LEADER’S GUIDE
40 DAYS to a
H EALTHIER L IFE
FAITH
+
FOOD
+
FITNESS
+
FOCUS
+
FRIENDS
Leader’s Guide
The Daniel Plan Leader’s Guide
40 Days to a Healthier Life
Leader’s Guide, Edition 1.0
Copyright © 2013 Rick Warren
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form,
without the written permission of Saddleback Resources.
Published by Saddleback Resources
30021 Comercio
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688
www.saddlebackresources.com
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®,
NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Printed in the United States of America.
Welcome to the Daniel Plan 1
The Daniel Plan Dream 3
Your Daniel Plan Team 4
The Challenge: The Current Health and Wellness Crisis 5
Benets of a Daniel Plan Health and Wellness Program 6
Your Daniel Plan Vision 7
Getting Started: Step by Step 9
Group Meetings Weekly Session Guide 13
Promoting and Preparing for Your First Daniel Plan Meeting 14
Group Meeting Format 16
Navigating Session 6 19
Weekly Tips for Leaders 21
Continuing Your Daniel Plan Journey 23
Daniel Plan Tools and Events 26
Appendix 27
Daniel Plan Host Interest Form 28
Daniel Plan Next Steps Form 29
Implementing The Daniel Plan 30
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
Welcome to The Daniel Plan
We are excited that you have started your journey toward better health, and we want to
help you lead others to join you. The Daniel Plan is a practical lifestyle program designed to
improve your health at every level. You’ll be taking this journey one step at a time, but you
will quickly discover that small changes equal big results.
Our program is made up of The Daniel Plan Essentials: Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and
Friends. We have found that when individuals address health in each of these areas, they
attain transformational results that last. In the rst year of The Daniel Plan, over 15,000
people from 190 countries participated. The results were life-changing—collectively those
participants lost over 250,000 pounds, improved their health, increased their energy, started
sleeping better, and reduced their need for medication.
Take a look at the Essentials that you’ll be focusing on as you lead others in The Daniel Plan:
•
Faith: God is the power and energy behind all transformational change and that
includes making the lifestyle choices necessary for you to become healthy. As
you follow The Daniel Plan, you will discover that you have a part to play in getting
healthier, but God will energize your efforts and give you his strength to do it
(Philippians 4:13).
•
Food: The Daniel Plan is about abundance, not deprivation. You will be invited to
eat delicious whole foods that bring vitality and energy to your body and mind. It’s
all about learning that even your food choices can honor God and his purposes
for your life (1 Corinthians 10:31).
•
Fitness: We believe the most effective form of exercise you can do to achieve
lifelong health is the one that you will actually do. We encourage you to
discover movement that you will enjoy and treat your body as a gift from God (1
Corinthians 6:19−20).
•
Focus: In a world where so many distractions compete for your attention, it is
more important than ever to renew your mind with truth (Romans 12:2) and break
negative thought patterns. Focus your thoughts on God’s plan and priorities for
your life. Express your gratitude to God and make the choice to dwell in God’s
goodness.
•
Friends: When it comes to getting healthy, two are always better than one
(Ecclesiastes 4:9). The Bible says God created the universe in such a way that
we need each other. One of our key beliefs in The Daniel Plan is that every body
needs a buddy because, in truth, we are better together.
2
Integrating the Essentials can lead to a more vibrant life. Our hope and prayer is that, by
following the plan, you and your group will develop the energy necessary to fulll your God-
given mission here on earth. God will provide the power for all that is ahead for you as you
lead others on this journey.
Encouraging you as we walk this road together,
Dee Eastman, Director of The Daniel Plan
Sean Foy, Daniel Plan Wellness Advisor
3
The Daniel Plan Dream
Before you gather others to follow The Daniel Plan with you, we want you to dream a little.
Picture your family, friends, and church or ministry as healthy as they could possibly be. What
would that look like? What would be different?
By leading a Daniel Plan program in your sphere of inuence, you are joining a host of
individuals who have a dream for better health:
•
A dream to help transform those we love—where those closest to us meet
regularly to support, share, care, and learn about how to be faith-lled, joyful,
strong, t, healthy, productive, nurtured, and whole.
