THM Fuel Cycle Menu For One Week (and my experience)

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A Super Easy (and Yummy) THM Fuel Cycle Meal Plan

Hi, THM friend!

This week I’m doing a Frugal Fuel Cycle! Wanna join me?

I was amazed at how much I lost in just one week doing this menu, and one of my readers followed this THM Menu to a “t” and lost 8 pounds in one week!!!

Here’s the suggested rules:

1. To keep it Frugal– Feel free to check your pantry or freezer for THM Fuel Cycle friendly ingredients. I’m buying just a couple of unusual things to make this week easier (mainly konjac noodles), but otherwise it’ll be the normal grocery budget. Feel free to adjust your meals to what you already have on hand and fits into a FC.
2. Use the THM Fuel Cycle from the THM Plan Book (not the original THM book; more details below)
3. This Fuel Cycle Challenge goes from 6/24/19 to 6/30/19

New to THM? THM stands for the Trim Healthy Mama Diet, and it’s easy, delicious, and amazing for weight loss! You can check out all the details in this Trim Healthy Mama Quick Start Guide.

What Is a THM Fuel Cycle?

A THM Fuel Cycle is the most “diet-y” part of THM.

It’s a special week or two that you can put into your THM journey to rev up your metabolism to lose some stubborn weight. It can also be used to break through a weight loss stall.

A THM Fuel Cycle is intended for THM’ers who have been following the plan for a while (usually at least 2 months). This way, you’re already familiar with the basics of THM (called “freestyling”) and know the usual S and E meals.

A THM Fuel Cycle is a great time to embrace Deep S meals (no dairy or nuts), solid E meals, and the lighter fare of Fuel Pulls.

Bonus of a THM Fuel Cycle— no accidental crossovers! Each day is just one fuel, so that’s a nice thing.

I’ve got my day one (a Deep S day) listed below, and I’ll post each day to give you ideas.

THM FC Menu Options:

I’ll be posting my menu for each day as we go along. It’s also listed altogether in the THM Fuel Cycle Results Post here.

Rather have an easy-to-print, one-page version to stick on your fridge? There are two FREE printable versions (one is gluten and dairy free) in my FREE THM-friendly resource library (you can grab the password by signing up for my newsletter in the side bar on your desktop or at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

I do most of my shopping through Walmart grocery pick up or I get my Aldi groceries delivered to my house through Instacart. This helps me save time, plus I save money by avoiding impulse purchases.

If you’d like a ready-to-go menu from a trusted THM blogger, here’s a list of THM Fuel Cycle Menus ready to go for you:

(please note: the Fuel Cycle plan changed from the original THM book to the THM Plan Book; some of these menus are based off of the original book. Just switch the daily recommendations around to the current THM Fuel Cycle guidelines of 2 Deep S days, then 2 E days, then 2 FP days, and finish with a Deep S day)

• From Briana Thomas- First THM Fuel Cycle Menu and Second THM Fuel Cycle Menu
• From My Montana Kitchen- THM Fuel Cycle Menu
• From The Well-Planned Kitchen- THM Fuel Cycle Two Week Menu (you have to sign up for her email list, but there’s a shopping list, too)
• From Mrs. Criddle’s Kitchen- One Week Fuel Cycle Menu
• From Wonderfully Made & Dearly Loved- One Week Fuel Cycle Menu
• From Mixing It With Michelle- Week One THM Fuel Cycle Menu and Week Two Fuel Cycle Menu

My One Week THM Fuel Cycle

I’ve been a Trim Healthy Mama for almost 5 years now, including two pregnancies and postpartum seasons. The first time around, I lost all the baby weight in just 4 months while nursing (you can read all about that in this post).

This second time around, the weight loss has been slower, and I’ve got about 10 pounds and 1-2 pants sizes to get back to my pre-pregnancy clothes.

This may be because I’m a little older (37) or because I’m not as careful about sneaky sugars (in things like ketchup). I also had some PPD, hormone issues, and adrenal fatigue after baby #2 that may be contributing to the stubborn weight.

Honestly, the majority of my THM journey has involved pregnancy or nursing, and right now my go-to meals are crossovers.

It’s time to readjust my THM journey and spend a week enjoying and re-learning deep S meals, simple E meals, and slimming FPs.

My goal is to also workout 3 times this week, and to do the THM Workins for at least 2 of those workouts.

Starting Weight- 140.6

Waist circumference- 28 inches

The Menu for this week uses all 3 THM cookbooks (the recipes from the original THM book, the THM Cookbook, and Trim Healthy Table). If you don’t have those cookbooks, alternate recipes that can be found online are listed below that meal in each day’s post.

