On September 16th, I watched the film “The Game Changers” in a mostly full theater in Colonie, NY.
Time will tell if the movie will have the impact it hopes to have on eating behavior in modern countries. The movie contained lots of information meant to persuade athletes to consider transitioning to a whole food plant-based diet. One of the film’s most important messages was elaborated upon on the “Core Principles” page of their web site. This message is their “All or Something” approach to dietary change. The explanation of their approach is below:
All or Something
For a lot of people who watch The Game Changers, their immediate impulse is to overhaul their entire diet overnight. While many people are capable of doing this and sticking with it, just as many run into trouble once they get home and realize that their kitchens are still full of their regular food, that they don’t know where to buy (or how to cook) the ‘new’ food, and so on.
In order to help avoid these common experiences, we strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the free resources on this site, including our Recipes, Tips, FAQs, and Benefits section, and connect with our social media pages. While most people think eating better is simply a matter of willpower, the reality is that being prepared and supported is much more important.
We also encourage you, no matter how motivated you might feel, to move at whatever speed feels comfortable and sustainable. As the saying goes, “perfect is the enemy of good”, and nowhere is this clearer than with changing how you eat. Contrary to what most diet books and programs suggest, each positive step you take counts, and there is no single approach to changing your diet that works for everyone. This means that you — and only you — should decide what speed you want to move at, and how far you want to go.
My Thoughts
I think their approach is spot on! My only disagreement is in their assessment of the amount of people they believe can overhaul their diet overnight and stick with it. They use the term “many”. That’s not been my experience. I would replace “many” with “almost nobody”.
If my assessment is more accurate than theirs, it makes the “All or Something” approach even more appropriate.
If you have been promoting a whole food plant based (WFPB) diet to folks for a number of years, I’d love for you to share your perception on how difficult it is for people to make a major dietary overhaul all at once. Leave a comment!
E Excerpt from Laurie Endicott Thomas’s amazing book Thin Diabetes – Fat Diabetes by clicking here!
People(even the RD’s I work with,one eats Jimmy Dean’s for breakfast) look at you like you have four heads, when you talk about plant based diets,then the famous question “where do you get the protein from if you don’t eat meat?”
People must decide for themselves when,why and how diet change will occur,sometimes people need to hit rock bottom before reality sets in,hopefully it won’t be to late. “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”Ghandi