The scoop on Whole 30

First of all. Hi, hello! It’s a new year which means new content for the blog. Two years of surviving a global pandemic has made it quite the challenge to stay inspired or feel the impulse to write, create and share. Everything feels stagnant and it’s been hard to run with fleeting moments of creativity. But we’re now one month into 2022 and so far, I am loving what 2022 has been throwing at me. First things first: we moved! More on that later. But I will say - moving at the beginning of the year I’d 10/10 recommend. Talk about a fresh start in quite literally every sense. Kicking off the new year in a new space has been unbelievably fulfilling in ways I could not have imagined.

For those that don’t know this about me, I’m a big new year person - I love fresh starts, do overs and shiny, lofty goals. However, goal setting during a pandemic didn’t feel quite right. Things are still changing and up in the air so I wanted to focus my attention on something I could control. And that was consumption and taking the time to educate myself on what all I consume and where it comes from/how it is made.

I want to start off this post by saying my intent is not to promote diet culture or impose my thoughts/feelings about body image on anybody. Individual consumption when it comes to food is a personal journey and experience I respect and I do not believe it’s a one size fits all for everybody. I also know that this time of year can be a slippery slope of everyone wanting to ‘get in shape’ or ‘lose the holiday weight’ so I want to reiterate that this is not my intent with this post.

With that being said, I did receive a lot of messages during the month of January asking about my experience with Whole 30 and I thought it’d be helpful to consolidate my thoughts into a blog post vs. individually respond to each message. I will do my best to answer as many of your questions as I can in this post.

1.Why did you do Whole 30?

Honestly, just to try it? I was always curious about having a better understanding of the food I consume and when/how I consume it and how it makes me feel. Starting the year off more in tune with my body and what I’m putting into it, felt like a great opportunity. I chose January because despite it being one long month, it was post-holidays when I wanted to eat/drink whatever I wanted and before the upcoming fun to be had for my birthday in February and the months ahead. You can make Whole 30 any month you want, there is no right time to start it.

2. How did you plan for Whole 30?

After I deep dived into the Whole 30 lifestyle and wanted to give it a go for the month of January, I knew the best way I’d stick to something like this was to have a plan. I made a spreadsheet (PSA: this was my Type A approach and I realize it’s not for everyone) and listed out all of the days in January and every meal: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I perused Pinterest (and made a board of favorite recipes) and flagged other recipes in my Whole 30 book that sounded delicious and worth trying. As a rule of thumb, I tried to stick to recipes where we already owned 75%+ of the ingredients for cost saving purposes. I then listed out every single Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for each day in January. With every single meal accounted for it made my grocery shopping each week really simple — I simply went through each recipe on a Sunday morning and flagged what additional ingredients I needed that we didn’t already have and added that to my shopping list for the week. During Whole 30 I went to the grocery store weekly vs. twice a month like I do in a normal month. Without a plan I personally know I would have deviated, especially on nights where I worked late or didn’t feel like cooking. Having something to look forward to for each meal and already accounted for took the guesswork out of each meal.

3. What are your favorite Whole 30 meals?

Here are a few of my favorites:

  • Snacks (yes, healthy snacks!):

    • Apples and cashew butter. A delicious and protein packed treat.

    • Energy bars that are Whole 30 approved (always check the ingredients!)

    • Frozen grapes


4. Biggest learning from Whole 30? That I’m capable of eliminating foods I love to indulge in and that I can reduce the amount in which I indulge. As I mentioned earlier, I’m a big snacker, so taking that out of the equation during Whole 30 and getting a better grasp of how and when I choose to consume, made me feel in control.


5. Can you cheat on Whole 30? The biggest quote ‘no-no’ on Whole 30 is no snacking and no cheating like desserts, etc. But, sometimes life happens! I did have a couple of small cheats during Whole 30 (some tortilla chips with friends, a couple of fries and a Starbucks drink during our move!) I say this and sort of cringe that I didn’t ‘fully’ go all in at 100% with Whole 30 but I have been actively trying to REMOVE. THE. GUILT. This lifestyle is your choice. And how you adapt to it, is your choice. Removing the guilt makes the experience enjoyable and not as treacherous or shameful, as some lifestyle changes/diets can be.

6. Did you see results? The biggest results I noticed: I felt far less bloated and didn’t have an upset stomach like when I was consuming dairy. I appeared less puffy when not consuming alcohol (also, no hangovers was a big win!). Physically, I noticed I appeared more toned after a month of Whole 30 (again, if I was working out with Whole 30 I think I’d notice even more of a difference). Once I was about halfway through Whole 30 I noticed my energy level was higher and I felt far less tired/groggy at the end of the day.

7. Would you do it again? I would do Whole 30 again but combined with more workouts in my day to day. Given I was doing Whole 30 in the midst of a move this go around, I wasn’t working out. I think if I could couple Whole 30 with my Peloton workouts, I’d feel even better!

8. How did you budget for Whole 30? Whole 30 is not too far off from what Tristan and I eat normally, so we already had a lot of the ingredients or indulged in the same produce and meat/seafood that Whole 30 required. There were a few ‘staples’ I needed to buy at the beginning like: ghee, coconut oil, coconut milk, avocado oil. Some of Whole 30’s ingredients warrant a higher price tag like: arrowroot powder, hemp seeds, chia seeds, energy bars - what was a wild discovery to me is that the better food is for you, the more expensive it is. The fact artificial food is so inexpensive and easily accessible was very eye opening to me. I did save $ from not purchasing any alcohol or snacks during the entire month of January.

9. Good resources for Whole 30:

10. How has re-entry from Whole 30 been? So far, I’m only a couple of days in of re-entry. I definitely have experienced some nausea and an upset stomach and I’ll see how these feelings subside or increase as I introduce more back into my day to day. Whole 30 provided me with a lot of food learnings, so there may be foods I’ll eliminate all together or significantly reduce my consumption.

Allison Wagnerwhole30, whole30lifestyle, january, whole30questions, whole30recipes, whole30mealsComment