Why I Quit THM (& What I Do Now)

Find out why I quit THM and what I do now to lose weight and stay healthy.

Before we go to when I quit, I think we should start with the beginning of THM for me. I learned about Trim Healthy Mama from some sweet MOPS friends that I made when we were living in Texas. 

I read a little about THM but it wasn’t the right season for me. We were about to move about 500 miles away with a 3 year old and live with my mom for a year while we built our house. 

And really I didn’t need to lose a ton of weight at that point so it just wasn’t on top of mind. Fast forward to about 11 months later & I had gained about 15 lbs. The stress of combining households and the new construction of our home all while working was not being kind to me. 

So around January of 2017 (3 months before moving into our completed house), I read the book and learned the THM plan. 

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Why I Quit THM

It still wasn’t an ideal time to start – all my stressors were still present but when is a good time to start? I figured now or never so I jumped in 110%. 

How I Started THM 

• Bought Special Ingredients
• Bought Vegetables I had never eaten 
• Bought the THM cookbook
• Searched THM blogs for recipes 
• Went from having a pop tart and a Lean Cuisine for lunch to cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner every day 

What Happened? 

I made some meals we liked. And I made a bunch of things that we had to choke down. 

I ate on plan some, off plan by accident a few times (because it is a learning curve) and ate some unintentional XO’s as well. 

And then I burned out. Hard and fast. I lasted about 2 weeks and I quit. It wasn’t quite as bad as the time I did a juice fast for 3 days and then binged at the Zoo on corndogs and pizza! Ha fun times. 

But I definitely quit. 

And then about 8 weeks later I found out that I was pregnant with our 2nd child. Needless to say that I did not have a THM pregnancy. 

The Pregnancy 

And just like I had found myself after my first child, I gained around 60 lbs with my second child just like I did the first time around. In October 2017, I had a newborn baby, 60 lbs from the pregnancy and 15 lbs that I had never lost after my move to Tennessee. 

I was over the moon happy to have my family complete but like lots of new moms, unhappy with my new body. 

But I remembered the talk of Grace in the THM book that I read. I gave my body and mind time to heal. We had a lot of the major life stressors over the last couple of years and I needed to recover. 

And while I was sitting there on maternity leave, I started this blog. My intention was never to blog about THM. Remember, I wasn’t even really following it. I would dabble in a recipe here or there but certainly was not really on plan consistently. 

I was going to blog about saving money. I love saving money, couponing and getting a great deal. My 8-5 job is in purchasing and I’m quite good at it (if I do say so myself). So I planned to share deals as a hobby to occupy myself while I was off work. 

Getting Serious about THM Again – March 2018 

By March, I had lost a few pounds but overall I was still very overweight from the pregnancy. 

And I decided to start THM again (on my birthday of all days). So I ate good all day, went to my mom’s house and ate a big gourmet cupcake at the end of dinner. 

Starting a brand new way of eating on your birthday is a great way to fail but I was determined not to quit again. 

3 hours later, I was back on plan. 

How I Succeeded the Second Time Around on THM 

I didn’t want to write Why I quit THM 2.0 so I tried identifying why I quit the first time around. And what I found has kept me on plan for the most part. 

However, before I start the tips, I want to be transparent. Even though I consider myself a THM blogger these days, I still have the occasional off plan meal. 

As an example, when COVID hit I gained some weight because I wasn’t eating on plan. I was trying but found myself eating on plan for breakfast and then derailing from there. My 8-5 purchasing job that I was talking about above turned into more of a 4-8 job. 

I’m in charge of procuring PPE and it became virtually impossible overnight. And then add in the fact that my kids couldn’t go to school/daycare and I was supposed to be a kindergarten teacher as well. Oh and do all the other normal mom things – entertain, cook and clean. 

You all know – you lived it to. It was a very trying time and I found myself packing on the pounds. So don’t view anyone in THM as perfect. We all have struggles. The key is to figure out how to follow the plan in a way that works for you. 

Tips for Success on Trim Healthy Mama 

If you are just starting out on THM these tips will help or maybe you fell off that old wagon and want to hop back on because you know THM works. Regardless of your situation, these are some tips that help me and help me keep the “Why I quit THM” a thing of the past. 

• Start Simply: It is easy to THMify some of your favorite meals. Start there before you dive into cookbooks or blogs that take you into a brand new land. Taco Tuesday every week? We got you. Make easy on plan tacos. Spaghetti? Make it with a no sugar added sauce (the tomatoes have natural sugars, just look for one that doesn’t have sugar in the ingredient list). Serve it over Dreamfields pasta (amazing) or spaghetti squash. 
• Don’t by 100 new ingredients: Doing so is expensive and I believe it can be overwhelming. By an on plan sweetener and on plan bread. That is it. You can certainly add from there but the plan is totally doable and enjoyable without special ingredients.
• Give Grace: Don’t beat yourself up if you eat of plan on accident (or even intentionally). If you eat an on plan XO but you were going for an S or an E, remember that you ate on plan and that is good! Just start again in 3 hours. 
• Use Store Bought Convenience if it is in the Budget: I realize that some of these items are not budget friendly and might not be an option. But if you can afford to grab a couple of things like store bought dessert, it can make the transition into THM a bit easier and help you feel like you can stick with it. 
• Get Social with other Trim Healthy Mamas: I love having the THM community around me. I have a THM Instagram that I started for accountability and a bunch of other mamas do too. It is basically a digital food diary & it is great to get inspiration and meal ideas from. 

Check out this post on Trim Healthy Mama A to Z for help on every topic you can think of related to THM.