Thank you Artisan Tropic for sponsoring this post! All opinions expressed are my own.

Getting a Hashimoto’s diagnosis at 17 wasn’t easy. I had my whole life ahead of me, but was faced with a chronic illness that caused debilitating symptoms that I just didn’t know how to get a handle on. I spent years battling fatigue, stomach pains, mystery food intolerance, and anxiety, until I got completely fed up. That’s why I started my Hashimoto’s healing journey and found the autoimmune protocol diet.

The AIP diet is just one of the many healing tools I used to get my health back after autoimmune disease, but it was one of the most crucial. Food was the first thing that really took my healing the next level, and something that I still follow in a modified template today to keep my health stable. Even though it was a huge relief to my symptoms, it came with plenty of it’s own challenges.

The autoimmune protocol is no walk in the park. It requires a lot of learning, a lot of determination, and lot of cooking! All things that can be hard to summon when you’re battling chronic illness. So, how do you simplify?

 

How To Make the Autoimmune Protocol Easier

 

1. Learn the guidelines and the whys

One of the hardest parts of any diet protocol is confusion. What can you eat? What do you have to avoid? Is this random ingredient compliant? Why the heck can I not eat this? These are some of the most common questions that I see, and really over complicate following AIP.

Set yourself up for success by knowing the guidelines backwards and forwards, and understanding the why’s behind them. That way, you’re not second guessing ingredients while standing in the grocery store, or having to start over after missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.

I put together a blog post that fully explains the guidelines of the AIP diet, as well as a free downloadable food list to carry with you in your wallet and hang of your fridge!

2. Keep your mindset in check

Mindset is an incredibly powerful piece of the healing puzzle. We can have everything else in place, but if we’re not coming at it with the right mindset, it makes everything harder.

Yes, this is hard. Yes, this is different and new. But really, why are you doing this? This protocol exists to add health and abundance to your life… not restriction. Remember your why, and that you’re choosing to follow this protocol to improve your life, and how you perceive it has a huge impact on how you experience it.

My negative mindset was what held me back from experiencing better health for years. I told myself that this was too hard, too inconvenient, and not fun. It was only when I gave myself permission to enjoy the process and shifted my mindset that I was able to experience healing.

3. Plan ahead

What they say is true… failing to plan is planning to fail. We all know that feeling of getting home late from work after battling a crazy day at the office and traffic on the way home and not having anything to eat in the fridge. Those are the moments where you just want to order a pizza and throw in the towel. Trust me… I’ve been there.

Planning ahead does take an extra step each week, but it saves you time later! Spend time every Friday/Saturday planning out what you want to eat for the week, and then take a couple of hours to batch cook on a Sunday. I love making batch cook friendly meals like my one pan chicken pesto, egg roll in a bowl, or Mexican breakfast skillet on the weekend so I can have meals throughout the week!

 

4. Take advantage of compliant short cuts

There are a lot of healthy lifestyle shortcuts that make life easier for most people, but don’t apply to an autoimmune protocol. We can’t just grab almonds at a gas station, or order scrambled eggs at a diner. Our short cuts have to be a lot more well thought out, but they do exist!

One of my favorite shortcuts are the Artisan Tropic plantain strips. They’re so much more convenient than making your own plantain chips from scratch, and are totally AIP compliant!

They’re made with palm oil (not inflammatory seed oils like most chips are) and are sliced into long strips which make them perfect for dipping into guacamole 😉

Artisan Tropic has several flavors of compliant snacks, like their cassava strips, sweet plantain strips, and cinnamon plantain strips, but my all time favorite are their sea salt plantain strips! They seriously remind me of potato chips, and my husband agrees! I like having them as a snack, or serving them as a side with something like tuna salad or liver pate.

 

5. Build an arsenal of resources for ideas, inspiration, and support

You can’t do this alone! We all need a helping hand to give us some ideas when we feel bored, inspiration when we feel hopeless, and support when we need someone to talk to. Here are some of my favorite AIP resources…

A functional medicine doctor

Facebook Support Groups

Blogs

Books

 

I hope these tips were helpful! What are some of your favorite tips for making the autoimmune protocol easier?