Tips & How-To: Preparing for Your Whole30!

In my mind, success on the Whole30 comes down to two things:  Mental strength & Preparation. 

Are you really hungry, or just craving a snack?  Do you get the 5 minutes of extra sleep, or get your snacks ready for the next day?  It all comes down to being self-aware & making good choices.  

So, for Week One of Whole30, I wanted to make sure that I started off on the right foot by being prepared.  

I took some pictures & jotted down a few notes over my weekend-before-Whole30, and am here to share it with you all!  

I hope this is helpful, and that it makes the Whole30 seem a little less intimidating.  You just have to get a little organized, and let your mental strength take over from there!  :)

Here are the steps I took on Sunday, before our Whole30 started the next day:

1. Print weekly meal planners (click here for the one I use)
2. Fill out "Week One", focusing on breakfasts & dinners (lunches can be leftovers, or you can fill them in after dinners for the week are decided, based on which dinners won't make leftovers)
3. Write your grocery list, based on your meal plan
4. Mark your planner or weekly calendar with food prep on the day it needs to be done
5. Shop for food! (I'm very lucky to have Dathan who does our grocery shopping on his day off, or throughout the week since he works at Whole Foods Market)
6. Start prepping  :)

Our "week one" plan.  ("HB eggs"= hard-boiled eggs)

Grocery list for week one.

On Sunday, I got started on our meal prep by making:

• Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce (for snacks, with breakfast, & on top of pork tenderloin for dinner)
• Grilled Chicken (for lunch the next day & snacks throughout the week)
• Sweet Potato Crusted Egg & Chorizo Bake (I made this instead of egg muffins- very convenient to heat & eat in the morning, & we LOVED it)
• Larabars (for snacks)

Here are the other recipes mentioned in our Week One Plan:

• All-American Crockpot Chili (leave out the coconut sugar)
• Slow Cooker Chicken Soup
• Paleo Chicken Alfredo Pasta

& Last, a few more tips to make sure you're all set for day 1:

• Eat or freeze non-compliant foods.  For us this was marinated tri-tip, frozen hash browns containing dextrose, sausages, ham, popcorn, etc.
• Tuck away non-compliant sauces, spices, sweeteners, supplements, etc. that will last 30+ days. (you would be surprised at the unexpected sweeteners, oils, and binders in these items... check your fish oil, pumpkin pie spice, and marinades)
• Drink all the wine.  (may lead to a headache the following day, but at least you've eliminated that temptation)  ;)

I hope this was helpful!  Let me know if you have any more "Whole30" post requests & I will keep them coming!  Good luck if you're on your own Whole30 journey-- it's all worth it.