•
A dream to transform our cities—where Daniel Plan support groups, 5K
walks and runs for charity, healthy cooking classes and demonstrations, grocery
store tours, hiking clubs, free nutrition counseling, and health coaching are
available through city-wide health and wellness outreaches.
•
A dream to transform our country—where thousands of Daniel Plan
programs stretch across every state. Where the brightest minds in the areas of
faith, food, tness, focus, and friends gather to launch initiatives to dramatically
impact the health and well-being of millions in our country.
•
A dream to transform world health—where countries from Argentina to
Zimbabwe receive Daniel Plan training and resources in their language to multiply
the message of faith-based health and wellness.
Can you imagine it? God is bringing together the team members to make these dreams a
reality. And the one team member we’ve been waiting for is . . . you!
We are so excited to have you dream with us.
4
Your Daniel Plan Team
The idea of leading a health and wellness program could feel a bit overwhelming. You may
be thinking, I don’t have all the answers when it comes to faith or tness or food. You may
feel like you have to be in perfect shape to be a good leader. Rest assured, that’s not the
case with The Daniel Plan and that’s why we don’t want you to do it alone.
With The Daniel Plan, you can be yourself no matter where you are with your own health. We
have a team of experts who will provide all of the education and training you need to help
you enjoy and facilitate the journey toward better health with your small group or church
(see pages 138−139 in the study guide for more details).
Your responsibility? Just be a great host. You won’t have to teach or answer complicated
questions. If you are inviting, excited, open, and comfortable, then your group will feel the
same. That’s all you need to do. The Daniel Plan Team will do the rest.
5
The Challenge: The Current Health
and Wellness Crisis
Most likely, you are already familiar with The Daniel Plan and how important your health is
to God. The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life
1
includes plenty of information about
the state of our health and what we can do about it. But we want to give you a snapshot
of the health and wellness crisis that can help you minister to others. For the rst time in
history, while millions of people suffer from not having enough to eat, millions are struggling
with the effects of being overweight.
1
With the increase in child and adult obesity over the
last decade, health professionals throughout the United States have been searching for a
comprehensive intervention. More than 72 million U.S. adults are obese, and no state has
less than a 15 percent obesity rate, which is the recommended national goal, according to
the Centers for Disease control.
2
But weight isn’t our only health concern; chronic disease, stress, depression, and so much
more have affected many people in our country. At the same time, movement has been
slowly removed from our daily living, and we are, unfortunately, reaping the costs with
compromised health, excess weight, aches and pains, premature aging, and weak muscles.
We are in a health crisis that is affecting our bodies as well as our brains, yet many people
don’t know it. They don’t know how their healthiness—or lack of it—affects their energy,
tness, productivity, abilities, and stability. That’s why we are so glad you are taking on the
challenge to lead others in The Daniel Plan lifestyle toward better health and wholeness the
way God intended for them to live.
1. Stephen Adams, “Obesity Killing Three Times as Many as Malnutrition,” The Telegraph, 13 December 2012.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9742960/Obesity-killing-three-times-as-many-as-malnutrition.html
2. Centers for Disease Control, Vital Signs, “Adult Obesity,” August 2010.
6
Benets of a Daniel Plan Health
and Wellness Program
Despite the health crisis in our country and much of the world, awareness, education, and
action are the simple steps to turn around poor health. A Daniel Plan health and wellness
program will bring a number of life changes to your church and could affect the community
around you. Take a look:
Healthy and t individuals are:
1. At a healthy weight and stronger
2. More energetic
3. Less stressed
4. More creative, productive, and condent
5. Able to think and learn better
6. Looking for opportunities to deepen their relationships
7. Less sick and absent from church services and work
8. More enthusiastic about learning and life
A healthy church or ministry has:
1. Strong small groups
2. Healthier relationships and morale
3. The ability to attract new members, increase in attendance
4. Stronger, healthier more energetic members with a better ability to contribute to
their family, church, and community
5. The opportunity to be a model and example of faith-based wellness
6. Faith-based solutions for the whole person—body, mind, heart, and soul.
7. A nonthreatening opportunity to draw interested seekers to their church, positively
impact members, families and the community
7
Your Daniel Plan Vision
We already asked you to dream a little bit, but now we want to inspire you to envision
the future for your specic group. The Daniel Plan is inspired in part by the character and
choices of the prophet Daniel in the Bible. One of the things that made Daniel so incredible
was that he was a dreamer and visionary (he actually had the gift of interpreting dreams).
