This week's meal plan: Trim Healthy Mama, gluten-free, whole foods

In addition to posting "what I ate last week, Trim Healthy Mama™ style", I am going to post my weekly menus here.

My aim is to show people new to THM that it's totally possible to integrate this way of eating into your own tastes, style and food culture.

When I first heard about Trim Healthy Mama, I'm embarrassed to admit that I pre-judged the plan (before reading the book - shame on me!). I thought everyone on plan ate weird Frankenfoods.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I've noticed after being on the THM Facebook group, that so many people dramatically improve the quality of food they're eating once on plan. They give up sugar, junk food, fast food (mostly), "white" food, etc. They start eating tons more veggies, healthy oils and integrating superfoods (such as collagen, turmeric, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil) into their daily diet.

I am working on making all of the recipes in the THM cookbook eventually, so I use it a lot at the moment, but I'm also including my own recipes and long-favorite meals, to show how they can be "THM-ified" easily.

An example would be the Leek-Cauli soup. I love leek soup, and usually make it with potatoes, but since white potatoes aren't on plan, I'll substitute cauliflower (and I doubt me or anyone else will be able to tell the difference once the soup is pureed).



So here's what's on Le Menu for this week. 

(As always, it's gluten-free and Trim Healthy Mama approved.)

- *Jalapeno Popper Soup - this recipe, from the THM cookbook, gets rave reviews and hubby loves jalapenos, so I'm giving it a shot.  The family will get organic corn chips on the side, I'll forego those - "S" meal

- Roast Chicken with Vegetables (likely, roasted cauliflower and asparagus) and green salad - "S" meal

- Leek-Cauli Soup with *Swiss bread - "E" meal, dessert t/b/a

- Tacos with all the fixings - The family will eat theirs with corn tortillas, I'll have mine in a bowl. - "S" meal

- *Fooled Ya Pizza with green salad - "S" meal

- *Red lentil soup with socca (a gluten-free flatbread made with chickpea flour) - "E" meal

- Eat out or leftovers night

Recipes with an asterisk * come from Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook: Eat Up and Slim Down with More Than 350 Healthy Recipes

My answer to this question is a resounding yes. While Trim Healthy Mama isn't a gluten-free diet (sprouted breads containing gluten are "on plan"), it is very easy to be gluten-free on THM.

In fact, people who are already gluten-free might find that the transition to THM is easier because they've already given up many of the blood-sugar spiking foods that contain gluten (pastas, breads, cookies, crackers, etc).

Can you do Trim Healthy Mama™ gluten free?

I began eating gluten-free years ago when lab tests confirmed an allergy to wheat. I began my THM journey only a couple of months ago.

Pictured: a gluten-free Dutch baby pancake, Trim Healthy Mama fuel type "S"

I keep things very, very simple in my Trim Healthy Mama gluten free diet. I don't scout for on-plan gluten-free breads or crackers or bake complicated recipes. I find that I don't miss bread, crackers and such, and giving up gluten-free bread was probably helpful in my weight loss, because I often craved bread before THM. While I was better off on a gluten-free diet than before, I still craved carbohydrates and sugar, which was a struggle.

One of the reasons I love Trim Healthy Mama so much is that because of it, I was able to kick my lifelong addiction to sugar. 

Since gluten-free breads often contain starch (tapioca, rice starch, potato flour, etc), they cause a blood sugar spike, which leads to a vicious cycle of craving. Many of the gluten-free products I used to purchase were delicious, but they were making me gain weight. No thanks!

The Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook has several gluten-free bread recipes in its pages, and dozens and dozens more gluten-free muffins, cakes, pies, candies and more.

There is even a Trim Healthy Mama "Allergen Free" Facebook group. It has dozens of files with recipes, tips, product recommendations and more, as well as many members who are gluten-free (and who have other allergies as well).

I don't need toast with my eggs, but I do enjoy a gluten-free Trim Healthy Mama muffin or Bust a Myth Banana Cake or Banana Nut muffin or French Toast in a Bowl or Volcano Mud Slide muffin, all of which are far healthier and much more filling than gluten-free bread anyway! (All those recipes are available in the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook.)

I don't need to sandwich my tuna or lunch meat inbetween slices of bread. I like to add more veggies to my plate, so I eat my tuna with cucumbers or in yellow or red bell peppers, or roll up slices of deli meat around pickles, sauerkraut or cheese. Or, I wrap all the ingredients in a large piece of Romaine lettuce. Delicious!

For dinner? My family doesn't eat pasta, but we love lasagne made with spinach or zucchini instead of noodles. I even bought an inexpensive vegetable "spiralizer" so I could make zucchini noodles that are delicious in recipes that traditionally contain pasta. And of course, we eat brown rice with our "E" meals.

Note: the Trim Healthy Mama Baking Blend is gluten-free, and so are many of the other baking flours available in the THM store.