NRNM: Think For Yourself

In fierce opposition to the ADA’s National Nutrition Month, I’m doing my own advocacy with National REAL Nutrition Month. Throughout March, I’ll post ideas and tips for something you can do to improve your own health habits, along with stuff you can do to painlessly share what you know with the people you love. (All the posts thus far are right here, or click the “National REAL Nutrition Month” label below.)

NRNM: Think For Yourself
One of the things I found most dangerous about the ADA guidelines is that we Americans are expected to digest them as is. An authority speaks, and we’re intended to believe it as Truth.

Harummph.

I have deep faith in the opinions of the nutrition leaders I trust – but it’s also very important to me to stay informed and explore lots of different opinions. Which is why I spend a fair amount of time each day visiting with the online leaders in the paleo/primal/real food world… and why today, I’m encouraging you to explore the opinions out there, too. I love love love that you read my blog – but I want you to question me and push me and read what other people have to say, too.

Tip For You:
Step outside your current community and read a new blog. Pick one, subscribe to the RSS, and read it for a week. Familiarizing yourself with different opinions on this lifestyle – dairy or not, nuts or not, eggs or not, 80% compliance or 100% – can help you decide what YOU think. Yes, trust the experts… but trust yourself, too.

Here are some of the resources that I visit frequently to make sure I can back up my zealotry:
Whole30
Mark’s Daily Apple
Robb Wolf
Loren Cordain
Modern Paleo
Chowstalker
Foodee
Plus any of the paleo recipe sites I’ve listed here

Or go whole hog and subscribe to Paleo Digest, a new blog that compiles paleo posts every day.

But remember: your assignment is to commit to at least one new blog and READ it. Every day. For a week. Learn a new point of view. Be open-minded, but also very critical and skeptical. Chew on what you read. Then decide whether or not to add the new info to your bag o’ tricks.

Which brings me to…

Tip For Your Near & Dear:
If you’re a dino-chow devotee, you’re probably pretty passionate about the way eat. And you’re probably accustomed to co-workers and friends and family raising curious or somewhat judgmental eyebrows. And you’ve probably wondered how to convert them to seeing the light.

To me, the easiest way to open the door is not to kick it in with a hard sell, but to grease the hinges with a gift and kind words. We give greeting cards and gifts for holidays like Valentine’s Day and birthdays, but what’s more crucial than the food we eat? Give a real gift on this totally made up holiday month.

Buy a copy of the Whole30 Success Guide or The Paleo Solution – or even better, lend them YOUR copy with the dog-eared pages and highlights – and as you place it in the recipient’s hand, tell them, “March is National Nutrition Month. I love you, and I want you around – feeling great – for as long as possible. I really learned a lot from this book, and I’d love to know what you think of it, too.”

Then drop it. Make yourself available to answer questions, but take yourself out of the equation and give your near and dear time to learn and think for themselves.