The Simple Real Food Reset I Actually Stuck With

After the holidays, my body finally waved the white flag.

I came down with some type of virus that hit from every angle—fatigued, achy, foggy, the whole works. On top of that, I was already worn out from regular life stress, and my eating had drifted way off course.

A little more sugar here, a little more gluten there, and before I knew it, I’d fallen off the wagon I’d worked hard to build.

This isn’t a plan I dreamed up and abandoned on Day 3. This is the simple, real food reset I actually stuck with.

For decades, I’ve known that grains, gluten, and dairy sabotage the health of many people. I’ve read the books, listened to the podcasts, watched the videos, and learned how often these foods appear as common triggers.

I’d been circling the idea of doing a simple elimination-style diet of my own: take out the usual suspects for a short time and see how my body responds.

I began browsing detox and elimination diet books online in pursuit of ideas—but most of them leaned on shakes, powders, and a cart full of expensive or fancy ingredients.

But that’s not me. I like real food I can chew, cooked in a skillet, crockpot, or roaster, with ingredients I can afford and find in my local grocery store.

So instead of forcing myself into someone else’s program, I created my own 7-day menu—something I would really follow.

And yes, real food that I like to eat, two solid meals a day, no seed oils, no sugar, no dairy, no grains, and plenty of nutrient-dense veggies and protein. I printed it, stuck it on the fridge, and decided to see what two weeks of clean eating could do.

This post walks you through that reset and the Sassy-Assed 7-Day Reset Meal Planner I created for myself (and now you), in case you’re ready to climb back on your own wagon.

Before we get into what I actually ate, let me be clear about what this little experiment really is.

What This Reset Is

A short real food experiment.

• For about 14 days, I’m eating simple, recognizable food: meat, eggs, fish, non-starchy veggies, some fruit, berries, and real fats like beef tallow, avacodo and olive oil.

An elimination-style reset.

• I’m taking out the health saboteurs—grains (especially gluten), dairy, sugar, sweeteners, seed oils, and ultra-processed foods, any packaged or processed foods—and then paying attention to how I feel.

Two solid meals in a reasonable eating window.

• Most days, that looks like a later brunch and an early dinner, with a good, long no-eating window overnight so my body and brain can do its clean-up work.

Built around a simple 7-day menu that I actually follow.

• No gourmet projects, no all-day cooking. I repeat the same basic pattern for two weeks using my Sassy-Assed 7-Day Reset Meal Planner.

What This Reset Isn’t

It’s not medical advice.

• I’m sharing what I’m doing, not prescribing anything. If you have medical conditions, take medications, or have a history of eating disorders, talk with your healthcare provider before you change how you eat.

It’s not forever.

• This is a short, focused reset, not a lifetime sentence. The idea is to clear the noise for a couple of weeks, then slowly add foods back in and notice what makes you feel tired, foggy, or inflamed.

It’s not a shake-and-powder program.

• No blender marathons, no fancy supplements. I like food I can sink my teeth into, cooked in a skillet, using ingredients from my local grocery store.

It’s not about perfection.

• This isn’t ‘eating one grape wrong, and you’ve failed.’ It’s about giving your body a short break from the usual suspects and seeing how much better you can feel with simple, clean meals.

What I Took Off My Plate for 14 Days

To give my body a real break, I had to get honest about what was likely slowing me down. For this brief reset, I wasn’t counting calories—I was clearing out the possible culprits.

Not This Round List

For 14 days, I pressed pause on:

All grains:

• Wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, corn, quinoa, pasta, bread, crackers, cereal, tortillas—the whole gang. If it acts like a grain, looks like a grain, it’s a grain. Entry was disallowed 🙂

Gluten:

• This is baked into the grain decision, but it’s worth saying out loud—no wheat, no ‘just one little roll,’ no leftovers on a bun.

Dairy:

• Milk, cheese (especially aged cheeses), yogurt, cream, butter.
• I love real butter, but for this round, temporary cool hibernation prevails.

Beans and lentils:

• Healthy foods for many people, yes—but for this reset, no possible sabateurs allowed.

Sugar and sweet treats:

• Candy, cookies, cakes, pastries, desserts, sweetened yogurts, sugary drinks.
• If it was obviously dessert, it was a ‘no’ for these two weeks.

Sweetener substitutes:

• No stevia, no monk fruit, no sugar alcohols, no fake sugars.
• For me, they keep the sweet tooth alive. The goal is to deactivate my dopamine receptors and stifle their growth.

Seed oils:

• No canola, soybean, corn, vegetable oil, or mystery oil blends—mitochondrial thieves that suck the life out of your cells.
• If the ingredient list started with one of those vampires, it didn’t come home with me. I refuse to be its victim.

Ultra-processed, processed, or packaged food:

• Frozen pizza, boxed dinners, chips, drive-thru meals, packaged snack foods, processed lunch meats, hot dogs.
• If it came with a long ingredient list and a mascot, it was out.

