Rah Rahing THM

Today's weigh in followed a really chaotic and nerve rattling week. While they are much much much better, I still have the occasional mental and emotional switch flip when things start feeling out of control and I want to soothe myself with carbs and sugar, but I have managed to stay on course. Still, I knew that this week was not going to show the results I wanted, however......likely the results I deserved. 

Someone told me a couple of weeks ago (once again), that my "rah rah" cheer leading about THM and my progress and the fact that nearly every week I have lost "something" were not realistic and that I was setting people up to fail if they went by my "results." I had to point out that my results were doable by anyone as losing 23 lbs in 11 weeks was not unrealistic at all. In fact, I likely could have "realistically" lost more had I exercised regularly and thrown in a few more FP snacks and traded out some S meals for some E's. However, I am very pleased with my progress and if I seem to be "rah rahing" about THM, it is because I can literally have my cake and lose weight too.

I have also had a couple of people who have been reading my weekly blogs, who have asked me about THM. They have even gone so far as to buy the books. One has read the book and has already told me that she simply "can't" do it. It is too hard and she has absolutely no idea how I ever figured it out. I do feel for her as I know that is pretty much how I felt at first. That is why it took me almost two years before I decided to jump in head first and give it my all. So how did I figure it all out? I didn't! No seriously. What I did do was join all the THM facebook pages that I could and I bought the THM Cookbook. The cookbook was really what did it for me.

In the THM cookbook, the recipes are divided by breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, etc and in each category the recipes are then divided by S, E and FP. I no longer had to figure out what was what. I simply decided on what type of meal, snack, etc that I wanted and then made the recipe. It took all the thinking out of it and if you know me at all, you know that is a really good thing. After a bit of doing this, then things started clicking in my head as to how I could combine the meals in a day that best suited my weight loss. For me, when I really am serious about taking the pounds off, I eat two E meals, one S meal and 2-3 FP snacks per day. Invariably when I eat like this, I have at least a 2-3 lb. loss that week. And no, I don't measure or think about portions. I usually eat until I am full, but I do try to add more veggies, especially if I think I need a second helping. Speaking of veggies, my favorite side dish is broccoli/cauliflower mashed fauxtatoes. They appear as a side extravaganza to many of my meals.

So what are some of my favorites where meals and snacks are concerned? For breakfast, because I am not typically a breakfast eater, I have learned to start my day with an E smoothie. Just about any one from the book is great and after a bit, you learn to put your own slant on the recipes to make them better suited to your tastes.

Lunches for me are easiest because again, I like to stay on the E side of things. One of my favorite E lunches is two slices of sprouted bread with Peanut Junkie Butter and Slim Belly Jelly (both recipes in the cookbook) with lean turkey meat. On the side I will have homemade pico de gallo and maybe some cucumbers for good measure.

Supper/Dinner is usually an S and I have tried most of the recipes in the cookbook. I have yet to find one that wasn't satisfying and family pleasing. One of my favorites is the meatloaf. It is absolutely delicious and dare I say......it is even better than my mothers recipe!

For my snacks, I have an insatiable sweet tooth, but with that being said, I try hard to stick to FP's. My two favorites are Cottage Berry Whip and Glucci Pudding. Again, both recipes are in the book and both feed my sweet tooth nicely. With the Cottage Berry Whip, I use 1% cottage cheese (I buy mine at Aldi) and I switch between blueberries, strawberries, pumpkin and lemon juice. I have even taken the mixture and put it in the freezer. When frozen, it tastes just like ice cream. With the Glucci Pudding I love to switch between chocolate, vanilla and caramel. You feel like you are eating dessert and cheating all at the same time. It truly makes me happy.

So this week, I knew I didn't do as well as I could have. I fell off my tried and true formula and probably had more S meals than I should have. I didn't drink as much water as normal and I knew that this time around, the big number was not likely to be there. I was right. I'm good though. I lost 6/10ths of a pound and as I always say....a loss is a loss. 

I guess what I feel like I need to keep stressing is, yes.....maybe I am rah rahing THM, but it is not without reason. This is the first time in my life that I have been able to lose substantial weight without starving myself or taking diet pills. This is me.....eating, getting healthy and losing weight. The bottom line.....if I can do it....anyone can. You just have to have faith in yourself and know that you are truly worth it. Then I guarantee you.....that you will be rah rahing too.