Before you embark upon this journey of leading a Daniel Plan group, take some inspiration
from Daniel and dream big. We want to encourage you to think of what Pastor Rick Warren
calls “exponential thinking.” The idea is simply this: Identify the results you think you can
achieve with your group, then dream beyond them to a goal that would only happen with
God’s power. Here are some steps to help you dream big:
Step 1: Seek
Ask God to give you a big Daniel Plan vision.
Step 2: Pray
Write down the names of individuals you feel led to be a part of your Daniel Plan Group and
begin to pray for each of them.
1. ______________________________________
2. ______________________________________
3. ______________________________________
4. ______________________________________
5. ______________________________________
6. ______________________________________
7. ______________________________________
Step 3: Dream
With God in charge, what could he possibly do with your group? Imagine you have a digital
camera in hand and you are going to take a picture of your group one year from now.
Picture everyone in your group as healthy and as t as they could possibly be.
• What would your group members be able to do that they are not able to do
today?
8
• What thoughts, emotions, and experiences would they enjoy if they were as t and
healthy as they could be?
• What “Big God-sized dreams” could they accomplish with their strengthened faith,
health, and tness?
Step 4: Plan
Set a date to begin your Daniel Plan Group.
Continue to seek, pray, dream, and plan, and watch what God does.
9
Getting Started: Step by Step
Now you’re ready to start leading others in The Daniel Plan lifestyle. So we’ve created a plan
to help you begin a Daniel Plan group full of individuals who are Daniel Strong.
Daniel Strong = A pursuit of excellence in body, mind, and spirit for God’s glory
We will help you:
• Become familiar with Daniel Plan resources
• Learn how to host a Daniel Plan group
• A.I.M. for your goals
Step 1: Equip Yourself with Daniel Plan Resources
We have provided you with all the materials you need to implement a meaningful health and
wellness program that will help transform the lives of your participants. Take a moment to
review and become familiar with the Daniel Plan resources:
The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life is an innovative approach
to achieving a healthy lifestyle where people get better together by
optimizing their health in the key areas of faith, food, tness, focus, and
friends. Within these ve key life areas, readers are offered a multitude of
resources and the foundation to get healthy.
The Daniel Plan: A DVD Study and Study Guide—a six-session video-based,
small group Bible study from Rick Warren that includes interviews with
Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Mark Hyman, and The Daniel Plan Wellness Team—
is an innovative approach to achieving a healthy lifestyle that is both
transformational and sustainable because it is about abundant choices,
not deprivation. The Daniel Plan small group study gives individuals, small
groups, and whole congregations the encouragement and accountability
needed to succeed in a healthier lifestyle.
Danielplan.com is your go-to site to set up your personal health prole,
read articles, watch videos, and nd tools that will help you on your journey
toward better health. Sign up for a weekly newsletter, and stay connected
to The Daniel Plan community at large through our Facebook page.
10
The Daniel Plan Journal is a practical and experiential tool lled with daily
encouragement. Scripture and inspirational quotes are also included. The
journal was designed so users can record milestones related to all of The
Daniel Plan Essentials: Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and Friends. This is an
important element for those who want to accelerate their weight loss and
achieve their goals.
The Daniel Plan Cookbook: Healthy Cooking for Life is a four-color
cookbook lled with more than 100 delicious, Daniel Plan−approved
recipes that offer an abundance of options to bring healthy cooking back
into your kitchen. This eye-appealing cookbook is lled with easy-to-
prepare, mouth-watering recipes.
The Daniel Plan App is the perfect companion to The Daniel Plan. It allows
you to track your personal progress, share updates, connect with others,
and receive daily encouragement from The Daniel Plan Team.
Step 2: Host a Daniel Plan Group
Can you imagine what your group would look like if every member were Daniel Strong,
pursuing excellence in every area of their lives …
• With strong and healthy bodies,
• Focused and renewed minds, and
• Faith- lled and dedicated spirits?
