Whole30: How I Prepped for My First Week
Hi there! Welcome to my Whole30 journey. This is my first time and I’m excited/scared/nervous/ready to get started. If you’re wondering why I’m even doing Whole30 in the first place, here’s a link to that blog post on my reasons for doing it.
In this post, I wanted to share how I prepared for my first round of Whole30. I felt so good going into Day 1 and felt really prepared. Who knows if that will change throughout these 30 days, but still thought it was worth sharing.
Connect to the Why
Before I did anything, I evaluated and journaled about why I personally wanted to complete Whole30. I detailed what I hoped to achieve during Whole30, how I wanted to feel at the end of it, and what I would come back to when days were hard. I kept coming back to the thought that the time is going to pass anyway. I could do Whole30 and at the end of January think “wow, I did it” or I could not and spend another January thinking “what if” or “I could’ve done that.” I’ve been wanting to do Whole30 for a while and if you read my previous post, you’ll understand that I’m doing this to reset my relationship with food. To break the cycle of control I feel when eating. It’s so I can be my healthiest, both physically and mentally. Making sure you know the bigger picture is so important when taking on a challenge like Whole30.
Support System
When I decided Whole30 was right for me, I then told a few of those close to me. I explained why I’m doing Whole30, why I’m excited about it, and why it would mean a lot to my to have their support. I then detailed how they could best support me. For example, I told my husband Jake and I made sure he knew I wasn’t asking him to do it with me, but just that he wouldn’t tempt me to order pizza on a Friday night. He was extremely supportive, as was the others I told. Having a support system for something like this is so important. Whole30 can seem isolating at times, especially when we are literally isolated because of COVID, so I wanted to make sure I have people I could talk to and who could talk me out of throwing in the towel if it gets to that point.
Research
Once I set my mind to doing Whole30 I decided the best place to start was to purchase the official Whole30 cookbook. I wanted to make sure I really understood the program, the “rules",” and get some recipe ideas. I dove into the book and read it all in one night. It gave really good perspective into what, how, and why to do Whole30. What I appreciated in reading is that while 96% of participants report losing weight, Whole30 is not a weight loss program. It’s all about resetting your relationship with food, which is exactly why I’m doing it. TBH there’s a lot of hate around Whole30 out there but this book really helped change the narrative for me and set expectations and reasonings.
I also did some research on Instagram, Pinterest and Google to find any other advice and recipes I could find. The best place I found was Rachel Martino’s Instagram. She inspired me to try Whole30 finally and her meals always seem so approachable and yummy.
SHOP THIS POST
Planning
Once I went through the book and understood what to expect, I then used my new Silk & Sonder Planner to plan out my meals for the week. I used the Whole30 book, Rachel Martino’s Instagram Stories, and my own personal favorite meals to craft my week. I like repetition of meals, so once I find something I enjoy I’m fine eating it every day. The Planner was fantastic because it had a meal plan section, and right beside there was a space for grocery lists. It was so easy to plan out.
Sorry for the awful handwriting and misspellings but here’s an actual photo of my planner showing my first week of Whole30. You can see how the Meal Plan, Grocery List, and Workout sections are laid out.
Also, I know Bagels, Bread and Mozzarella are not allowed on Whole30. Those are for Jake :)
Groceries
The next day I took my planner to the store and bought all the items. I stuck to the list extremely closely and made sure not to buy anything else outside of what I’m allowed on Whole30. It is recommended to clean out your pantry to remove any temptations. I won’t be able to do that completely because Jake is not fully participating in Whole30 with me, but I tried my best to not get anything I would personally be tempted with. It’s worth noting that while Jake is not fully participating with me, he agreed to do Whole30 dinners with me.
When I unloaded my groceries, I made sure to prep anything I needed to at the beginning. For example, I bought a rotisserie chicken so I shredded that up and placed it into a container. I also separated out my meats between the fridge and freezer based on when I planned on having those meals. I didn’t need to cut any fruits or vegetables at this point, but I would’ve if I needed to.
I’m not doing meal prep this week since I don’t really need to and I work remote at the moment so it’s easier to make in the moment. I also love cooking so excited to do it this week!
Here’s a clean grocery list if you want to use it!
And that’s how I planned for my first week! Stay tuned for my next weekly update and don’t forget to follow along on my Instagram. I plan to share my meals on Stories and any other updates.