Did you rock those THM E meals and snacks during the An E-a-Day One Week Challenge? I hope it helped you conquer your carb fears and feel confident planning and doing those Es! I learned a lot and hope you did too. Here’s my Top 5 Tips for THM E Meals and Snacks!
Congratulations, Rockstar!
Let me begin by saying how extremely proud of you I am! I know how hard…and scary…THM E meals can be and you guys just really rocked it all week.
Our focus was on Chapter 4 of the revised Trim Healthy Mama Plan Book. The whole book is full of useful information, and really essential to understanding the plan. Don’t just lurk in the Facebook groups and think you’re going to really get how to do it! Get the book and spend some time studying it.
Because you are worth the investment – both in time and money. Thankfully, it’s not an expensive book! Your local library might even have a copy you can borrow for free.
I designed the challenge with an E meal or snack each day, at different times of the day, to take the pressure of planning some of it off of you. Planning E meals is very important, though, so I made sure you still had some practice doing just that, of course 😉
But the main point was to get those Es in every day, whether you stuck to the schedule or made it work in your day.
It was so great to see you making the effort to get those Es in, even if it meant a different time of day or style of meal. You worked with what you had and that’s great! I hope it showed you that you can do it!
Were you surprised by anything this week? I sure was! I learned more than I thought I would. Here’s my Top 5 Tips, based on what I learned this week!
5. Planning Is Everything!
With THM E meals, you absolutely must keep your S fuels (liberal amounts of healthy fats) far away – but remember a small amount is good. So it’s crucial to plan your meals accordingly.
That doesn’t mean you have to have some complex meal planning system in place. I was still pretty much winging it all week. BUT I paid attention to the time I wanted to have an E meal and then planned accordingly before and after.
For example, on Sammy Day (Day 6) here’s how my morning and lunch were planned:
8:30 am – wake up, have coffee with a tablespoon of half n half and stevia.
Decide I want to have my E Sandwich for lunch, around noon-ish
9:30 am – make a Chocolate Covered Cranberry Superfood Shake (FP), take a few sips, then time for LIVE Video Check-in on Facebook…
10:45 am – Start finishing my breakfast! BUT it’s a Fuel Pull with practically no fat so…
12:25 pm – E lunch with a sandwich on sprouted bread (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, dijon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon mayo), 1/2 serving Unique Sprouted Pretzel Shells (love them!) with a few tablespoons of Dairy Free Instant Pot Queso (FP and fat-free), made plain, plus one cup of unsweetened almond milk with 1/2 scoop THM Pristine Whey Protein Powder, 1 teaspoon Maca Powder, a doonk of THM Pure Stevia Extract, and a splash of pure vanilla extract.
Total net carbs: 28.5 grams
Total fat: 6 grams (I should have used my Creamy Balsamic Dijon Dipping Sauce for a spread! Only 1 gram of fat per tablespoon) because I also forgot about the fat in the pretzels. But since my breakfast had practically no fat, I was OK going over a bit.
The rest of the day I could “freestyle” – as long as I kept 3 hours after my E lunch before having an S snack 😉
4. So Is Being Flexible!
The weeks before this challenge, I really got a lot of practice in planning and packing ahead for when I was going to be away from home. Being prepared when you’re out and about can mean the difference between staying on plan and giving in to temptation!
I knew I’d be gone during the Mid-morning Snack Meal Task for Day 2.
So the night before I mixed up a protein drink and planned to take a small clementine orange. I even placed the orange on top of the bottle of protein drink in the fridge so I wouldn’t forget it (I had been craving oranges but kept forgetting or not planning well to have them).
Go me! I’m prepared!
About halfway to the coffee shop, it hit me that I left the house without grabbing my snack! I was meeting a friend at a coffee shop where there is literally nothing on plan to eat. Not one thing. Coffee or tea, that’s it!
Oh dear, I am not actually prepared…
After a few hours of intense bloggy things, we decided to leave and go get lunch because we were both starving. I had an S lunch that day (cheeseburger, no bun, side salad, unsweetened iced tea) and had my E snack in the afternoon.
