Trim Healthy Mama {Review}

I have a confession to make.  I started hearing all about Trim Healthy Mama on Facebook, my friends in the home education support group I attend and on Pinterest in the middle of last year.  I finally read Gwen's review and took the plunge, I purchased THM in January and when it arrived it sat on my bedside table for six months (this is my biggest regret... to think I could have been eating on plan for the last ten months and reached my weight goal by Christmas !?!)

I liked them on FB and read the testimony of an older lady whose health had been turned around and I shared that with my Mom and gave her my copy of the book. She has many health issues and has struggled to loose weight for the last few years, in fact she has steadily gained weight... Slowly slowly she has tried and applied the principles.  The weight numbers started going in the right direction and the inches are falling off of her. One day I noticed that she looked different and finally asked and her reply 8 kg (17.6 pounds) with THM! I was shocked. Now I knew I couldn't ignore my own weight/health issues any longer I needed this book too...

I so badly wanted to try what she was doing so I contacted THM to see if they had any review copies available.  Within hours they had responded and blessed me with a pdf copy of The Trim Healthy Mama.  I have put it onto my Galaxy Tab 2 but was finding it slow reading on there.  Thankfully this week a friend explained to me how to email it to my Kindle.  So much easier to read.

About the book

To be honest I have not finished reading this book.  It's 600 pages of information. I'm a fast reader but this stuff is paradigm changing and I find I need to re-read in order to grasp some concepts.  It's not hard it's just loads of information shared in a conversational tone. Pearl and Serene share their journey honestly and openly and are not afraid to say when they have a difference of opinion or experience in a certain area. 

I'm a tactile book girl so I took my pdf and printed the recipe section and had it spiral bound at our local stationary store.  I chose to print them single sided so that I would have the blank sides to write up my tweaks and the new recipes that I find over on {Trim Healthy Tuesday} a weekly blog hop where many Trim Healthy Mama's are sharing their creations.

I am in the process of saving to purchase a paperback version of the book in order to use tabs for easy reference as suggested by Gwen's Trim Healthy Mama Quick Start Guide.  I will be keeping it on my Kindle for easy portability and am pleased that I will have both the digital and paperback versions.

Our Experience
I am not a fan of coconut.  Period.  I really struggled with the concept of using so much coconut based products.  My mother wisely came over with some bread in a mug for lunch and needless to say the rest is history.  It was delicious and oh so very satisfying.  She made one batch and it was enough for the two of to enjoy.  That was all I needed in order to pluck up the courage to purchase ingredients and start my journey. I have made this for Paul and he is super impressed with how satisfying it is to eat.  He thought he would get hungry and have to eat but was pleasantly surprised that he did not.  I gave him bacon and eggs on bread in a mug. 

I then tried my hand at cheese cake.  Next time I will make this with more stevia. I served him this for breakfast with cream and berries.  Neither of us were hungry all morning.  He was rather surprised that this was diet food (and sceptical until I told how much weight I had lost in the first week ...) !

We are still in the early stages of using THM and I will write a follow up post after I get my head around the method. Now let me think there is something about S meals, FP meals, E meals and cross overs.  Once I get all this untangled in my head I will share more.  It's not difficult it's just a new way of classifying your food in order not to create a weight gaining environment in your body.

I was a sceptical because I was under the impression that I would be constantly counting carbs, points or something but I was encouraged to  “Never include large amounts of both fats and carbs in the same meal unless you are trying to gain or maintain weight. In other words, don’t tandem fuel.” Page 64  and "We don't want you doing a bunch of carb counting , which only leads to needless obsessions and detracts from happiness." I am pleased to say that the THM have done this work for you already by labelling the meals in the the recipe section with the letters S, FP and E.  I just haven't quiet understood how to use them yet.


I purchased

Australian THM products

• Coconut oil
• Flax meal
• Almond meal
• Cocoa
• Coconut
• Baking powder
• Vanilla Essence
• Happy Cow Cheese (full and reduced fat)
• Barley wraps
• Coconut cream
• Onion flakes
• Eggs

My grocery cupboard is being transformed.  My cravings are diminishing.  I used to crave chocolate and thought I would miss it.  The truth is I'm not.  Yes I do love chocolate but I don't have this driving urge to purchase and eat it all the time since I started THM.

