Plan

Sour Patch Grapes – THM E – Weight Watchers Blue Zero Points

August 22, 2021 by Stacy Craft 1 Comment

Sour Patch grapes are a cleaner version of the two ingredient sugar free Jello grapes that are widely used on Weight Watchers.

Combining Trim Healthy Mama and Weight Watchers is something that I’ve done recently. I’m trying to combine the things that I like from THM and apply it to the principles of WW. So because of that, I’ve been following a lot of TikTok accounts that focus on Weight Watchers.

And I’ve seen a lot of WW people making Jello grapes. It is an incredibly easy, 2 ingredient concept that makes yummy candy like grapes and they cost you 0 points on WW Blue. And I loved the idea.

However, I can’t have aspartame. Like literally can’t. It makes me very ill and regardless, it isn’t a THM approved sweetener anyway. But you can make a THM approved version of these sour patch grapes just as easy as the “Jello” version.

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

Sour Patch Grapes – THM E – WW Blue 0 Points

Making these sour patch grapes is about a 3 minute chore plus the freeze time. Ya’ll know I love a good easy THM dessert and this fits the bill!

More Easy THM Desserts:

Sour Patch “Jello” Grapes Ingredients:

Simply Delish Jello
Grapes
Gallon Ziplock bag

@protectingyourpennies

#jellogrape #wwblueplan💙 #trimhealthymama

♬ original sound – Protecting Your Pennies

The key to aspartame free Jello grapes is using the Simply Delish jel. There are several different flavor options and it uses on plan sweeteners.

Some purists don’t like some of the ingredients but they don’t bother me.

Where to Buy Simply Delish?

I have always purchased this on Amazon but recently I’ve seen it online at my grocery store. However, it isn’t on the shelf at my grocery store, you have to order for shipping.

Making Sugar Free Candy Grapes

These sour patch grapes hardly even require a recipe!

Wash your grapes, pull them off the stem and place them in a gallon zip lock bag.

Dump into the bag one package of Simply Delish jello. You can use any flavor that you like!

Seal the bag and Shake! Shake! Shake!

Place the bag of grapes in the freezer for at least an hour.

Enjoy your sour patch grapes with zero guilt! I like to let them soften up just a bit (maybe 5-10 minutes) before I eat them. They are a little sticky so bring a napkin if you are enjoying in your car!

I also love that they keep for a long time in the freezer so it is a fun thing to do if you have some grapes that are close to going bad.

Keto Vs. Trim Healthy Mama

December 1, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Are you wondering what the difference is in Keto vs. Trim Healthy Mama? Find out all the details on these two diets & which lifestyle is best for you.

Keto Vs. Trim Healthy Mama – what is the difference? Although there are some similarities, there are plenty of differences as well.

We will go through the main points below so that you have a good idea of the two different plans and you can decide which will work best for you.

And if you are joining us from the THM A to Z series welcome! You can see the entire series here, where I share all things Trim Healthy Mama!

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Keto Vs. Trim Healthy Mama

Are they the same? No but they do have some overlapping traits.

This is going to be a very basic comment about the two diets. You can definitely read more about the ins and outs of each but this should give you a good general idea of Keto vs. Trim Healthy Mama.

Ketogenic Diet

The Keto diet is a very low carb, high fat diet that typically involves counting macros (fat/protein/carbs). You can read more about Keto here.

On Keto you avoid sugar and carbs. This includes most fruits and veggies that have high numbers of naturally occurring carbs.

Trim Healthy Mama

The Trim Healthy Mama diet focuses on eating fats and carbs separately and eliminating sugar from your diet.

Fuel Separation – E & S Meals

Fats and healthy carbs are allowed on Trim Healthy Mama but they are separated into fuels.

A THM S meal is similar to a meal you would eat on Keto or a low carb diet. On a THM S plate, you are allowed fats, non-starchy vegetables and a serving of berries if desired. S meals avoid carbs.

A THM E meal is similar to a Weight Watchers meal or any heart healthy, low fat diet. Your fuel source in an E meal is from a variety of healthy carb options. For example, sweet potatoes, fruits, brown rice/quinoa, popcorn and beans are allowed on your E plate. During an E meal, you avoid fatty foods like butter, red meat and cheese.

