After completing five rounds these are my top Whole 30 tips for suriving and thriving. I have learned what a “sugar dragon” truly means when it is starved of maple syrup and how to calm it. I’ve finally learned how to not binge eat right after the 30 days. Here are my tips and delicious tricks on how to survive and thrive with self-love the whole time.
What are your Whole 30 tips? Share in the comments below.
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When you first start the Whole 30 it can be for so many reasons. You might want to discover if dairy is the reason you have gas at 2 am or if it might be Brussels sprouts. You might want to feel the elated energy rush through you like a bodily waterfall ready to be at peace in a river below. Whatever the reason, doing a Whole 30 for the first time can come with challenges, mentally and physically that have you questioning why you started the Whole 30 in the first place.
So without further ado here’s the first of my Whole 30 tips:
Whole 30 Tips #1: Discover Your Why
Think about what your motivation is for embarking on this thirty-day journey. Are you doing the Whole 30 to lost weight or to feel more comfortable in your body? Regardless of any slimming down what would lead to the feeling you want?
Getting a journal can help get those feelings on to paper and assist in the healing journey. Think about right now if there is something about yourself that you are not yet comfortable with. Is there something you want to change?
These can be hard questions for the self because the answers can be so emotional. Confronting the idea there are things about ourselves we aren’t super comfy with is such a beautiful step to healing. Once we realize where we are we can dance and embrace where to go next. While the Whole 30 is very much about physical healing I think emotional healing is equally if not even more important. The Whole 30 surfaces emotional attachments to food because suddenly, for 30 days, you are choosing not to eat those foods you’ve relied on for comfort. Instead of binging on ice cream when sad or chowing down on pizza when you’re bored suddenly it’s sweetener-free everything with salmon on top. Prepare now with some blankets and candles 😉
Take some time before starting Whole 30 to journal or just think about these questions.
How do I feel now?
How do I want to feel after this Whole 30?
How can I be gentle with myself if I don’t achieve these goals?
How can I love myself no matter how I look or what I eat?
Remember that you are beautiful all the time, no matter what, you glorious spark of life.
Bonus Whole 30 Tip: Love yourself. Okay, that’s an always tip 😉
Tip #2 Consider Not Binge Eating All the Foods You “Can’t Have” the Week Before
I wish I gave myself this Whole 30 tip before I started. Whenever we tell ourselves that we can’t have something, even if just for a month, there’s an internal roar that arises. Even try, right now, thinking that you can’t eat bacon-wrapped pringles with pickles. Did a part of you, for just a moment, want to eat bacon-wrapped Pringles with pickles and ice cream? When we think we’re about to be deprived of something lack consciousness takes over.
Admittedly now I really want to try bacon-wrapped Pringles with pickles because it sounds awesome...just without the ice cream
To avoid lack consciousness you just do the opposite of feeling lack. Feel full. Feel grateful. What are you going to eat? Think about how many foods are naturally Whole 30. If you think about it, we modify food to not be Whole 30 rather than the other way around. Fruit, veggies, and meat all taste and feel wonderful.
Fruit salad, loads of soups, salsa, steak, baked sweet potatoes with chives, roasted green beans, pesto, harissa, spiced and backed apples and hibiscus tea are just the beginning of what you can experience.
Also, whenever you binge eat sugar or whatever before the Whole 30 you’ll directly feel your body purge it out the first week of the Whole 30. What you eat beforehand can directly impact how you feel when you clean house for those first days. So definitely eat your usual food but maybe don’t add 13 cupcakes to the week. If you do though, eat with gusto and joy! Feeling guilt after eating can even be what causes the “negative” symptoms. So feel bliss no matter what you eat.
“I’m choosing not to have this right now so my body can heal back to its natural state of health”.
Tip #3: Change “Can’t Have”
Can’t have has this ability to rear up our eight your old side. Tell me I can’t have something and I’m going to prove you wrong. I can eat pretzels coated in chocolate and dipped in sliced up sour patch kids if I want!
An easy rephrase for can’t have is “I’m choosing not to have this right now so my body can heal back to its natural state of health”. Not only does this say that the natural state of your body is health, it also reminds the self of why you are doing this. When “can’t have” comes up it is an epic time to think of your personal why.
This tip is a long-runner to where the more you implement saying or thinking “choosing not to” when you hear “can’t have”, the easier it gets. Although not overnight, this rephrase is empowering once it is embodied. Just give it some time with some self-love sprinkled in.
