It’s Day 28 of Whole30 and I don’t even care for some reason. I’m not excited about it ending because I don’t have any food I’m just dying to eat. Except coffee creamer. So that’s a bonus. Today, WordPress (the site that I use to host my blog) featured my blog on their main website! That’s so exciting for me to see! It still surprises me when people actually read what I’ve wrote. After my post yesterday, I promised I’d do a post on what foods I keep on hand during Whole30- and the rest of the year.

Have you ever heard the saying “Failing to plan is planning to fail”? It’s true. Setting yourself up for a Whole 30 or any other healthy eating plan requires some planning. Having healthy foods on hand will lessen the temptation to grab a sugar filled protein bar. That’s another one of my pet peeves- when something is advertised as a protein but has a sh*t ton of sugar in it. If a food is truly a protein, it won’t have more carbs and sugar than protein. Ok, off my soapbox and onto a list of food I keep on hand to ensure that I eat healthy:

Pre-cut and frozen veggies. Chopping up veggies is pretty low on my list of things I like to do. It’s time consuming and that’s more time to cook and prep. Great Value brand from Walmart has a package of chopped frozen onions, peppers, and celery that I’ve been relying on. I use them in scrambled eggs, taco meat, soup. Best of all, it’s only $1.12! I also like pre cut and pre mixed salads vegetables. My favorite is the Marketside from Walmart that has kale, carrots, radicchio, and broccoli in it. We also keep precut broccoli on hand to steam it for a quick side dish.

Cauliflower rice. Yes, this is a prechopped veggie, but I’m putting it in it’s own category because I use it so often. I prefer white rice but I also eat cauliflower rice a lot. I use this in scrambled eggs, in taco bowls, or just microwave a cup of it with some salt and pepper for a quick veggie.

Meat. If you’re a vegetarian, Whole30 probably isn’t for you. I’m lucky that my husband likes to grill and we live in a place where we can grill all year round. Last night he made smoked ribs with a Whole30 rub on them. Today he’s smoking a beef roast. I also keep ground beef and canned chicken on hand for quick taco meat. Be careful with the canned chicken- you have to make sure it doesn’t have any crazy ingredients in it.

Potatoes. Yup- potatoes are allowed on Whole 30 and they’re one of my favorite foods! I like to cut them up, drizzle them with olive oil and roast them for about 30-45 minutes at 425 degrees. I season them with anything from garlic powder, chili powder, dill, or parsley. I like sweet potatoes as well. I know some supermarkets sell pre cut potatoes that you can steam in the microwave too.

Fruit. I eat at least one piece of fruit every day. Lately, I’ve been loving clementines and strawberries. I don’t eat smoothies since they don’t fill me up but I do eat fruit for a snack every day. When you’re not eating pre packaged junk, fruit tastes sooooo much better.

Almond butter. Peanut butter isn’t allowed since it’s made from legumes but almond butter is. Again, watch your almond butters because a lot of brands add sugar or other ingredients. I love almond butter with a banana or an apple as a snack. Sometimes I grab a spoonful of almond butter just to eat. If you think the taste is too bland, add a little cinnamon.

Pecans and cashews. I personally don’t like plain almonds much as they get stuck in my teeth. But I do love pecans and cashews. Roasted pecans are the easiest thing to make and the taste is incredible. Take a few handfuls of pecans, drizzle them with olive oil, season with whatever you’d like ( I like chili pepper, garlic, or Everything But the Bagel Seasoning). Roast them at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Let them cool and put the min an airtight container. I bring these nearly every day for a snack at work.

Salsa and seasonings. I use a lot of garlic, chili powder, dill, parsley, and onion powder. I also use salsa on my eggs almost everyday. Salsa can be tricky because so many times, sugar is added in. Just look at your ingredients or make your own. I’ve never made my own but other people swear it’s easy.

Avocados. I have a love/hate relationship with these. I love eating them with a little chili pepper or Everything but the Bagel seasoning on top but the timing on these is difficult. They’re either not ripe enough or too ripe. I think there is only about a 15 minute window when they’re actually perfect. I use them in taco bowls, eat them plain, or use them in chicken salad.

Olives. I freaking looooove green olives and kalamata olives. I eat them plain as a snack or add them to whatever I’m eating. Yes, they have a lot of salt but it’s better than eating a bag of chips. If I’m not on Whole30, I like to have a beer with olives in it. We call that a South Dakota martini.

I keep those things on hand all the time, but they’re even more important during Whole30. When I get home at 6:00 at night, the last thing I want to do is take an hour to make a meal. I try to plan ahead and use my crockpot quite a bit, but that doesn’t happen every night. My go-to meal when I’m hungry and in a hurry is a taco bowl. Take some precooked chicken and saute it with some prechopped veggies. Add some chili powder, garlic, and cumin. Don’t ask me how much. I hate to measure. Microwave some cauliflower rice. Add some of the meat mixture with the cauliflower rice and top it with some tomatoes and salsa. If you have some cilantro, add that as well. Boom! You’ve made a Whole30 approved meal in 15 minutes. Don’t tell me that it takes too much time!! If you are not a fan of the cauliflower rice, take some leftover roasted potatoes or microwave a baked potato and top it with everything.

There is a lot of talk about Whole30 and whether or not it increases eating disorder behaviors. Personally, for me, it does the opposite. When I’m calorie counting or using color coded containers, I get obsessive. I’m constantly worrying what I can eat my next meal or if I ate too much the last meal. Whole30 doesn’t require any tracking and as a result, I’ve learned to listen to my body. After doing Whole30 for a week or two, my blood sugar is so stable that I don’t get extreme bouts of hunger. I tend to get super “hangry” when my blood sugar dips too low. I’ve learned how to use food as fuel. Listening to your body is so important! Right now, I’m trying to decide what my body wants- I went to the gym and lifted heavy(well, heavy for me) yesterday. Today my lats, triceps, and hamstrings are sore. I’ve been struggling with sinus headaches too. I want to go to RIPPED class at 4:00 but my body is screaming at me to take a break. So I probably won’t go. Your body doesn’t need to be “on the go” all the time. Rest is important too. Your muscles repair and grow during rest. I usually work out about 5 -6 days a week. I walk my dog quite a bit as well. I used to push myself everyday and now I’ve learned how important rest and repair is. The day after a rest day, my stomach is usually flatter, my muscles are less sore, and I look and feel a little leaner.

Ok, I didn’t meant to go on a whole rant about that! I also promised I’d give an example of what I eat in a day so here goes:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with onions and peppers and some leftover roasted potatoes.

Mid Morning Snack: Banana with almond butter.

Lunch: Leftover chili. We use this recipe but we don’t use beef tallow (beef fat). We just use olive oil because that’s what I always have on hand.

Mid Afternoon Snack: Nicks Sticks (Whole30 approved turkey or beef sticks) and 2 clementines.

Supper: Taco bowl: Ground beef with onions and peppers, leftover roasted potatoes, tomatoes and salsa.

As you can see, I don’t starve myself. I just eat when I’m hungry. I don’t always have two snacks either. Somedays I’m just hungrier than other days. You have to do what’s best for YOU! Please let me know if you found this post helpful or if it gave you some ideas of food to keep in your kitchen. I’m off to walk my dog then watch Cheer on Netflix!

**All opinions on this blog are my own. I am not compensated for this post**