My Trim Healthy Plan and Bi-Weekly Meal Plan

In my journey towards wellness this year, I’m sharing different areas that I am working on. For me wellness includes the areas of my heart, mind, body and family. Today I’m sharing one way I’m focusing on the wellness of my body.

I’m sure you have heard about the Trim Healthy Mama craze, it’s literally everywhere! In fact it’s probably popped up on your favorite blog, in your social media newsfeed or in a popular magazine you are reading. The world of healthy eating has gone THM crazy!

And I’m jumping on the bandwagon too.

I was first introduced to THM about two years ago when I saw a friend post an update on Facebook. She looked great for having several young children, in fact she even looked healthier than she did before having children. I was intrigued when she said she had been following the THM plan. So I checked it out and ordered the book.

Their first book was a huge old clunker of a book and to be honest, it wasn’t written or organized very well. I found it hard to read and was slightly turned off by the writing style. Plus there were no pictures and when half of the book is a cookbook, photos are kind of important in my opinion.

I did follow a few of their eating suggestions but for the most part I put the book aside. Then I got pregnant with my third baby, ate super unhealthy (because let’s face it, when you’re in the early stages of pregnancy the only thing that sounds good is carbs) and gained a lot of weight. I gained more weight with my third pregnancy than I did with the other two and have since hardly lost any of it.

My baby just turned one and I’m in a place where I know I need to lose these last stubborn pounds and get back to a more healthy lifestyle. So last year after another round of a Whole 30 I wanted a plan that would be lasting, realistic and help me work on a little self-control (confession: I’m an emotional eater).

I discovered that THM had released two new books based off their original one. This time however they broke the information into two beautiful, well-written, and easy to follow books, The Trim Healthy Mama Plan (everything you need to know about eating the THM way plus the science behind it) and The Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook (a full color cookbook with lots of photos, better step-by-step directions, notes of what to pair dishes with, and what type of THM meal it was).

I ordered both books and set to work reading through them, highlighting and marking recipes to try. This time however, instead of being overwhelmed and turned off by the “big” book, I became much more intrigued and eager to try this way of eating.

What is Trim Healthy Mama?

THM was created by two sisters, Pearl and Serene, who are busy mamas who want to eat the best foods, well-balanced nutritional meals and get dinner on the table quickly for their large families. They talk a lot about their faith and how they structure their diet around the way God intended us to eat and enjoy food.

The main focus in on whole, natural foods that can be made quickly and for the most part, without spending too much money at the grocery store. Most whole-food plans require a lot of speciality ingredients, and while there are some on the THM plan, they aren’t required. In fact you can eat the THM way without buying an special ingredients if you want (which is mostly what I’m doing, more on that below).

In a nutshell, THM is a way of eating that separates your fats and your carbs. With the exception of sugar, there really aren’t any foods to stay away from unless you have a specific food allergy or sensitivity. Basically all things are good in moderation.

The meals are divided up into two main types of meals, S-satisfying (where you focus on eating healthy fats, meats, vegetables and limited fruits), and E-energizing meals (where you focus on eating the right carbs, lean meats, vegetables and fruits). There are crossover meals and what they call Fuel Pulls to help you meet your weight loss goals but for the time being I’m not focusing on those meals.

The book goes much more into depth about why separating your fats and carbs are important for not only weight loss but also to balance out your hormones, improve your overall health, why sugar is so harmful and so much more. They even include special information for pregnant and nursing moms too.

What About Speciality Ingredients?

You know what else I love about THM? There are no special supplements, vitamins or juices I have to take! The focus is purely on whole foods.

They do recommend several  ingredients, things I don’t normally buy are found either in their online store or in a health food store. But what I appreciate is that even though they recommend those speciality ingredients, you can follow the THM plan without purchasing them if you wish!

For the time being I will only be using ingredients I already have on hand  and what I can easily find in my regular grocery store. As time moves on I may look into purchasing some of those ingredients but for now I’m just focusing on separating my fats and carbs in S and E meals.

The Main No-No

As I mentioned above, there really aren’t a lot of restricted foods on THM rather just learning how to eat the right foods together. However there is one big No-No on the THM plan and that is no sugar.

I’ll admit that prior to my pregnancies I never really had a sweet tooth but I started craving sweet things a lot after my second pregnancy. And when I mean a lot, it’s like 30+ years of sweet tooth cravings came out of the woodwork…. I’m not even kidding!

Over the last 3 years I have really had to work hard at overcoming my sugar addiction, including several Whole 30s that didn’t work because I pretty much went back to my sugar habit once done.

In case you didn’t know, sugar is really bad for you, sad but true 😉 Yes, it’s not going to hurt you in the long run to have occasional treats but the problem is those occasional sweet treats turn into a really bad habit quickly.

THM excludes sugar from the plan to help your body heal and to help you change the way you feed your sweet truth.

So Where Do Sweets Fit In?

You can eat dessert and sweet treats on the THM but you have to rethink how you make them. Instead of using refined white sugar, the sisters use pure stevia as a natural sweetener.

The major hangup most people have with stevia is people confuse it with an artificial sweetener, which it is not. With that being said though, just like too much sugar isn’t good you, you can’t load up on stevia either and think you’ll be fine.

I use stevia very sparingly, just enough to add a teeny bit of sweetness and for the occasional baked treat… which by the way, the cookbook has over 100 recipes for desserts and sweet treats that you can enjoy in moderation to satisfy your sweet tooth craving.

For me to overcome my sugar habit I’m going to be a little bit stricter at first and only eat fresh fruit and make an occasional batch of Skinny Chocolate (found in the cookbook) to enjoy a little bit of chocolate.

