Dear Melissa,
I’m about to start my first Whole30, and I’m nervous. I’m prepping my pantry, planning my first week of meals, and just signed up for your Community Cohort for extra support. What else can I do to make sure my first week of elimination goes as smoothly as possible? —Nervous newbie
Dear Nervous Newbie (and anyone looking to make Day 1 easier),
Our Whole30 Timeline says, “Your Day 1 experience is greatly influenced by your dietary choices in the days leading up to your Whole30. Cramming in all the sugar, alcohol, bread, and pizza you can before your program starts is a recipe for headaches, crankiness, and lethargy.”
I’ve observed millions of people do the Whole30 over the last 15 years, and I’ve seen this rookie mistake more times than I can count. It’s oh-so-tempting to Rumspringa your way through the weekend before your Whole30 starts. The urge to cram it all in can be strong, knowing you’ll be without chips, cheese, ice cream, and wine for 30 days. (For those who remember the era of “cheat days,” the time before Day 1 can feel like the mother of all cheat days.)
For the sake of Future You, please don’t do this.
The first few days of the Whole30 can be hard enough. Participants report being tired, brain-fogged, cranky, and craving the foods and drinks you used to rely on to navigate stress. Your metabolism goes through tremendous adjustments in the first week, as may your sleep, digestion, and energy levels.
This experience will be infinitely worse if you load up on sugar, soda, processed carbs, and alcohol in the run-up. On a normal Monday, those kinds of weekend escapades can leave you bloated, sluggish, and cranky. On Day 1 of the Whole30, it’ll feel that bad—times ten. Think of that scenario as a hard launch of your Whole30 (and boy, will it be hard).
The good news is, this is completely avoidable without giving up all of your favorite foods and beverages you love. I call it the Whole30 soft launch.
The Whole30 soft launch
In tech terms, a “soft launch” means to preview a product or service to a limited audience before going public. In Whole30 terms, it means to ease into the Whole30 elimination phase before your official Day 1.
Whole30ers overwhelmingly report that soft launching their program makes their first few days feel much easier, with far fewer symptoms. By easing into your elimination phase, you give your body a chance to gradually adjust to this new way of eating, and better prepare your metabolism, digestion, and habits for the shift.
Soft launching can happen in a variety of ways, by employing different durations, degrees, and dietary changes. Here are a few best practices, based on feedback from Whole30 alumni. Choose the approach that fits best with your goals, lifestyle, and calendar.
Duration
Soft launching for just one day isn’t particularly effective, although it’s better than nothing. Many choose to use the week prior to Day 1 as their soft launch period. Making small changes over the course of a week (or two) will ease your transition, and give you the practice you need to meal prep, cook, and socialize on the Whole30. You can start easing your way into your Whole30 as early as you’d like. Just don’t start so early (and make the changes so extreme) that you’re burned out before your Whole30 even begins.
Degree
You can make your soft launch as gentle or as firm as you’d like. These include small changes like, “I’ll limit alcohol to one drink a night,” or bold changes like, “I’m not drinking at all during my soft launch period.” You may change just a few things, like eliminating bread and baked goods, or change many things, like eliminating sweets, soda, and fast food. You know best the changes that will most effectively prepare you for Whole30 Day 1—but choose a degree you can stick to.
Dietary changes
The tendency when planning a soft launch is to call out foods or drinks you can eliminate early. Alcohol, fast food, soda or energy drinks, bread, chocolate, ice cream, and chips are common “soft launch” targets. Some Whole30ers choose to give some or all of these up early in preparation for elimination. If eliminating a particular food or drink will give you a big leg up on Day 1, that’s a great place to start.
However, easing your way into the Whole30 can be equally effective by adding compatible foods and drinks to your everyday diet. You can preview how you’ll be eating during the elimination phase by:
- Adding a vegetable to every meal
- Including a dense protein source with all meals and snacks
- Drinking eight glasses of water a day
- Adding fruit to snacks
- Cooking one or more meals a day
Easing into Day 1
Whether this is your first Whole30 or your fifth, we encourage you to try this soft launch approach for your next program. By easing into your Whole30, you’ll wake up on Day 1 with less stress and more confidence. By choosing the right duration, degree, and dietary changes for your lifestyle and goals, you’ll be practicing the habits you need to succeed with the program. Your commitment now can also mean a quicker transition to better energy and sleep, smoother digestion, fewer cravings, and more non-scale victories on your Whole30.
For just a few days’ work, this feels like a great trade-off to me.
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