so fat and ugly” to “if I cling to this diet, I’ll get thin.” And when you gain again, you’re back to “I’m so fat and ugly.”

Thing is, nobody made it to their preferred weight by haranguing themselves.

Preserving my seventeen-year loss, I’m not all butterflies and unicorns, but I haven’t beaten myself up over the years either.

Instead, if I don’t feel confident about one of my habits or see a scale number that I’m not pleased with, I get curious asking myself: in the chain of events that lead to smart eating choices, where did I slip? (No smart food in the house? Went out to lunch with an eating-buddy? Don’t have a solid plan to rejoin the smart-eating world after I’ve deviated?). Write in your journal about what triggered the events that lead to inhaling the food.

Slowly, over time, when you hear yourself being dramatic, gently replace it with a helpful thought like, “Okay, I don’t love that scale number so much; I’ll write in my journal about where I swerved off-course.”

“Swerving off-course” is part of our new-normal.

Journal in-hand, we can do this. ♥

Pearl Three

In January, we’re talking stress-eating, and how we can walk it out of our daily.

For this pearl, I googled “stress eating” and here’s what I found (even at the Mayo Clinic): everyone’s “solutions” to emotional-eating are fabulous ideas to put into place like tracking your daily food, “decreasing stress”, or “have a hunger reality check.”

Developing the habit of tracking food or learning to manage your hunger are all wonderful, but they don’t address emotional-eating.

We know that stress eating starts with a trigger:

  • A terrible day at work.
  • An argument with your husband.
  • A diagnosis you’re not fond of.
  • Adult kids who don’t exactly act “adult.”

When I think of my past experiences with emotional-eating I think of bags of salty chips, gallons of ice cream, huge meals on the regular (assuming that my stomach is supposed to hurt after eating dinner. I once even buttered Saltines for a snack.

Eliminating stress-eating is a slow process, but there are concrete steps you can put into place that’ll mitigate the damage. Get comfortable at going slowly.

I talk about giving up sugar in this post, but the concept applies to any new habit. Create a well thought-out plan for exactly what you’ll do the next time an emotion-bomb goes off.

Pearl Four

Some weeks I struggle to find a book worthy to stand with the other “book-desserts.”

But this isn’t one of them. This week I’m writing Pearl Four first before I write the others. Last night, I started the book and read for over two hours (risking zombie-status the next day from lack of sleep). I was drawm into this story from the first sentence: “when people say ‘terminal’, I think of the airport.”

The two protagonists are thoughtful, funny, and wise. One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin is the book-dessert superstar fiction of 2024 (at least so far). ♥

Pearl Five

Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success.” ♥

Bo Bennett

♥, 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. ♥

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In Snuggly Winters

How to Have Your Own Back As You Lose & Preserve

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My hope is that one day she’ll live in a smart eating world where making great choices is a snap.

Pearl One

One of the most “you’ve got to be kidding me” parts about shooting for the stars is that a lot of us can’t really handle success.

You’ve never been successful before, why would you be now?

But here’s the thing: when we’re working diligently on our stretch-goal, it’s easy to unconsciously feel out of sync emotionally with what we’re really going after. Your current sense of self is hitting up against the new-you sense of self.

I call this dynamic “drama.”

Humans do this.

We all have a default thought that goes: I just don’t see myself at that lower weight. It would be like winning the lottery, possible but a billion to one.

This is Your Brain on Affirmations

Affirmations are powerful; I can’t stress this one enough. Instead of telling yourself, I can’t do it, it’s like winning the lottery, tell yourself the following affirmations (bonus points for putting these affirmations on sticky notes to sprinkle throughout your day).

When you lose five to ten pounds, maintain for a month or more to allow your brain time to accept your new weight.

Breathe in and tell yourself:

  • “I’ve got you”
  • “It’s okay to be lean.”
  • “I feel comfortable in my body.”
  • “I can do hard things.”
  • “This new weight is feeling more like ‘me’ every day.”
  • “Holding is a great thing for my forever-loss.”

Talk to yourself daily about how you’re rolling the red carpet out for your new-normal.

When we’re shooting for the brass ring, we have to use everything in our arsenal. ♥

Pearl Two

One of the best food habits I’d ever developed hit the skids last year when I got braces. Crunchy food was out, soft and squishy was in; in the beginning whatever I “ate” had to go through a straw. The cavewoman inside of me was elated, because “vanilla shakes!!”

As I’ve mentioned, I stopped the vanilla shake situation before it went completely bonkers, but I’ve never reclaimed my amazing salad habit. It is totally poof, gone. (And you know what the study our of England said, , we need sixty-six days to put our new habit into our automatic thought-land! (The first sixteen days are hard, it get easier by week 3.)

Now I’m reestablishing the habit.

I’m using spring mix, adding in a bit of Feta cheese, and olives. That’s whatI started with when I initially developed my wonderful salad habit. I’m so excited for my new salad-habit to become automatic. ♥

Pearl Three

In January, we’re talking stress-eating, and how we can walk it out of our daily

We can talk about emotions – boredom, anger etc. – as purely separate feelings.

Like the time Lisa’s husband told his aunt about her diagnosis when she wasn’t around. Lisa was livid.

So, in this scenario, we’d assume that we’re dealing with anger, right? She’s really mad at him.

But usually it’s a whole host of emotions that are flooding our minds  — beyond being only angry at her husband — she likely has a lot of fear of her new diagnosis. She’s sad about her life changing. And she’s confused about what happens next.

Can you see that it’s rarely one feeling that we need “to deal with”, but a soup of emotions?

And that is where the gold lies.

First there’s the emotion of the moment. He told Lisa’a story, she’s mad.

Then there’s a new layer: internally Lisa’s scared of all that’s coming next because of this new diagnosis. And she feels super sad. She’s grieving the life she thought she’d have.

And then there’s a layer of how she responds to being overwhelmed by all the emotions — anger, fear, sadness, and confusion — at once.

I’m going to write a lot more about the layers, but for today: if you find yourself reaching for the cookies, have some. I’m serious.

