Sarah T.

After receiving the magazine Above Rubies, I saw an advertisement on the back for the book – Trim Healthy Mama, No More Fads. I thought, “I have to get this book. It shows desserts on this plan. I love dessert. I love ice-cream, I love cake, and I love chocolate. Yes! I need this book.” So I ordered it and it arrived. Well, that was August; I picked up the book and did a quick preview. My eyes bugged out of my head and my brain started swelling. You can eat fat, you can eat dessert, but you have to eat certain foods with certain foods. What? Come again? I attempted to read some more and only got more frustrated and more confused. I don’t know what they are saying. This is like another language. So, I threw the book under my night stand and went back to life. Well after many years of yo-yo diets, I figured I would just have to starve myself thin and exercise all the time. I was now a tired mom of three kids and everything was hurting. I was so tired all the time; I sought food for my comfort and fuel. But my food fuel choices were sugar-laden cakes, cookies and pastries. I would eat them, feel awesome for an hour and then need another hit. Once again back in the sugar addict cycle. I would eat my treat, and then feel terrible about myself. Anyone ever convince themselves to eat something they shouldn’t and then after beat themselves up for eating it? That was me. The roller coaster of bad food decision making, one after another. I would then get so depressed and feel so fat and just look at myself and see this horrible person. I started praying about it again and getting more and more upset that God would not free me from this thorn in my flesh.

It was now January and time for a new year’s resolution, and I wanted to get rid of the baby weight I had put on. “God will you please help me?” I happen to look over at my nightstand and guess what I saw sticking out? Literally, it was glowing! Trim Healthy Mama, No More Fads! Aaaah, “Are you serious God? You want me to do that? That’s crazy! They do some sort of weird food combining alphabet diet. I can’t do that.” Sigh. After some deep thoughts, I picked up the book and started reading. This time it seemed to make more sense to me. I decided right then and there I was done being a servant to sugar. I decided I was going to follow this plan to a T for three months and give it my best effort. I am a first-born child and I tend to be an all or nothing type of person. So, I got my supplies, I went to my cupboard and I threw out anything not “on plan.” My husband thought I was crazy. Keep in mind he has witnessed a few too many diets I have attempted, succeeded, only to end up in failure.

After three months of Trim Healthy Mama I felt better. I lost the last of my baby weight and my clothes were falling off. I could pass a piece of cake and not even blink. I could say no to sugary treats and not even feel bad about it. I couldn’t believe it. But guess what happened? Temptation! I would be with friends who were not following my THM lifestyle and they would encourage me to have just one cheat and just one little bite. Well, one bite led to another and slowly I was cheating more often. I could feel my addiction to sugar coming back. I hated it. I worked so hard for what? To let my old self come back? What did God say about this? He said, “Sarah, you have to die to yourself daily, pick up your cross and follow Me!” So, I got back on the horse. I will admit I have gone on vacations and fallen off the horse, but this is the first time in my life that I can say I know what to do when I fall off. And I will keep on climbing back on and keep on riding. I can’t stand here before you and say I will never go off plan again, but I can tell you that now I know what to do and how to fix my body when I do slip. God gave me the tools and resources to learn how to best keep my body Trim and Healthy.

We all have reasons why we are where we are today. Are you believing the lies Satan tells you? Stop believing the lies and start believing what God says, what God says about you.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You are created in His image.

You are loved.

You are a child of God.

You are beautiful.

You need to start saying these things to yourself now because God is going to blossom you into who He created you to be. You have to start saying this even if you don’t believe it because it’s true. I look in the mirror in the morning and I tell myself all these things. Satan wants to say, “You’re ugly, you’re still a fat girl, you’re worthless.” God doesn’t say those things. We need to shut Satan up! You are beautiful, you are a child of God, you are more precious than rubies!

I am so excited to be on this journey with you. I have been a Trim Healthy Mama for over five years now. Five years in and I can honestly say this plan has gotten easier with the accessibility to Trim Healthy Mama products and other companies offering so many “on-plan” choices. Five years in and with every season life has thrown at me in the past five years, I am more committed than ever to stay and be the best “Trim Healthy Mama” God has called me to be. I decided this is a battle I’m going to win. We all have reasons we make the choices we make. Today I ask you, “What’s your why? Why are you here? What are your goals? What motivates you to make better decisions?”

This is my “why”. My husband, my children, my family, my friendships, and most importantly my service to God. I can’t serve God unless I give Him my best. To give Him my best, I need to be in the best health I can be by making the best choices I can make. We are souls, and God gave us these bodies on loan to us while we are here to serve Him. Let’s use our bodies to bring glory to Him. I finally know how to love myself with food and exercise in a healthy way, so I can best love and serve my family. Even when I go “off-plan,” or stay diligently “on-plan,” no matter what, I am forever a “Trim Healthy Mama!”

My next goals are to become a Trim Healthy Coach and help more mamas become the best versions of themselves. I am currently leading a monthly support group in Minnesota and look forward to wherever God leads me with Trim Healthy Mama next.

– Sarah