Congrats!
You have taken the first step in beginning the Whole30 journey! Deciding to start! That is the most important and hardest step to accomplish. Go you! I am ecstatic that I may have had a teeny tiny part in making this process happen. Sorry for the narcissistic tendencies that you may encounter throughout these posts haha. Well, let’s begin!
”It is not hard. Don’t you tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard.”
This quote is referenced a lot in the Whole30. When I initially read this my first time around I laughed. It rang so true and my mindset instantly changed. This wasn’t going to be easy but it definitely is not the hardest thing me or anyone else has done.
Now I only drink black coffee and I enjoy it! OK..maybe not all the time. If I go to Starbucks I occasionally splurge on a specialty drink with almond milk or coconut milk now and then. But it’s OK! We are allowed to do that. When I make coffee myself I only drink it black. I may spice it up with a dash of cinnamon or…getting carried. My point is, this is not hard! You can do this! You are fierce!
Planning and Preparation
Planning and preparation are extremely important before you start this! I know you are psyched to get started but make sure that doesn’t hinder your judgment. If you don’t plan and jump straight from contemplation to action, you are less likely to see this through. You need to mentally, and physically prepare for this process.
It may only be 30 days but, 30 days is a good amount of time. Think about a good time to start this. If you have a once in a lifetime trip planned, family vacation or wedding approaching in the near future, you may want to hold off until these experiences are over (remember no alcohol on this journey) Live it up while you can haha. Once you have done that, we can get started!
Whole30 Grocery Shopping!
Most importantly, you need to grocery shop! It is hard to do the Whole30 without any food am I right? You can easily look up in your The Whole30 The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom book by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig a great shopping guideline on pg. 192. If you have not purchased this book, I highly recommend it if this is your first experience with the Whole30. There will be a link at the end of this post if you are curious about the book!
Basically, proteins, veggies, and fruits are your best friends! You can have lots of herbs and spices to liven up your dish. Healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter) are great for cooking. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of what you can and cannot have. In the book, it will give you more specifics.
Meal Prep!
Next…Meal Prep. Meal prepping or planning is one of, if not the most important part of this program. If you are not a planner, I really suggest trying to prep your food for the first few days of the program. It is important to have breakfast, lunch, dinner and 1-2 snacks prepped and ready to go. This way you have no excuse to not follow the plan.
As you get going in the program, it may work well for you to prep your breakfast, lunch, and snacks for the day and have a plan of what you are making for dinner. The last thing you want to do is be running late one morning and have nothing to eat for breakfast or lunch and blow the 2 weeks you worked so hard for. Take the time to meal prep and meal plan. It is so worth it. You are working so hard to stay on track don’t blow it with being lazy now!
Photo Op!
The third thing I would strongly recommend doing the day before your start date (Feb 3rd if you are tagging along with us), and take photos, measurements and weigh yourself. I know It can be a daunting process but I promise you at the end of this, it may not be a HUGE scale victory but you will definitely lose inches. By having these photos from before your journey and after, you will see the tremendous progress you made!
All that hard work will pay off…I guarantee it. You will not look back 30 days from now and wish you never started. Remember this is not a scale-oriented program. You will weigh yourself the day before you begin and that is it until day 31! No matter if it is a scale victory of losing 10 lbs or reading those measurements or looking at your photos, you will be better than you were before you started. Physically and mentally. In other words, you will feel better, you will have more knowledge of nutrition and how your body reacts to certain foods. You will feel better about the way you look, which is always great but it’s not what is more important in this process.
If you are unsure about how to take your measurements you can visit here. https://www.dummies.com/health/how-to-get-your-body-measurements/
I promise I do not think anyone here is dumb. This was the best site that explains and shows pictures on how to properly measure yourself. 🙂
Be the Boss of your journey!
Once you are done planning your start date, grocery shopping, meal planning, measuring and having your personal photo op, it is important to take a deep breath and say, “I got this!” You will feel that tiger blood coursing through your veins in no time. Tiger blood you say? We will chat about that in our next post! See ya soon and good luck!
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