415: I’m Done Letting My Health Hold Me Back

Anita 0:01

You're sitting in your doctor's office once again, waiting in the waiting room again, waiting in a paper gown again.

Jarrod 0:09

Those stylish white or light paper blue gowns

Anita 0:12

I know when you get called back, you think, "Great, the wait's almost over." Not so, generally not so. And so now you're in the gowns and you're thinking, "Couldn't they do better with these things? I mean, let's bring a little style or something."

Jarrod 0:25

and maybe just a little extra warmth, 'cause, you know, we normally keep doctor's offices frigid, or at least it feels frigid when you're sitting there.

Anita 0:33

But the frustration is you find yourself there yet again with another diagnosis being named over you, and then also trying to figure out how to manage the diagnosis that you're already dealing with. And then there's the drive home with all that information sitting on you, of the diagnosis, of the stages, of all the things that are going on. And I remember that so well in my own life. And now think about Ruth. Ruth went to her doctor and had gotten these diagnosis, and the doctor says to her, "Well, what do you eat?" Now, it's pretty amazing that the physician even focused on health at all And even thought to mention nutrition, she did, so that was great. And Reese says, "Well, I really love eating this and this and this." She said, "Well, what's your favorite food?" "Pasta." "Well, you can't have that anymore," the doctor tells her. Okay, so she focused on nutrition a little bit, Which is great, but she didn't really get an answer. I mean, hearing you can't have your favorite food ever again, this is one of the reasons Jarrod and I do what we do, because I know that hearing that is not going to help you when you're struggling with figuring out how do I manage these things I'm dealing with. And we didn't go into medicine and nursing to help people manage anything. We went into it to help you heal.

Jarrod 1:49

I remember years ago, before even getting accepted into PA school, wanting to help people, wanting to get rid of these things. Now, the truth is, sometimes you may have to manage something, whatever the condition is, but not near as much as we've been led to believe. Not near as much. An example might be like something genetic, like Ehlers-Danlos, which is a connective tissue disease, and that is genetic in that you have to manage it. But with things like high blood pressure, diabetes, the things you dealt with, Anita, like interstitial cystitis, fibrocystic breasts, fibromyalgia, I mean, all these things we're told are chronic, ongoing. "I'm sorry, Anita, we're gonna do our best to help you manage this, but this is the best we have." Well, thankfully, and sadly for many people, that is not true, but they don't know because their provider is not sharing that information with

Anita 2:43

would you know? If your provider's not telling you and they're saying, "We need to manage this and it's stage this," and then sometimes even going, "You have X amount of time to live." And so you take that on and you start living into what they've said. We're not saying deny that there's anything going on,

Jarrod 2:58

And we're not saying avoid medical help either.

Anita 3:00

No, but there's so much that you can do Because a lot of these diagnoses are lifestyle related, and many times that comes back to the food. That's one area of lifestyle that you definitely wanna deal with because it's one of the big foundational pieces that when you can get it fixed and you find a way to enjoy it and make it quick and make it simple, and it's just as good or better than your old favorites to you, it lights you up. Now you don't feel deprived. you're doing something that naturally heals your body because God has put all of these amazing things inside the foods that he's created for us to enjoy according to Genesis 1:29. So it shouldn't surprise us when all the research studies now show, hey, these things actually heal the body. It's amazing

Jarrod 3:43

these foods are healing. And Anita and I also would like to tell you that nobody in that room can see into the future. No matter what kind of diagnosis or prognosis is put on you, we are not God. We cannot see three months, six months down the road. We can give you the best information that we know in the natural and by science, but we're not God. We're not divine. We cannot tell you that you have only so many days left on this earth.

Anita 4:12

So if a provider comes in and says that to you, you have something to say about it. So don't come into agreement with that, with your thoughts or your words. You have a lot more control over these things than what you've probably been led to believe. So You probably believed your provider when they stated things over you. I believed mine, too. I was there. You know, I went to school for this. Jarrod went to school for this. You're not the kind of woman who argues with someone who knows their field, So you went home, and you probably did what you always do You think, "I'm gonna get more serious about this. I'm just gonna buckle down, and I'm gonna get more serious."

