Eight Things I Learned as a Whole30 Coach (The Truth)

My Favorite Healthy Convenience Foods

This is another “off the map” post, but with dieting season approaching, I wanted to share some insight.

The only thing I had left from my days as a Whole30 Coach.

In 2015, I was introduced to Whole30. A lifetime dieter always looking for the next way to lose weight, I gave it a shot. It wasn’t until I became a Whole30 coach that I learned the truth.

I Started “Dieting” at 12

I remember as a 6th grader going to get a spoonful of peanut butter because I was so shaky when doing Atkins the first time. (Yes, I now realize how terrible this is.)

Since then I’ve done the Cabbage Soup diet, the Sonoma diet (years before I lived 30 minutes from there) Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type, Paleo, Slimfast shakes/bars, detoxes of all kinds and the longest was semi-vegetarian lowfat diet through the mid-90s.

All was purely motivated by the fact I felt I was fat. I will save that conversation for another time, but you know the outcome of dieting. I ended up going back to my old ways of eating and was back to square one.

Whole30 gave me a solid timeline - I could do anything for 30 days, right?

Basically Whole30 omits several common allegan groups like grains (including gluten), dairy, and soy, as well as those we don’t need any way like alcohol and sugar for 30 days. Starting day 31, you reintroduce one at a time to see how your body feels.

During those 30 days, I lost some weight, my clothes fit a little better. As opposed to all the other diets, I had no jitters, no hangriness (Grammerly doesn’t like this word!) and I didn’t feel deprived. Win-win!

How I Became a Whole30 Coach

Around the same time I learned about Whole30, I began to see a trend emerge in my private chef career; people with chronic diseases had heard about my knowledge and were coming to me to cook for them. I knew intuitively the healthy, organic whole food meals I was creating for them was a big key to improving their health, but I didn’t know why.

To remedy this, I went back to school and received my certification in health coaching and holistic nutrition. As I was listening in my classes, I realized everything I was learning aligned with what I had learned doing Whole30.

In the meantime, Whole30 had introduced a coaching program in 2018 and while the fee at that time was a deterrant, by 2021, I was financially better off and had the money to move forward. After completing the rigorous coaching interview and training process I became a Whole30 certified coach in January 2022.

Headquarters packed up the program in November of last year so I only got to officially coach for two years. But practicing Whole30 yearly for 8 years, then coaching people through it, taught me several things.

8 Things Learned as a Whole30 Coach

1. Listening to your body is the key to feeling your best.

2. It’s hard to “hear” your body if you don’t reset first.

3. Doing a strict diet like Whole30 long term (longer than 60-90 days) isn’t healthy, but a 30 day reset is good at least once a year.

4. Eating real food (as opposed to powders, pills or shakes) is the best way to reset and is doable and affordable (see below how) for anyone.

5. Even if you can’t afford the highest quality regenerative meats and organic vegetables, eating real food ingredients will save you money since they help you get full faster and stay full longer.

6. All carbs are not created equal. Whole food carbs like starchy squash, sweet potatoes, plantains and even russet potatoes for some people can be eaten without adversely affecting blood sugar and weight the same way processed carbs like pasta, bread or other things made with flour. (If you want to know ALL things regarding balancing blood sugar, subscribe to

   Nest Wellness by Beth Bollinger
   .)

7. Cutting sugar and alcohol are always the lowest hanging fruit if you’re wanting to lose weight long term. They have ZERO nutritional value and are not needed for health.

8. Prioritizing protein and healthy fats then supplementing your diet with fruits and vegetables is the best way to eat long term for pretty much everyone and will lead to long term fat loss, weight loss and better health.

Whole30 vs. Carnivore

Both are somewhat restrictive and both prioritize animal protein and healthy fats like butter, but the biggest difference is Whole30 allows many other food groups. I haven’t done carnivore personally, but am very Carnivore Curious. If you are, too, subscribe to

Danni Macfarland

at Back to Basics Nutrition for her January Carnivore Curious Coaching.

Real Food Convenience

Here are the basics for real food convenience and I feature many of these regularly as alternatives in my Weekly Meal Plans.

• Cut and Washed Produce - If washing and cutting produce deters you from eating it, remove this barrier by letting someone else do it.

• Mashed Avocados or Guacamole- As long as avocado and veggies are the only ingredients these are great. Great healthy fat to have anytime!

• Frozen Vegetables and Fruits - Produce is frozen right when it’s picked so it is sometimes fresher and more flavorful than in season produce that’s been shipped.