Alcohol:

• Wine, beer, cocktails—on hold for these 14 days.

Not That Kind of Veggie Clarification

When I say ‘veggies’ in this reset, I do not mean:

• Corn (it’s a grain and very starchy)
• Peas, mounds of white potatoes, or fries
• Anything breaded and fried in seed oils

For this reset, corn is out, and so are the starchy veggies that behave more like comfort carbs.

I focused on leafy and non-starchy vegetables instead—things like kale, romaine, arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini, peppers, green beans, and mushrooms—more on those in the next section.

Remember: We are recalibrating system-wide. Our brains are connected to our bodies. They collaborate—don’t forget that.

What I Ate Instead: Simple, Real Food

Once I cleared the usual suspects off my plate, I wasn’t left with ‘nothing.’ I was left with real food: protein, non-starchy veggies, some fruit/berries, and old-fashioned fats that have been around far longer than the drive-thru.

I kept the meals in my reset very simple, so I’d actually follow them.

Protein First: What Went on My Plate

Every meal started with protein. That’s what keeps you steady, full, and less snacky.

During this reset, I leaned on:

Grass-fed ground beef – burgers, skillets, meatballs
Beef roasts or steaks when the budget allowed
Chicken thighs, whole roasted chicken, and patties – easy to bake or pan-fry
Fish – salmon, cod, and occasionally other white fish. Let’s not forget bone-in sardines.
Eggs – scrambles, omelets, and simple egg–veg combos

If you don’t eat exactly what I do, you can swap:

• Beef ↔ turkey or chicken
• Salmon ↔ cod ↔ another simple fish you like, such as bone-in sardines for calcium
• Just keep a good palm-sized portion of protein at each meal.

Leafy and Non-Starchy Veggies

This reset is not meat-only. My plate was full of plants, but not the starchy, dessert-in-disguise types.

I focused on:

Leafy greens

• Kale, arugula, romaine, mixed greens, Swiss chard

Cruciferous veggies

• Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts

Other non-starchy veggies

• Zucchini and yellow squash
• Peppers (especially red/yellow/orange)
• Green beans, asparagus
• Mushrooms, onions, cucumbers, celery, radishes, tomatoes (if you tolerate them)

Most meals looked like:

• Protein + 2–3 non-starchy veggies
  (often one leafy green + one or two colorful cooked veggies)

A Little Fruit, Not a Fruit Festival

I didn’t cut out fruit, but I didn’t turn it into a free-for-all, either.

I used small portions of fruit mainly at my first meal:

• Berries (fresh or frozen)
• Kiwi slices
• Peach slices or melon
• Grapefruit slices or orange sections

If you love avocado, you can add it too—but I personally don’t like avocado (I do like the oil), so it didn’t make the planner.

Think: a bit of fruit, not a giant fruit salad. Enough to feel fresh and enjoyable, without feeding the sugar roller coaster.

Fats: How I Cooked and Dressed My Food

I didn’t list cooked in tallow or olive oil dressing in every single meal square on the planner, but here’s what I actually used:

• Beef tallow for pan-frying and sautéeing (grass-fed is better if you can)
• Extra virgin olive oil for salads and low-heat cooking
• Avocado oil, if you despise olive oil

What I did not use at all:

• Vegetable oil
• Canola, soybean, corn oil, or any mystery seed oil blends—again, vampires

Every time you see sautéed, pan-seared, or roasted in this reset, assume beef tallow, olive or avocado oil, not seed oils.

How Complicated Was the Cooking?

Not very.

Most days looked like:

• A brunch built from eggs or another protein + leafy greens + a little fruit
• An early dinner built from a protein + 2–3 non-starchy veggies

Seasoning was simple:

• Salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder
• Italian seasoning, maybe a little chili powder
• Olive oil + balsamic or vinegar + Dijon for salads

Use your favorite spices and herbs.

No special sauces, no long recipes. Just straightforward, real food that I could repeat without getting overwhelmed.

How I Structured My Day: Two Meals and a Quiet Window

I didn’t change what I eat without also looking at when I eat.

During this reset, my days looked roughly like this:

• Meal 1: A later breakfast or brunch.
• Meal 2: An early dinner around 4:30–5:00 p.m.
• After dinner: Kitchen closed

That naturally gave me at least a 12-hour no-eating window overnight, and many days it stretched into 15–17 hours before my first meal. I wasn’t chasing a specific fasting number or watching the clock like a hawk—I was giving my body some time off from digesting so it could clean up yesterday’s debris before I threw more work at it.

Most days, I didn’t snack. I focused on making my two meals satisfying enough that I didn’t need to roam the kitchen. If I truly got hungry between meals, I’d keep it very simple and on-plan—something like an orange, berries, nuts, or a bit of leftover protein or bone-in sardines—not a free-for-all.

This is how my rhythm naturally works. If you try a real food reset of your own, your times might look different. The point isn’t to copy my clock—it’s to stop the all-day grazing and give yourself a clear eating window and a clear no-eating window, so your body can rest, reset, and catch up.

