My subscription to the GenoType website has run out, so it is time to do some evaluation and decide where my family and I will go from here.

The main difference I noticed between the Type O diet and the Hunter diet was increased grain and dairy portions. I wasn't comfortable with this at first because I associate giving up most grain and dairy on the BTD with the healing of my stomach and GERD problems. I've enjoyed hard cheeses like Parmesan and Romano, and I haven't had a problem digesting them. Hunter grain portions are 2-3 per day, and I never got close to that amount. However, I have increased to one grain portion almost every day. Many times I isolate grain as an afternoon snack, but I have been bold on a number of days and had quinoa, kasha, or rice pasta with a meal. My weight has stayed about the same - I may have lost a pound over the 3-month trial. If so, it is probably because I had been eating a lot more nuts and legumes than either the BTD or the GTD recommend. I've scaled back quite a bit, but I still have more than 1 portion of veggie protein a day.

My Honorable Husband has gained weight while he's been on the trial period, but I don't think it's the Teacher Diet's fault. As you know if you read my blogs, he doesn't think about his food very deeply. He mainly eats what is put in front of him. If he's still hungry, he forages for himself. When I read the Type A diet, I saw the big variety of beneficial grains, and I had fun baking for my two Type As. I didn't pay close enough attention to the grain portion sizes - only 1 to 1½ per day. When my Darling Daughter got involved with Teacher Diet meal planning, the grains were dramatically cut, and the vegetables increased. This did not please HH. He has not liked some of the new vegetables. He missed the baked goods, and he has foraged more. DD and I have teased him about becoming a starchetarian. However his recent blood work was no laughing matter. It showed a rise in blood sugar, and he is now just above the normal range. Since I probably can't convince him to eat less grain, I need to start baking again so that the grain he eats will be beneficial. He has liked the increased meat portions on the Teacher Diet.

The Teacher Diet has been a roller coaster experience for DD. There have been really good aspects and really bad aspects. Between my Type A baking and her teenage snacking, she had put on some weight in her hips and thighs. Last summer, she resolved to take it off, and she showed incredible self discipline. She not only took off the excess weight, she took off too much. She never crossed the line into eating disorders, but there were moments last fall when I worried she was getting close. We started the GTD about the time that she realized that she needed to regain some of what she had worked so hard to lose. She is afraid she will put the weight back in her hips and thighs, so she has been diligent to follow the Teacher Diet carefully. She has found it impossible to gain weight on the Teacher portion sizes. That should be a great comfort and encouragement to those of you who want to lose weight, but it has been a frustration for her. She also finds the Teacher Diet to be very difficult in restaurants. She is a teenager and she eats out a lot with her friends. On the Type A diet she could always have chicken and salad. Chicken as a limited toxin and lettuce as a toxin on the Teacher Diet has created a lot of stress. At Mexican restaurants she eats pinto beans, but fast food restaurants are hopeless. Several times she has been at nice restaurants where there was absolutely nothing on the menu for a Teacher. The best thing for DD about the Teacher Diet has been exploring unfamiliar foods. Without lettuce and celery as her standby foods she tried cooked vegetables for the first time since she was a toddler. She has developed a taste for a lot of new vegetables. Most of them like rutabagas and beets are not served in restaurants, unfortunately, but it has been good to see her expand her diet.

So where do we go from here? DD and I have been working on that, and I'll begin to share our conclusions in future blogs.