This is a wonderful picture, isn’t it? But you may be wondering, how do we make this a
reality? How can you help your group become Daniel Strong? First, we want to encourage
and remind you that you are not alone. Remember, you don’t have to be a teacher. You don’t
even need any experience in hosting or leading a group of any kind. To host a group, all you
need is to have a heart for people and to open your home or of ce to a group of friends
who want to live healthier.
All of the material and instructions you need are provided in The Daniel Plan Kit. The DVD
curriculum provides the experts and instructors. There’s no experience necessary—just a
desire to support others on the journey toward better health!
11
Step 3: A.I.M. for Your Goals
No matter if your Daniel Plan program or group has just a few individuals or thousands of
people, one of the most important steps to reach your goals is to take careful and precise
A.I.M., a proven process to achieve progress.
Assess: Encourage all participants in your group to assess their present level of health and
tness. Direct them to set up their health prole online at danielplan.com. They will need to
know their numbers for blood pressure, heart rate, weight, height, and body measurements
(e.g., waist and hips). Also direct members to complete the “5 Essentials Survey” on pages
121−125 of the study guide. Let participants know they will take this survey again in six
weeks. This simple survey will help participants identify where they currently are in relation
to their faith, food, tness, focus, and friends. The assessment will also help them to identify
goals for their health.
Optional: You may also encourage participants to complete additional
assessments on their own with a doctor or tness professional. Here are a few
assessments your group members may be interested in:
• Body composition
• Fitness testing: (e.g., push-up test, 1-mile walk test)
• Blood chemistry (e.g., cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose)
OPTIONAL
Instruct: Once all of your participants have completed their health prole and assessment,
you are ready to begin providing support and guidance. Remember, you are part of a much
larger team, so this is where you’ll be handing off all of the teaching and instruction to
experts in the elds of The Daniel Plan Essentials: Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and Friends.
Each week, you’ll be watching a 25-minute video session and using The Daniel Plan Study
Guide to discuss and dive deeper into each subject. It’s that simple.
Monitor: At the end of The Daniel Plan six-week program, ask all participants to complete
the same “5 Essentials Survey” on pages 121−125 of the study guide and update their
numbers and progress in their online health prole to reassess their health. This is a valuable
tool for your participants to measure their progress as well as make any necessary changes
and goals for their next steps. Also, this assessment serves as a wonderful tool to evaluate
The Daniel Plan program.
12
Encourage your group members to reassess their health and tness after you’ve
met regularly together for at least six or twelve weeks. Recommend that your
participants visit their doctor or a tness professional to evaluate items such as
their blood pressure, weight, measurements, etc.
OPTIONAL
By following the A.I.M. approach, you’ll see progress and be able to better support your
group; you’ll also be a part of ongoing research to improve and enhance The Daniel Plan
program and ministry.
13
Group Meetings Weekly
Session Guide
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)
Over the next six weeks, you’ll gather with friends to study the Five Essentials of The Daniel
Plan: Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and Friends. We’ll conclude with a session on Living the
Lifestyle, which offers practical help on sustaining the healthy changes you’ve made.
Session 1
Faith: Nurturing Your Soul
Session 2
Food: Enjoying God’s Abundance
Session 3
Fitness: Strengthening Your Body
Session 4
Focus: Renewing Your Mind
Session 5
Friends: Encouraging Each Other
Session 6
Living the Lifestyle
14
Promoting and Preparing for Your
First Daniel Plan Meeting
Since Session 1 is different than the other weeks, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with
following ideas.
PROMOTION:
Before your program begins, go through the sign-up or registration list of participants
you’ve invited and or who have registered for the program through your church campaign.
(See The Daniel Plan Success Guide for more information on how to promote a Daniel Plan
program.)
Two weeks before your rst session:
☐ Email or call those who signed up to welcome them to The Daniel Plan program.
☐ Remind members to order or download their Daniel Plan resources for the six-
week program:
• The Daniel Plan Study Guide
• The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life
☐ Remind participants:
• Of the date and time of your rst meeting
• Of the meeting location and your contact information
• To bring their study guides
☐ Encourage all members to go to danielplan.com to set up a FREE Daniel Plan
Health Prole. Be sure to emphasize the importance of completing this health
prole because this will determine their starting point for the program as well as
help them identify areas they would most like to improve. You can also encourage
participants to obtain additional optional assessments by going to their doctor or
a tness professional to test items such as blood pressure, blood chemistry, body
composition, tness testing, etc. Let all members know they can also track these
and other health related goals by using the Daniel Plan App and Journal.
