When Lenore Vale first committed to the Whole30 program, she expected the first few days to be hard—but she never anticipated how tricky the in-between moments would be.
“The meals were fine,” she recalls. “But it was the mid-morning slump or that 4 PM hunger when I just wanted to grab something easy—that’s where I struggled.”
Like many Whole30 beginners, Lenore quickly learned that having a plan for snacks was essential to success. But finding snacks that aligned with the program’s strict no-sugar, no-dairy, no-grains rule wasn’t always simple. “Most of the things I used to reach for—protein bars, yogurt, even roasted peanuts—were suddenly off-limits,” she says.
So she took a different approach: prepping her own Whole30-friendly snacks in advance. She focused on whole, simple ingredients—think boiled eggs, celery with almond butter, leftover roasted sweet potatoes, or turkey roll-ups with avocado. While not flashy, these combinations gave her the steady energy she needed to get through the day.
“I stopped thinking about snacks as something indulgent,” Lenore explains. “They became fuel.” That shift not only kept her on track with Whole30—it helped her pay closer attention to how her body responded to food. Over the 30 days, her energy stabilized, her cravings dropped off, and she even noticed better sleep.
Now that she’s completed her first Whole30, Lenore still incorporates those snack habits into her regular diet. “Whether I’m doing a round or not, I’ve realized that real food makes the biggest difference,” she says. And when hunger hits at 4 PM, she’s ready.
