Not Losing Weight on Trim Healthy Mama?3 Tips When THM Doesn't Work

Not losing weight on Trim Healthy Mama?

When THMweight loss doesn't happen after pregnancy or life changes it can be devastating. Especially if you have lost weight before. Maybe you are not pregnant, but something has happened in which your body has changed, and Trim Healthy Mama isn't working now. 

So, what's a mama to do?

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The Adventure of Change

When I was growing up, we would take trips from Minnesota to Montana every year. That first trip was magical. My sister and I would ride in the back of our parent's truck with the topper on. It was an adventure. We would gaze in wonder as the landscape changed. Suddenly the grassy and luscious greens of Minnesota would change to orange and browns of the Dakotas.

The truck chugged its way past the long open road's and in the distance, we could see the roads turn upward. Grand landscapes of mountains jutted up. We would press our noses against the glass and look over one side of the road that jutted down the mountains and then scampers over and look on the other side only to see glorious rocks ascending into the sky. 

Something funny happened the next year though when we went back. The drive was still glorious, but I had seen it already. The year after that the back of my dad's truck had none of the adventure of two years prior. I wanted out of that truck flatbed and into an actual car seat. 

The next trip was in a car instead of a truck and the landscape took on an entirely new dimension from those windows. I could see the road wiz by and watch through the front windshield as the mountains charged toward us. 

Finally, one year the climax happened, and I was the one behind the driver's wheel. Do you remember your first time driving on a road trip? In one sense it is wonderful, and in another sense, it is deathly frightening. The landscape from the closed-in beauty of Minnesota changed to the wide-open plains of the Dakotas and plummeted through bypasses and mountain ravines. The open land was too much. I remember shaking in that driver's seat and asking to be done. 

So, what does Minnesota to Montana road trips have to do with an unsuccessful Trim Healthy Mama journey? 

Everything. 

Not Losing Weight on Trim Healthy Mama- My Story

In 2017 I got pregnant at 213 pounds. I was devastated. That pregnancy was the most awful thing I can remember in my lifetime. I hated it to my very essence. Yet God used that time to teach me some very valuable lessons. I ended my pregnancy at 253 pounds and started on my Trim Healthy Mama journey. I gave birth in March of 2018 and by December 2018 I had successfully dropped to 178 pounds. With nursing my baby and the THM lifestyle the weight dropped off. That was the smallest I had been in years.

In January 2019 I got pregnant again. I was not ready for that change, but that pregnancy in my mind was beautiful. My mind was at peace almost during my entire pregnancy. However, my body on the other hand was not cooperating. 

I kept chugging through Trim Healthy Mama my entire pregnancy, I hiked/walked 2-5 miles almost every day, sometimes carrying my 12-month-old. I lived the THM lifestyle faithfully. By the end though my weight had climbed back up to nearly 250 pounds again. 

Since I had lost weight so easily while nursing on THM with my first child, I was eager to see results with this second nursing experience. 

WRONG. The scale started climbing. 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 15 pounds. 

I was so angry. How could I be working so HARD and be right back where I started? Why would God let this happen?! I already deal with heart-wrenching self-image issues. It's as if the harder I work, the harder I fail. 

What was I doing wrong?! 

If you are too struggling with your self-worth while journeying through THM, I specifically wrote this post for you. It comes with 12 scripture cards to remind you of your self-worth in Jesus.

Your THM Journey is Not the Same Twice

Remember the beginning of this post when I talked about our road trips to Montana? Those road trips were beautiful. The entire way, every time. What I have come to realize is that like those road trips Trim Healthy Mama changes with time. But more importantly, the journey is beautiful each time a season changes. Just because one season of life might be tougher than another, does not make it any less important, beautiful, or worth our energy.

" Trust in him at all times, O people;
    pour out your heart before him;
    God is a refuge for us."

Psalm 62:8

Even in healthy journeys, we can trust our God who created these bodies. Pour your heart out to God about all your frustrations. He understands. 

The Destination is the Same 

Our Trim Healthy Mama destination is the same no matter what season of life we are in. The destination is health. Sure, we want to weigh a certain amount, but good health and glorifying God is our goal. I got to the same destination each summer when we took our Minnesota to Montana road trips.

Sometimes the journey is the destination. Far too often we are waiting for the 'end'. Trim Healthy Mama's journey is a continuum.

The Road is the Same  

On each road trip, we took almost identical roads to Montana. If you have committed to a Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle, then it is your road to Food Freedom. You've committed to the road and knew and believe the truth of the plan. It's time to commit and ride the road with successes and failures; always learning from both.