E meals work differently for some but the general recommendation is 5-7 E meals per week. Some find that more E meals work better for weight loss and some need a few less.

The meals and snacks are separated by 3 hour increments. The idea is that you give your body time to burn through either the fats from an S meal or the carbs in an E meal before you introduce additional food.

You don’t have to alternate S then E. There are a variety of ways to switch up the fuels on Trim Healthy Mama. If you want more info, you can read more about how to rotate your fuels properly. But regardless of how you eat your meals (S, S, E or E, S, E etc. you always need 3 hours in between meals/snacks).

Sugar Elimination

The Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle also focuses on eliminating sugar completely.

Natural sugar substitutes are allowed on plan like Stevia, Monk Fruit and Erythritol. THM also makes some of their own products like Gentle Sweet & Super Sweet that are also permitted on plan.

The use of artificial sweeteners like sucralose or aspartame is not on plan.

Protein at Every Meal

Not unlike most Keto meals, THM encourages protein at every meal. The intention is to try and keep blood sugar levels stable throughout the day.

It also helps to make meals or snacks seem more substantial and helps to prevent you from feeling famished an hour after you eat (because remember you need to space food out by 3 hours on this plan).

If you would like a more in depth look at THM, check out this easy guide to understanding Trim Healthy Mama.

Key Differences THM vs. Keto

If you want the 100 ft perspective of the differences between these two ways of eating, here it is:

Ketosis – Like it sounds in the name, Ketosis is something that you strive for on the Keto diet. On the THM diet, you will never actually enter Ketosis if you are rotating in those E meals 5-7 times per week.
Counting Macros – On Keto, you need to count your macros in order to ensure that Ketosis is achieved an maintained. On THM, you are not required to track anything. No macros or even calories.
Eliminating Carbs – Keto restricts carbs to a fairly low level every day. THM allows healthy carbs in E meals and while there is a recommended number of carbs per meal, it is a fairly substantial amount. Example: a medium sweet potato.

Similarities

Clean Eating – The base of both Keto & THM is a pretty clean, healthy lifestyle. Each plan has deviations that provide convenience items to fit the busy lives of it’s followers. For Keto that is called “dirty Keto” and the Trim Healthy Mama’s refer to it as “Personal Choice.” These variations of the diets basically allow in less than desirable foods or ingredients but that still fit the overall goal (low carb for Keto/THM S) or low fat/healthy carbs for the THM E meals.
Net Carbs – In general most Keto followers will track net carbs. Net carbs are the total carbs minus the fiber/sugar alcohols. Trim Healthy Mama also follows the practice of tracking net carbs in S meals. The biggest difference is just that THM only tracks for that one meal, not comprehensively over the entire day.
Special Ingredients – Each way of eating allows you to be successful without special items. However, you can buy Keto bread and THM protein bars if you wish.

Which Diet is Right For You?

This is a great question and it is really up to you.

I have personally had good experience with THM and lost 60 lbs postpartum after my second child.

I like the food freedom and being able to have healthy foods that are a bit heavier in carbs like fruits, carrots and sweet potatoes.

However, if you are following THM, the keto community can be a great resource for you for THM S meals.

5 Minute Sugar Free Bananas Foster (THM E/WW)

April 11, 2021 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Craving a sweet treat but want to make healthy choices? This sugar free bananas foster takes 5 minutes to make, is packed with protein and it fits on the Trim Healthy Mama or Weight Watchers plan!

The first time I ever had bananas fosters was at a restaurant where they would flambe the dessert right at your table. And I was hooked from that point forward.

But now that I live a mostly sugar free lifestyle, a big bowl of ice cream with sugary caramelized bananas didn’t sound like a great choice. Living life without such a yummy dish also sounded like sadness in a bowl so I revamped the traditional bananas foster to be low in calories, fat and without added sugar!

This sugar free bananas foster is sweet enough for dessert but healthy enough that you can eat it for breakfast. And that is just what I do!

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

5 Minute Sugar Free Bananas Foster

Before we get into how to make this yummy bowl of caramelized bananas, you want to know if you can eat on your diet plan, right?

