This post may contain affiliate links. Click here for my affiliate disclosure. If you purchase items through my affiliate links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn't change.
New to Trim Healthy Mama (THM) and want to learn more? Click here for my quick synopsis of the plan and lots of helpful links.
Today’s post for my THM Success Series (you can see the previous posts in this series by clicking here) is very special and made possible by the effort of one of my readers! Her name is Tina, and she kept a food diary for one week. Tina gave me permission to look over her menu and make any comments on it that could possibly help her and all you other great people who are reading this post right now. Here’s some background info Tina gave me to share:
“Just a little info up front. This is actually my 2nd week on plan. The 1st week wasn’t completely THM approved but not horrible. I had some things in my pantry I wanted to get rid of and not waste, such as Campbell’s light soups. That’s why I waited until this week to send to you. That week I had a tuna sandwich on Ezekiel bread and a can of the soup. I ended up losing 4 lbs (starting weight is 231). I was so thrilled. This week I was (or so I thought) 100% on plan and ended up gaining 3 lbs back. This is the discouragement that made me quit the 1st time I attempted THM. However this time is different, I refuse to quit, I will persevere.
“To give you my beverage consumption, I do start every morning (and pleeeease don’t make me stop…haha) at 5:00 with a cup of coffee with Pyure and half n half. I do drink a couple of cups every morning (before & with my breakfast). With all the meals below, I had water. I did have 2 of the Bia5 drinks and some GGMS as sippers throughout the week. Other than that I only had what you see here…..I am what I am right now because of poor choices (and an excessive dose of steriods – 40 mg/day for 2 years – unexplained hives/anaphylaxis). It’s not God’s fault, but mine. However, I am His creation and I want to get back to what He created.”
I really appreciate Tina’s attitude and approach despite a somewhat discouraging beginning. Before we jump into the menu, let’s talk a little bit about what could be causing these funny fluctuations in weight for Tina as she starts her healthy journey. “[The scales] don’t make sense sometimes. There are times when I just feel skinny, but I step on the scales and find that I actually gained weight. Don’t believe those scales. They vary according to the time of day, hormones, fluid fluctuations, carb intake, salt intake, exercise, whether you dreamt about donuts last night…everything. I recommend weighing once a week or so and tracking a general trend in your weight instead of weighing in every day.” (excerpt from my “Do’s and Don’ts from a THM Veteran” blog post) Weight will vary greatly according to many different factors, one of the greatest of which is hormone-related fluid fluctuation. I wouldn’t be too concerned about a “fluke” weight gain. If you haven’t lost any weight a month from now, then it might be time to do a serious evaluation of what’s not working right. You’re starting a completely different way of eating, and your body needs time to adjust. Don’t get discouraged, keep plugging along, and I think you’ll see results. Take measurements of your body every week for encouragement. Often the scales takes some time to register the changes in your body, but inches don’t lie!
Without further adieu, here is Tina’s menu with my comments in italics. Scroll down to the bottom of the post to see my general takeaway from the menu and things I would encourage Tina to keep doing or change.
Tina mentioned several different yummy-sounding recipes in her menu, but for some of them I don’t know exactly what recipe she used. In those cases, I’ve just linked to a recipe that I think looks similar to what she probably made.
I’m by no means a nutritionist or dietician; I’m merely speaking here from my own personal experience on the Trim Healthy Mama plan. Individuals have very different needs, so I’m speaking in generalities.
Monday
BREAKFAST (8:45)
- 2 slices of bacon
- 2 eggs cooked in the bacon grease then drained
- 1/2 avocado
- Coffee w/stevia & half-n-half
LUNCH (12:00)
- Briana’s Buffalo Chicken wrap with Joseph’s Lavish and 2 small “no sugar added” sweet gherkins sliced on it
- Bell pepper strips
- Cutie
SNACK (3:30)
- 000 Greek Yogurt
- Grapefruit sections
DINNER (7:00)
SNACK (9:30)
- 1/2 cup PB whip
Breakfast is a great S. Lunch is probably close to an E, although with only one cutie she may not have quite gotten to the 20 g net carb minimum for a solid E meal (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as she gets in plenty of other Es). Afternoon snack is an E, dinner is a good S, and the evening snack is an S. The only two notes I would make in caution would be to watch what kind of sweetener is used in those sweet gherkins and maybe not eat such a heavy snack at night.