Also, remember, bacon is Whole 30.
Tip #4: Fantasize, and Then Plan Ahead
Before you begin the Whole 30 feel free to imagine bacon covered hot dogs and fruit salads bursting with berries, pineapple, and watermelon. Imagine the bliss of steak and sweet potatoes covered in ghee and sprinkled with chives. The more you prepare its like foreplay for the mind and you’ll enjoy the experience so much more. Instead of going into the Whole 30 wondering what food you’ll have to eat go in with all the glorious ideas of what you get to eat. Then make a plan.
Check out our Whole 30 recipes in the bar above. Here are my current favorites:
Whole 30 Air Fried Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
Peaches and Pork Chops with Lavender
15 Minute Cilantro Lime Turkey Burgers
Air Fried Crispy Turkey Thighs
Do you normally love to add ketchup to your hot dogs? Are you a lover of mustard and marinara sauce? Check out your kitchen and make sure you have compliant sauces in the house that are your normal go-to’s, even when it comes to soy sauce. You can easily trade out soy sauce for coconut aminos in everything. It’s got a sweet umami sensation that cannot be denied. We even use it in BBQ sauce. For everything else just look to see if there’s sugar in the label. For your morning coffee nut pods are the general go-to in the Whole 30 community for their epic froth and delicious flavor. They have vanilla and hazelnut flavors that are ah-mazing.
I recommend starting a Pinterest board and adding what you want there. Then take those recipes and make a grocery list.
Tip #5: Fall in Love With Fat
Check out our post where we tasted 7 ghees to find the best one. We even tested them in coffee and fried into a green bean. It was so delicious….and possibly an almost fat overload. So worth it 😉
Whole 30 is not about calorie counting or begging your body to not be hungry when it wants food. If you are hungry then eat. Preferably eat a whole meal rather than a snack, but if a snack is what’s there then go for it. The Whole 30 is a blissful time to listen to your body and learn its signals. I literally talk to/think to my body all the time now and it responds. It’s way easier to listen to your body than asking others what to do/ the Internet. Also, the answer is more personal 😉
I love to add at least 2 tablespoons of fat to every meal, usually by adding mayo or ghee. This is the ONLY way to feel full and will really help with any cravings. A lot of times if you’re craving sugar or whatever it’s just because you’re hungry. Add some fat, fall in love, and dance within the fullness.
Organic Valley Ghee was our top pick after tasting 7 ghee brands. For a unique ghee experience 4th & Heart turmeric ghee is epic. Turmeric when combined with fats adds this incredibly gentle sweetness. We add it to fish, sweet potatoes and I even use ghee and turmeric in this sweet and spicy turmeric latte when I need a gentle immune boost. Add a little pepper to activate all the turmeric power.
4th & Heart Chocti ghee is made with dates and cocoa and works on Whole 30 if you don’t eat the whole jar 😉 . Just gauge if it triggers your sugar desires because it tastes so much like fudge. You can even spread it on sweet potato toast. This would also be delicious for reintroduction week since it’s sweet without sugar.
Tip #6: Then Fall in Love With Leftovers
When I was growing up we threw out leftovers like they were trash. Fred constantly complained about it because he said we were wasting food. No one else really cared, especially because we weren’t paying for it. A recent study from Yang Yu actually found that American households commonly waste a third of the food that they buy which can cost of $1,866 annualy.
I learned about food waste when working with Imperfect Foods. Their mission is to fight food waste by taking “imperfect” veggies and fruits that are usually thrown away because grocery stores have a weird perfection standard. They buy these veggies from farmers at a fair price then sell them to the public. If you use that link to try them out you’ll get $10 off your first box. Due to the pandemic I no longer work there but I still love everything they do. I really learned how to use every bit of food after that experience, and that it’s okay to be imperfect when it comes to food waste 😉
Saves Money:
Flash forward, after my growing up life, to when I did pay for my own food and went organic. Every cent counted and so every bite counted. At first I ate leftovers to save money but then it became a way of life. Now I’ll even save half of a chicken leg without a second thought. Aun and I have probably tossed a total of 8 pounds of food this year and it’s already September.
When you let ingredients absorb flavors overnight new flavors emerge. Curry goes from separate spices to a combined harmony of turmeric, coriander and chicken bursting into one song. The last handful of arugula tops a soup or is chopped like cilantro to garnish chicken and a whole new dish emerges.
