On Day #2

[stafford1020]

Today is the start of Day 2 for me.  Yesterday actually went better than I thought, today I feel HUNGRY.  I will say a lot of the recipes seem very time consuming with homemade dressings etc, any advice on this?

[Mountain Girl]

First, you can do this! Second, if you are hungry...EAT!  When I did my first Whole30, I allowed myself to eat anything compliant for the first 4 days or so. I HIGHLY recommend eating the meal template and adjusting your portions based on hunger with the goal to live relatively snack free barring emergencies. But give yourself a few days to get your feet wet and eat when you are hungry, keeping it compliant. After that, the best snack is a mini meal. My go to is compliant deli turkey wrapped around some kind of veggie (think carrot stick, celery, cucumber,red pepper...) and dipped in guacamole. It will hold you until your next meal. 

Regarding complicated recipes...I wouldn't go there yet.  Try to keep it simple. One dish meals (I think that's what the book refers to as "ingredient meals") are easy and quick and make great leftovers. It's called WHOLE 30. When you use Whole Foods, some prepping, slicing and dicing is to be expected. But it gets easier, I promise. You get better at it, you learn short cuts, etc.  Save the complicated recipes for down the road when you are bored. And/or for weekends when you have more time to really learn and enjoy the cooking process. And I can't stress enough...LEFTOVERS ARE YOUR FRIEND!!  Last nights leftover veggies with poached eggs on top for breakfast, leftovers to grab and take for lunch...and if you get too many leftover meals in your fridge...you get the night off from cooking. I deliberately make more than I need to always have some leftovers on hand. 

Hang in there...you can do this, and it's totally worth it. 

[ShannonM816]

There are dressings you can buy, but they can be hard to find and expensive. Tessemae's brand makes some, and I can find some varieties of it at my local grocery store in the produce department with refrigerated dressings. If you do find them, read the labels, because not every dressing they make is Whole30 compliant.

A lot of times if I have a salad, I don't really make up a dressing, I just pour a little oil over it (usually some EVOO, but try different oils if you have them to see if you like some better than others), some vinegar or lemon juice or something acidic (just a little goes a long way), salt and pepper and any seasonings you like, and toss it to mix it up and get everything coated. Or if I have some mayo made up (if you have an immersion blender, this is the easiest way to make mayo), I'll put a big dollop of that on the salad instead of dressing, or some guacamole even. If you do make dressings or dips, they'll usually last several days in the fridge, so once you find some you know you like, be sure you're making enough to last you through multiple meals. 

If you check out this page, scroll about halfway down and look for Great Ingredients, No Recipe Required, and check out The Method Behind My Madness. Both of those have good ideas for cutting down on having to cook every single day.