For the next 30 days, you’ll be eating meat, seafood, and eggs; lots of vegetables and fruit; natural, healthy fats; and herbs, spices, and seasonings—with no slips, cheats, or special occasions. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re whole and unprocessed. Below are the program rules. (Please refer to The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom for a complete list of rules, and use that book to prepare for and succeed with your program.)
Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, date syrup, stevia, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
Do not consume alcohol in any form. No wine, beer, champagne, vodka, rum, whiskey, tequila, etc., whether consumed on its own or used as an ingredient—not even for cooking.
Do not eat grains. This includes wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, sprouted grains, and all gluten-free pseudo-cereals like amaranth, buckwheat, or quinoa. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn, and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch, and so on. Again, read your labels.
Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. This also includes all forms of soy—soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like soybean oil or soy lecithin). No peanut butter, either. The only exceptions are green beans and snow/snap peas.
Do not eat dairy. This includes cow’s-, goat’s-, or sheep’s-milk products such as milk, cream, cheese, kefir, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, and frozen yogurt. The only exceptions are clarified butter or ghee.
Do not consume carrageenan, MSG, or added sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form in the ingredient list of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
Do not re-create baked goods, “treats,” or junk foods with approved ingredients. Re-creating or buying sweets, treats, and foods-with-no-brakes (even if the ingredients are technically compliant) is totally missing the point of the Whole30, and will compromise your life-changing results. These are the same foods that got you into health trouble in the first place—and a pancake is still a pancake, even if it is made with coconut flour.
Some specific foods that fall under this rule include: pancakes, waffles, bread, tortillas, wraps, biscuits, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, pizza crust, cereal, or ice cream. No commercially prepared chips (potato, tortilla, plantain, etc.) or French fries either. However, this list is not limited strictly to these items—there may be other foods that you find are not psychologically healthy for your Whole30. Use your best judgment with those foods that aren’t on this list, but that you suspect are not helping you change your habits or break those cravings. Our mantra: When in doubt, leave it out. It’s only 30 days. (See photo in The Whole30 for further guidance.)
Do not step on the scale or take measurements. The Whole30 is about so much more than just loss, and to focus only on body composition means you’ll overlook all of the other dramatic and lifelong benefits this plan has to offer. So no weighing yourself, analyzing body fat, or breaking out the tape measure during your Whole30. (We do encourage you to weigh yourself before and after, so you can see one of the more tangible results of your efforts when your program is over.)
These foods are exceptions to the rule and are allowed during your Whole30.
Clarified butter or ghee. Clarified Butter and ghee are the only sources of dairy allowed during your Whole30, as they’ve had their milk solids rendered out. Plain old butter is not allowed, as its milk proteins could impact the results of your program.
Fruit juice as a sweetener. Some products or recipes will include fruit juice as a stand-alone ingredient or natural sweetener, which is fine for the purposes of the Whole30. (We have to draw the line somewhere.)
Green beans and snow/snap peas. While these are technically legumes, they are far more “pod” than “bean,” and green plant matter is generally good for you.
Vinegar. Most forms of vinegar, including distilled white, balsamic, apple cider, red wine, white wine, champagne, and rice, are allowed during your Whole30 program. The only exceptions are flavored vinegars with added sugar, or malt vinegar, which is thought to contain gluten.
Coconut aminos. All brands of coconut aminos (a brewed and naturally fermented soy sauce substitute) are acceptable, even if you see the word “coconut nectar” in the ingredient list.
Iodized salt. All iodized salt contains a tiny amount of dextrose (sugar) as a stabilizer, but ruling out table salt would be unreasonable. This exception will not impact your Whole30 results in any way.
Here comes the tough love, heavy on the love—perhaps the most famous part of the Whole30. This is for those of you who are considering taking on this life-changing month, but aren’t sure you can actually pull it off, cheat-free, for a full 30 days. This is for people who have tried to make lifestyle changes but “slipped” or “fell off the wagon” or “just had to eat [fill in food here] because of this [fill in event here].”
It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell me this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black is. not. hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only 30 days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth: the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime.
Don’t even consider the possibility of a “slip.” Unless you physically trip and your face lands in a box of doughnuts, there is no “slip.” You make a choice to eat something unhealthy. It is always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. Commit to the program 100 percent for the full 30 days. Don’t give yourself an excuse to fail before you’ve even started.
You never, ever, ever have to eat anything you don’t want to eat. You’re all big boys and girls. Toughen up. Learn to say no (or make your mom proud and say, “No, thank you”). Learn to stick up for yourself. Just because it’s your sister’s birthday, or your best friend’s wedding, or your company picnic does not mean you have to eat anything. It’s always a choice, and we would hope that you stopped succumbing to peer pressure in seventh grade.
This does require a bit of effort. Grocery shopping, meal planning, dining out, explaining the program to friends and family, and dealing with stress will all prove challenging at some point during your program. We’ve given you all the tools, guidelines, and resources you’ll need in our books and on our website, but you also have to take responsibility for your own plan. Improved health, fitness, and quality of life don’t happen automatically just because you’re now taking a pass on bread.
You can do this. You’ve come too far to back out now. You want to do this. You need to do this. And I know that you can do this. So stop thinking about it, and start doing it. Right now, this very minute, commit to the Whole30.
I want you to be a part of our community. I want you to take this seriously, and see amazing results in unexpected areas. I want you to look, feel, and live better than you have in years—or maybe ever. I want you to find lasting food freedom. Even if you don’t believe this will actually change your life, if you’re willing to give it 30 short days, DO IT. It is that important. I believe in it that much. It changed my life, and I want it to change yours too.
Welcome to the Whole30.