Trim Healthy Mama Diet

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Ok, kids. I just met my new work friend yesterday for dinner. Since we were eating, she was telling me this diet that she and her family have been doing for the last 3 years. She said that she used to be around 170 lbs and is now 135. She could have been less, but she started not to look good so now she is on the "maintenance" part of the diet.

The diet is called "Trim Healthy Mama". If anyone here has been on the diet, please post.

I looked into the diet and so far have only been able to skim the important parts because of too much homework. However, I do plan on trying this diet. I looked at some of the foods that are approved to eat and have already purchased those to arrive today from Hyvee. I eat pretty healthy now - so I thought. My grocery list surrounds the following: fat free coffee creamer, fat free almond milk for protein shakes, romaine lettuce and other vegetables, fat free salad dressings, natural chicken, low fat turkey from the deli, fat free yogurt, raisins, bananas, green giant frozen vegetable that are low fat, teas with honey, and protein bars. I also have stopped all alcohol, drink no soft drinks (even diet) except for a special occasion, and take vitamins and supplements. I do have the occasional cinnamon roll or cookie, but it is not a habit. I also exercise quite a bit with cardio when school permits. One would think that I would have lost a lot of weight once I stopped drinking, but no. I have been following a low fat diet and low carb for the most part, but according to this Trim Healthy Mama diet, that is the wrong way to eat. It should be high fat and high protein and then carbs with both being done at separate times and cut down on sugar. When my friend told me this, I was skeptical until she told me how much weight she and her family have lost and that she just got back some blood labs and all of her labs were great including HDL, LDL and triglycerides. After finding that out, I am definitely willing to try this diet. Looking at what I am eating, I find that I am getting way too much sugar - in my creamer, in my yogurt and in my fruit intake, just to name a few. That has to change and I find myself laughing when I say this, but I am taking in way too little fat.

So, after reading some of this diet - I also got the book which I intend to read in full, and I am on Facebook now and trying to be admitted to a closed group made just for this diet. I have found tons of info on Pinterest and the internet in general. I have found some "cheat sheets" for food that are allowed. I made my grocery order last night and made some changes - I added low fat cottage cheese which I have eaten in the past anyway and can add Stevia, salmon, and changed my yogurt from Activia to Oikos Triple Zero Greek yogurt, and get this - I ADDED dark chocolate AND FULL FAT pepper jack cheese (my favorite) which I never allowed myself to eat because of the fat content. I also changed my fat free Coffeemate to sugar free Coffeemate instead. I am going to have the worst time with this.I also got several bottles of sugar free barbeque sauce (which I eat a lot of). I'm having a problem finding a decent salad dressing because my fat free dressing is full of sugar. This diet allows also chicken, lean deli meat, lean turkey, tuna, turkey breast, eggs and these can be fattening eggs, REAL BUTTER, ALL CHEESES, HEAVY CREAM - all things that I normally eat minus the fat, but now I can have the fattening ones! It all depends on when you eat them.

Some other things I have been eating that I shouldn't be according to this diet are the fruits (love fruits) and corn. Too much sugar. OK. I just read a cheat sheet on the fruits from a web site called "Gwen's Nest" which my friend also told me about. It says to "skip the bananas and dried fruit", but you can have any other fruit. There's my problem - I eat bananas and raisins.

I have to read up more on everything and find out when each food is supposed to be eaten and then I'll post more. One other thing.....this diet does not require exercise. I still plan to do exercise.

I just got accepted into the Trim Healthy Mama site on Facebook! Woo Hoo!

To lose fat, you have to be in an energy deficit, whether you eat high carb or high fat doesn't really matter. There are no magic foods for weight loss. Exercise doesn't matter either besides increasing your energy expenditure.(It is still good for you however)

High protein is beneficial for preserving muscle and bone mass though, and fat intake shouldn't ever be lower than 0.3g/lbs body weight.

Any diet that is dogmatic and unscientific(like this one) is a waste of time. Eat the foods you like, and keep protein high, fiber moderate, and track your calorie intake with something like myfitnesspal.
Telling people not to eat fruit is just completely stupid.

People love to believe that they've found the "magic diet", but truth is that this doesn't exist. I've seen fitness models and bodybuilders(natural ones mind you), get completely shredded on all kinds of diets, low carb, low fat, vegan, paleo ect.

