• Disclosure Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Protecting Your Pennies

Buy Smart. Plan. Play

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Trim Healthy Mama
    • Meal Plans
    • What I Ate Wednesday
    • Recipes
      • Breakfast
      • Main Meal
      • Desserts
      • Snacks
  • Buy Smart
    • Discounts
    • Holidays
    • Sales & Deals
  • Plan
    • Holiday Treats
    • Cleaning & Organization
  • Play
    • Travel
    • Kid Activities
    • Gifts
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Cart
  • Checkout

Trim Healthy mama

THM and Type 2 Diabetes – My Husband’s Journey

February 8, 2021 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

My husband’s experience with THM and Type 2 Diabetes, how he lost weight, decreased  diabetes meds, blood pressure meds and drastically decreased bad cholesterol levels. 

Type II Diabetes & THM Diet - Decreased Meds

This summer I sent my husband to the Dr. after several days of him not feeling well. He came home with a diagnosis of Type II diabetes, high cholesterol and his blood pressure was out of control. 

Rewind to 2003 and you would find me in nursing school. I’m not a nurse (during clinicals I decided to go to business school – oh to be 20 again) but I immediately started trying to remember things I might have learned in school that could help us now. 

We had to fix this and get my husband healthy. He has 5 kids and a wife that really like him and want him around for a very long time. 

So we started trying to control and reverse his Type II Diabetes with diet and exercise. The diet that we chose was Trim Healthy Mama. If you want to read more about what this plan entails – read this overview.

Important: Neither myself or my husband are medical professions of any kind. This post is simply our experience and should not be used or assumed to be medical advice. If you have Diabetes or any other medical condition, you should consult with your doctor. 

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

THM and Type 2 Diabetes – My Husband’s Journey

This post will be a little different than my normal posts on THM basics or simple Trim Healthy Mama recipes. My husband put together a first hand account about his experience with a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis, following the THM plan as a man, exercise and his follow up appointments with his doctor after the initial diagnosis. 

So I’m going to post his thoughts below & then I will give my thoughts on the experience at the bottom.  

My Husband’s Ride with THM and Type 2 Diabetes (In his words)

My wife thought that my recent experience being diagnosed with Type II Diabetes was worthy of a post on her blog.  I love her and I do feel the story is worth a read so here we go. 

Like many others, the economic and emotional impact of COVID-19 was highly significant on my life.  When the country basically shut down, my compensation package was reduced and the business I have loved for the past 12 years suffered major revenue shrinkage.  We had to layoff approximately 35% of our longstanding employees.  Altogether it was an incredibly stressful and sad time. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t handle the situation in a healthy, controlled manner which is unusual for me but I didn’t manage the situation well.  When you are forced to fire people who literally did nothing wrong, that is a problem for me as I love the people that work here.  Ultimately, I started drinking on a daily basis and decided that if I wanted to eat something, I simply ate it.  Hot Fries, donuts, brownies, triple cheeseburgers…the more unhealthy, the better.  I also decided that exercise was an overrated waste of time.

After five and a half months of this amazingly destructive behavior, I woke up one day, shockingly, feeling sick.  Not a little sick with a runny nose, but I cannot move because I feel so terrible sick.  My wife checked my blood pressure and it read 183/114.  Not so great. 

This condition lasted for 3 days.  On the fourth day, the wife put me in the car and off to the doctor I went.  The doctor is a family friend and I have been under his supervision for several years.  When he saw me in the hallway, he immediately came over to see me, asked a handful of questions and put me on an EKG as he thought I might be having a heart attack.  At 47 years old, that’s pretty scary.

Long story short, I wasn’t having a heart attack but about everything that could be wrong outside of a really serious condition like cancer.  The vampires drew my blood and the lab report indicated I was in really bad shape. 

Here was the Lab Report:

  • Glucose – 297 (Normal: <140)
  • Triglycerides – 774 (Normal: <150 mg/dL)
  • A1C – 8.9 (Normal: <5.7)

For example, my Glucose was 297, Triglycerides 774, good cholesterol was low and my bad cholesterol was high.  And for a kicker my Hemoglobin A1C was 8.9 which officially surpasses the threshold of 6.5 (prediabetes) meaning I had Type II Diabetes.

What Went Through My Mind After A Diabetes Diagnosis

I watched my father suffer through the misery of Diabetes.  Prior to his being diagnosed, my mom was an amazing country food cook.  I remember the pan fried chicken, amazing casseroles, cornbread full of butter and all the other delicious food enjoyed in my early days. 