The Perspective is Different 

So, what's different? The perspective is. My road trips always came with a unique perspective. The landscape was not changing, but my perspective was. When I sat in the driver's seat for the first time my perspective was so wide open, that it drove me to a healthy fear! 

These changes might be beautiful, they might be tough, but regardless they change our Trim Healthy Mama perspective and how we approach our eating. Our bodies do not stay the same our entire lives, they change. The bible tells us that with age comes wisdom. Not only does the mind change, but the body changes as well. How can we expect that change in our bodies doesn't change the weight loss journey and perspective as well? 

" Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days."

Job 12:12

A Different Perspective Means a Different Approach

Let's go back to my road trip analogy. With each perspective, I had to approach the trip differently. When I was a child, I just flopped myself in the back of the truck and enjoyed the journey. As I become older my participation changed until I was in the driver's seat. The same is true on the Trim Healthy Mama journey. Just because Trim Healthy Mama worked after my first pregnancy does not mean it will work the same way after my second pregnancy. Your approach may have to change during different seasons of your life, even if those seasons are similar.  

My Trim Healthy Mama Approach Has Changed

Dejected is a good description when I realized that my 'normal' Trim Healthy Mama approach would need to change. I dove back into the THM communities and started learning again how to be successful with the new changes I was experiencing. As normal, the THM community was helpful beyond words. If you have not joined one of these communities, you will find them helpful and always encouraging. 

3 Tips When Trim Healthy Mama Doesn't Work

When your typical Trim Healthy Mama routine needs to change because your body or circumstances have left your THM journey unsuccessful, here are three of the biggest takeaways I have found in this new season of life. 

Tip #1 - Reread the Books

Why would I need to reread the books? I've read them what seems like one hundred times before! You may have read the Trim Healthy Mama plan book, but your need to open it and read sections of it again, you'll be amazing at how many things suddenly pop out to you that maybe didn't apply to you the first time you read it, but now does. 

I personally opened the table of contents and went to section 3 of the book. This section has 'Heads Up' chapters for many common phases of life, including slow weight losers, pregnancy, and nursing. Don't read the entire book, just brush up on all the information. 

Tip #2 - Ask the Communities

Like I've mentioned before the THM communities are stellar. They will answer with grace and honesty (most of the time- there's always that 'one' person) any question that you pose. I was given an abundance of resources for nursing mama's including many prompts to look at my prolactin levels. If you are a nursing mama that is struggling with weight loss/weight gain during nursing, I highly encourage you to look at your prolactin levels as well. This very clear article also summarizes it well. 

Sometimes these communities will help clear the brain rubble and help you think of your health in a different direction than you had been. A few incredibly wise women asked me in the Trim Healthy Mama Pregnancy & Nursing group if there had been any other changes in my life since giving birth?

I went on to tell them about our sudden selling of our home the same week I gave birth, our move into a new home, and a 2-week hospital stay with my newborn, all within 30 days. I felt like these wise women virtually smacked me on the back of the head, and then kindly said, "duh, your body is not losing weight. Give it a break girly and let it heal from all that stress!" I hadn't even considered that the above was affecting my weight.  It took someone from the outside to point out what was now is obvious to me. 

Ask the communities, and then have the grace to receive what they say in love. Most of the ladies are on there and I'm positive all the admins are there to love on you, not bring you down. 

Tip #3 - Open the Word of God

If you are not a woman of faith, this last tip might see off to you. However, I am a woman of faith, so here I go! 

" Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us." Psalm 62:8

 I already mentioned the above verse, but it bears mentioning again. If you are in a weight-loss stall, have struggled with self-image, have seen success and THM and now are not, or are just desperate for a health change, I want to encourage you with this verse. Focus on three of the words here, trust, pour, and refuge.

 It can be easy to forget God in our health journeys. I'll be honest, sometimes I unintentionally start thinking that God must be punishing me with my lifetime struggle with weight. Have you ever thought that? My THM sister, it's okay. God creates us beautiful, but we live in a fallen world. Our self-image and concept of beauty take a hit far too often. Our weight is not tied to our self-worth. 

Look back at that verse and trust God with your health journey. Pour out your heart to him. Trust him with all the ugly lies. Then rest in the refuge he provides. Our healthy journeys are not separate from our spiritual journeys. 

Open your Bible and find His truth. 

Find strength in this journey no matter where you are at. Just like my Montana road trips, the journey can be beautiful each time. You might feel dejected and at a loss, but enjoy the journey, your perspective will not be the same twice.