But within the day, write in your journal about what emotion seems the most obvious. “She’s not taking my calls.”

And last write about all of the emotions in your soup and how you engage with the emotional soup. More to come on this topic. A whole lot more. ♥

Pearl Four

When Viet Thanh Nguyen blew the world away with his first book;  The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction). I vaguely knew what the topic was about, that involved a spy from Vietnan. OMG, the man can write. And I hadn’t realized that he’d come out with a companion book in 2021.

Ocean Vuong says about The Committed: A novel: “The Committed marks, not just a sequel to his groundbreaking predecessor, but a sum accumulation of his life devoted to Vietnamese American history  and scholarship. It asks questions to central both to Vietnamese everywhere – and to our very species: how do we live in the wake of seismic loss and betrayal? And perhaps even more critically, how do we laugh?”

The author is also a professor at UCLA. Like Min Jin Lee (Pachinko) Mr. Nguyen proves that aliens live among us. Five-stars.

Pearl Five

Normalize celebrating small victories along the way.” ♥

Timothy A. Pychyl

I’m taking more clutter to the dog and cat thrift store. Other than that, I’m just reading, reading, and more reading.

♥, 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. ♥

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In Snuggly Winters

How to Use One Past Win to Successfully Lose & Preserve After Age 50

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How to use a past spectacular accomplishment to elevate our lives today.

Pearl One

It’s a strong question to ask yourself: what’s one my most favorite wins?

Then deconstruct the win.

What we’re the first, second, third, fourth steps to bringing the win to life? Why is the accomplishment so impressive to you? How did you handle the obstacles? What kept you engaged with the process? Pretend as if you’re explaining to someone else how you brought your accomplishment to life.

Getting to Know You

In your journal write about your top four or five accomplishments that you most cherish. (Has to be an accomplishment that you really wanted; it can’t be you got your masters to please your mom). As you journal-write, really explore what steps were involved that led to that big, wonderful win?

Now pick your favorite accomplishment and ask yourself, how did I make that happen? What was involved deep-down under the surface? What talent and skills did I bring to the accomplishment? (Tenacity, a gut feeling that you were on the track, a super strong “why.”)

Journal-writing is all about getting to know yourself better at deeper and deeper levels.

My theory is that we can look at past successes and tease out the skills it took to make that win, to create another win today. ♥

Pearl Two

Years ago, I was watching Jessica Simpson and her then husband Nick Lachey on a reality show. On one episode, the couple’s traveling and we see them enter their hotel room. Jessica heads straight to a food gift basket that the hotel staff left for the them.

As she picks through the basket, I remember her forlornly saying (I’m paraphrasing), “None of this is on my diet.”

At that, she walked away.

I don’t know anything else about these two, but her one comment stuck in my mind. I remember marveling, “wow, even someone built like she is, fights the daily demon that is food in our current culture?”

It was news to me.

I’d automatically assumed that the “beautiful people” arrived out of the package looking perfect.

That’s my long-winded way of saying, “look for inspiration everywhere: on silly TV shows, in a restaurant, in the grocery store.

Inspiration is everywhere. ♥

Pearl Three

In January, we’re talking stress-eating, and how we can walk it quietly out of our daily

If we’ve grown up with trauma or drama, we haven’t learned how to deal with our emotions without drinking, drugging or eating.

When we have a strong emotion as an adult, we don’t know what to do with it, how to handle it and how to soothe ourselves through it.

Maybe we grew up with people who didn’t know how to engage with their emotions, and therefore couldn’t teach us. Nobody taught you that feelings float in for a few minutes, and then float out like clouds.

If there’s trauma in our background, a big feeling can trigger our PTSD.

And when our PTSD shows up, that’s when we go for the food.

The overall plan is to get a toe and eventually an entire food in the space between “feeling” and “the PTSD.” Our old model was: Big emotion/PTSD/Eat!

We’re working towards a new model: Big emotion/our foot/Go about our life.

What do you do to insert a toe (at first) into the model: essentially “talk yourself down.” Plan this stage in advance of a big emotion, don’t try to do it as you’re having one.

Journal-write about how you’ll soothe yourself when the next emotion that threatens to drown you appears. Begin by teaching yourself the cloud metaphor again and again. It works best when it’s stored in your heart. ♥

Pearl Four

I’m a little down. I’ve plowed through seventeen books trying to find one worthy of book-dessert status. This time, I came up empty.

So, I’m doing a short list of my favorites and by next Friday I’ll be back on track. I’m learning as I go and I think I have a way to fix this.

If you want to laugh: google Lisa Scottoline’s non-fiction series. Her books start with My Third Husband Will Be a Dog. Lisa is best known for her many mystery books, but I love the non-fictions.

One of my favorite books of all time: Pachinko by Min Lin Lee.

I was just about to include an amazing read, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen and discovered that he’s come out with a brand-new book, Nothing Ever Dies. Now I’m stoked to read his latest!!

Last, a story that actually happened. A Woman of No Importance the Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell left me absolutely floored. This book falls into the historical non-fiction genre and the author knocks it out of the park having written the book in a way that you can almost feel the Gestapo just steps behind Virginia as she flees France. Review: an incredible read and one to remember always. Buy this book for every girl or woman in your life. ♥

Pearl Five

“It’s not just about losing the weight; It’s about losing the lifestyle and mindset that got you there. ♥

Steve Maraboli

I’m babysitting my favorite puppy pair this weekend. I don’t know what’s better, the silence or the beautiful, super clean home? (And the furry angels.)

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. ♥

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In Snuggly Winters

We Were Being Infantilized. The Truth About Losing Weight After Age 50

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We can likely succeed once we know the truth of how the game’s being played

Hello Thrivers!

We have new thrivers who’ve just joined us. And welcome everyone!! If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to read Begin Here to get started on the right foot. (Even if you’re not new, you might want to have a gander. It was badly in need of loving care so “Begin Here” enjoyed a lovely day at the spa.)

Shall we?