For my Trim Healthy Mama’s, this works for an E meal. The fat is 3.3 grams (less than the 5 max for an E meal) and the carbs are within the limit. In fact, it is a little low on the carbs side so you could even have this as a dessert with a paired down E meal (say 1/2 a sandwich on sprouted bread).

For the Weight Watchers crew, I used Watcher’s Point to calculate this recipe at 5 Smart Points. I haven’t done WW in a long time, so you may want to plug the recipe in to your calculator to ensure accuracy.

What Makes This Sugar Free Bananas Foster The Best

Quick & Easy – Not having to bake or pull at 20 ingredients and 2 bowls is a win in my book. The cooking time is literally two minutes and the prep time should be less than three. 5 minutes until you are savoring a big bowl of sugar free bananas foster.
Bananas Foster Taste without Guilt – This recipe gives you protein from the Greek yogurt, is free of added sugar and has a little healthy fat from the coconut oil. It tastes like a delicious dessert without derailing your goals.
Dessert for Any Time of Day – Since this sugar free bananas foster is packed with good for you ingredients, you can eat this healthy treat any time of day!

Must Have Ingredients for Sugar Free Bananas Foster

Firmly Ripened Bananas – The ideal banana for this recipe will be bright yellow with no brown spots. The cooking process will soften the banana slices and if the bananas are overripe, they will be a bit too mushy.

Brown Sugar Substitute – The brown sugar sub keeps this recipe free of added sugar but it also creates that thick, caramelized sauce that you want. Here is my favorite brown sugar substitute.

Thick & Creamy Greek Yogurt – The Greek yogurt has two benefits in this recipe. 1. The thick and creamy consistency helps to make it taste rich and indulgent. 2. It adds protein to your bowl so you can even eat this as a breakfast or a snack.

Tips & Tricks To Make This Recipe Successful At Home

Turn Up the Decadence – I love to eat this as a breakfast bowl when using Greek Yogurt but you can swap out the yogurt for a sugar free ice cream to elevate this to a really yummy dessert.
Rum & Butter Extract – The extracts really help to give this dish similar flavors to the traditional recipe. But if you don’t have these, add a little vanilla extract instead. I’ve made it many times like that & it is still good.

More Sugar Free Desserts You Will Love

No Added Sugar – Easy Dippin Dots

No Sugar Added Blender Mango Sorbet

Cinnamon Vanilla Sugar Free Oatmeal Muffins

Trim Healthy Mama A to Z

July 25, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

All of your Trim Healthy Mama questions answered from A to Z. A complete look into the THM plan with insight on how to make it easier and more cost effective.

Are you a Trim Healthy Mama with question? Or are you interested in the plan but afraid to take the plunge?

Today we are embarking on a 26 day comprehensive look into the Trim Healthy Mama plan. If you have lots of questions or need help on something specific, please join us on this journey!

I blog a lot about THM and I really did not have that intent when I started blogging! My first goal was to share money saving tips with other moms that I have learned along. Since my full time 9-5 is as a professional buyer, I thought my expertise would be valuable to families that could apply those principles at home to live a better life.

But then one day in June 2018, I posted a Keto/Low Carb/THM S recipe. It was a pretty simple recipe that I threw together one night in less than 30 minutes and did a quick blog post. The pictures are terrible. The recipe is crazy easy. There are only 4 ingredients. I expected to throw it up and go back to talking about saving money on back to school clothes shopping.

My THM/keto readers had a different plan though! The post went crazy and the recipe has been shared more than 150,000 times on Pinterest. So I decided that maybe you guys were interested in seeing more Trim Healthy Mama recipes and learning about how to save money and time while doing THM! So here we are, working our way through Trim Healthy Mama A to Z.

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

Trim Healthy Mama Basics

If you read any of the THM posts that I have, I always stress that you should read the book! The internet is a wealth of knowledge but I recommend reading the book to get your own grasp of the plan.

In particular so that you can understand the sister’s reasoning for different items and then apply personal choice and food freedom to make choices that work for you and your family.

So now that you have read the book, we will go over the THM basics before we dive into the Trim Healthy Mama A to Z guide.

What is THM?

THM is a way of eating that combines aspects from several other popular diets like Keto/Low Carb diets as well as lifestyles that focus on low fat meals like Weight Watchers.