Invest in some epic tupper-ware and save everything. Since Whole 30 doesn’t use pasta or bread and uses whole foods everything still tastes incredible for about a week. You can re-roast carrots and slowly bake chicken back to the way they tasted when freshly cooked.
Saves Time:
Take leftover meat from last nights dinner and put it on a bed of lettuce with some olive oil, maybe some mayo, lemon zest and lemon juice and you have a quick lunch that can easily be taken to work.
Don’t feel like cooking? Takes that cup of chopped sweet potato you saved from three days ago when you were stuffed, reheat it on the stove in a pot with the lid on and some leftover chicken and you have dinner.
How to Save Leftovers:
This is one of the most important of these Whole 30 tips because it can be used for your entire cooking life. We use the Tupperware below because you can write on top of it and date when you created the food. This saves you from wondering if the beef has gone bad and keeps you from having to throw it out just in case. It also snaps onto the container to make it airtight and food lasts sooo much longer. I know because I made pesto that I stuffed in the back of the fridge for a month, kinda hoping it would go bad because it was a taste mishap. A month later it was still fine. No food lasts forever but it does last longer in these beauties.
Also, put what needs to be eaten in the front of the fridge so you immediately see it when the door opens. That way you know what to eat first. This is super important not with just stored food but when it comes to greens and fruit that’s about to lose its shelf life. Out of sight easily becomes out of mind.
How to Re-Heat Leftovers:
After using the Googley machine over and over to find out how to re-heat leftovers I discovered something. If you reheat the food the same way you cooked it for just enough time to warm it through you get the best results.
Food baked at 400 degrees F for twenty minutes can just be baked at a lower temperature (like 300) for five minutes, and then check it. If it still needs more time go for 3 minutes and check again etc. I check it by opening up the food and touching the middle to see if it is warmed through.
Pan-fried food (or any food), can just be added back to the pan with a lid. Turn the heat to medium-low and check it in five minutes. One of my friends reheats everything in a pot with a tiny bit of water so it steam cooks it. This works for everything.
With the Ninja Foodi, and it would work with any air fryer, I just air fry everything for 5 minutes to reheat it so it stays crispy. We use the Ninja Foodi for all our air fryer recipes and honestly couldn’t live without it at this phase of life.
Tip #7: Buy What You Need the Week Before
If you plan to start the Whole 30, and then the day you begin there’s nothing to eat in the house then that’s an easy way to give up. Starving is definitely not the game. You want to be full all the time, especially that first week. So go ahead and shop for what you planned before you begin. You’ll thank yourself later 😉
Tip #8: Avoid Shopping Hungry
This Whole 30 tip is one you’ve probably heard it before and maybe even felt this one within your rumbling belly at the grocery store. If you shop on an empty belly everything will look delicious and you’ll more likely want to buy chocolate and sugar because those are the easy sources of energy for the body.
Go ahead and chow down before shopping so it’s easy to pass by the baked bread.
Tip #9: Shop The Outside Aisles
This works for Whole 30 tips and also a forever save money and eat epic food tip. Making your own pesto will change your life. Instead of traveling the dry good sections stick to the outside edges of the store, and you’ll feel far freer. Fruits, vegetables, and meats are all bursting forth when you walk into the stores. Vibrant colors of the season are all there and if you do shop the seasons you’ll get the peak flavor. If you’re about to start Whole 30 this is also an epic time to think about what meals you want to create that first week.
Also, shopping the outer aisles is so much cheaper than going inward. While you can buy your Whole 30 Mayo you can also make Whole 30 mayo yourself for only $3. You can also make your own ghee with butter, and grab lettuce for easy lettuce wrap sandwiches that are cheaper than bread ones. A head of lettuce is about $2 while bread can be up to $5 for the good stuff.
Plan ahead by writing out what you are going to get at the store so you have a game plan in mind and won’t have to wander around too much.
Tip #10: Get Some Survival Snacks
Whole 30 is pretty easy when you’re feeling full but like a pain in the soul when you’re starving and can’t are choosing not to eat at McDonald’s. There are some Whole 30 snacks you can totally indulge in when on the go. Nuts are compliant, just make sure there’s no sugar added. Other Whole 30 compliant snacks are Lara bars, Bare chips, and some kale chips as long as there is no sugar. Fruit is an easy snack to have tag along, especially bananas and apples since they last. I honestly just bring cucumbers and baked eggs with me if I’m hitting the road, but I do keep a couple of Thunderbird or Lara bars in the car juuuust in case.
