Trim Healthy Mama Plan (12 page)

There, lecture done. Oops, hold on! Don't you dare get into a Fuel Pull rut! Fuel Pull meals play a role, but if you're having more of those than S and E meals we may have to pay you a visit and give you a Serene and Pearl intervention—which won't be pretty! Massive stop sign for Fuel Pull ruts, as that will be a surefire way to ruin your metabolism!

Learning anything new can be challenging at times. You may need to open up your mind to different foods, textures, and shades of sweetness. This can take some mind adjustment. You might be in the kitchen a little more until you learn a few recipes that become your quick go- to favorites. You probably won't love every new recipe, but you ARE going to fall in love with some of them. Don't let a few failures and setbacks cause you to throw in the towel. When you started to learn to walk as an infant, you fell down a lot, but there was no giving up! Take a page from your one-year-old self, brush yourself off, and get up again. You can do this!

If a cruel little voice inside your head whispers, “This is too hard,” consider what Pam Graham wrote in her testimony after losing one hundred pounds with Trim Healthy Mama: “I've heard some people say this plan is too hard—the food too expensive (I disagree but understand what you are saying). I say being overweight and being unhealthy is MUCH TOO HARD! Being overweight and unhealthy is MUCH TOO EXPENSIVE! Choose your hard while you can, friends…choose your hard!”

D
iets that cut out snacking are Big Old Meanies. They're not only robbing you of the chance to enjoy more food, they're robbing your metabolism of fire. But there is a difference between
smart snacking and mindless, silly snacking that will be detrimental to your journey.
Grazing and gobbling all day is not wise snacking. Let's take a look at two women early in their journeys of THM. We don't want you to fall into their traps.

Grace starts her day with an S breakfast of a big ol' cheesy omelet and a nice mug of coffee with cream. Well done, Grace! An hour or so later she's cleaning up breakfast dishes, putting food away, and notices the almonds in the cupboard. Cue the dramatic music—alas, things take a downward turn for our heroine. A handful or two go in her mouth. Maybe not such a huge deal but soon after that, Grace sits down to return e-mails, and that's always more fun with another cup of creamy coffee and some Skinny Chocolate from the “Candies and Bars” chapter in the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
or some store-bought stevia-sweetened chocolate. Late morning, Grace rushes out to do some errands and goes prepared with some string cheese in her purse for her toddler. Three-year-old Tommy gets to eat his string cheese in his car seat, and Mommy eats one—and another—while driving. All this occurs before lunch, but more grazing and gobbling continues throughout the day.

The sad truth is that Grace does not ever get to enjoy a proper snack. She is deprived of the memorable event itself. Her constant snatches of food every hour or so are all itsy-bitsy bites that only offer fleeting moments of pleasure and keep constant food fuel
in her body. This makes it much harder for Grace's body to ever get around to using her own body fat as a fuel.

Preparing meals is another time when Grace veers off course. She wolfs down handfuls and bitefuls every time she cooks. Taste-testing dishes to check for flavor is fine, but it's very different from the several chomps and swallows of foods that Grace doesn't even realize she is eating. She's gobbling pieces of roast chicken as she cuts it up, snatching pieces of cheese that are supposed to top the family salad, wolfing down several steamed broccoli florets to see if they have enough butter and salt. As a Trim Healthy Mama, Grace does not have to count calories, but she can easily take in a few hundred calories' worth of food before she even sits down to a meal she's now sadly only halfway hungry for!

Grace never gets the chance to feel truly full or truly hungry. She shouldn't have to starve herself to make it to her next snack or meal, but that tug of true
hunger is a natural, normal, and healthy feeling. It means her cells are emptying out and will soon require more fuel. Grace's body desperately needs the chance to have natural rest times from food. It is as if she constantly adds more clothes to a washing machine that is already in mid-cycle. This is only asking for digestive issues and a tougher time losing weight even if she keeps her meals on plan.

Times of eating, followed by times of not eating, are part of a natural, God-designed cycle. The scriptures in Ecclesiastes mention there is a time for everything, “a time to break down, and a time to build up.” We don't build up fuel in our cells “whenever.” That is a mindless approach. Just as we naturally breathe in, then breathe out, allowing our cells to empty out of fuel is equally important. This way the body gets a chance to use its own adipose tissue (fat) for fuel. This results in natural weight loss. Grace needs to give her body that chance!

