You can save time shopping without tearing around the corner of one aisle—screeching your cart’s wobbling wheels on the faux wood floor—and almost toppling it over. It doesn’t require you to go ripping through each aisle, and turning the canned goods section of your local supermarket into a practice session for an imaginary Olympic bobsledding event. Save time when you just skip the label.
But how will you know what you’re buying? Use the Whole30 Approved® logo as your cheat sheet for compatible food. Once you spot the Whole30 stamp of approval, no more reading is necessary. You know the product doesn’t contain added sugar, grains, dairy, and more.
If you aren’t familiar with WHAT the logo or our approval process is, read all about the Whole30 Approved program from Jen Kendall—who manages it at Whole30 HQ. Below, you’ll learn all about the HOW. So you can use the six Whole30 shopping tips below to save time and energy while grabbing your groceries.
Know When to Read the Label and When to Skip It
Regardless of whether you’re doing a Whole30, it’s important to know what’s in your food. And, maybe as important, what’s not. You’re hunting for added sugars and dodging dairy. You’re trying to fuel your body with the foods and ingredients you know work best for you. So you prepare for a deep dive into the alphabet soup of the ingredients section, or start pouring over the Nutrition Facts panel.
But that takes time. It takes brainpower. You simply don’t need all that when you find the Whole30 Approved logo. Locate the stamp and skip the label. It’s that simple.
We have so many wonderful partners whose products are approved, too. That means your Whole30 shopping list—in or out of the elimination phase of the program—should be easy to complete. But if you can’t find a Whole30 Approved product, that’s when your label-reading skills come in handy. (We have some help sharpening those techniques, too.)
Here’s Where to Look for the Whole30 Approved Logo
Where’s Waldo? is fun. It feels so gratifying to find his red-and-white-stripped outfit sticking out from behind a tree. But you don’t need to play hide and seek with the Whole30 Approved logo.
It’s just as gratifying to have the cheat code, so you can find the logo, toss the product in your cart, and move down your list.
Here’s a major hint: look on the bottom quarter of the side or back of the packaging. The stamp of approval will typically be right by any other important certification. (Think USDA Organic, Fair Trade Certified, and Certified Humane.)
Some products—looking at you, Humm Kombucha—display their Whole30 approval front and center. After all, the logo is there to be found. So don’t miss it proudly positioned in plain sight.
How to Feel Good About What You Buy—No Googling Needed
You can make a powerful statement with your buying decisions. It might not be the first thing you think about when you’re choosing between brands of salad dressing. But where you spend your dollars matters.
The Whole30 Approved logo is also a signpost signifying a brand isn’t—for lack of a better word—icky. We don’t share our stamp with brands that cut corners or are wildly out of alignment with Whole30’s values. That also includes following proper animal welfare guidelines.
So leave your phone in your pocket. You can trust the Whole30 Approved logo to help you spend your money in an intentional way you can feel good about.
Target Grab-and-Go Whole30 Snacks
Snack foods can come with a stigma. It’s not the food’s fault. Diet culture is mostly to blame. So on the Whole30, you are encouraged to avoid assigning morality to different foods. That’s not what the program is about.
Whole30 snacks exist. They’re compatible foods you can easily take with you wherever you go. And the Whole30 Approved logo is the easiest way to identify them.
Look for that label—just like you have with other products—and stock up. You’ll thank “past you” for stashing Whole30 snacks and emergency food in your purse, car, office, or any handy spot to help keep you nourished on the go.
Use Whole30 Approved to Fuel Your Food Freedom
The fact is: the elimination portion of your Whole30 life is really small. Those 30-days—while important—are dwarfed by the time spent living your Food Freedom. And the skip-the-label approach to shopping can save you time at the store any time.
Maybe your Whole30 taught you that soy, rice, and legumes are a full go for you. But sugar, gluten, and dairy don’t equate to living your best life. Just look for the Whole30 Approved logo to guarantee there aren’t any problematic ingredients hiding in the sauce you’re using to top your chicken, rice, and bean bowl.
Take the Same Approach to Online Grocery Shopping
You don’t have to be faced with a terrifying physical wall of tomato sauce to benefit from skipping the label. A digital collection of sauce populating a web page can be just as intimidating—even if you are comfortably on your couch.
Online grocery stores—especially a great one like Thrive Market—have filters to help you find only Whole30 Approved or compatible items. Use them. It’s kind of that easy. Double-check that the logo is on your desired product, but it’s not cheating to let the shopping software do the label searching for you.
Walk—Don’t Run—to Start Using These Time-Saving Whole30 Shopping Tips
Grocery shopping isn’t a sport. You won’t win a medal for racing around the store to clear your 20-item list in the shortest time. But saving even a few minutes at the store will leave you with a little bit more time in your day to do anything else—preferably something you actually want to do.
And implementing these Whole30 shopping tips for fully utilizing the skip-the-label approach are a great way to save time at the store. They’re simple, easy, and much safer than screeching around corners like you’re on a gameshow. Try our tips next time and free yourself up for more enjoyable activities without injuring yourself—or a fellow shopper—by sprinting around the produce section.
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