Thin Healthy Mama Diet?

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I've only heard second hand about it from someone who was starting it, so I only know about it from how she explained it to me.

From the explanation given to me, it sounds like a bunch of nonsense, if I'm going to be honest. From what I was told, and granted, she might have been sketchy on the details, it sounds like a food combining plan, along with some other gems thrown in there about special foods and such.

Honestly, if any eating plan isn't mentioning that you need to control your calories and eat less than you burn AND gives you some way to do that? Steer clear of it.

This. THM emphasis is avoiding most carbs and the timing of meals and macros. It reinforces the idea that foods are “good” and “bad” and adheres to pseudoscience. It doesn’t address the mental and emotional aspects of overeating and food relationships. They peddle their magical way of eating over simple CICO.

Is it too late to cancel the order? Sounds like a bunch of bunk.

It is a lifestyle healthy eating plan. CICO is a scientific formula, but most eating plans aim to be a way to implement that formula in a way that makes you happy, healthy and satisfied for the long term. That's what this is.

I think it is a very good book and a good plan if that's what you choose to do. They recommend eating to satiation, but not overeating or under eating or cutting out whole food groups which is a real problem for a whole lot of women. For best satiation and weight loss, they suggest combining carbs with protein or fat with protein, but limiting the amount of carbs with fat in each meal since those portions can often get out of control. They do recommend meals that mix all 3 macros if you are in maintenance or a child or have a high metabolism or are pregnant/nursing. Their food combining goes meal by meal, not day by day. You get to choose your preferred macros each day depending on what makes you happiest, most satisfied and leads to best weight loss.

The plan is written by two sisters who have different approaches to life. One is a super clean eater. The other one makes more standard food choices (make your own homemade dairy free cheese or buy grated cheese, use stock made from the pasture raised organic chicken you bought at a local farm or buy a carton of chicken broth). Most of their recipes give options for both lifestyles. Some of their recipes use special ingredients, but they also mark which ones have no special ingredients and sometimes give standard alternatives (for example, it might say to add nutritional yeast or leave it out; or it might give the option of using the THM sweetener or using your own grocery store sweetener).

Their Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook has been my most used cookbook ever. Many of the recipes have become staples in my house over the past few years since they're almost all quick, easy and delicious. All the recipes are naturally gluten free and many are dairy free.

I do not follow the THM eating plan, but I do love their recipes and I think they've created a solid eating plan that helps one learn to eat a variety of satiating foods while lowering calorie intake. I tend to lean more Weston A. Price, although no longer full-on, and I like to eat plenty of fat with my carbs.

I make the egg roll in a bowl, the creamless creamy chicken and the two-minute nutty noodles all the time.

Danp wrote: »

It shouldn't take an entire book to say 'eat less, move more'.

Well, I think the focus is more on general physical, emotional and mental health. Yes, you could eat nothing but a small amount of Twinkies, but you probably wouldn't be that healthy. And all those recipes take up a lot of pages.

Is it the general consensus on MFP that using cookbooks, support groups or any type of formal structure to one's diet is wrong? I seem to read an astronomical number of posts that indicate that. My opinion is that whatever you're going to stick to and whatever works with your lifestyle is the best plan.

whoami67 wrote: »

Danp wrote: »

It shouldn't take an entire book to say 'eat less, move more'.

Well, I think the focus is more on general physical, emotional and mental health. Yes, you could eat nothing but a small amount of Twinkies, but you probably wouldn't be that healthy. And all those recipes take up a lot of pages.

Is it the general consensus on MFP that using cookbooks, support groups or any type of formal structure to one's diet is wrong? I seem to read an astronomical number of posts that indicate that. My opinion is that whatever you're going to stick to and whatever works with your lifestyle is the best plan.

No one here has suggested to eat nothing but Twinkies. There is a huge difference between "You don't need to follow a book or meal plan to lose weight" and "Just eat Twinkies, it'll be fine".

