missmunchie Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 So, as I wrap up on my first Whole30 week ever and am reflecting on the successes and challenges, I find this particular "Whole30 Fail" amusing to me and thought I'd post to see if anyone else has had similar experiences. I do all the grocery shopping for the family, so it was really easy for me to switch out the "bad" choices with the approved ones. I got really gung-ho about meal planning, prepping, and making sure healthy choices were always available for everyone. In that, it was "great success"! What I didn't count on was now that I wasn't eating breakfast and lunch at coffee shops and restaurants, my food was coming from the fridge. A fridge that was rapidly emptying. A fridge that was pretty much completely empty come Thursday night. Fortunately, we had a small stockpile of frozen chicken breasts and veggies in the freezer so we're not starving or anything, but it was an "aha" moment for me to realize that I need to increase my grocery purchasing if my family of 2 1/2 (baby is still transitioning to solids and doesn't count as a whole person yet) is going to make it through a whole week on one grocery run! Any epic whoopses or fails when you were first starting out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsteen Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Sooo not a fail. You've done brilliantly, you had a fallback, a planB and it worked. Yep, I too realised I was going through more food than I'd thought I would. I also had to keep remembering to take stuff out the freezer to defrost. Realising you're hungry for dinner and everythings still frozen is not good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Della Nova Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Yes, I've had similar experiences with making sure everything's defrosted. Now I keep a paper on the board with the week's meal plan and notes with which foods to defrost. I always keep a large pot/pan with some water in the fridge to remind me to defrost before going to bed. Alternatively to the grocery shopping, I'm still having trouble getting a hold of my snacking. When we were at Whole Foods grocery shopping last week, my husband picked up two large canisters of raisins and said they'd be for our friends (who always come over on Sunday). This Sunday, they weren't able to make it....and needless to say, over the week we finished off the raisins ourselves. So I'm still learning what to buy and what to avoid while grocery shopping. No raisins, more veg & more protein. My grocery list looks scary with all the meats and such I'm going to buy! It's also scary to fill up the fridge AND freezer on Saturday and then see how empty it gets by Friday. I haven't gotten quite used to that yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted January 11, 2013 Moderators Share Posted January 11, 2013 I worry that it is Friday and I still have a head of cabbage and some fresh greens in the refrigerator. I get more veggies on Saturday from the farm and I like to clean everything out by Friday to make room. I am missing it bit this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaMawby Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I was there last week.....I ended up doubling my grocery order on Saturday. I walked out of the store with an INSANE amount and variety of veggies. It happens to the best of us. I also went out on a play date yesterday, failed to take anything out of the freezer to defrost and arrived home half an hour ahead of my husband. Needless to say we were still close to an hour and a half away from dinner. Oh well, live and learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat1 Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Yep! This is my first whole30 and for the second week, my fridge is barren...BUT this week was a lot better than last week (and I have a couple of ready to bake frozen protein items in the freezer now along with frozen veggies just in case). I just keep dialing it in - hopefully I'll nail it this week! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSB1960 Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I too am shocked at how quickly the fridge empties out cuz I'm the only one eating whole 30 way! (its just me and hubby, no kids) It shocks me to realize I'm eating so much food...but it's REAL food. The first week was hard in regard to meal planning and keeping enough fruit/veggies on hand. We have our own meat so that isn't an issue. This is my second week, meal planning was a little better so that tells me each week I will see improvements in planning/preparing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snicci Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 It's also scary to fill up the fridge AND freezer on Saturday and then see how empty it gets by Friday. I haven't gotten quite used to that yet. That's how it was for us last week! Sunday evening the fridge was FULL of food, Friday I had to go grocery shopping because there was literally nothing left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarrizleP Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 What helps me with this is after I meal plan I make the grocery list by going through each day and making tick marks on veggies or whatever so I know how many to buy. I go in knowing I need 4 sweet potatoes, 7 zucchinis, 3 chicken breasts, etc. Now, that doesn't take into account when I change my plan ha. But luckily the store is pretty close so if we run out of something it's easy to run in and get some more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenderbender Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Luckily I have a huge fridge in the kitchen and another full size in the garage and they are both stocked to the gills for two people and three bulldogs ( yes I cook W30 compliant " goop" to top their grain/ soy/meal free wilderness kibble for my bullies, hey they gotta be healthy also! ) ( to tell the truth I ate a bowl of it last week and it was great.... Chicken,liver,a ton of veg,dried blueberries.... Shhhhh don't tell them) What really amazes me is though I'm spending a lot of $$$ at the market, I'm saving so much money from hardly ever going out to eat!!! All those lattes and smoothies, frozen yogurt, and breakfasts, not to mention dinner really ads up.... My now typical pre workout/ post workout meals and my breakfast of organic eggs,organic meat product,organic mostly vegetables and coffee with coconut milk is cheaper than the pre and post protein drinks and supplements I used to take with NO real positive results..... I was flushing money down the toilet! Literally!