“All-Day Sippers” such as Good Girl Moonshine and the Shrinker, recipes that can be found on YouTube or in the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
, will help Grace with energy pickups and the hand-to-mouth satisfaction she is seeking through all-day grazing. Grace can then plan her snacks as onetime occasions between meals. They'll be more fulfilling, much more memorable, and easier on her waistline. You can do it, Grace!

Meet Mandy. She's an early riser and loves the morning stillness of a quiet house before everyone else rises. By six thirty
A.M.
, after quiet time, she is ready for breakfast since she'll have to be out the door soon. She loves an E breakfast of Trim Healthy Pancakes (in the
“Good Morning Grains” chapter of the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
) with blueberries and a little Greek yogurt, but she doesn't get a lunch break until noon, which is more than five hours after her morning meal. She packs on-plan lunches such as egg salad in a Joseph's pita with a couple of stalks of celery smeared with some peanut butter. Delish! But it will be close to six
P.M.
before she gets back to her slow-cooker meal of salsa chicken topped with shredded cheese and sour cream and a side salad. That's close to six hours between meals again. Cue the dramatic music once more: All is not well with this scene.

Mandy's long periods of five to six hours between meals can put her body in a
catabolic state. This means her muscles break down and her
metabolism slows for survival as her body wonders when the next meal is coming. Mandy may want to consider taking a container of stevia-sweetened Greek yogurt for a mid-morning snack and a Chocolate Chai-Glazed Cinnamon Muffin (found in the “Family Muffins” chapter of the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
) for an afternoon snack. If she doesn't eat a mid-morning snack that might be okay—we are all different—but she absolutely needs that afternoon fuel. Making sure that afternoon snack is centered on protein is key. She can take one of our
All-Day Sipper drinks with her, too (check out the videos on our website for some of those), so she stays better hydrated throughout her day. She'll notice better energy levels and will be able to focus more easily because her brain will thrive on the fuel from the snack and the hydration from the sipper. She may find her appetite slowly increasing as she includes snacks, but this is often a good sign of a perking metabolism.

If you're an early riser like Mandy, you're more likely to need a snack mid-morning than those who get up later and wait a while before having breakfast. If you're eating breakfast at seven
A.M.
, have a small snack at ten
A.M.
An apple with a teaspoon of peanut butter would be a great E choice; or try the recipe for Fuel Pull Peanut Junkie Butter found in “Condiments and Extras” in the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
. Your mid-morning snack does not need to be huge. You'll be ready to eat again around one
P.M.
and, given that three hours will have passed, you can choose to have either an S or an E lunch. If you want to have an E lunch at noon, that's okay: You're still in E mode so there will be no collision of fuels and you'll have a moderate space of two hours between eating.

Remember that the THM guideline to put some fuel in your body every three to four
hours is not a strict rule to make you miserable, but a wise guideline. You don't have to obsessively watch the clock, just be mindful of the time between fueling. Sometimes, life's circumstances won't allow you to stick to the three- to four-hour mark—don't sweat that. The time between
snacks and meal times can sometimes be less than three to four hours if you use the same fuel for both or if your snack is a Fuel Pull. Fuel Pull snacks and
desserts are wonderful bridges between meals. If your natural snack times get thrown off schedule and they land closer to your next meal, Fuel Pulls can be a perfect solution so you don't cross over accidentally if switching from S to E. But remember that Fuel Pull snacks are not freebies to be grazed on all day. Take a lesson from Grazing Grace and allow your body those wonderful digestive rest times.

Some of us don't like to eat as soon as we wake in the morning. We love to
savor our coffee first for an hour or so. This means we'll eat a later breakfast and
skip the mid-morning snack. That is fine, but do be sure to get a wonderful afternoon snack in. Honestly, who wouldn't want to eat a Volcano Mud Slide Muffin in the afternoon? You can find that free recipe on our website and in the “Quick, Single Serve Muffins” chapter of the companion cookbook. Even if you're a late-breakfast eater, never skip breakfast altogether. You need that protein in the morning to initiate balanced blood sugars throughout the day.

