Tomorrow is the first day of my whole 30 full body reset. If I was a good little girl I would already have been scaling down my no-no foods but alas, I’m a rebel without a cause. Damn I’m gonna miss that chocolate almond milk.
Here’s my little guide to getting all your ducks in a row before doing a whole 30, hope its helpful. If there’s anything you want to add, hit me up in the comments!
Ready to jump in head first? Check out the meal plans for week 1, week 2, week 3 and week 4
Condiments
Ok so the last time I did the whole 30, the main challenges were realizing that nearly everything has sugar or GMO’s or some weird ingredient that I want to avoid for the next 30 days. Ketchup for example (I actually HATE ketchup) packed with sugar, but if you like it, it’s pretty easy to make your own ketchup. As for other condiments like mustard, Worcestershire sauce and relish, it’s the same story so read on how to make those condiments as well (if you’re like me and loathe ketchup).
Mayonaaaaaaaaise, is another condiment that will make life ALOT happier on the whole 30. But conventional mayonnaise is loaded with GMO oils that aren’t good for you, nor are they particularly appetizing.
Story time: I used to cower in the face of mayo on a sandwich. I was literally scared of it. Thick weird eggy substance that isn’t refrigerated until you open it. I had the same feeling at Costco yesterday seeing their giant cases of chocolate milk just sitting there at room temperature. Anyways, making your own mayo is easy peasy, especially if you have a hand blender/immersion blender, but any blender will work. Here’s a great post on making mayo in 30 seconds.
Soy sauce or tamari is another flavour booster thats off limits. While soy sauce seems pretty harmless, its still soy, which is nearly 99% GMO and the whole point is to detox that shit from our diets for at least 30 days. Luckily the amazing coconut comes to the rescue with its on par flavour boosting magic. Coconut aminos
Milks
As far as pre-made milks go, there’s not many that don’t have added careegan, guar gum and other thickeners/stabilizers/preservatives. Homemade nut milks are the way to go. All you need is a blender, a nut milk bag or cheesecloth and water. Here’s a great all around nut milk tutorial.
Coconut milk is our go to source for creamy rich goodness on the whole 30. But even uber expensive organic brands of coconut milk have strange additives. So you can make your own coconut milk (it’s darn delicious) OR you can stick to the natural value
Sweeteners
Much to my chagrin, even natural sweeteners like stevia are technically a no no on the whole 30. Because the whole point is to not make foods that aren’t naturally sweet, sweet. Like coffee. Now I have to learn to enjoy coffees naturally bitter taste…grrrrrrreat. But I can see the point. As far as satisfying our sweet teeth, fruits and their dehydrated counterparts become the go-to.
Date paste, dried figs, and dried mango do wonders for healthfully satisfying those sweet cravings.
Fats
The biggest take away from my last whole 30 was to never underestimate how important it is to get enough fat. If we skimp on the fat, its really hard to feel deeply satisfied. Remember, the point of this isn’t caloric restriction or to cause us suffering. It’s to improve our understanding of our bodies and their relationship to certain foods. Saturated fats stabilize our blood sugar and help heaps with cravings. They are also a vehicle for transporting essential vitamins and minerals.
Plenty of coconut oil, coconut butter, ghee, animal fats like lard, beef tallow, bacon fat and chicken fat are all great for cooking. When it comes to salads and mayo it’s better to use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil.
Omega-3 fatty acids are another part of the fat puzzle that so many of us are deficient in. I take a krill oil supplement to make sure I’m getting plenty of omegas alongside eating abundant amounts of wild fish. In the meal plans I’m going to aim for 2-3 servings of fish per week. It’s delicious aaaaand nutritious.
Carbs
Nobody can go from gorging themselves on pizza and croissants to cutting out all carbs. Unrealistic. Which is why I’ll be eating plenty of root vegetables like sweet potato and white potato especially in the first few days. Eventually the desire to nosh on carbs all day dissipates as our bodies adjust.
Bone Broth
Mmmm bone broth. I was trying to convince my friend to buy whole chickens so he could make bone broth and he did not seem impressed. Sometimes my little bubble bursts and I realize not everyone drinks hot boiled carcass for fun. But seriously, bone broth is the most amazing source of minerals, gelatine and collagen which helps us retain that youthful glow, keeps our joints happy, gives us a hearty dose of nourishing fats and I don’t know about you but there’s something about bone broth that’s just really comforting to me. Here’s a great tutorial on how to make bone broth.
Detoxifying Medicinals
My favourite part of this entire post, hooray for herbs! I don’t think they talk much about this component in the actual “It starts with food” book BUT I think these additions can just amp up all the benefits we experience from changing our diets.
As always, no two people are the same and not everyone will want to add medicinal herbs into their lifestyle. No worries. If you have concerns, talk to your local herbalist or naturopath, they can ensure that any herbal remedies won’t interfere with prescription drugs and so forth.
I tend to stick to the whole form of herbs instead of tinctures of supplements. These things are useful at times, but for simplicities sake just making teas from herbs is the easiest for anyone beginning their herbal journey. Also, there’s no alcohol on the whole 30 so tinctures are off limits anyway.
Liver Cleansing Herbs
-turmeric, fresh or powdered
Adaptogenic Herbs
adaptogen: 1. (Medicine) any of various natural substances used in herbal medicine to normalize and regulate the systems of the body.
“In 1969 Brekhman and Dardymov defined the general pharmacological properties of adaptogenic substances. These include:
a.) The substance is relatively non-toxic to the recipient.
b.) An adaptogen has “non-specific” activity and acts by increasing resistance of the organism to a broad spectrum of adverse biological, chemical, and physical factors.
c.) These substances tend to help regulate or normalize organ and system function within the organism.”
Adaptogens are great if your dealing with energy/hormonal issues. These herbs are ‘intelligent’ in that they don’t do the same thing for each person. They work with your body and help to balance out your unique chemistry and hormones.
–maca
–licorice root (especially good for sugar cravings)
How to Optimize Gut Healing
The whole 30 is a great opportunity to balance our gut flora. Bad bacteria and yeasts thrive on sugar, so when we cut them off we give the good guys a chance to thrive! The research on our gut bacteria is clear. There is perhaps nothing more important and critical to good health in all aspects including mental and hormonal. Probiotics have been shown to go way beyond digestive health.
Fermented foods
If you’re new to making your own ferments, this is hands down the best way to replenish our guts with a hearty dose of probiotics. Don’t be intimidated! Sauerkraut is a good place to start, here’s a guide on a few variations and the benefits of homemade sauerkraut.
If you’re interested in trying some more adventurous ferments, this website fermented food lab is the absolute best! With everything from fermented hot sauce, watermelon shrubs, ketchup and way more it’s sure to inspire you to get chopping.
The Mental Stuff
Okay this post is a wee bit longer than I planned but OH well. Congrats to you if you’re still reading.
Preparing for a successful whole 30 means preparing for the challenges of your mind.
The mental piece of the puzzle is staring at our attachments dead on and telling them where to go. It’s knowing that we are stronger than our addictions and that inevitably we always have a choice. One of the most beneficial things about removing less than great foods from our diets is seeing our minds reaction. Seeing where we use food as a crutch or something to smother our deeper inner experiences in.
What helps me is deep breaths and water. And you a know what, if you slip up, which is pretty much inevitable unless you’re a saint, it’s not the end of the world. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed and you should give up. Just brush it off and keep at it, cause guess what, you’re pretty awesome.
What are your tips for a successful whole 30?
