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My two boys, Jimmy and Rory, have severe autism. For many years, they would eat only the most plain, boring stuff (chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, pasta, etc). With different stuff they would try to throw it away and older one would make gagging noises (not to be rude, just texture issues). They have gradually gotten better at trying new things the past few years.

Finally, last summer I decided the whole family is all going to eat the same meals, no matter what . . . and they have! Every single thing I’ve made from Trim Healthy Mama/Trim Healthy Table they have gobbled up (hubby and daughter, too). Today they both ate every bite of their Whoop Whoop soup for lunch! So I’m on a roll here in CA and one happy mama.

This month I celebrate my 5th year on Trim Healthy Mama.

Here are a few things I have learned along the way . . .

* This truly becomes a lifestyle. I don’t have to think about it.

* I lost all my weight, 40 pounds, in 6 months using only three new ingredients (truvia-that’s what was available, coconut oil & almond flour). This plan can be done with no special ingredients. I do indulge in the NSV’s now.

* I have more energy in my forties than I did in my twenties.

* My entire family enjoys eating THM. My husband jumped on board and lost 60 pounds after he watched me get healthy. He’s a huge fan of THM.

* My grocery bill went down after my entire family started eating the THM way. I have 5 kids and three of them are teenagers.

* When you gain health, the trim comes . . . it’s part of the package.

* I won’t ever go back . . . THM is a beautiful thing!

I had heard about THM from a friend right after the Original book was released, but I was so doubtful that it would ever work for me. After all, nothing else ever had. I was still hopeful and ordered my book.

It was massive, but I read it over Thanksgiving day 2012. I made a plan and started the next day. For me, it was just deciding I was going to just give this a real try. I appreciated the fact that it wasn’t a diet . . . there were no real limits on what I had to eat or avoid. I could still enjoy coffee and wine. I could eat pasta. I didn’t have limits or feel like I needed to starve.

My body immediately responded to the changes I was making, and I’ve never looked back. I lost 45 pounds in that first year and have maintained since then.

Things that I have learned to be helpful with THM are to remember the non-starchies and be open-minded with new things. Sometimes it takes a few times before you get used to new tastes. Think you don’t like green smoothies? You might just need to try a different blend of veggies. Are you feeling tired or like you’re not getting enough to eat? Then you probably aren’t getting enough. Add those non starchies, like berries, cabbage and greens, to each meal. Challenge yourself to see how many you can get at each meal!

Don’t break the bank buying a bunch of special products! It might challenge how you’ve always done things, but it will open new options for you as well.

I started THM as a 43 year-old nursing mama, and now I’m about to turn 49 and am in the midst of peri-menopause. How THM looks now for me is very different; my body has different needs now than it did then. As a lifestyle, you have to continue looking at what is working for you at that time.
THM isn’t about trying to be someone you’re not. It isn’t about following someone else’s menu or plan. It’s about learning what makes you healthy, feel great and look good.ÊThanks Pearl and Serene!”

IT’S MY 2 YEAR TRIMMIVERSARY!!

Well, I’m a little late. I realized that I passed my two year trimmiversary on 8/22/2016. 🙂

I came to Trim Healthy Mama at my wits end. I had a myriad of health issues (Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hashimotos Thyroiditis, Gluten Intolerance, Hypoglycemia, Leaky Gut, Multiple Food Allergies, etc.) and I had previously had gastric bypass surgery in 5/2009.

My doctor tried to convince me for 6 long years to have gastric bypass surgery due to my Lupus being out of control. He was convinced that the surgery would save my life and get the Lupus to go into remission. Well it came to the point that I could barely leave the house due to the debilitating pain; I knew I had to do something. Living day in and day out in excruciating pain with no hopes of ever improving felt hopeless. It tore me up to watch my children endure it.

So in May 2009, I relented and had an RNY and started to lose weight. Then only 4 and a half months later, I discovered that I was pregnant with son number 5. This was quite a shock since I was told by my doctor that I had already gone through menopause. My youngest was 13. God had other plans. 🙂

For obvious reasons, all weight loss stopped and I started gaining with my pregnancy. Thanks be to God, I was able to sustain a healthy pregnancy and deliver our sweet son in June 2010. Following his birth, I worked through blood, sweat, and tears to lose the weight and to keep it off.

