Whole30 Tips: Your Essential Guide to a Successful 30-Day Challenge

I’m equipping you with recipes, tips, and products you need to make your Whole30 just a little bit easier! Whether this is your first time or fifth time doing a Whole30, you’re sure to find a new go-to recipe or healthy cooking hack.

While I’m not a fan of permanent elimination diets (unless, of course, in the case of food allergies), eliminating certain food/food groups from the diet for a shorter or intermediate length of time can be beneficial and insightful into the foods that make you feel great and those that don’t. 

While Whole30 has gained popularity, you might currently be wondering what the heck is Whole30 and is it something I want to do?

The Whole30 is a short-term elimination diet that now has over a decade of clinical experience. The Whole30 helps you achieve 3 goals:

• Identify the food sensitivities that impact energy, digestion, mood, cravings, etc.
• Create new habits around food consumption 
• Reestablish a healthy relationship with food

The Whole30 consists of two phases: 30 days of elimination and 10 (or more) days of reintroduction. These are the foods that are eliminated during your Whole30:

• Added sugar, real and artificial – molasses, corn syrup, sugar, coconut sugar, date syrup, honey, maple syrup, agave, aspartame, Splenda, stevia, monk fruit, alcohol sugars
• Alcohol – beer, wine, cider, hard liquor
• Grains – wheat, barley, oats, rice, corn, quinoa, farro
• Legumes – beans, lentils, soy, peanuts
• Dairy – milk, cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, creamer, dairy-based yogurts
• Baked goods – pretzels, cookies, crackers, bread, muffins
• Pasta, cereals, chips, fries – any similarly processed

Note that ghee, coconut aminos, alcohol-based extracts like vanilla extract and peppermint extract, green beans, peas, and no sugar added fruit juices are all acceptable.

If you’re one of the many people who read that list and think “I could never!” then just stick with me. In the big scheme of your life, it’s just 30 days, and you really don’t know how empowering (and insightful!) it could be until you stick with it. 

Nearly every single person who completes the Whole30 echoes the same sentiments: It was hard, but it got easier after the first week to ten days. But totally and completely worth it. 

Tips for Your Whole30 Success

In order to complete a Whole30, you’ll want to be armed with a few tips and tricks. Here are my best ones!

• Plan ahead. Plan your meals – at least your dinners – ahead of time. Make sure you have the grocery shopping done ahead of time. You want to have everything on hand and a plan for what you’re going to make in order to keep from walking in the kitchen at 6pm with no idea what to do for dinner. 
• On that note, have a few emergency meals either in the freezer or in your head. Maybe prep a couple of big batches of soup to freeze for evenings when you know you’ll be short on time. Or think of a couple easy, go-to meals you can pull out of your back pocket when dinner plans fall through. Scrambled eggs, canned salmon or tuna salad, a quick run to Whole Foods for the salad bar?
• Buy pre-chopped veggies and fruits. While more expensive, these can be a great time saver. 
• Buy frozen veggies. Frozen veggies are great for soups and stews. I’ve even defrosted them and thrown them into scrambles or blended them into sauces. 
• Keep it simple. It’s easy to look around the internet and find a ton of amazing recipes (which is great!), but I’d suggest picking out one or two new recipes per week and keeping the other meals simple with a simple protein, veggie, and maybe a potato. This might keep you from feeling overwhelmed and overworked. 
• Always double your recipes. Leftovers for lunch, baby!
• Have a few simple formulas. For dinner, maybe it’s protein + veggie + potato. For lunch maybe soup or leftover protein + greens + EVOO. For breakfast, maybe you rotate between yogurt bowl + berries + seeds and eggs + veggie hash. 
• Have TDW Unflavored Bone Broth protein powder handy. This is huge. While flavored protein powders aren’t acceptable, you can add unflavored protein to a smoothie along with a bunch of berries or banana for sweetness. Or you can add the unflavored protein to coconut yogurt, which is high in healthy fats but naturally low in protein. The addition of protein to these meals means you’ll feel full for so much longer!
• Do it with someone else. There’s power in numbers!
• Be encouraged! After 6-7 days, you’ll find your groove!
• Take advantage of resources on the internet for inspiration, ideas, encouragement and even community. Here’s a few places I’d start: Whole30 Site, and two of my favorite food bloggers have a ton of Whole30 compliant recipes – The Defined Dish and Danielle Walker. 

