*In reference to the above picture: due to the fact that I avoid the camera, I couldn't locate a "before" picture. Not sure if this is the best "after" picture, but here it is nonetheless*
After I had Josie (now 15 months old), I reached the point where I was past ready for a CHANGE. I've been overweight 85% of my life, and have bemoaned my dissatisfaction therewith to my husband for most of our marriage. He'd always say something like, "You're the only one who can do anything about it", then usually followed it with "but I love you just the way you are." The fact is, I did not love me just the way I was.
I joined Weight Watchers, which has always worked for me (up to about a 15 lb loss), but I got to the point that I was burned out with it. After 15 lbs I would start to lag and have to work harder at it, then I'd get discouraged and quit and the cycle would begin once again. Then one day while reading an Above Rubies newsletter, I saw an advertisement for the Trim Healthy Mama book. It piqued my interest, as I have always had a lot of confidence in and respect for the wisdom of Nancy Campbell and her family. It was a little on the pricey side, but I saved up my birthday money that year and ordered the book.
I have to be honest with you--at first, I was a little intimidated. The book has "more pages than the Bible", as a friend of ours recently put it, and it taking in all that information seemed a little daunting. So I put it to the side. That was in January of 2013. A few months later, I noticed my brother and sis-in-law saying things at the Sunday dinner table like, "We can have the sweet potatoes, but just not combined with a fat." I also noticed my brother, who has carried around extra weight as long as I have, dropping weight like lightning. This, of course, was due to their implementing the Trim Healthy Mama plan. So, I picked up my book and dove in. I read it a couple of times, then started to experiment with different recipes. In mid-September, I took the plunge and went all the way with it.
By Christmas, I had already lost 35 pounds! And never added up a single point, or counted a single calorie. I ate things like fried eggs (in coconut oil) for breakfast, a fajita-steak wrap for lunch (complete with sour cream and cheese), and grilled chicken with parmesan crusted zucchini for supper. And these are just a few examples of the delicious foods that I eat every day while the pounds melt off. Since Christmas, I have lost about 15 more pounds, putting me at a round-about total of 50 lbs.
My goal is 80 lbs, so I still have a ways to go. I have now reached that "donkey weight" that doesn't want to move, and I am probably going to have to include an exercise regime to get the rest of it off. Yes, I have lost 50 lbs in 7 months without exercising consistently (although THM strongly recommends it).
I cannot say it enough. I LOVE living the THM lifestyle!! It's the best thing I have ever done, health-wise, and I am never looking back! I have changed my lifestyle for good. There's no need (or desire) to go back to my old ways. I eat delicious, satisfying meals, snacks, and desserts every day and they are all working for me to bring me to that goal weight.
A couple of months ago, I was walking across the church parking lot when a friend yelled from her car, "Hey, girl, you look good! What have you been doing?" I replied, "T.H.M." She looked at me with a confused look on her face, then yelled back, "G.O.O.D!" (lol). And yes, it is soo good!
