Dear Melissa,
I love seeing so many Whole30 Approved salad dressings, condiments, and bone broths in the grocery store today. It makes meal prep and cooking so much easier! But sometimes I wonder… is that a good thing? The Whole30 taught me how to cook. Are people missing out on that valuable experience when they use a bunch of Whole30 Approved convenience products? —Whole30 Old Timer
If you were around during the earliest days of Whole30—I’m talking 2009, 2010—you’d know we walked uphill both ways in the snow while hand-blending our own Ranch dressing.
There were no Whole30 Approved® products (and very few compatible products in general), so we had to read every label. Store-bought Whole30 salad dressings, bone broths, ketchups, coffee creamers, or meat sticks literally did not exist. We had to either make our own or go without. You certainly couldn’t get delivery of a hearty, delicious Whole30 meal at the click of a button.
While some aspects of the Whole30 (like giving up wine, cheese, and chocolate) will always be challenging, we’ve come a long way when it comes to Whole30-compatible convenience products. You can now find Applegate no-sugar bacon, Kettle & Fire broth, nutpods coffee creamers, Organicville Ranch, and Primal Kitchen mayo in your local Target or Walmart. Made By Whole30 and Daily Harvest deliver Original Whole30 and Plant-Based Whole30 meals straight to your door. For the last six years, Chipotle has made your Whole30 easier, tastier, and more convenient with a variety of Whole30 salad bowls.
I’m betting most of you find this as exciting as I do. But I’ve also heard some veteran Whole30ers express concern about the evolution of Whole30 Approved products and offerings. Do they make the Whole30 too easy? Isn’t there value in prepping, cooking, and making things at home? Let’s talk about it.
The evolution of Whole30
Some early Whole30 adopters might say our extensive selection of Whole30 Approved and compatible convenience products diminish the full benefits of the program. Though I’m literally the first ever Whole30er and absolutely disagree with that perspective, I do understand where they’re coming from.
Over the last 15 years, the Whole30 has taught millions of people how to cook. The meal prep skills you build on the program do help you save time, money, and stress. All of these learnings serve you long after your Whole30 is over, no matter how you choose to eat in your food freedom. I wouldn’t want to take those lessons or skills away from you, especially if this is your first Whole30.
But I also want the program to be accessible, in every way possible. That means providing tips for people on a budget, resources for those who don’t live near a health food store, and Whole30 convenience products for those who travel a lot, are working parents, have unpredictable schedules, or are simply busy. Here’s what that looks like:
- We promote Primal Kitchen’s mayo, and we offer a free recipe to DIY
- We share hundreds of Approved and compatible products using Thrive Market’s Whole30 filter, and we offer useful grocery videos featuring tips and buying guides for a variety of stores.
- We offer Made By Whole30 national meal delivery (and have a collab with Daily Harvest for Plant-Based Whole30 meal delivery), and we have hundreds of free recipes on our website
- We encourage you to order a Whole30 bowl at Chipotle when you’re too tired to cook, and we offer strategies for building simple and delicious ingredient meals.
All of these efforts help as many people as possible succeed with the program. In fact, for those doing the Whole30 with a chronic illness, chronic injury, or disability, these convenience products may mean the difference between successfully completing the program, and not being able to do the Whole30 at all. And none of them take away from the very real tactical, practical, and emotional challenges you’re going to face on the Whole30.
It’s already hard
I don’t want to make the program harder just for the sake of it being harder. (Trust me, as I’ve shared in The New Whole30, the Whole30 is hard enough as it is.) Yes, I used to make my own mayo, bone broth, and Ranch dressing. But now I don’t have to, thanks to so many Whole30 Approved options—and neither do you! You can skip the label-reading and menu-reading and instantly know if a product or meal is Whole30-compatible. This reduces stress, saves you loads of time and energy, and lets you focus more on the delicious food you are eating and the non-scale victories you are seeing.
Even if you ate a Whole30 Chipotle bowl or Made By Whole30 meal every single day of your Whole30, you’d still have plenty of opportunities to meal plan and cook. And if you can make stressful days, travel days, or busy days easier on the Whole30, I want you to do that. I promise, that is JUST AS WHOLE30 as the person making their own.
Hear me clearly: It doesn’t matter whether you make your own or get it in a store; order take-out or cook your own meal; buy frozen or fresh, conventional or organic. If you’re putting nothing but Whole30 foods in your mouth during your 30-day elimination, you’re doing it right, and you should be proud of your efforts.
It’s your Whole30
I want you to feel empowered to complete your Whole30 in the way that works best for you, whether that’s buying all the Whole30 convenience products, making everything from scratch, or (most likely) a combination of the two. Maybe that means eating eggs, avocado, and fruit salad for dinner. Maybe that means microwaving some Applegate hot dogs and leftover sweet potatoes and serving them on paper plates. Or maybe it means eating a Made By Whole30 or Daily Harvest meal, smiling with the satisfaction of knowing a delicious, hearty Whole30 meal is going to be ready in two short minutes with no chopping, cooking, or dishes required.
That feels like a win to me.
XO Melissa
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