First Day- Deep S

Breakfast- finished at 9am

2-3 scrambled eggs with sauted non-starchy veggies (I diced up summer squash), Creole seasoning, nutritional yeast, 2-3 pieces of bacon, Trimmy Rich (from THM Cookbook)

Optional Snack-

I finished breakfast late, so did not actually have a snack this morning. Here’s what I would have had:

Hot Custard

Lunch- 12pm

Deep S salad- leafy greens, bacon bits, dressing (olive oil, light vinegar, basil, and oregano), topped with tilapia sauted in coconut oil

Deep S Faux-Onion Soup (mini-recipe)- Add 1/2 summer squash diced and 1 Tbl butter to a pot, cover, and heat over medium heat until butter melts and squash softens completely (it will change color slightly to a brighter yellow). Add 1-2 cups beef bone broth and a splash of Worcestershire sauce and heat. Can top with a small sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast before serving. *****Be sure to get a Worcestershire without added sugars!

Dairy Free Version– leave off the Parmesan cheese and sub for Nutritional Yeast

Unsweetened Peach Oolong Iced Tea to drink.

Snack- 3pm

Creamy Vanilla Custard Shake

Dinner- 6:30pm

Dinner was too late! So hungry!

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken with Rosemary

Company Cauliflower– Deep S modification to this recipe– leave out the canned Parmesan; mix other ingredients and spoon over cauliflower, then top with 1 Tbl or less of freshly shaved Parmesan

DF version- leave off the Parmesan cheese

Bacon Green Beans- fresh green beans canned (and drained) green beans cooked in leftover bacon grease from breakfast, I add extra bacon bits, and I cook it over high heat until the beans start to get a little crispy

Dessert- 8:45pm

Confession time– This is the first time I’ve shared this on my blog, but I am allergic to chocolate!

Not food-sensitivities, IgG-mediated, if-I-heal-my-gut-I-can-eat-it allergic, but honest to goodness, IgE-mediated food allergy. I get hives when I eat it, so I can have it occasionally, but I don’t actually make Skinny Chocolate because of this. And sorry that the chocolate recipes are few and far between on my blog!

If you need some chocolate, make some Skinny Chocolate for tonight’s dessert. 🙂 You have my blessing!

I’ve been experimenting with a non-chocolate, skinny chocolate variation for me and finally found one I can proudly share with you.

Skinny Peanut Butter Treat- follow the Skinny Chocolate recipe, sub cocoa for defatted peanut flour. Serving size- 1/4 of the recipe to keep it to the recommended amount of peanut flour allowed during a fuel cycle

Check back in tomorrow for a THM Fuel Cycle Day 2– there’s another Deep S lined up!

How Day 1 Went-

I was SOOOO hungry!!! I went about 3 hours in between meals and snacks, and I may need to eat more often on Day 2 or eat a little more.

Hopefully that means that my metabolism is revving up?

I plan to add in a THM sipper or on plan lemonade tomorrow to make sure that I’m drinking enough fluids. I’ll also make some fat bombs or gummies and eat more veggies.

I did get some exercise in! I went for a family walk at sunset, and it felt amazing to spend time with my little family and exercising a bit.

All the posts from Fuel Cycle Week:

• Day 1- Deep S
• Day 2- Deep S
• Day 3- E Fuel
• Day 4- E Fuel
• Day 5- Fuel Pull
• Day 6- Fuel Pull
• Day 7- Deep S
• Fuel Cycle Results!

More Easy THM Resources

For even more fun stuff, check out all my THM resources to keep you happily and easily on plan. There’s a giant list of speedy S meals, easy E meals, my secret weapon for staying on plan, and a reusable one week menu tailored to you!

Resources That I Love

…to help you be healthy naturally:

1. Supercharge Your Weight Loss- Need a little extra “oomph” to help you stay on plan? Several of my friends recently introduced me to HealthyWage.  If you’re losing weight well with THM or if financial rewards motivate you to stay on track, then HealthyWage is perfect for you! 
2. Save on Healthy Meat– ButcherBox is my new favorite way to buy antibiotic free, grass fed beef, pork, and chicken! It’s cheaper than I can get it in the local stores, and it comes right to my door! Use the code AP10 to get $10 off your first box and FREE nitrate-free bacon!! 
3. Get Healthy Foods for Less- Thrive Market is like the online Costco for healthy groceries, and they even carry healthy meat and seafood! We love saving money with wholesale prices on healthy groceries and products that get sent right to our home! Get an extra 25% OFF your first order when you sign up at Thrive Market HERE!

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A Super Easy (and Yummy) THM Fuel Cycle Meal Plan