In nutrition school, they taught us meal planning like it was the holy grail. Map out every meal for the week. Create your shopping list. Prep your ingredients on Sunday. This was how you helped clients succeed.
And honestly, on paper, it all made sense.
But then I started actually living this way myself. And working with women who were managing insulin resistance, trying to balance their blood sugar, juggling families and careers and just... life.
And I kept noticing the same pattern: They’d follow the plan for a few days. Maybe even a full week. They’d feel so good about it. And then—someone would get sick. Or work would blow up. Or they’d just be too exhausted to cook that Tuesday night chicken dish they’d planned. And the whole thing would fall apart.
And then they’d feel like they failed. And I’d feel like I failed them.
I saw this over and over. And I’ll admit, I was experiencing it too in the beginning. Even as someone trained in this, even as someone committed to low glycemic living, the traditional meal plan approach felt... off somehow.
I eventually realized I wasn’t actually meal planning for myself anymore. I had shifted into a completely different way of eating without even consciously deciding to do it.
I was working in protocols.
What I actually mean by “protocol”
Think about what you do when you’re getting sick. You probably have your go-to remedies.
For me, it’s always the same healing soup. Bone broth, ginger, tons of garlic. I make the same turmeric-ginger-garlic tonic every single time I feel something coming on. Not because I can’t think of anything else to make, but because I know this works. I’ve tested it on myself probably fifty times at this point. My body recognizes it. It’s my sick-day protocol.
I don’t sit there when I’m already feeling terrible and start researching new immune-boosting recipes. I did at one point, but haven’t in years.
Same thing with managing blood sugar.
Over the years, I’ve realized I have these handful of meals—maybe 10 or 15 total—that I return to again and again depending on what’s happening in my life. Not because I’m boring or uncreative, but because they work. I’ve tested them. I know how my body responds. I trust them.
My reset protocol - There are days when I’ve been eating out more than usual. Maybe we’ve been traveling and eating at restaurants where I’m ordering the most low GI options available, but I don’t control the ingredients or cooking methods. Or I’ve been at family gatherings where I’m still eating low glycemic but just... more. More nuts, more cheese, more of everything. Nothing “bad,” but my body feels it.
Those are the days I reach for my reset meals. The big green salad with specific vegetables I know work for me. The vegetable soup I’ve made a hundred times. The green juice with proportions I’ve perfected over years. Not trying to be perfect either… just as tools to bring myself back to center.
My re-entry protocol - Coming back from vacation is always the same for me. I travel a lot, and I always eat low glycemic when I’m away. But it’s different—different restaurants, different schedules, maybe richer sauces even if they’re using good ingredients, meals at different times than I’m used to.
So when I get home, I have my specific re-entry meals. The ones I prep every single time. Not because anything was wrong with how I ate on vacation, but because my body needs to readjust to my home routine. And I’m not scrambling to figure out what to make—I already know.
My sick-day protocol - When I’m under the weather, thinking about food is the last thing I want to do. So I don’t. Same soup every time. Same bone broth. Same healing meals that support my immune system and keep my blood sugar stable even when my appetite is weird.
See what I mean? Same situations. Same solutions. Zero mental energy wasted trying to decide what to eat when I’m already depleted!
Why this matters for you
If you’re managing insulin resistance or trying to balance blood sugar, you already know that what you eat matters deeply.
But it took me YEARS to figure out that being consistent isn’t boring. It’s powerful.
Your body thrives on patterns it recognizes. When you eat the same blood-sugar-balancing meals in response to specific situations, you’re creating this metabolic trust with your body. It knows what to expect. It can settle in.
And especially if you’re dealing with blood sugar issues, you’re probably also dealing with decision fatigue. I know the women I work with are making about a million decisions a day—for their kids, their work, their households, their aging parents, everyone else who needs something from them.
When you’re already tired and stressed and just back from a disrupted routine, figuring out what to eat can feel completely overwhelming. Like one more thing on an endless list of things you have to get right.
