THM has become my way of eating for life. That doesn't mean I'm 100% perfect all the time, just that if I have one meal that's off plan or a crossover (healthy but has too many fats & carbs to be either an E or an S meal), I know I'm just 3 hours away from being back on track.
This past week, I had an opportunity to eat out with baseball friends. We're trying to do it every 6 to 8 weeks or so, but life gets busy. Under any other "diet" program, eating out was the kiss of death. I'd order what I'd been forbidden to have before, then never get back on track. It was the whole attitude of, "Since today's blown, I'll start again tomorrow." Then I would eat the leftovers the next day. Now that's 2 days blown so I'd mess up the rest of day 2. Before you know it, a week's gone by and I'm completely off plan. Not so with THM, This week, when I went out, I had a plan to eat my E meals, all carbs, limited fats - fortunately we went to Sweet Tomatoes, a buffet of salads, soups, pasta, potato bar, and other healthy things. My plan was to skip the foccacia bread (cheesy bread made similar to no sauce pizza), skip the ice cream, and skip the macaroni & cheese (they serve my favorite tasting mac & cheese). Well, I messed up. I had about a 1C measure of mac & cheese, I ate 2 small pieces of the foccacia bread (less that the size of 1 slice of pizza though), and I had about 1/2C serving of the soft serve vanilla ice cream, no toppings. No guilt because I still had E type salad, soup, tons of veggies, avoided other fats like creamy dressings and cream soups. I drank unsweetened acai iced tea. And the next morning I was right back on plan with a cinnamon muffin recipe out of the THM book.
When I have a crossover or off plan meal now and then, the scale stops dropping, it also doesn't go up - something I never experienced before. My body simply maintains at the current loss point, which is about 20 lbs give or take a pound on any given day. The more days I'm 100% on plan, the more it goes down. Lately I've been busy and don't feel like eating much. I seem to be going about 4 hours between meals instead of 2 1/2 to 3. I'm eating less at each sitting when I'm busy. Instead of gaining weight because my body hangs onto every single thing on days/weeks like that, it simply maintains. That's never happened on any other diet plan, and I've tried Atkins, Weigh Down, Weight Watchers, NutriSystem, and Body for Life, along with Lowfat, Fat Free, and LowCarb programs. I've tried the 1000 calorie to 1200 calorie per day programs. All have 2 things in common: They didn't work, and one meal off plan made me gain about 5 pounds back, even if all I ate was about 1000 calories. Mathmatically, it doesn't even make sense, but that's the story of my life for the past 30 years.
I think the hardest thing has been to try to incorporate my Alcat test results with THM since there's quite a few healthy foods I should be avoiding for other reasons, things like coconut oil, olive oil, zucchini, basil, cucumbers, etc. I'm slowly using just a little here and there, but if I have any type of change for the worst I drop it back out again - like trouble sleeping again, or tired in the early afternoons, or bloating, or just feeling "out of it", or not happy like I have been after following Alcat recommendations. So far so good, but I know I've been using too much coconut oil. It's SUCH a super healthy food, that it makes its way into most THM recipes. Sometimes I can substitute butter or just use pan spray instead of oil to cook, but I'm finding that balance as I go.
One other scary thing coming up, vacation. I'll be gone a total of 2 weeks between getting to TX, a week long cruise, then getting home from TX. I'm already planning on snacks & meals to bring on the way out, looking over the cruise menus and getting used to picking E or S dinners, and figuring out a small grocery list for the drive back home. Hopefully I can balance most meals being on plan with a few crossover things like maybe 2 or 3 desserts in 7 days - or having a drink or two here and there in place of a snack, or maybe add a little protein when sipping. The authors answered me about cruising on plan on their member chat board. They basically said, enjoy all the S dinners like steak, and sauces, and buttery/cheesy sides, as well as E meals like ahi tuna with wild rice and mushrooms, etc., have a few treats along the way so you don't feel deprived or like you're dieting on vacation. Love that they answer in person, and they said exactly what I wanted to hear!
I know I say this all the time, but if you want a lifetime eating plan for better health, weight loss, and still enjoy life - Trim Healthy Mama is your plan. Don't waste your money on programs you already tried and know they don't work. Happy Labor Day, everyone!
