Yesterday, you heard a little about our experience with Trim Healthy Mama, and figuring out what works and what doesn’t for all those living in the Shoe. Now we’ll give you a few ideas of what we eat around here.
When ever I hear of somebody eating differently, I’m always curious as to what they eat. So if you have a strange curiosity like I do, we will appease that for you!
What does the Shoe eat the loose-THM way?
Breakfast
*a week usually includes a mixture of these
- Scrambled eggs with leftover meat such as crumbled bacon, fried ground sausage, or cut-up sausage links – top it all with cheese for an S meal (protein/fat). For the little children, I will add in orange juice, toast, or fruit so they get some carbs in there too.
- Fried eggs with bacon or sausage. Again, this is an S meal (protein/fat) and I will add in some carbs for the little children.
- Sausage links and oatmeal. In Trim Healthy Mama, this would be a crossover – meaning you are eating carbs and fat in the same meal. But my little ones need some good meals like this and it doesn’t hurt us to eat them sometimes too. However, even though I feed this to the kids, I don’t always eat it. I can choose to leave out the sausage (making it an E meal – protein/carb) or leave out the oatmeal (making it an S meal). Confused yet?!
- Saturday is “Hallelujah Day!” We get cold cereal! The kids look forward to this morning since it’s a “no-egg morning” and they can each have one big bowl of cold cereal. I love this morning because it means I can stay in my robe and drink coffee until nine o’clock if I wish!
Lunches
- The children and Lowell get packed lunches which contain almost the same thing everyday. The kids take a sandwich or other main item containing protein, a fruit such as canned peaches or frozen strawberries or fresh apple, a vegetable such as carrots or broccoli with ranch dressing, and a treat from the drawer. Yes, we have one special drawer that contains “treats”. This is homemade granola bars, fruit chews, and Lowell’s specialty item “Adobe heat” mix.
- My favorite lunch is pictured below.
- A low-carb tortilla filled with a huge handful of spring mix lettuce, two slices of lunchmeat, one slice of cheese (this one has dilly havarti from Sharon’s Country Store), and two thick slices of bell peppers. Cucumbers and olives are good in this, too! Sprinkle it with salt and pepper (or garlic powder if you’re feeling adventurous) and drizzle it all over with Italian dressing. This would be an S meal (protein/fat) since the non-starchy carbs don’t count and my carb total for the tortilla is less than six. So I can load on the leafy greens, peppers, and cucumbers and lots of protein and fats. It really is yummy!!
- If I have a meal that doesn’t contain enough protein, I will sometimes make myself a shake using vanilla protein powder. I’m aiming to get in more protein and this is a simple way to do it.
Suppers
I need to clarify that THM tells you not to count your non-starchy carbs in an S meal (protein/fat). This would exclude veggies such as potatoes, carrots, and corn. White potatoes are completely out of both E and S meals on THM, although sweet potatoes are included in E meals.
Most S suppers consist of a meat and two sides of good veggies. Here are some examples of menus:
- BBQ chicken with salad and cheesy broccoli
- Noodle-less lasagna with salad and green fries (in THM cookbook)
- Soft tacos using low-carb tortillas, served with salad
- Parmesan baked chicken with salad and canned green beans
- Zucchini pizza boats with huge side salad
We don’t eat very many strictly E meals (protein/carb), but found a couple that we love!
- Crockpot beans and rice served with salsa and 0% Greek yogurt. If you serve it with the yogurt instead of sour cream, it makes this an E meal (no fat, only protein/carb). 0% yogurt is surprisingly good in place of sour cream. Serve this with freezer corn and fruit! This is also a meal that is very budget-friendly.
- Elk roast (a lean meat) served with sweet potatoes and carrots.
Hope this gives you a little bit of an idea how we are trying to incorporate healthier choices in our eating habits at the Shoe. We will be sharing some of these recipes and more later on!
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April says
Kendra, this is so interesting and helpful! I’ve been trying to get the baby weight off but it’s a very SLOW process! I really like your menu ideas, I think I’m going to try them (well not the elk, they don’t sell that at Winco)!
Living in the Shoe says
April, I’ve found that when I’m nursing, the weight doesn’t really start to fall off until my baby is older. Right now it’s coming off, just really slow too. I’ve heard that nursing hormones make your body hang onto some of the weight until your baby is old enough to take in solids and doesn’t rely on you as much. Amazing how God made us! Even if it means the scales won’t budge. 🙂
And tell Winco they’re missing out!!
Cara Lorenz says
Thanks for the yummy ideas! Looking forward to recipes 🙂
Laura says
I’m following your blogs on THM-great job!!!
Traci says
Do you have a protein powder that you suggest? I had tried some years ago and found they tasted horrible. Have you found any that are tasty or at least tolerable? Thanks!
Living in the Shoe says
Hi Traci! I bought the powder THM recommends “Swanson’s premium protein powder”. Got the vanilla and it’s honestly not too bad! My husband will tell you that with my picky tastebuds, if I say it’s not too bad, that means it’s good to the rest of you! 🙂
Donna C says
Hi! Thanks so much for the menu ideas. I’m new to the THM book and I have been a little confused!! I was curious what brand or type of tortillas are you using? I can only find like a whole wheat, low carb and it doesn’t taste to good to me. Thanks for your help!
Kendra says
We aren’t following THM so closely anymore as we are simply trying to move to healthier, whole foods – less packaged stuff. But I am thinking I may have used Mission’s low-carb tortillas and we like them!
Tammy Marie says
Thank you for this honest look at THM. I have been trying to follow the plan for a week now. It seems the S meals I make are enjoyable, but the E meals are just not tasty. I do not like Stevia, my husband has choked down a few Stevia sweetened “treats” but is now turning down the desserts. Just eating the S meals isn’t going to work, I feel tired and sluggish and irritable. I’m hungry constantly and I read that the sisters say not to eat more often than every three hours. I felt like chucking the whole thing and going to Costco for pizza! Reading how your family has implemented the plan to fit your lifestyles has been helpful. I’m ditching the Stevia and we’ll just keep cutting back on the sugar. I may not lose the weight as fast as some of those success stories on the Facebook group, but it’s about a healthy lifestyle, right?
Kendra says
Yes, it is! And for what it’s worth, we are trying to switch to more whole foods style – although it’s a journey. I’ve found that recently it has helped me drop a few pounds simply to get good sleep, stay active outside, de-stress by doing stuff I love in the sunshine, and also to just forget about following strict food rules. 🙂 Stress and tired adrenals can also keep a mama from losing weight!