After dad’s diabetes was diagnosed, mom lost her ability to cook anything good…don’t tell her that but it’s true.  The food was tasteless with a hint of cardboard texture.  Needless to say, I was completely petrified that my wife who is also an amazing cook, was going to be serving up dog biscuits with gravy for dinner here on out.

However, my amazing wife took days to research diabetic diets.  As it turned out, her favorite Trim Healthy Mama plan looked like it might do the trick.  We agreed it couldn’t hurt to try it anyway.  For the sake of my wife and five children, I screwed my head on straight and committed to getting my health back in order. 

Getting on Plan And Exercising 

I ate S meals 4 out of every 5 meals for the first 90 days of my recovery.  When I started to feel strange like you do on pure Keto, she would make me eat a piece of fruit with some protein to even me out.  My doctor had me taking 4 doses of diabetic medication per day and 2 pretty strong medications for my blood pressure.  I slowly but surely started working out 6-7 days per week, and yes a walk was considered a workout at the time. 

The Follow Up Appointment

I went back to the doctor two months later, 35 lbs lighter and feeling like I was 25 again.  He couldn’t believe the difference. 

As a matter of fact, he wrote all over my lab results and put smiley faces on it.  Not the norm.  The results were pretty praiseworthy if I do say so myself. 

New Lab Results – 2 Months Post Diagnosis

  • Glucose – 116 (Within Normal Range)
  • Triglycerides – 156 (Just slightly higher than normal)
  • A1C – 5.9 (Slightly over normal but now in pre-diabetes range)

 All good news.

These pictures are from July 2020 & then December 2020.

Before THM & After THM

5 Month Check Up – Getting off Meds

In December, all of my labs were within normal ranges and he reduced my diabetic meds to 1 pill per day, and my blood pressure meds to one half of one pill per day.  That entire scenario took place from mid-July to the first week of December.

Stacy Note: Interjecting because I don’t know if he did this justice! He has been on fairly strong blood pressure medication since his 20’s and now he takes 1/2 of a pill. So not only did he improve his blood glucose and A1C, his blood pressure that has been an issue for years is now much more controlled! Ok, back to him…

No Pain, No Gain

Now I cannot say that the diet or exercise were easy or painless adjustments.  Who wouldn’t want to each chocolate cheesecake with a side of sweet bread and fried chicken.  However, my wife’s diet was pretty amazing.  Unlike my mom, she can still cook and I completely enjoy my meals.  All kidding aside, the impact on my life has been amazing. 

I am still on plan and have adopted the diet as a lifestyle change.  I’m no doctor and I cannot speak to whether or not the plan is the path to mitigate diabetic conditions but it has been a proven winner for me.  If nothing else, I have and would tell anyone to give it a shot.  Anyone who saw me before and after wouldn’t hesitate to do so. 

Thank you my wonderful wife and best friend for taking care of me.  I hope this quick note will help others understand that there’s a solid solution for living comfortably with Diabetes. 

–Thomas

How We Manage Type II Diabetes with Trim Healthy Mama 

We feel that adopting the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating was instrumental in achieving the better numbers that Thomas received on his follow up lab reports. 

I know that there are probably many wives that will be reading this to help their husbands so I just wanted to give my perspective on what helped during this process. 

Things I Didn’t Do When My Husband Was Diagnosed with Type II

Worry About Vegetables – If you are a Trim Healthy Mama, you know we love our veggies. They are a great way to fill up without a lot of calories and of course they give you tons of good nutrients. But my husband was resistant to veggies.When I cooked, he would often skip the vegetables all together. So while I actually did worry about him not eating veggies, I didn’t push it.

He is a grown man after all & I needed him to stick to this plan.He ate a lot of meat, cheese, eggs and bacon (because that is a category all on it’s own).But remember his insanely high cholesterol? I was concerned about that too of course but I figured meat/cheese was better than chips and high sugar foods so I went with it.

Would it be better if he had been eating broccoli and asparagus for breakfast? Sure but he wasn’t there. So we went with what he could deal with at the time and then slowly introduced more vegetables as he tolerated them.And I’m proud to say he now eats quite a few happily. 

Worry About On Plan Desserts – I’m the type of person that goes all in to fix a problem. I would have been perfectly happy if he had decided to eat only vegetables and lean meats (because we needed to fix horrible cholesterol and diabetes).

But my husband that claims he doesn’t need dessert was wandering around after meals wanting something sweet. I started trying out different on plan treats and then would feel myself worrying. Is he eating too much of that on plan cake? It is better to have an on plan treat on hand vs. not having it and him being tempted by something else right?
 