Some people complain that it's expensive.  We are on a very tight budget.  There is no room to sneeze.  Yes some things are expensive and I will need to save for two or three paydays in order to purchase them but having said that the ingredients last because they are not things you need to stock up on every week.  So all I am doing is purchasing one to two items to add to my cupboard a fortnight and that is completely doable.

My numbers

• Week 1 - 1.3 kg (2.87 pounds)
• Week 2 - 1.4 kg (3.08 pounds)
• Week 3
• Week 4

I have a very long way to go but this will be a good journey.  I know that I am not going to be hungry and am not going to spend hours counting calories, points, carbs etc. I am going to enjoy becoming a Trim Healthy Mama! I will update here over the next few weeks with my numbers as I use the plan more and more foods as well as share some recipe's.

Some tasty easy recipes to try

• Singing Canary 
• The Shrinker My mom loves this drink.  The jury is still out here ;)
• Good Girl Moon Shine still need to try this one
• Caramel Apple Good Girl Moon Shine
• Spinach Bacon Breakfast Bake  
• Fooled Ya Pizza  {The Best Gluten-Free Pizza Crust EVER!} 

What some others have said

• Negatives of Trim Healthy Mama, THM oh I enjoyed this post so refreshing and encouraging. Angie has lost 17 pounds in 5 weeks and is keeping on.  She is part of the crew with me and says this is the best thing she has done for her weight loss / healthy living journey ever.  I loved this post because it is real. THM Week 9 Going Strong! Feeling Strong!
• Trim Healthy Mama Book Review over at Gwen's Nest. This is a review that sparked my interest.
• Change Your Life: Become a Trim Healthy Mama

Resources

• Trim Healthy Mama Recipes All recipes are marked {s} for higher fat, lower carb; {e} for higher carb, lower fat; or {fp)} for both low fat and low carb.
• Trim healthy mama recipes fuel pull
• Skinny Chocolate tweaked by Susan Priolo
• Trim Healthy Mama Quick Start Guide over at Gwen's Nest
• If you are looking for THM inspiration.  Pop on over to {Trim Healthy Tuesday} this is a weekly link up with recipes from all over bloggy world.  The photographs are mouth watering! 
• 10 Tips to Make Trim Healthy Mama Easier.  over at The Blue House blog. 
• Trim Healthy Mama Store
• Trim Healthy Mama bloggers to follow.
• Small things by Nona full of wonderful THM recipes 
• Trim Healthy Recipes over at Stacy Makes Cents
• Trim Healthy Me Full of great recipes 
• The Laundry Mom's have fun with THM recipes 

Buy the Book

• 
  Kindle
• Paperback
• Amazon
• Book Depository

Connect with THM

• Trim Healthy Mama Facebook Fan Page
• Trim Healthy Mama in Australia Facebook closed group.
• Allergen Free Trim Healthy Mama Facebook closed group
• Trim Healthy Mama Website
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• Forum

I just want to say thank you so much to Serene and Pearl for giving me this opportunity to shout out for your book and blessing our family.  For my readers I would love to encourage you to save up and purchase this book it is well worth it's investment.  It is a book full of helpful information, an abundant recipe section and tons of encouragement.  It is not full of difficult jargon and is a book that will transform your life and your body whether you have lots to loose or a little, whether you are pregnant or breast feeding or just needing to get healthy this book is for you. You can use all the recipes and start at any point.

Be blessed and I look forward to reading your experiences with Trim Healthy Mama.
Blessings
Chareen 

HSMJ the scales ...

In my life this week in the past two weeks…
Grrr I'm feeling a little frustrated with Pinterest's latest update preventing me from pinning more than 15 pins from the web at a sitting.  It's so annoying!
I have recently started investigating The Trim Healthy Mama and so far both Paul and I are impressed with how satisfying the meals are.  I have been inspired by my mother ... This week Sir N has been sampling THM foods with me.  He has been tasting my Singing Canary drinks I have been making each day.  I am trying to tweak it to my personal taste ...
I am also enjoying the photographs and video's that are being shared on the Prince William and Kate Facebook page.