All diets work as long as you are in an energy deficit.

My friend just told me to try Paul Newman's balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Hmm. This may be difficult too. OK. I found Newman's Own that has a triple bundle of Olive Oil and Vinegar, Balsamic Vinaigrette, and Family Recipe Italian. Due to come from Amazon on Sunday!

How does one get an energy deficit? Exercise? Taking in less than one expends?

There has to be something to it if one can eat high fat foods and lose weight without exercise. The medical community has always preached on a low fat diet. I was also watching Jackie Warner and she said the problem is not fat - it's sugar. I'm just saying there has to be something to it after seeing my friend and the weight she has lost because of the diet she is on and also having good lab numbers.

You can eat fruit, just not bananas and dried fruit - I just found this out.

My friend Mary found out that she wasn't losing weight because she was drinking too much fruit juice. Fruit juice is notoriously high in sugar content. I have to try this because I'm not losing the weight I want to lose and I eat a good diet. I can't figure out what is going on. I even get high fiber with Metamucil added in. And I get high protein with all of the protein shakes and protein bars, turkey, etc. Alcohol also turns to sugar which is why the weight gain. I have to be doing something wrong.

Eat something every 3 hours is part of the plan - this I have also heard before to keep metabolism up.

You eat less than your body needs. If your body gets less food than it needs to function, IT HAS TO get that energy else where, and it gets that from the fat on your body. Exercise increases the amount of energy you use, but it is not needed.

When people switch to high fat diets, they lose alot of WEIGHT almost immiediately, but most of that weight is just stored glycogen and water. That's where alot of the confusion arises. They're not actually losing more FAT. The energy deficit will dictate the amount of fat you will lose, no matter the diet.

The medical community has always been lacking in education when it comes to nutrition, but that's not necessarily their fault. Fat is not the enemy, but neither are carbs. Sugar only seems to be a problem when fiber intake is low.

In my opinion, a well formulated diet has a foundation of protein, fiber and the minimun required amount of fat, other than that it's all preference.

Low carb diets also run into some problems long term, because carbohydrates(specifically glucose, not fructose) stimulate several hormones that regulate metabolism aswell as hunger.

So if you do decide to go low carb, I would atleast get some carbs in once a week.

I have done the eating less. I don't lose any weight because my metabolism is slowed down - even though I exercise to try to keep it up. If anything, I need to not think of this as a diet, but a way of life. Reality is that I'm taking in too much sugar. I need to change that while increasing my protein and fiber intake along with increasing the good fats. I think this diet probably is all about eating right. I remember doing Slim for Life and people who did that "diet" did lose lots of weight and most without exercise. I still believe in exercise as a necessity just for good health. This diet does have carbs, but something about certain ones that are not good for you. I eat a lot of corn which is a starch and not good. I also need to drink more water, but I already knew that. I don't understand why water intake is so difficult to achieve. It's all about making something into a habit too and getting used to it. Once you cut sugar out you don't crave it anymore. I never crave soda now. If I eat cookies - I end up binging and it takes about a week not to have the cravings for sweets again.

I'm wondering what effect cortisol has. I know I have read that women who have a lot of stress produce a lot of cortisol and this turns to fat. I know I'm stressed. I'll have to look into that more later.

My groceries arrived. They made a boo boo and delivered regular Coffeemate. I will still drink it. Thank God I only got 4. I also have organic chicken with calorie free bbq sauce. I didn't even know they had such a thing. And a yogurt that has no sugar. Here goes......

Bbq sauce is very thin, but not a deal breaker. The price might be for some - $3.50 for a 12 oz. I used about 20% of the bottle in one use. The bottle said that you can save about 330 calories a day which is probably true because I used to drench my meat in bbq sauce.

The yogurt is another story. It doesn't taste as good without the sugar. I'll have to see if I can get use to it. I got chocolate and vanilla flavored.

I haven't had any sugar since my coffee. I'm starting to crave some sugar. Normally I'd reach for a few raisins. Hmm.

OMG. I got this dark chocolate bar and I took one bite and....I can't handle it. I thought maybe it was baker's chocolate, no. I looked it up on Amazon and people are giving it 5 stars! It's Green and Blacks Organic Dark Chocolate 85%. I don't know what to think. I like Hershey's special dark, but this crap? Maybe I have been having too much sugar. Idk.