Jarrod 4:49

pull myself up by my bootstraps.

Anita 4:51

"And do what I have to do and just muscle through." The great news is, with whole plant foods, they're healing, and you don't have to just muscle through. There's a way to enjoy these foods so much that it lights you up, and you're living a lifestyle that you don't have to feel like you're being deprived in some way. Jarrod and I see the most common diagnosis in the world reverse on a regular basis. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid, IBS, fibrocystic breast disease, even things like hot flashes that you think, "Oh, that's just normal. Oh, it's just aging. Oh, it's just your genetics." No, it's just not. There is so much that you can do You hear your doctor say things like, we're gonna do what we can to keep it under control or slow it down so that it doesn't get any worse." but as a whole, providers are not trained to aim at reversal

Jarrod 5:48

We're not really taught that it's even possible. That's why you tack the name on it, a chronic disease in school. High blood pressure is chronic. Metabolic diseases like diabetes, they're chronic. The only reason they're chronic is because we keep doing the things that fuel them. But,

Anita 6:08

But- That's good

Jarrod 6:09

straight up, in school, I was never taught this stuff. And now looking back, it's very frustrating because how much good could I have done back in those years before I stumbled upon lifestyle medicine by a glorious accident?

Anita 6:24

When I was sick. Because if w- I had not had a wall with my health, we would have just thought, "Oh, well all the aches and pains we were having and all those things, it's just normal.

Jarrod 6:32

Personally, yes, we would have avoided these issues Cause I went through PA school 25 years ago Anita, her issue started when she was in her 40s, and it wasn't until, like, eight years or so ago that we started learning these principles and started putting them in action. And then that's whenever the changes happened, and they changed very quickly

Anita 6:54

Yeah, and you were saying something about there really isn't a lot of training in nutrition. Maybe you don't even realize that, but most doctors and nurses have had very little nutritional training, especially when it comes to using nutrition to prevent and even reverse disease.

Jarrod 7:08

We get basic information like you need so much protein, so much carbohydrate, which foods have fats in them, which vitamin deficiencies cause which type of diseases, like scurvy if you've got a vitamin C deficiency. It really is basic information, and most people assume that this would be an essential pillar of what we learn And what I know from lifestyle medicine is that it's crucial. There's so many health benefits with food alone that can reverse these chronic diseases, that can promote optimal health, that really it's, it's woefully lacking.

Anita 7:44

excuse And the thing about managing is that it costs you. It costs you stress. It costs you time when you could be working or spending time with your family. Now you're sitting in another appointment. You're standing in another pharmacy line. You're online trying to Google symptoms and figure out what you can do about this, trying to learn how to deal with the side effects that the medications are causing. Managing keeps costing you.

Jarrod 8:07

It's not just dollars. That's definitely part of it, but it's time. It's your shalom. It costs you your peace because even if you're with your loved ones, your thoughts may be, I have this health problem or this specific disease, and your thoughts keep going back to it. You can't be present in the moment and enjoy that time with your children, with your other loved ones

Anita 8:28

And managing almost leads to, don't you think, Jarrod, this idea of having to deprive yourself of something? It's like what the doctor said to Ruth, "Oh, well, what's your favorite food? Oh, well, you can't have that anymore." So now you're thinking, "Okay, I have to take these things away that I love. I have to have these things removed out of my life if they're the source of what is causing my problems." Well, yes, there are foods you're eating that are toxic to your body, that aren't healthy for you, that are causing a lot of the problems that you have. The great news is we're not saying this to make you feel any kind of guilt. we're saying it because if you realize, hey, if there's something I did that might have led to this condition, is it possible? What is the possibility that there's something I can do to stop it and even reverse it? Think about that for a second. And the answer is absolutely. Absolutely, you can. Because if lifestyle is behind so many of these diseases, then a change in your lifestyle can make all the difference.

Jarrod 9:30

in your life can create a 180 turnaround that then does the very opposite. Instead of contributing to disease, it can be what reverses the disease.

