I wanted to get back to something that meant something to me. And cooking and feeding and nurturing always meant a lot to me.  – Melissa Lanz

On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Melissa Lanz, the founder CEO of The Fresh 20 meal planning service and a business coach.

Her business started as a one-off favor to a friend, another busy corporate working mom, who felt like she needed a meal plan to eat right. And the catalyst for change was when her husband said, “We need to talk.” She realized she realized she didn’t do the things she loved anymore, she wasn’t present for her two little kids, and she wasn’t spending time with her family. Things needed to change. She talks about how she decided on her business and got it started.

It was a big risk, going from making 6 figures to 0, but Melissa was in so much pain she says it didn’t really feel like a risk. Do you need to hear this today? “People live in a lot of pain and don’t want to change their situation because they feel that it’s too risky. They don’t realize that the other side of that risk is a rescue for their happiness, for their health.”

We talk about:

• $50 weekends as a tool for saving money and helping with transitions when finance change

BIO

Melissa Lanz is a former internet marketing executive who quit her day job to promote good eating habits in the midst of a national health crisis. As founder of The Fresh 20, Melissa strives to bring fresh food back to the household table and reduce the amount of processed ingredients being used. During the fall of 2009, Melissa dedicated her efforts to creating this tool for busy families and singles stuck in a takeout rut. To further her goal to be a part of The Food Revolution, she wrote The Fresh 20 Cookbook (Harper Collins 2013) and also promotes education in nutrition and healthy cooking through speaking, locally in Southern California and throughout the country.

LINKS

• The Fresh 20

Doable Changes from this episode:

• PLAN A $50 WEEKEND. Put your credit card away and take $50 cash with you. That’s it for the weekend. Get creative—have a potluck instead of going out to dinner. Go to the park with your kids. Find free entertainment in your area. Notice what feels hard about this