On Trim Healthy Mama, your meals are broken out into one of four different types: E meal, S meal, XO or FP meal. There are actually a couple of others (like Heavy S, S Helper, Deep S) but you are not going to worry about those until you get these first few down pat.

Here is the THM cheat sheet!

S Meal (Low Carb – Fats allowed)

The easiest way to describe an S meal is to call it low carb. You will eat whatever fats that you want but you will avoid carbs. Full fat dairy, any type of meat, full fat cheese, and full fat dressings are allowed in this type of meal.

You can also have berries or a kiwi with an S meal but should avoid other fruits.

E Meal (Healthy Carbs – Low Fat)

For an E meal, you will have a lean and low fat meal with a healthy carb. You will avoid fatty cuts of meat and all those full fat dairy and cheeses. You should aim for lean meats, brown rice or quinoa, sweet potatoes or carbs that are higher in carbs such as apples, pears, oranges, half a banana.

FP Meal (No Large Source of Fats or Carbs)

A FP meal is a meal that doesn’t have a major source of fats or carbs. I think of this meal as a traditional diet meal that you might find on a low calorie meal plan. For example, grilled chicken and non-starchy vegetables would not be high in fat or carbs leaving it to be a nothing meal (as I like to call it) or a FP.

If you read my 9 tips on what to do if you are not losing, you will need to know what a FP is!

XO Meal (Mixing S and E)

If you mix an S meal and an E meal together on one plate, that is called a XO. A crossover (XO) is still on the Trim Healthy Mama plan. However, if you are actively trying to lose weight, they may not be as beneficial vs. separating your fuels.

An example of a XO would be a fried egg in butter (S because of the fats in a whole egg and butter) with a piece of sprouted toast (E for the carbs in toast). Eating these together is certainly better than eating a donut but it may not have you losing as quickly as you would if you ate your fuels separately.

XO’s are great for growing children, men, nursing mother’s and those that are at goal weight. They are also good if you are going to go off plan or choose a XO! I would much rather see you eat the breakfast that I described above vs. that donut! And some people even swear by eating a cross over occasionally to kind of jump start their weight loss again.

Protein

Don’t forget to add a protein to every meal or snack!

Now that you have the basics, lets jump into this 26 article list of all things THM.

Trim Healthy Mama A t0 Z

Ok, here is the list of Trim Healthy Mama A to Z posts that will solve all your THM problems. A new letter will be added weekly and this will be your one stop shop to see every post from A to Z.

A – Accountability for Success on Trim Healthy Mama & Alcohol on THM

B – Budgeting On Trim Healthy Mama and On Plan, Store Bought Bread

C- Cooking Made Easy on THM & Store Bought On Plan Crackers & Chips

D – Drive Thru Sue – What it is & how to succeed if your name might be “Sue” & Store Bought THM Desserts

E – E Meals Simplified

F – Fuel Pull Meals & Understanding Fuel Rotation

G – Giving Yourself Grace

H- Husband’s and THM (Making it Work)

I- Icecream

J- Jelly (On Plan, Store Bought Options)

K- Keto Vs. Trim Healthy Mama (What’s the Difference?)

L- Lunch On THM, More than 35 ideas

M-Meal Planning Tools

N- No Special Ingredients (NSI) – Do you really need special items?

O- Overwhlemed on THM – 5 Simple Tips to Make Life Easier

P- Party Foods & Potlucks – Healthy & On Plan Appetizer Ideas (that even your non-THM Friends will like)

Q- Quitting THM – what I did wrong the first time around & how you can avoid my mistakes!

R- Restaurants & THM – How to eat on plan at virtually any restaurant

S- Shopping List – Everything you will want to grab at the grocery store.

T- Type 2 Diabetes (How my Husband Drastically Improved his A1C in 6 months)

U- Understanding THM – A Beginner’s Guide

V- Vacation Meal Plan

W- Wasa Toffee & Wasa Puppy Chow

X-

Y-

Z-

Drop me a comment if you have a question. I would love to try and help you on your journey.

Trim Healthy Mama – Understanding the THM Plan

April 8, 2021 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Heard of Trim Healthy Mama and want to know more? You will learn the basics and start understanding the THM plan in no time!