Pearl One

It’s the last thing the diet/food-cartel will ever point-blank tell us, but experience has proven it out.

The only thing that really “works” for long-term weight-loss success is the last thing anyone wants to hear so the diet folks don’t talk about it.

Creating a forever-loss for ourselves — not losing twenty for the wedding, — hinges on losing weight slowly like cold syrup-slowly.

Ready for more bad news?

What we’ve all called “plateaus” — I call “holding” — are actually the best things ever for our long-term success.

Here’s the thing, there’s talk on the streets about “a weight set-point” and that it doesn’t matter what you and I do, our body will always default back to that particular weight.

I disagree.

If you and I lose ten pounds at a time – slowly, maybe a pound a week –, and then let our body “rest” (or plateau) for at least a month, we just upleveled our entire weight loss experience. I think of it as “locking in” the new weight.

As you know, if you drop weight quickly, the weight just piles back on. It’s at this point traditionally that we’ve agreed to agree collectively that there must be a biological “set-point.” It’s like the diet-cartel has said, “sure, you can lose two pounds every week, that’s eight pounds a month! Go you!”

We were never told the truth: that losing weight slowly with ample plateaus along the way is the only natural path to a forever weight loss. ♥

Pearl Two

Want to hear a funny thought? We’ve all seen the dramatic weight loss from celebs like Oprah and Kelly Clarkson. The main gist of the meds – if I’m understanding correctly – is that they really curb your appetite so that food loses it’s luster.

But the funny thing is: an apple does the same thing. That’s why I stress the importance of “Eat Before You Eat.”

A little bit I’m being tongue-in-cheek, but I’m also serious. Along with using healthy food to curb our appetites I also include embracing new reframes such as, “Do I want to eat five of those homemade chocolate chip cookies or do I want to be a size 10?” and “If I’m dreaming about junk food, it simply means that I need to eat real food.” (I use this one almost daily.)

And welcome to our newest reframe: when friends and family ask you about your new weight loss just say, “I’m on nature’s Ozempic. Totally works.” ♥

Pearl Three

In January, we’re talking stress-eating, and how we can walk it quietly out of our daily

We’re hurting. We’re furious. We’re exhausted from the drama.

When it comes to big emotions, you and I turn to food. Eating junk food is comforting, always available, and socially accepted.

Somewhere along the path of our lives we established a connection between heavy emotions and food.

I’ve said it before, “The hack we used successfully as kids – given that we survived –, is the very hack that is causing us such trouble today.

Do you ever “meta” notice you? The other day something really disappointed me (forget now what is was, but I’m sure it was huge).

Just as I was circling the drain, it occurred to me to watch myself handle the disappointment (I just remembered what I was disappointed about: I didn’t get a job that I wanted).

If I can digress for a second. Do you see what just happened? I forgot why I was disappointed and just a few words later my subconscious supplied the answer. Writing is a superpower. I can’t emphasize how important journal-writing is to our trek.

Returning to meta-noticing. In your journal write about the chain reaction that ends with you descending into overeating. Because there’s a number of steps that proceed overeating. What emotion is your most difficult to manage? Mine – present day – is boredom. I’m in “danger, danger Will Rogers” territory when I’m bored (especially if I don’t have a structured plan in place for the day). ♥

Pearl Four

I read two “I loved them” books this week. I’m giving both titles because some may have no interest in one and vice-versa. I just finished the best book – fiction or nonfiction – on Alzheimers. If you have any interest, I highly recommend Fighting for My Life: How to Thrive in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s by Jamie TenNapel Tyrone.

Fighting for My Life is like two books in one. The first half of the book Jaime writes in memoir form sharing the immense difficulty she’d had getting a diagnosis, and the surprising diagnosis she finally ended up with. The second half of the book was written by her neurologist Marwan Noel Sabbach, MD.

An absorbing read. Highly recommend.

The second book that comes off my own bookshelf is The President’s House: 1800 to the Present. The secrets and history of the world’s most famous home by Margaret Truman.

This is a super fun read. If you enjoy history it’s like being a fly on the wall. This book will not disappoint.

And look who wrote the book! ♥

Pearl Five

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.” ♥

Richard Feynman

I’m sorry this post got to you so late in the day. I sat down on the couch for a second and the cat crawled into my lap and settled. He rarely does this with me, so I didn’t have the heart to stand up disturbing his “cozy.” Cats can be so cuddly, but Max only loves my boys. I’m clearly second=tier.

If you’ve liked this post, I hope you’ll share it with others. And if you’re interested in my new paperback — The Inspired Eater: Fed Up! you’ll find it here.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

♥, Wendy

P.S. Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And always feel free to email me at Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com and I’ll get Aunt Bea right to you!

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

I am not an expert, a doctor, a surgeon, a nurse or a nutritionist: the information within TheInspiredEater.com is based solely on my personal experience and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. ♥

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In December + Holiday Eating

Happy New Year!! Now Let’s Talk Losing Weight After Age 50

4 Comments

Always your best bet: Brut Champagne (lowest calorie drink going)

Pearl One

Happy New Year Thrivers!!, of course, but today I’m feeling annoyed. I don’t know if you’ve seen the video on Instagram or Facebook showing Jane Fonda’s niece looking different today than she once looked being pursued by photographers? She was clearly so uncomfortable by the attention, but they kept coming at her as she tried to make her way to her car.

It took time, but I’ve finally realized: the media uses those of us with weight and food issues like the circuses of old used so-called “freaks” who were flesh-and-blood, merely misunderstood human beings.

Our media salivates at featuring women who are morbidly obese and then showing the women after they’ve lost a hundred pounds, as in “look! She went from awful to awesome.”

And they dress it all up in, “we only want to help these people” (the reality shows) and “we want to applaud these women for all the pounds they’ve lost” (the magazines).

Holy-Cow

As I researched for this post, I was surprised to learn that the Biggest Loser has been on for 17 years! And apparently even produced copycat shows.

I’ve never seen the Biggest Loser, but I did flip by it once and saw a coach screaming at someone to run faster, or pump more weight or something like that.