My favorite Bare Chips are the apple ones. They’re soooo delicious, and crisp, and warm. I have to be careful because I eat a whole bag with the “just one more” thought every time. I feel great after though!
Thunderbird bars are so filling and I feel they have the most complex flavors for Whole 30 bars. The Lara bars have only 3 ingredients but all are soooooo delicious and taste just like what they claim. They even have a cashew cookie and banana bread flavors :p . The cherry pie ones are my favorite.
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You can also search Whole 30 snacks on Thrive and get a free $25 gift for signing up just by using our link here.
Protip: They actually constantly give free gifts and discounts so you save all the time.
Tip #11: Allow Thoughts of All the Foods
If you’ve gotten into a diet or lifestyle before Whole 30 then this is for you. Otherwise feel free to skip this tip.
When I was doing keto I feared carbs so much that I thought they made everyone fat and tried to convince everyone I knew to eat keto. If they weren’t eating keto I thought they were wrong because it was primal and natural and etc. etc. cult mind thoughts. Once I ate a sweet potato and felt grounded for the first time in years I slowly ate carbs again like an anorexic person realizing food is okay, not exaggerating. I wrote about breaking free of that mentallity in this How A Cupcake Freed me From Paleo post. It took a few years to really heal from the “this food is bad” feeling and sometimes it still triggers.
The way I found the most mental freedom when doing Whole 30 was to never punish myself for thinking of cheetos, or cupcakes or sugar. It was so easy to scold myself and think those thoughts were bad due to previous dieting and a culture that promotes “guilt free” eating. All eating should be guilt free and there should be no “cheating”. All of those mentailities promote the idea of some food being good and some food being bad. So many females I know (haven’t met a male who went through this just yet so if you are one let us know!) get angry for wanting food they “know is bad for them”.
If you think of a cupcake don’t be upset for “not being able to resist the thought”. Don’t think you are an uncontrollable animal that must be tamed. Allow and accept and acknowledge these feelings and these thoughts. What we resist persists. If you try to repress these thoughts of sugar they don’t go away. They bury themselves, build and then burst out in a binge of all the delicious baked treats.
Allow yourself to think of cupcakes (or whatever it is you crave). I even go as far as to think of eating the cupcake and fully enjoying the thought. That way the sugar thoughts go form some crazy forbidden fantasy to “oh…it’s just a cupcake”.
Whole 30 Tips #12: Prepare for Re-Introduction Before the 30 Days are Over
The last of these Whole 30 tips is the one I still struggle with the most. The reintroduction phase of the Whole 30 was always the hardest part for me. Suddenly I didn’t know if I wanted to eat bread and was scared of what would happen. I had been cradled by the Whole 30 and the feelings of immense energy and a calm like I had been begging for for years were inside me, and I didn’t want to give them up. Leaving the Whole 30 felt like leaving the nest and asking what I’m supposed to eat now.
The challenging part is if you start with sugar then ALL THE LOVE OF SUGAR BURSTS FORTH again. It feels like a caps lock for your brain. For seriously, sugar cravings can roar back to life and instead of having a bit of chocolate and then going back on Whole 30 two days “F*&k it” feels like the easiest option. Have some fruit handy to chow on after eating sugar, to reset the feeling of natural sugar. This always works for me. You can also try these instant pot poached pears for a modified fruit flavor.
Take some time and plan out what you want to introduce first.
Instead of having a cupcake, I recommend having 85% black chocolate or just try literally licking sugar off your finger. If you have gluten and sugar and butter all at once, like with most baked goods, you won’t know what caused any reactions that occur. Once you try something then feel free to write about how you feel, really get into your body, and even ask your body how it feels. Our bodies are very intelligent and the more I talk to mine….well think to it, the more it responds.
I hope you enjoyed my Whole 30 tips and let me know your Whole 30 tips in the comments! Feel free to follow Blissfull Eating for more Whole 30 recipes and check out our current Whole 30 recipes in the top bar above.
For the major Whole 30 resources check out this Whole 30 day by day timeline and the Whole 30 forum for even more Whole 30 tips from an entire community. I’ve used the forum before and you can post every day what you ate and how you’re doing and talk to others who are doing a round for support. The Whole 30 Instagram posts constant recipes for inspiration as well.
Best of luck with your Whole 30 and have a blissfull one!
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