Trim Healthy Mama is a weight loss program that focuses on separating carbs and fats at meals. There are also some other things like eliminating sugar and eating protein with every meal in an effort to avoid blood sugar spikes.

I have personally followed the Trim Healthy Mama plan since March 2018 and lost 60 lbs that I gained while pregnant with my second child. Then my husband lost 40 lbs and improved multiple health issues that he was having.

If you want to learn more about this way of eating, I’ll share the basic principles that will help you to succeed and some tips I’ve learned along the way. THM can help you whether you want to lose weight, increase your energy levels or just live an overall healthier lifestyle.

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Trim Healthy Mama – Understanding the THM Plan

The very core of the THM plan is to separate fuels when eating in order to help perpetuate maximum movement on the scale each week.

But when you first start looking at all the acronyms associated with THM, it can seem like a foreign language. Don’t worry – I’ll make it totally easy!

Understanding THM Fuel Types

Let’s start with a quick & easy definition for the fuel types on Trim Healthy Mama.

THM S Meal

A thm s meal is essentially a low carb or Keto meal. There are some small differences but if you get that principle, you will do well with S meals.

An example of an ideal S plate would include healthy fats, protein, non-starchy vegetables and would be low in carbs.

THM E Meal

E meals include healthy carbs and are low in fat. Not all carbs are created equal though! Examples of allowable THM carbs would include (but not limited to): sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, beans or fruits like apples or pineapple.

An example of an ideal E plate would include a healthy carb source, protein, non-starchy vegetables and would be low in fat.

THM XO Meal

A thm XO meal includes both fats and carbs in one meal.

An example of a XO (also referred to as a “Crossover”) would be a significant source of both fats and carbs. So a steak (fatty meat) + a serving of brown rice (Healthy Carb) would be a crossover.

The example above has too many carbs to be an S meal & too much fat to be an E meal. So it bridges the two together (and blends the fuels vs. separating them).

Eating XO’s all the time may not result in losing weight as quickly as you would like. But don’t write them off completely! A lot of us find that an occasional XO meal can actually help us to start losing again.

THM S Helper

An S helper is an S meal that introduces a partial carb source. For example, bacon, eggs and a piece of sprouted toast is an S helper.

THM Fuel Pull Meal

A thm fuel pull (FP) is what I call a “nothing” food. If you have ever followed Weight Watchers, it is like a zero point food. A freebie.

You have two options with a FP. You can have an entire fuel pull meal. An ideal FP meal would consist of foods that do not have a significant source of fats or carbs. An example might be a skinless chicken breast (rotisserie or grilled) with green beans.

Your other FP option is to use them in other fuel meals since they are freebies. Here is an example of how to use green beans (FP) in an S & and E meal)

Pork Chops (S) with Green beans (FP) = S Meal

Chicken Breast (FP) with Green beans (FP) & a Medium Sweet Potato (E) = E Meal

My Favorite Recipes

There are always a handful of recipes that you just make over and over. I’m not talking about complicated desserts (although this 2 layer pumpkin cheesecake is worth repeating) but rather just simple meals that you can whip up on a Tuesday between school, work, ballet & soccer.

Here are some of my go to easy meals:

Cottage Cheese Bowls – There are E & S options listed. Fun Fact? I hated cottage cheese before THM but adding in fun mix ins make cottage cheese pretty appealing.

Lean Ham & Beans – You can make this meal in 15 minutes and it is one that my whole family eats!

White Chicken Chili Pantry Meal – Everything you need to make this is in your pantry & it comes together in 15 minutes!

Instant Pot Green Chile Pork

Crock Pot Zevia Pulled Pork

Walking Tacos

Getting Started On the Trim Healthy Mama Plan

As a beginner, THM can seem a bit overwhelming. In fact, the first time that I did THM around January of 2017, I did it a week or two and quit. Why? Because I make it into a second job.

You don’t have to make it hard! Follow these tips to make it easy to start eating the Trim Healthy Mama way.

