to your health

Some time back towards the beginning of this year I decided that my looming health issues had to be halted. Being on medications just is not an option for me until I know that I have at least tried to treat my body better and in return it returning to normal. I wasn’t really looking for a weight loss plan. I had just decided that I needed to eat more normally (nixing so many cheetos) and move my body more.

Because not eating is never an option for me due to hypoglycemia, I have always relied more heavily on exercising (which in itself isn’t bad), but
finding the energy and time to do this with all my tots and work and homework to do, well, it just wasn’t happening. So my body kept rebelling and it was a vicious spiral downward. When you don’t feel good, you don’t have motivation to make the changes to your diet needed, or energy to exercise.

Not really looking for a “diet” I was going through my facebook wall reading about motherhood and encouragement and kindness when on the Above Rubies wall I noticed she was promotinga book two of her daughters had written. I have posted about it before but have spent about 7 months (give or take, can’t remember the exact date) reading about it practicing some of the habits, changing parts of my diet.

At first when I was gung ho for it, I dropped about 15 pounds in the first few weeks/month. Then vacation happened and stress and many other things and I lost steam gaining almost all of it back. It’s so easy to develop the hardcore cravings again after you have ‘cleansed’ your body.

I have been slowly working my way back down and am happy to report I am down 15 lbs! 😀 I’m not sure how…I had trouble this week with eating tortilla chips. haha. That’s the beauty of it though. There’s room for this, as long as it doesn’t become a habit and an everyday thing, you will still feel better and be losing the weight. I do even eat bread on occasion, you just have to know how to let your body burn that fuel off before adding another type of fuel so it doesn’t turn into another layer of fat cells in your body.

Many women enjoy this plan and stay on it and lose weight much faster than I am. I find it hard not to cheat and eat chips. hehe. So, my weight loss journey is taking much longer. I just really enjoy chips. 😛

I have discussed before that on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, you will be buying things you have never even heard of before and quite possibly would have trouble pronouncing. I thought maybe it would be fun to let you in on a bit of my favorite things. Because I struggle with feeling tired a lot, I focus on things that will bring me up, and give me more energy. So, in no particular order, here are three of my favorite items right now.

hemp protein powder
– If it’s all hype that this stuff elevates your mood and boosts energy, I’m buying it hook, line, and sinker. I have noticed when I include this in either one or two meals a day a significant increase in both mood and energy. I love this stuff! I put it in everything. 😀

Coconut oil
– On the off chance of sounding like a broken record, I love this stuff! It is said it gives you a burst of energy when you consume it. I believe it! When I feel sluggish I eat a piece of skinny chocolate (recipe is in the book!) or coconut berry delights or even just put a little on a spoon and eat it (you gotta really like coconut to be able to do this, lol) it gives me that boost that I need it to! Besides, if I were to list all of the benefits from coconut and coconut oil, I would probably run out of space and you would definitely run out of attention. I had a hard time photographing this because it’s almost empty!

green and Oolong tea– I’ll confess. Oolong tea tastes like something old and dirty to me alone. But mixed with green tea (which I love for energy boost) it’s doable! It’s also supposed to help you burn calories. I haven’t read the data behind this, but I love tea and I’m willing to drink it. Green tea is amazing. I love it! If you are looking for an energy boost, give it a try. If it’s not your favorite, throw a bag in with it of tea you do like. It’s worth it!

My overall energy level has been much better on the days I am consistent with the Trim Healthy Mama plan (along with these products.) I just wanted to share an update. They are not paying me or have asked me to talk about this. It’s just been that life changing for me. When I follow plan with just a little bit of cheating, I find my blood sugar stays stable. I don’t feel shaky or like I’m going to pass out, but when I eat too many carbs or sugary products it returns shortly thereafter with a vengeance. This to me is incentive enough to try try again. If you find yourself craving breads and chips and carbs like I do, I encourage you to try Gwens bread for a quick sour dough that breaks the gluten down. If you want to try Gwen’s recipe you will definitely need one of these: a one gallon jar
Joseph’s Pita Bread. I make these into chips. They are amazing! I split them in half spray it with olive oil and toss around some salt on them and microwave for a couple minutes. They come out crunchy and salty and it makes enough that I feel like I have appeased that chip craving!

Please note: some of the links in this post are affiliate links, you may be able to find these products cheaper on other websites. Enjoy!