Tips from successful people on the Whole 30

[Laura Jeanne Penrod]

Hi! I just started my Whole 30 journey today. Headache at the present moment, but I keep telling myself it will be worth it in the end. Ifeels positive and have really been trying to change my relationship with food today as I eat. Really THINKING about what I'm doing and eating.

Aside from that, I would lie to you if I said I didn't wanna shed some unwanted pounds. So, for those of you that have been successful at this program and behind 30 days, I wondered if you could provide some tips.

Hope everyone is well and successful as ever and I hope to be posting here someday about my own success.

[Johnny M]

My biggest tip is to be prepared at all times. To me, eating per whole30 guidelines is EASY when compliant foods are in abundance and forbidden foods are nowhere to be seen. I'd never choose something I used to eat like mac n cheese or a frozen meal over a huge slow cooker full of pulled pork and a salad of mixed greens with homemade dressing. But if I didn't have the latter foods...I'd eat the crap in a second. In fact, in the beginning of my whole30, my cravings were always for bad foods but as long as I never let myself get ravenously hungry, I never had them. Cook plenty of leftovers ahead of time, buy lots of food containers, know where to get food out in a pinch, and have fun! This isn't about deprivation, it's about indulging in an abundance of health promoting foods.

[karacooks]

I second, third, and fourth BE PREPARED.

I'm only on Day 5, so not sure how successful that is but here's my story today. I came home from work, running errands, and fighting traffic absolutely EXHAUSTED. Like the thought of having to cook something made me cry. And I realized as I stood in the kitchen that there is nothing ... absolutely and utterly nothing ... that can be picked up quickly or ordered out that is Whole30 compliant. I had resigned myself to scrambled eggs as a quick and dirty dinner, when I remembered that I had spent the weekend prepping and I actually had stewed top round steak in the freezer - already cooked and ready to go. All I did was dump it in a bowl, heat it in the microwave, and throw some sweet potatoes on the stove.

Now I'm not saying I'd have given in and ordered out, because I'm committed to my 30 days, but I have to admit that being prepared, having a hot meal that didn't take 30 mins of prep time, and being able to eat something filling and yummy improved my mood. I'm still tired and still going to bed early, but I'll be doing so in a much better frame of mind.

So be prepared.

[Johnny M]

ground beef and spices with some veggies makes a quick meal and store bought rotisserie chickens can be good too.

[Laura Jeanne Penrod]

I usually am very good about being prepared. I was over 350lbs at one point in my life, so I totally agree with being prepared. In fact I was just prepping some sausage for breakfast tomorrow. . Thank you both for the feedback.

I guess my other question is more, do I need to limit fruit drastically or can I have a bit with my meals? Just wondered what helped others see significant gains in their health and weight loss journeys. I'm committed to this and more focusing on the psychological as ,uh as possible, but wondered what helped others too.

Also, I will be traveling twice next month. One with limited resources and the other ill be at my dads so that's easier. any suggestions on traveling and portable approved foods?

[CAK911]

I totally agree with being prepared, for me, that means:

• Healthy snacks available in the house, or in my bag, depending on where I am. (I keep a serving of nuts in my purse pretty much at all times.)
  
• Noncompliant foods are either gone or difficult to get to. We hard froze everything we didn't outright toss. If I'm hungry, the hassle of thawing something is a pretty big encouragement to pick something else.
  
• Cooked meats and vegetables on hand most of the time, so that if I don't feel like cooking, I don't have to. We tend to cook up a pile of chicken breasts, carnitas, or whatever else sounds good once or twice a week. Then, for lunches, I can just grab a protein and throw in some raw or cooked vegetables and a handful of nuts or part of an avocado. The meats are the bigger thing for me -- I find vegetables easy to deal with on the fly, but meat always feels like some SERIOUS hassle for some reason.
  
• Drink a LOT of water. I upped my water consumption to about 3L a day. That has helped a lot, I believe. I carry around a 16 oz. water bottle most of the time and refill it immediately anytime it winds up empty.
  
• Visit this forum or read a paleo recipe blog or do something else related at least once a day. This only takes a few minutes, and it helps me keep my game face on and stay focused.
  
• Plan social activities that either aren't food oriented or that are oriented toward places I can eat. During our Whole30, we went out to eat at a few local places we knew we could find compliant foods, but we spent more time doing things like going to the movies, playing boardgames, fossil hunting, or whatever else sounded fun. We socialized about as much as we normally do, but we just planned most of our social activities so they'd fit with our Whole30.
  