In our home school this week…

• Sir N so enjoyed that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle that we are off to the library to borrow another book in the series.
• He is also enjoying The Usborne Time Traveler so much so that he can't wait for us to go to Rome!
• I'm so enjoying listening to him read I Can Read It! Book 2 to me.  
• Today Sir N and I are going to the library to get some books to continue our Expedition Earth journey.  He loves traveling the world.
• This week we have been working through triple digit subtraction with borrowing.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• 25 Homeschooling Truths I Wish I’d Known over at Homeschool Diaries
• FREE Australian birds flash cards to download. 
• The Schoolhouse Review Crew 2014 applications are now up.
• I love visiting Suzie's Home Education ideas for inspiration.
• If you have children who are into all things space, have a look at TIME's Endeavour Space Shuttle Exclusive: A Timelapse of A Final Ride .
• 40 Maps They Didn’t Teach You In School
• Leap into Literature Three Weeks in over at Seven Little Australians

I am inspired by…

• The Heart of the Matter.  Take some time to watch this it's half an hour and thought provoking. It talks about fats in our diets. Part two will air next Thursday. Here is a link to the full page of links - Heart of the Matter > Does high cholesterol really increase your risk of heart attacks?
• 'Home birth is not a wild or erratic choice': Doula and photographer shares intimate images of labor to 'demystify' experience 

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• Tennis
• A play date with a friend.
• Driving teenagers around to appointments all week ...
• We went to the bank and opened a savings account for Sir N.  So much fun.  Sir N wants to save for a digital camera that has a good zoom lens.

My favourite thing this week was…

• Climbing on the scales and finally seeing the numbers go in the right direction.  I've been watching my Mom and sister in law start on The Trim Healthy Mam so I started using some of their recipes last week.  (More of my story later ...)
• I'm so proud of my daughter she has been saving up to purchase a car and finally met her goals.  She went to pay and pick up a beautiful Nissan Micra on Wednesday.

What’s working/not working for us…

• Earlier bed times ...sometimes

Things I’m working on…

• Reading and trying to understand The Trim Healthy Mama.  In my endevours I have been stalking the Facebook groups and reading some blog posts like these Wk 1 Observations Trim Healthy Mama–New Habits and THM Week 9 Going Strong! Feeling Strong!
• Sharing what Membership on the Schoolhouse Review Crew means to me.
• I finally remembered that I had a voucher to purchase a personalized planner and it was about to expire. Not a good idea to throw away $45 so I had fun creating one and it's in the process of being made and will be sent out soon!
• Virtual Fridge blog hop.

On my bedside table

• Trim Healthy Mama
• At home in Dogwood Mudhole by Franklin Sanders. I'm enjoying this book. Beautifully written.
• The Fourth Kingdom really enjoyed this book.  Great read.  I'm even more pleased that I had the sequel to jump straight into.
• The sequel to The Fourth Kingdom The Force. This book is a sit on the edge of your chair thriller. Loved every minitute of this read. Challenging topics and thought provoking information

In Bloggy world I’m reading…

• Our First Australia Trip over at Dingo Den.
•  Highlighting Is a Waste of Time: The Best and Worst Learning Techniques
• Fit Mom Defends Controversial Photo: 'I Never Called You Fat'
• Fit Mom's Facebook Photo Gets Major Backlash  
• Shocked to read this: Weep for your children: Sex Week at the University of Maryland :( 
• 10 Things You Should Never Say to a Mom of a Big Family 
• Making Home Made Butter 
• This Guy’s Wife Got Cancer, So He Did Something Unforgettable. 
• 21 Ways to Raise a Daughter to Rebel and Despise You  
• Creative Dad Takes Crazy Photos Of Daughters 

I’m cooking…

• Bread in a Mug
• Singing Canary - definitely trying to tweak this so it tastes better!  I like the positive health benefits and it's better than the amount of tea I normally consume but I need to tweak it to be a little more sweet.
• Cheesecake Really like this.  Will be adding this to our diet regularly.

On Pinterest I found...