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphine Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I'm running into the same problem and I'm only on day 3. My ideas were to : 1) always have something going in the crock pot - like every day. It could be a stew, soup, stock or vegetable. Just something. 2) prep a recipe for double so I can freeze one for later. Also, I realized I needed more tupperware to hold everything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KelKel Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I think veggies are the thing I notice the most...going from hardly ever eating them, combined with eating out constantly, it now feels like I'm constantly buying veggies. When I spent 30 dollars last night just on veggies (produce is SO expensive here) I was peeved, but then I remembered that I would only get two take away breakfasts for that, so I win! Also when I cleaned out all the discounted organic meat to stock up my freezer, the cashier asked me if I was having a party. Nope, just a girl with a stack of red meat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsStick Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I was there last week! First week of my W30 and by Saturday morning, I had NO FOOD LEFT. At all. I was shocked that I'd eaten 8 lbs of meat and at least that much of veggies. I doubled my groceries when I went shopping on Saturday, so it's lasting a bit more. But I'm almost out of sweet potato mash again (I bought 4 sweet potatoes for that! Seriously? Four sweet potatoes eaten in 5 days??) and am shocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glimmer Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Someone could make money designing a fridge that is all crisper draws : ). I have been shopping for fruit and veg twice a week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshacklett Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 It's progressively getting "worse" in our house - at the beginning of my Whole30, I'd buy a lot of vegetables, and eat them all myself by Friday night (I grocery shop on Saturday mornings). Now, I've had to increase the quantity of vegetables that I buy, and we still end up eating canned vegetables by Thursday or Friday! I don't know how people with kids - particularly teenagers - fit all that food in their fridge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martihana60 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I worry that it is Friday and I still have a head of cabbage and some fresh greens in the refrigerator. I get more veggies on Saturday from the farm and I like to clean everything out by Friday to make room. I am missing it bit this week. Tom, I would like to have this problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martihana60 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Love my crockpot. Picture this scenario. It is 11:00 pm. I should have been in bed a half hour ago, but I have to have some lunch to take to work tomorrow. Nothing is thawed. Oh noes! But wait! The crockpot, overnight, will thaw ANYTHING. Chop an onion, put onion, chicken thighs, a little tomato juice and a little oil i(coconut or olive) in the crockpot, put it on low. Go to bed. Wake up to the lovely aroma of ready-to-eat chicken and lunch problem is solved. Some raw veggie sticks (carrot, celery, sweet pepper) and I am good to go! I have a 6.5 quart crockpot that I make a week's worth of stews in, and I have a small one that will hold two turkey thighs. Both are serving me very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulucandoit! Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I laughed so hard at so many of these comments. I feel like a human vacuum cleaner, sucking up meat and veggies like there is no tomorrow. Today my husband and I were at a workshop and took out our lunches - enormous containers for each of us full of kale salad with avocados, a little chopped apple, and leftover steak on mine and turkey on his. Homemade dressing. Everyone else had these tiny lunch boxes and tupperwares. We looked like we had enough food between the two of us to feed every participant. Nope. We each ate every bite. We have kale, chard, and collards growing in our garden, so at least I don't have to store those until I have leftovers. Still, our fridge is packed to the gills. And then, as if a swarm of locusts descended, there is nothing left but mustard and salsa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibLady Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 I had the same problem when I started my Whole30 and I live 30 miles from a grocery store! Learned real quick to buy plenty and keep some frozen and canned everything on hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 I worry that it is Friday and I still have a head of cabbage and some fresh greens in the refrigerator. I get more veggies on Saturday from the farm and I like to clean everything out by Friday to make room. I am missing it bit this week. HAHAHA! Same here! Except I live in the great white north and there is no farmer's market but I like to have all the veggies purchased previously GONE before I hit the store again. It's become a game of sorts with our family but we are a little sick and twisted like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natashajulian Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I keep having this problem. My bunny and I are going through veggies like we're preparing for hibernation. The biggest "aha" moment for me was when I realized I was buying veggies at the same rate as when I used to only make them for dinner. Now that I'm eating them 3 times a day I need 3 times the amount of veggies. I have let my math skills down again. I should really rethink my job as a bookkeeper it seems... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasperina Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 I think veggies are the thing I notice the most...going from hardly ever eating them, combined with eating out constantly, it now feels like I'm constantly buying veggies. When I spent 30 dollars last night just on veggies (produce is SO expensive here) I was peeved, but then I remembered that I would only get two take away breakfasts for that, so I win! Also when I cleaned out all the discounted organic meat to stock up my freezer, the cashier asked me if I was having a party. Nope, just a girl with a stack of red meat. That's funny! That happens to us also, and it just gets to where it's easier to say yeah I'm having a party. ( a meat and vegetable party!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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