Wanna know how I know? Because dozens of my Facebook friends have read it, are following the plan, and dropping weight at an iNCReDiBLe rate. Like, so incredible that I’m JEALOUS. JEALOUS because they keep posting before and after pictures of themselves, the ‘before’ pics looking like, well, moms, and the ‘after’ pics looking like pretty little college girls, darn them.
Yes, I’m talking about you, Kim. And YOU, Jessica. And so many others; you know who you are. And this is JUST WITHIN THE LAST 2-4 MONTHS. I’m jealous, and I don’t like you very much right now. So it’s not the book’s fault that my own story isn’t the best possible Trim Healthy Mama example.
It’s my own dang fault. I’m the world’s worst dieter, and if you’ve followed my blog for any length of time you KNOW this. I LOVE to bake. Baking is my stress-reliever. And if you know me, I don’t have to explain to you why there have been way too many cups of butter and sugar and white flour in this here house, know what I’m sayin’? And my hubby loves to cook red meat and bacon, and my family loves to eat real, satisfying food. HOW I’m not 500 pounds at this point, I DO NOT KNOW.
I’m not, but having just had a baby {you can say ‘just had a baby’ for the first year, FYI} I have some pounds I’d like to lose. I also have a wicked, powerful, all-consuming craving for SUGAR that ONLY happens when I’m nursing a baby. Seriously… all {ok, most} other times, sugar is not my downfall… but these last five months, I’m like an alien in an Edgar suit chugging sugar water out of hummingbird feeders.
I can stick to the Trim Healthy Mama plan SO faithfully for three days, and WHAM… I’m getting the shakes and falling out on the floor in spasms and sweating and dry-heaving until somebody holds my tongue back and pours refined white sugar down my throat.
Not really.
But in my overactive imagination, yes, I. MUST. HAVE. SUGAR.
And it does make it rather difficult to stick to the plan.
And THAT, my friends, is why I didn’t know how to begin this blog post: I was waiting until I could do this thing perfectly. I wanted to get it right, post this review with my own fabulous ‘after’ picture of myself.
Or maybe a slow-motion video of myself running down the beach in a red Baywatch swimsuit…
THAT thought just made me laugh out loud, right before I threw up in my mouth a little. Don’t worry; I’m not gonna. But a girl can dream, right?
That does, however, bring me to one of the best features of this book and it’s plan. You don’t HAVE to do it perfectly to see results. In fact, sometimes ‘cheating’ spurs your body on to drop a chunk of pounds. I’ve lost weight with other diets, but a ‘cheat’ on other plans TOTALLY derails you, because OTHER diets say you MUST eat nine perfect meals in a row before it ‘works.’ NINE. That’s three days of perfect eating, and I can’t do that for a lifetime. I just can’t.
But in spite of my more-frequent-than-they-should-be sugary cheats on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, I’ve lost twelve pounds since I got my book.
*But don’t do what I do, ok? DON’T. Let ME be your example of what NOT to do… I just want to encourage you that THIS IS DOABLE. Even for big fat cheaters like me.
Another thing I love: NO food groups are excluded. God made them all, and you are to eat all of them for optimum health. Which is WONDERFUL, because I’ve tried the low-fat thing back when I was in college. We would go to a Mexican restaurant and eat nothing but rice by the plate full. Or a big bowl of lettuce with no dressing. And it was torture because I couldn’t have butter, not to mention horrible for my blood sugar.
Then I tried the low-carb thing 15 years ago, and ate bacon and cream cheese by the plate full, and it was equally torturous because I couldn’t have my Red Lobster biscuits. NOBODY can cut out an entire food group all the time and be HAPPY about it. I’ve never known ANYBODY who made that work, and I daresay you haven’t either. SO REJOICE, BECAUSE YOU GET TO EAT FROM ALL THE FOOD GROUPS, HALLELUJAH!
BUT. The premise is, you don’t eat them all at the same time.
