Are you ready to share your knowledge?

Now go out and have some fun, like these crazy planking kids.

Emilie and Shayna Do the Whole30® (While Living In a Camper)

See it can be done from a camper!!!

Resources for those looking at a reintro plan.

I FINISHED THE WHOLE30®

Congratulations! Your Whole30 program is over, and you’ve made some incredible gains. But don’t waste the last 30 days! What you do in the days immediately following your program are critical to the level of awareness we want you to gain from your Whole30 experience. So take as much time as you want to do a victory dance celebrating your Whole30 success—and then come back here and let us walk you through the next few steps, and help you create a plan for life after your Whole30.

Step One: Self-Evaluation

You made it through 30 days of eating good food, and we’re certain you’ve reaped a variety of rewards. Time to take stock of how far you’ve come, what you’ve gained, and what might come next. Learn more…

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Step Two: Reintroduction

The reintroduction period is perhaps the most important Whole30 stage. This is where you really learn how the foods you used to eat (and eliminated for the last 30 days) affect how you look, feel, and live. Learn more…

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Step Three: Share Your Story

Your Whole30 was special—and your results are unlike anyone else’s. Maybe you experienced a miraculous health improvement, slayed your sugar dragon, or effortlessly lost the weight you’ve been trying to lose for years. Or maybe you just have some advice or insight that you’d like to share with our community, and those just beginning their journey. No matter what your story, we want to hear from you. Learn more…

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Step Four: Life After Your Whole30

Taking your new healthy habits out into the real worlds is a scary proposition. We call it “riding your own bike,” and outline a ton of strategies and helpful hints for making your new habits “stick” (and how to pick yourself up when you fall off you seat). Learn more…

Welcome to Day 23!

At this point, you may be feeling so good about your Whole30 that you just want the whole world to try it! But talking to family and friends about how you’re eating may not be the warm and fuzzy conversation you’re envisioning, especially if you press too hard, push the wrong buttons, or choose the wrong times to have conversations like these.

We want you to share all you’ve learned from the Whole30, and we’re sure you want to get friends and family on board with our particular brand of magic, too. So let’s talk about how to do that in a way that won’t get you divorced, de-friended, or fired, okay?

Have a great day 23!

Craft Your Own Elevator Pitch

We created our “Nutrition in 60 Seconds” pitch because we needed a way to describe the way we eat to folks in a short, concise manner. So when people ask us, “What is this Paleo thing?” or “What kind of crazy diet is this Whole30?”, we have a tight, practiced response that goes like this (from the preface of It Starts With Food):

“We eat real food—fresh, natural food, like meat, vegetables, and fruit. We choose foods that are nutrient-dense, with lots of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals, over foods that have more calories but less nutrition … This is not a ‘diet’—we eat as much as we need to maintain strength, energy and a healthy body weight. We aim for well-balanced nutrition, so we eat both plants and animals … Eating like this allows us to maintain a healthy metabolism and keeps our immune system in balance.”

The first step in talking to friends and family about your new healthy eating plan is crafting your own version of an elevator pitch. Take the next few minutes to fill in our elevator pitch worksheet and practice saying it out loud a few times, to hear how it sounds. You may even want to craft different pitches for different populations—say, one for your gym friends, and another for your family.

After completing our worksheet, here’s the elevator pitch Whole30’er Kelly B. crafted for a co-worker, knowing her office-mate was suffering from a bad candy habit, and frequent mid-afternoon energy slumps.

“I’m eating delicious foods—things that are unprocessed and really nutritious, like wild-caught salmon, fresh vegetables and fruit, avocado, and olive oil. When choosing the foods I eat, I don’t need to count or restrict calories—i just make sure my meals include the right kinds of foods to keep me satisfied, so I don’t get cravings or the urge to snack between meals. Eating this way makes me feel lean and energetic—for the first time, I feel like I’m finally in control of my food, not the other way around! And since I’ve started eating this way, I noticed my clothes all fit better, I’m sleeping like a baby, and my energy levels are through the roof, without sugar or caffeine. I’ve never felt better, and I’d love to talk with you more about what I’m doing, if you’re interested.”

Spread the Good Food Word

At this point in your transition, you’re probably so excited about your Whole30 program that you’re dying to share it with others. Everyone has family, friends, and co-workers that they know could benefit from this kind of healthy eating information, but not everyone is ready for your fervent sales pitch. So how can you get your community talking about healthy eating, without being too pushy?

