Whole30: The Shopping

In yesterday's post I talked about how the biggest part of my prep for Whole30 was a massive afternoon of shopping.  I want to keep it completely real as I write about my journey through the program, so here is what my massive list consisted of.

Meats: Ground turkey, pork shoulder, chicken, ground pork
Produce: romaine lettuce, bell peppers, roma tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, onion, carrots, garlic, jalapenos, lime, cilantro, sweet potatoes, celery, zucchini, shallots, spinach, bananas, apples, broccoli, cauliflower, lemons, limes
Spices: Chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, parsley, cayenne pepper
Other foods: black olives, coconut aminos, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, unsalted cashews, coconut flakes, tessemae's salad dressing, rooibos tea, coconut milk (canned), larabars
Non-food: infuser water bottle, misto

The original list was actually bigger, but after going through our pantry/fridge/freezer I realized we already had some of the items on hand.  Thank goodness!

So, after getting my list all nice and organized here is how my afternoon of shopping went down.

Stop 1: TJ Maxx

This was a completely unnecessary stop for the purpose of the program.  However, I already needed to go here for some other things, so I added some things to my list in hopes of finding them here.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any of the items that I originally came here for and only one of the items on my Whole30 list.

This awesome infuser water bottle which was just under $9 after tax.  Completely unnecessary, but I completely despise water, so I'm hoping a fun bottle will motivate me to drink more of it.


Stop 2: Target

Again, this specific destination probably could have been eliminated.  But I needed other things from here, and I had some coupons and cartwheels for a few of the things on my Whole30 list.  I actually ended up getting quite a bit from here, and made note of the prices so that I could compare them to (what I thought was) my last stop for future shopping ventures.  Grand total was roughly $64, but that does include the things I bought that weren't on the Whole30 list.  My big ticket item here was the Misto for $11.

Stop 3: Sprouts

This was intended to be my final stop, unfortunately they didn't have 3 of the items on my list (shallots, rooibos tea and Tessemae's salad dressing).  However, with the exception of the shallots, this is where I got all of my produce, as well as a few other items.  Grand total was $65, which also included a few things that were not for the Whole30.

Stop 4: Whole Foods

Since Sprouts didn't have 3 of the items on my list I ventured over to Whole Foods.  Again, I had no luck with the dressing (I've since discovered you can only get it directly from their website) but I was able to get the shallots and tea.  I walked out spending just under $5.


So, by the end of all my shopping I had spent a total of $143 (give or take a couple dollars).  That did include a small handful of items that were not for the program, but it is still more than I typically spend in one grocery trip.  However, many of the items will not need to be purchased for a long time, or at all, such as the spices and non-food products, which will decrease the cost on future trips.  Now, here's hoping that I actually bought quantities that will last but not go bad before they are used.

If you're doing Whole30 how was your first shopping trip? Would you say it was equivalent to a typical trip for you?

* To see all the amazing recipes I'm planning to make with these ingredients check out my meal planning Pinterest folder :)