Sometimes, life happens. Do the best you can with what you have and don’t stress it if you don’t do things exactly as planned. Life is too short for stress 😉
Be flexible! If you don’t get your E in when you planned, get it the next time you can. Even if it’s tomorrow 😉
3. Protein Is King.
The THM plan stresses the importance of anchoring your meals, no matter what style, on healthy protein. For E’s that means very lean proteins like chicken breast, salmon, grassfed beef, etc.
In addition to helping keep blood sugar from spiking, it also helps us feel satisfied and satiated longer.
My E Supper on Day 1 stuck with me for at least 3 hours and I realized that the Ahi tuna, while only a 4 ounce portion, had a whopping 28 grams of protein.
I decided that I should try adding a bit more protein with my THM E meals and that has really helped keep me feeling satisfied.
2. Flavor + Nourishment = Big Win.
Who looks forward to bland, boring food that has to be hastily choked down just to get it out of the way? No one! Making healthy choices can be hard enough as it is, why make it tortuous on top of it all?
So my 2-secret weapon in planning and making E meals starts with finding foods you love…foods that are flavorful, have the right texture, and are just a joy to eat. From the visual aspect to the aroma and flavor, when it’s all beautiful and lovely it’s far more enticing and enjoyable.
The rest of the secret is making sure you have foods that are nourishing on your plate. Good quality proteins, fresh veggies, healthfully prepared grains – all more nutrient-dense than calorie-dense as much as possible.
Nourished bodies don’t cry out in desperation for something, anything to eat in the hopes of maybe getting the nutrients they need! Filling your body with flavorful and nourishing foods – that you enjoy eating – will satisfy you and keep feeling satisfied longer.
My Grain-Free Lunch on Day 3 was a combination of plenty of protein and lots of flavor. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite and it kept me full and satisfied for 3 hours as well.
Try my new Baked Sweet Potato Kale Tots {with Creamy Balsamic Dijon Dipping Sauce}, pictured below, along with my Chili Lime Black Beans.
1. Carbs Are Not The Devil (Check Your Mindset)
Ok, so maybe that’s more of a statement than a tip. But it’s a truth you need to embrace!
Carbs are healthy and necessary for most people. And when properly prepared and eaten in a way that doesn’t spark a massive insulin response in your body they can actually be slimming.
I woke up one morning a few days into the challenge and just felt thinner. I didn’t weigh right before the challenge but remembered what I had weighed last the week before.
To my great surprise, I had lost 2 to 2.5 pounds! That hasn’t happened in quite some time, it made me very happy AND reinforced the importance of eating those nourishing, healthy carbs regularly.
The tip then is CHECK YOUR MINDSET. Don’t say you hate THM E Meals! Say “I’m learning to embrace them.” Don’t fear them, see E meals and snacks as the useful, fat-burning weapon they can be when properly prepared and eaten.
The biggest surprise this week? I Never Expected This!
I actually found myself craving E meals, something that has only happened a few times since 2014 for me! Even had a day where I had an E breakfast AND and E lunch, simply because my body was saying “MORE PLEASE”!!
Yes, this die-hard lover of butter and cheese actually craved foods without them. Pretty sure someone down under is wearing a parka right now (if you know what I mean! 😉 )
Here’s the deal: when you know HOW to prepare THM E meals and WHEN to eat them (as well as WHY) you can feel like the confident THM Rockstar you are.
This week of learning why we need those THM E meals, planning our THM E meals (and snacks!), and actually doing those THM E meals hopefully gave you the confidence to continue rocking those Es in 2018.
I said THM E meals a LOT in that last sentence, didn’t I? That’s because they really are important and I want you to determine that you are going to rock those THM E meals in 2018!
What Did YOU Learn While Rocking Those THM E Meals?
If you rocked those Es with me, I sure would love to hear what YOU learned during this challenge!
What surprised you? Did you discover new foods or flavor combinations that kept you satisfied? Did you conquer your carb fears? Do you feel confident that you can regularly include Es in your days? Did you lose weight or inches?
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