15
One week before your rst session, call or send out a friendly reminder to all group
members via email or text:
“I am looking forward to seeing you at our rst Daniel Plan Group meeting! Remember
we will be meeting on [Insert date] at [Insert Location]. Be sure to bring your Daniel
Plan study guide. I can’t wait to travel on this journey of health and wellness together
with you!”
PREPARATION:
Before your rst meeting, you’ll need the following:
☐ Name tags and Small Group Roster (See page 134 in the study guide for a blank
roster.)
☐ Refreshments—See ideas on page 126 in The Daniel Plan Study Guide, Chapter
10 of The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to Better Health, The Daniel Plan Cookbook, or
danielplan.com.
☐ Daniel Plan resources for show and tell:
• The Daniel Plan Study Guide
• The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life
• The Daniel Plan Journal or The Daniel Plan App (optional)
☐ TV and DVD Player
☐ The Daniel Plan DVD—Watch Session 1 before your rst meeting. Select one
“Group Activity” found on pages 25-27 of the study guide to do with your group
during the Better Together segment.
16
Group Meeting Format
Each group session is structured to help create an easy-to-follow and inviting experience
for your members every week. Each group session is designed to be 60−90 minutes and
include the following segments:
1
COMING TOGETHER: (10 Minutes)
This time is a chance to “warm up,” get to know each other better, and cheer each other on.
Keep the tone positive and uplifting. Greet everyone with a warm welcome to set the tone
for your meetings.
☐ Encourage all members to sign in on the small group roster.
☐ Session 1 Only: Introduce yourself, where you live (if you are not meeting in
your home), and how you rst learned about The Daniel Plan. Then ask all group
members to introduce themselves in the same way.
☐ Session 1 Only: Ask everyone to turn to The Daniel Plan Group Guidelines (see
page 130 in the study guide), then read through the page and ask if participants
have any questions or comments. Ask participants to sign and turn in the form.
☐ Session 1 Only: Instruct all participants to turn to pages 121-125 to complete the
“5 Essentials Survey” and their free health prole online.
☐ Instruct all participants to turn to the week’s topic in the study guide and read the
Scripture for the week.
☐ Introduce the video segment.
2
LEARNING TOGETHER (Video Segment): (25 Minutes)
Each lesson in the study guide begins with a video clip that includes testimonies, a message
from Pastor Rick Warren, and an interview with a health expert. Encourage your participants
to use the outline in The Daniel Plan Study Guide to take notes.
17
3
GROWING TOGETHER: (15 Minutes)
Facilitate a discussion about the teaching you just watched. Use the discussion questions
for each week’s focus from The Daniel Plan Study Guide or come up with your own. Put the
focus on how to apply the information to your lives. Discussing the content of the teaching
will help group members understand it better, retain it, and begin to live out what they’ve
learned.
4
BETTER TOGETHER (10−15 Minutes)
Since this study is about changing your lifestyle—actually being healthier—we don’t want you
to only study the concepts and principles. We want you to put them into practice right away.
So each week you will have an opportunity to move together or eat together. In the study
guide, you’ll see next steps, an application point, food and tness tips, and food and tness
activities. Since we don’t want you or your group to feel overwhelmed by the options, simply
select one to do together during your group meeting.
Here are a few group activities and ideas you can use for weeks 1−6:
☐ Session 1: Make healthy smoothies or go for a 10- to 15-minute walk together. See
additional group activities in The Daniel Plan Study Guide on pages 26−27.
☐ Session 2: Watch the bonus video on how to create a healthy taco bar and/or
provide a healthy snack found in chapter 10 of The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a
Healthier Life or in The Daniel Plan Cookbook. See additional group activities in
The Daniel Plan Study Guide on pages 43−45.
☐ Session 3: Watch the 1-minute Daniel Plan Move of the Week video, found on
page 61 in the study guide and perform the move together as a group. See
additional group activities in The Daniel Plan Study Guide on pages 61−62.