My idea of the "consensus" is that it's much better to take the time to figure out what foods/macros/meal sizes etc work specifically for you, so that once you reach goal weight, you can just keep eating that way with slightly more food and have a leg up on keeping it off. The general problem with structured diets or meal plans IMHO is that if you are following them because you have to in order to lose weight, you are less likely to stick to it long term, and once you get into maintenance you are more likely to STILL not know how to eat in a way you actually enjoy at the right calorie level, so you end up going back to the way you always ate and gain the weight back. It's not to say it can't work, but I think a big reason most people gain the weight back is because they go on a "diet" to lose weight and go off the "diet" once they hit goal. But there are also plenty of folks here who have lost weight on WW, Atkins, meal replacements, etc.

The criticisms of this book specifically though seem to be that the authors don't have credible credentials to be giving this sort of guidance, and that the specific advice given is probably not useful.

whoami67 wrote: »

Danp wrote: »

It shouldn't take an entire book to say 'eat less, move more'.

Well, I think the focus is more on general physical, emotional and mental health. Yes, you could eat nothing but a small amount of Twinkies, but you probably wouldn't be that healthy. And all those recipes take up a lot of pages.

Is it the general consensus on MFP that using cookbooks, support groups or any type of formal structure to one's diet is wrong? I seem to read an astronomical number of posts that indicate that. My opinion is that whatever you're going to stick to and whatever works with your lifestyle is the best plan.

My opinion is that everyone needs to find out what they need not be told what they need. Studying other diets is fine as long as you have the common sense to incorporate only the specific things that you require to be successful.

It is incredibly important to like whatever you are doing to lose weight most days. You don't have to love it but hating it is going to make it extremely difficult to stick to it. What I am doing is working very well for me but it is not a plan that I can package and sell to the masses.

frameloss wrote: »

Hi all! didn’t mean to create some conflict on this board. I was honestly just curious if anyone had tried this plan. I like to read food and wellness info. And just take bits of pieces from each book. I’ve read ....bright line eating, whole 30, skinny *kitten* ( when was much younger... party bc the name cracked me up 😊). The THM plan intrigued me bc of the food combining. A friend of mine does a plan called fuel foods and they charge 150 a month which I have refused to do. 😊

You want to see conflict, check out the debate forum. :laugh:

People just don't want you wasting money and spinning your wheels. These diet plans are largely unnecessary. You may find certain foods or plans are better for keeping you full longer, which helps with compliance in keeping to reduced calories which is what is needed for weight loss. People are different in what fills them, and you can just as easily (and for free) play around with what you are eating to see what works. For me, getting enough protien and fat and then veggies for bulk tends to be best. Others find higher carb, low fat to be better for them. Some prefer very low carb, and some find an eating window to be effective.

frameloss wrote: »

Hi all! didn’t mean to create some conflict on this board. I was honestly just curious if anyone had tried this plan. I like to read food and wellness info. And just take bits of pieces from each book. I’ve read ....bright line eating, whole 30, skinny *kitten* ( when was much younger... party bc the name cracked me up 😊). The THM plan intrigued me bc of the food combining. A friend of mine does a plan called fuel foods and they charge 150 a month which I have refused to do. 😊

I get that, I sort of learned through 40 years of trying different things what did and didn't work.

The thing is, I ultimately found out that the information I really needed to be successful was what I had learned in high school. Calories matter above all, but I needed to learn how to implement that knowledge.

I needed to learn how to calculate my daily energy expenditure (MFP does that for you!), my exercise calories, and then how to properly account for the calories in the foods I eat so that I was creating a calorie deficit.

I learned about weighing my food using a food scale for accuracy. I learned about verifying data base entries using the USDA data base.

I already knew everything I needed to know about good nutrition. What I needed to learn was how to feel full and satisfied eating less. I learned the importance of balancing the right combination (for me, this seems to be a very individual thing) of protein, fat, and carbohydrates to feel full.

None of that cost me any money except for the food scale. I just needed to hang out on these forums and read the stickies.

I'm now 90 pounds lighter and it's my first successful attempt at weight loss in my life. I've struggled with weight since I was a preteen, and I'm 56 now.