You may say you can't eat right,

because you don't have the time, or it doesn't taste good,

or maybe it's too expensive.

Megan Gilmore used to feel the same way,

but now she says there are no more excuses, and here's why.

REPORTER: Megan Gilmore, a certified nutritionist,

is a former fast food junkie.

She knows life isn't fun without foods like brownies and pizza,

so she came up with recipes for everyone's favorites,

made with all natural ingredients.

Megan encourages clients to choose whole foods

over processed versions, and shares those solutions

in her cookbook, "No Excuses Detox."

Megan Gilmore is with us now.

And, Megan, we welcome you to "The 700 Club."

Thank you for having me.

You used to be a fast food junkie.

What happened?

Well, I was a military brat.

My dad was in the Air Force.

And we moved every year, so some years we didn't even

unpack our kitchen, because we knew we were going

to pack it up and move again.

HOST: Oh, wow.

So yeah, we--

my brother and I were both really active.

My mom had to drive us around a lot, and getting fast food

was just the easiest solution.

HOST: Drive-thru.

Exactly.

Yeah, and you know, it tasted delicious.

I can't complain.

It was a great childhood, but it didn't set me up

with really healthy eating habits.

HOST: So you go to college, and you're tired,

and you've lost your energy.

And what happened in your life that

made you say, you know, there's a better way to do this?

Well, I gained 30 pounds in college.

HOST: That'll do it.

Yeah.

And so, my wardrobe didn't fit.

And all my girlfriends were dieting,

and I really hadn't been introduced to that concept

before.

So I asked them what to do and I tried some yo-yo diets.

I would try something.

It never lasted longer than like 10 days,

and then I would give up, and I would eat my bagels

or go through the drive-thru window again.

So it really wasn't until I got a job.

I read a book that taught me all about raw food

and how real, whole foods are just

digested better in our body.

And it just showed me that I needed

to change the quality of my food,

rather than worrying about counting

calories or macronutrients.

Well, the quality of food can actually

produce a toxic environment in our systems.

Your book is about how to get rid of that.

What do you mean when you talk about detoxing?

Well, I do it in a not-so-scary way.

So there's cleanses out there where you drink lemon water.

HOST: Seven days, nine days.

Right, exactly.

But it's just so drastic, and then you

don't get to lasting results.

Right, because you go back.

Yeah, exactly.

To the same-old, same-old.

So this one, I mean, our body comes with detox organs.

We've got our liver and our kidneys,

and you don't have to do anything drastic.

You just have to give them less work to do.

And by eating whole foods, you're

avoiding all the preservatives, and the artificial colors,

and just giving those things a break.

I want you to talk a little bit about food combining,

which you talk about in your book.

Because I think a lot of us are hearing these days

about the acidic environment in your body

or the alkaline environment.

And you really adhere to that and say there's

a way to get around that.

Well, yeah.

In my book, I have all the recipes properly

combined already.

There's meal plans, so all the guesswork

is done for you in the book.

HOST: I like that.

But the idea is that you're lightening the digestive load,

that when--

70% of our body's energy is taken up by digestion.

You can eat starches, which need an alkaline environment

to digest, and protein needs an acidic environment to digest.

So if you eat them together, you're

neutralizing those acids.

HOST: Fighting each other, yeah.

And it takes longer to digest.

So then all that energy--

it's why you feel tired.

It's why you get that 3:00 PM slump.

HOST: Yeah.

And maybe even why some people suffer from IBS or things

like that.

Their bodies can't handle it.

Exactly, yeah.

So you're really streamlining your digestion

when you follow the food combining principles.

You brought some wonderful stuff with you today.

Let's start over here.

These are my cashew butter spice muffins.

They have no flour or refined sugar in them,

but they taste like a bakery muffin.

They've got this delicious crumble,

and they're a lower carb, higher in protein.

And they're going to leave you feeling satisfied for longer.

Awesome.

They look delicious.

And this is?

This is the rainbow lo mein.

It's like Chinese takeout, but instead of using all noodles,

you use half zucchini noodles, which you make with a cool toy.

HOST: So you still get some pasta.

MEGAN GILMORE: Yeah, so you get some pasta,

but you're adding more vegetables

for a more nutrient-rich dish.

OK, and what is this?

That looks yummy, too.

This is my easy party mix.

It tastes like Chex Mix, but instead

of using processed cereal, you're

using whole nuts and seeds.

And it's a sweet and salty combination.

HOST: Awesome.

Well, we're going to do something over here'

that's going to wind up looking beautiful.

What is this?

These are my enchilada-stuffed zucchini boats.

Wow.

And so, it's all the flavors of enchiladas you love,

but using a zucchini instead of a tortilla,

without all the heavy meat.

