Whole30 Meal Planning, Prep and 5 Day Meal Plan

Whole30 Meal Planning – How to…

So, if you’ve landed on this page, you're probably wondering where do you start on your Whole30 journey.  Whole30 Meal Planning and Prep has become a hurdle and you just don't know where to start. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!

If you are just starting out by researching Whole30 and you don’t know what it’s all about, start here with this article on “the Whole30 Program and What You Need to Know”.  There is some great information in this article. Once you have read this article, come back and I’ll share some tips and tricks with you including meal planning and preparation.  In addition, I’ll share a 5 Day Meal Plan with you, some kid friendly meals, as well as a bonus weekend meal plan.

Whole30 Real Time Support

By the way, if you need real-time support, join me here in my Facebook group along side 52K group members that are ready and willing to provide gentle support.

How to Make Your Whole30 Successful

A lot of people struggle the first week.  Remember it’s only 30 days of eating a restricted diet.  People find it difficult to figure out what to make not only for themselves but for their family members as well.  What makes it more difficult is if your family members aren’t doing Whole30 with you or if you have picky adults or children.

Research is your best friend when it comes to planning meals, and trial and error helps. Try a recipe and if it’s a hit, make it again. There are a ton of Whole30 recipes out there and if you are part of our Facebook Group, you’ll get a ton of ideas on what to make.

The key is planning in advance.  Planning is the key to success with Whole30, you can’t just wing it. You need to plan especially if you have a busy job, career or home-life.

You might want to even consider having the same meals every day or alternating to avoid the burden of planning a whole week’s worth of meals. This is how some people survive the 30 days.

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Whole30 Preparation Work

If you are contemplating going to the grocery store every day vs. once a week, stop there!  Planning to do groceries and meal preparation alone will consume at least one full day of your week.

You’ll survive if you have to “run out to the store” to get that one item you’re missing every once and a while.  But, don’t plan on doing it all of the time because you will easily burn out and quit.

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. …a quote by Benjamin Franklin

Plan for Success

To be successful, your best course of action is to use a Saturday or Sunday to plan your meals, do groceries and do meal preparation for the week. Have a meal plan in place and know what you are going to make, even if you haven’t written it down.

The key is to find compliant meals and recipes that you and your family likes.  Pre made meals are your best friend. These types of meals will work best for you for breakfast and for lunches.

Another time saver, is finding pre-cut vegetables that are either fresh or frozen. You can add these to salads, soups or dinners.

If you need a break from planning or cooking, you may even want to consider pre-made foods that are Whole30.  You can buy some pre-made Whole30 foods at Walmart for example. They carry some Whole30 frozen dinners if you are just too tired to cook.

Snacking, Is it Allowed?

Snacking isn’t really encouraged.  There are a few exceptions. Here are some examples of exceptions:

• if you are a nursing mother
• you need a pre-workout snack
• a medical emergency
• you are hungry

Snacking on account of nursing or a workout, though, should not turn out to be a meal.  If you are truly hungry, then you did not eat enough at meal-time.  Look at the Whole30 meal template and make sure that you have all your food groups on your plate, including your plated fat.

As part of the meal template, you would fill your plate full of whole foods using your hand as a guide:

• Proteins - 1 to 2 palm size portions
• Veggies - ⅔ of your plate
• Fruit - 1 fist size portion of fruit occasionally (being careful not to push vegetables off your plate)
• Good Fat - every meal the size of your thumb

Avoid snacking at all costs if you are not hungry and just bored. 

As Melissa says "Am I Hungry enough to eat steamed fish and broccoli?”

Are you really hungry or are you bored?

A great trick to try is to brush your teeth right after your meals. This idea works great particularly after dinner.  Have a mindset that you want to have fresh breath at bed-time.  This trick helps a lot to break the habit of snacking right after dinner and just before bed time.

Whole30 Kitchen and Pantry Staples

I don’t personally own an insta-pot or a crockpot. I like the control of a stove-top (sorry that rhymes!). Many Whole30iers swear by them and have great recipes for their use.  Come visit my Facebook Group to search for recipes here.

Another great kitchen tool is a mini-blender or a hand-blender.  Many Whole30iers use blenders to make condiments like homemade ketchup, mayonnaise, guacamole and clarified butter (ghee). Many store bought condiments are either too expensive or contain additional ingredients that are not compliant with the Whole30 program.

Write yourself a note to check back for how to recipes on:

• Homemade Mayonnaise, and
• Homemade Ghee

How to Read Nutrition Labels and Ingredient Lists on Store Products

The best advice I can give you is to buy items with ingredients that you can pronounce.  Look for products that have minimal ingredients. If you don't recognize ingredients or you can't pronounce them, chances are you should put that product back on the shelf and move on.