At the time I thought, “how awful.” I was into my forever preservation mode at that point; I knew how to successfully lose and preserve the loss. And my success had absolutely nothing to do with being screamed at.

It’s my thought that obese people appear to be the last bastion of a group that it’s deemed fine to gawk and sneer at. Functioning drug users like Matthew Perry can snow the world because addiction isn’t visible. An addiction to food, however, can be seen. A friend called it, “wearing your problems.”

When someone is severely obese the last place they need to be is on a reality show. They need medical intervention from a caring, kind, committed source.

I don’t have the precise answer for obese people, but I can tell you that I know a lot more about it than these reality shows know.

Obese people are not circus freaks. People having real trouble with our food-porn world are human beings who need a helping hand from us. Shame on everything behind these shows. ♥

Pearl Two

A moment on New Year’s resolutions. Like all of us, I used to make dramatic, huge resolutions that never got traction.

I finally got wise and began to make only fun and positive resolutions.

This year instead of resolving to lose twenty pounds or whatever, choose a resolution that’s relatively simple to activate like these little guys:

  • Resolve to play exciting and kick-ass music every morning before your day begins (look to the movie people for guidance. They know the importance of the right music for every scene, so let’s steal a page from their playbook. Before your day starts in earnest, crank Prince!!
  • Laugh really hard at something hilarious every single day. (I did this one year and still remember stuff I cracked up at.
  • Resolve to only shop at thrift stores throughout 2024 (of course we can’t get everything at a thrift store like I need new slipper socks, but for everything else? I’m thinking I’ll treasure at the thrift.
  • In The Inspired Eater: Fed Up’s chapter titled “14 Super Tools I Couldn’t Lose Without” choose one or two tools to be your 2024 resolution. (I’m shy to say this, but I want you guys to have a Rolls-Royce weight loss slash preservation experience in 2024. Read the book once a year forever and a Rolls-year will be yours.) Share in the comments below which habit you’re embedding. ♥

Pearl Three

In December, we’re deep-diving into Atomic Habits

In Atomic Habits, James Clear tell us, “Success is the process of daily habits. Not once in a lifetime transformation.”

Good one, James!! I’ve always been so taken with the stories of people being “discovered” like Giselle when she was spotted at McDonalds in Brazil and was soon cat walking for Victoria Secrets. But she stole my dream becauseI wanted to be discovered, and cat walk!!

Our culture – for some reason – loves the idea of “an overnight success.” We don’t seem to want to hear stories of endless toil, constant annoyances, set-back, obstacles and so forth.  Just a thought, but I wonder if movies introduced the idea. You know, Dorothy and Toto make it back to Kansas and all is well. At the end of two hours, the ending is all about wrapping up the story and calling it good.

The insanely successful I’ve personally known, became successful by showing up – no matter what – every single boring day. I know they went down paths that they’d rather they hadn’t, but when they realized they needed a better path, they located and hopped on it. ♥

Pearl Four

If you loved a Man Called Ove, this is your book. It’s adorable and sweet and life-affirming. In The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick, we meet Arthur, a widower on the first anniversary of his wife’s death. One moment, as he’s going through her things, he finds a never-before-seen (by him) fine gold charm bracelet.

And that begins Arthur’s journey that takes him around the world (Paris, London, and India). As he travels he starts to see that there’s still life to be enjoyed even if we’ve lost our darling.

I’m just a third of the way in and my attention was captured right off the bat.

Curious Charms is the perfect read over a long weekend. ♥

Pearl Five

“Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes it’s built on catastrophe.”

Sumner Redston

Christmas is so much fun for so many reasons, but I honestly love getting back to real life.

If you’ve enjoyed this post please share it with a loved one.

Have a beautiful holiday weekend.

See you on Tuesday, January 2!

♥, 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. ♥

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7 Ways I’m Eating Over the Holiday Weekend (I’d pick a fave, but they’re all heavy lifters)

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Beautifully presented “little bites” are one of the secrets to successfully losing and preserving.

Pearl One

The Big Weekend is upon us and I’m hoping you’ll join me as we head into the holiday’s endless food buffet with great tools that work well when we bring them to life.

This is exactly what I will be thinking and doing throughout the three-day weekend.

#1

I don’t go apathetic on myself. Meaning I don’t think, “Oh, it’s the holidays. I’ll eat to my heart’s content and diet later!” Thing is, I know deep-down that I care very much about making it to (and staying at) my preferred weight. I remind myself throughout the weekend that I want to make it to December 26 with my smart eating habits intact. That said, be scrupulous about tracking your daily eating in your pretty notebook you keep by the fridge. If you’re not yet tracking this weekend is the perfect time to begin.

#2

I do not let myself get hungry. I have a large breakfast by 9 a.m. and starting at noon I eat every two hours. I keep my food small and attractive. Presentation matters when we’re living the Bite-Size Lifestyle. Little bites are healthy food that you love that give you fuel in just three or four bites.

#3

I visualize. I envision the points in the weekend when obstacles will be thrown into my path and I write a solution for each obstacle. Planning in advance for challenging times is the smartest calculus for those of us who eat a bit too much.

#4

Today I’m shopping for the food I love (that loves me back). I don’t play games with this one. Our Trader Joe’s is a good 25 minutes from our house, but that’s where I’ll be today picking up the food I’m happy to reach for that makes smart eating easier: focaccia (in their bread section), small bites found in their frozen food section, and their Peanut Butter Protein Granola. (Okay, I might pick up a bottle of Brut Champagne; Brut is the driest and most low calorie of the holiday drinks.)

#5

I write in my journal daily. Noodling through each day gives me a safe space to vent about my internal landscape. When I’m mad, I journal. Same when I’m sad, bored, stressed, lonely and you get the gist.

#6

I have a long conversation with my journal about how I’m feeling when I wake up on Tuesday, December 26. I put myself into a future headspace and go into detail about the smart eating holiday eating experience that I just had. (Remember, nobody wakes up the next day thinking, “I’m so glad I inhaled the cookies last night!”)

