beginning Whole 30! advice??

econut2000

I start the Whole 30 one week from Monday. I plan to use a combo of meal plans from Stuff I Make My Husband and Once A Month Mom as well as my own recipes. I sadly am unable to afford the book It Starts with Food - disabled and on a very fixed income. So I plan to make an effort to eat as much grass fed and organic meat as I can I likely won't be able to do it 100%. I will also make an effort to buy organic produce from the dirty dozen list.
That being said, any advice for someone starting out? Anything you couldn't do without or your go-to recipes? Any advice from those Whole 30-ers on a budget is also greatly appreciated!

jonibc

I don't know Whole 30 but one way to improve your health and help your budget is to cut way back on meat intake.

econut2000

The Whole 30 is an elimination diet that attempts to reset your body and its reactions to foods. As well as reset your habits - e.g. lessening your sugar intake and snacking. It eliminates "inflammatory promoting" foods.
You're absolutely right Jon and normally I try to eat veggie meals with beans as a protein source but the Whole 30 doesn't work that way. Seeing as it's only 30 days I'm willing to try to see what happens.

TravelinChiGal

I am starting the Whole 30 today as well! I am just trying to figure it out as I go. I found a website with a good amount of "do-able" recipes for Paleo (where this program was based) called Everyday Paleo. I got a majority of my recipes from there for the week. Add me if you want to keep tabs on each other.

I am trying to buy grass-fed and organic, but you can only do as much as you can afford. I am going to see how this first week goes and figure out where I can cut down on costs of other things. I have a toddler with food allergy issues, and a husband with an Auto Immune Disease so hoping that this will help us all out!

LaurieElla

The whole30 was created not by Everyday Paleo but by Whole9 ... they have a website that has all the information you need to start. Basically it is this:

No Legumes
No Grains
No Sugar
No Processed foods
NO Dairy (Including grass fed anything)

You can eat Ghee or clarified butter but they prefer coconut oil or olive oil. I have done the whole30 and just started today again. Feel free to add me or message me with any questions. I have the book and have read it and the website. The website has a list of what you can eat ... if you cant afford organic/grass fed beef, dont worry about it too much. You really just want to focus on getting the crap food out of your system. Good luck to us all!!!

TravelinChiGal

@EliMaks

Yep - by Whole 9... I was saying that I got a lot of my recipes from Everyday Paleo. They have easy to make meals for Paleo diets, which is like the Whole 30/Whole 9 principles. I read the book, too! Great information.

razfabulous

I'm on day 30 today! I haven't weighed myself yet today but as of yesterday I was down 16 pounds in 30 days and I feel GREAT. We have actually SAVED quite a bit of money on the Whole 30 because we don't buy any junk food, we never go out to eat and absolutely no fast food, no matter how much of a rush we are in.

I was having issues with my thyroid function and rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, both conditions said to be helped by the Whole 30. I do not know how much it has helped yet, but I do know I feel better. Walks do not hurt my knees anymore. I fall asleep easily at a normal time and wake up better and more energized. I feel good about myself for accomplishing such a challenge and my body feels strong because it is well fed. I have not counted calories or considered my weight, other than to excitedly start weighing myself after two weeks even though you're not supposed to. The weight I'm losing is all fat from fatty areas I've been trying to reduce.

All that being said I admit it may not be for everyone.

Kxgz

I started Whole30 on Saturday and so far so good. Iam finding that hard boiled eggs are awesome and almond butter and apples or bananas are a great snack. I too am making the switch to organic, grass fed food items. Best of luck to you. Oh and anyone feel free to add me if you want to have someone to do this with : )

razfabulous

Here are some sites I like, most also have Facebook pages if you are on FB:

http://whole9life.com/
http://nomnompaleo.com/
http://paleomg.com/
http://paleoonabudget.com/

Just be aware that not all paleo is Whole 30.

razfabulous

http://justeatrealfood.blogspot.com/

econut2000

Thank you for all your info :-) I feel I'm pretty confident in what I'm going to do now. I'm hoping that I have the success you talked about rad. My diet is relatively clean to begin with so I'm sure my results will be more moderate but you never can tell! Did you/ will you log your food while on the plan? I'm leaning towards not logging because I think the plan is trying to change habits asmuch as diet BUT I'm thinking of writing down what I eat and post logging so I have an idea of my calories.

LJSmith1989

no milk... :O

TravelinChiGal

My diet has been relatively clean for the past 6 months and I have been stuck on a plateau. I am finding that the Whole 30 is good for all in my family - for my husband's MS, daughter's allergies, and my weight loss. I am tracking what I eat because when I am done I want some kind of reference of what I did. I am surprised, but the amount of calories (even when I am not planning by calories, but by Whole 30 principles) are pretty much the same as what my target calorie range is. Don't be surprised to see the amount of fat be as much as double or more than what MFP reccomends.

kirkor

I did it a couple years ago, it's about time to do it again actually.

Main advice I can give is prepare, prepare, prepare. Keep cans of tuna and hardboiled eggs with you, cucumbers, etc.

Sucks to be ravenous and wandering a grocery store and not finding anything suitable for immediate consumption. :O

corneredbycorn

I'm going to be starting this in a little over a week. I want to get through our vacation to Disney World before I start something so restrictive. I will allow dairy though, in the form of butter, heavy cream, and full fat Greek yogurt. I'm more aiming for primal than paleo.

For me, this is an attempt to just get more natural and clean in general. I'm trying to "Whole 30" my whole life. I've already switched to vinegar/water for an all purpose cleaner and made my own shampoo from Dr. Bronner's pure castile soap. I've done a primal diet before and liked it so I'm hoping for another similar experience. I mostly stopped because cookies.

mollynz

I'm about to start this too. I've just been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and from the research I've done, the Whole 30 way of eating should help with pain, sleep issues etc. I already limit my sugar and grain intake so I'm hoping it wont be too hard to eliminate them altogether! Dairy and nightshade vegies are going aswell.