Read the plan book. I can write all the cliff notes in the world to give you the gist of it but if you are really serious, read the book. It really is helpful to understand the details of the plan and you will feel more confident in your approach.
Pick A Protein – When you are ready to start planning meals, remember that you want to pick a protein regardless of the type of meal that you are eating. The protein helps to keep you full and may help to keep your blood sugar stable.
Separate Your Fuels – Eat s meals, fuel pull meals and e meals in a rotation. You don’t have to follow a particular pattern. I follow the “feed my body what it feels like” method. You can read more about THM Fuel rotation here.
Eat Simply – I don’t recommend trying to create a bunch of complicated recipes your first week. Just try what you are comfortable with. Grilled meats and roasted veggies are just fine when you are starting out (and still some of my faves as a veteran).

What Can’t You Eat on THM?

Now that you know how to separate your fuels, you need to learn the foods to avoid while following the Trim Healthy Mama Diet.

Here are a few of the major things that we avoid:

Sugar – A big sugar detox is in your future! It isn’t fun but it is so healing for the body once it is done. I know you will feel better after you quit the sugar.
Artificial Sweeteners – THM does not allow artificial sweeteners like aspartame or sucralose. The on plan sweeteners are natural sweeteners such as Stevia.
White Flour – White flour is not used on this program. Sprouted grains are an allowable carb for e meals if you are looking for an on plan bread option. Here is a list of breads you can find at your local grocery.

There are also a few myths surrounding a few foods. Many people that read the original book without listening to the podcasts or reading new updates may believe that potatoes and bananas are off limits.

However, the sisters have come back to clarify that both are ok to consume in moderation in e meals.

Is THM Just Another Fad Diet?

I 100% think it is a sustainable approach to eating healthy. My husband and I typically follow this way of eating about 90-100% of the time.

We do occasionally go off plan for certain holidays/special events. I’m also a sucker for when my 3 year old decides to share some of his sweet treats (don’t worry, the sharing isn’t frequent!). And if that little blue eyed boy gives me a gummy worm, I savor that moment with my baby & exercise what we refer to as food freedom.

Food freedom is the ability to give yourself grace when you go off plan.

Back to fad dieting. Since THM focuses on eating whole and clean foods, I feel that it is pretty much impossible to label it as a fad diet.

With that being said, some of the complicated recipes and multiple ingredients could cause some people to view it as having fad tendencies. But if you take the simple and easy approach to THM that I do and just eat healthy food, it is definitely possible to follow this plan long term.

THM Special Ingredients – What is the Deal?

I actually wrote an entire post on this topic. You can read it in it’s entirety here but I will give you the short version now.

You don’t need special ingredients to succeed on the plan. You can go years without buying 200 flavor extracts, weird teas and flours. I’ve never tried matcha and don’t know how to pronounce Baobab. (Now I’m feeling a bit uneducated so here I go to Google).

In fact, 3 years in and most of my meals are just real, whole foods that you can find at your normal grocery store.

So why does THM promote a lot of these special ingredients? I have my opinion but I’ll give you a couple.

They Sell Them – The THM store has a variety of sweeteners, protein bars, extracts and baking blend. They even sell personal care products. I have tried quite a few of these over the course of time and they make good products. Of course the sisters would promote products that they produce, sell and believe in – any good Boss Lady would do the same!So my advice would be to buy it if you want to. If the convenience is appealing or you just love the blue skies colada hydrates (slow, unashamed hand raise), get them. Enjoy your special stuff.But don’t think it is a requirement.Do you remember Atkins when it first came out? People were able to eat low carb before the Atkins brand came out with protein bars and TV dinners. And you can do the same with THM if you want to. Or you can buy the protein bar – totally your call.
Special Ingredients are Fun – What sounds more appealing? #1 is an apple. #2 is a sugar free apple streusel with a cinnamon “sugar” oat topping and caramel glaze.Probably the second one sounds a little more enticing.The special ingredients are sexy, fun and more like recipes that you might be used to from your pre-THM time. And I think that is why special ingredients get a lot of “screen time” on places like the THM facebook group! But if you don’t want to buy a bunch of special ingredients you can still find fun and free recipes on my blog and even in the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook (marked as NSI – no special ingredients). Like how about THM FP Dippin’ Dots that only use one ingredient and take about 5 minutes to make?? That is fun too. It is also cheap & can be found at your grocery store.