[Adagio]

I cleaned up my kitchen and re-arranged some things to return it to being cooking-friendly. Over the last couple of months, I'd gotten out of the habit of cooking from scratch.

We never keep junk in the house, except for hubby's ice cream - and I'm not a fan of ice cream. The only grains we have on hand are rice and GF spaghetti for hubby. The only sugar on the shelf is Manuka honey that we have mostly used for medicinal purposes. My dark chocolate has been hidden away, lol. Nothing around to tempt me.

I went on a buying binge and ordered a bunch of small containers of spices from Penzey's. I bought the Well-Fed cookbook. It's expensive, but I have really enjoyed some of the recipes and like the vibe. Also, I bookmarked the Whole30 compliant recipes from Foodee and Chowstalker that sounded good to me.

In Well-Fed and ISWF, there's info on how to cook your proteins and veggies, assemble your sauces and your spices all ahead of time, so you can throw together a meal rather quickly. I don't use a microwave, so this has been very helpful to me.

I now have no excuse not to prepare good stuff!

Be prepared, eat enough food at mealtime so you aren't tempted to snack too much. Don't drink water with meals. Allow your food to digest naturally.

And don't overthink it.

Some nights I think, "I really don't feel like cooking," but going out is not an option right now. The only "prepared" thing I've bought recently was the day before I started W30 - a naked rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods.

Sure, I hate cleaning up the kitchen, but I keep telling myself that's the price I have to pay for eating delicious food! I often think of my mother, who cooked and cleaned up every day with no dishwasher, no gourmet cookbooks or online food blogs, and no expensive cookware. She was an incredible cook, even without all of the resources we have today. She just went into the kitched and did it every day without overthinking it.

[Laura Jeanne Penrod]

Love the feedback! Thank you!,

[SugarfreeLife]

I love organising, so I have boards on Pinterest with many recipes (http://pinterest.com/sugarfreelife/), RSS reader full of paleo blogs and small paper diary with a week on one page and other page is ruled. I create an estimative menu on the week page and on the ruled page I write shopping list. It really helps me.

If I cook anything, I almost always make more portions and freeze them. If I have a busy week, I just grab box from freezer and reheat it at work.

From ground meat I prepare patties or meatloaf and keep them in the freezer raw or baked. If I make a soup from bone broth, I freeze small portions in muffin form and then I keep them in plastic bag. In case of need something warm, I grab two-three "pucks" and reheat them in a mug.

[Laura Jeanne Penrod]

Sugarfreelife! Just followed you on pinterest. thanks for all your feedback.

[SugarfreeLife]

I see I hope that you will like my pins. I'm looking forward to search your boards when I'll have more time.

Oh, and the paper diary looks like this:

[Derval]

Sugarfreelife! Just followed you on pinterest. thanks for all your feedback.

Follow me too, I can't find you...Sugarfree and I have found each other (p.s I like your diary, I have a thing for stationary!)

I love pinterest!

[karacooks]

I just started a Whole30 pinterest board too ... need to add more to it!

[SugarfreeLife]

I have a thing for stationary!

Me too... And imagine, that I work at luxury stationary shop (or, more accurately, writing instruments shop). Guess, where does huge part of my monthly reward go...

Paleo Parents have great Pinterest boards, if you don't follow them.

Oops, sorry, Laura, forgive me messing up your topic

[Emily]

In terms of fruit: I eat quite a bit in the summer (some with every meal). In the winter I don't eat as much, but I do eat some maybe once a day. I have lost weight eating this way.

Traveling and portable foods: do some searching on this site and on the W9 blog; there's articles and threads on both. If you can take a cooler and are staying in a place with a fridge, I pre-make meals (spaghetti squash spaghetti, and curry with cauliflower rice are in my cooler right now) to take. You can pre-cook sweet potatoes, meats (I take a container of cooked ground beef and then get stuff to make a salad with it), or used canned meats (tuna, salmon, sardines).

You've gotten lots of good advice. For me, I just decide deep down that I am going to do it. Once I've made that decision, the option not to doesn't come up, the question just becomes how.

[Laura Jeanne Penrod]

Wow! Awesome feedback. Thank you ladies.

[juni]

All great advice you've received so far!

