The Clean Eating Secret to Set You Up for Success

Where was this when I needed it 7 years ago?

When I went from a junk food junkie to a Primal Food/Clean Eater,  it was no small feat.  Back in those days Paleo and Whole 30 were still on the outside looking in and it was all fat free all the time.  Gluten Free and Paleo were just a murmur in the healthsphere there wasn’t much information.  I scoured the web, books and turned over every stone to educate myself on getting healthier. I read book after cookbook and went to many, many seminars.

Meal planning is a HUGE part of revamping your nutrition and your life.  I would meal plan.  I’d pull together recipes from my library, the internet, etc,  write down all the ingredients go to the store, do the shopping, forget one or two things, have too much of this, not enough of that.  Not to mention the days when I didn’t feel like making what my meal plan said.  It was a great idea but always fell flat.  Not a good enough return on my investment or I was just paleo fail-EO.

Enter Real Plans.  The last Whole 30 Challenge we ran, my client Marcia Smith KILLED it.  She kept saying “You need to try Real Plans”.  I agreed but I was thinking I have a bazillion cookbooks at home and I just don’t want more technology or another app.

The last time Marcia was in she convinced me.  With my recent Hashimoto’s diagnosis, I knew I needed to be on the AutoImmune Paleo Protocol (AIP).  AIP is the mother of all elimination diets. It’s hard.  Wicked, hatefully annoying.  While I was well versed in all things Whole 30 and Paleo, AIP takes things further with the elimination of all beans (coffee & Spices), Eggs (FFS, really?), Nuts and nut derived spices and all nightshades (white potatoes, tomatoes, etc).  <<<<  I think you can see why I was a bit overwhelmed.  I found myself needing help again.

Real Plans had an AIP Plan. What?  AIP is still outer fringy in the Nutrition world.  Ok, Marcia, I’ll give it a try.  Are you Vegan?  Keto?  Traditional and just want help?  It also has many options to choose from!  See below!  I screenshot the heck out of this mo-fo.

I logged on to Real Plans, watched the 5 minute video which was entertaining and super easy peasy.  I’m going to walk you through some of the set up, but understand that I was TRULY up and running and had a shopping list in hand (print or sent to the app) in 30 minutes.

Set up your Profile and Options.  This is the My Diet tab. Pick your Traditional , Primal, AIP, you name it Meal plan.

I hate Mushrooms.  That’s where this comes in.  This is where you customize the foods you never want to see in your life.  Plug the ingredient you despise in the box, hit FIND VARIANTS and voila! Click all the ones you want to disappear from the face of your universe.

Next is the My Schedule tab.  I only did Daily Dinners and a few soups for lunches.  I primarily eat the same three things in rotation for breakfast or dinner leftovers so there was no need for all of that.  I also usually do a salad of some sort, soup or leftovers for lunch, so really no need to do lunch menus.  But here’s the screenshot for that.

Here’s What my AIP Plan looks like for next week.  Isn’t it pretty?  And healthy?  I can always add a breakfast or lunch in.  If I don’t like something I can “trash” it in the can at the bottom right.  Then I hit the roulette wheel and add something I do like!

This next shot is of the TIMELINE.  It’s brilliant.  I can pull it up in the morning on my app or computer, see if maybe I should be marinating the chicken for Tuesday’s dinner.  It tells me step by step what to do.  Did I already say BRILLIANT?

This is the SHOPPING LIST.  I plugged in my stores (Publix, Trader Joe’s) in the settings.  Here’s EVERYTHING I need for the week.  I just check off the things I have in stock.  I can then email myself a list, print a list OR it’s on my app on my phone.  So when I leave the list on my kitchen island as I am rushing out the door – they have my back.

Here’s a screenshot of some of the recipes.  If you are looking for something specific you can use the search tab, or hit any of these checkboxes and go to town!

Here’s the part that sets them apart.  I can simply and easily import my favorite recipes.  Hit the Import Recipes tab, then just put the web address of the recipe you want to add to your account.  HIt Import.

It will import your recipe.  It will take you to another screen just so you can modify things and double check, but that is it!   You can also import manually.

All those torn out magazine recipes?  The dinners I make and like, then forget where I got them from?  All those things are in the past with this program.  I am sorry to wax poetic,  but I haven’t fell this hard since Husband.  I am swooning.

Give it a shot and see if you love it as much as I do.  They run specials from time to time and you can try it for a month, quarter or year.  Do you.

If you are one of my tribe and embarking on my Nurture or other nutrition centric programs, I highly recommend this program to make your journey and our coaching sessions easier.

If you are interested in more foodie fun and liked this blog post (or ESSAY  with all these screenshots!) join me for more fun at my website, just pop your email address in under the Nurture/Nourish/Revitalize header and  I will send you my 3 complimentary Breakfast Soups recipes.