The Building Blocks of Success: My THM journey

written by

Sue King

posted on

April 3, 2020

Last week I started to tell you about my Trim Healthy Mama (THM) journey. After following the principles of Nourishing Traditions for many years, I stumbled upon Trim Healthy Mama.

To say it has been life changing for me is an understatement. I went from looking pregnant even when I wasn’t to regaining a feminine figure that I feel good about.

Balance That Blood Sugar

Goal #1: Balancing blood sugar

I learned to choose foods that have a low-glycemic index. For me this meant eliminating grains for over a year, eating non-starchy vegetables, lots of high quality protein and good fats. Kale, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, lettuce and many other non -starchy veggies occupied half or more of my plate. Berries were a mainstay of my breakfasts. And lots of fermented dairy products.

When we eat these low-glycemic foods they are digested much slower, therefore they do not cause our blood sugar to spike.

Goal #2: Eliminate Sugar and White Flour

THM is definitely sugar-free. Refined sugar and white flour are absorbed into our blood streams very quickly. When this happens continually our pancreas is overworked producing insulin to combat the blood sugar. Now this does not mean that we have to resort to artificial sweeteners. They are not a part of this plan. Instead stevia or blends of stevia/erythritol or xylitol are on-plan, as is monk fruit. I personally use stevia.

Three Building Blocks of a Healthy Diet

Building Block #1: High quality Protein

Protein is our anchor. It is digested slowly so it doesn’t spike our blood sugar. I eat some form of animal protein that we have raised on our farm at every meal. I have grass-fed beef and lamb, pasture raised pork and chicken, dairy products and free range eggs to choose from.

Building Block #2: High Quality Fats

Just like Nourishing Traditions, we use high quality fats such as extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, avocado oil, lard, tallow, butter and cream.

We use olive, coconut and avocado oil to make homemade salad dressings. Lard, tallow coconut oil and butter are used for cooking. Last but not least, fresh cream from our Jersey cow makes coffee heavenly.

Building Block #3: Low glycemic Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates boost our energy levels. With THM we consume helpful carbs like fruit, sweet potatoes, beans and whole grains. Brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal, sprouted whole grains, popcorn, beans, lentils and split peas are examples of useful carbs.

Putting it All Together

Now comes the fun part; putting this all together. On THM we do not mix fats and carbs. These are both fuels for our body. If we load up on these two fuels at every meal our body simply turns the excess into fat for storage.


Think of THM as a balance scale. The center of the scale is your protein while one side contains your fats and the other is your carbs. You never want your scale to be level; you don’t want to mix fats and carbs.

When you decide to have a meal with fats you are choosing a “satisfying” meal. Carbs are part of an “energizing” meal.

When I was trying to lose weight the next thing I learned was not to eat fats and carbs in the same meal.  Both of these are fuels that our bodies require, but when combined cause us to put on excess weight instead of shedding it.


Satisfying Meals (S)

These meals are a combination of our high quality protein, lots of non-starchy veggies with plenty of good fats.

Most of my meals fall into this category. A typical breakfast for me contains two free-range eggs scrambled with butter and coconut oil, salt, pepper, homemade onion powder and nutritional yeast. As a side I have homemade yogurt with blueberries, strawberries, saskatoons, or hascaps sweetened with stevia. Frequently supper is grass-fed beef or chicken and lots of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, peppers or carrots with homemade butter.


Energizing Meals (E)

Energizing meals consist of a lean protein and low glycemic carbs. They contain a maximum of one teaspoon of fat.

(E) meals are usually reserved for lunches. A typical lunch in the first year of THM was mixed leafy greens lightly sautéed and salmon.

By changing my eating habits and following THM I lost over fifty pounds in the first six months without starving myself. I have now maintained that weight loss for five year.

I have just skimmed the surface of this easy to follow lifestyle eating plan. I would highly recommend Trim Healthy Mama to anyone. My skinny husband and son even follow it except that they eat white potatoes.

I hope you have enjoyed this little glimpse of my health journey.

If you are new to Harmonys Way Family Farm we invite you to have a look around our website.  If you have any questions please feel free to connect with us.  If you are not a subscriber we invite you to join us on this journey called life.  With Easter just around the corner when you subscribe  you will receive our little recipe booklet The Busy Cooks Guide to Preparing Amazing Lamb absolutely free. 






Yes, Please!






P.S.:  You may know that we recently opened our online-store to serve our customers better. But, did you also know that we are now making door-to-door deliveries in Grande Prairie?


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