Many of us find ourselves with a little extra weight that seems to just suddenly appear out of nowhere. Where did this belly come from? How did my butt get so huge? Since when did I acquire the ‘bye-bye’ arms; you know, the ones that wave back and forth with each movement of your arms? I met my husband, Gary in 1998 when I was hired to work for a retail company and train as management at his store location. At 5’11” tall, I weighed 135 pounds and wore a size 7. When he first met me, he stated to his manager that he could be happy with me for the rest of his life. A year later we were married on October 31^st, 1999. I knew I was putting on weight over the past eighteen years, especially the more sedentary I became with my work, sitting behind a desk day and night (The result of working from home). I never really paid attention to just how much weight I was gaining since most often I would work in my sweatpants and tee-shirts, and I didn’t own a weight scale; ignorance is bliss, right? I was living my life while completely ignoring the weight gain and the stress on my health. I guess I just didn’t care enough at the time. If I closed my eyes to it, I didn’t have to face the fact that my weight was getting out of control. I would make the excuse that since I’m such a tall woman I could carry the extra weight well. To look at me on a frontal view, I didn’t look so bad… but take a gander at my side view… where did all that extra me come from? I began noticing that I was breathless just walking through the grocery store. I knew I needed to make some drastic changes with my eating habits and weight. I was shocked when I realized that I had gained 100 pounds since first meeting my husband. While in my new health mindset, I made the decision that it would be a good time to finally quit my on-again-off-again (mostly on) 40-year smoking habit. It got to the point where I couldn’t talk without becoming breathless and coughing through my words. It was time to get serious about my health. My grandchildren would often say to me “Nana, you need to quit smoking. It’s not good for you.” (Obviously something they learned in school) I wanted my young grandchildren to grow up knowing me and not just a fleeting memory of me. I heard that most people would gain weight once they had quit smoking but I was prepared to take the risk. I needed to do this one step at a time. Quit smoking first, and then focus on my weight loss. On June 6, 2015 I made the decision to quit smoking… cold turkey. I was fully prepared with Nicorette chewing gum, and my family was braced for the worst by putting space between me and them. I won’t say it was easy, but it wasn’t as difficult as I had feared. Yes, I had frequent outbursts of frustration and nerves and found myself eating anything to help me through it. Junk food and midnight snacks were my means to get through the cravings for a cigarette. On June 6, 2016 I reached my one-year anniversary of being smoke free. Everyone said the first year you gain weight, and the second year you begin losing it. I had put on an additional 30 pounds, so I made up my mind to start a weight loss regime my second year and begin focusing on losing this added weight. I purchased a weight scale, took a deep breath and stepped on. I was scared to look, but I did, determined that I was going to follow through with my goal. The scale read 269 pounds. Holy moly! How could I possibly weigh that much? I had put on 134 pounds since first meeting my husband seventeen years ago. I decided I was not going to stress over how much I weighed but would focus more on how I could lose the weight, quick, fast and in a hurry. I reviewed a few weight loss options. There were those readymade meals promoted by celebrities who lost weight. All of your meals are pre-selected and ready to go for a recurring monthly fee. You just pop the meals in the microwave and voila, you have dinner in a minute. But then, what would my family eat? I couldn’t reason adding that kind of expense to our food budget, with an automatic renewal each month. No, there had to be another way that would be family-friendly and not break the budget. Not to mention, now that I am focused on healthy eating I am not keen on processed, pre-prepared foods. Then I tried a couple cases of those meal in a can, sort of like a shake. I chose the flavors of Milk Chocolate and French Vanilla. Those drinks were less than fulfilling. You are directed to drink one to two cans a day as a meal replacement, then eat a regular meal for either lunch or dinner. By the time I got to where I could eat the regular meal I was famished and ate everything I could easily get my hands on! And I didn’t lose any weight! My husband decided to come on board in an effort to lose weight along with me. What a guy! Losing weight is always better when you have a partner to share it with. He doesn’t need to lose near as much weight as I do, 20 pounds or so, but how sweet of him to share in this with me. We tried the cabbage soup diet for a week… I didn’t like it as it was way too spicy for me. Then talk about boring… I wasn’t in to