Protein is the basis of all meals, and with your protein you eat EITHER healthy carbs OR healthy fats. It makes sense when you think about it; your body can burn one primary fuel at a time, and will store the other one when you give it two fuels to choose from, resulting in extra padding for YOU. Trim Healthy Mama is all about keeping your blood sugar stable with no dips and spikes in your insulin. And that’s the WAY oversimplified explanation, of course.
Another thing I love? All the support. One of the book’s authors has become a Facebook friend. And there are forums. And Facebook support groups. I’m a member of more than one Trim Healthy Mama support group. You are never, ever in this alone!
More pluses:
* You will NOT feel deprived.
* You do NOT count calories.
* You can fall off, then immediately get back on the plan.
* You can tailor favorite recipes to be THM-friendly.
* Chapters on hormones, supplements, and motivation.
I won’t go into any further detail, because the book goes into 600 … pages… of… detail….
Which brings me to the ‘cons’ of this plan. It wouldn’t be a fair book review if I didn’t include a few ‘cons,’ right? Most notably, it’s LONG. It’s a LOT of reading, which you MUST GET THROUGH in order to have a real grasp on how this plan is done.
The recipes aren’t all ‘complete,’ I guess is the word? At times they left out an ingredient, or something, and thus you sort of have to tweak a recipe to work for you, or guess at amounts. None of that bothers me too badly, because I tend to be a recipe-tweaker anyway, but it is a complaint I’ve heard around the inter-webs.
Then a couple of the recipes, well, I haven’t been just ‘wowed’ over. The crackers that are supposed to taste like Wheat Thins… NO. Just no. Those went in the garbage. But maybe that was just me and I did something wrong, but I’ve had a few other ‘flops,’ though some of that may be due to the Stevia. Stevia is definitely a guessing game and an acquired taste. But for every one I haven’t liked, there have been six that I really did.
And lastly, you really do need to buy a few special ingredients if you want to delve off into this 100%, Stevia for one, Glucomannan for another. They say you can do the plan without those things, but in all reality…. you need those things. And Glucomannan is pretty dang hard to find; I had to order it online.
So there you have it. A drop in the bucket of all I COULD say about this book. I wholeheartedly recommend it, though. After all, I’ve lost twelve pounds all while being a voracious cheater, and if I can do that, anyone with a mustard seed worth of discipline could REALLY make this work.
So JOIN ME AND LET’S DO THIS THING!
Check out the Trim Healthy Mama link here to buy the book. OR… enter my giveaway for a chance to win an e-version of it, sponsored by the book’s authors! And just so you know, they gave me an ebook for my very own for hosting this giveaway, but all the opinions are my own!
To enter the giveaway click the Rafflecopter link HERE —>
a Rafflecopter giveaway
And how do I enter the giveaway?
Love the review! Totally relate able 🙂 I'm a crazy cheater too. Still. Even with the learning curve and chocolate chip binges…loosing weight !! Huge bonus, no more headaches and major joint pain…thank you refined flour and sugar, you are done torturing me ! down 16 lbs since Jan. eating butter! (and other yummy food)
Good blog Melissa!! I am not a Mama trying to lose weight, but a Grandma that should have done this when I WAS a Mama. How do I enter your give away?? Love reading your writings and hearing about your family.
By the way, that "seirra47" is not going to tell you a think about who I am! This is Marleen Eastin!
Do I just leave a comment to enter? I am slow to jump on the bandwagon, but am getting there. Having no extra $ right now, a giveaway is my only hope. Pick me Pick me!!! 🙂 Great post by the way. I find it hard to stick to things past a few days as well. You inspire me!<br />Kerri
Great, honest review! I still cant believe how much yummy stuff we get to eat and still lose weight! That's not even including the amazing health changes I'm seeing!
Great, honest review! I can't believe we get to eat all this yummy stuff and still lose weight! That's not even speaking to the amazing health benefits I've noticed!
I am excited about this book because of many of your pro comments. 🙂 I am on a get-healthy-journey and this book looked like a good resource!
It's a great resource, the absolute most 'doable' diet I know of that works AND is doable in the long term! Good luck! 🙂
I'm sorry, you have to click on the rafflecopter link to enter! I have no idea what I've done wrong… this rafflecopter thing is new to me…. but I thought there would be a BOX with instructions to make it easy to know what to do!
