Last January Matt and I followed a variation of the Whole30 program, and not to sound dramatic but it really was life changing! We absolutely loved it and had never felt better. Our sleep improved. Our energy increased. We both got down to our goal weight. And overall we just felt great. So we’re doing it again this January and are really excited about it.
We call our diet “Whole30 Light” because we’ve adapted the program to better fit our lifestyle. If you know me in real life, you know I like to slightly bend the rules at times or color outside of the lines when I see a good reason to. I completely understand WHY the Whole30 rules are in place — I do! The true goal for Whole30 is to change your brain around how you approach food. And if you have the willpower not to slip off track or time to make broths or ranch or ketchup from scratch…you will thrive and see incredible results. I repeat — if you commit to the program, exactly as written, you will experience the benefits to the fullest potential.
However, my goal is to stop grabbing handfuls of candy when I open the pantry, to get better sleep, make more nutritious meals for my family and to shed some my holiday pounds. Our approach, while a little more laid back and much easier to stick to, previously gave us the results we had hoped for and allowed us form a lot of good habits — beyond 30 days!
If you’re looking to follow the Whole30 program to the fullest extent, this post is DEFINITELY not for you. I would recommend you buy the book and read the rules! Below I’m covering the biggest rules for Whole30 and how we slightly adapt the rules for our “Light” version. And yes, I am again prepared for the Whole30 police to come after me…
Whole30 vs. Whole30 Light
- Do not consume added sugar, real or artificial.
- Light: Honey and agave nectar in moderation.
- Do not consume alcohol, in any form, not even for cooking.
- Light: Alcohol reserved only for the weekends. We try to stick to vodka, soda & pure fruit juice cocktails instead of heavy beers and wines…but there aren’t any strict rules to avoid alcohol Friday – Sunday.
- Do not eat grains.
- No adaptions.
- Do not eat legumes.
- No adaptions.
- Do not eat dairy.
- Light: I switched to non-dairy, organic creamer for my coffee and use it in moderation.
- Do not consume carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites.
- No adaptions.
- Do not consume baked goods, junk foods, or treats with โapprovedโ ingredients.
- Light: If I can find a way to make pizza out of compliant ingredients…I’m gonna. There are some awesome recipes out there for recipes that use 100% compliant ingredients to make, nachos with plantain chips, pancakes with squished bananas, muffins with eggs, etc.
- Light Snacks: Larabars (my favorite flavor!!!), almond butter, plantain chips — all of which are not approved for W30 got us through our afternoon cravings.
- Do not step on the scale or take any body measurements for 30 days.
- Light: I like to check my scale progress weekly but overall can tell the biggest difference isn’t read by scale (sleep, energy, etc.).
- Donโt even consider the possibility of a โslip.โ
- Light: This is the biggest difference in our version. We plan ahead for a cheat meal once a week — usually fish tacos and beers at our favorite restaurant after church. Or if we know we have a dinner planned, a business lunch or something else that may take us off track — that becomes our cheat meal for the week. Allowing ourselves one meal per week is what gets us through the finish line and prevents us from throwing in the towel on week 2 when we’re dying for a slice of pizza.
FAQ
A few of the frequently asked questions I’ve been asked…
Meal Planning: Planning our meals out for the week usually takes me somewhere between 30 minutes to an hour. My first step in the planning process is reviewing the weekly grocery ad to see which meats, veggies, fruits, etc. are on sale. Once I know what type of meats Iโm working with Iโll turn to my pin board to select my meals and start a grocery list. I always purchase enough of each meat to make one recipe last for at least two meals (dinner + leftovers for lunch).
Grocery Shopping: Since I donโt have time during the work week to grocery shop, we are limited to the weekends to tackle it โ usually on Saturday mornings. However, recently I’ve been ordering our groceries online Friday night and either doing curbside pickup on Saturday mornings or having them delivered from Walmart (only $10). This has been huge in giving us some time back in our weekend.
Meal Prepping: This definitely takes the longest time but is totally worth it. I usually prep as much as possible on Sunday afternoons. I make a breakfast casserole for the entire week of breakfasts, I boil tons of eggs, bake tons of bacon, prep all the snacks, prepare a few lunches and chop up as many ingredients as possible for the week. This takes me around 3 hours. Itโs a LOT of time. But you know what? Itโs really not. On a normal night it takes me somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour to get dinner on the table. But with all the prep done, it takes me somewhere between 5 minutes and 20 minutes. I also try to ensure at least 1-2 meals are done in the crock pot.
What About the Kids? The kids are eating what weโre eating and are happy about it for the most part. Some recipes I have to hand pick every damn tomato out of for Caroline or every carrot out of for Thomas so theyโll eat it. But overall, they really appreciate the break from frozen chicken nuggets and lunchables.
