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How Trim Healthy Mama (THM) Changed My Life

How the Trim Healthy Mama plan helped me drop five dress sizes and lose over 25 pounds without feeling like being on a diet.

When we first moved to North Carolina in 2006 I was lonely and missed my friends and family.

And I turned to food and wine to deal with the loneliness.

By the summer of 2007, I was feeling frumpy.

I still hadn’t lost all the weight from being pregnant with twins four years earlier and had even added some of what I’d lost before moving back on.

Can you still call it “baby weight” when the babies are over four years old? LOL!

Anne and her mom having high tea in summer of 2007

Tackling Weight Loss the Old Fashioned Way

When the girls started back to preschool, I started working out.

Every day.

For two hours a day.

I’d drop them at preschool at 9, run to the local YMCA and put in 45 minutes on the elliptical machine, and then weight train for another 45 minutes.

Each day ended with 15 minutes of abs and core and another 15 minutes of stretching.

That left just enough time for a shower, hair and a little make-up before heading back to pick them up from preschool.

I also began a “diet” because that’s what you’re supposed to do to lose weight, right?

Counting and restricting every calorie I consumed and eating food that didn’t make me particularly excited about eating.

But hey, I could eat good stuff again once I had things under control, right?

I lost about 20 lbs and went from a size 10 to a size 2/4 and was feeling so good about myself.

Anne with her family at preschool graduation

Maintenance is hard, y’all!

But who has time to keep up a routine like that.

Life with three kids can get busy, right?

Who has two hours a day every day to work out, especially once you’re at goal weight/size?

So I stopped getting to the gym every day.

Then I stopped counting and restricting calories.

Within two years I wasn’t working out at all anymore.

I had plenty of excuses: I was a room mom, the Book Fair Chair, the Mom Taxi, a PTSO board member, a small business owner, and, and… I bet you can guess where this is headed, right?

You see, I didn’t have a scale in the house because I didn’t really want to know what it would tell me.

Come on, I KNEW what it was going to tell me.

But without knowing the actual number I could keep being Cleopatra and live in the land of De-Nile…

Yes, my clothes were getting tighter.

I slowly had to buy larger sizes and more elastic waistbands.

But it happened so gradually I didn’t really pay it much mind.

My babies were now almost 13 so this extra weight was all MINE to own.

My rude awakening…

AnnMarie and I went shopping together for the bat mitzvah of a friend’s daughter.

I wanted to cry when I looked at my legs in that 3-way mirror.

My legs have always been one of my best features.

They didn’t look slim at all. My legs were now thick. Honestly, I was kinda thick all over.

It was really hard to find a dress that looked flattering. I chose black since it’s supposed to be slimming. Long sleeves to cover my arms, even though it was August.

A month later, I saw this photo (that’s me on the far left).

Anne in 2015 after gaining 30 pounds

Talk about a wake-up call!

I was so angry with myself.

So I ate some more.

Because that would help, right? :eyeroll:

In the spring of 2016, I went to the doctor for a full physical.

When I stepped on the scale the number was higher than when I was 9 months pregnant with my son.

I had regained all the weight I’d lost PLUS an extra 10 pounds!

I’m not sure why I was so surprised.

At this point, I struggled to fit into clothes that were larger than I’d ever worn.

When my blood work came back I knew it was time for a change.

My cholesterol was 215 (borderline high) with LDL:HDL ratios were opposite what they should be.

My blood pressure was in the pre-hypertension range and high blood pressure is a BIG issue in my family.

Did I mention I was in perimenopause?

How I Discovered Trim Healthy Mama

About a week later a new client for my photography business contacted me.

His wife was a blogger and she was in the process of writing a book.

They needed family photos for the website and headshots done for her book.

Being the nosy person I am, naturally, I stalked her blog and the post that she had published that morning was about a program called “Trim Healthy Mama.”

I don’t believe in coincidences.

I believe things happen for a reason and I know that I was meant to see that post.

As soon as I finished reading her post, I hopped over to Amazon and bought the book, “Trim Healthy Mama Plan: The Easy Does it Approach to Vibrant Life.

I devoured that book when it arrived!

There was actually science backing up this way of eating!

It all made so. much. sense!!

THM Fuel Separation

In a nutshell, Trim Healthy Mama is about separating our fuels.

The two types of fuels are fat and carbohydrates.

Our body can only process so many carbs at a time. And if you eat too many carbs during a meal (Hello, American diet!), your body turns those carbs into fat and stores them for later.

It’s always going to use the fuel from carbs first because glucose is easier to burn.

Guess what happens if you eat fats and a bunch of carbs in the same meal?

Yup.

Your body stores all the extra carbs PLUS the fat you just ate as more fat. ?

This is why the American diet is leading to an epidemic of obesity!

Meal Planning and Grace

The Trim Healthy Mama way of putting meals together took some thinking and planning on my part.

I had to re-think just about every meal I used to prepare!

May 1st of 2016 was when I decided to jump in.

I made mistakes and mixed fuels a lot at first. But after a few weeks, it began to feel natural. You can get my tips for getting started with the Trim Healthy Mama plan here.

I decided to do the plan without adding in exercise: I wanted to make sure any weight loss was only because of changing the way I was eating.

My results may have happened faster if I’d added exercise at the same time.

During the first year, I lost 22 pounds.

Twenty two pounds!

When you’re only 5’1″, that makes a huge difference!

At my physical in March 2017, my doctor couldn’t believe my results.

My cholesterol was 185, my HDL/LDL ratio was healthy, and my blood pressure was normal at 118/70.

This is me on my one year “Trimaversary.”

One year Trimaversary!

I had ankles again!

Of course I shared the plan with AnnMarie when she asked about it. You can read her experience with Trim Healthy Mama here.

We regularly share our plates to help anyone new to THM learn how to put meals together. You’ll love our What’s On My Plate posts for ideas and inspiration!

Trim Healthy Mama for Life

I stalled for most of my second year on the plan.

But, I didn’t gain anything back.

Eventually, the scale began moving down again.

You can get my tips for what to do during a weight loss stall here.

As of May 1st of 2018, my second trimaversary, I lost 25 lbs. and over 26 inches all while eating lots of amazing food.

As a Trim Healthy Mama, I don’t feel hungry or deprived.

I have more energy than I did in my 20s.

My sleep is better than it has been for years (even with hot flashes…).

And my skin is smoother and clearer and younger-looking than it was 5 years ago.

Here I am with my family in October of 2018 (that’s a size S t-shirt and size 2 shorts!).

I highly recommend the Trim Healthy Mama plan!

It truly changed my life, and it can change yours too.

If you have any questions, I’d love to help you out!

Because that’s what friends do.

You can contact me or leave a comment below. I absolutely love hearing from you!

We’d love for you to follow us over on Instagram and Facebook so you don’t miss any of our tips, tricks, or stories!

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