Thanks Marleen!! You need to click on the rafflecopter link at the end of the post to enter! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Congrats on 16 pounds since January!! Wow!! See, stories like that inspire me. So far today, though, I've done amazingly well! But it's not 3pm yet…
Bummer, I'm not on FB so I can't enter…<br /><br /><br />Sounds like a good book. I'll be watching for your updates on your progress. It sounds encouraging that you can cheat a little and still have good results.
Great work on the review! I'm a bad cheater too… also nursing, which does make for some serious cravings!!! But I'm down a little more than 25lbs in a little less than 4 months! Woot!
WOOHOO! Congrats Rachel!
OH SHOOT!! I didn't even think about people NOT being on Facebook! How do you even live? 🙂 Just kidding. I'll see if I can change the entry details….
I love that this plan uses REAL food and that I'm watching my friends lose weight and get healthier!
I'm so excited to learn more about this book! Sounds perfect for me in, oh, about 9 weeks! 🙂
I'm excited about this book because I am a part of 2 of the THM support groups on facebook and share a number of your successful THM friends. <br />I'm crossing my fingers, toes, and every little hair on my head in hopes I can win a copy of this book, since I haven't been able to afford it yet. All the stories of folks reaching their highschool weight are giving me hope. After 7
Hmm – I tried to post where I shared this on fb in the rafflecopter, but accidentally hit enter too soon. Here's the post: https://www.facebook.com/julie.cox.180072/posts/426969487392767
I'm excited about the book too and even though glucomannan was hard to find at first, I've really, really enjoyed the puddings with it. I can't have dairy and one of the things I really missed and had trouble finding a substitute for was pudding! Our whole family loves the different kinds and my ten-year-old sister requested THM's choco pudding with skinny chocolate for her dirt
I have been wanting this book. I have a friend who has dropped several sizes by following this diet. I want to try it, too.
It is worth a try! 🙂
It's a lifestyle not a diet! I like that!
This is exactly what us ladies have been looking for in a "diet". I love that you get to eat real foods and SWEETS!!! 🙂
Wow, thanks for giving us non-facebookers a chance, too! <br /><br /><br /><br />As to how I live, it's fairly drama-free, which in my circle of friends seems unusual unless you don't do facebook. 😉
Like you, I LOVE to bake! And like you I "just" had a baby (well she's 8 now!)!. And like you, my friends are losing weight right and left with this book. So, I"d like to give it a try! HOPING I win!
I have heard so many great things about this book and have wanted to purchase it for a while…just haven't had the "extra" financial ability to do so. I did join their Facebook "group" though, and have read and learned many things about the book by being a part of the group. Now, I just need the book, and I'll be set, right?!? Hope I win!!!
I'd love to win it…your testimony about your friends losing weight sounds great to me!
I'm actually the world's worst dieter, and that is why I'm thankful for THM. NO MORE DIETS! <br />(and i might sneak a red lobster biscuit every now and then too, but with this plan, i'm still losing)
A friend of mine has been talking about this book. I am realizing that I need to make healthier choices. I like the concept of this book……….you can make healthy choices and it impacts your life – you do not have to overhaul your entire life in 24 hours. 🙂 Much more doable.
You are the first reviewer that made me actually want to buy this book LOL. Would love to win it though. From another baker/sugar addict, thank you for the chance! 🙂
My only hiccup would be the "extra" things you have to buy, especially the one you had to get online. What IS it? And Stevia, I know it is the "new" healthy sugar replacement, but I'm now burned and skeptical of any new sugar replacements. Years and years ago when I was not managing my hypoglycemia (i.e. dr. pepper and snickers for breakfast) I had a wake up call while
Great post! You had me smiling and wanting to read this book! I can so relate to baking being my stress relief….why can't it be running? 🙂
I think you would be very surprised and delighted with what you learn from this book. I can pretty much guarantee you that your health would be vastly improved using the information found within.<br />I'm thrilled to hear you got off diet soda, as that truly is deadly.<br />Please continue to do research for your health, as well as for the health of your loved ones. Research stevia. It'