Tuesday
BREAKFAST (9:30)
- overnight chocolate oatmeal
- 1/2 grapefruit
- Coffee w/stevia & half-n-half
LUNCH (12:45)
- Briana’s Buffalo Chicken wrap with Joseph’s Lavish and 2 small “no sugar added” sweet gherkins sliced on it
- Bell pepper strips
- Cutie
SNACK (3:45)
- Cottage cheese with peaches
DINNER (7:00)
- Chick-fil-a Asian salad (no almonds or wontons) only lettuce, mandarin oranges, chicken & avacado lime ranch dressing
SNACK (10:00)
Breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack are good Es. Supper was not on plan due to the breaded chicken nuggets on the salad (unless you specified grilled nuggets). If you had grilled nuggets on the salad, then you had a crossover due to the combination of the oranges (E) and Ranch (S). The mandarins have some sugar in them, which is off plan as well, but when you’re eating fast food like this, you’re usually going to have some trace amounts of undesirable ingredients from some source or another. In this case, just do the best you can. I probably would’ve chosen to get a grilled chicken club sandwich with mayo on lettuce instead of bread for my dinner if I were in Tina’s shoes (since she already had quite a few E meals that day, plus there’s less chance of undesirable ingredients with a simple sandwich choice than a salad with faux “healthy” toppings). Snack is a good S, but again, maybe a little heavy for that late in the evening if you’re having trouble losing weight.
Wednesday
BREAKFAST (8:45)
- 2 slices of bacon
- 2 eggs cooked in the bacon grease then drained
- Coffee w/stevia & half-n-half
LUNCH (12:00)
- Briana’s Buffalo Chicken wrap with Joseph’s Lavish (did not have 2 “no sugar added ” sweet gherkins today)
- Bell pepper strips
- Cutie
SNACK (3:15)
- cottage cheese with peaches
DINNER (6:00)
SNACK (9:30)
Breakfast is a great S. Lunch is a great “light E”. Afternoon snack is a good E. Dinner is a great S, and you might want to consider adding some veggies with your soup. Snack is a good S – again, maybe a little heavy for such a late snack. I would consider eating my dessert with my dinner, then eating a FP snack later if hungry.
Thursday
BREAKFAST (9:00)
- overnight chocolate oatmeal
- cutie
- Coffee w/stevia & half-n-half
LUNCH (12:00)
- Five Guys bacon cheeseburger with small amt raw onions, lettuce, tomato, pickle, mayo, mustard
SNACK (3:30)
- 000 Greek yogurt
- cutie
DINNER (7:00)
- Chicken leg quarter baked with mayo & Parmesan cheese
- Brussel Sprouts sautéed in coconut oil
SNACK (10:00)
- Breyers carb smart vanilla ice cream with melted skinny chocolate
Breakfast is a good E. Lunch is a yummy S (great choice-assuming you ditched the bread). Snack is a good “light E”. Dinner is a great S (I like the coconut oil addition). Evening snack is an S – again, maybe a little heavy for that late at night. Consider eating it with your dinner, then either skip an evening snack (since you’re eating at 7 pm and probably won’t be too hungry before bed) or have a light FP snack.
Friday
BREAKFAST (8:45)
- 2 slices of bacon
- 2 eggs cooked in the bacon grease then drained
- Coffee w/stevia & half-n-half
LUNCH (12:00)
- Tuna sandwich on Ezekiel bread with 1 tsp mayo
- bell pepper strips
- 1/2 grapefruit
DINNER (4:30)
- Hamburger steak
- turnip greens
- 1/2 cup of tomato/cucumber/onion salad
- small piece of cheddar cheese
SNACK (8:45)
- Carb Smart ice cream with skinny chocolate melted with Smuckers PB
Great S breakfast. Lunch is a great E. Dinner is a good S (if the hamburger steak is made with on-plan ingredients). Evening snack is a good S, and because of the timing of dinner and the evening snack, I won’t fuss about eating a heavier snack in the evening. J It’s early enough that you can probably burn a good bit of it before bedtime.