#7

I allow myself small bites of fun-food here and there. That said, if eating anything decadent triggers you, forget what I just wrote. ♥

Pearl Two

Turns out that we don’t shrink our stomachs when we’re losing weight. A head scratcher because my experience has been that as I lost – and then learned to preserve – I’ve ended up needing very little food to feel full.

It sure feels like my stomach shrunk.

According to the experts, there’s no actual shrinkage happening. (Unless we have surgery.)

“Our stomachs have a reflex called receptive relaxation: As food enters your stomach, the muscles relax and expand out to accommodate more volume. In fact, your stomach can expand up to five times its volume after a meal as compared to before” explains Gastroenterologist Maged Rizk, MD for ClevelandClinic.org.

Still.

For whatever reason, I need very little food to feel full. And I think that’s a good thing. ♥

Pearl Three

James Clear wrote in Atomic Habits, “Arguably the most important skill is controlling your attention. This goes beyond merely avoiding distractions. The deeper skill is finding the highest and best use for your time, given what is important to you. More than anything else, controlling your attention is about being able to figure out what you should be working on and identifying what truly moves the needle.”

May I just say “bravo!! Mr. Clear.” My thought is that given our high-tech entertainment world it’s so easy to google our way out of life and into You Tube videos, Netflix shows, Instagram-this and Twitter-that.

“Fun” is at our disposal 24/7.

The best way I’ve found to make sense of the always available entertainment that dominates our lives in this century is to turn to our journals. Writing about what is underneath a tendency to distract ourselves is key. I was reading way too much Daily Mail (if you don’t know it, don’t go there), and my resolution for the new year is no Daily Mail. I already started in mid-November and so far haven’t yet succumbed.

The need to chill out is healthy and normal. We aren’t robots. We can’t go-go-go all day long. We need breaks

So, in your journal answer: how do I “zone out”? What is my history with a short attention span? Is there a healthier way to chill then surfing silly sites? When am I most likely to get distracted? What would it be like to plan my distractions in such a way that I’ll get more IRL experiences? I’m giving up a really goofball, time-waster site. Is there anything similar that you’d like to ditch? ♥

Pearl Four

When you need to laugh and commiserate: I give you Bossy Pants by Tina Fey and Yes Please! by Amy Poehler

These two women are hilarious. (Tina’s starts a bit slowly so hang in there and she speeds it up.) They go into detail about their early years, their first big breaks, and details you wouldn’t think they’d share. Amy goes into when it’s safe to make a joke and when you maybe should not.

Review: I highly recommend both. They’re right up with Seinfeld’s Is This Anything? ♥

Pearl Five

“I used to resent obstacles along the path, thinking, ‘If only that hadn’t happened life would be so good.’ Then I suddenly realized, life is the obstacles. There is no underlying path.” ♥

Janna Levin in Tribe of Mentors

If you have an annoying food problem, please share in the comments below, and I’ll get right back to you.

I don’t have an ad budget, so if you’ve enjoyed this post please share it with a loved one.

Have a beautiful holiday weekend.

See you on Tuesday, December 26. 🙂

♥, 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. ♥

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The One Thought that Keeps Every Super Successful Person Winning Again and Again

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Don’t take holiday stress lying down: unless you’re lying in a bath or bed with a phenomenal book.

Happy December Thrivers!

I still need to get my niece and nephew something for Christmas. She’s 22 years old and he’s 19. Something small, but nice because I also include a gift card. Any ideas? She’s very girly. He’s just a nice college kid.

Would love ideas: Wendy@theInspiredEater.com.

Pearl One

Politics completely aside, I was driving with my son, 20, the other day and heard him laughing about “Elon Musk’s latest rocket fizzle.”

My son was smirking like, “Musk is so lame.”

My “kid” is at the age when he doesn’t listen to me anymore (which makes for super happy times, for sure), so I had to let the “teaching moment” pass, but I can share the moment with you.

When Musk is shooting up rockets that tank, he’s merely doing what all super successfuls do: at every fail point, their brains are click-clacking away and they are learning as they go.

They’re like, “okay, we’re not at optimal performance.

Yet.”

That’s it. They fail and fail and fail until they hit the target. And that’s how I lost the 55-pounds and how I maintain/preserve today.

Consider taking out your journal and writing to these questions:

  • How do I think about failing in general?
  • Why am I fine with “failing” when I was learning how to make a pie crust, but I’m not okay with “failing” around smart eating? (Given that our new century has brought us a lot of new info. to the table like developing habits.)
  • What do I tell myself when I’ve goofed up again?
  • What exactly is failure – to me – around food, my body and eating?
  • How do I cheerlead myself?
  • How do I harass myself?
  • As a kid, who talked about my weight, and how do I think my weight was perceived?
  • What’s one new thing that I know today about losing weight that I didn’t know ten years ago?

The idea is to essentially have a conversation with your unconscious about how you engage (at a deeper level) with the idea of failure and how it’s affecting your Smart Eating Lifestyle. ♥

Pearl Two

I meta-noticed that I like to think of so-called “failures” as life essentially saying to me, “Your attempts at such-and-such project have been impressive, but no cigar. Try again.”

It’s often seemed to me that as I work to bring a dream into the world, Life is pushing back like, “Show me. Show me how much this really matters to you.” And, “no, just doing x,y and z won’t cut it. You’ve got to make it crystal clear to me if you want to bring your dream to fruition.”

If the Smart Eating Path feels elusive to you as if, “this never works for me.” Just chill and think to yourself, “hey, it’s just Life pushing back on me.”

Getting frustrated and annoyed is normal when we’re grappling with something huge. Yes, I know that you feel like you’re attempting to lose and maintain forever, but what we’re doing here cannot be put into the same category with “I’ve always been trying.” No, you haven’t been trying with these micro-tools we have today like, always carry a cold-tote, Eat Before You Eat and so on.

