In July of 2014, I began following the Trim Healthy Mama plan after being introduced to it by my sister. By December of that year I had lost twenty-five pounds and I continued to lose weight in the early months of 2015. I was very disciplined in my eating, cutting out sugar, and alternating consuming meals with higher fat and low carbs with eating meals with more carbs and low fat according to the principles set forth by sisters and THM founders Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison, leaving at least three hours between meals and ensuring each meal had sufficient protein. While it wasn't the first time I lost a significant amount of weight, it was the first time my weight loss was unconnected to a change in medication.
I stopped following THM when I landed in the hospital in April of 2015 and apart from a brief period in the fall of 2015, I haven't followed it since that time. My gradual weight gain was at first unalarming, but it continually crept up. I am now thirty pounds above my ideal weight and I know I am eating way too many treats and unhealthy foods and not exercising enough. My clothes are tight or no longer fit at all and my waist-line is bulging. Each month I seem to add another three or four pounds.
Recently I resolved to cut out sugar again as much as possible for the four weeks of November, but this resolution did not survive long and I soon was eating my Mom's home made chocolate chip cookies without restraint.
This past week someone at my volunteer job asked me if I was expecting a baby, concerned that I should not be carrying too much in my supposed pregnant state.
Today after stepping on the scale and seeing yet another two pound gain, I decided that I could not continue in this manner. While I have not decided to return to THM as yet, I do need to again have some restraint in the way I am eating. Too often I eat because of boredom or because something tastes good and I just want more of it. So I am going to discipline myself to cut back on portions and stay away from sugary foods and late night snacking. I am also going to go on more walks, at least five times a week.
Maybe instead of gaining another five pounds over the Christmas season, I will actually be able to have a modest weight loss. If these measures don't get any results, I just may reconsider trying Trim Healthy Mama again.
2 comments:
Except for the true healthy mama part, I could have written everything you said. That is, I know exactly what you're talking about.
exercise is fine, but diet is where you make or break it.
It's those sweets, I promise you. and the snacking.
I know, because I have the same problem.
I have no magic solution, but I find that what helps is to bargain with myself.
My Self won't accept it if I simply say "No", so instead I make a deal with myself: I promise myself that I can go ahead and eat the snack or that second cookie, but only if I go and have a big glass of water first. If after a big glass of water I still want it, then fine, I can have it.
You'd be surprised at how often the big glass of water fills you up enough to resist the snack after all.
Not all the time, but more times than not, for sure.
Good luck.
Thanks for your comment Ryan. I am not doing so well with my resolution to eat better, or to go for daily walks for that matter. Your tip about having a glass of water before going ahead with a snack sounds like a good strategy.
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