eating the same thing day after day, it just wasn’t for me. I needed flavor and sustenance, something that would cause me to want to stay on a program with results. I could see this was not going to be an easy project… or was it? In May, my husband picked up a copy of the Woman’s World magazine… yes he truly did, ladies! What caught his eye was the cover article about two sisters who created their own vision of a weight loss program called Trim Healthy Mama. The article featured a fat-blasting, metabolism-boosting secret soup recipe which boasted that by eating this soup one could lose 12 pounds in a week. Well, this definitely caught my interest, especially since the article included the complete recipe for preparing the soup along with basic breakfast, lunch and dinner menu suggestions. We didn’t jump on board right away to try out the soup because I was on tour in New York until the end of May. But it did give me time to prepare mentally for the idea of being on a diet. Ugh… I still hate that term. When we returned home, we set out to our local grocery store to obtain the needed ingredients to prepare our metabolic fat-busting soup; ground beef, chicken or turkey, peppers and onions, okra, and cauliflower. It also called for an assortment of spices for added flavor and it also included a couple types of canned tomatoes and chicken broth. Top that off with virgin coconut oil, and unflavored gelatin and you’ve got everything you need to create the fat-blasting soup. The ingredients didn’t exactly satiate my palate but if it could do what the article promised, I was willing to give it a try. The soup was actually quite easy to prepare… brown the meat, add the peppers and onions along with the spices and allow them to simmer, puree the cauliflower and okra, add the remaining ingredients, toss it all into the soup pot and let it simmer. Voila, you have a hearty fat burning meal. Now, according to the article, their meal plan suggests that you can have the soup for lunch or dinner, or both if you prefer. You can even add toppings that are either rich in fats, or rich in carbs, just not together. For example, in one bowl full you could add fats such as cheese, sour cream, and bacon to dress it up. In another, you could add carbs such as crushed baked corn chips, beans, brown rice and even some sprouted grain bread on the side. Now we’re talking! According to the Trim Healthy Mama sisters, Serene and Pearl, most diets restrict either the fats or the carbs, which are the body’s two main fuel sources. The sisters came up with the idea to go with either low carb or low fat ingredients during a given meal. You just switch it off from day to day and therefore you don’t feel deprived of your carbs or fats. And there’s no calorie counting either. Now, there’s a plus! One week ago we prepared the soup, ready for our weight loss journey. I was really quite pleased at how tasty the soup actually was. I chose a dollop of sour cream with a sprinkle of cheese on top… okay so I used more than a sprinkle. I love cheese, what can I say? That meal, both hubby and I actually ate two bowls full. We continued to eat the soup, but not the other suggested meal plans. We ate out quite a bit due to family obligations. But, I was really very surprised when I stepped on the scale to see that I had lost 4 pounds. And all I did was eat the soup once a day. That was enough for me to really get serious about following the program. It’s no longer about that quick, fast and in a hurry magic bullet to weight loss. It’s now about learning to make wiser choices in the foods I choose to eat. I decided to order the books Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan and their Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook, by sisters Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison so I could learn more about how to follow their concept. You can get them both on Amazon.com. My books arrived today and I can’t wait to dive in and learn the program.  I’m really looking forward to trying out their amazing recipes; their cookbook is chock full of recipes for all kinds of dishes we can eat on their program… lasagna, chicken alfredo, pot roast. That’s just for starters! There’s breakfast meals, luncheon meals and oh so delicious sounding soups of all kinds, and dare I say, desserts? That’s right, we even get to have dessert and snacks. To help in my commitment to lose the weight, I decided to record my progress each month in this little column, not only to keep me accountable, but also to hopefully encourage others to come on board with me and begin your weight loss journey. Together, we can all be successful. To start the record, I began the program on Monday, June 13^th at 267.2 pounds. As of Thursday, June 23^rd I weighed in at 262.6 pounds. To date, I have lost 4.6 pounds. If I could lose almost 5 pounds in my half-hearted approach to losing weight, imagine what can happen when I am fully following the THM program! I can’t wait! You can learn more about the Trim Healthy Mama Weight Loss Plan on their web site at http://www.trimhealthymama.com/ Views:]]>