My First Trimaversary.

This summer, I'm celebrating my first Trimaversary. A what?! I'm sure you're thinking that right now. As of June 2019, I have been on my Trim Healthy Mama journey for one year. It's story time! (I'm inserting the longer-ish post alert warning here!)

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May 3, 2018. Before starting THM. I was approximately 25 lbs overweight & feeling unwell.I'm 5'7" and weighed 180 lbs in this photo, typically wearing a size Medium/Large in tops, and a size 8/10 for pants.

Flashback to Spring 2018. I can remember the exact moment when I knew that the way that I was doing life needed to change. It was at a horse show. A schooling show at Maple Ridge Equi-Sports Centre to be exact. I was running the shop's mobile tack trailer at this show. This involved loading up bins of merchandise from the store into the trailer, hauling the trailer out to the show grounds & setting up said trailer for all of the amazing riders down at MREC. Not a big deal, right? Wrong!

Step back with me about six months prior to that. I was experiencing some of the worst anxiety & health related concerns that I've ever had. I was gaining weight constantly. I was sick, sore & tired all the time. Any little bit of extra physical work would push me over the edge. The soreness that I would experience the next day, as well as the general disrupt to my digestive system was wearing on me mentally, as well as emotionally.

So, back again to the horse show at MREC. I struggled so badly setting up that tiny little trailer. I was out of breath, sore & in pain for the ENTIRE show, as well as for the take-down afterwards. I decided that I was done. Done with being in pain, being overweight & feeling generally unwell. I knew that needed to be physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually capable to carry out my daily tasks with ease. My job as a manager is a demanding one at times, and I was not able to bring my best to work. I wasn't able to bring my best at home, either. My husband was so gracious towards me during this difficult season of my life. He held me at night during my panic attacks, whispered words of encouragement to me after a long day of not feeling physically well & loved me through some of my ugliest moments. Without him, I could not have made it during this difficult season of my life! I wanted to be better for him. I wanted to be able to enjoy life more abundantly through taking charge of my health.

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Enter in Trim Healthy Mama! I saw a few friends who were constantly pinning this "Trim Healthy Mama" plan, as well as some pretty delicious looking "THM" recipies on their Pinterest accounts. One friend was really making progress with this plan. (Check out my friend Jaclyn, & her journey here!) I was curious. So I purchased the Trim Healthy Mama Plan book in September of 2017 on my Kobo. I read it, took the information in, & I thought,

"That's nice. It sounds like a really good, balanced way to approach food, but I don't have time for this right now. Plus, I'm a little bit neurotic about things like this, so I'll be too condemning towards myself if I try this out right now."

I prayed about it, felt like it wasn't the right time yet & I cast it aside. Until that show in March. Feeling prompted by the Holy Spirit that the time had come for me to start implementing the THM plan, I bought a hard copy of the book off of Amazon. And I studied it. Slowly, I started applying the principles to my life during the months of April & May. By June, I had gone "full THM" and was doing the plan daily.

5 months into THM. November 2018. You can already see the difference! Especially in my face.

My first goal: getting my blood sugars in balance so that I could start feeling better. I wanted to reduce the inflammation in my body. My primary goal for doing THM wasn't to lose weight (but it definitely was an added, & much-needed bonus!) The first three days of being completely sugar-free was hard on my body. But by day four, I was already feeling better. My anxiety was noticeably better, too. Several weeks into the plan, I remember saying to my husband,

"I can't believe how much better I feel. Even if I don't lose a single pound from this, I've already gained so much back with my health." He was happy that I was feeling better, too!

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After being on-plan for one year: June 8, 2019. I now weigh 155 lbs, and wear a size small in tops, size 2/4 for pants.

Now onward to June 2019. I'm 25 pounds lighter, free from physical pain, so much healthier & the biggest hallelujah-praise-Jesus thing is the fact that I'm anxiety free. Prior to THM, I thought that my anxious state was normal. I just assumed that this was the way I was going to be for the rest of my life. I didn't realize how badly my blood sugar levels were effecting my anxiety. I'm not saying that I don't experience anxiety at all anymore, but when I do, it's more of a "situational" anxious moment as opposed to constantly feeling panicked as my normal.

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Four things that made this plan work best for me:

1. Grace & Kindness Towards Myself:

I learned to be kind to myself when I "messed up with food" to reset myself & to keep going. You literally get a chance to start this plan over every 3 hours! One of the main reasons why I love this plan is that it's based around food freedom. Fats are welcome. Carbs are not off limits! Steak for dinner & chocolate mousse for dessert? You bet! It's not a diet or fad. Some of of these diets & fads are downright dangerous. It's a sustainable way of doing life. It's a celebration of nourishing, life-giving food that's covered in grace, freedom & "owning it" to best suit YOU.

2. The THM Community:

If you're thinking of doing the THM plan, the THM Facebook group is something that you'll want to join immediately. It is the most encouraging & fun place to be. Another great thing is the THM podcast. These podcasts helped to spur me on when I thought about quitting. (What if you could? Am I right?! You'll have to listen to the podcasts if you want to know more about that one...)

3. Renewing My Mind:

I have had to work through a lot of mind renewal on this journey. This involved healing & re-training my brain about the way that I thought about myself, as well as the way that I approached food & life in general. Once again, the podcasts were incredibly helpful in this particular area.

4. Waiting on God's Timing to Start:

When I first read about the plan in September of 2017, I prayed about it quite a bit, wondering if this was something I should do or not. The answer to that prayer was to wait. So I did. I needed some healing in other areas of my life first (spiritually & emotionally) before I was ready to do the plan. While it was disappointing to have to wait, I do believe that the blessing of waiting has been far greater than being disobedient & trying to do this plan on my own strength.

This is my personal THM journey. It's truly transformed my life, physically, spiritually & emotionally.

xo, Alyssa