Unfortunately, keeping the weight off was a huge challenge after a diagnosis of gluten intolerance. In a panick I started buying every gluten-free product that I could find. Not really understanding gluten intolerance or that a lot of gluten-free products are filled with unhealthy starches and fillers, I started packing back on the pounds. <sigh>

Enter Trim Healthy Mama <Angel Choir Singing>! lol

In a nutshell, Trim Healthy Mama gave me back my life. I was able to take the pounds back off and keep them off. My Lupus is in remission. My autoimmunes with the constant swelling, bloating, and puffiness are in check. I’m now a full-time college student, active wife, mother of 5, and grandmother of 2. I’m turning 49 in January and I feel amazing!! I feel healthier, lighter, and younger than ever before. Trim Healthy Mama is powerful stuff!Ê <3

Krista ~Admin

Height: 5′ 3″
Age: 48
RNY 5/2009
HW: 330 (330-350, I stopped weighing), Size 28
SW: 284
–(Baby #5)–
THM: 184
CW: 157, Size 8
GW: 160
Loss to Date: 173+ lbs & THM’ing for over 2 years:D

Pre-Surgery 41 / Pre-THM 45 / Current 48

Getting Smaller. Feeling Stronger – A Journey Back To ME!”

Where to begin…
There are only two books ever written that have changed me. The Bible has saved my soul and Trim Healthy Mama has saved my life. I have been overweight my entire life by my own doings for different reasons at different stages. My biological father walked away from our family when I was around the age of 2. As a child I was raised by a HARD-working mother who did everything in her power to give my 3 siblings and me what we needed. I was also raised from the age of 3 on by an emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive alcoholic stepfather. He drank away everything my mom worked so hard to provide. This left us quite poor. Our main staples of food were potatoes, macaroni & cheese, corn on the cob, cereal, bread, bologna, hotdogs and canned salmon which I hated! Snacks were usually ice cream, chips & dip, and popcorn. My all-time favorite after school snack was bread covered in butter coated with sugar! As a child I didn’t know any better.

Enter my teen years…
I spent my teen years knowing I was much heavier than my peers which left me feeling isolated and depressed. I never got asked out and I never fit in. I always over compensated to feel accepted by being a follower, overly nice to the point of being used, and learned how to “act” with extreme happiness and positivity. All the while lonely and broken inside. I never had to “act” for food. It was my “soul” comfort. I found God and was saved around the age of 13. I knew He was the missing piece to what I needed in my life but I never fully learned to give control OF my life to Him. Those years were filled with self-inflicted sadness, emptiness, loneliness, bitterness and anger. I graduated high school weighing 210 lbs.

Enter my adult years and the man I’d always prayed for…
I met my husband when I was 20. He was everything I had prayed for – nice, hard-working, a Christian and DEPENDABLE! I longed for that quality in a man the most I think. He was also raised the exact opposite of me! Blessed from a loving Christian home, it was the “sanctuary” I longed for. But with that came resentment towards my husband who, as hard as he tried, couldn’t understand my fits of anger and depression. Again, I turned to food. I didn’t expect anything from it and it didn’t expect anything from me. Along came two amazing children who are now incredible adults. My next excuse for not taking care of me was because I didn’t have time. I was too busy taking care of everybody else. I inflicted all my pain on the ones I love the most for so many years. Only by the grace and mercy of The Lord living and breathing in my husband, children, son-in-law, extended family and friends do they still love and accept me!

Enter the year that changed my entire future…
In 2014 I asked my supervisor out of curiosity “why did you hire me.” She responded “if we had hired someone attractive and thin, Ryan (the boss) wouldn’t get any work done. Even though I was heavy, I always tried to stay positive in life. That moment though – killed any spirit I had left. I not only quit that job, but I quit my family, my will to live, any hope I had and I quit me. I decided suicide would be the best for everyone but I’m a Christian and knew God would be pretty ticked off if I took the easy way out. I convinced myself I could die by “food suicide” and no one would know the difference! Since I had a husband that longed to see me happy, he was more than willing to be my enabler. I topped the scale at 315 lbs. I felt close to death. I couldn’t walk from the couch to the fridge without being out of breath. I would cry from the pain in my knees walking up the 4 steps to our house and I was only 45. My lowest point came when my husband showed his unconditional love in the most humiliating way and started washing certain “areas” because I couldn’t reach. Everyone has their own “personal demon” to fight and mine was food. I had reached the “pissed off at myself moment”. All my years of anger finally found me. And I prayed harder than I’ve ever prayed before…

