This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
These are the steps I'm taking for my Whole30 prep – getting ready to do this 30-day Paleo reset diet to get my Hashimoto's flare under control.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” – Benjamin Franklin
Yep, old Ben had it right. ESPECIALLY when it comes to a reset diet where you're gonna be hungry, cranky, and tired in the first few days.
Phew, I'm really sellin' this diet, aren't I?
But really, planning is probably one of the most important steps before undertaking a journey like a Whole30. I'd go so far as to say that your success depends on it.
Could you successfully complete a Whole30 without planning?
Sure… but I bet most of us would fail.
I care about your success, so I'm sharing what I'm doing to prep for the Whole30 I'm doing to help get rid of symptoms of a Hashimoto's flare.
The Whole30 Series
- How I'm Using Diet for my Hashimoto's Flare
- Whole30 Prep – How I'm Meal Planning and Getting Ready
- My Whole30 Experience Week 1
- What I Eat in A Day on Whole30 Week 2
- Whole30 Daily Meals and Experience Week 3
- Vacation on Whole30 – My Whole30 Experience Week 4
- Whole30 Results – Recap
Steps for Whole30 Prep
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Planning for a Whole30 isn't difficult. In fact, it can be downright fun.
Here are some of the things I've done that I suggest you do too:
- Read It Starts With Food (even if you have before). I've read this thing several times and every time I read it I get SO motivated to eat healthily. If you want to know what eating sugar, grains, gluten, etc does to your body, read this book.
2. Familiarize yourself with the Whole30 Rules. For more in-depth rules, read The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom
3. Search on Pinterest for Whole30-compliant recipes that look delicious to you. I even have an entire Whole30 Pinterest board dedicated to Whole30 recipes. This is fun because it shows you all the things that you CAN eat, and helps you get inspired and motivated. You can also do an Internet search or look through cookbooks as well.
4. Figure out a meal plan for the first few days. This video shows how I meal plan:
(Can't see the video? Watch Whole30 Meal Planning )
I mention in this video that I use Plan To Eat for my meal planning software. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial – no credit card needed – to try it out as well, and if you sign up through my affiliate link you automatically get access to every recipe I've entered in as well. Watch this video to see Plan to Eat in action and how easy it is to drag and drop meals into your schedule.
Meal planning is VERY important so that you know what you're going to eat, what you need to buy at the grocery store (so you don't get tempted to go off-plan, and it helps save you a lot of money too.
I also mentioned in this video that I like to use Paleo On the Go to get some premade freezer meals for emergency situations or for when my family is set on eating something I can't eat.
4. Write down all of the symptoms and bad things you want are suffering from. No symptom is too small to write down. Getting it all down on paper (or computer) is a very powerful exercise and one that you can revisit throughout your 30 days.
When you read a symptom (or symptoms) on your list that are now gone, it's a magical, empowering moment.
I even have a 30-day journal you can use where you can write down your initial symptoms and track them, the food you eat, your movement, and sleep throughout your whole Whole30.
5. Make meals ahead of time that you can eat and not think about the first few days of the Whole30. I meal prep my breakfast ahead for days 1 and 2 in this video:
[arve url=”https://youtu.be/5oI0CAarCe0″ title=”Whole30 Prep – How I'm Getting Ready” description=”Planning is one of THE most important steps in a Whole30. These are the steps I recommend for Whole30 prep. Join me in getting ready to do this 30-day Paleo reset diet that I'm using to get my autoimmune thyroid Hashimoto's flare-up under control.” upload_date=”2018-02-28″ thumbnail=”5543″ /]
(Can't see the video? Watch Day Before Whole30 Prep)
6. TRY not to binge on sugar beforehand, but I'll promise not to tell if you do 🙂 (Trust me on this one though, it makes the first few days rougher than they need to be).
7. Let friends and family know what you are doing. Don't say “Grains are SO bad for us. They cause us to be really unhealthy, so I'm going to stop eating them”. You'll just put people on the defensive because it'll feel like you're telling them that THEY eat terribly if they eat grains.
It gives them that weird, confused feeling like when someone makes an underhanded comment like “my, you look so pretty with makeup on”. Um…. What does that mean when I DON'T wear makeup?
Avoid that confused feeling. Instead, say something like “I haven't been feeling my best lately and I'm going to do this 30-day reset to see if I can identify any foods that might not be helping me feel great. I appreciate any support you can give me through this endeavor!”
8. Clean out your pantry, fridge, and freezer of any non-Whole30 ingredients. Don't skip this step, or else you might find yourself stuffing your face with Ben and Jerry's at 3 pm on Day 4.
Willpower will be at its lowest when you're cranky… make that CRRRAAAAANNNKKKKYYYY. Your body is shouting for sugar, and it'll SCREAM when that afternoon witching hour hits. You know, the one where you've usually given into cravings and eaten something sugary. The best way to deal with this is to not have the temptation in the first place.
Set yourself up for success – get rid of the Sea Salt and Almond Chocolate Bar.
And finally…. start when you plan to start! Tthe first few days (sometimes weeks) can be hard, but realize that means your body is changing and working really hard to heal.
Follow along with my own Whole30 experience by watching my vlog. Here's my Whole30 playlist on Youtube.
Other Posts in this Series:
Make Paleo easier, faster, less expensive, and way more fun with all the resources in my Freebie Library! Click on the picture to find out how to access it.