If at all possible, sit down to eat your meals and snacks. Walking around eating or doing it while doing five other things barely lets your mind know you're eating. Take a deep breath, acknowledge you are actually eating. In wintertime, include a hot drink such as an herbal tea or a creamy coffee at snack time. It may help you savor the experience more. An icy on-plan drink with your snack in summer months can help you slow down more so you feel like, “I've eaten, I remember, I have relished!”

Late-night snacking can be a progress pitfall for some of us. This doesn't mean you can't have some dessert after supper, but snacking at ten
P.M.
unless you are pregnant or nursing isn't the wisest of nightly habits. You'll do it now and then—don't think we have a rule against it—but constant late-night snacking will get ya!

Too often it is a ravenous, fridge-searching instinct that sends you seeking only the foods classified as “no-no's” for late-night eating. Even if they are healthy and on plan, it seems to be the really rich decadent stuff that ends up being gobbled at night because when we are ultra-fatigued we lose our common sense.

Is it a simple stalk of celery with a smidge of peanut butter or a small swirl of Greek yogurt we turn to as the clock is about to strike twelve? No! It's a spoon and a jar of peanut butter or the impulsive desire for several pieces of freshly made bread and a tired Mama whose
self-control went to sleep at nine o'clock! Anyone have an “Amen”? Cue the choir!

If you are truly extremely hungry in the evening, Fuel Pull
snacks are your best option. Heavy S snacks right before bed offer your body too many calories when all it will be doing is sleeping. A delicious and sensible nighttime snack is our Cottage Berry Whip (you can find that free recipe on our website). Or if you are dairy-free, try some of the other lighter but still delicious treats from the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
, such as Collagen Berry Whip and Tummy Tucking Ice Cream (in the “Frozen Treats” chapter) or a Choco Chip Baby Frap (in “Shakes, Smoothies, Frappas, and Thin Thicks”). These are all yummy and filling yet light in calories. Or have a Light Rye Wasa cracker or two topped with Laughing Cow Creamy Light Swiss cheese wedges and sliced cucumber. (If you are a purist or dairy-free, use the Laughin' Mama Cheese recipe in the “Condiments and Extras” chapter in the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
in place of the Laughing Cow Creamy Light Swiss cheese.)

It's also important to realize that the different seasons of our lives call for different leniencies with nighttime snacking.
Postmenopausal women may have a much harder time losing weight due to metabolism slowdown from lost hormones if heavy snacks are eaten later in the
evening too often. If you are postmenopausal and have any nighttime snack at all, it would be better as a lighter Fuel Pull option. On the other spectrum, younger women who are either nursing through the night or pregnant will definitely need an evening snack that is rich in protein.

If you are a dessert lover, you don't have to wait a full three hours after your meal to eat it if it is the same fuel as your last meal or if it is a Fuel Pull option. But don't forget about what we keep insisting: Keep many of your
desserts lighter. Heavy S desserts are a wonderful part of THM, but for some of us they are better eaten alone as an afternoon snack than constantly being tagged on to the end of a meal. We included lots of sweet Fuel Pull recipes in the
Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook
and we want you to make smart use of them. Desserts made with lots of almond flour and cream cheese can trip you up if eaten late at night after a big meal as they are so calorie dense. Some women (and plenty of men) lose weight just fine even enjoying frequent heavy S desserts after S meals, but we are all different. Get to know your body, and understand if you are one that needs to lighten up your desserts or save the richer kind for snacks between meals or even as a breakfast.

Of course, you'll slip up sometimes. There is no avoiding eating on the run now and then; we all won't be able to space our meals and snacks perfectly every day, and most of us will eat too many heavy S desserts occasionally. But none of this means you've failed. Just keep going. Practice the art of healthy, natural meal spacing. It truly is an art and, like any skill, requires practice, time to master, and a determination to continue after failures. Learn to be more mindful of how you are snacking. Don't be so austere with your diet that you never enjoy a snack or eat enough to feel satisfied—that is the nemesis of this Food Freedom movement!