Saturday
BREAKFAST (8:45)
- 2 slices of bacon
- 2 eggs cooked in the bacon grease then drained
- Coffee w/stevia & half-n-half
- strawberries
LUNCH (1:00)
- Just like Campbell’s tomato soup (THM Cookbook, pg. 112)
- Quesadilla with Joseph’s lavish
SNACK (3:30)
- 000 Greek yogurt
- strawberries
DINNER (7:00)
- Chicken leg quarter baked with mayo & Parmesan cheese
- Brussel Sprouts sautéed in coconut oil
- 1/2 avocado
SNACK (10:00)
- Carb Smart ice cream with skinny chocolate melted with Smuckers PB
Good S breakfast. Good S lunch (assuming your quesadilla had cheese in it). Good FP snack in the afternoon. Good S dinner. Evening snack is a good S but is probably a little heavy for being eaten so late at night.
Sunday
BREAKFAST (10:00)
- Smoothie made with frozen strawberries & 1/2 banana, 1/2 lemon, pure coconut water no sugar added & 3 T cottage cheese
LUNCH (1:00)
- Just like Campbell’s tomato soup (THM Cookbook, pg. 112)
- Quesadilla with Joseph’s lavish
DINNER (5:00)
SNACK (8:00)
Breakfast is an E, and you should probably add a bit more protein with it to blunt potential sugar spikes from the banana. Lunch is a good S (assuming your quesadilla had cheese in it) Dinner is a good S (or E or FP, depending on what version you made). The evening snack is a good S, and since it’s earlier in the evening, I won’t fuss over it being a little heavy.
Synopsis
Overall I’d say Tina has a good thing going here. She seems to have a good grasp of the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle. Great job! I enjoyed looking through her menu, and it actually reminded me a lot of what I like to eat myself (hello, ice cream and simple foods!). Here are some things I think Tina did a great job on in her menu, as well as some things she could work on to optimize her health and chances for weight loss. I’m by no means a nutritionist or dietician; I’m merely speaking here from my own personal experience on the Trim Healthy Mama plan. Individuals have very different needs, so I’m speaking in generalities.
Thumbs-up:
- Tina’s menu is a great example of simplicity. I love how she made the plan doable by repeating the same types of meals. That’s a great strategy to use, especially when you’re just getting started!
- Tina did a great job of getting plenty of E meals into her weekly menu. Often people gravitate toward S meals when they’re just starting out the plan, and while that can work for a couple of days, pretty soon they need to start incorporating E meals to provide energy for their bodies and keep their metabolisms moving!
- I like the way Tina switches up her fuels. She doesn’t just always have the same meal type for breakfast, but rather switches up between S and E frequently.
- Tina’s not afraid of fruit, and she’s getting a good amount in her diet! That’s wonderful.
Some things to consider changing:
- The biggest thing I would encourage Tina to change in her menu (which is also something I struggle with myself) is to try to incorporate more Fuel Pull evening snacks into her diet. Apparently she gravitates toward comforting, calorie-dense S snacks in the evenings just like I do. I’ve personally found that heavier snacking late at night stops my own weight loss in its tracks. Enjoy your S desserts at other times of day when your body has more time to burn them before bedtime.
- In her background info, Tina noted that she usually starts out the day with coffee at 5 AM, but her menu shows that most mornings she doesn’t eat breakfast until around 9 AM. The THM plan suggests eating within one hour of getting up, and I wonder if eating at least a little bit of something to wake her metabolism up, say around 6 AM, would help Tina to shed pounds a little quicker. Alternately she could eat her breakfast at 6 and grab a small mid-morning snack around 9.
- I’d like to see more coconut oil in this menu. Coconut oil has AMAZING metabolism-boosting properties as well as great health benefits, and adding in a healthy dose every day will help you slim down. If you’re frying something, fry it in coconut oil (eggs, quesadillas, you name it)! Make bulletproof coffee or chai tea once in awhile to enjoy with your breakfast (add half a scoop of protein and let it replace either your eggs or your bacon some morning if you don’t feel you need eggs + bacon + bulletproof drink). Take a spoonful of coconut oil plain before an S meal if you can stomach it! Coconut oil will help kick stubborn pounds.