Anita 9:39

don't you also feel like if you just take on and believe something that you're told and you're going, "Okay, well, I'm just told I had stage three," whatever, and so I'm at, at the end stages of it. So you start thinking end stage thoughts. So you start thinking, "Oh, well I need to plan. Oh, well I probably only have X number of days left," because that's been said, and now you're agreeing with it. And guess what? Your life goes in the direction of your thoughts and what you say, and all of these things play a part. So now you're more stressed, and you have more inflammation, and your body's releasing more stress hormones, and it's like this snowball effect that if you just believed that you could be well, and that God wants you well, and that he's given you tools that can help you get better no matter what stage has been spoken over you, wow, things could change very quickly.

Jarrod 10:30

you live into what you hear. And studies have been done on this by many different people in many different arenas. I remember even in school hearing someone it was a med student or a doctor that was an intern had mentioned about how someone had a healthy gallop. That's a specific heart sound that's not necessarily a good sound. But they had declared this person has a quote unquote "healthy gallop." Well, the patient didn't suffer ill effect. They actually got better because they heard those words. They thought, "Oh, this is a good thing. My heart is doing well." And guess what? It did. It did do well. And then in that same, same conversation, they were mentioning how someone had some other very benign finding that was, related to their heart, but they perceived it as being something dangerous, but it wasn't. It was very benign, and they ended up dying. I don't remember the timeframe, but I remember they just took on, "This is bad. This is horrible. I'm going to die." And they lived into that,

Anita 11:31

There are so many stories and testimonials of people that we know or people that we don't know that we've just heard tell the testimonials that that is a real thing. And so your stress level when you take those things on and you think, "Oh, well, this is how it's gonna play out," well, your brain doesn't really know any difference about what's happening or what's not. You can s- picture this stuff so much that it actually becomes your reality, and you live out the movie that you played out in your mind. I think that's why God tells us so many times, "Do not fear. Trust in me." And- It

Jarrod 12:06

your thoughts captive

Anita 12:08

and there's a negative byproduct that happens when we're not trusting in God. Instead, we're picking up worry, we're picking up anxiety and fear and holding that in our hand. And when we do that, what we're saying to him is, You are not worth my trust. You're not worth my trust, so this anxiety and fear and all this other stuff, this scenario I'm playing out, this is what I'm gonna trust. This is what I'm gonna believe." And when we do that, we're basically off on our own writing our own story It makes things very hard and can make our life go in a totally different direction, and God knows That's not good for us. That's not the place where we need to live. It's not the place you were created to live. You were created to live in the fullness of all that you were put here to do, and you cannot do that with a body that's sick and piling on another diagnosis and another diagnosis and thinking, "Oh, this is just because of my age. Oh, it's something that's in my family genetics. Oh, it's just something that's happening." You just have high cholesterol. Can I tell you how many of those people that we have helped learn how to eat whole food plant-based that now have normal cholesterol? A lot. A lot. And so this can happen for you. is the reality of what you can live with when you decide that I'm tired of managing disease, and I'm tired of taking on what people are speaking. Again, this is not denying something that's going on in your body. It's choosing to believe what God says, though, over what someone is speaking over you. So get into the Bible. Start looking to what does God say about healing. You start seeing things like Jesus healed them all, and now you realize the same power that raised Him from the dead is the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you. That same power lives inside you. do you not think that if the Holy Spirit can raise someone from the dead, He can certainly help you reverse a disease? And then you start tapping into the power of the foods that God's given us, and we talked about in one of the last episodes. Go back and listen to the last two. They were full of incredible information. But we talked about how many phytonutrients, that's plant nutrients, that have been discovered by researchers that are in whole plant foods that the researchers barely know what they do yet. Many of them, they haven't even studied, yet they're there, And we firmly believe that many of those nutrients have an effect on the body. So we don't have to know all the different things. Oh, well, I need this vitamin 'cause it does this, and this vitamin 'cause it does that. Let's just focus on getting a rainbow of whole plant foods, the power foods we call them. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. The problem comes in when you start thinking, "Well, I like this food, and I don't know how I'm gonna survive on rabbit food." Get around us more. Start learning. Get the cookbook. Go right now to poweronplants.com/cookbook and get the bundle. It is a no-brainer. You're gonna learn how to make incredible foods that you already love in the upgraded way that is going to boost your immune system, that's going to put out the flames of inflammation, help you think clearly, focus, be able to get more done at work. You know, you have all the plans you need for things to do in your business and in your life, but if your body isn't backing you up, how are you gonna be able to do these things? If you're so busy spending hours a week learning how to manage this disease and googling your symptoms and trying to figure out how just to feel good. You just wanna feel good. I know, because that's how I was. You do not have to spend your life managing disease. You can get better. There is hope, you don't have to leave behind all the meals that you love in the name of health. Do not do that to yourself. Yes, there are food categories you probably don't need to eat anymore if you have certain diseases going on in your body, or you don't want to get those diseases, but when you know how to replace meals with different ingredients, it will blow your mind. We have people come over all the time and eat our food, and they're just going, "I know that you don't cook with heavy cream, but this chocolate pudding tastes incredible," or, "This chocolate cheesecake pie is ridiculous," or, "This lasagna is the best I've ever had, and there's no meat and dairy in it." And they're freaking out because they know we don't eat that way, and they don't understand how can it be this way, and we call this the taste and see experience, and that's exactly what you're gonna get when you start making these recipes from the cookbook, it is going to blow your mind. So go grab the bundles right now at poweronplants.com/cookbook

