Whole 30 can seem like a huge, difficult, overwhelming thing to add to your already busy life. With a few tips and preparation tricks, it's totally possible for you to do. Don't let being busy hold you back from experiencing one of the best things you could ever do for yourself. Yes, it's that life changing! Here is the guide to Whole 30 for the busy girl:

Have Compliant Restaurants Lined Up

In a 30 day period, you can't eat every meal at home. You'll either be traveling, tired of cooking or out of food away from home. When that happens, have compliant restaurants lined up. Some good choices in the Phx area are:

• Chipotle - the carnitas are compliant
• Zoe's Kitchen - the Chicken Kabobs and Grilled Potato salad was my absolute favorite go-to meal during my Whole 30. They also have lots of other options that are labeled on the menu as 'Whole 30 Approved' so its super easy to know what you can eat
• Freshbox - they have tons of great salad options
• 5 Guys - you can order a hamburger without the bun (protein style) but skip the fries!

Expect To Spend More/Less Money

Depending on what kind of food you eat before you start, you may end up either saving money or spending more. If you eat out for most of your meals, you are gonna have to start cooking at home more on Whole 30 and will definitely save some money. If you already cook at home, expect to spend more money than you normally do on groceries when you first start. You'll have to stock up on new ketchup, salad dressings, mayo, etc.

Be Prepared With Snacks

this post contains affiliate links. as always, all opinions are my own.

The first 5 days of my Whole 30, I was SO not prepared for how hungry I got. Snacking is normally discouraged on Whole 30, but I am who I am. And that person is a snacker! My body does best eating smaller meals throughout the day.

As long as your snacks are Whole 30 compliant, snack away. Your diet is so clean that some snacks won't do any harm to your success on Whole 30.

A few of my favorite snacks were:

• Chomp's Jerky [affiliate link]
• Seaweed Sheets
• Flavored Water
• Spicy Pickles
• Almond Butter with Pistachios

Get Your Kitchen Ready

Do yourself a favor and get rid of anything in your fridge/pantry that isn't compliant. When you are having a rough day, its way easier to stay strong if there isn't anything around to tempt you.

I'm telling ya, there were a few days in my Whole 30 that if we'd had chocolate in the house, I would have mad stuffed my face with it.

Make Your Own Rules

It may just be the rebel in me, but I hate rules. Just because you've decided you wanna do a Whole 30 doesn't mean you have to do exactly what the rules outline. You can make your own rules to achieve what you want out of it.

When I first learned about Whole 30, I really wanted to do it but thought it may not be the smartest time to try it. You know, I was a full time college student and working 60+ hours a week doing hair. So instead of doing a full on real Whole 30, I decided to cut out gluten and cut down sugar for two weeks. I felt like that was totally doable for me at the time in my life AND it helped me figure out my gluten intolerance.

My point is, do what you can! There are sites that say if you have sugar or eat something that isn't compliant, you have to start the 30 days all over. I think that's just too intense! If you want to ease yourself into it instead of diving head first all at once, you do you!

Or let's say you can only do 20 days of the diet. So what?.... You'll get 20 days of eating great! We are going for progression, not perfection here.

Plan Your Days Right

Your first 10 days are particularly rough because you're detoxing sugar. This is the best time to avoid situations that would easily tempt you. I went to Postino's (a wine and bruscetta bar) on Day 6, which was one of my hardest days cuz I was PMSing.

It was [nearly] impossible to resist all the things I wanted to eat. I was literally drooling over the smell of bread, which is something I'm not normally tempted by!

Make life a little easier on yourself and stay out of those situations in the beginning or if you're having a super rough day.

Line Up Lots of Recipe Ideas

You'll get REAL tired of cooking and/or eating the same thing over and over. Meal prepping and having lots of yummy recipes on hand will save you during your Whole 30!

Whenever I felt like giving up, I would make a Whole 30 version of something I was craving. Like Whole 30 Double Doubles In-N-Out Style, Whole 30 BBQ wings, and Spanish Chicken w/ Cauli Rice.

If you want to see more of the recipes that I used, check out my Whole 30 Pinterest board.

Take Shortcuts Where You Can

Don't make this harder than it needs to be. You're busy working long hours behind the chair. Spend the money to save time by buying compliant ketchup, mayo, salad dressings, etc.

You'll already be doing ALOT of cooking on Whole 30! There's no need to make it harder on yourself by making every single thing from scratch. Here are some products that I love, which are from Primal Kitchen since they are Whole 30 Approved! I have them linked through Amazon below, but you can also find them at Sprouts and Whole Foods.

[affiliate links]

• Primal Kitchen Green Goddess Salad Dressing
• Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo
• Primal Kitchen Spicy Ketchup
• Primal Kitchen BBQ Sauce

Get Ready For Your Life to Change

Brace yourself for some major life changes not related to your eating. During my Whole 30, I was finally able to start waking up at 5 am, work out before work, AND start a YouTube channel.

Being super regimented and focused with food will definitely have a pour-over effect into other areas of your life. So be ready for some amazing things to start happening around you!

Always Be Planning Ahead

If you know you're going to a party or event where you won't be able to eat anything, show up prepared. Either eat before you leave, or pack a lunch and bring your own food along. In this vlog of my weekend, I shamelessly showed up to my sis-in law's baby shower with a lunch bag! Don't worry about people judging you. If anything they are super impressed and interested in what you're doing.

Get Your Motivation Right

The most important tip I can offer is to make sure your motivation is legit. If you're doing it ONLY to lose weight, you probably won't make it through. But if you're doing it to feel better mentally and physically, to have a better relationship with food, to find out what may be causing some health issues, and losing weight is just a nice add-on benefit...then you're much more likely to be successful doing this.

I'm not gonna sugar coat it, this is hard to do. It's not impossible, but it's def easier if your motivation is something deeper than just your outward appearance.

Even though Whole 30 is hard, it's life changing! I recommend it to every single person, especially if you're experiencing any sort of health issues. If you're worried about it being hard cuz you're busy behind the chair, make it easier where you can and do your best with what you have!

Check out my Whole 30 Vlogs
Part I
Part II