This Whole30 survival guide is full of tips, tricks and meal ideas. to make your Whole 30 a success.
Meal Plan
This is a must! Normally, when I grocery shop for the week I have a general idea of what I’ll want and how much food to pick up. But, on the Whole 30, that shopping style didn’t work well for me. Instead, I would plan out all of my meals for the week and determine exactly what I needed. Typically I would plan a dinner and eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. Breakfast always involved eggs. By planning my meals out completely, I had everything I needed on hand and prevented myself from caving into something unhealthy just because I didn’t have enough W30 food to go around.
Utilize Your Freezer
Speaking of meal planning, make sure to prep some extra protein and store it in your freezer. One of my favorite freezer friendly proteins is meatballs. I prepped a ton at the start of my Whole 30 and didn’t even need them for the first two weeks. During the third week, I realized I was going to need to make a grocery run unless I had something else at home. Luckily, I had frozen meatballs that were really easy to warm up and pair with a sugar-free marinara sauce and some zucchini noodles. Meatballs are super versatile and if you keep the seasoning neutral you can use them in a variety of dishes. Also use your freezer to store some extra frozen vegetables like cauliflower rice, stir fry veggies, or whatever else you like. I’m personally used to eating fresh veggies, but it’s always good to have extras in the freezer for emergencies.
Stock Your Office Snack Supply
While it’s easy to remove temptation at home, it’s not so easy to avoid it at work. Turning down free cake is tough, but if you can grab a few slices of dried fruits or nuts at your desk, it might make turning down those sweets a little easier.
Have a Go-To Fast Food Meal & Plan Ahead for Restaurants
Here’s what you can have at Chipotle during Whole30: Carnitas meat, lettuce, salsa, tomatillo green chili and red chili, and guacamole. It ends up being a very satisfying meal.
Prep Your Fruits and Veggies
Don’t just buy your vegetables and fruit and toss them in the fridge. Slice, dice and prep your fruits and vegetables (when it makes sense.) For me, that means slicing my carrots, bell peppers, radishes and celery. I will also rinse my fruits so they’re ready to eat. And I’ll prep out any salads, by chopping up romaine, cabbage and kale. Having healthy fruits and veggies on hand will make it that much easier to enjoy them.
Drink Tea
You can drink herbal caffeine-free tea after dinner to help prevent late night snacking.
Keep Active
Getting workouts in is still just as important while you’re going through a Whole30 diet. I found it so much easier to squash those sugar cravings when I was hitting the gym.
Remove Temptation
Clear out your pantry and fridge from all non Whole30 compliant foods. It’s so much easier to resist when temptation isn’t easily available.
Reward Yourself Regularly
How can you reward yourself regularly throughout the 30 days? Maybe it’s trying a new interesting Whole30 compliant recipe or treating yourself to a small gift.
Find a Friend
Following Whole30 is SO much easier if you’re not going through it alone. I found it easier and even fun to try Whole30 with my boyfriend. There was someone to help keep me on track and it also gave us a competitive reason to follow through.
Have you ever completed a Whole30? What tips helped you get through it successfully?
Excellent tips, Casey!
I haven’t done “Whole 30” because I feel it is too restrictive for me.
If I have to go without so many things, as least I want my cheese, edamame and maple syrup!!
However I cut out pretty much all white carbs which already is huge for someone who loves their chocolate cake, pizza and pasta!
I documented my journey in this year’s A-Z Blogging Challenge:
https://www.pinterest.com/tamaragerber/a-z-blogging-challenge/
Just finished my first Whole 30 and liked it so much I plan on sticking with about 80% of the program going forward. The biggest surprise was being able to enjoy healthy fats without gaining weight. As a long time calorie counter, I was pretty nervous about all that ghee, olive oil, almond butter and almond oil, half expecting to blow up like a helium balloon. My old lady skin has really benefited, I can already see a difference.