• Start a book club. Let your members know that you’ll be reading and discussing books related to health, happiness, and the pursuit of better quality of life—no fluffy fiction here. Use the books we suggested in yesterday’s Whole30 daily, and kick your club off with a discussion of It Starts With Food.
• Start a blog. Yes, I know, it seems like everyone and their hairdresser has a blog these days. But your goal isn’t to become famous, it’s to share your good information with family and friends—and a blog, Facebook group, or Pinterest board is the easiest way to talk about your journey to everyone all at once.
• Offer your time. If you’ve got a church group, your local gym, or an office with members interested in different ideas of healthy living, offer to present a short talk or lead a discussion around your experience with changing your eating habits.
• Create local resources. One of the hardest things for people new to this way of eating is how to get started—so help them out by creating some helpful handouts. Put together a list of local health food stores in your area, the farmers market schedule, or a list of CSAs offered in your community. Leaving these out in common areas at work, school, or the gym is a no-pressure way to get folks involved and asking questions.
• Be a buddy. Even if you don’t have anyone in your local community dying to know your new healthy secrets, you can still help out a fellow Whole30’er in need of some guidance, accountability, and motivation. Join our forum (http://forum.whole9life.com) and offer to help a newbie through the process. We guarantee you’ll learn just as much as they do, and you’ll make a new friend in the process.

Trouble on the Home Front

What if those closest to you are being unsupportive of your healthy eating initiative? These strategies can help you smooth things over with your spouse, family members, or best friends.

• Your partner/spouse. Blame insecurity (and even jealousy) for driving your partner to criticize or sabotage your new healthy lifestyle. The changes you are making can feel threatening to your other half. He or she may be worried about the attention you’ll get if you lose weight, develop glowing skin, and smile more—or they may worry that you won’t find them as attractive.

Try this script: "I know my new food plan is a lot for you to handle, because we like to split dishes at restaurants and we have fun eating together. But I'm concerned about my health, so I'm working hard to eat better. My commitment to us has not changed, though. Would you consider joining me, or at the very least, support me in my efforts to be healthier?" Have this conversation during a casual moment and avoid doing it before or during a meal, when your partner may be more sensitive to the issue.

• Family. Families often show their love through food. And for many, when it comes to family, you just don’t want to disappoint… which can make family gatherings stressful. The thinking goes like this: Your mom went to all that trouble to cook for you, so the least you can do is enjoy the meal. The pressure for you to give in can be intense, particularly if you have a make-everyone-happy personality, as many people do.

Try this script: To soften the blow, tell your family members about your new goals before your family get-together. Give them a call and say, "I know you enjoy cooking for me, but I'm doing this 30 day program to figure out how certain foods are affecting my health, and I need your support. I’m eating plenty of healthy food and not skimping on calories, but there are some things that aren’t on my plan right now." On the day of the gathering, be nonchalant if someone challenges your food choices. Try saying, “No thanks, what I’m eating is delicious.”

• Friends. When it comes to food, women in particular have a competitive streak. (We’re not deliberately leaving the men out here, but men tend to compete in other areas—money, power, toys.) Many women use controlling what they eat as a status symbol, watching what others order to see how much they themselves can consume and still hold the prize as the healthiest eater. Food-competitive friends may feel insecure when confronted with your new healthy-eating behavior, or abandoned when you pass on splitting dessert. And sad but true, eating less is a sneaky yet socially acceptable way for women to one-up one another.

Try this script: Shrug your insecure friend’s comments off and quickly change the subject: "I'm just trying to make changes to be healthier. Now tell me what's going on with your job hunt." You can also take the focus off your new diet and make plans for activities like browsing for shoes, taking a walk, or going to see a movie. These get-togethers will help your friend feel more secure and take the pressure off you to eat.

Source: Fitness Magazine, May 2012

Additional Resources

Here is an additional list of resources to keep you on track… and keep you from de-friending your buddies, divorcing your family members, or quitting your job out of frustration and anger.

• How to win friends and influence paleo. Our first article on navigating the tricky waters of food and friends/family, including leading by quiet example, picking your battles, educating yourself, and knowing when to fall back.
• Get Science-y... when appropriate. Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple has some science-y rebuttals to the most common objections to eating fat, and not eating grains. Refer to scientific evidence cautiously, however… for every article you find in favor of your choices, your friend can find ten against.
• It’s not me, it’s you. When to say when (and how to draw the line) if your friends are no longer behaving in a friendly manner when it comes to your food choices.
• Four ways to make health a weapon. In this brutally honest article, Candice Clem asks us all to think about our own approach in sharing our message of health with others. Is there something in our own attitude or words that may be turning people off?
• Friends and family. We’ve got an entire section of our forum dedicated to these kinds of discussions, so when all else fails, drop in and ask for help in handling your situation!