Ready to get good at Juggling?

Trim Healthy Mama is not about obsessing or number counting. But having a few guidelines can help you bring your eating into balance. This can be especially important if you have gotten confused with all the chatter around about what you “should” and “should not” eat.

Your body craves balance. Blood sugar balance, fat balance, and carb balance.

With Trim Healthy Mama, you will bring your body into a place of healing and balance so it can release fat. You do this by cycling your fuels. Choosing a fat focus fuel (S-Satisfying) means you add healthy fats to your protein-focused meal but keep your carbs very low. A carb-focused meal (E-Energizing) is focused on a lean protein with added healthy carbs. Both meals should include good amounts of non-starchy veggies. Read here for a refresher on your fat & carb number guidelines.

Let’s take a look now at the Fuel Pull meal (FP). This meal will be centered around lean protein (FP protein allowance is 4-6 oz at a setting) without extra healthy carbs or extra healthy fats. 

Your goal is to have less than 10 grams of carbs and less than 5 grams of fat in the FP meal. 

Your protein amount in an FP meal is 4-6 oz. You will need to increase your protein intake if you are working out and you may need more protein if you choose to eat your evening meal as a Fuel Pull.

We’ve covered your fat number and your carb number. Wondering how to track your calories? Don’t. You are free from that burden. Your weight loss journey is about a lot more than calories eaten and calories burned. There are many other factors like your metabolism, lifestyle, and hormones that influence your body’s ability to release fat.

If you are eating 45 grams of carbs with 1 tsp or less of fat then you don’t need to focus on the calorie load. Your body is going to be able to handle those amounts and burn through them so it can get busy burning its fat. Same thing with your S meals, you don’t need to count calories, because you are creating balance by juggling your fuels.

Juggling fuels?? What does that mean?

You want to keep your metabolism flexible so instead of eating only one type of fuel, you will move towards juggling or cycling through the 3 fuels each day. This will keep your body wondering what is going on and it won’t get hard and stiff and forget how to release fat.

Create variety in your meal plan. Your fueling target is 5-9 E meals each week. As you reach and pass the age of 40 you would do well to add more E meals into your menu plan. Fuel Pulls should not be overused but a nice guideline is to incorporate them 2-4 times each week. The rest of your meals can be S fueled.

Here’s a sample fuel juggle:

E Breakfast - oatmeal with added lean protein

S Lunch - steak and salad

FP Snack - cottage cheese (1%) with berries

S Dinner - chicken thighs with buttered veggies

Juggling your fuels is going to help your metabolism stay flexible and guessing. 

Next, let’s talk about the timing of your meals. This little tweak can have an impact. Don’t just let your body dictate when you will and won’t eat. If you have a history of dieting, you might have thrown off your hunger hormone. Without proper and consistent fueling your metabolism will slow down. 

Your guideline is to eat every 3-4 hours, even if you are not hungry. You don’t have to eat a large meal, you can have a small snack, just something to rev your metabolism. A protein powder in some almond milk with some veggies on the side. Or lean deli meat with a hard-boiled egg and veggies. Just remember to always ask yourself “where’s my protein” at every single meal and snack.

Phew! We’ve covered a lot of information here.

You have learned that the Fuel Pull is a great addition to your meal plan to keep your metabolism guessing. You’ve learned that the Fuel Pull meal is always anchored by a lean protein with no more than 10 grams of carbs and 5 grams of fat added to it. 

You’ve learned to juggle your fuels and not get into a rut. Your body loves variety!

Are you ready to meet another fuel?

Welcome the crossover fuel.

This poor fuel often gets mistyped as “off-plan” but it isn’t. A crossover is a fuel that is a mix of the E and the S fuels. It means you get to have some carbs and some fats with your protein anchor all at the same time. 

Crossovers = protein (any kind) + healthy fats + healthy carbs

If you are at goal weight, pregnant, nursing, or a teen then these meals are your pals. They are not as weight loss friendly because you don’t necessarily burn through all the fuel so you can burn your own fat, but they are on plan.

A crossover meal would be something like steak (fat & protein) with a sweet potato (carb) a side salad and a bit of ranch dressing.

Crossovers are very healthy choices and are so much better than eating off-plan!

Of course you will continue to focus on better balance so eating multiple crossovers each week will not necessarily move you toward your weight loss goals. But when you are faced with off-plan meal options, choose to eat a crossover meal instead. You will be blessed.

Last but not least is the S helper meal. This fuel type is an S meal (protein + fat + non-starchy veggies) with a bit of carbs added in. You can bump up your carb limit for this meal from 10 grams to 15 grams. So you are not bumping up into the crossover zone, you are just adding a few more carbs for that extra energy boost when you need it. 

Ready to recap?

• S fuel (protein + fats + non-starchy veggies) limit carbs to less than 10 grams
• E fuel (lean protein + carbs + veggies and fruits) limit fats to 5 grams & carbs to 45 grams
• FP fuel (lean protein + non-starchy veggies or berries) limit fats to 5 grams & carbs to 10 grams
• Crossover fuel (protein + healthy fats + healthy carbs + veggies or fruits) 
• S Helper fuel (protein + healthy fats + little bit of carbs + non-starchy veggies) limit carbs to 15 grams