Food Freedom

How’s That Workin’ For ‘Ya?

~ Midwest Storyteller
Food Freedom with Coach Barb www.midweststoryteller.com

I fully disclose that as a Certified Lifestyle Coach I do, at times, receive monetary compensation as such. See The Fine Print on the “About Me” page of this blog.

Here we are, Dear Readers, over halfway through January 2021.  So far, I’d venture to guess that most of you who sighed with relief at midnight on December 31, 2020 are just a shade disappointed.

Having mentored people with their health for years and being an avid observer of human nature, I think all we have to do is turn on the news lately and within thirty seconds we’ve decided we’ve had our fill of human nature.

In January, you’ve probably observed a common occurrence in either your own life or someone else’s.  We muddle along through the holidays, stressed and for most of us, over-blessed, promising ourselves that, come January 1st, things will be different.  “Enough of this nonsense”, you say, vowing to lose weight, get organized, take better care of yourself, serve your community more, keep in closer contact with the ones you love – the list goes on and on, doesn’t it?

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – I can’t fathom why they ever designated January 1st as the beginning of the new year!  It makes no sense, at least for the Northern Hemisphere.  Just when the Good Lord offered us hibernation time and a nice, long rest, the calendar screams at us to jump up, get going and conquer the world and all our shortcomings.  Oh, please!

Would anyone like to join my movement to have the new year moved to the first day of spring so that we could all get a little more excited about it?  I know, I know, it’s a brilliant idea!  That’s probably why people in high places never thought of it.

Anyhow, here we are and we seem to be stuck with it for now.  This brings me back to my original question:  “How’s that workin’ for ‘ya?

One thing I stress in lifestyle coaching through Trim Healthy Mama is the concept of “tip-toeing in”.  I would far rather see someone read a couple of chapters in the Trim Healthy Mama Plan book then choose three simple recipes to fit the plan that they can make in the coming week than I would to see them do a complete pantry makeover, call a family meeting on how things will change and then wear themselves out making sure every bite that goes into their mouth is perfect!

Speaking of perfect bites, let me pause to point out that “sticking to plan” with THM does not equal suffering, as evidenced by this beauty I made last week! 

THM Philly Cheese Meatloaf

“Loaded Philly Cheese Meatloaf”, page 216 Trim Healthy Table, declared by Smuffy to be the best meatloaf I’ve ever fed him.

Here’s a little nugget to chew on.  Repentance is better than goals.  Goals involve setting a bar and then trying to measure up to it.  Repentance simply involves realizing the road you are traveling is headed in the wrong direction, then turning around and going the opposite way – to a better place.  (See how I did that – I’m so clever – note the heading of this blog.)

I want you to feel blessed today and not condemned.  If you’re halfway through January and all those new leaves you vowed to turn over are still stuck together, just take a deep breath, take another step on the right path and find joy on the way to a better place.  Then, perhaps when someone asks, “How’s that workin’ for ‘ya?”, you won’t have to hang your head and sigh.

If you’re wanting to make your journey with Trim Healthy Mama joyful, choose three recipes that fit the plan and make those this week.  Ask yourself some questions about the rest of your meals and snacks and make sensible tweaks.  Let 2021 take you to a better place step by step.

I like to make out a menu plan on weekends, but I only plan out four items.  I enjoy my “pleasant ruts”, so I already know what breakfasts will probably consist of.  I share complete weekly menus in my coaching sessions, but I’ve been on the plan long enough that lots of meals are “freestyle” now.

I thought you might like to see what a recent plan included.  We have our main meal at lunch because that’s what Smuffy prefers and supper is freestyle.  You’ll have your own plan for your own household.

I take it for granted that each of these main dishes will be served up with quick-fix non-starchy veggies, salads and other sides and that snacks are ready to grab.

If you need support in your journey, head to the Contact Me page and let me know.  I’ll give you all the info on group sessions and private coaching, which can be done in person or by phone.  Share with friends and let’s see how many are ready to get Trim & Healthy!

For info on getting started and a few questions you can ask yourself about getting started, click here. For coaching pricing, click here.

It’s a great way to come out of social distancing a better person.

Have the events of the last several months caused you to re-think how you are fueling your body so that you can build your immune system?  Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts.

Big Announcement Today!