Enter my saving grace…
God heard my cry all those years and answered it through a Facebook friend who had “liked” a page called Trim Healthy Mama. I believed and bought the book. I could just feel the love, support, passion and prayer that Pearl and Serene poured into that book. I’m such a “drive thru Sue” as the book states. I’ve also wasted a ton of money buying workout videos that I would sit and WATCH, all while downing an entire bag of peanut M&M’s! I had started a new job that required an incredible amount of walking, with an amazing, supportive supervisor! I’ll never forget the day she told me “You’re stronger than you think you are”. Since February 2015, I’ve lost 100 lbs. and claimed victory over my life for the first time! I’m not where I need to be yet, but I’m not where I was before either. My greatest “scale” victory was the day I weighed 199 lbs. and God reminded me I had a gap in my legs for the first time! My thighs were no longer rubbing together! God showed me that gap to remind me about the sinful thoughts He continues to bring me out of about myself, the strength He reminds me that I have within myself, and the bondage cocoon I’ve kept myself in that He’s breaking me free from. My proudest non-scale victory is I conquered one of my biggest fears – heights – and rode ALL the rides at Cedar Point! Mainly because I was so proud to fit in the seats! What I’m trying to say is if I can YOU can!

Keep it simple. Some of my favorites are the THM Lazy lasagna, Swedish meatballs, and the pancakes! I love the Pristine Whey Protein Powder, Baking Blend, Gentle Sweet and Super Sweet Blend. I remind myself of the basics of Trim Healthy Mama which is to always eat fat in a lower carb setting and carbs in a lower fat setting. Also, remember, you are only eating for one! Lastly, MOVE your body! Many times I begged God “Give me the strength to take just one more step!” Find something you enjoy and don’t stop. Willpower is nothing more than a conscious decision to do what’s best for you daily. No one can do it for you. God believes you’re worth it and so do I. Isn’t it time to believe in yourself?

Hugs!

It’s my 2nd Trimmiversary!!!

I am beyond thankful for this plan!! Whoooooohooooooo!! Thank you Pearl and Serene for your wisdom and for this beautiful lifestyle plan!!

I started Trim Healthy Mama on 9/28/15 and haven’t looked back since. I was in a tight 18/20, I was also DONE trying to live in what my body had become. I knew I had to change my diet, but like many others, I had tried and done all the diets, plans, shakes, pills, you name it, I’d done it and had a story to tell about it.

My friend Allison added me to this group (the Trim Healthy Mama Facebook support group) a year or so before, but all I knew was what people posted. Really, the only posts that caught my eye were before and afters. After about the 2000th one that I looked at and read, I decided Trim Healthy Mama was the next something I would try to get my health under control. I went the next day and bought the plan book and cook book at Books a Million. I fell in love with the simplicity and freedom, and the rest is history!!

Because I know some will ask, I started in an 18/20, 255, I’m 5’7. This morning, I’m wearing a size 8, and I weighed 174. My lowest weight on this journey has been 170.5; that was in February. I stopped smoking the same month and my weight fluctuates up and down 5 pounds. I’ll take it!!

I thank God for Pearl and Serene and for the joy I’ve found again!! I feel like I’ve found the fountain of youth, I’m 37! I seriously feel 18 again!

Some of you mentioned that your husbands were going on the plan with you. My husband has been my biggest supporter and encourager when we started our new lifestyle. We have removed 145 lbs between us since October 2015. After getting rid of 105 lbs, I have been at a ‘stand still’ for a few weeks. I’m not worried. I have learned to be patient on this plan. The numbers aren’t moving, but my clothes are looser.

I’ve been explaining Trim Healthy Mama to a group of ladies from my church. They are such a blessing. We are in this journey together.

The pictures included in this post are: June 2015, April 2017. Hoping to be an encouragement to others. THM was an answer to a prayer for help. We are so very thankful for the plan, our friend who told us about THM, for Pearl and Serene and their dedication and sharing with all of us, and all of you fellow ‘Mamas’ who post your recipes and encouragement daily!