Lady LUX

Organic, gourmet, local and delivered to your door – Paleta must be one of the most amazing and easy ways to eat healthy. Serving the Los Angeles area, the meal service offers up a tantalizing array of healthful choices for those looking to lose weight, save time and eat well.

A self-professed workaholic, chef Kelly Boyer knows what it is like to be constantly strapped for time. After graduating from culinary school, the idea of creating a food delivery program that would “make it crazy convenient” for people to have access to healthy food seemed a perfect fit. She checked out the competition and instantly knew she could do it “way, way better.” She consulted with a team of nutritionists and personal trainers and before she knew it, her business had taken off.

“First and foremost it is about convenience. I think that is why people do it primarily,” Boyer declared. “I want to make people’s lives easier. That is very exciting to me. In addition, I want to make them better.”

When I tried the five-day Paleta cleanse, I found it to be all that it is cracked up to be. My taste buds were tantalized by options such as stuffed bell peppers, artichoke hummus and mushroom risotto. Some restaurant-quality meals, such as the lentil burgers and white bean and vegetable soup, were so good I would have died for the recipes. The four daily cleansing shakes were far less palatable, and I was grateful for the added fruit purees.

But you can’t argue with results. In five days, I lost nearly 4 pounds. And I thoroughly enjoyed my holiday from cooking. I would recommend the cleanse to anyone looking to drop a few pounds quickly and the meal service to anyone who wants to eat delicious, nutritious food but doesn’t have the time to prepare it.

As the service is highly customized, Boyer can satisfy any client’s needs, from prenatal care to athletic training and building muscle mass to slimming down fast. The menu can be tweaked to, say, bulk up on vegetables or lower the amount of carbs.

“Goals are very individual,” she revealed. “That is the beauty of the business model. If you are trying to lose weight or build muscle mass, feed your kids more healthier or just save time, we can develop a meal program for you.”

You choose what you want and what program is best, then wake up each morning to find your day’s meals delivered right to your doorstep. Paleta offers cleanses and weight loss programs in addition to regular planned meals.

“You don’t have to think about anything,” Boyer said. “The time it saves you – especially if you are trying to be healthy – in planning your meals, shopping for them, preparing them, cleaning up. It is a very addictive thing to do for yourself.”

Paleta attracts customers from all walks of life, whether in the workforce or the entertainment industry or children in need of healthy sustenance. Customer satisfaction is reflected in the 75 percent return rate.

For those who flounder with the program, Paleta is there to help. The program can easily be modified to gain optimal results. If it is not working, Boyer works with clients until it does. Clients are supported with daily reminders and can pick up a phone if they need further support.

Food is sourced from local farmers’ markets. The kitchen motto is ASAP: as sustainably as possible. Meat comes from cruelty-free ranches, and seafood is taken from responsible fisheries.

“Local means you are going to get seasonal ingredients which means freshness beyond compare,” Boyer said.

Boyer believes weight loss comes down to a simple principle: Portion control, portion control, portion control. Her formula: controlled size and quality ingredients.

“It is a garbage in, garbage out practice,” Boyer maintained. “What you put in your body really matters. Not just in terms of how much, but what you are putting in your body. Sometimes people get a little shocked. They see the portions in the beginning. They are so used to eating these huge meals and then we have to say no, take the food out of the container. Put it on a plate and you are going to see how much food it is.”

Despite the small meal size, Boyer purports that the purity and balance of the food will leave customers feeling incredibly satiated.

The reduced and eliminated ingredients read like a laundry list of bad food to avoid: dairy, soy, gluten, sugar, sodium and fat. Carbohydrates are kept to a minimum while still promoting whole grains: “You are never going to see white bread in my kitchen ever. It just doesn’t exist.”

Boyer aims to educate customers on the importance of understanding where their food comes from.

“We are very transparent on how and where we source our ingredients and we are a very green business and using the highest quality ingredients possible,” she said. “Because we are so careful about where we source our food from, we know what is going in it, we know what the farmers are doing, we know they are not using pesticides, we know we are not using processed ingredients, and that makes a huge difference.”

When you eat pure food, Boyer maintains “your metabolism knows what to do with that. When your body sees hydrogenated fat and all the crap that goes into so many processed foods, it doesn’t know what to do with it. So it synthesizes it and turns into fat most often. “

As menus are not published, you never know what you are going to get that day until the package arrives.

Meals are carefully plotted with the help of a food scientist to ensure proper balance and nutrition.

The cleanse is designed to boost your liver function and not work on the colon. A brown rice protein powder beverage is paired with vegan meals to boost metabolism and detox the liver.

“We actually feed you,” Boyer said. “It is not a starvation cleanse. I don’t believe in that. I believe we are meant to eat. So we provide food. Based on a modified elimination diet, we reduce your body toxin and allergen load so it will help detoxify your liver more efficiently.”

The kitchen takes its eco-friendly mission seriously, boasting a composting system, recycling, no plastic, recycled and biodegradable packaging, and shared lighting. Paleta is further socially conscious in that it supports several charities, including Mercy for Animals, Feed the Children and Roots of Change, and plants trees in the Philippines to lower its carbon footprint.

Paleta is primarily offered in the Los Angeles area. Call for a free consultation or visit www.paleta.com.

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