I was only able to really make real changes in my diet when I realized that real food is NOT diet food. All those years of buying processed garbage “health” food with ingredient lists a mile long only ever made me more hungry and constantly craving more processed food.
With that tiny piece of inspiration, eating became a much more enjoyable experience. And I found myself able to keep real food in my house, on my table, and nourishing my body.
But then I had kids.
BOOM life got harder. And even if you don’t have kids, there is probably something in your life that keeps you on your toes, fills your to-do list, and makes it seem almost impossible to get real food on your table some days. I feel your pain. We can start a club.
These days I’m still pretty good about keeping processed fake food out of my house. I am grateful that I had a couple years of being really diligent about it to make that habit stick. But ever since my second babe was born it’s been a struggle to plan, prepare, and enjoy daily meals.
Whether you’re a total noob or a veteran to this “eat real food” movement, life has a tendency to get hard, creating a constant roller-coaster of good/bad habits.
Good! I successfully planned a week of healthy menus!
Bad! I forgot 10 of the items needed to actually prepare those menus. Let’s order a pizza.
Good! I ate healthy for three days straight. I feel amazing!
Bad! I caught a little bug at work and feel like death today. Let’s order a pizza.
Good! I just brought home a car full the most beautifully healthy ingredients in the world.
Bad! I have no clue how to cook most of these things. They are rotting in my fridge now. Let’s order a pizza.
Before you order another pizza:
Let’s look at the real reasons behind the constant battle of making healthy living STICK. Because I’m here to tell you that there are solutions that can make this whole eating healthy thing EASY. But before we get into that, we need to take a quick look at the most common reasons people fail to maintain their healthy diet in the first place:
5 Reasons You Always Fall Off the “Healthy Eating” Bandwagon
1. You try the “all or nothing” approach
You just learned that GMOs, vegetable oils, trans fat, HFCS, and artificial ingredients are basically killing you right. now. So you throw everything out of your pantry and bask in the glory of being free from the fake food murderers.
But, whoops, now you have no food… and you’re starving…and, shoot, where’s the number of the pizza place again?
2. The food doesn’t appeal to you
You found a beautiful recipe on Pinterest for a kale salad. It looks heavenly. You buy some locally grown kale, cook it perfectly and prepare for your first bite of healthy bliss.
Gag. It tastes like sewage. You toss it and wait for the pizza delivery boy.
3. Meal planning is a constant source of frustration
This is the week. You sit down to meal plan. You have a million recipes at your disposal thanks to the internet. You start enthusiastically, but feel like death by the time you hit the third dinner. Figuring out the shopping list alone gives you a headache.
You won’t be derailed this time, however. You sign up for a cool meal plan service. You open your first week’s plan that’s been artfully prepared for you and laugh as you look things over. There’s NO WAY you’d eat half of the recipes provided.
Maybe we’ll switch things up tonight with Chinese.
4. Old habits keep coming back
It’s called the dinner rut. Sure, you’re sick of eating the same four dishes every. single. night… but hey, you know how to cook it and it requires zero thought.
Spaghetti… again.
5. It’s not easy.
When all is said and done, the reason most people fail to keep at their healthy eating goals is because it’s just overwhelming. From finding recipes you actually like, that can be made in the time you have, that don’t require a detective to source all the ingredients, to keeping your life in balance instead of going crazy just trying to get real food on the table… is it any wonder so many people give up?
I have a solution.
I want to share something that has made a huge difference in my life. I’m giving you my secret that has literally made eating real food easy and enjoyable again.
I’m in love, you guys.
I have tried meal planning myself. It works okay… sometimes… until the dinner rut monster shows up again.
I have tried meal planning memberships. They worked… rarely. Why? Because I have a home with two picky children. And I don’t live in LA, which means I don’t always have access to the ingredients featured in the menus. So at best I’d cook about 3 of the menus provided… not worth the money.
So what is the magic that has me GUSHING with romantical fairy-like thoughts?
This is NOT your typical meal plan service. As I mentioned above, I haven’t had much success with those. This is a life-saving, time-making, wonderful application of AWESOMENESS that has brought sanity back into my kitchen and (more importantly) REAL FOOD to my table consistently.
Check it out:
What makes Real Plans different?
For starters, it’s customize-able.
You can switch out the menus easily. You can choose to exclude ingredients you don’t like or can’t eat. You can add in your own recipes easily (or my recipes, if you choose!). You can make sure you actually LIKE the food you’re going to eat.
In fact, I recommend taking an hour after you sign up to put in your favorite go-to recipes. Your comfort menus can be part of the process. Yay!
Plus you can rate the recipes and skip ones that weren’t a hit. There’s nothing to remember. Nothing to calculate. It’s meal planning that fits YOUR lifestyle. (Did I mention that there are Traditional, Paleo, and Vegetarian options? Yep. They got all the real food bases covered.)
The shopping list is automatic.
Whether I’m at home or on the go, I have access to my weekly menus. The mobile version is genius, especially for easy access to an organized shopping list. And did I mention you don’t have to create the shopping list? It’s made for you! Simply mark off the items you already have, add anything else you need at the store, and viola. Done. Just take your phone with you (or email yourself the list, if you prefer) and swipe off ingredients as you get them.
Planning is EASY: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Review you weekly menu, make any changes, and then Real Plans creates a timeline for you. This. This is a heavenly gift for busy moms everywhere.
Shopping is husband-proof.
Ever hand your shopping list to your partner only to have him come home with the wrong kind of yogurt, potatoes, etc? With the mobile app I can take a picture of the exact ingredient I need and it stores it for future reference. That way, the hubs can pull up the image to know he’s getting exactly what I need. Plus, it gives a nice eg0-boosting “job well done” message when you tap off your final item.
You can also organize your shopping list by category or store… and switch back and forth between the two. It’s fool proof.
Eating is FUN.
So far I haven’t been disappointed with the recipes. Part of that is because I have skipped recipes that I know I won’t like, but mostly it’s because the recipes have been tested and they are good. My family is once again eating a variety of real food.
It almost makes me want to cry because it’s been so long since I’ve enjoyed dinner time.
The price is unbeatable.
Real Plans starts as low as $6 a month. Honestly, I know I’ve more than earned that money back by simply not wasting as much food as I was before using Real Plans. But even if that weren’t the case, my sanity has got to be worth at least 6 bucks. Just ask my husband, Real Plans has brought some bliss back into our home.
Most important, the food is nourishing.
The Real Plans team is dedicated to healthy, real food. If you still working your way through what’s healthy and what’s not, you don’t need to worry. Just stick with their recipes and your guaranteed to nourish your body. Plus, anything that gets the family around the table is nourishing to the whole soul.
Get on the Healthy Bandwagon and STAY ON.
You need to eat. You deserve to eat well. Stop yo-yo-ing with your health and be committed to putting real food on your table once and for all. I can’t recommend Real Plans enough as the genius solution to so many people’s number one problem: Healthy Eating.
Join me in my crazy love for Real Plans and revolutionize the way you nourish your body.
Learn more or sign up for Real Plans here.
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