If you’re like me, you might find it pretty hard to follow meal plans or recipes, which makes eating healthy way more difficult than it actually is. I am currently gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, and seafood free! Not to mention, I avoid high folate foods.  This means I can’t follow just any meal plan, especially with those green smoothies flying around all the time. However, I have come up with a few substitutes to help ease the process and how you should concentrate on what you can eat.

Here are some of my suggestions:

• Unsweetened Rice Milk (instead of almond or soy milk)
• Coconut sugar or honey (instead of stevia or maple syrup)
• Vegan chocolate (instead of milk chocolate)
• Raw cocoa powder
• Chia seeds (for fibre)
• GF corn crackers ( I like Schar Crispbread)
• Dates (as a sweetener in baking)
• Unsweetened dries coconut chips (I like Neofoods)
• Quinoa
• Cauliflower rice
• Coconut oil (in baking instead of butter)

These are only a few of the substitutes you can find. Meal plans are great, but they’re not for everyone. What’s important is to design one for yourself, according to your tastes and food limits. Remember to take your daily calorie needs, and protein/carbs/fat ratio into consideration. It all depends on your body type, activity level, age and gender; some people need more protein while others need more fats. I like to follow a 1200 calorie, high protein meal plan, but this won’t suit everyone, so make sure to research about what you need, instead of the latest diet trends.

I hope this was helpful in any way possible and to see you next time. Follow and like for more posts! Xoxo.