I think I found the perfect app to make AIP more simple! You know me, always on the lookout for tips and tricks to make AIP simple and sustainable. To make AIP simple is my motto, my mission in life! The reason for this is that I have been walking the AIP talk, every day since 2012. I have a few reintroductions under my belt, of course, but I know from experience that if you want to last on a diet as challenging as the Autoimmune Protocol, you need more than the memory of what motivated you to start in the first place!
The key to success on any diet is to
be prepared and organized.
You can achieve this with meal planning.
In a nutshell, meal planning can be broken down into three steps:
- Decide which meals you are going to prepare for the next few days (or the entire week).
- Make a list of all the ingredients you will need to prepare these meals and go shopping.
- This one is optional, but I strongly recommend it: chose a day to prepare your meals in one big cooking session (this is called batch cooking). Refrigerate (or freeze) and reheat when needed later.
Meal planning =
- The best and easiest way to stay on track with your diet
- No more standing in front of the fridge with a deer-in-the-headlights look on your face!
- No more last-minute scrambling to find something edible to eat that won’t send you into an autoimmune flare!
- Less eating out (and possibly unhealthy food choices)
- Time and money saving
Frankly, what’s not to like? You can do meal planning on your own, or you can subscribe to a meal planning service such as Real Plans.
How to get the app? Sign up for Real Plans online,
then download the app on your phone and start meal planning.
Real Plans won me over for three reasons:
Real Plans is affordable.
Real Plans is Autoimmune Protocol friendly.
Real Plans is fully customizable to fit your needs.
Highlights of the Real Plans App:
- Real Plans is affordable: the basic membership is only $6.00 per month (when you pay yearly). This gives you access to more than 1,500 recipes already included in the Real Plans recipe library. I love to have access to a bunch of recipes in one convenient place. Then, you can either decide to purchase additional recipe packages, OR you can import all the recipes you like from your favorite blogs and cookbooks, free of charge.
- Real Plans is Autoimmune Protocol friendly: the basic membership already contains a bunch of AIP recipes to choose from! Select the AIP diet inside the app to access these AIP-friendly recipes!
- Real Plans is customizable: you can adjust the settings inside the app to customize the recipe selection to fit your personal needs. For example, you can include or exclude specific ingredients, you can decide if you want slow cooker and Instant pot recipes, low-FODMAP recipes, how many servings do you need, etc.
- The shopping list shows up directly on your smartphone, and you can modify it: this option is super cool and convenient. You can access the shopping list on your phone and check the ingredients you already have (such as pantry items, herbs & spices), or add the ingredients you need.
- You can upload recipes (free of charge): this option was really important to me. I wanted to have the freedom to import recipes I like from my blog or other blogs. It is also possible to upload recipes from your favorite cookbooks. You have to do this manually (you have to type in the ingredients and instructions) but so worth it! And there is no limit to the number of extra recipes you can bring in like this.
There are many, many more really cool options and settings inside the Real Plans app, but it would be too long to enumerate them in this post. You've got to check this app for yourself. You won't be disappointed!
The app is $13.99 now.