Trim Healthy Mama Resources

I could go on and on about THM but instead I’ll direct you to the main plan book, the cookbook and the Trim Healthy Mama website to get all the specific details and how to make it work for you. I also really recommend this quick start guide from Gwen’s Nest as a tool to help you break down the information and get started.

You can also follow my growing Trim Healthy Mama Pinterest board where I’ll be pinning new recipes and resources as I find them.

My Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan

So now that I’ve given you the quick rundown as to what THM is and why I’m jumping on board, I thought I would also share our meal plan with you.

Sharing our bi-weekly meal plan here every other week will be one of the main ways I build in accountability, plus it will enable me to really think through our food choices and plan meals that are healthy, nutritious and are whole-foods based.

I’ve been planning our dinners for years but have always been very willy-nilly when it comes to planning breakfasts, lunch and snacks resulting in some not very good choices. So I’m now fully committed to using my own Complete Simplified {Meal Planner} to plan all of our weekly meals (Breakfast, lunch and dinner) and snacks.

The Two Week Meal Plan

You’ll notice before each meal I list out the type of THM meal it is, S for Satisfying and E for Energizing. You can learn more about the type of meals here.

Week One

Breakfasts

• E- Oatmeal with a sprinkle of cinnamon and stevia, plain 0% Greek yogurt mixed with mashed mixed berries
• E- French toast bowl (Pg. 266, THM Cookbook), sausage, small serving of fruit
• S- Egg scramble with cheese, leftover roasted veggies and seasonings, sausage, berries
• S- Freezer waffles (I saw this recipe posted on the THM page, I plan to double and freeze), peanut butter, and sausage
• E- Succulent Egg Sami (Pg. 242, THM Cookbook) mixed berried
• S- Egg Mufflets (Pg. 237, THM Cookbook) x2 :: I will double this recipe to freeze

Lunch

• Leftovers x5 :: Lunch will be leftovers from the previous night’s dinner.
• S- Salad greens with chicken, avocado slices, cheese, almond slivers, lots of fresh vegetables and Ranch dressing served with fruit
• E- Quesadilla with a Carb Smart tortilla, smoked turkey, tomato and a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese with fresh vegetables.

Dinner

I had a lot of meat in my freezer so I thought I would just start by going through the cookbook one recipe at a time using what I mostly already had.

• S- Cajun Cream Chicken (Pg. 36, THM Cookbook), Cauliflower rice (Pg. 225, THM Cookbook) and roasted vegetables :: I’ll be making a big, double batch of the cauliflower to use later in the week
• E- Wicked White Chili (Pg. 37, THM Cookbook), side salad :: I’m trying this recipe to see if it’s better than my White Chicken Chili recipe
• S- Rich and Tender Stew (Pg. 38, THM Cookbook), side salad
• S- Ridiculous Meatballs and Spaghetti (Pg. 40, THM Cookbook), side salad :: I will be roasting a spaghetti squash for myself and for the baby but my husband doesn’t really care for it so I will be boiling a pot of whole grain pasta for him and mixing some of that with the squash for the kids.
• E- Wipe Your Mouth BBQ (Pg, 43, THM Cookbook), Light and Lovely Coleslaw (Pg. 231, THM Cookbook), and steamed brown rice :: I’ll be serving buns for my husband and children
• S- Chicken Florentine (Pg. 46, THM Cookbook), Cauliflower rice and side salad
• Dinner Out :: We set up our food budget to eat out once a week. I’ll have to be really conscious of what I order but I believe I’ll be able to make it work.

Snacks

• E- air popped popcorn
• S- small palmful of mixed nuts
• S- vegetables with hummus or guacamole
• E- Apple slices with 1 tbsp peanut butter
• E- 2 Wasa Crackers with Laughing cow cheese wedge, cucumber and tomato thinly sliced
• E- Coco Pudding (Original THM book)
• Good Girl Moonshine (Pg. 397, THM Cookbook)

Week Two

Breakfasts, Lunches and Snacks will remain the Same

Dinner

• S- Zucchini Pizza, side salad :: We have homemade pizza night every other Sunday. The new cookbook does have a few pizza crust recipes to try but since I have 3 rolls of homemade pizza dough in the freezer, we need to use that first. So while I make pizza with my kids, I’ll then slice a zucchini in half, sprinkle mozzarella cheese, add some pepperoni and drizzle with olive oil for myself.
• S- Cilantro Lime-Burst Chicken Thighs (Pg. 54, THM Cookbook), Cauliflower rice, roasted vegetables
• S- Lemon Herb Drummies (Pg, 51, THM Cookbook), Cauliflower rice, side salad
• E- Balsamic Chicken (Pg. 56, THM Cookbook), steamed brown rice, steamed broccoli
• Crossover- Turkey Spinach Enchiladas, black beans, side salad :: We have some TSE in freezer that needs to be eaten. Since it’s loaded with cheese and wrapped in corn tortillas it’s a heavy crossover meal. I may skip the enchiladas and just have a chicken wrap with the black beans to make it an E meal.
• E- Lean turkey burgers, Sweet potato fries, side salad :: I’ll be eating my burger without a bun
• Dinner Out

What’s on your meal plan this week? 

I’ll be sharing more about my THM journey over the next several months, as well as sharing our bi-weekly meal plan every other week. Speaking of meal planning, have you downloaded your meal planner yet?

Have you tried, or are currently following, the Trim Healthy Mama plan? What are your best tips, tricks and recipes?