~ Midwest Storyteller

[NOTE:  It is my understanding that there is a weight loss plan out there using the phrase “food freedom” in promotion.  Unaware of this, I chose the name “Food Freedom with Coach Barb”.  The two are in no way connected. Just providing clarity for my readers.] 

I’ve been looking forward to making this announcement and sharing my journey with you.  If you’ve been with me from the beginning, you know that health is a top priority in my life.  I have shared part of my health story here on the blog, and though some of it is scary, I really haven’t told the whole story.

Years ago (I’m thrilled to say) a cancer diagnosis played a part.  If you’d like to catch up on that part of my life, you can read about it here and here.

There are things more difficult to endure than a cancer diagnosis and its subsequent surgery and treatments.  Stage 3 (I’m talkin’ in the pits, folks) Adrenal Fatigue is one of them and I can honestly say that a couple of times during that awful phase I found myself fearful of not making it through the night. 

When I talk to people who seem to care little about taking care of themselves, I sometimes find myself thinking (not sarcastically), “Well, maybe you just haven’t been sick enough yet.”  I have. 

Now back to chemotherapy.  I knew then, but have really come to understand since, what a hormone disrupter that is – as if we women needed another one – right?  As I sat in the chemo room trying not to watch the drip, I’d hear the other women talking about how much weight they’d gained during chemo.  Frightening tales of up to forty-five pounds had me shaking in my blue vinyl recliner!

I didn’t gain forty-five pounds, but I did gain fifteen – the fifteen that would not budge – the fifteen that kept trying to turn into twenty.

I’m tall, but small boned, and excess weight on my body hurts.  It pulls me down.  Because of my height, no one really regarded me as “fat” because I gained it all from the waist down.  This whole new world of walking past a loaf of bread and gaining five pounds was foreign and frightening territory.  I’d spent my whole life eating whatever I wanted and not gaining an ounce.

I joined that group that measures everything and counts “points”.  I stuck to it for years.  It worked – twice, in fact.  Still, at the root of the matter was the fact that I love food.  I may have left the farm, but I took my farm-girl appetite with me, if you know what I mean.  I want seconds – possibly thirds.  I eat.  The portion control police were after me all day long and in the long run, my blood work showed that the plan did me no favors.

When adrenal fatigue showed up and my holistic doctor advised me to give up sugar and grains, my family (the supportive little darlings) told me I couldn’t do it.  After all, they did know me as the Bread & Pasta Queen.  I did do it.  I lost a few pounds, too!  Then it began to creep back on again.  Was there no end?

Then, a couple of years ago, a friend of mine started losing weight.  What struck me most was the fact that she seemed deliriously happy doing it.  Normally, the first thing a dieter loses is their sense of humor.  She’d bring food to gatherings that tasted SO YUMMY and she’d lost over thirty pounds!  When I asked about the recipe, she’d name off a string of ingredients that fit my doctor’s recommendations to the letter.  So, why was she dropping pounds while I couldn’t wait to get home and get the too-tight jeans off?

That’s when she told me about Trim Healthy Mama.  Later, I borrowed her THM book and tip-toed in. It all made such logical sense and avoided extremes.  It didn’t take away food groups.  It simply showed me how to stop duel-fueling my body with fats and carbohydrates at the same time and how to feed my body what all those hormones needed so I could not only walk past the bread, but stop and sniff it and even have a slice!

After a year of baby-stepping and learning how the plan was ideal not only for weight loss, but for those who wanted great cancer prevention like I did, but is ideal for people with diabetes, insulin resistance, cardiac and any number of other issues, I bought the books, including cookbooks and jumped in.

The first recipe I tried in my “Trim Healthy Table” cookbook was Creamy Garlic Spinach Spaghetti Squash Bake.  Oh, my goodness!  If I could eat like this and trim down, I was in!  Smuffy gave it the thumbs up, too.

Creamy Garlic Spinach Spaghetti Squash Bake www.midweststoryteller.com

Today, I have the troublesome weight off.  (Actually, I think I may go ahead and drop another three to four pounds.)  I feel great and this may be my biggest announcement of all today – I’m eating!  I eat seconds.  I eat thirds.  I try to avoid out-and-out calorie abuse, but I don’t measure my portions.  I eat butter!  Repeat after me – B U T T E R!  I pour olive oil on my salad and top it with cheese and nuts.  I eat carbs.  I was made for fats and carbs and am so thankful THM has shown me how to eat them in a trimming way.  It’s so sensible and safe that pregnant and nursing moms can feel free to jump right in! And guys, just call yourself a Trim Healthy Papa (or Dude) because this plan works for you, too.