• Suzie's Home Education Ideas

I’m grateful for…

• People who are willing to talk about things truthfully, that are not worried about political correctness.  I really enjoyed what Tim Elmore had to say in this article: How Adults are Stealing Ambition From Kids.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
A New Perspective For Moms from Elevation Church on Vimeo.
Blessings

Chareen

Photo collages made with: Photoscape a FREE photo editor

Schoolhouse Review Crew taking applications

Oh my I'm so excited.  I can't believe it has been a year since I first filled in an application to join the Schoolhouse Review Crew!  From today until November 8th the Schoolhouse Review Crew are accepting applications for the 2014 review year beginning in December / January.  Being a part of this crew has opened many doors for me and I have been mentored and encouraged every single week on my journey with these wonderful ladies. I have enjoyed this year and so has Sir N.  When I asked him whether he wanted to do it again he said yes please.

It has been a great learning curve and I am looking forward to the possibility of doing a second year with the crew. All of these things were optional and none were obligatory.

Are you a homeschool blogger?

Are you a curriculum junkie?

Do you enjoy writing reviews?

Then you might be perfect for the Crew! 

Some requirements for being a part of the Crew include the following: 

• First of all you must be a homeschool mom or dad. You don’t have to homeschool all of your children, but you must homeschool at least one. 

• You must be willing to use the review products for about six weeks in your homeschool, before writing your review. Review periods have deadlines and requirements for the reviews. You must be willing to follow these requirements. No, that doesn’t mean you must write a positive review. But it does mean that there are certain elements that are required. And the deadlines are firm. If you are often late for deadlines, the Crew is probably not for you. 

• You must have a blog on which to publish your reviews, and be sure you have an active blog with a following. By active blog, I mean that you should be blogging regularly, at least weekly, about your family and homeschool (in addition to your reviews). Your blog should have followers — RSS feed or email subscribers, as well as in social media. The Crew does not accept brand new bloggers who just set up their blogs for the purposes of applying to the team. 

• Are you using social media to promote your blog? Activity on at least one social media platform is a requirement to serve on the Crew. Which one is up to you — Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Google Plus are the options. You will need to be willing to promote your reviews there and post a widget or plug-in publicly on your blog, indicating how many followers you have in social media. 

• You must be willing to check into the Crew's Review Management forum. This is where information is disseminated to the team. The leadership does everything possible to make things easy for us, outside of writing the actual review, but you need to be willing to participate by checking in almost daily. 

• Sample reviews are helpful. If you’ve never written a review on your blog, go ahead and write one for curriculum you are currently using in your homeschool. This will help the leaders see how you approach writing reviews. 

Why should you want to be a part? 
Our Crew of over 250 review bloggers has been serving the homeschool community for more than 5 years. As a respected review team, we take this job very seriously and will insist you do as well. The leadership provides an incredible amount of assistance to help us be the best bloggers, homeschool parents, and of course, reviewers we can be. They provide a mentoring program for new members, a social media networking group, many blog and social media tutorials, and lots of incredible opportunities for our team, including blog carnivals, the opportunity to guest post on the Crew blog, and the blessing of some incredible friendships. You can read more about what being a member has meant to ten of the crew over at the crew blog.


Some of the opportunities I have had this year 

• the privilege of reviewing over $1,000 worth of home school products, 
• partake in blog cruises,
  Recipe Share - Angry Bird Tutorial  
  The Subject I enjoy most - My Passion: Chronological History 
  Winter Nature Study - Winter Nature Study is it Possible ? 
  A Look Back - A Year of His Abundant Blessings
  What if there was no Money for Homeschool Curriculum - HELP There's NO money for Curriculum!
  Our Homeschool Day in Pictures - Join us for a day homeschooling {A Photo Diary}
  Fall into Nature - Compost in a Bottle {Science Experiment}
• crew interview opportunities and 
• two 5 day blog hops
  5 Days of Curriculum Choices
  5 Days of Teaching Creatively. 
• Social Media Support Group

How can you apply? 
After making sure you meet all of the requirements, if you believe you would to an asset to the Schoolhouse Review Crew and wish to join us, please click over to the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to apply.

Come be a part of The Old Schoolhouse family! I will be handing in my application to return to the crew for the year ahead and look forward to meeting you on board the 2014 season should I be selected.

Blessings
Chareen