Book: The Daniel Plan.Author: Rick Warren, et al
Info: Copyright 2013 by Zondervan
Where acquired: Gift from a friend.
Why: Several years ago when Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California (also home to the Celebrate Recovery Program) introduced the Daniel Plan, I gathered with a group to take the video course. Unfortunately, the course left me a little high and dry. It gave a lot of dos and don'ts, but not many how tos. Once the course was over, not many stuck with it--OK no one I know of stuck with it and the leaders of the course didn't follow through. When a friend of mine excitedly gave me the book, I thought Why not? My hope was that the book had more meat to it than the video course and reveal the secrets of lasting change.
Rating (on a scale of 1-4 hashtags): # # # 1/2
What it's about: Warren and company presents five keys to total fitness (faith, food, fitness, focus, and friends) and expounds on each one and how they work in concert.
Favorite Quotes:
"What you do with your body sets the tone for everything else." - p. 17
"Health comes from recognizing and using God's power in your life and treating your body and mind with the care that He intended. - p. 33
"When I run, I feel God's pleasure." - Eric Liddel - p. 42
"Being overweight or unhappy is as much a ' thinking disorder' as it is an eating or mental disorder." - p. 202
"Trying to change everything at once almost inevitably invites disappointment. Don't try to change dozens of unhealthy habits at once. Start with a few vital behaviors--the ones that will have the biggest immediate impact--and go from there." - p. 252
What I Liked:
- A majority of the ideas are practical--there was no "one size fits all" approach. As long as one sticks to the 5 basic essentials, methods of achieving the desired result can differ. In other words, if you hate running and gag on broccoli, it doesn't ruin the entire program for you. There are lots of choices.
- The examples of success weren't sensationalized and all the participants weren't cookie cutter examples.
- Scriptural encouragement and examples were cited much more than in other supposed Christian based literature and programs I've dealt with.
- I liked that their use of the "aside box" contained useful information, rather than simply repeating what was already said in the main text. HOWEVER...
- Whoever decided to put light grey/green lettering on top of a light lime green text box wasn't thinking about the reader. Squint city.
- I never knew who was speaking. Chapter one is listed as being written by Rick Warren. The other chapters do not identify the author(s). This made some chapters bog down with awkward sentence structure. In other words, having pronouns running around without knowing to whom they refer confuses the daylights out of the reader. Hello, Sybil!
- Too much "voo-doo science." Yes, we all need to eat cleaner and exercise more. However, there were a few unnecessary pieces of
tripehype thrown in. Things like implying that getting healthy prevents global warming (James Spann would be cussing right now), and trying to invoke shame by saying "humans are the only species who drink milk after weaning." So? We're the only species that can cook and put on pants too, but I'm not going to stop doing those things just because the rest of the species aren't doing it. There's enough bad information out there without ruining an otherwise good book with more of it.
The Daniel Plan is a great jumping off point for establishing healthy routines for spirit, soul, and body. I've already been working on my health for a while, so this is not a new "diet" I'm trying. This is another piece of arsenal in my recovery process.
I would recommend the book to anyone interested. I would, however, caution the reader to take some of the information with a grain of salt (the "voo-doo science" I mentioned earlier). I would also caution not to throw out the entire program because of something you can't or don't want to do. Take it a piece at a time.
So, how is everyone's "Full Shelf Challenge" going?
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