- While Tina does a great job of getting her E meals in, she could branch out a little with her carb sources. I love that she uses plenty of fruit in her diet, but she could also try sweet potatoes, quinoa, and brown rice to diversify her carb sources and make sure she gets all the nutrients she needs.
- I’d like to see Tina add a few more veggies, especially leafy greans, into her diet. While she includes a fair amount, I’d like to see her enjoy a nice big salad once in awhile so she’s not missing out on important vitamins. Salads with a protein source such as chicken or hard-boiled eggs can be a great calorie switch-up to get your metabolism moving!
- As hard as this can be (trust me, I know), go easy on the Carb Smart ice cream. It’s sweetened with Splenda and can be used once in awhile as a treat, but I would probably try to avoid eating it 3 days in a row. “Frankenfoods” like Carb Smart can cause weight loss stalls for some people, so if you have stubborn pounds to lose that aren’t coming off, you should maybe consider cutting it out of your diet entirely and see if that helps.
For those with stubborn weight to lose:
Click here to see my top “Dos and Don’ts” for getting rid of stubborn pounds.
The key for you is to get your metabolism fired up. To do this, focus on eating whole foods that are easy for your body to digest (Deep S meals are great for this). Switch up the calorie load to your body by including Fuel Pulls on a regular basis (but not too often because you don’t want to put your body into starvation mode by not feeding it enough! Keeping a lot of your snacks Fuel Pull can be a great way to utilize this lighter fuel type.). Go easy on things like cream cheese, cheese, nuts, and other calorie-dense ingredients that your body doesn’t process as efficiently. Switch up fuel types (don’t always eat E breakfasts and S dinners). Don’t eat heavy stuff late at night.
Pshew! That was a lot of information! Tina, thank you so much for letting me use your menu as a teaching example. I hope that you (and everyone else who reads this post) can gain some new insights to use on your healthy journey. Have a great week, everyone!
Josie says
Hi Briana – thanks so much for doing this (and thanks to Tina too!.) Very helpful! I have a question about the half and half used in the coffee during the E breakfast. How much is too much? Like Tina, I love my coffee in the morning. Since there’s fat in the half and half, I’ve always gravitated toward an S breakfast in order not to mess up and eat a crossover. (BTW – I ordered your cookbook a couple of days ago. I can’t wait to get it!!)
Briana Thomas says
You can have 3 T of half and half and still stay within the 5g of fat allowed in an E or FP meal. 🙂 Just make sure you don’t add any other fats along with it.
Gail says
very helpful post. Thank you.
Deborah A says
Very helpful. Thank you for your excellent insight & advice
Kari says
Thanks so much – this was really helpful! I have too many treats at night…I need to cut back on that :). As an aside, Tina, if you’re reading this – please look into mastocytosis and mast cell activation syndrome. The chronic hives and anaphylaxis can be both be indicative of these illnesses. I have the former, and it took years (and years!) of research to find a doctor to diagnose me…most doctors have never heard of them 🙂 . Briana – please feel free to pass along my contact info to her if she needs it!
Briana Thomas says
Thanks Kari! Will do.
Sophia @ Pray. Work. Eat. says
This was great! 🙂 So helpful, I like all your tips on how to fire up your metabolism. I also am trying to eliminate the problem of heavy snacking at night… I’ve been doing better the last week or so! I will usually try to drink a big mug of herbal fruit or chamomile tea, and then I’m fine as long as I go ahead and go to bed instead of staying up late.
Briana Thomas says
Yep, you hit the nail on the head there: “go ahead and go to bed”. I’m still working on that one. 😛 I love the tea idea – I do that a lot too.
Debbie Borron says
Thanks to both of you for sharing!!!
Kelli R says
This was so helpful. If you are looking for another newbie to analyze, I’d love to volunteer. I am in month 3 and haven’t seen any loss in weight or inches since week two. I am on plan 95% of the time and feel like I have a good grasp on it but something must be off. It is a little discouraging. My next step is a fuel cycle but I really need to psych myself up for a “diet” after food freedom for three months! 🙂
Thank you for all of your continued efforts to make this blog such a beneficial resource!
Briana Thomas says
I’ll keep you in mind if I decide to do this again, Kelli. 🙂
Carole says
Thought this was real and very helpful. Thank you for all your hard work on our behalf.