We all want to know the secret to staying on plan when we begin a new food regimen or diet. What’s your motivation for taking on a healthy lifestyle like Trim Healthy Mama and others? What’s driving you to begin, keep persevering, or jump back on the wagon? What keeps you on plan? You may be like me–I had several reasons for changing my lifestyle. My children and I have food allergies and intolerances. I needed to lose weight. I wanted to set a good example for my family. Ultimately, I wanted to glorify God.My main motivation these days is health. I’m a “purist”, which means I try my hardest to eat “clean”, whole foods, no chemicals or processed foods, nothing that God didn’t create naturally for us to eat and nothing that man has altered from God’s original plan. I don’t always adhere to this, but I try.
I happen to be a Trim Healthy Mama. You may or may not know this, but Trim Healthy Mama is not meant to be a diet. Many people treat it like one, but it’s not. It is a lifestyle change, a change in mindset, a retraining of old habits to new ones. I find that many people who treat THM and other plans like a diet are usually only in it to lose weight. While there is nothing wrong with losing weight, you will have limited results with this at some point. Somewhere down the line you will either meet your goal or give up. Either way if you don’t treat it as a lifestyle change, you will eventually enter back into old habits and the pounds will creep back on. It’s a slow fade, but it will happen sooner or later. I have found I stay on plan more when my focus is related to health and a commitment to a healthy lifestyle for The Lord and my family. I can’t serve Him and my family if I am trashing my body. I won’t have the energy, stamina, or health to do what they need me to do. It helps that the Trim Healthy Mama recipes are researched, tested, and delicious. 
There are different variations to the recipes that make them a little more convenient for those who aren’t as strict on healthier ingredients and also variations with purer ingredients. They call them Drive-Thru-Sues. Even thought I try to eat clean and am considered more of a “purist”, I appreciate that Trim Healthy Mama allows for both lifestyles. I think many Drive-Thru-Sues end up becoming more purist because they see the benefits of incorporating more clean foods into their lifestyle. Trim Healthy Mama has their own line of clean ingredients used in their cookbook.
I find it easier to eat clean because I am intolerant to certain chemicals in foods. I didn’t know I had these at first. It took me going off of them and then “treating myself” to a treat by cheating to discover them. Then I finally got it through my thick skull that cheating made me sick most of the time. I had to get honest with myself and realize that I wasn’t “treating” myself. I was really punishing myself. I don’t deserve to be sick or to bring disease upon myself through the chemicals in foods. My body is not a trash can.
I am a Child of The King. He values me and I should value myself enough to stop trashing my body. I should value you myself enough to eat God-created, nourishing foods so I can continue to feel energetic and healthy.
There are times when the enemy tries to convince me that the junk food is a treat, especially when I’m stressed. If I intentionally stop and think about certain foods I am disgusted and able to turn away and give the enemy the boot! The thought of eating something created in a petri dish in some science lab somewhere usually makes me sick to my stomach.
(Looks appetizing doesn’t it? YUCK!) I’ll be honest, there are times when I don’t exhibit self-control. I don’t stop to think about the consequences of my actions. I fall for the lies of the enemy and “treat” myself to his junk food. Then I have to endure feeling ill immediately or even sometimes the next day. Succumbing to temptation leads to sickness, guilt, and failure. Why would I choose to put myself through that? I
t’s really no secret–the main thing that motivates me has been around for centuries. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
I’m reminded that my body is a temple of The Lord. How am I glorifying Him by trashing my body? I’m not. If I seek Him first, He’ll be sure everything else is taken care of. Matthew 6:33 reminds us, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Every single day we have to make a choice on whether we are going to surrender to God or live for self and that includes what we eat. Many times we don’t see food in this way probably because eating is not a “choice” per se, and is necessary for our survival. Food is much more than a means of survival, especially when we look to it for pleasure. This verse clearly says “eat or drink, whatever you do”, so what and how we eat are choices that have the potential to glorify God.
It’s our choice. God honors choices that fall in line with His Word and will. Honoring God, setting an example, and staying well–those are my motivations. What motivates you or helps you stay on plan?