Knowing that I could be of help to so many others, I decided to become a certified coach through Trim Healthy Mama.  I’ll be sharing lots of recipes and information here on the blog and should you need more, I offer group and private coaching, cooking demonstrations and more.

Click here for a printable information sheet to see if Trim Healthy Mama is right for you.  (It’s also available on the right sidebar.) I can help you via phone and email if you live outside my area.  For dates and times for group meetings or for private coaching, send me an email at barb@midweststoryteller.com

For pricing and discounts, including your first session of coaching absolutely free, plus available discounts, click here. 

If your church group, homeschool group or organization is located in my area, I would be happy to speak to people who are ready to find food freedom, get their health back and if they need to lose the weight – get trim!

Trim Healthy Mama originated when two moms (originally from Down Under and now in the hills of Tennessee) found themselves DONE with diets.  These sisters wrote a book for their friends that became a best-seller because the simple science and healthy guidelines worked for so many people. They now have the #1 health podcast out there, plus books, curriculum and their own line of healthy food and other things that will make your body better!

Meet Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison in this short video where you’ll learn a little more about THM.

That’s my big announcement!  Coming up, I’ll be sharing healthy recipes and providing notations concerning recipes that have already appeared on the blog and whether or not they fit the Trim Healthy Mama plan.  I’ll be making recommendations from THM recipes and providing lots of information on my new Food Freedom Facebook page where I’ll share THM knowledge, recipes, tips and all sorts of other goodies.  Please “like” and “follow” at https://www.facebook.com/Food-Freedom-THM-Certified-Lifestyle-Coaching-100703354727086/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Most of all, Happy Eating!

How’s your New Year’s Resolution coming along? Was it, once again, to either lose weight or eat healthier? Why do you think you fail? I’d love to hear your comments!

Every Tradition was New Once

~ Midwest Storyteller

READERS TAKE NOTE: Although I am a THM Certified Lifestyle Coach, not every recipe on this blog fits the THM plan This is an earlier post, BEFORE my THM days. I’m currently working on adapting some of these recipes to fit the plan.

Some Christmas traditions date back generations and for some, we have completely lost touch with their origins. We celebrate them “just because”.

Each one, however, had to have started somewhere, somehow and by somebody and on that day it was brand new. Everyone gathered around and some perhaps rejected it or gave it a try just to be agreeable and somehow it caught on.

Christmas morning will soon be here and I wanted to share our breakfast tradition with you.

Swedish Coffee Bread www.midweststoryteller.com

Several years ago, I searched allrecipes.com for a recipe using cardamom because I’d bought the spice for another recipe and it was a little pricey and I wasn’t about to throw it away. I just didn’t know what else to do with it. Well, now I do!

This is a bread machine recipe that originally called for making one long braided bread rope. The aroma and the flavor of the cardamom in the bread was unlike anything we’d ever had before and I found myself looking for excuses to make it again. Later, as my cogs turned (they often do that), it occurred to me that if I divided the dough in half, I could braid each into two smaller “wreaths” and if topped with colored sugar sprinkles rather than just plain, I’d have a masterpiece. Now, I not only make them for us, but for others as gifts each Christmas and they are a hit. Several people tell me that they also have them as their breakfast on Christmas morning. One friend told me that she ate the entire thing on her way home in the car!

I’m telling you – these bread wreaths are fabulous! Now we can’t imagine Christmas without them. Those of you who follow my recipes know that I pretty much stay away from sugar. This recipe, when divided in half as I do to make the wreaths, has only 1/6 cup of sugar in the entire bread wreath and, Hey! It’s Christmas! I lost count this year, but I think I made around sixteen of these.

This recipe would make a great addition to your New Year’s celebration as well and when made as the original recipe directs, a wonderful tradition to begin for your family’s Resurrection Day festivities.

It can’t be done without the cardamom, but this bread makes that pricey little spice worth every penny!

Merry Christmas and may you and yours find time over the holidays to make at least one batch of this recipe: Bread Machine Swedish Coffee Bread. Note: When dividing the dough in half to make two wreaths, you will only need to bake them for 15 minutes in a convection oven, or 20 minutes in a regular oven.

I’d love to hear some of your tradition foods or activities for the holiday season, so please leave a comment!