But you still get the cheesy flavors.

HOST: OK, can we do this together here?

Absolutely.

So we're going to turn on our stove here.

There you go.

And into the bowl we add some red pepper, and red onion,

and some jalapeno for spice.

HOST: Oh, yeah.

MEGAN GILMORE: OK, yeah.

But we remove the seeds, so it's not too spicy.

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

OK, and you're going to saute this for about 10 minutes

until it's tender.

HOST: It's pretty, too.

Yeah, it is.

It's beautiful.

You can eat with your eyes.

Yeah.

And then once this is cooked down for about 10 minutes,

you'll add in a clove of garlic and some freshly chopped

tomatoes.

HOST: That looks awesome.

MEGAN GILMORE: Using the fresh tomatoes--

HOST: Can I just stir this a little bit

while you're doing that?

MEGAN GILMORE: Absolutely.

And using the fresh tomatoes helps

you avoid extra chemicals, like the linings in canned food.

Uh-huh.

And then to that, we also--

I'm going to show you in a minute

how we scoop out these zucchini boats,

but you can use the filling from the zucchini,

just so you don't waste any of those nutrients.

HOST: Well, that's good.

MEGAN GILMORE: Add it in there.

HOST: That's the good part.

MEGAN GILMORE: And then we'll season it with some salt.

It always needs some salt and ground cumin.

Mhm.

This isn't even really cooking a lot yet,

but it smells wonderful.

Yeah, and some chili powder.

HOST: What is that?

Chili powder, OK.

MEGAN GILMORE: So yeah, you don't

have to get all those taco seasonings.

HOST: Mhm.

That have been sitting in the store

for heaven knows how long.

You know those packets-- exactly.

It's just three simple things, but you still

get those taco flavors.

Awesome.

OK, and while that's cooking, you

can prepare these zucchini boats.

OK.

So we already have some done here for us,

so you can see what they're supposed to look like.

HOST: You scoop them out?

MEGAN GILMORE: Yes, but it's so simple.

So you just cut off the ends of the zucchini,

and then you take a spoon and you just kind of run

along where the seeds would be.

HOST: OK, get rid of those.

MEGAN GILMORE: And you can scoop it into a bowl.

And this filling that's right here,

that's what we threw into the pan.

HOST: Oh, that's what we threw into there, OK.

Yes.

So you're using the seed.

MEGAN GILMORE: Yeah, exactly.

And you don't have to if you don't want to.

You could throw it in something else.

HOST: But they're pretty soft.

I mean, actually that works pretty easily

with just a regular spoon.

That's not serrated or anything.

That's interesting.

Yeah, and you just want to leave it thick

enough there that it won't become mushy.

It can sustain.

Mhm.

But yeah, you just fill it there.

And now--

And now, once this really cooks down--

Cooks through, yeah.

MEGAN GILMORE: Yeah.

You will start adding it into each boat.

So you'll kind of pour it in.

Whoops, turn that off.

HOST: And you just kind of--

you're going to fill it like--

MEGAN GILMORE: Yeah, you're going to fill it just

like the pretty ones over here.

HOST: --like these have been filled.

MEGAN GILMORE: I feel like I'm doing a sloppy job of it.

HOST: It's OK.

It's not your kitchen.

Yeah, you can make it as pretty as you want.

HOST: So once you fill these with the filling--

MEGAN GILMORE: Yes, and then you top it with the cheese,

because I feel like you can't have enchiladas

without some sort of cheese.

I'm with you on that.

In my cookbook, I use a lot of goat or sheep dairy,

because it's a little easier to digest,

but you can use any dairy that you like.

So this is what you have here.

So this is what we have here.

It's a crumbly little cheese here.

And you'll just top it.

This is a goat cheese.

It smells so good.

Now, how long do you bake this for once you're done with it?

This bakes for about 20 minutes.

You really just want to take a fork to the zucchini

and make sure it's really tender.

And then, I'll just top that.

HOST: Because this is television.

Right.

And smell-o-vision.

Let's go back here, and take a look at the one that's done.

And you can put that one in if you want,

and I'll take this over to the--

Mmm.

It smells good.

Oh, it smells wonderful, really wonderful.

And I love the way the cheese kind of melts

and browns a little bit on the top of it.

It's really beautiful.

Well, I'll tell you another thing

that's beautiful is your book.

Thank you.

I just want to show it over here.

Can I pick this up?

OK, ya'll, come on.

You can try out Megan's recipes for yourself.

It really makes sense when you read her concept

in all of this.

She has 100 quick and easy budget-friendly dishes

in her new book.

It's called "No Excuses Detox."

It's available in stores nationwide.

I think you'll really enjoy it.

Thank you so much.

I really enjoyed having you here today.

Thank you.