Homemade Truvia

One of the points in the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle is eating in such a way as to keep blood sugar from spiking. Since diabetes runs rampant in my family, this is a concern of mine. That is why I have tried to eliminate most sugar from my diet. However I will not resort to artificial sweeteners like aspartame to do it. I have learned about stevia, xylitol and erythritol which are all natural sweeteners that do not cause blood sugar spikes. I have heard that some people have adverse reactions to xylitol but I, thankfully, have not.

Homemade Truvia

My favorite is a homemade version of Truvia. The actual truvia has "natural flavors" as one of the ingredients which in my opinion leaves a strange aftertaste, almost like vanilla. The homemade one does not have any mysterious natural flavors added and is the one that most tastes like sugar to me.

The good thing is that it's easy to make. The bad thing is that it isn't subsidized by the government so it isn't cheap.

The ingredients you'll need are either xylitol or erythritol. Either will work. I cannot find erythritol locally but it can be ordered through Amazon. However, I CAN find xylitol in a local healthfood store, Native Sun. I buy the biggest bag they carry. And the other ingredient is stevia extract powder.

Xylitol and stevia extract

 I like the KAL brand from Native Sun but they recently changed their formulation and added maltodextrin as an added ingredient. That is NOT on plan. You want to be sure that there are NO added ingredients.

Other ingredients: None

If the KAL brand has added ingredients then try NOW. That can be ordered online. And that's it! 

1cup : 1/2 teaspoon

The ratio is 1 cup of xylitol or erythritol to 1/2 teaspoon stevia extract. Mix well. You can use it like sugar. 1 teaspoon homemade truvia = 1 teaspoon sugar. You can even bake with it.

No-fat granola (THM - E)

One thing that I've missed on my THM plan is my homemade granola. I don't really care for oatmeal (okay, I'll be honest. I don't ever eat it.) but I do like oats in the form of granola, bars and cookies. I looked around as to how I could remake my granola recipe to be THM friendly. As it is right now, it's in crossover territory because it mixes carbs (the oats) with fats (the nuts). The book has a recipe for an all-nut granola, making it an S but I really wanted an all-oat granola, making it an E. The problem, besides eliminating the nuts, was eliminating the oil. Although I have reduced the amount of oil in the original recipe, it still has quite a bit of oil in my granola recipe. I needed to find a way for the sweetener to bind with the oats. I decided to try egg whites. That would keep it in E territory and add some much-needed protein to the recipe! (I eat it with 0% fat Greek yogurt for even more protein.)

Here's the recipe, in the rough. I plan on tweaking it some more but it wasn't bad for the first go round. I think it could stand to be a little sweeter and I might consider adding a teaspoon or two of coconut oil next time to help make it more "wet". I'd have to run the numbers to see how that would affect the fat grams. Gotta stay under 5 grams of fat to keep it an E!

No Fat Granola (E)

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
2 tablespoons nnsweetened coconut flakes
1 egg white (was a little dry, will try 2 next time)
1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
2 teaspoons truvia
dash of Kal stevia extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a baking pan with Pam. Mix first two ingredients together. Mix egg white through vanilla extract in a bowl. Pour over dry mix. Spread out in a pan and bake, 30 minutes, stirring every 10 mins.

Serving size: 1/2 cup

173 calories, 30 gr carbs, 4 gr fat, 7 gr protein.
With two egg whites: 179 calories, 30 gr carbs, 4 gr fat, 8 gr protein.

Trim Healthy Mama (it works!)

Back in March I learned about Trim Healthy Mama (THM) from a friend. She shared Gwen's book review and her quick start guide with me. I ordered my book, read over the quick start guide and began learning how to separate my fats and carbs. By April I was getting a hang of the lingo, the process and the special foods. May 1st was my official start date.

Here I am with my friend (and exercise partner) the week I started. We were working a convention together.

Three weeks ago I hit my goal of losing 10 pounds. That doesn't sound like much, you say. Well, they were 10 pounds that wouldn't budge, no matter how much I tried, how diligent I was at logging calories consumed and calories burned on My Fitness Pal, no matter how many miles I ran training for the Breast Cancer Marathon.

I am 5'1" and it doesn't take much for 10 pounds to show up and throw me from a BMI of normal to overweight. My goal was to get in the normal range. Barely. Just barely over the mark. Well, I made it and have been there for 3 weeks now. My new goal is to get more in the middle of that normal range.

With my darling husband last month (he's also lost 10 pounds loosely following THM).

I am told you can see it in my face. I've always had a round face so I can't really see it. But I can tell in my clothes. I've had to go shopping because my pants were falling down and I had to wear a belt with them. Plus they were bagging and weren't flattering at all. I've discovered thrifting as a new "hobby" since I didn't want to spend too much (Would I really keep it off? What if I keep losing sizes?) It's been fun finding brand name clothes for CHEAP in sizes I haven't seen in over a decade. (That necklace in the picture above came from Goodwill for $3!)

What I like about this way of eating is there's NO COUNTING! No counting calories or Weight Watcher points. I had grown so weary of counting that it sabotaged my efforts on days I couldn't figure out how to count what I ate. And the food is REAL food! Not "diet food." (You are allowed, indeed *encouraged*, to eat fat!!)

I warn you, there IS a learning curve. You WILL mess up! It's okay! Just learn from it and move on. Every little bit you do right counts towards forward progress. Just DO THE NEXT RIGHT THING! And when you hit a plateau (and you will) don't lose heart! Keep at it. I think it's your body readjusting and shifting things around.

May you be blessed by health and joy in life. I am so thankful for both.

Summer workout

I am motivated to get (and STAY!) in shape. I have invited several friends to "join me" (not literally but in spirit) in order to keep me accountable to someone. I do so much better when I have to answer to someone else! So I have created a workout schedule in order to be able to run a 5K again (and to think that I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in '04!). Plus my family gifted me with the Wii Fit for mother's day. I am having so much fun with it!

I am also going back to Weight Watchers to get my weight back down to my goal weight. I had made lifetime but am right back to where I was. I'm glad that I know the program am motivated to get back to it. Anyone else care to join me? Email me for a copy of the workout schedule!

I love summer! A change in seasons inspires me to change! Check out my summer schedule on my other blog! What do you like to do in the summer?