It was called - Trim Healthy Mama (Sorry, authors, Pearl and Serene, even the title sounded cheesy to me, probably cause it sounded too good to be true.) But she really seemed to love it, and I KNEW I had to do something to stop the slow steady gain of weight back onto my body. So I figured I could TRY it!
Bought the book.
Joined the other 43,000+ women in the Facebook group. CLICK HERE
Skimmed the book just enough to start the plan.....just being honest- I even skipped the chapter on the Biblical perspective of the plan the first time through the book! (Keepin' it real, y'all!)
Here are my initial thoughts:
1. Sugar - giving up sugar seemed like a big deal, I was sure I could NEVER give up sweets. Then in the book I saw that it might actually be easy to exchange the sugar to something else, with the help of these two women and their recipes. I learned that there are some safe alternatives to sugar that can create healthy, wonderful sweets! I thought, "I can handle eating sweets that may not taste as amazing as a sugary version if it helps me lose weight AND it is guilt free! Come to find out, these sweets are so healthy you can eat them for breakfast EVERY DAY! Seriously?!?! And I found some that taste good!
2. Bread- I have always thought there was no way I would ever give up bread. But as my weight slowly grew and grew I knew where I was headed, back to the 200's and mounds of frustration, guilt and unhealthy eating habits I knew were not good for me. Then came this book, these two women, and an awesome FB group, who said there were types of bread that were ok, when eaten correctly and were even healthy! So now I still get BREAD. Just different bread. (White sliced sandwich bread really has no flavor anyway.) Who doesn't want to eat guilt free homemade bread? pizza without the carbs? soft tacos/wraps every day!? It is doable.
3. Chocolate. THERE ARE TONS OF WAYS TO EAT CHOCOLATE WITHOUT SUGAR. And it's good! Now you have to experiment, a lot, I mean try a lot of recipes. And try different sweeteners. You CAN find things that you like! AND IT CAN BE HEALTHY AND EATEN FOR BREAKFAST! You also have to give yourself time to get used to less sugar, and acquire a taste for less sugar. And learn to like the alternatives for sugar. It takes time, but man, is it worth it!
4. Cheese, butter, bacon, red meat, chicken, turkey, pork, bread, pudding, cake, pie, ice cream, AND MORE--- all are things I can eat!!! Kinda makes me think giving up sugar isn't so bad!
5. Veggies- I am learning great ways to eat more veggies! Covered in butter AND cheese! I thought you had to nix the butter and cheese. Nope.
6. CORRECTION- I know what you are thinking, BUTTER, CHEESE and BACON are not healthy. Actually they are. Or should I say, they CAN be when eating them in the right setting. THERE are so many myths we have created in this country about what is healthy and what is not as we add TONS of preservatives and additives and fillers to our very processed food. All to maintain our appetite for fast, easy, instant, SWEET food. (Ok, at least give me this, you KNOW that we have added sugar to almost every food imaginable on store shelves today. Right?)
7. RESULTS. FACT. This plan has worked for me. I committed to giving it 100% and it has worked. I am now down 36 pounds, and it has been without exercise and I have eaten PLENTY of food. Honestly, I thought I would have to eat like a bird to lose weight without exercise. Not true on this plan. Due to my back problems I just cannot do much of anything cardio. I have NEVER been able to lose and keep it off without cardio of some type. Until now.
I have been on this plan for over 6 months and still don't feel deprived. I just know that at my age with my body, eating sugar and all those starches are just not realistic for me. I want to be at healthy weight and take care of my body.
8. FUN and EASY. This plan is so fun and easy - oh, and healthy. They give you guidelines for maintaining the weight loss without getting TOO thin, losing too fast, or getting lost and scrapping the whole thing (and for me that would mean gaining it all back! NOW I WILL SAY, there is a kinda steep learning curve in the beginning. There is a lot to learn, but once you learn it..... AND you start seeing results..... it is FUN! (Your teen boys will continue to think you are NUTS! The only thing my three "boys" -yep, Daniel too- love about this plan I am doing is that I switched them to whole milk rather than skim or 2%. Otherwise they eat mostly the same stuff they have always eaten. Pinterest is a huge help to learning the plan. Here is a link to my Pinterest boards: CLICK HERE
9. FAMILY FRIENDLY- Best plan ever that is family friendly, in my opinion. It is really not hard to feed my boys or eat out at a restaurant or anything and not make my meal fit in "the plan", while they want nothing to do with it. See, I told you it was TGTBT (too good to be true).
10. MAGIC, IT AIN'T. It isn't magic. It takes planning. Seriously did you think you could eat healthy and avoid sugar without planning? AND discipline. And cooking. Are there temptations, yes. But I like getting those pounds off more than I like sugar, white potatoes and white bread. And I like knowing they will stay off, if I just stay on plan, a plan that I LOVE! a plan with bacon, butter, and chocolate. Just sayin'. *smile*
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HOW DOES THIS PLAN WORK: Ok, the book is 640 pages. There is no way to teach it to you here. I cannot even try. PLUS, Pearl and Serene are WAY better at teaching you this plan than I am. I am STILL learning new things about it every day. They have done their homework. Sure there are basics to getting started, like getting off sugar, but there are WAY MORE THINGS you need to learn to follow the plan besides just getting away from sugar, I told you, it is not magic. Getting away from sugar was just the BIG one for me!
Why try navigating weight loss on your own and end up feeling deprived, frustrated and discouraged when there is a book that TEACHES you how to do it and not DIE of sugar withdrawal, deprivation or frustration. *smile*
THE SMALL PRINT: This plan may not be for you. Especially if you are not committed to it or are just looking for a magic bullet. Healthy weight loss just doesn't work that way. And I am not gonna tell you that you SHOULD lose weight, eat healthy or feel bad about your size! I love you the same ANY size. I am just sharing this for those who want to know more about the eating plan I am on and want to know how I have lost the weight. Just sharing my personal experience in hopes of helping others who need to lose for their own personal reasons. There are people that learn this plan to find out how to PUT ON some weight! Others just want to learn to maintain weight they lost by other means! Others have food issues or health issues that demand certain things from their eating habits. I don't know your situation, I just know what I have experienced. And it has been GREAT!
2 comments:
SO PROUD OF YOU BETH! Keep up the good work and positive attitude!
Great post. I'll be passing it on to friends who are just starting. Thanks!
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