These were all things running through my head. But I just stopped. I couldn’t control this, he had to. And if eating a THM cheesecake would keep him from a Snickers, that is what we had to do. So he ate a lot of on plan treats. 

Worry About Frankenfoods or Personal Choice – My husband found a few things that made the transition from eating lots of carbs and sugar into THM easier (more about that below).

In the books, you read about limiting these foods since they are less than ideal from a purist view. But using these less than ideal options kept him from eating a big piece of french bread (his fave).

So while they might not be as great as eating a celery stick, it was certainly better than carbs and sugar. And you know what? After a few months he started “needing” the items less and less. 

How We Made The THM Transition Easier 

When we first started combining THM & Type 2 Diabetes, some things worked perfectly and other failed miserably. Here are the things that made it easier for us to stay on plan. 

Find Things You Like (Or that your husband likes) – If I had tried to make him eat brussels sprouts and okra at every meal (or any meal), he would not have made it. There are so many things that you can have on Trim Healthy Mama, there is no reason to force something you don’t like. Especially early on.

We used to joke that my husband only liked “kid food.” Give him a pb&j over a nice piece of salmon any day. So finding good subs for things that he really enjoyed were key. PB&J as an example.

He doesn’t love sprouted bread and especially early on, it was extremely offensive to him. But a low carb tortilla, Jif no sugar PB and a smear of Simply Fruit grape jelly hit the spot. All the flavors that he likes but made over into a healthier option. 

We also ate lots of grilled meat and salad. Venturing into lots of weird ingredients and casseroles just wasn’t what he was up for. So we ate simple. We knew what to expect and enjoyed most of our meals. 

Early on he also liked a lot of Frankenfoods. Low Carb Tortilla Pizzas were his favorite. I bet he ate one a day for weeks. Although that frequency isn’t really highly condoned on plan, he did ok with them.

Plan for Eating Out – Since we started him on THM during COVID, there wasn’t lots of eating out for us but of course life happens and you will end up in a fast food drive thru sooner or later.

Plan for it and know what you will eat.Honestly, going to a fast food restaurant seemed kind of blah to me on THM. But we have really enjoyed a bunless burger on a salad (just FYI, the taste you like is in the meat not the bread) or a Taco Bell protein bowl.

Click here for a THM Fast Food Guide or a Sit Down Restaurant guide.

Plan for Cravings & Stock Your Pantry – What kind of snacks do you crave? Salty or Sweet? Keep some things that you will enjoy at your house, in your car and at the office so that you are not tempted to grab something from the vending machine. 

If you are a salty/crunchy fan, here is a list of store bought chips and crackers that will help you stay on plan. More of a dessert lover like me? These store bought sweet treats will keep you content without the sugar. 

Reasons for Success 

So obviously our goal with THM and Type 2 Diabetes was to get rid of the Big D. And by get rid of, I don’t mean that it will really be gone because my husband will always be a Type 2 Diabetic. There is no going back once you cross that line. 

But what you can do is control it and live a healthy life. His immediate goal was to go off the diabetes meds. He wanted to control it with diet and exercise alone. And while he is not quite there yet (another follow up in about a month), he is so very close.

Here is what we attribute to his success in lowering his cholesterol, glucose and A1C. 

*Again, we are not medical professionals and this is our personal experience. Speak with your doctor about your medical treatment. 

Trim Healthy Mama – THM and Type 2 Diabetes were a great combo for my husband. He ate S meals primarily (especially in those first 3 months) and then mixed in an E meal every few days.This helped him to not feel the deprivation of Keto and having such a restricted carb allowance.

However, we wanted to keep the carbs pretty low to try and heal his body.Following the fuel rotation that we did is one way that we feel he was able to be successful.

He probably had an E meal 2-3 times per week in the first 90 days which is less than the THM recommendation of 5-7. We have slowly added in more for him but early on he did less. 

Walking – He went pretty hard core with his exercise routine and definitely did more than just walking. But the reason that I chose walking as a success factor is because it was always there.If he was too sore to lift weights or do planks, he could walk.

It has actually become one of my favorite ways to connect with my husband throughout the week. We walk and talk & get some fresh air. We walk when it is cold & when it is 100 degrees out.

And if that isn’t enough, it is great exercise for our kids too. They ride bikes & get their wiggles out while we get a bit of adult time a few feet back. My 3 year old is a BEAST and often rides close to 3 miles on his little bike with training wheels. 
 