☐ Session 4: Instruct participants to go to page 77 in their study guides and answer
the question, “What are you most grateful for?” Have participants take a moment
to share with the group, or pair off and ask pairs to share with each other their
answers. See additional group activities in The Daniel Plan Study Guide on pages
78−79.
☐ Session 5: Ask your group members to share how this group has helped them on
their journey toward better health. See additional group activities in The Daniel
Plan Study Guide on pages 96−97.
18
☐ Session 6: Make this meeting a potluck, and ask group members to bring a
healthy dish, maybe a recipe they learned by going through The Daniel Plan. See
additional group activities in The Daniel Plan Study Guide on pages 114−115.
5
PRAYING TOGETHER: (10 Minutes)
End your group session with a time of prayer for each other, ask a volunteer to pray for the
group, or read the following benediction:
Father, thank you so much for what you’re going to do in our lives. Thank you for giving
us the desire to become healthier. We want to get well. We trust that by living out the
biblical principles of The Daniel Plan, we will feel better, have more energy, and, Lord
willing, live a healthier and longer life. Increase our faith so that we might be a better
witness for your glory. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
ENRICHING YOUR MEETINGS
☐ Encourage members to follow the reading plan for The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a
Healthier Life. See page 133 in the study guide.
☐ Circulate the Host Interest Form to individuals in your group who may be
interested in helping with healthy snacks, hosting meetings at their house, praying
for members of your group etc. (See page 28 in the appendix.)
☐ Invite everyone back, and ask him or her to bring a friend.
☐ Offer an optional weigh-in. Research demonstrates that weekly weigh-ins can be
benecial for long-term weight maintenance. Some of your Daniel Plan group
members may benet from a weekly weigh-in. However, we encourage you
to make this feature optional, since other members of your group may not be
interested and or may struggle with weighing regularly. You can also instruct
participants to track their weight using the Daniel Plan App and or by writing it
down in their journal or study guide.
19
Navigating Session 6
For your last meeting, you’ll still use the group meeting format for Coming Together,
Learning Together, and Growing Together. When you are ready for the Better Together
segment, maximize this time with a few new activities to celebrate what you have
accomplished as a group.
☐ Instruct all participants to turn to pages 121−125 to complete the “5 Essentials
Survey” and then update their health prole online.
☐ Ask the group to answer these questions: What lasting changes have you made?
How, specically, has your health improved (lower blood pressure, reduced body
weigh, medication, or spiritual renewal, etc.)?
☐ Ask each member to track their progress and information using The Daniel Plan
App or in their health prole at danielplan.com.
☐ Ask, “What one next step do you need to take in order to keep on running the race
set before you?
☐ For next steps, encourage your group members to consider:
• Leading a Daniel Plan group of their own
• Going through the Daniel Plan six-week program again
• Participating in ongoing health and wellness events, challenges, and or
groups
☐ Brainstorm how this group can help you continue in your journey toward greater
health? Discuss continuing to meet weekly as a group, including the following:
• Weekly accountability about goals
• Exercising together
• Sharing healthy recipes and snacks ideas
• Focusing on one of the Five Daniel Plan Essentials
• Praying together
• Buddying up for ongoing support
20
☐ Encourage each participant to share what his or her next steps will be. Talk
through the ideas on page 23, “Continuing Your Daniel Plan Journey,” and pass
out copies of The Daniel Plan Next Steps Form in the appendix (page 29).
☐ Take a picture of your group and submit it to danielplan.com.
☐ Encourage participants to reassess their health and tness by going to their doctor
or a tness professional and performing the same tests they did in the beginning
of the program.
21
Weekly Tips for Leaders
Session 1: Faith
One of most practical and powerful things you can do before, during, and after leading your
small group is to pray. Before you meet each week, invite God to move in the lives of each
person who attends. During your group time, ask participants to share their prayer requests,
especially in the Essential that they have chosen to focus on. Designate one person in your
group to record and email prayer requests each week. On your own after your group, pray
for each person’s requests, and watch God move!