• Rotisserie Chicken - Having a fully cooked chicken will open up a world of opportunities for you. Just read ingredients for toxic additives and preservatives (everyone) or possible gluten/dairy contamination if those are concerns.

• Pre-Boiled Eggs - If boiling eggs and peeling them is a pain, these are a great alternative.

• Meat and Cheese Protein Boxes - Make sure there are not yuk ingredients like see oils, but meat and cheese cubes with only nuts are great.

My Favorite Packaged Convenience Foods

Eating healthfully is easy at home. But when you’re going to kids’ games, working in an office or traveling, not so much. It’s easy to forget about your goals when you’re starving and the only options are unhealthy ones. Here are my secret weapons to keeping a stash on hand at all times to make sure I have at least protein and healthy fats available. NOTE: All of these are not Whole30 Friendly, so if you’re doing Whole30, take that into consideration.

*FYI, the bold blue words are links. They don’t cost you anything extra, but they help me out a lot if you use them instead of going outside my post and finding the products.

• Condiments

  • Primal Kitchen (Use code RFSVIP for 10 % off order.) - This brand not only includes condiments such as Avocado Mayo (regular and vegan) and No Sugar Ketchup, but all types of sauces including Buffalo and Marinara. All are made with uber-clean ingredients. My favorite condiment brand by far.

  • Somos - We haven’t tried a product yet that we haven’t liked. All the simmer sauces are amazing and passed my pickiest eater’s test (who also happens to be a Mexican food LOVER!)

  • Coconut Aminos - I exclusively use coconut aminos in place of soy due to a soy intolerance and no one knows the difference. Even if you don’t have a soy intolerance, most soy sauce does contain gluten unless it specifies otherwise and many brands including gluten-free tamari sauces are not organic unless stated on the bottle which means they contain GMO soy.

    • Kevala - The coconut aminos from Kevala are the best value for sure and do not taste any different from Coconut Secret

    • Coconut Secret - While more expensive, this brand has more flavors.

• Meat Sticks and Jerky

  • Epic Provisions - Their “bites” are sooooo good! They’re expensive, but when I know I’m going to be on a plane or other transporation without access to stops for other products, I keep these on hand. They also have clean jerky, healthy jarred fats, meat bars and pork rinds (also very good for snacks.)

  • Paleo Valley - While I primarily buy their meat sticks (they’re awesome - especially Jalapeno and Teriyaki) they also have great bone broth and other products.

  • Chomps - I prefer Paleo Valley because they’re softer, but some people prefer the chewier meat stick. If that’s you, then you’ll love Chomps.

• Snacks

  • Karma Nuts - These are super flavorful nuts in exotic flavors.

  • Jacksons Potato Chips - These are a great find! You may be able to get the large bag at Costco (stores vary) but if not, order on Amazon for a variety of flavors and sizes. It’s hard to find potato chips not fried in seed oils and these are great!

  • Siete Brand Tortillas, Chips and Cookies

    • Potato Chips - Also fried in avocado oil, but from regular potatoes not sweet potatoes. Great flavors. My fave is the Serrano Sea Salt and Vinegar.

    • Grain Free Tortilla Style Chips - We’ve eaten these for years. They are every bit as good as corn. Costco carries the large bag but no others.

    • Grain Free Tortillas - Same as the chips, we exclusively eat the Cassava coconut ones because they taste just like flour tortillas.

    • Mexican Shortbread - These are very tasty with a crispy texture. They are good for using in pie crusts calling for shortbread or graham cracker crumbs.

  • Simple Mills Cracker and Cookies - This brand is made with grain free flours, mostly almond and have a great texture. Note: I don’t like how their mixes turn out, and unless it’s listed here, I haven’t tried their other products.

    • Crackers - While I don’t like how their mixes turn out, I absolutely love all their crackers. Like some of the other items, Costco may have the Sea Salt crackers but not the other varieties.

    • Cookies - “Sweet Thins” crackers resemble graham crackers or British style biscuits. I can’t tell you about the others as I haven’t tried them but they do have crunchy chocolate chip and others plus sandwich cookies made with nut butter fillings.

• Snack Boxes - These boxes from Bunny James feature super healthy, real food ingredients and are AWESOME care packages for college students, staff, or friends and family out of town.

  • Whole30 Box - Great to send to your college student or other friends and family who have food intolerances such as gluten, dairy or soy.

  • Paleo Box - This box also excludes those allergans, but includes chips and other snacks which are not allowed on a strict Whole30 so therefore not included in that box.

I’m always available to answer your questions via chat, so reach out!

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Have an amazing week!

XOXO,

Christi