🌟 Resources Kelly Freeman Recommends
During an American College of Lifestyle Medicine meeting on October 19, 2026, Kelly Freeman, MSN, AGPCNP-BC, DipACLM, FACLM, ACLM Director of Workforce Development, shared these lifestyle medicine resources with Nathanael Elijah Smith, FNP-C, DipACLM. We gathered the official public links here so anyone can use them.
These are Kelly’s personal recommendations as shared with Nathanael. They are not official ACLM endorsements of Kitchen Monk™ or Flourishing Nursing™, and listing them here implies no partnership. Prices and details come from each provider’s public page and can change, so please confirm on the official site.
👉 Find your next step: tap what fits you
Tap a line below to open it. Each one gives you a simple first step and a button.
🍳 I want to learn to cook healthy food
Start free with Full Plate Living recipes, or take Rouxbe’s step-by-step video cooking course ($49, yours forever). Cook it the Kitchen Monk way: no added salt, oil or sugar.
🩸 I have type 2 diabetes or prediabetes
Good news: food and daily habits can make a big difference, and for some people diabetes can go into remission. Start with the free Full Plate Living program (it includes a diabetes course), and bring ACLM’s Diabetes Bill of Rights to your next visit. ⚠️ If you take diabetes medicine, change it only with your clinician, because blood sugar can drop as your eating improves.
⚖️ I want to reach a healthier weight
Full Plate Living is free and fills your plate with fiber-rich foods, with no calorie counting. If you are a UC San Diego Health patient, ask your doctor about a referral to the SLIM program.
🏊 My joints hurt, or I want gentle exercise
Warm-water exercise (aquacise) is easy on joints. Ask your local YMCA or community pool about arthritis or aquatic classes, and check with your clinician first if you have heart or lung problems or a recent surgery.
🎬 I want to watch real stories first
ACLM’s free Project Remission series shows real clinicians and patients putting type 2 diabetes into remission.
🩺 I’m a nurse or clinician
Bring this to your patients with ACLM’s LEADR group-visit program, Full Plate Living’s free group-visit materials, or the ACLM diabetes remission course.
🍳 Rouxbe Culinary Rx — learn to cook plant-based
An online cooking and nutrition course from Rouxbe, built with The Plantrician Project, that clinicians can “prescribe” to patients moving toward whole-food, plant-based eating.
- 💵 $49 one-time, lifetime access, no subscription (as listed by Rouxbe)
- 📚 7 units · 30 lessons · certificate of completion
- 👩🍳 Chef-instructor grading and practical skills: knife work, grains, beans, greens, dressings with little or no added oil or sodium
🥗 Kitchen Monk Standard: whatever course or recipe you use, cook it the whole-food, plant-based, SOS-free way: no added salt, oil, or sugar. Whole dates are welcome as the sweetener.
🩺 Type 2 diabetes remission: ACLM resources & LEADR
ACLM leads the national conversation on putting type 2 diabetes into remission with lifestyle medicine. Kelly highlighted these:
- 🤝 LEADR (Lifestyle Empowerment Approach for Diabetes Remission): a 12-week shared medical appointment curriculum for care teams, delivered in person, online, or hybrid through approved pilot sites. It is not a self-directed consumer program.
- 🎓 Remission of Type 2 Diabetes and Reversal of Insulin Resistance with Lifestyle Medicine: ACLM certificate course for the whole care team; 17 modules, up to 18 CME/CE credits (ANCC included).
- 🎬 Project Remission: ACLM’s free national digital series on clinicians and communities achieving remission.
- 📄 Patient resources: the Diabetes Bill of Rights and ACLM’s Find a Clinician directory.
⚠️ If you take diabetes medicine, make changes together with your clinician. Blood sugar can drop quickly when eating improves, and doses may need adjusting.
🍽️ Full Plate Living — free, fiber-first, small steps
A free program from the nonprofit Ardmore Institute of Health, certified by ACLM. It teaches a simple high-fiber “75/25 plate” with no calorie counting or forbidden foods.
- 🆓 Free: no upsells or hidden fees
- 📚 Seven-module self-paced core course, plus Reimagining Diabetes and Reimagining Weight Loss
- 🥦 Hundreds of recipes, workshops and a weekly newsletter
- 🩺 Free shared medical appointment programs and facilitator training for clinicians and nurse coaches
🥗 Kitchen Monk Standard: whatever course or recipe you use, cook it the whole-food, plant-based, SOS-free way: no added salt, oil, or sugar. Whole dates are welcome as the sweetener.
🏊 Aquacise — gentle movement in warm water
Water exercise is kind to joints and great for people with arthritis, chronic pain, or limited mobility. The evidence-based AEA Arthritis Foundation Aquatic Program is a group class in warm water (at least 83°F), led by trained leaders, with Basic and Plus levels. It is also offered in Spanish.
- 💪 May improve joint function and strength, and ease pain and stiffness
- 🤝 Community classes mean friendly faces and social connection
- 🔎 Ask your local YMCA, community pool, or recreation center about aquatic or arthritis classes
⚠️ Check with your clinician first if you have heart or lung conditions, open wounds, or a recent surgery.
⚖️ UC San Diego SLIM — Supervised Lifestyle & Integrative Medicine
A doctor-led lifestyle medicine weight program at UC San Diego Health, led by Deepa Sannidhi, MD, and a model for group-based care: five to six months, with 12 group medical visits (physician plus health coach) and five one-on-one visits covering food, cooking, movement, sleep, stress and behavior change.
- 🏥 Open to UC San Diego Health patients with a referral from their UC San Diego Health provider
- 💳 Billed to insurance (co-pays may apply)
- 💡 Clinicians elsewhere can learn from its shared medical appointment design