Grocery Shopping List

My top grocery shopping tip? Search Thrive Market’s Whole30 Approved Section! Simply type “Whole30 Approved” into the search bar and it will allow you to click onto an entire section that is Whole30-approved. 

Beyond that, I’m a big believer in focusing on all of the foods you can and should eat as opposed to those you can’t. 

During a Whole30, focus on high quality proteins, healthy fats, and nature’s carbs – this includes everything from berries to butternut squash! Load up on all of the veggies, and go for whole fruits in order to satisfy any sweet tooth cravings. 

Here’s an example of many things that could be on your shopping list:

All the Protein:

• TDW Unflavored Bone Broth Protein Powder
• Grass-fed beef (use code TAYLORDUKESWELLNESS for 10% off one-time purchases)
• Pasture-raised chicken (use code TAYLORDUKESWELLNESS for 10% off one-time purchases)
• No sugar added bacon, sausage, and lunch meats
• Pastured eggs
• Wild-caught fish and shellfish
• Some brands I’d look into: True Story, Bilinski’s, Primal Pastures (use code TAYLORDUKESWELLNESS), Force of Nature, Applegate, Safe Catch, Wild Planet

Healthy Fats:

• Avocado
• Mixed nuts and seeds (make sure they’re raw or dry roasted)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Avocado oil
• Ghee
• Olives
• Tallow
• Full-fat coconut milk + products

Veggies:

• All of them! Celery, carrots, cucumber, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, radishes, turnips, kale, spinach, collard greens and other greens, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, bok choy, green beans, squash of all kinds, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and beyond!

Fruits: 

• All of them! Berries of all kinds, bananas, apples, pears, oranges, clementines, lemons, limes, grapefruit, melons of all kinds, dates, figs, cherries, grapes, kiwi, mango, pineapple, peaches, nectarines, and beyond!

Other:

• Chomps
• Paleovalley (use code TAYLORDUKES)
• Epic
• Thunderbird
• Bearded Brothers
• Artisana nut butters
• Side Dish dressings (use code TDW10)
• Primal Kitchen dressings and collagen bars
• Cocoyo, Coconut Cult, Cocojune coconut yogurts – unflavored varieties
• Siete salsas and seasonings
• Grillo’s pickles
• Wholly Guacamole
• Coconut aminos
• FOND (use code TAYLORDUKESWELLNESS or Kettle and Fire Broth
• That’s It
• Seaweed snacks – either avocado oil or olive oil  

*Read ingredient labels closely, as not all varieties of products in the brands listed above are Whole30 compliant. 

TDW and Other Approved Recipes + Ideas

Breakfasts and Snacks

• Chia Seed Pudding *Simply swap out TDW vanilla or chocolate bone broth protein for TDW Unflavored Protein variety and omit honey
• Egg-Free Paleo Breakfast Bowl
• American Breakfast Bake
• My Favorite Smoothie (use dairy-free yogurt and TDW Unflavored Protein variety)
• Protein Seed Crackers
• Breakfast meat and/or egg hash with potatoes and whatever veggies you have on hand

Lunch

• Salmon Salad
• Chicken Salad
• Avocado Egg Salad
• Paleo Minestrone Soup

Sides

• Roasted Potato Salad
• Crunchy Cucumber and Cabbage Slaw
• Collard Greens
• Green Goddess Salad
• Summer Zucchini Soup
• Refreshing Watermelon Salad

Mains

• BBQ Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
• Shakshuka
• One Pot Chicken Chowder *omit corn
• Instant Pot BBQ Chicken *omit honey
• Korean Inspired Shredded Beef Bowls *omit honey and sriracha 
• Oven Baked Ranch Chicken Wings
• Crispy Baked Chicken Chimichurri
• Detox Soup
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Green Bowls with Lamb Meatballs and Dairy Free Tzatziki
• Quick Vegetable Curry
• Gut Healing Green Soup
• Shrimp and Sausage Stew
• Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Squash Noodles
• ​​Lemon-Herb Crusted Halibut with Roasted Tomato-Zucchini Salsa

I hope you feel equipped, inspired, and a little more excited for your Whole30 experience. Team TDW is cheering you on!