Now I don’t want to sound like I hate special ingredients! They have their place.

For example, if buying some special extracts helps you to create a sipper that gets you to stop drinking soda – go for it!

If you just like trying all the newest THM trends. Great!

What I don’t want is for someone to see a recipe with 10 things that they have never heard of and think THM isn’t going to work for me. It doesn’t fit my busy life or my budget. Because I promise you that you CAN do it without those special things.

The only special things that I use on a very consistent basis is an on plan sweetener. On rare occasion I may also use some on plan flour or the THM baking blend. Other than that, I am special ingredient free normally aside from some store bought convenience foods.

Meal Frequency

On Trim Healthy Mama you will hear the 3 hour term frequently.

The recommendation is to eat every three hours in an effort to keep your blood sugar stable (and I also think it helps to avoid binge eating when you don’t eat for many hours and then you are starving and as a result overeat).

Meals and snacks can basically be viewed as the same. While I do eat less for snack time, the items that you can eat are the same. The basic rule is to eat enough to keep you full for 3 hours.

As a general rule, we don’t measure, count calories or macros on the THM diet.

What I Love About the Trim Healthy Mama Lifestyle

Aside from the fact that it helped me to lost 60 pounds postpartum? Yeah, that kind of takes the cake but here are a couple of other things.

Back on plan in 3 Rule – If you go off plan for whatever reason, the “rule” is to hop back on plan in 3 hours. Starting back at your next meal is something I never did before eating this way. If I ate something “bad” or off plan, I would start saying ok, I’m going to start back on Monday (even if it was only Wednesday).
No Counting/Measuring – I hate counting calories and measuring out 12 chips to put on a plate. I’ve never counted macros but I’m betting that I would hate that too. Not having to do that makes my life a lot easier.
Portions That Work For You – There is no such thing as a one size fits all and I’m glad that this way of eating doesn’t make that assumption. The amount that I eat may be way too much for some or way too little for others but if it works for me that is what matters.

Weight Gain & Stalls on THM

If you are eating on plan and rotating your fuels properly, you should not gain weight. Quite the opposite. You should be losing weight if you are rotating E meals, S meals and FP meals.

However, there can be a learning curve to the plan. For example, my husband dropped a ton of weight last summer by eating mostly S meals & 1-3 E meals a week.

But lots or women that are in menopause or post menopause find that eating more E meals and lighter S meals help them to achieve optimal weight loss.

I’m in my mid-30’s, a female and moderately active. I find that I can do primarily S meals (even some heavy S meals with plenty of cheese or dairy) and then about 5 E meals a week and lose weight at a moderate pace.

So if you are gaining weight on THM, I would first try to rotate your fuels a bit and see if you can find that sweet spot. I also wrote a post on things to do if your weight loss stalls on Trim Healthy Mama. Try some of those tips out if you are struggling.

And of course if you want to gain weight using THM, you can eat more Crossover meals which would mean eating meals high in fat and higher in carbs in one setting. Crossover (XO) meals can also be good for pregnant or nursing mamas.

But don’t be afraid of those XO meals even if you are trying to lose weight. I love a XO now and then and find that sometimes I lose even while eating those.

Trim Healthy Mama & Type II Diabetes, High Blood Pressure & High Cholesterol

First, let’s start with the good stuff. While I am a “nursing school drop out” as my mom likes to say (in the most loving way of course), I am not a medical professional. This is just my personal experience but please, please speak to your doctor before starting a program.

My husband was diagnosed the summer of 2020 with Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and his previously diagnosed hypertension was through the roof.

Since THM focuses on keeping blood sugar levels stable, it seemed like the perfect route for us to try and reverse diabetes and insulin resistance.

It worked for us! He lost 40 lbs, decreased his insulin medication, decreased his BP meds and avoided having to start cholesterol meds. You can read the entire post here – his before and after pic is worth it!

Want more resources to help you on your THM Journey?

THM A to Z – A complete guide to all things Trim Healthy Mama
Ultimate THM Grocery List
THM Food Analyzer App – This free resource is great for figuring out what fuel a jicama or a black cherry is! Just type in the food & bam, the fuel will be listed.
Family Friendly THM Dinner Recipes
Free Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan Template