Over It

Dear Melissa,

By Day 23 of my last Whole30, I was just OVER IT. Nothing sounded good, and I couldn’t imagine what to make for dinner—it’s like pregnancy food aversions, except I’m definitely not pregnant. I want to finish each Whole30 strong, but how can I do that if feel like I just hit the wall? – Shelly, Santa Monica book signing event

Dear Shelly,

This can be common, especially when you’re towards the tail-end of a longer habit change, like 30 consecutive days of Whole30, a meditation challenge, or a decluttering effort. In the beginning, it’s new and exciting! In the middle, it’s feeling more automatic and you’re really seeing the benefits. But in the last week, your brain senses "the end" on the horizon and starts screaming for reward. You’ve been SO DEDICATED. You’ve worked SO HARD. And now you have to work hard for six more long days (PLUS reintroduction)? It’s exhausting. It’s boring. You’re OVER IT.

Except you’re not REALLY over it. You feel awesome. You look awesome. You’re confident and feel secure in your new healthy habits. You want to finish strong. You just need to jump-start your brain into getting excited again. Here are three ideas for just how to do that.

Snag Your Whole30 Sprouts Shopping List

Doing a successful Whole30 means making big changes to the way you cook and the groceries you buy. I’ve shopped at Sprouts Farmers Market for years, and their extensive selection of Whole30 compliant items, fresh produce, and excellent prices have supported my Whole30 and food freedom meals. (Plus, their fresh flowers are always so gorgeous, and you know how I feel about buying yourself flowers.)

The Sprouts team knows that developing a new grocery shopping strategy can be intimidating, so they’ve created an easy-to-shop Whole30-specific list to get you started. It’s full of Whole30 Approved and compliant items in every section, from dressings and sauces to emergency food to the bulk bins. Not only do they have everything you need at low prices, but they deliver! Save yourself time and money this year by stocking your Whole30 pantry and fridge with ease from Sprouts.

Click here to start shopping—for less!

Find new drool-worthy recipes. If you’ve been eating the same five meals for the last 23 days, well, no wonder you’re bored. Now’s the time to scour The Whole30 Friends & Family, ask your Whole30 BFF to send you her top three favorite dinner recipes, take something you’ve been cooking and make it taste brand-new (like subbing curry sauce for tomato sauce in your ground meat and veggies dish, or putting your breakfast eggs over a salad instead of sweet potato hash), or poke around the @Whole30Recipes Instagram feed and bookmark a few photos that make your taste buds excited for dinner again.

Find ONE new jazzy ingredient. Sometimes, finding one new Whole30 Approved or compliant ingredient can change the whole game, making you excited to eat again. Even if you’re on a budget, now’s the time for just a little splurge. Pick up a bottle of Whole30 Approved salad dressing or condiment, or scour the produce section for a veggie or fruit you’ve never tried. Get adventurous! Bonus: While you’re at it, treat yourself to a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I do this on my weekly shopping trips to Sprouts, and something about it makes the routine of shopping for and prepping my meals feel a little more special.

Make mealtime a community affair. Sometimes it’s the idea of making your own dinner-for-one for the millionth night in a row that has you feeling down … so try a meal swap, a prep party, or a dinner pot-luck. Cook a meal for a friend and trade, invite some gym-friends over and cook together, or host a pot-luck where everyone brings a new compliant dish. The social interaction and new meals should be enough to get you over the hump and help you bust through your Week 4 wall.

Finally, here are two other scenarios that you may be experiencing in the last week of your Whole30 … and some tough-love tips, from me to you.

Step it up. Be honest… is your boredom stemming from sheer laziness? Have you been eating the same ingredient meal or scrambled eggs for dinner for the last 25 days? Is your "lunch" an Applegate hotdog and an apple more days than it is something homemade or fresh? Yes, there are lots of Whole30 convenience foods these days, and yes, sometimes you don’t have the capacity to prepare a three-course fine dining experience—but if this is your context, your boredom is your own fault (said with love). Kick it up a notch ASAP, and you’ll be surprised how just a little effort here goes a long way towards exciting your taste buds and making mealtime FUN again.

Chill out. It’s also entirely possible you’ve taken this in the other direction, making Instagram-worthy recipes from scratch three times a day, seven days a week. You’re shopping daily, prepping non-stop, and spending hours in the kitchen, because you want to do the best Whole30 that’s ever been done. Cool. I admire your dedication and efforts! But it’s okay to take it down a notch, okay? If you’re going to take your healthy Whole30 habits with you into your Food Freedom, it has to be sustainable. Which means sometimes, you’re microwaving sweet potatoes and Applegate hot dogs, sticking one in the other (you can surely figure that part out), drizzling the whole hot mess with some Primal Kitchen Ranch, and eating it off a paper plate. Because THAT’S Whole30 too, and wouldn’t a night off from the kitchen feel good right about now?

So there you have it… SIX tips for jazzing up the last week of your Whole30.

Best in health,
Melissa XO