Here is an article from the Whole30 program that goes into detail about ingredients that you can or cannot have called “the Official Can I Have Guide to the Whole30”

Staying compliant in parties

Staying compliant around birthday cake, booze, chips and other non- compliant foods is hard. Try to avoid being directly in front of food and occupy your time with chit chat and catching up with friends. Stay strong, you can do it! It’s only for 30 days.  And if for whatever reason, you slip up accidentally (I did say accidentally and I mean it), just add one more day to your round of Whole30.

Strategies to consider….

Consider saying that you are challenging yourself to eat “better” for 30 days. You don't need to say to your friends what program you are on, unless your friends are genuinely interested and willing to support you.

Bring your own food.  Many people bring vegetables and dip to parties to keep on track, drink sparkling compliant water and eat only party foods that are compliant

Your 5-Day Meal Plan and Grocery List, including Kid Friendly Options

Here is a list of child friendly meals, according to the members of our Facebook Group.

• Bacon Cheeseburger Soup by Paleo Running Momma, get the recipe here.
• Paleo Shephard's Pie by Paleo Running Momma, get the recipe here.
• Paleo Chick-fil-a Chicken by Whole Food for 7, get the recipe here.
• BBQ-Meatloaf-Muffins by The Real Food Dietitians, get the recipe here.

Start today and before you know it you will be finished tomorrow…. anonymous

You can do this....

Weekly Meal Planner Template

Here is a sample Whole30 5-Day Meal Plan. You can sub in any of the kid friendly meals above, if needed.

Oh, by the way, I snuck in the weekend for you too!

Sunday	Meal/Recipe
Breakfast	Easy Egg Frittata, ½ banana, 1 tbsp almond butter, https://easyhomemaderecipes.ca/easy-egg-casserole-frittata OR Breakfast Egg Cups https://easyhomemaderecipes.ca/breakfast-egg-cups/
Lunch	Egg Roll in a Bowl and your choice of plated fat, https://peaceloveandlowcarb.com/pork-egg-roll-in-a-bowl-crack-slaw-paleo-low-carb-whole30
Dinner	Butternut squash soup with ½ grilled chicken breast with coconut cream, https://easyhomemaderecipes.ca/easy-roasted-butternut-squash-soup-whole30-paleo
Monday
Breakfast	Chicken sausage with hash browns and red peppers. ½ banana and 1 tbsp almond butter
Lunch	Butternut squash soup with coconut cream and ½ grilled chicken breast, with coconut cream, (leftovers)
Dinner	Almond Crusted Pork Piccata, served with a salad or veggie of choice,  https://cookprimalgourmet.com/recipes/chicken-piccata-paleo-whole30
Tuesday
Breakfast	Easy Egg Frittata or Breakfast Egg Cups, ½ banana, 1 tbsp almond butter, (leftovers)
Lunch	Egg Roll in a Bowl, (leftovers)
Dinner	Beef Stew, apple and 1 tbsp of almond butter, https://easyhomemaderecipes.ca/easy-beef-stew-recipe
Wednesday
Breakfast	Chicken sausage with hash browns and red peppers. ½ banana and 1 tbsp almond butter
Lunch	Tuna mixed with avocado on top of your favorite salad or vegetables and dressing, and 1 banana
Dinner	Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash and your choice of plated fat https://easyhomemaderecipes.ca/italian-meatballs-whole30-paleo-gluten-free
Thursday
Breakfast	Easy Egg Frittata or Breakfast Egg Cups, ½ banana, 1 tbsp almond butter, (leftovers)
Lunch	Beef Stew (leftovers), apple and 1 tbsp almond butter
Dinner	Orange Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner, your choice plated fat, https://easyhomemaderecipes.ca/orange-chicken-sheet-pan-dinner/
Friday
Breakfast	Chicken sausage with hash browns and red peppers. ½ banana and 1 tbsp almond butter
Lunch	Egg Roll in a Bowl, (leftovers)
Dinner	Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner, your choice of plated fat https://nomnompaleo.com/sheet-pan-teriyaki-salmon All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce: https://nomnompaleo.com/purpose-stir-fry-sauce (ingredients not included in grocery list)
Saturday
Breakfast	Easy Egg Frittata or Breakfast Egg Cups, ½ banana, 1 tbsp almond butter, (leftovers)
Lunch	Tuna mixed with avocado on top of your favorite salad or vegetables and seasoning, dressing, and 1 banana
Dinner	Creamy Tuscan Chicken, https://realsimplegood.com/creamy-tuscan-chicken

Get your 5-Day Meal Plan and Your Meal Plan Template Here.

To make things easy for you, download the printable 5-Day Meal Plan which includes a grocery list. You can then use the additional printable Meal Planner Template to plan your meals for weeks 2, 3, and 4.

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More Whole30 Stuff

Want more ideas? See below for my most recent Whole30 Posts and Recipes.

Other Recipes to Consider

• Grilled Lemon Herb Chicken