35 before 35: #12

#12: Release 35 pounds

One year ago and today.

When I stepped on the scale this morning, I saw a beautiful number: 169.0. That makes 35 pounds down since I started following Trim Healthy Mama and 37 pounds total. I am more than halfway to my goal of 140, but honestly, whether I get there or not isn't so important to me. What is important to me is that I feel good, and in order to do that, I've had to slow down the weight loss.

Let me explain.

When I started THM, the weight came off pretty easily. My rate of loss wasn't nearly as quick as many of the women posting in the THM Facebook groups, but for me, it was rapid. So I have no doubt that THM works. One of the basic principles of THM is separating your fats and carbs. If you're going to eat a meal with more fats (say, pot roast), then you severely limit your carbs. If you're going to eat a meal with more carbs (like chicken breast and brown rice), you severely limit your fat. And you eat every three hours. You can have a carb meal or a fat meal whenever you want, as long as you're waiting enough time between meals.

The problem for me was that I had a much easier time coming up with fat meals, so I hardly ever ate carbs. In essence, I was following Atkins by default. This was fine at first. I told my mom once that my body told me when I needed more carbs by making me crave them, and I think that was true at first. But in April, after getting slammed by the nastiest cold I've had in years, I started feeling pretty bad again. Not as bad as I felt before I went gluten free and found my endocrinologist who put me on a T3 medication in addition to the T4, but still pretty bad. (If you're not a thyroid patient, don't worry about the gobbledegook I just spewed forth. If you are, and you haven't checked into T3, do it! It's made a world of difference for me.)

I started doing thyroid research again, and I found several sources that talked about how Hashimoto's patients need good carbs. Then I did a little experiment and found that I feel much better if I have a good portion of carbs for lunch. (I also found that I feel better if I avoid carbs at breakfast--either having greek yogurt or eggs in some form.)

So here's how Trim Healthy Mama works for me. (I don't always follow this, but I feel better if I do.) I probably shouldn't even call it THM anymore ... but I don't have a better name for it.

• I always have carbs with lunch. If I'm having a fat meal, like pork roast, I'll have a small portion of carbs. (I believe this puts it into S-Helper category for THM, but I could be wrong.) If I'm having a low-fat protein, then I'll have a larger portion of carbs.
• I've stopped avoiding potatoes and white rice; I just monitor my portions. They're higher on the glycemic index, which is what makes them a THM no-no. 
• I avoid refined sugar if at all possible.
• The only non-caloric sweeteners I use are stevia (in very limited portions) and Splenda (which is in the delicious Breyer's Carb Smart ice cream I eat two or three times per week). Otherwise, I use coconut sugar, honey, and maple syrup in baked goods ... and I limit my portions to one piece (most of the time).

While I've been following this modified diet, I've still lost weight ... it's just that things are going slower. In the past two months, I've only lost seven pounds, but I feel a whole lot better, and that's what's important!

See all of my 35 before 35 posts, where you'll learn that I have a ways to go in 13 months!