Nike Training App – We go to the point where I forbid my husband from saying these 3 words. I’m kidding but only kinda. He loves this app so much! And if you promise not to tell him, I think it is pretty cool also. 

It is totally free & has tons of free workouts that you can do in your living room! Whether you feel like getting in a 45 minute workout or a 10 minute yoga session, they have it. 
 
The Nike Training App really helped him to focus on areas that he wanted to improve and that worked with his busy schedule. 

Mindset – Have you ever started a diet on Monday and fallen off the wagon by lunch? I know I have. When we started this in July both of us had a different mindset. We genuinely set out to improve upon our healthy, not just with the sole goal of losing weight. 

I used to plan to cheat. Follow the diet all week and then blow it at the end of the week. But this time instead of planning to cheat, I planned Trim Healthy Approved splurges. A steak for dinner or an on plan cheesecake were my rewards for sticking to plan. 

Rewarding with food might not be the best but I love food so a special dinner once a week made us happy. 

These are the things that we felt were beneficial in improving my husband’s health over the course of just a few months. 

THM & Type II Resources 

Did you know there is a Trim Healthy Mama Diabetic Facebook group? Well there is! If you are wanting to combine THM and Type 2 Diabetes – Go join it. It is a great group of people.

There are lots of knowledgeable Type II diabetics (and even some Type I) that can give you help if you are struggling with anything in particular. 

There is no medical advice given on the page but it is nice just to bounce ideas off someone else that is in the same boat. I’m a member of the group even though I’m not diabetic. So if you are like me and want to join to help someone in your family, they would love to have you!

Wanna Be Instagram Friends? I can’t wait! Follow my food diary here. 

Filed Under: Featured, Plan, Trim Healthy Mama Tagged With: Cholesterol, Diabetes, THM, Trim Healthy mama, Type II

THM Store Bought On Plan Bread

June 17, 2020 by Stacy Craft 1 Comment

A huge list of THM store bought on plan bread options that you can purchase at your local grocery store.

12 THM Store Bought Breads for the Drive Thru Sue

Lots of THM beginners want to know what kind of bread you can have that is on the Trim Healthy Mama plan. 

And with that I mean what kind of store bought bread can you have. I mean, I’m not a drive thru Sue all the time but I’m also not Betty Crocker either. 

You know that saying “the best thing since sliced bread?” It didn’t come about with busy mama’s making bread. 

Nobody wants to have to make and slice their own bread. (OK, I actually want to & it is on my THM bucket list to grow one of those creepy sourdough starters in a mason jar on my counter, feed it and make my own beautiful loaf. But I am a working mama of 2 young kids. No time for now!)

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

More Store Bought THM product guides:

23 Store Bought THM Desserts
On Plan Jelly
On Plan Peanut Butter
On Plan Tortillas & Wraps

Finding THM Store Bought Sprouted Bread At The Grocery 

If you are looking at breads, the first ingredient should be a sprouted grain and there should be less than 2 grams of sugar (1 is preferred). 

To save you the trouble of reading every bread label, here are some commonly used THM store bought on plan breads.

Need Store Bought On the Go THM snacks? Click Here!

Found at Most Large Grocery Chains (Walmart, Kroger, Target)

You may be able to find these at additional grocery stores but this is where I have found them in my area. 

Ezekiel Sprouted Bread – Look for it in the freezer section (Kroger, Walmart, Target)

Silver Hills Sprouted Bread (Target, Sprouts, Whole Foods)

Pepperidge Farms Soft Sprouted Bread (Target, Kroger, Walmart)

Greenwise Sprouted Multi-Grain Bread (Publix Bakery)

Simple Truth Sprouted Grain & Legume Bread (Kroger)

Found Primarily at Specialty Stores (Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Costco)

Knock Your Sprouts Off Bread (Aldi)

Sly Red Ancient Grains (Aldi)

Trader Joe’s Sprouted Sourdough 

Alvarado St. Bakery Sprouted Bread (Whole Foods, Natural Grocers) 

Angelic Sprouted Bread (Sprouts, Costco, The Fresh Market or order direct from site)

THM On Plan Store Bought Sourdough Bread

Trim Healthy Mama on plan store bought sourdough can be hard to find but it is possible. 

Here is the sourdough criteria: 

  • First Ingredient should be Whole Grain
  • Yeast should NOT be in the ingredients 

Trader Joe’s has an on plan sourdough. You may also find an on plan sourdough at some specialty store bakeries like Sprouts or Whole Foods.