At that, get on with your learning curve. ♥

Pearl Three

In Pearl Three we do a deep-dive on James Clear’s book Atomic Habits

James Clear writes, “Success is not a goal to reach or a finish line to cross. It is a system to improve, an endless process to refine.”

I love the meaning behind this quote.

This is cerebral way to say, “just keep improving on a daily basis what you want to transform.” James is big on saying that if we just do better by 1% a day, we’ll make enormous progress over the long run. That idea never spoke to me. I’m too literal, I was like, “how will I know it’s 1% and not 5%?!” But he’s really just telling us that small positive shifts every day add up.

Challenge yourself to look for good ideas when you’re around people who don’t have an issue with weight and food. Watch what they do. Be willing to walk up to strangers and ask questions. Be willing to tell yourself that there’s always new ways to continually improve on our forever-loss.

Pearl Four

Welp, I loved the first book about Hendrik Groen’s life so much that I ordered the sequel, On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 85 Years Old by Hendrik Groen and am loving it as much as the first.

The writer’s voice is like having hot chocolate with whipped cream on top, cat in lap on a snowy afternoon. I found it to be a very comforting and gentle read.

In diary form for a full year, the book details the life of a charming senior citizen living in an senior person’s home in Amsterdam.

Sounds boring, but it is an adorable read. I’m only halfway through the sequel, but these two books will be gifts to my aunt in her 70s. Highly recommend. ♥

Pearl Five

“If you so choose, every mistake can lead to greater understanding and effectiveness. If you so choose, every frustration can help you to be more patient and more persistent.” ♥

Ralph Marston

Once I’ve sent this post to you, I’m wrapping my kid’s keyboard in lights! It’s funny, but there are so many ways “to do” Christmas. And now I’m thinking, “let’s hear from our Thrivers in Australia!! How do you do Christmas when it’s blazing hot?”

If you like this post, I hope you’ll send it to a friend or family member. And I’d also love a follow on Instagram and Facebook.

TGIF! And have a wonderful 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. ♥

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The Ultimate Holiday Drink Guide for Smart Eaters!

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This article originally appeared in SixtyandMe.

Turns out, maintaining a 55-pound weight loss – after age 50 – isn’t as easy as one might think.

Especially in December.

Quick backstory: I lost the 55 in my early 40s and have kept them off for 17 years now. I’m 59 as I type.

I love a tasty buzz as much as the next girl, but at the same time I don’t want to drink what are essentially boozy desserts and run screaming from my scale on New Year’s Day.

Having maintained my loss for years now, I have zero interest in gaining and then re-losing the weight all over again. So, behold the alcoholic calories that I rely on throughout November and December.

But First a Few Tips

Go for the Lowest Calorie Drink

When you’d love something to sip during the holidays, consider the lowest calories in the wine world: brut champagne that comes in at 65 to 95 calories for four ounces (half-cup). We’re not talking sweet champagne, our drink is the driest of dry champagnes, so look for the word “brut” on the label.

Of the hard liquors, vodka is just64 calories for one ounce (eighth of a cup).

Do Ruin Your Meal

Don’t dive into even the lowest calorie drinks until you first “Eat Before You Eat.” Remember how your parents always said, “Don’t eat this close to dinner, you’ll ruin your meal!”

Well – sorry, Dad – ruining our meal is exactly the idea for those of us losing and maintaining after age 50. Before the meals where you know you’ll be tempted, eat an apple or banana with a teaspoon of peanut butter, have a half cup of cottage cheese or a small bowl of cereal.

If you’re anything like me, being hungry at a beautiful spread is a surefire way to overeat and over drink.

Limit the Number of Drinks

Decide in advance to keep your drink limit to two. No matter how low the calories, these beautiful drinks add up.

On with the show!

Fun Recipes to Try

Santa Clausmopolitan

Forget for a second that this is the cutest holiday drink ever, it’s also – if done right – seriously low in calories too.

Begin creating your Santa Clausmopolitan by ignoring the recipes that say to rim your glass with a lime wedge and then dip in sanding sugar.

Why? Because sugar is very high in sugar.

But if you’re looking for super-pretty, rim the glass in sugar!!

The Clausmopolitan I drink is created with vodka, low-calorie cranberry juice, a splash of triple sec (high in calories so a dribble is best), fresh lime juice and fresh cranberries.

A Chilly Chocolate Peppermint Patty

This tasty drink is my very own creation. Did you know that you can buy chocolate almond milk and that it’s only about 100 calories for a full cup? (Somebody upstairs loves us.) Add one ounce vodka to your chocolate almond milk, a drop or two of mint extract, and ice. Yum.

The Snowflake Martini

This delish of a drink is absolutely the living end.

Ingredients:

  • A little white sanding sugar, for rim (although I only rim when I’m really feeling wild and crazy)
  • 1/2 cup ice
  • 1.5 oz. white chocolate liqueur (121 calories)
  • 2 oz. vanilla vodka (128 calories)
  • 1 cup of vanilla almond milk (30 to 60 calories)
  • 1 lemon wedge, for rim

Directions:

Rim your glass with the sugar, if you like to go that route. Add in the ice.

Pour in the chocolate liqueur, vodka and milk, and finish by placing the lemon wedge on the glass’ rim.

Delicious, right?!

Hot Boozy Chocolate

Don’t be scared of making your own low calorie hot chocolate – this is totally do-able.

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz chocolate almond milk
  • 2 tsps cocoa powder
  • 1/8 tsp stevia powder or 3-4 drops of liquid stevia
  • 1.5 oz vodka or 1 oz rum (64 calories)

Directions:

Heat your almond milk on the stove stirring continuously (burnt milk is not fun). Once heated, add the rest of the ingredients to your hot chocolate.

Finish up with the vodka or rum.

For fun, I squirt a bit of whipped cream on top and add chocolate sprinkles (because I’m five).

And my work here is done!

Boozy Eggnog

My darling grandma – who rarely drank – always said yes to a cup of eggnog laced with bourbon. As I got older, I realized that the quintessential holiday drink held about a gazillion calories per innocent-looking, festive cup.