Session 2: Food
It’s important to understand that talking about food may uncover a variety of thoughts and
feelings among members in your group. The Daniel Plan principles about food could feel
overwhelming for some people. Remind your members that small steps are the key to long-
lasting success and to adopt one simple food principle a week or two at a time that feels
doable to them.
Session 3: Fitness
Encourage your group members to give themselves grace if they don’t reach all of their
personal health and tness goals every week. Discourage all-or-nothing thinking, which only
leads to guilt, self-blame, and an excuse to quit. This journey toward better health is about
progress not perfection!
Session 4: Focus
Your group is now ofcially halfway through the Daniel Plan program. Just as each member
had a different starting point, each will be at a different stage of progress. Express empathy
and understanding for where each person is at with his or her health. Encourage group
members that this is not a sprint, but a lifelong journey of small consistent steps toward a
healthier life. Help them to focus on making healthy choices one day at a time.
Session 5: Friends
To help your group members understand the power and importance of support tell them
about the MIT Study that demonstrated that having a friend with similar interests to yours,
such as exercising, eating healthy, and improving health, increases your likelihood of
accomplishing your health and tness goals by three times! Encourage group members to
22
begin to think about friends or family members with whom they would like to continue to
meet with on a regular basis.
Session 6: Lifestyle
While it may take 21 days to develop a new habit, consistency in your choices over time
is what will help you develop a new lifestyle. This is your ofcial sixth week of The Daniel
Plan program, but it doesn’t have to be your last session. Encourage and help your group
members to keep growing by setting new goals that are attainable. Develop plans to
continue ongoing care, encouragement, education, and support.
23
Continuing Your Daniel Plan
Journey
Your Daniel Plan group doesn’t have to end after six sessions, and we certainly don’t want
to leave you wondering what to do next. In fact, research demonstrates that to change for
good, ongoing support, encouragement, and care are crucial to sustaining a new lifestyle.
It’s true that we are much better together. If you’ve been in a small group or led one, you’ve
seen the power of meeting together on a regular basis and supporting one another. You
might be wondering what happens after the Daniel Plan six-week program is over and you
enter Day 41 and beyond.
You can offer your group members ongoing support to continue on their pathway of the
Daniel Plan lifestyle. Here are a few ideas:
1
Encourage members of your group to become Daniel Plan leaders.
One of the best ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle is by supporting and encouraging
others to do the same—becoming a small group leader of their own group. By providing
weekly encouragement, care, and support to others, you are reinforcing your commitment
to a healthy lifestyle. To help others in your group consider becoming a Daniel Plan small
group leader, take the time to share your experience with your group. Be honest, and let
them know what impact leading a group has had on your personal health and ongoing
commitment to the Daniel Plan lifestyle.
2
Challenge your members to integrate Daniel Plan principles into their Sunday
school classes, another small group, or Bible study.
For instance, if Daniel Plan members are already involved in other Sunday School classes,
Bible studies, or other small groups, encourage them to incorporate the Daniel Plan lifestyle
into those settings:
• Set aside time for accountability check-ins on their Daniel Plan progress or share
health and tness goals with others before or after their group meetings.
• Ask the members of these groups if they would be interested in going through a
six-week Daniel Plan program.
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• Start incorporating elements of The Daniel Plan into their current group or study,
such as offering healthy whole food snacks or short tness segments.
3
Recommend ongoing meetings:
For those who feel they are not ready or interested in becoming a Daniel Plan small group
leader, suggest continuing to meet together on a weekly basis. Repeat another six-week
cycle. Let your group members know you’ll be hosting another Daniel Plan program, and ask
interested members to recommit for another session. Encourage them to also bring a friend
or family member. For your next cycle, you may want to focus on just one of The Daniel Plan
Essentials (Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, or Friends):
• Come Together: Each week share your highs, or victories, for the week, as well as
any lows, or challenges.
• Better Together: Determine your goals for the week and share them with one
another.
• Pray Together: Continue an email prayer list just for your group members. Pray for
one another and throughout the week.
4
Learn and grow together on a monthly basis.
Use Daniel Plan resources to continue to learn more about Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and
Friends outside of a Daniel Plan group meeting. For example,
• Host a Daniel Plan Rally—Invite local health and church professionals to provide
training in Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and/or Friends.
