Trim Healthy Mama Update

I've been following the Trim Healthy Mama principles for a few weeks now and have lost 5 pounds with a LOT of cheating. Some of you may recall that I attempted this before I became pregnant with Nathanael but fell off the wagon rather quickly. I don't know what it is this time around, but it seems to be much more doable this time. Perhaps it's because THM has taken off in the "diet" world (though THM should be a lifestyle, not a diet) and is much more popular now than it used to be. This means there are tons of THM-friendly recipes out there on Pinterest, making meals much more doable and fun. My husband has NOT noticed a change at all in our meals. In all this time, there was only one meal that was not his favourite (it was a spinach and cheesy chicken casserole I found on pinterest. It wasn't my favourite, either!)

THM has been very doable for us this time because I have been cooking practically the exact same for our family with THM-friendly options for me. Here's an example of what this has looked like for our family:

Cheeseburger Pie (in Trim Healthy Mama recipe section) - My husband LOVES this recipe. It really is one of his new favourites. I serve this with mashed potatoes and a salad or veggies on the side. I skip the mashed potatoes.

Hamburgers on the Grill (S) - Everyone eats these as usual. I had mine in a crunch iceberg lettuce wrap to keep it THM friendly. I did not even miss the bun.

Steak on the Grill (S)- BBQ as usual. I serve potatoes with this usually and a salad. I just skip the potatoes to keep this in S territory.

Tacos (S or E) - I either make mine into an "S" salad and load it up with ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, full fat sour cream, avocado, cheese, and all the veggies I want but leave out the chips (or only 3 or 4 chips added, if I want to go slightly off plan). Or, I can make this into an "E" meal by using chicken, beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, low-fat sour cream, and a sprinkle of low-fat cheese.

Cocunt Curry Chicken (S or crossover) - This is one our family's all-time favourite meals. I usually serve it with brown rice on the side and broccoli or cauliflower. I will have either this over a small amount of brown rice for an S-helper meal, or up to 3/4 cup brown rice for a crossover. Crossovers are not off-plan - they are just combining healthy fats and healthy carbs and not as optimal for weight-loss, according to the book.

I ordered the Swanson natural whey protein powder a couple weeks ago. I really hesitated to do this as it's quite pricey for an item I don't usually buy (around 45 dollars for a HUGE container). However, this is one of the key things used on this plan (though the plan is workable without it), especially in the fuel-pull smoothies. I figured out that one big container should easily last me at least 3 months...and that's with using it every day, which I doubt I'll do. The health benefits of this stuff is pretty incredible, so I think it will be worth it to try it. I just used it to make my very first true-to-the-recipe Fat Stripping Frappe as part of my lunch (Egg roll in a bowl...super frugal, super quick to make, super tasty). I am SO THRILLED at how it turned out!!  I've tried making the Fat Stripping Frappe without the whey protein powder before, but the powder is what really makes this smoothie awesome, filling, and super fluffy. It's like a chocolate frosty/milkshake and does NOT taste at all like some some of the super nasty protein shakes I've sampled in the past. I was seriously so surprised. I actually think I could give this to my husband, and he would never guess what was in it....

Anyway, I will continue on with THM...I'm enjoying it so far, seeing some results, and it's much more doable now that I allow myself off-plan meals a few times a week.