But then – cue angels singing on high – I stumbled upon the nut-nog market that sent the high calorie eggnogs packing! (These eggnogs are so delish that I have to limit myself to one cup or I’d drink the entire carton. Just sayin’.)

Check out these sweet little numbers:

  • I love the Trader Joe’s nog (in the cold section by the yogurts) with its insanely low 50 calories for a half-cup.
  • The Blue Diamond Almond milk Nog is also low at 60 calories for a half-cup. (I serve this one to company.)
  • The Silk nog’s soymilk comes in at 80 calories.
  • The So Delicious coconut milk holiday nog clocks in at 90 calories for a half-cup.

Just add bourbon (100 cals for 1.5 ounces) and a light sprinkle of nutmeg to create a boozy holiday adult drink.

Dirty Snowmen

For dinner I might have a small bowl of brown rice and veggies, followed by this bad boy.

Ingredients (2 servings):

  • 1/4 cup melted chocolate, for rim (optional, I forgo)
  • 1 cup vanilla almond milk “ice cream” (if you haven’t yet known the pleasure of almond milk “nice cream” prepare to be wowed. (There are 120 calories for a half-cup, but again, this recipe is for two servings).
  • 2 cups heated chocolate almond milk (about 100 calories if you buy unsweetened)
  • 1/4 cup Baileys Deliciously Light is lower-sugar and lower-calories than the regular Baileys. About 110 calories for two ounces (quarter-cup).
  • ½ cup chocolate shavings (again optional, I only do this for guests)

Directions:

Start with rimming your glass with the melted chocolate – if that is your thing. Pour in the almond milk ice cream, heated chocolate almond milk and Baileys drink.

Top off with chocolate shavings – or whipped cream.

Yum-city!

Skinny Girl Cocktails

I should tell you right off the bat that the Skinny Girl drinks come in rich-girl prices. I love the Skinny Girl low calorie margarita, but the brand also offers pina colada, mojito and several other flavors. But the really good news is that other brands have gotten in on the reduced calorie drink game too (like Jose Cuervo). So shop around for the best prices in your area.

The Simple Vodka Soda

Pick your favorite low-calorie soda and add 1.5 ounces of vodka. Bada boom. (Soda’s been getting a bad rap of late which it totally deserves. Turns out soda is not good for us on a bunch of levels which is why I limit my diet soda drinks to once or twice a year.)

The Vodka Martini

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 oz vodka
  • 1/2 oz dry vermouth
  • 1 dash orange bitters
  • Garnish: lemon twist
  • For looks, add an olive-skewer

Directions:

Mix all of the liquids and add ice until chilled. Then garnish and voila.

Vodka, vermouth (105 calories for three ounces), and lemon peel.

Bottom Line (No Pun)

Anytime we substitute almond milk and “nice cream,” or reduce the amounts of high caloric liquor, we’re automatically bringing the drink recipe down to a reasonable amount of calories.

When you and I are losing and maintaining after age 50, we have to bring our best creativity to the party!

Hope you’re having a wonderful December All.

♥, Wendy

P.S. Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And always feel free to email me at Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com and I’ll get Aunt Bea right to you!

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

I am not an expert, a doctor, a surgeon, a nurse or a nutritionist: the information within TheInspiredEater.com is based solely on my personal experience and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. ♥

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How a December Playbook Allows Us to Sail Over the Avalanche of Holiday Calories

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This is how to use the calories: make them into a wreath and hang them on the door!

Pearl One

I’m often asked, “do you stick to smart eating even on vacation (I do), but trips aren’t the only exciting part of our lives. There are many days in the year that can trip us up.

The holiday season can be a bear for lots of us just as much as a vacay. Temptation is everywhere.

Christmas is a particularly tricky month because, unlike Thanksgiving, Christmas-eating goes on all through December.

We need a December playbook.

That is, if you plan to sail into January feeling at the top of your game.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about an elaborate plan of what you will or won’t eat three Thursdays from now.

No, I mean that every single morning, we draw up a fresh, new plan. If you’re like me you’re thinking, “I have enough to do, I don’t need more, but thanks so much.”

Okay, fair enough.

Slight detour: if your plan is to preserve (maintain) your current weight throughout December, it’s essential that you tell yourself that weight-preservation only happens when we call preserving a part-time job.

Back to our regularly scheduled program.

So, the first thing to do is eagle-eye points in your day that could easily cause trouble. Looking in advance for problem areas in the day means that we can plan smart solutions right at that moment before the problem even begins.

Here’s my plan for tomorrow (normally I’d write up this plan On Saturday morning).

Morning Plan for Saturday: My husband, sons, and I go out one night every December to see the lights and then eat out (usually a high-end pizza dining spot.)

The Potential Problem: Eating pizza won’t help me to preserve my weight or continue embedding my new habits.

My Best Shot: In the old days, I’d be totally triggered to chow slice after slice of pizza with my family culminating in dessert at home (because I’d already “blown-it”). My plan now is to eat well throughout the day; then when we’re looking at the lights (in the car), I’ll eat the apple that I sliced up earlier. If the apple doesn’t take the edge of my appetite, I’ll eat a small yogurt too.

Because I’d foreseen the difficulty in advance, I know to bring my cold-tote with me packed with sliced apple (don’t just grab a whole one, make eating smart easy) and a small yogurt + spoon.

Later, when we sit down to dinner, guess how hungry I am?

Exactly.

The whole idea is that when you order, you decide whether to have two pieces of pizza, or a fancy salad and not your cavewoman.

You guys, eating before you eat + morning planning is the superpower you’ve been looking for to survive December. ♥

Pearl Two

This post partly appeared in a very old post.

Back in the day when food was my entertainment, I’d tell myself, “I’m SO BORED” and with that, I’d raid the kitchen for some “deserved” nothing-to-do-eating.

Today I deal with boredom differently, here’s what I finally figured out:

The feeling of boredom was never meant to signal us to locate and eat handfuls of M&M’s. Feeling bored is a challenge from the best part of ourselves to bring new exciting plans and ideas to life.

