Help. What to buy. What to eat.

[carekerr]

I need help. I'm on day 7. I'm not hungry. I'm not motivated to cook and I'm out of food. My size 4 clothes are now too big on me. I have the shopping list printed but absolutely nothing sounds good. Apples and almond butter are keeping me going. I have a very busy lifestyle and need some quick go-to foods to maintain some weight. Any thoughts?

[ShannonM816]

First, know that food boredom/not wanting to eat is pretty common on a Whole30. However, you absolutely, positively must eat. Period. You need food, actual food not just almond butter and apples. You're a grownup, and if you haven't figured it out yet, sometimes being a grownup means doing things we don't want to do -- including cooking.

 

Read this article for tips on keeping weight on during your Whole30. You'll notice the very first recommendation is to eat. Eating at least three meals a day is important for anyone, regardless of weight, but it's absolutely critical for someone who needs to not lose any more weight.

 

Unfortunately, the not being hungry and therefore not eating thing is a cycle -- you don't eat, and ironically, you continue to not feel hungry, so you continue to not eat. You need to make yourself eat to break that cycle. If you have any food that could make a meal, even a weird one, plate it up and eat as much as you can, eating evenly from the protein, fat, and vegetables. When you can't eat anymore, wrap it up and set it aside, and as soon as you can eat a little more, go back to it. 

 

For the rest of your Whole30, I really recommend doing a weekly cookup so that you always have food available in the fridge. If you don't want to actually think about meal planning right now, try one of these Whole30 weekly meal plans: week 1, week 2, week 3, or week 4. She's got

 

Find foods you enjoy. There are plenty of tasty Whole30 recipes out there, or keep it simple and just keep baked or grilled chicken, browned ground beef, and roasted vegetables on hand so when it's time to eat, all you have to do is grab stuff out of the fridge and heat it up (or not, most of it's actually pretty good cold too). 

[carekerr]

Ok. I will be more compliant about consistent and real meals. Last week I shopped for only two days of planning and then didn't make it back to the store. I still had enough to get by, but it was a stretch, especially after a long day at work.

Today I went to Costco and got a lot of food. I'm going to cook some of it and freeze it in smaller portions. The fresh produce I am chopping/prepping ahead of time. There's no room for getting behind, as the kids return to school this week. I had to be a grown up and shop for school supplies too. ; )