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My Journey to a Whole Food, Plant Based Diet Lifestyle

Through lots of research, I have found that there is scientific evidence that indicates adopting a plant-based diet can give you the greatest Return on Investment in trying to achieve the best Quality of Life.

These findings suggest that by adopting this type of lifestyle diet is associated with a reduced risk for chronic diseases.

None of the longest-lived people ran marathons or pumped iron. They live exactly as their grandparents before them — surrounded by family and friends.

–Dan Buettner

Some people think plant-based diet, whole foods diet is extreme. Half a million people a year will have their chests opened up and a vein taken from their leg and sewn onto their coronary artery, Some people would call that extreme. 

–Caldwell Esselstyn

I know of nothing else in medicine that can come close to what a plant-based diet can do. In theory, if everyone were to adopt this, I really believe we can cut health care costs by seventy to eighty percent. That’s amazing. And it all comes from understanding nutrition, applying nutrition, and just watching the results. 

–T. Colin Campbell

Why Adopt Whole-Food, Plant Based Diet?

“Researchers have shown that only one way of eating has ever been proven to reverse heart disease in the majority of patients: a diet centered around whole plant foods. If that’s all a whole-food, plant-based diet could do—reverse our number-one killer—shouldn’t that be the default diet until proven otherwise? The fact it may also be effective in preventing, treating, and arresting other leading killers seems to make the case for plant-based eating simply overwhelming.”

Studies after studies have shown that a more plant-based diet may help prevent, treat, or reverse some of our leading causes of death, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Interventional studies of plant-based diets have shown, for example, 90 percent reductions in angina attacks within just a few weeks. Plant-based diet intervention groups have reported greater diet satisfaction than control groups, as well as improved digestion, increased energy, and better sleep, and significant improvement in their physical functioning, general health, vitality, and mental health. Studies have shown plant-based eating can improve not only body weight, blood sugar levels, and ability to control cholesterol, but also emotional states, including depression, anxiety, fatigue, sense of well-being, and daily functioning.

—Source: Dr. Michael Greger, NutritionFacts.org

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My Journey to Continue Living a Healthy Lifestyle

More About Me...

My name is Gina Rexrode I was born in 1968 and was “blessed” with a lot of medical challenges right out of the gate. I was diagnosed with congenital heart defects and several other non-heart related problems that would forever impact my life. My parent’s Faith and doing what was necessary medically, brought me through my younger years until I developed to a young adult age.

During my younger adult years and throughout my 30’s, I lived a life free of any medical challenges. I always stayed active and like to exercise and thought I ate pretty well. In 2006 I was diagnosed with Heart Failure and had an ICD (pacemaker/defibrillator) implanted. Since this year, my life changed. I had to deal with medicine, doctors appointments, surgeries, and insurance companies.

However, beginning in December 2019, a video came across my Facebook page regarding the Blue Zones. It seemed interesting so I watched it and became very interested in learning more. I knew I had heart issues and they told me that the Heart Failure was related to my congenital defects and that at the time “stress” just aggravated it. I don’t have high blood pressure, diabeties, cancer, or any other of the major issues that people tend to deal with as they get older. And, I didn’t want to introduce them to life. What could help prevent that from happening? The more I learned, the more I became convinced that living a Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet (Lifestyle) was probably the answer.

So, I introduced my husband to my interest in learning more and he was willing to join me on this journey. My hope is that you find this site interesting, educational, and inspiring by introducing you to the pioneers of what a Whole Food, Plant-Based Lifestyle is and the benefits. you can gain from learning from their knowelge and the science that backs up their claims to help with everything from preventing or reversing heart disease to weight loss.

*I am not a doctor or nutritionalist. This site is ONLY to provide you with a place to begin about how to take better control of your health by reading about my Journey. Please consult your doctor for any diet or medical changes you may have personally.

My Research Journey Timeline

Friends and family that know that I have taken on this journey have been sceptical and may think that we are off our rocker. But, that being said, we believe in what we’ve learned and feel there definitely is some merit to it. We all have heard our doctor say, “Eat your fruits and vegetables.” However, there is never any followup with that to tell you what you are gaining from certain foods.

As with anything that you want to learn about and become better and better at, it takes time and many building blocks along the way. The videos that my husband I watch now, would not be recommended without having some knowledge of the background of the doctors, concepts, or even recipes that would give clarity. I have provided our timeline of where we started to where we are today. I’ve tried to set this site up like college level type courses. If you know nothing about a topic, usually you start at a 099 class before going to a 101 class. Have fun following my timeline.

Where I Started

By selecting one of the following images, it will take you a page on this website for more information about them specifically and you can then select the links to their website and their own YouTube channel. Many of these documentaries and doctors information overlap, but each of them have their own unique passions that is their focus.

A Rough Timeline of How We Kept Learning…

  • Late Winter, 2019

    The Blue Zones

    I came across a video about the Blue Zones. It sparked my interest so I searched out a few more YouTube videos and my found that I liked what these zones represented – living a long life free of chronic diseases.

    Visited our son in North Carolina for Christmas and his girlfriend was vegan. I didn’t have one clue how to make anything without meat. So, I made the traditional turkey, ham and all the other great dishes that you have at a big meal like that. I felt bad for her, but she said she was use to it. We also ate at many fast food places while we were there and on the road back and forth.

  • Winter, Spring 2020

    Started Slow

    After watching several of the Blue Zones videos, I search for “Blue Zone Recipes” and found the Blue Zones website where there were a lot of recipes available. They all looked a bit complicated and I didn’t recognize many of the ingredients. So, I ended up making a pasta dish without meat but putting in Garbanzo beans instead. It was really quite good. So, I started to try and eliminate meat as much as possible when cooking and ended up being able to cut way back during the number of meat items I made each week.

