Journey to Excellence

This week I was short of time, so I just read the next three chapters. These are the chapters that explain the plan, however, so there was lots of information! And now I am sold. I am loving the science behind this way of eating, and I am already noticing a difference in my waistline. (In all fairness, I have been doing some extra work outside in the yard each day and doing lots of sweating, so that might be helping.) But, I definitely feel GREAT eating the foods and on the plan. I am excited to share with you what I learned in these chapters. In a nutshell: Never start your morning with a fruit only breakfast. S meals are satisfying meals which means they are heavier on fat, have a protein as a base, and have extremely minimal carbs (and all non-starchy). E meals are energizing meals which means they are heavier on carbs, have a protein as a base, and have extremely minimal fats. You should alternate these meals and eat them 3 hours apart. So, like yesterday. I had an ...

I am starting to gain more insight into the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating, and I like it! It makes sense to me. I know that it will be several weeks before I have the full picture, but I have started piecing it all together and it is very exciting for me. Chapter 5 - Get Ready for the Plan The "S" and "E" code letters were explained in this chapter. S stands for "satisfying" and E stands for "energizing". The E foods allow you to have some of carbs that your body needs and the S foods allow you to have some of the fat that your body needs. The key? Don't eat your fats and carbs at the same time! And here's why ... Your body can only burn one fuel at a time, and you want it to burn your fat. If you eat fat AND carbs at the same time (and usually loads of it), your body burns through the fat in your meal and then has to move to trying to burn the glucose out of your fat cells that has been deposited there by the rush of in...

This week's discussion covers Chapters 3, 4, 19 and 32 of Trim Healthy Mama by Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett. Chapter 3 - Raw Green Colleen Although this is nowhere near me, I do know of someone who would fit into this category. Honestly, the nutritional deficiencies passed onto the children is what scared me the most about this chapter. All raw foods with the only proteins being in the form of nuts and sprouting vegetables is problematic, to say the least. This chapter explained how important animal protein is to our bodies, and how our bodies were actually created by God to consume it. A strictly raw foods diet does a great job of cleaning out the body, but it fails to refuel it with what it needs. I found this paragraph to be very interesting: "Colleen's distended stomach and constant bloat is due to living on an herbivore diet without the four stomachs needed to digest this constant barrage of roughage ... Meat eating mammals (humans included), all conta...

I have mentioned in previous posts that I am reading Trim Healthy Mama by Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett for my Summer Book Club. When I say "Summer Book Club", I mean it's where I read the book and post my comments inviting others to comment and share their thoughts if they are reading it, too. This week I assigned Chapters 1, 2, 18, and 31. They were interesting, and had lots of information! This past year I read the book Ending the Food Fight by David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., when we continued to see problems with Brynne's weight, primarily in her stomach. She has some lactose intolerance and IBS issues, but I just felt like I must be doing something wrong in her diet. The basis for the "diet" for children recommended by Dr. Ludwig was a low-glycemic one. I started using some of the tips and tricks contained in the book, because it made sense to me in relation to Brynne's stomach issues and mid-section bloating. And it has really worked! I als...

Well, today is the start date of the Trim Healthy Mama Summer Book Club here at Journey to Excellence . Each Monday I will assign four chapters to read and then will be back on Thursday with my thoughts. If you have the book I would love it if you would join me! So for this week, read the following chapters: Chapter 1, Whole Grain Jane Chapter 2, Drive Thru Sue Chapter 18, Morning Meals (recipes) Chapter 31, Mama's Balancing Act This is a big, hefty book, so we'll need to read four chapters a week to finish by the end of August. Looking forward to this book!