• Bring in a Daniel Plan Expert Speaker—Invite a Daniel Plan speaker or show a DVD
or webinar to inspire and motivate your church to get involved.
• Offer Daniel Plan Cooking Classes—Invite local nutritionists and chefs to provide
healthy cooking classes or demonstrations to your group or at your church.
• Schedule a Daniel Plan Retreat—You can put the power of The Daniel Plan DVD
Study to work in a relaxing retreat weekend experience.
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5
Exercise together.
Meet weekly or multiple times during the week to exercise and pray together. Be creative, or
use the following ideas:
• Walk and worship together (see ideas in chapter 5 of The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a
Healthier Life).
• Follow an exercise DVD.
• Meet at a local gym, boot camp, or park to workout.
• Participate in a weekly sporting activity on the same team, such as basketball,
soccer, tennis, golf. Be sure to talk about your health needs and journey before or
after the game and pray together.
6
Stay connected with apps and online social networks.
Encourage group members to share their weekly goals, tips, recipes, and inspiration that
have helped them on their health journey.
• Daniel Plan App
• Danielplan.com
• Facebook
• Twitter
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Daniel Plan Tools and Events
Stay tuned: The Daniel Plan Team is working on additional tools and resources that your
church can use to offer ongoing health events and challenges. Our goal is to equip you
with ongoing resources that will help further the dream of making health a reality for your
congregation and community. Visit danielplan.com to stay updated on what we have to offer.
We also want to encourage you to work with your church leadership to provide additional
Daniel Plan touch points for your group members as well as bring ongoing awareness to
interested individuals in your church. We encourage coordinating quarterly or semi-annual
Daniel Plan−inspired events as an outreach to your community to spread awareness and
education about health, as well as bring awareness to your community about your church.
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APPENDIX
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Daniel Plan Host Interest Form
If you’d like to volunteer for a role in our group meetings, please write your name below.
SESSION DATE
HOST MEETING
LOCATION
RECORD AND
DISTRIBUTE PRAYER
REQUESTS
PROVIDE SNACK
1
2
3
4
5
6
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Daniel Plan Next Steps Form
Name: ____________________________________ Date: ___________
What are your Daniel Plan Next Steps: (Please select from the following)
☐ Become a Daniel Plan Small Group Leader
☐ Complete another six-week Daniel Plan program
☐ Combine Daniel Plan resources with your current Small Group Bible Study
☐ Exercise with a Daniel Plan Buddy or Group
☐ Schedule and meet at a Daniel Plan Event. Next Event: ____________________
☐ Stay connected through social media
• Danielplan.com
• Facebook
• Twitter
☐ Meet weekly with a Daniel Plan friend: ________________ (friend’s name)
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Implementing The Daniel Plan
The Daniel Plan name is a registered trademark. In a desire to protect the integrity of the
broader ministry, Daniel Plan Team requires that if you use The Daniel Plan name that the
following guidelines are a part of your program offering.
1. The Daniel Plan is a faith-based health and wellness ministry, centered on
teachings of the Bible.
2. The Daniel Plan strives to transform world health by empowering and educating
leaders, like yourself, to bring faith, food, tness, focus, and friends in a grace-lled
environment where true healing and life transformation is realized.
3. The Bible and The Daniel Plan resources and curriculum—campaign guide, leaders
guide, The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life, six-week The Daniel Plan A DVD
Study and Study Guide, journal, and cookbook—are to be used exclusively as part
of a Daniel Plan−approved program.
4. The Daniel Plan health and wellness ministry is designed to be implemented in a
group setting, with a buddy system, or online (although it can also be completed
alone). We highly recommend meeting in small groups to enhance your sense of
community. Follow The Daniel Plan “Five Small Group Guidelines” in this leaders
guide every time you meet with your group.
5. We expect each Daniel Plan group to be accountable to Christ, a local church,
or the sponsoring organization, and the model of The Daniel Plan established at
Saddleback Church.
6. An organization may decide to use The Daniel Plan curriculum and mix it with
other materials and other health and wellness programs, which is certainly up to
their discretion. However, if that route is chosen, The Daniel Plan Team prohibits
the use of the The Daniel Plan name.
7. Items reproduced for commercial sale using the The Daniel Plan name are strictly
prohibited.