Protocols remove that burden. You already know what to do.
How I think about creating protocols for my community
When I’m developing protocols for my community, I’m thinking about real life. Your real life.
I’m not trying to give you 21 different recipes that you’ll make once, take a pretty photo of, and never make again. That’s not helpful. That’s honestly just more overwhelm dressed up as a meal plan.
What I’m actually creating are answers to questions like:
What do you eat when you need to reset after a busy week of eating out more than usual?
What do you make when you’re short on time but need something that’ll actually nourish you?
What’s your go-to for the busiest days when cooking feels impossible?
What do you reach for after travel when you want to ease back into your home routine?
What do you make when you’re stressed and need food that’s comforting but won’t mess with your blood sugar?
What’s your protocol for those hormonal days when you’re craving everything?
Each protocol might only be 3-5 recipes. That’s it. But they’re recipes that work. They’re tested for blood sugar impact. They’re doable on a real Tuesday night when you’re exhausted. And they’re flexible enough that you can adapt them to what’s in your fridge.
You don’t need a different meal plan for every week of the year. You need a handful of reliable protocols you can trust.
This is different from what you’ve tried before
Most meal plans in the diet world are set up for failure from the start. I hate to say it, but it keeps ending up true. These meal plans are designed to be followed perfectly for 30 days or 12 weeks or whatever. They assume you have unlimited time, energy, and willpower. Oh my goodness the willpower. They assume nothing will go wrong.
And when you can’t stick to them—because you’re human and life is messy—you feel like you failed. Like you just can’t do it.
Protocols are different. They’re truly designed for real life (they’re what you’re already doing). With protocols:
You can use them this week, next month, six months from now.
You can rotate between them based on what you need.
You can adapt them to what you have on hand.
You can make them 100 times and they’ll still serve you.
They’re not about being perfect. They’re about having reliable tools you can reach for when you need them.
The freedom that actually comes from having structure
This is going to sound contradictory, but having these protocols has given me so much more freedom, not less.
When I know I have my reset protocol waiting for me at home, I can actually relax when I’m traveling. I can enjoy meals out with friends. I can be flexible because I’m not afraid of losing control—I know exactly how to come back to center.
I’m not starting from scratch every time I need to get back into my routine. I’m just returning to what I already know works.
One of my clients recently told me, “I used to panic when I had a weekend where I ate out more than usual. Now I just wake up Monday morning and make my reset smoothie and salad. I know what to do. It’s not this whole dramatic thing anymore.”
And that’s exactly it. Taking the drama out of it. Making it sustainable. Real.
What this actually looks like
For example, last month, I went to visit family for a long weekend. We ate out nearly every meal—which for me means I was still ordering low glycemic options, following my baseline daily protocol (which I’ll share more on in another article), but I wasn’t cooking. I wasn’t controlling the oils they used or exactly how much salt was in things or any of that.
And I enjoyed it. Because I knew my re-entry protocol was waiting for me when I got home.
Monday morning, I made my post-travel green juice. The same one I always make. For lunch, my go-to chopped salad with chicken and avocado—I know the exact proportions that keep me satisfied for hours. Dinner was my healing soup with chicken, vegetables, and bone broth.
Tuesday, same thing.
By Wednesday, I was feeling like myself and not completely derailed. My blood sugar felt stable. Good. My digestion was on track. And I didn’t have to think about any of it because I already knew the protocol.
That’s what I want for you too.
You can build these for yourself
You can absolutely develop your own protocols over time. Start paying attention to the meals that make you feel good. The ones that keep your energy steady, not bloated, clothes fitting normally. The meals you actually look forward to eating even when you’ve had them fifty times.
Those are your protocols. Make them often. Tweak them if needed for blood sugar control. But perfect them and above all trust them.
Because this whole low glycemic lifestyle only works if it’s sustainable. And sustainability comes from having tools you can actually use, week after week, year after year, without burning out.