Serving Size & Fuel Type

Bread is a carb source so traditionally it is going to be used in “E” Meals. 

E Meal Bread Serving Size : 2 Slices

But if you want to get crazy, you can also have some bread with “S” foods. Wait, what?!

You mean to tell me I could have a piece of cheese toast? Or I could sop up a nice runny egg with a piece of toast? 

Yes Ma’am! This is called an S Helper. It is when you go over the carb limit for an S meal but don’t add enough carbs to move into XO (crossover) territory. 

S Helper Bread Serving Size: 1 Slice

If you have more than 1 piece of bread with other S foods, you would move into XO territory. 

The Exception To The Rule – S Bread

Zero Net Carb Bread – Aldi

If you have an Aldi near you, they have a relatively new product Zero Net Carb bread. 

Here is a picture of it & a review from the Aldi Reviewer.

I have tried it and I like it. If you get this bread, you can eat it in an S meal and keep it in S territory (no S helper or XO). I like having that option. 

*Note: The THM team calls this one a personal choice. It is not for the purists at heart but I’m definitely not that. 

Keto White

This is another personal choice bread that can be eaten in an S meal. 

I have had the hamburger buns and they taste so much like normal white bread (even my bread loving husband liked them).

Looking for THM Approved Store Bought Wraps and Tortillas? Check out this list of 14 On Plan wrap options.

How to Eat (& Like) Sprouted Bread

If you have not eaten sprouted bread before it does take a little adjusting to. Especially if you are coming from a super soft white bread. 

So what is the key to liking sprouted bread?

I have found that toasting the bread is my favorite way to eat it. I honestly don’t care for ANY of the sprouted breads that I have tried fresh out of the bag (and I have tried a lot). 

But toast it up in the toaster and it is great with on plan peanut butter, Light Laughing Cow Cheese, Polaner’s jelly or sandwich fixins like this THM E tuna salad. 

Need more Trim Healthy Mama Help? Check out this THM A to Z post where all your questions are answered and meal plans and ideas are found!

Filed Under: Featured, Plan, Trim Healthy Mama Tagged With: On Plan, Sourdough Bread, sprouted bread, store bought, THM, thm e, Trim Healthy mama

Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan 1/31-2/6/21

February 1, 2021 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

A free Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan 1/31 – 2/6/21. 

 1_31_21 - 2_6_21 Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan

Hi! If you are looking for a weekly Trim Healthy Mama meal plan, you have come to the right place! First let’s talk about my meal planning style. 

I create a plan for breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks by day for the week. But then when Monday rolls around, I don’t necessarily eat for breakfast what I had planned for Monday. In fact, I might eat Saturday’s breakfast on Monday if it sounds good. I use the plan as a general guide for what I will eat in a given week but don’t force myself into it. 

I freely mix and match throughout the week according to what my body is craving. By planning, it helps me to ensure I have 7 dinners planned out to make the evening rush easier. It also helps me to make sure I don’t skip out on my E meals! 

Meal Plans are one week behind. Just to clarify, I release my meal plans the week after I eat them. This is done so that I can include more photos of the meals that I eat because I know some of you love pictures! They should still be seasonally appropriate. 

New to THM? Here is a brief summary of the plan and a guide to fuel rotations (like what the heck is an S, E or XO and when do I eat those letters?!).

Grab a free THM Meal planner here. 

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan 1/31-2/6/21

After many, many (should I say many again?) months of not eating out, we apparently went crazy for this week. 

If this is too much eating out for you, feel free to check out some of the past meal plans. We don’t typically eat out this often. 

Here is the plan!

Sunday

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Bacon (S)
Lunch: Smoked Chicken with Mushrooms 
Snack: 2 Cutie Oranges and Lean Lunch Meat (E)
Dinner: Meatballs (leftover) with green beans (S)

Meatballs over Green Beans

Monday

Breakfast: Leftover Baked Oatmeal & 1/2 Banana (E)

Baked Oatmeal with Greek Yogurt
Lunch: Salad with Rotisserie Chicken, cheese and ranch (S)

Salad with Rotisserie Chicken
Snack: Popcorn & Turkey Deli Meat (E)
Dinner: Take Out From Tazikis (Beef Kabob, Greek Salad & Grilled Veggies) (S)
*This was takeout but I plan on making it soon. So good!

Beef Kabobs, Grilled Veggies & Greek Salad

Tuesday

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Sausage Breakfast Burrito on low carb tortilla (S)

Breakfast Taco with Sausage
Lunch: Lunch Out – Blackened Salmon Salad (S)
*This had a lot of black beans! I left a bunch on my plate – you can have 1/4 cup in an S.