Here's another plug for the Well Fed cookbook---in it she outlines the "Weekly Cookup". I've been doing it since April and I gotta tell ya, it saves my life! Yes, you do have to set aside some time once a week but having super yummy (AND compliant!) food on hand at all times has made sticking to it relatively easy for me to get through. I am on day five of my second Whole 30 now and I also have some fat loss as a goal. I think you have to experiment with what works---find out how many carbs you need to feel good without going overboard. I wasn't eating any fruit and too little carbs and it was making me kind of binge on stuff like dried fruit. Just as bad really. At least it was for me.

If you adhere to the rules, it's pretty hard NOT to lose at least some weight. In my experience with Paleo and Whole 30 especially, I've realized that the more I focus on trying to lose weight, where I can cut calories or whatever, the more I yo yo. I've been focusing more on just really eating to balance my hormones, which in turn balances my appetite, which in turn seems to be balancing my weight and body comp. Oh yeah, and if you approach it like this, you don't feel like you are dieting. You feel like you have achieved peace within your body. For me, that feeling is nothing short of miraculous. I've

I've been experimenting with eating maybe one piece of fruit a day and already feel a change in my clothes. I get a CSA delivery and the beautiful fruit that's been coming with it just hasn't been worth passing up. As long as I keep it in moderation and don't eat it when I am having a sugar craving, I seem to be doing great.

If you don't feel you are losing weight, you can remove nuts/fruit, which seems to be a trick many people use to drop some pounds. I have decided to just focus on not overdoing the sweet stuff but making sure to keep myself satisfied. Once you find your sweet spot, it should all balance itself out in terms of fat loss and what not.

I'd like to echo the other piece of advice that you just have to totally accept that YOU ARE DOING THIS. Once that switch goes off in your head, you accept that you have no option to fail. I commend you for planning ahead for your trips and asking for tips---these are all signs that you've flipped the switch.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

[Laura Jeanne Penrod]

Thank you Juni! I'm determined to make this work. I probably will pre make food before I go on the trip. Just gives me piece of mind. I don't want to have to rely on what other scoop for me and not knowing the ingredients always makes me nervous. that's why I think eating out is so bad for us as a society as a whole. We'll see. So far been sticking to berries, cherries, some apricot and mango.. I'll keep you posted.

[Colleen Roy]

I second (or third, or fourth....fifth???) the suggestion to be prepared. I've made extra of every protein I cook for Meal 3 so I can have it the next day for Meal 1 or 2. I love the idea in Well Fed to do a weekly cooking WOD. I did a mini-one last week and it made a difference-so easy to grab a quick protein and some veggies without even thinking. And by having those foods so readily available, I'm less likely to grab nuts or fruit. I am eating 2 servings of fruit a day-just can't pass up the fresh from the local farmer's market blueberries and peaches right now. YUM.

Enjoy your trips!

[CaseyD]

I really think if you follow the Whole30's guide on how to formulate meals, you'll have the best luck with weight loss. It's in ISWF and I think it's on the website somewhere too. It basically gives you the three meals a day (roughly how much protein, fat, veggies and fruit) and how to handle the snack thing. I think it is very important to break the snacking/over eating cycle if you want to lose weight and a great way to do that is to plan filling, well-rounded meals and then allow 4-5 hours between them.

I, personally, notice that changing my carb intake dramatically impacts whether or not I will lose any weight. That being said, that does not mean I zero carb it at all. It just means that I use sweet potatoes wisely (as in after intense exercise) and I am reasonable with fruit. And reasonable does not mean being afraid of it.

[MeadowLily]

I really think if you follow the Whole30's guide on how to formulate meals, you'll have the best luck with weight loss. It's in ISWF and I think it's on the website somewhere too. It basically gives you the three meals a day (roughly how much protein, fat, veggies and fruit) and how to handle the snack thing. I think it is very important to break the snacking/over eating cycle if you want to lose weight and a great way to do that is to plan filling, well-rounded meals and then allow 4-5 hours between them.

 

 

 

 

My biggest tip is to be prepared at all times. To me, eating per whole30 guidelines is EASY when compliant foods are in abundance and forbidden foods are nowhere to be seen. I'd never choose something I used to eat like mac n cheese or a frozen meal over a huge slow cooker full of pulled pork and a salad of mixed greens with homemade dressing. But if I didn't have the latter foods...I'd eat the crap in a second. In fact, in the beginning of my whole30, my cravings were always for bad foods but as long as I never let myself get ravenously hungry, I never had them. Cook plenty of leftovers ahead of time, buy lots of food containers, know where to get food out in a pinch, and have fun! This isn't about deprivation, it's about indulging in an abundance of health promoting foods.