  • Spring, 2020:

    The Pandemic Hit

    Since we were forced not to go out to eat, this was a great time to watch more videos and documentaries anywhere we could find them. I was introduced to the “Forks Over Knives” website and their app for all plant-based dishes. We decide to cut back on fast food meals and I started gearing my grocery list to include more fruits and vegetables and spices. Although I’ve always had spices, I have learned that they are very important in making meals and that’s what helps bring the real flavor to a lot of recipes.

    During this time when Covid was such a big deal, I ended up writing my reflect in Blog post regarding why people who were at high risk, were so prone to having dangerous effects from Covid. Seemed like there was more a root problem why these people might be “high risk.”

    In June of 2020, my daughter and I drove to my son’s house in North Carolina. I was more open to eating food without meat, but I certainly wasn’t opposed to eating fast food on this trip.

  • Spring, Summer 2020

    Exercise at Home

    Since we couldn’t go to the gym, I wanted to find a good exercise YouTube channel to help me keep in shape. I tired so many different online trainers and thought that I was still in my 30’s or 40’s. I just couldn’t keep up with the aerobic or yoga routines I was doing. I kept looking and came across a gal whose channel is dedicated for women in their 50s and up. She has light and short videos. There are also many that are more challenging, but I loved her style. The site is Fabulous 50’s.

  • Summer, Fall 2020

    Cookbooks and Facebook Pages and Groups

    As the pandemic continued to keep us mostly home bound, my online searches for plant-based meals had picked up significantly and after learning and being introduced to a lot more people who are leading this movement, I began buying their cookbooks. All of them are great. I love each one and when I make a meal, I try to write on the page if I altered the ingredients in anyway or if it was good or not.

    In junction with buying cookbooks, I decided to start following some FB pages and groups. I had become more and more knowledgable about the language of plant-based meant and had learned a lot of new ingredients to use. Back in the springtime, I remember learning about Tofu. I had made a Tofu Scramble for breakfast and it was terrible. Come to find out, I had used the wrong kind and I didn’t allow the water that it’s packaged in to be squeezed out. So, about now, I was perfecting my Tofu air frying skills and learning how to make a good Tofu Scramble and Stir-Fry. I was able to follow what many people had suggested and there were a lot of tips I got from way more seasoned plant-based eaters.

  • Winter, Spring 2021

    My Healthy Manual Facebook Group Began

    I decided that I had learned enough and I was doing so many new meals that I wanted a place to share this info with my friends and family. However, honestly it was for my own reference. I was making so many things it was hard to keep up with what I was doing and if I wanted to do that same meal again, I needed a place to save it for the future.

    The Facebook pages that I chose to follow were from many of the doctors that we had come to know and respect them for the information and changes they were promoting to make people healthier and to reduce or eliminate the need for medicines.

  • Spring, Summer 2021

    Friends & Fieldtrips, IKEA

    By this time I had brought out my food processor and was becoming more and more advanced in my meals. I needed to get organized in the refrigerator and the pantry. So, a trip to IKEA was in order to buy glass storage containers and plastic containers for pantry items. This was a fun trip.

    It had came to my attention that there was a big difference than the store bought Red Wine Vinegar to quality Red Wine Vinegars and what Balsamic vinegars were. I organized a field trip and I actually took fresh fruit and salad greens to the store with about 8 – 10 women so we could test the flavors. Fun Girls Night Out Event.

    I learned about a special wine from Sardinia, Italy (Cannonau wine. The Sardinians don’t drink the wine to get drunk, they drink it for the antioxidant benefits. I went in search of this wine and found it.

  • Summer, Fall 2021

    Milestone Title

    By now I was becoming very proficient in the kitchen. I had a wealth of resources and recipes and started to start Meal Planning a little be better. I found that I would buy a lot of fruits and vegetables and we started having a lot of waist. They mentioned in several of the videos that eating more beans, legumes, and grains, along with greens and fruits, you would start to feel satisfied and not snack as much. A good meal would be enough to carry you throughout your day.

    That being said, I needed to get better at planning and saving plan. So, I started adding my meals to a Google Calendar that would link to this website so that people could see what we were eating and if they were interested, they could click the meal and it links to the original source recipe or if I made it myself, I would write what I did so I could recreate it. I still find it hard to keep up with this on a weekly basis.

  • Winter 2021

    Reflection on the Year

    As the year ended, we were happy with what we had accomplished in taking better control of our eating habits and exercise routines as, as a country, we were bouncing back from Covid. We felt that what we were doing was preparing our bodies to develop a stronger immunity within our own bodies.

    John was very happy with his Colonoscopy results. He had previously three polyps about three years ago and we were hoping for none, but he only had one. We wonder what the result would have been had we not made a change in our diets.

    My family and friends still remained skeptical of this diet. But, that’s okay. They hadn’t learned what we had so I couldn’t hold that against them. Everyone has to decide for themselves when they either don’t want to have health issues. It’s not just genetic.

  • 2022

    Year in Review

    As 2022 rolled in and out (at the time of this timeline post) nothing really significant happened. Continued learning and rewatching the same videos and documentaries we started with. Because we had gained knowledge and experience the things they were saying made a lot more sense.

    The only meat I brought into the house was for the major holidays, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. When we would have friends over to eat, I either made it all plant-based and sometimes I would have fish, but the focus was on the vegetables and salads. No one complained and they actually liked what was served.

Exercise, Education, and Medical Record Keeping are Very Important

Do Your Food Research

Don’t Forget to Exercise

Keep Your Medical Records

© Copyright - My Healthy Manual 2022