Blackened Salmon Southwest Salad
Snack: No Snack (ate a late lunch)
Dinner: Sheet Pan Smoked Sausage and Veggies (S)
*I cooked gold potatoes and carrots on the same pan for the kids (which made their meal a XO). I just drizzled everything with olive oil, salt/pepper and some seasonings. 

Smoked Sausage & Grilled Veggies

Wednesday

Breakfast: Hard Boiled Eggs, Turkey Deli Meat and A slice of Cheese (S)

Breakfast - Turkey, Boiled Eggs and Almonds
Lunch: Buffalo Tuna on 2 Light Rye Wasa with LLC cheese wedge split between the two, Veggies & unpictured was a tablespoon of yogurt Ranch and a pouch of sour raisins (E) 
*Note: the buffalo tuna has a couple of questionable ingredients but I do fine with it. 

Tuna - Wasa & Veggies
Snack: Cashews and cucumbers (S)
Dinner: Fajita Pasta (Dreamfields) *Recipe Coming Soon (S)

Fajita Pasta

Thursday

Breakfast: Breakfast Taco with Sausage (S)

Breakfast Taco with Sausage - THM S
Lunch: Pimento Cheese & Fresh Veggies (S)
*Didn’t eat the carrots pictured. 

Pimento Cheese with Veggies
Snack: Berries and Oikos Triple 000 Greek Yogurt (FP)
Dinner: Asian Beef & Stir Fry Veggies from my Freezer Stash

Friday

Breakfast: Oikos Triple 000 & Lean Turkey Lunchmeat (FP)

Triple Zero & Turkey Deli Meat

Lunch: Chef Salad with Deli Meat and Cheese (S)

Chef Salad
Snack: Apple & Light String Cheese (E)
Dinner: Street Tacos with Mr. Tortilla shells (PC) – S Meal

Mr. Tortilla Street Tacos - THM S

Saturday

Breakfast: Egg Scramble with Cheese and Sausage, Strawberries

Egg Scramble with Berries - S
Lunch: Turkey Deli Meat, Bacon, Cheese & Mustard Wrap with a Side Salad (S)

Bacon Turkey Club Wrap & Side Salad

Snack: Charcuterie Tray (S)
Dinner: Steak, Roasted Broccoli, Baked Sweet Potato & a Caprese Salad (XO) 
*This was dinner at my Dad’s and I forgot to take a picture.

Click Trim Healthy Mama in the menu bar to check the “What I ate Wednesday” series which is a fun daily meal plan to give you meal ideas. 

Want More Meal Plans? 

THM Meal Plan 1/24-1/30/21

Weekly Meal Plan 1 

Weekly Meal Plan 2

1 Rotisserie Chicken, 5 THM Lunches

Lunch On THM – Tons of Easy Ideas

Join me on Instagram for daily food inspiration! And join our closed group on Facebook that is all about saving money on THM & daily deals! I’d love to have you! 

-Stacy

Filed Under: Featured, Meal Plans, Plan, Recipes, Trim Healthy Mama Tagged With: THM Meal Plan, Trim Healthy mama

Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan 1/24 – 1/31/21

January 24, 2021 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Welcome to the Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan for 1/24 – 1/31/21.

1-24-21 - 1-31-21 THM Weekly Meal Plan (1)

Hi! If you are looking for a weekly Trim Healthy Mama meal plan, you have come to the right place! First let’s talk about my meal planning style. 

I create a plan for breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks by day for the week. But then when Monday rolls around, I don’t necessarily eat for breakfast what I had planned for Monday. In fact, I might eat Saturday’s breakfast on Monday if it sounds good. I use the plan as a general guide for what I will eat in a given week but don’t force myself into it. 

I freely mix and match throughout the week according to what my body is craving. By planning, it helps me to ensure I have 7 dinners planned out to make the evening rush easier. It also helps me to make sure I don’t skip out on my E meals! 

Meal Plans are one week behind. Just to clarify, I release my meal plans the week after I eat them. This is done so that I can include more photos of the meals that I eat because I know some of you love pictures! They should still be seasonally appropriate. 

New to THM? Here is a brief summary of the plan and a guide to fuel rotations (like what the heck is an S, E or XO and when do I eat those letters?!).

Grab a free THM Meal planner here. 

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan 1/24 – 1/31/21

Let’s jump right in! Here is the Trim Healthy Mama meal plan 1/24- 1/31/21. 