Jarrod 16:50

That's why we recommend and highlight our cookbooks so frequently is because that is your jumpstart guide.

Anita 16:57

Yes,

Jarrod 16:58

You don't have to know how to cook. You don't have to know how to be a culinary expert, which is one of the things that we show you how to do. We show you how you can take most anything and convert it to plant-based. But between the two bundles, there's well over 100 recipes. You're going to find a lot of them that you love, and they're so simple, easy-to-find ingredients, that you now have things that you love, and they align with your health goals. You don't have to know how the foods work. Your body knows what to do with it because God made it to function that way. It's the simplest, easiest way you can get started. And then when you wanna take it to the next level, that's when we have, The accelerator experience

Anita 17:38

And you can learn more about that and get on the wait list to find out if you're a good fit the next time it opens at poweronplants.com/accelerator. Now, We know that you don't have time to keep running on the same hamster wheel. You have God-given dreams to live, and you do not wanna reach the end of your life on this earth before your purpose is complete. You need your body to feel good and be able to fully back you in living those dreams. There are people out there waiting for you to show up at 100%, and you know it. You do not have any more time to waste sitting in waiting rooms or reading one more article that contradicts the last one, or standing in your kitchen at 6:00 with no idea of what to make. I know how exhausting this is because I lived it for years. Just pick one dish that you already love And make an upgraded whole food plant-based version. Pick one from our cookbooks. And keep trying new ones as you build your new favorites list. Yes, you wanna write these down. I promise you, it sounds so simple, and you think, "I don't really need to. I'll never forget it." You will. You will. So just even in Notes, literally it could be as simple as Apple Notes, jot these down and where you found them, and if you made any changes that you liked, write that down too. Because sometimes you have that one ingredient that you add 'cause you think, "Oh, this would be really good on there," and it just makes it your own. If you do that and make those tweaks, don't forget to just jot that down on your favorites list.

Jarrod 19:08

Just do it because you will forget. And y- in the moment you'll think, "This is so good, I will never forget." It's kind of like when you hide something in your closet, maybe you, you're trying to hide a snack from your children. "Oh, I'll never forget where I put this." And then three years later it's, it's like, "Oh, I f- totally forgot I put this in here." Yes. Write it down. Just write it down.

Anita 19:30

when you trade up to the right whole food plant-based recipes, you're going to end up loving the food that is getting you well You do not have to spend your life managing your health. It's time to break free We've enjoyed spending time with you today. If you have gained something helpful from this, take one moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. it will keep this life-changing information coming your way. And until next time, know that you are loved, you are prayed for, and we will see you soon