My Healing Journey with THM weight management
My Problem
I have given birth to 8 children. It is natural to have some weight gain with pregnancy but my fourth pregnancy hit me hard. I was farming full time at the time and went into early labor at 33 weeks. I was in the hospital overnight where they were able to stop the labor and I was sent home to bedrest with instructions to eat a lot so the baby would put on plenty of weight.
I followed the instructions, but when it was safe for her to be born she refused. Finally at 42 weeks I was induced. After the delivery I hemorraged so was on more bedrest afterwards. So with this one pregnancy I had a lot of weight gain and complications.
And then I had my 5th without loosing any of the previous weight gain. After he was born I knew I had to take things really seriously. It was about more then feeling confident. I was having a harder and harder time keeping up with my growing brood. I had literally never dieted before, and didn’t like the idea that I now needed to focus on loosing weight.
My Solution
At this point I was introduced to a new self published book by a ministry I had followed for years. I bought that initial Trim Healthy Mama book by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison and began implementing the teachings right away. The book teaches that all [natural] foods are healthful. You should eat carbs and fats. But if you want to loose weight don’t eat them at the same time. So for example you can have a salad with full fat salad dressing but don’t eat croutons on it. You can have steak but save the potatoes for another meal and choose a non-starchy veggie offering like butter broccoli. You can even have that bowl of oatmeal but don’t put butter on it.
I really connected with Serene. She is the mom of a large and bustling family but still has time to make sourdough bread from scratch and employs a lot of slow cooking, vibrant herbs and international flavors in her recipes. But there is a place of Pearl’s philosophy as well. She believes it needs to be easy and accessible and recommends some pre bought options that fit well in the plan.
This plan was a total fit for me allowing me to both pick fast and easy options if needed or really engage my foodie soul when I had time. Oh and my sweet tooth was appeased as well with stevia (Truvia is the store brand).
My problem again
A few years ago my in laws moved in with us. My father-in-law offered to cook. He is a great cook but definitely not THM and I found myself both thankful for all the help cooking and struggling to keep my weight under control. I was just starting to get in a rhythm again and COVID hit–derailed again. Now I am older and having more difficulty loosing the weight I did before, but I still feel amazing on this plan–like I am really taking care of myself. Honestly this is where I struggle the most, with taking care of myself. So when I can really do that I feel awesome.
I even went so far as to become a THM certified lifestyle coach so I could share this wonderful way of eating with others. And now there are no less then more books, a thriving online community and recipe bank and product store that helps you make wise food decisions, easily. I feel it definitely fits well if you are a mom that has had difficulty taking care of yourself in the past. This really allows you to hone in on the foods you like, your philosophy of cooking and make the space for amazingly nutritious and satisfying meals.
Is taking care of yourself an area where you struggle?