Monday

Breakfast: Peanut Butter & Jelly Pressed Wrap (S)

Wrap Hack Quesadilla with PB&J

Lunch: Loaded Tuna Salad on sprouted bread with Celery (E)

Snack: Homemade P3 Snacks (S) 

Homemade P3 Snacks

Dinner: Take out (Wendy’s Avocado Chicken Salad + Small Chili – (XO) Fast Food Guide to THM

Wendy's Salad & Chili - THM XO

Tuesday

Breakfast: 2 Boiled Eggs with Everything with the Bagel Seasoning, Greek Yogurt & Berries (S)

BOiled Eggs & Strawberries - S

Lunch: Progresso Light Soup (FP)

Progresso Light - THM FP

Snack: Cottage cheese, berries and pecans (S) (5 Cottage Cheese Bowls) 

Dinner: Walking Ground Turkey Tacos or also called Tacos in a Bag – A fun family meal (E) 

If you have kids, make this for your family! They will think you are the coolest. Here is the Tacos in a Bag recipe.

THM Tacos In A Bag - E Meal

Wednesday

Breakfast: Breakfast Burrito – Eggs, bacon bits and cheese on low carb tortilla (S)

Lunch: Taco Salad with sour cream and cheese (S)

Taco Salad THM S

Snack: Homemade P3 Snacks (S)

Dinner: Steak, Smashed Gold Potatoes and Broccolini (XO)

Steak Broccolini And Smashed Potatoes XO

Thursday

Breakfast: Baked oatmeal (E)

Lunch: Lunch out at Chicken Salad Chick (Eating on Plan @ a Restaurant)

Snack: Greek Yogurt, Spoonful of PB with Chocolate Chips (S)

Dinner: Meatball Subs and Green Beans (S) I use this recipe, cook at freeze them ahead of time. Then I can pull just what I want out, warm in some pasta sauce and serve with a Joseph’s Pita. 

Friday

Breakfast: Cottage Cheese & Frozen Pineapple, Sprouted toast with 1/2 laughing cow and Simply Fruit (E)

Fruit & Cottage Cheese with Sprouted Toast E

Lunch:Tortilla Pizza  and salad with ranch (S)

THM S Tortilla Pizza

Snack: Homemade P3 Snacks 

Dinner: Frozen Burger patty cooked with mushrooms and salad (S) 

Saturday 

Breakfast: Leftover Baked Oatmeal with Greek Yogurt (E)

Baked Oatmeal Sugar Free with Greek Yogurt

Lunch: Chick-Fil-A Style Wrap Hack & Veggies (Yes I’m a little obsessed) (S)

Chick-Fil-A Wrap Hack

Snack: Lean Turkey deli meat and 2 Cutie Oranges (E)

Dinner: Grilled Chicken Quarter and Cheesy Zucchini (S)

Sunday

Breakfast: One Eye with sausage (S Helper) Here is a link to a kid’s holiday one eye that I make for my kids. Just use sprouted bread. I’m not even sure this qualifies for an S Helper because I don’t eat the middle of the bread that I pull out. It could just be an S but we will call it an S Helper to be safe.

Lunch: Homemade Lunchable

iHomemade Lunchable

Snack: Greek Yogurt, Spoonful of PB with Chocolate Chips

Dinner: Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Smashed Gold Potatoes and Green Beans (E) As long as you cook your food with minimal fat, this can stay in E territory. 

I don’t normally eat potatoes twice in one week but the smashed potatoes have been tasting so good lately!

Desserts:

Toffee Pecans (recipe coming soon) 

Two Good Yogurt and Lily’s Chocolate Chips

Jif Peanut Butter (the best sugar free peanut butter ever created!) & Bake Believe Chocolate

Jif PB & Chocolate

Click Trim Healthy Mama in the menu bar to check the “What I ate Wednesday” series which is a fun daily meal plan to give you meal ideas. 

Want More Meal Plans? 

Weekly Meal Plan 1 

Weekly Meal Plan 2

1 Rotisserie Chicken, 5 THM Lunches

Lunch On THM – Tons of Easy Ideas

Join me on Instagram for daily food inspiration! And join our closed group on Facebook that is all about saving money on THM & daily deals! I’d love to have you! 

-Stacy

 

Filed Under: Featured, Meal Plans, Trim Healthy Mama Tagged With: meal plan, THM, Trim Healthy mama

What To Eat When Sick On THM

July 7, 2020 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Find a list of what to eat when sick on THM to keep you on plan while you recover from an illness.