A Peek at My 7-Day Menu (and How You Can Swap Foods)

My actual 7-day menu is very simple on purpose. I didn’t try to be cute or creative every day—I wanted a pattern I could repeat for a full 14 days without having to think too hard.

Here’s the basic rhythm I used:

• Brunch:
  Eggs or another protein + leafy greens + a bit of fruit
• Dinner:
  Protein + 2–3 non-starchy veggies (often one leafy + one or two cooked)

How That Looked in Real Life

Some examples from my week:

• Brunch ideas:
  • 3-egg kale scramble with mushrooms and a few berries on the side
  • Chicken patty over a big kale/romaine salad with olive oil and balsamic
  • Eggs with sautéed greens and a few slices of peach or melon
• Dinner ideas:
  • Grass-fed ground beef skillet with cabbage, peppers, and zucchini
  • Chicken thighs with broccoli and a side salad
  • Baked or pan-seared salmon or cod with asparagus and a simple green salad
  • Meatballs with mixed non-starchy veggies (frozen blends work fine)

Nothing fancy. Just rinse and repeat.

I used my Sassy-Assed 7-Day Reset Meal Planner to lay out these meals across the week, then I printed a second copy and followed the same pattern for the next 7 days.

How You Can Swap Things Without Leaving the Reset

You don’t have to love exactly what I love (you might be a spinach person—I’m not 😄), but you do need to keep the same structure if you want to stay in the reset lane.

You can:

• Swap kale ↔ spinach ↔ romaine ↔ other leafy greens
• Swap beef ↔ chicken ↔ turkey ↔ simple fish
• Swap broccoli ↔ green beans ↔ asparagus ↔ other non-starchy veggies
• Swap berries ↔ melon/kiwi slices ↔ small portions of other fruit

What you don’t want to do is:

• Turn veggies into corn, peas, or fries
• Turn fruit into juice and dessert
• Turn protein into breaded nuggets and hot dogs

As long as your plate still looks like protein + leafy/non-starchy veggies + a little fruit + real fat, you’re doing the reset—even if your menu doesn’t match mine meal-for-meal.

What I’m Paying Attention To (and How You Can Try Your Own Reset)

The real point of this reset isn’t to be good for 14 days and then go right back to whatever made me feel lousy in the first place. The point is to notice what changes when I clear the noise.

Here’s what I’m paying attention to:

• Energy:
  Do my mornings feel a little less heavy? Do I get through the afternoon without crashing?
• Sleep:
  Am I falling asleep more easily? Waking up less puffy and groggy?
• Digestion and bloat:
  Does my stomach feel like I swallowed a watermelon? Less mystery bloat, fewer surprises?
• Cravings:
  Do the constant little ‘grab something sweet’ or ‘grab a snack’ whispers quiet down?
• Brain fog and mood:
  Do my thoughts feel a bit clearer? Is my mood more even and less snappy or flat?

You might notice different things, but those are the big ones I’m watching.

How to Try Your Own Simple Real Food Reset

If you’re feeling worn out, puffy, or just off, you don’t have to copy every bite of my menu to get started. You can:

1. Pick a short window.
   Aim for 14 days, not forever.
2. Take out the culprits.
   Grains (especially gluten), dairy, sugar, sweeteners, seed oils, and packaged and ultra-processed foods. Corn and comfort foods are out for this round, too.
3. Build two solid meals a day.
   Base them on:
   • Protein
   • Leafy and non-starchy veggies
   • A little fruit and berries
   • Real fats like beef tallow or olive oil
4. Give yourself a clear eating window and a clear no-eating window.
   No more all-day grazing.
5. Pay attention, don’t obsess.
   Notice how you feel, what changes, and what isn’t worth bringing back.

If you want a little structure so you’re not winging it every day, you can use the same one-page Sassy-Assed 7-Day Reset Meal Planner I created for myself, or use the blank menu page if you prefer different foods. Fill it out, stick it on your fridge, and repeat it for a second week if you want the full 14-day experience, which is what is really required to recalibrate your whole system.

No shakes. No powders. No perfection.
Just simple, real food—and a reset you might actually stick with.

Ready to Try Your Own Simple Real Food Reset?

If your body’s been waving its own little white flag and you’re ready for a short, simple reset (think of it as an experiment), you don’t have to wing it.

I put everything I used into an uncluttered 3-page printable bundle:

• ✅ My Sassy 7-Day Reset Meal Planner menu
• ✅ A matching blank planner page to create your own version
• ✅ A Sassy Grub List grocery sheet you can print, cut, and take to the store

Use it once for a 7-day reboot, or repeat (recommended) it for a full 14 days and see what changes in your energy, digestion, and mood.

P.S. If you like having printable tools you can stick on the fridge and actually use, you can browse all my Vital Sassy printables 👉 here:

Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your health routine.