I’ve been following Trim Healthy Mama on and off for around 4 years just after the first book was released. Initially I followed it strictly and I lost the last of the weight I gained from my third pregnancy quite quickly.

Since then I seem follow THM passionately for a while, then I go off it for a time and go with Sarah Wilson’s JERF philosophy (Just Eat Real Food).

Right now I am losing weight from my fifth full term pregnancy. Once again I’ve been using THM, a bit loosely mind you. I have the original THM book but I also purchased the new cookbook.

In a nutshell here’s my review:

I didn’t like it at first – but now I do.

I opened the book when it first arrived and was horrified to see that the THM ladies had made their own sweeteners and baking blend. I’m not a fan of ‘fancy’ ingredients and I didn’t want to order their expensive products. I just wanted to make healthy recipes out of easy ingredients I could buy locally. I tried a couple of recipes that didn’t use the special ingredients and wasn’t that impressed. We got busy moving to a new house and location and I was pregnant with my fifth baby. I tossed it on the bookshelf for a year.

I tried again.

The summer school holidays just passed I pulled out my book and decided to give it another go. I even ordered the baking blend and some THM sweeteners. The recipes I tried this time – I really enjoyed.

The drinks ‘Shrinker’ and ‘Singing Canary’ – wow!

And I love the wicked white chilli, the lemon herb drummies and the pancakes. I love to eat, so eating pancakes while losing weight is a winner for me.

I won’t be ordering their baking blend again because, lets face it, it’s expensive. Instead I will make up my own baking blend based on almond meal. I’ll keep using stevia though. It’s a natural sweetener that’s very low calories and keeps your blood sugar low. Sounds good to me.

I think it is possible to follow THM without ordering the expensive products or using specialty ingredients. But if you want to buy the products then go ahead – they are top quality.

So what’s the verdict? Is it worth buying the cook book? I’ll say yes.

Blessings, Peta.