If you follow me on instagram you might know I completed the Whole 30 earlier this year and boy do I have some tips & tricks for the Whole 30 for you. My mom did it with me but she cheated on the front end and back end (yes you did Jane) so we might call her journey the Whole 25.
Anyway, I made it the 30 days and at the beginning it was killer. I wanted to strangle everyone I met. I made some stupid choices: like who goes on a date over the Whole 30, I had to have unsweet iced tea which did not help the awful date I was on. I also got bored with meals so I had to learn real quick to switch it up. Variety is the spice of life and all that.
After about and week and a half I didn’t miss carbs like I did the first couple of days. I mean sure I wanted pizza but I didn’t just want to go eat a hunk of bread like I wanted to on day 3. The things I missed most were cheese, beans, and DIET COKE. The old saying you don’t know what you have until it’s gone is so true. Yeah, whoever coined that was talking about love but yall I’m talking about CHEESE and DIET COKE so it’s exactly the same.
Here are some of the tips and tricks for the Whole 30:
Meal Prep isn’t just for Instagram
After going all gung-ho in meal prepping the first week I was lax on the second week and boy oh boy did I suffer. I came home ravenous one day from work and ended up eating an avocado with salsa on it and a handful of pickles. #noshame But seriously just take the two hours on Sunday or whatever you plan and make all your meals for the week. You don’t have to post it on insta if you don’t want to ; )
Go beyond Eggs
Everyone said I’d be sick of eggs or I’d never want to see another egg after week two and I never got to that point. I think the reason I never got to that point is I had other options from the get-go because I had been egg-warned so much before. My go to in times of need were bison burgers from Trader Joe’s and guacamole.
Technical or Spirit
When you complete the W30 I really recommend buying the book -it’s more than just a “don’t eat this, do eat that” list. It includes that too but it’s so much more. They discuss what the W30 is supposed to do to your body, reset it, and the science behind that. But with that comes the idea that there are some things that you can eat that are “technically” W30 compliant but are not in the “spirit” of W30. For example plantain chips and guacamole is technically compliant but it’s not in the spirit of W30 because it is conditioning your reliance on snacks rather than breaking it.
Have F-It meals
You need to have a bunch of meals that are simple to make and easy to scarf down. My f-it meals or snacks was a precooked chicken breast with salsa, a bison burger, apple w/cashew butter, or chomp sticks. Chomp sticks were a brilliant find, I already loved beef jerky and chomps are so easy to keep in your car/tote/office that they really are the perfect W30 snack.
Snacks are your friend
Embrace the snacks. Keep snacks handy: Chomp sticks, trail mix, apple & cashew butter, coconut milk latte, or ants on a log. If you read the W30 book there’s a section on “no snacking” but even the author and creator of W30 says snacking is okay sometimes. Here’s her trick for deciding if you really need a snack or not:
Ask yourself, “Am I hungry enough to eat steamed fish and broccoli?” If the answer is “Bring on the fish,“, you’re legitimately hungry; go eat a snack! If the answer is, “No, but I’d eat an RXBAR/trail mix/scoop of almond butter” you’re just having a craving–no snack for you!
Sparkling water will curb some cravings
Diet Coke is my lifeblood (FOUNTAIN ONLY) and I was dying going cold turkey without some bubbles in my life. Sparkling water was a band-aid to my soda needs. I would spice it up with a dash of fruit juice; a splash of pomegranate juice or a slice of lemon went a long way. The soda stream was a life saver so I didn’t have to buy cans upon cans of sparkling water.
I hope you like bananas
Big banana fan over here but I found they were really great way to compliment your breakfast or satisfy your sweet tooth. Even my mom who never buys bananas, seriously, I had to find bananas on my own in college, was allover the dessert I made. Sliced bananas, cashew butter, and a sprinkle of cocoa nibs cold from the fridge was the perfect way to signal your stomach – hey it’s time to stop eating and watch Real Housewives of New Jersey.
I also made a smoothie for “dessert” that killed a bunch of cravings. It probably not in the ‘spirit’ of Whole 30 but remember I went technical. Add a banana, coconut milk, ice, cacao bits, pure cacao powder, cashew butter, a scoop of this protein/collagen powder, and blend. You can always add spinach in there if you want. It was the perfect “chocolate” protein shake.
Not all nut butters are made the same
So. Many. Nut. Butters. Seriously it’s like every nut decided to turn itself into a butter and they are not all the same caliber. Almond butter was too gritty for me, cashew butter was better. I choose to try the individually portioned Justin’s butter because it was easier to travel and “spread” on the go.
Remember your mood swings are normal
W30 has a great prospective calendar on what you’re going to be feeling and how your moods are going to be during the 30 days. Here’s the link to see what your outlook is. Be sure to plan that you’re not doing something really important the first week because you’re either going to be exhausted or want to throttle someone.
Go coconut over almond
I need caffeine and with no diet coke I was SOL. Before W30 I drank lattes sporadically but during W30 they became a mainstay in the morning and/or a pick me up in the afternoon. But when I changed my skim milk to almond milk I spit out my first sip, it tasted like cardboard. Do yourself a favor a just skip trying almond milk in your coffee and go for the coconut milk. I’m really dogging almonds in this post aren’t I?
Trick Meals
Sometimes you’re going to want a meal that tricks your stomach into thinking you just cheated. You’re way past hangry and you might eat the wooden spoon to get some carbs in you. Here was my trick meal: grab a sweet potato, stab it a few times, stick it in the microwave for 6 minutes, cut it open and mush it so you’ve got an open “baked” potato, pour (compliant) pasta sauce over it. Boom. Happy Stomach. I make my own pasta sauce so it has a TON of veggies in it and meat. I prefer chunky over watery sauce so that’s why this meal works. You feel full and happy after it – and you don’t miss the butter because of the sauce.
Do NOT play the ‘what do you want‘ game with another Whole 30er. You either walk away dreaming of food you can’t have or angry at them for saying something stupid. I played this with Jane and I spouted off “pizza, queso, Diet Coke” and then she hits me with “yogurt.” I don’t think I have ever rolled my eyes so hard in my life. She changed her wish to popcorn but only after I made fun of her for a couple days about it.
About halfway through I found Thrive Market which was a magnificent find. You can get a free 30 day membership which includes free delivery. Also for every membership purchased they give a membership to a family in need so they can get access to healthy and reasonably priced foods! They have a BUNCH of W30 items – my favorites were this salad dressing, these nut butters, chomp sticks, marinara sauce, protein collagen powder, and the avocado spray. They also have a cool Whole 30 starter kit that gives you some things you might want!
I hope you enjoyed these tips & tricks for the Whole 30 as much more than I loved being on the Whole 30! While this might not be the best time to try the Whole 30 (I mean if you’re sitting in front of the fridge all day that could be really difficult to push through day 4 – 10) you can check out other things to do while practicing social distancing or take these steps to work on your career from home.
Are you doing the Whole 30 or have you done it before? What helped you make it?
