Avoiding the THM Snowball Effect

Avoiding the THM Snowball Effect

By Meggan Larson

If you’ve been following the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating for any length of time then you likely know about separating your meals and snacks by about three hours. This helps your body fully digest what you’ve eaten and gives it time to start eating through that extra fat we’ve got stored up. When we eat too closely together or change what we’re eating from fats (S meals) to carbs (E meals) too soon then we run the risk of colliding our fuels and that leads to weight gain. So what happens when we go completely off plan? How long should we wait then?

The same rule of waiting applies here as well… it must be…

…three hours!

When you go off plan (accidentally or otherwise) you can start over in three hours. That’s wonderful right? It is and it isn’t. It IS because we all need grace, especially when changing our eating habits. We need to know that messing up isn’t the end of the world. There is a huge amount of freedom when you know in the back of your mind that you can start over in three hours. Some of us can tend to abuse that freedom though. Some of us can get into what I like to call the “the snowball effect”. Let me paint a picture for you and you let me know if it resonates with you at all.

You’re late for church on Sunday morning so you go through drive through with the family and think to yourself “oh it’s okay, I’ll just start over in three hours” so you go off plan. Lunch time comes around and everyone is starving so you make something quick for the kids and then just have a bowl of it yourself because you’re starving too. Snack time comes around and there’s still Halloween candy lying around so you have a couple of mini chocolate bars because you already went off plan for breakfast and lunch so today is basically a write off. You may as well have a few more treats since this is the last day you’ll be eating off plan anyway and dinner might as well be something amazing since you’ll be starting over tomorrow morning. Before you know it you’ve managed to consume a week’s worth of calories in one day all with the intention of starting over tomorrow.

Giving yourself grace and giving yourself a free pass for the day are two different things. When you go off plan do your best to actually start over in three hours by making a plan to eat on plan next. If you don’t, it will be that much easier to fall into the snowball effect and before you know it you’ll have done it several times in a week and instead of celebrating weight loss you’ll be depressed over weight gain. I’ve been there and I don’t recommend it! 🙂

-Meggan

ps…As always I’d love to hear from you so if you have any questions or comments please comment below or email me at Meggan@thelaundrymoms.com

Meggan Larson is a wife, mom of three, and challenge overcomer! Being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and undergoing aggressive chemotherapy when her second born child was only three months old, gave Meggan an expected twist to her life. Dealing with pregnancy weight gain and the debilitating effects of chemotherapy, Meggan’s weight soared to over 228 pounds. Feeling humiliated with no desire to socialize, Meggan was desperate for a change. Shortly after losing 20 pounds with the Trim Healthy Mama program, Meggan found out she was pregnant with baby number three, which ended in an emergency C-section and unexpected hysterectomy. Despite the challenges she faced, Meggan has just celebrated her one year “trimiversary”, and her success of releasing just over 60 pounds! Meggan is confident that her success on plan is “doable” for anyone looking to gain back their health and wanting to live a trim and healthy lifestyle!