And excitement is different for everyone. You might be excited to travel like seeing the castles in Europe, while I want to fulfill a lifelong dream to learn Spanish. A friend might want to hike every waterfall in her state. Someone else is ready to adopt a rescue-dog.

Before I go any further, I have to add an important caveat: I’m not suggesting that if we simply embrace a new passion that the extra pounds will melt off.

But what I am saying is that when you coax your own dream-projects to life you’re establishing a better relationship internally — and feeling good about ourselves is part of a forever weight-loss.

Pearl Three

In Pearl Three we do a deep-dive on James Clear’s book Atomic Habits

James Clear tells us “You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”

I think Clear is telling us that the future takes care of itself, that our work is in the now, the today, this evening and so forth.

I’ll never stop saying embed the habit, and the scale will follow. (But for December put yourself in preservation-mode). ♥

Pearl Four

Book-Desserts!

Do I have a winner for you today. As I was reading I continually thought, “how do I explain why this book is so good?”

The plot is about a senior citizen nursing home in the Netherlands.

If you loved A Man Called Ove: A Novel, the 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, and Eleanor Elephant is completely Fine then this is your book.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen by Hendrik Groen is character-driven and hilarious. The voice of the diarist is cozy and comfy. As his diary unfolds, our guy highlights the various people and funny stories.

I loved it and was sad to see it end, but thankfully the author has written other books. My review: 100 stars. This book paired with its sequel makes an exceptional gift for readers who are tired of awful Nazi, and animals do not get hurt. ♥

Pearl Five

While overeating would be seen by some as an indulgence of self, it is in a fact a profound rejection of self. It is a moment of self-betrayal and self-punishment, and anything but a commitment to one’s own well-being. ♥

Marianne Williamson

Some interesting news: I finally have the book, The Inspired Eater: Fed Up! live on Amazon and I’d love it if you’d take a take a look. A review would be wonderful too.

Have a beautiful 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. ♥

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The Greatest Question I Ask Myself to Survive the Season of Calories

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There’s more to Christmas then eating every calorie in sight. Start with the fur-kids.

Pearl One

Happy December, Thrivers!

I think this one will be a heavy-lifter. ♥

I was so happy when this thought occurred to me. It really is our brains that will take us to our preferred weight, not the latest, craziest diet.

In the past, I’ve said that attempting to lose weight in November and December is just being mean to yourself. I encouraged you to maintain (I call it “holding”) through the season.

And I’ve added that it’s important to remember that the holidays are only over two or three days, and it shouldn’t be two months of overdoing it.

But!! I came up with something better.

I’m asking myself the strongest question I know of for December’s onslaught of calories.

You know the game “would you rather?”

Here’s what I’ve been asking myself:

“Would I rather eat all the things throughout December, but be completely annoyed with myself come the first of January?

Or would I rather, stick with my smart eating plan now and forgo most of the treats – not all, but most — and be thrilled to wake up on January one feeling awesome!”

Both questions are tough: do you want to “have fun” with the food in December and be sad when you wake in the new year? Or do want to be challenged to stay the couse in December and be thrilled when you wake up in the new year?

Of course, I run with the latter. I’d much rather keep my eating sane in December so that in January I’ll wake up feeling very pleased.

The idea behind this question is that when we see a plate of beautiful homemade fudge we’ll be snapped back to reality that January is — in fact — just around the corner.

Join me: ask yourself this very question at least two times every single day. Go! ♥

Pearl Two

Our Visualization Tool. At a quiet moment this week, crash on your couch, close your eyes, and identify what the difficult moments will be food-wise in the coming week.

When you’re ready, write by pen or laptop how you’ll respond to each food-challenge.

I’ve written often about the importance of planning for get-togethers or parties so that we’re not arriving  famished to the shindig.

But what about dealing with the day-to-day of Christmas-calories?

In my life, the Scarfer starts buying Christmas cookies in October and after Thanksgiving is barely out the door begins to lay out his display every evening on the kitchen counter. (I mean, “thanks Costco!”)

Journal -write what daily challenges will trigger overeating and write how you’ll respond to each difficulty. Ask yourself this question every day and don’t mix up “fun” with fuel-food. ♥

Pearl Three

Digging deeper into Atomic Habits

James Clear tell us in Atomic Habits, “The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom. We get bored with habits because they stop delighting us. The outcome becomes expected. And as our habits become ordinary, we start derailing our progress to seek novelty.”

I’m so glad that Clear talks a lot about boredom because it’s a powerful force to contend with in our smart eating lives.

Have a long journal “chat” with yourself. Write about boredom and how it affects your life. Ask yourself: how do I handle the daily, normal boredom of the daily that we all deal with.

Over many years I slowly shifted from a food-focus to address almost every emotion including boredom. IF I’m bored food really does look like a little party for the mouth.

Journal-write about boredom and address how you manage it, rather than it managing you. ♥

Pearl Four

Book Dessert!!

I read this week’s dessert selection titled Molokai by Alan Brennert when it first debuted in 2003. The story begins one hundred years ago, when the authorities take a little girl, Rachel, from her family home on Honolulu, and leave her on the island of Molokai (due to an 1866 Hawaiian king decree that those with leprosy would live out their lives on the island without spreading the disease to the main population). We watch Rachel grow up and fall in love. We also see the evolution of the disease, how as time went by thoughts about the diseased changed.

Only problem with this book? Oh, did it make me want to visit Molokai.

Molokai falls under the historical fiction genre, but is packed in historical facts about actual people who lived on Molokai and cared for the people with Hanson’s disease. It’s been twenty years since I read Molokai, and several scenes from the book still run through my mind.

Pairing Molokai with Honolulu (same author) would make an awesome gift. Highly recommended. Five sparkling stars.

If nothing else, check out the two books’ covers. Lush and gorgeous. ♥

Pearl Five

“Don’t settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had.” ♥

Angela Bassett

Happy December 1!! This month can be so beautiful, but tough. It’s okay, we’re up for the challenge!

♥, 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. ♥

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