Aviva Stowe vividly remembers her first Whole30 grocery trip. “I spent two hours in the store, reading every label and Googling ingredients,” she says. “By the time I got home, I was too tired to cook.”

That experience could’ve been enough to turn her off Whole30 altogether. But instead, it taught her something vital: simplicity wins. “I thought I had to recreate every recipe I loved,” she says. “But the truth was, Whole30 wasn’t about replacing—it was about resetting.”

So she simplified. She created a mental grocery map, focusing on the outer aisles—produce, meats, eggs, pantry basics. “I stopped chasing perfection,” Aviva explains. “If I had olive oil, sweet potatoes, and some chicken, I could figure the rest out.”

She also learned to avoid the trap of “Whole30-ified” junk food. Instead of chasing compliant chips or desserts, she focused on foods that were naturally part of the program. “You can’t fake real,” she says. “And your body knows it.”

Now, she shops with confidence and ease, filling her cart with whole ingredients that nourish without stress. “It doesn’t have to be hard,” Aviva says. “It just has to be honest.”