There are lots of Trim Healthy Mama store bought and homemade options to help you feel better quickly when under the weather.

THM Sick Kit - How to Stay on Plan when Under the Weather (1)

With everything going on lately, sickness has been top of mind for a lot of people. 

As COVID-19 continues to rise, making a plan for yourself if you have flu like symptoms seems like a prudent decision. And preparing for what to eat when sick on THM is probably easier than you might think. 

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Medical Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical professional. If you are ill, seek the advice of your doctor. 

What To Eat When Sick On THM

When you are not feeling well, cooking up a meal in the kitchen is probably the last thing on your mind. But you have to eat and stay hydrated! 

Here is a big list of store bought on plan approved items and recipes to make homemade soups and more to get though through a couple of sick days. 

Store Bought THM Sick Kit Options 

These store bought options will help to keep you hydrated.

  • Progresso Light Soups
  • Kettle & Fire Bone Broth
  • Sprouted Toast (Check out the list of THM Approved breads here)
  • Mary’s Gone Crackers or Wasa Crackers
  • Zevia Ginger Ale – Ginger Ale is a great way to soothe a bad tummy & this Zevia option is sugar free.
  • THM Hydrates – get your extra water in when you need it!
  • Coconut Water – Normally you limit this to small amounts according to THM app but if your sick and you can tolerate it, I would drink it. 

If you have been suffering from a stomach virus, you may want to follow a BRAT diet. And lucky for you the BRAT diet has all the THM staples on it. 

So what does BRAT stand for? Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast.

B – Bananas (E fuel)
R – Brown Rice (E fuel)
A – Unsweetened Applesauce (E Fuel)
T – Sprouted Toast (E Fuel)

THM Cookbook or THM Blogger Recipes

Of course, if you have some energy, plan ahead or are taking care of a sick family member, you can make some recipes from the THM cookbook or from your favorite Trim Healthy Mama bloggers for your “sick day.” 

  • Singing Canary Drink – Immune boosting beverage that will drown you in Vitamin C!
  • Elderberry Good Girl Moonshine by Joy Filled Eats
  • Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Bone Broth – This is great to make ahead and keep in your freezer for when illness strikes.
  • Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup by My Table of Three
  • 15 Minute White Chicken Chili – A Pantry Meal by Protecting Your Pennies

Trim Healthy Mama and OTC Medications 

Over the counter meds and the THM plan cause questions for a lot of beginners. 

Because guess what? There is sugar in a lot of these meds. You know, they put sugar in everything! 

Here are a couple of options that can be used on plan: 

  • Manuka Honey – Natural remedy that may help a sore throat. Manuka is the recommended choice of honey for medicinal purposes by the sisters.
  • XLEAR Cough Drops – Sweetened with Xylitol and Stevia

Keep reading for my personal thoughts on OTC meds and staying on plan. 

Illness and Staying On Plan 

Whether you are sick with a stomach bug, an upper respiratory infection or maybe suffering through the early stages of pregnancy with a bad case of morning sickness, being sick and staying on plan is definitely doable but it can be tough. 

If you have read the 5 THM things I don’t do, you know that I am somewhat of a THM rebel at times. I do what works for me and thanks to following the plan *most* of the time, I lost the 60 lbs that I gained while pregnant with my second child. 

And for that weight loss I am so thankful for this plan. However, I believe that when you are sick, you can get a hall pass of sorts. 

So if you can stay on plan doing the things mentioned above, you go girl! 

But if you are struggling to keep things down and the thought of a piece of sprouted bread makes you want to vomit, by all means don’t eat it. If a big piece of white bread is literally the only thing that your 9 weeks pregnant body can tolerate, feed that baby. 

Don’t get dehydrated or further your misery just to stay on plan. 

If you can stay on plan while ill, great. If you need to drink a Gatorade or eat a saltine to get better, do it. Then get back on plan as soon as you are feeling up to it. 

Need a XO? Eat one. Again, don’t beat yourself up while you are sick. Give yourself grace, nourish your body the best you can and heal.

Remember to always check with your physician if you are concerned about symptoms, an illness or your diet. 

THM Sick Day on Plan food to stock up on (1)

Filed Under: Featured, Plan, Trim Healthy Mama Tagged With: ill, sick day, soup, THM, Trim Healthy mama, under the weather

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 8
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Subscribe & Never Miss a Recipe!

A Little About Me

Hey - I'm Stacy! Join me on a journey to buy smart, plan and save so that you can also PLAY!

Copyright © 2021 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in