Biggest Challenge: Traveling for work. It’s hard to stick to the program while traveling so I usually end up packing a handful of Larabars for snacks and breakfasts and try to find salads with balsamic vinegar for lunches and dinners.
Favorite Meals
Below is a sample meal plan which includes our most favorite W30 meals. I don’t normally cook this many nights and instead double the recipes to eat leftovers the next night. Also, there will be many nights we simply eat scrambled eggs or a protein with a veggie. You can keep your meals simple!
Korean Beef Bowls / Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes / Ground Turkey Taco Bowls with Spanish Cauliflower Rice / Breakfast Casserole / Crockpot Pork Carnitas / Greek Burgers & Sweet Potato Fries
Want to see our full meal plan from last year? Check out these posts: Weeks 1 – 2 / Week 3 / Week 4
You need to get one of these egg cooker if you cook that many eggs!! Works like a charm and eggs are easy to peel!
Dash DEC012AQ Deluxe Rapid Egg Cooker: Electric, 12 Capacity for Hard Boiled, Poached, Scrambled, Omelets, Steamed Vegetables, Seafood, Dumplings & More with Auto Shut Off Feature Aqua https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GPF8CCZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Dh0cEb2K8Q8KB
YES YES YES!!! One of my ALL TIME favorite kitchen gadgets!!! We couldn’t get through this diet without it!
Glad to see the egg cooker endorsement. Iโm going to order one!
I like your version much better! Thank you for this great idea to start the new year right!
I love this idea!
The Defined Dish is my very favorite for W30 recipes!! Her sichuan beef is so so good and she demo’d a southern fried steak with cauliflower gravy from her new cookbook on the whole30recipes page last night that looks really good. We also love making “chicken cakes” with 2 cups of chicken mixed with 1 cup of almond flour, half a zucchini shredded, half a squash shredded, 1 egg, 2 T compliant mayo, 1/2 T garlic powder, 1/2 T onion powder, salt and pepper. Form into small patties and pan fry in a T of olive oil in batches. That and on quick nights we’ll do Spicy italian chicken sausage from Trader Joes with sliced peppers and onions in pot with compliant tomato sauce.
OMG YUM!!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!!!
I second this. Alex with Defined Dish is INCREDIBLE!!! I just got her cookbook and the recipes are fantastic. She has W30 stuff, but also some that are not W30, but cleaned up versions of some kid (and adult) favorites — think CFA nuggets, hamburger helper, etc… Highly Recommend her cookbook and her Instagram! ๐
I would LOVE to find this chicken cake recipe for more details. Do you have a reference!
Amen to grocery pick up. ๐๐ป
Right?! What a time to be alive!
You should totally sign up for ButcherBox. It’s grass fed meat that you can have delivered to your home. It has saved our grocery meal planning a ton so all I have to do is grab veggies, fruits, and other essentials. & I do grocery pickup for those.
We tried MOINK and loved it! Looking into BB at your rec! Their KETO deal right now is bonkers!!!!!
I love your version of this. And I’m a firm believer in the power of a cheat meal. It makes it much easier for me to eat clean 90% of the time when I know there is a burger and fries waiting for me on Friday!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Can you link to the breakfast casserole you make? Thank you!
Here ya go! It’s AMAZING!
https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/paleo-breakfast-casserole-whole30/
I remember last year when the Whole 30 police came after you for the banana pancakes, that made me laugh! I’m doing it this month, so far solo but my husband is doing dry January and eating what I make for dinner, so . . . I guess he’s sort of doing it and I’m not sad I’m not making lunches for two.
Anyway. We all love Picadillo, including my kids:
https://www.skinnytaste.com/crock-pot-picadillo/
I love this Cheeseburger salad:
https://www.skinnytaste.com/cheeseburger-salad/
I use Hellman’s in the dressing and it technically isn’t compliant but it’s just the oil I think? Which I don’t care about. I use the frozen turkey burgers from Trader Joes. I do use Primal Ketchup.
If you have a good Middle Eastern place, Baba Ganouj and sugar snap peas is my favorite snack so far. I also like cut tomatoes with Everything But The Bagel on top.
I eat a Banana with almond butter from Costco for dessert. I’d see Blue Lights for sure for that one.
Please post your favorite snack options!
HAHAH YES!!! The #bananapancakegate. LOVE these recipes!!! And I know there’s a compliant mayo out there — I think primal kitchen!!! And bananas with almond butter — YESSSSSSSSSSSS! Thank you for sharing!!! Good luck, friend!
Can you share what type of creamer you’re using in your coffee?! Thanks!