Whole30 Grocery Shopping Is About To Be So Much Easier, Thanks To This List

Chances are you’ve seen the hashtag everywhere: #Whole30. But what exactly is the Whole30? It isn’t just another diet invented for losing weight. In fact, it’s not designed for that at all, though a lot of people do use it when they’re trying to drop a few pounds. Instead, the #Whole30 is meant to improve your physical and mental health by helping you figure out whether the foods you’re eating are triggering conditions like inflammation, acne, and stomach issues.

“It’s meant to help you identify foods you may have an intolerance to and it’s meant to be a jump start diet, after which you can add back the foods you’ve missed, says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, author of Read It Before You Eat It. The diet requires that you eliminate entire food groups from your diet for about a month. “The 30-day avoidance diet involves avoiding sugar, alcohol, legumes, grains, dairy, and some other foods,” says Taub-Dix. That gives your body enough time to reset before you slowly introduce what you cut back to your diet.

Fresh fruits and veggies, meats and seafoods, and healthy fats are still okay. But if you're trying to reset your body in 30 days, you might feel like you're confused about what you can eat besides lettuce and chicken breast. The good thing is that in cleaning up your eating habits you may find new recipe faves you’ve never tried before. And another Whole30 benefit is that you’ll get an idea of what foods you’re allergic or intolerant to, or that have an effect on your overall well-being by making you sluggish and tired or bloated.

To make your Whole30 journey easier, Jessica Beacom, RD, the nutritionist behind The Real Food Dietitians blog (which has a ton of Whole30-friendly recipes), is here to tell you you're not destined to eat like a rabbit for a month. You just have to get a little creative—and arm yourself with a Whole30 food list that goes beyond the obvious options. Here’s what you can and can’t eat on the Whole30—all in one convenient list. (Psssst, pull this up on your phone next time you're at the store!)