Whole30 Food Shopping & Prep | UK Edition

My most recent Whole30 has started much like any other; a full on kitchen clear out of all non compliant foods to a) make space and b) remove temptation. Alongside that, we’ve made an epic plan and organised a big food shop, and this feels like it’s gonna be the smoothest 30 days possible.

If you’re not familiar with Whole30, it’s basically a 30 day elimination diet that involves avoiding certain foods that, according to the founders, can cause inflammation and cravings, and negatively affect hormones and gut health.

I’ve done a few Whole30’s and they’ve all done wonders for me but the last time I attempted one, nothing changed for me. Now this was a sure sign for me that something was up with my body, internally. I hadn’t been feeling like myself for some time but this was a catalyst to investigate further.

Since then, I’ve been working hard on my gut health (I now subscribe to Symprove), have been working to balance out my hormones and I think it’s time to see if Whole30 can tip me over the edge to regaining my energy and life as I knew it.

Here’s a little insight to what I have eaten while doing Whole30 before:

• Whole30 What I Eat in a Day (Days 1 – 10)
• Whole30 Days 11 – 20
• Whole30 What I Eat in a Day (Days 21 – 30)

Whole30 Meal Planning

The key to success with Whole30 is the planning. My friend Leah, of Naturally, Leah says ““If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” has never been more applicable than for a Whole 30. Set yourself up for success by trawling Whole 30 websites for recipes, buying a good Whole 30 recipe book (I can HIGHLY recommend Melissa Joulwan’s Well Fed), and creating a meal plan for your first week.”

“Write down what you are going to have for every meal – breakfast, lunch and dinner, and snacks. Put the plan on your fridge, and head out to the supermarket to stock up”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

With two of us, we’ve gone on to spilt up the cooking as follows. We each do one day of meal prep per week where we prepare 4 servings of 3 dishes. Then there is one day where we have freedom to eat anything (compliant) that we want, along with sorting our own breakfasts for each day.

Here are a few books I’ve use to plan out Whole30 in the past:

• Whole30 with The Whole30 Book
• Whole30 with Deliciously Ella
• Whole30 with Hemsley and Hemsley

You can literally find compliant recipes in just about any cookbook you already own, but it will take a lot of scrutinising.

Personally, I’ve planned to keep my whole30 breakfast each day simple; easy chia pudding with fruit, or eggs with mackerel / gammon / smoked salmon / bacon. Keep it simple.

Whole30 Food Shopping On Ocado

When it comes to food shopping for Whole30 in the UK, there’s no one place that I’ve found to get everything. One of my favourite places to shop though is Ocado – and they deliver.

The only things I can’t get from Ocado are some speciality Caribbean foods like cassava fries, plantains and other things that I always like to include.

All the typical stuff like fruit, veg and meat I get from Aldi, then Sainsbury has a good few things I love. Check out this video I posted on TikTok:

@ellelinton If you’re a UK #whole30 fan here are some of my fav compliant foods from Sainsburys! #whole30uk #sugarfree #sugarfreelifestyle ♬ BILLIE EILISH. – Armani White

Where To Buy Whole30 Bacon

Over the years of doing Whole30, the one thing I’ve struggled to find is Whole30 compliant bacon, but alas, via Ocado, I found some at Marks and Spencers. I’ve included the nitrate and sulphate free bacon I purchased below along with some of the other goodies I picked up at Ocado:

Ocado Whole30 Food Picks:

Whole30 Food Recipes On The Blog

Over the years, I’ve also featured a fair few recipes on the blog which are Whole30 compliant, check ’em out here:

• Easy Egg White Burrito (Whole30, Vegetarian)
• Recipe: Whole30 Chocolate Protein Smoothie
• Whole30 Butternut Squash Toasts Recipe
• Courgette & Chorizo Shepherds Pie (Whole30)
• Beetroot & Mint Dip Recipe

Have you done Whole30 before? Where’s your favourite place to get Whole30 foods?

Elle