Suzanne Graham

I feel as if the clock has turned back to the 1970s when HH and I were first married and I was learning for the first time about health and nutrition. We were both working full time in a megalopolis, never getting home before 6:30 at night. I was reading fabulous new, healthy recipes, but had no time to cook. I laughingly described my cooking style as broiled meat, steamed vegetables, and salad.

Actually that is not a bad cooking style. It’s basic, healthy, and open to variety. I find myself back in that cooking style now. It’s not that life is so terribly hectic. My to do list is busy, but not overwhelming. I think it’s that my days are choppy. I’m at the rehab center for one meal a day with my Mom. By the time I drive in, visit with her, feed her, and run a couple of errands, I’ve spent four hours in town. My Practical Photography business (www.PracticalPhoto-Publishing.com) is beginning to generate a stream of satisfying work. I’ve got my paperwork, Mom’s paperwork, and housework to keep up with. Overall, I do not feel frantically busy, but I suddenly find that it’s time to eat, and I haven’t begun to prepare a meal.

Broiled meat, steamed vegetables and salad is a great fall back position. There is always fish in the freezer. I always have ground turkey, ground beef, and ground bison. I always have frozen vegetables ready to pull out of the freezer, and fresh vegetables washed in the fridge. I can whip up an impressive meal in a short time.

Where the BTD has changed things from the 1970s is my use of herbs and spices. Broiled meat and steamed vegetables take on a whole new life when sprinkled with beneficial seasonings. While Type A and Type O foods often clash, the spices that are beneficial for one of us are usually beneficial or neutral for the other.

I am using turmeric and curry on fish and ground turkey. I have always liked rosemary on lamb, but I have found that it is also nice on turkey cutlets. In fact rosemary, mixed with oregano and sage is a tasty combination. Cilantro is delicious on canned tuna and salmon, and it has the added benefit of neutralizing the mercury so often present in tuna. Cinnamon, cloves, and ginger all add zest to butternut squash, parsnips, and pumpkin. Parsley, fresh or dried, goes well with any kind of meat and vegetable combination. Italian spice mixes are good on zucchini & tomatoes as well as okra & tomatoes. Even when I leave off the tomatoes for the sake of my Type A husband, Italian spices and olive oil alone are really nice with zucchini.

So, though my cooking style is simple right now, my husband and I are not eating boring meals. They are full of flavor and variety. I have not come close to the end of the list of potential BTD spices. Dill, mustard powder, tarragon, and horseradish are beneficial for us both. I need to think of ways to incorporate those into my current cooking style.

I’ll admit it. Sometimes when I’m stressed, I feel like I’m starving. I not only want to eat, I want to feel full. I do not want salad, blueberries or broccoli. If anything those foods make me hungrier. What I really want is a half a pizza, a pint of ice cream, or a handful of cookies.

In my younger days, that is exactly what I ate. I remember with embarrassment what I consumed some nights when I was studying for exams. After I got into Health Food, I substituted whole grains for the junk food. Problems at work or home would send me scurrying for homemade rolls or whole wheat crackers. I’ve given up those comfort foods since I started the BTD.

I haven’t found a really satisfying substitute. Neutral grains give short term satisfaction. But while eating small servings of manna bread, oats, spelt or rice as a snack is not a problem, overeating them when I’m stressed, causes side effects. They are not a viable choice.

What comforts the best is trailmix. A bowl of walnuts, pecans, almonds, and dried fruit makes me feel good. So does a plate full of carrots and nutbutter. If the stress is quickly resolved, these are a good solution. But of all the beneficial foods, nuts and dried fruit put weight on me the fastest. So when the stress lasts several days or weeks, I need something that comforts without adding weight.

My Mom’s stroke and the economy are two long term stresses that I’m dealing with now. There are times at the end of the day when I feel desperately hungry. Sweet potatoes, brisket and turkey are good choices, but unless there are leftovers in the refrigerator, these take time to prepare. I catch myself eating a handful of nuts or dried mango while I’m cooking something better.

I’ve tried drinking green tea or fruit juice and club soda. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it just makes me hungrier. One of the best choices is a glass of juice with ¼ teaspoon l-glutamine powder.

A good comfort food would have to be beneficial, filling and fast. If you have something that works for you, I’d love to hear about it.

I’ve followed the Blood Type Diet since 2003, and I’ve written this blog since 2004. Clearly I think the BTD matters. I’ve talked to friends and total strangers about the difference it has made in the way I feel. There should be no question in anyone’s mind that I know the BTD is important.

I’ve blogged on many occasions about restaurants and certain social situations where it is difficult if not impossible to eat right for a meal. I have advised to always be kind and gracious, never to be offensive, and to do the best you can in those complicated but brief situations. The real evidence of how much you believe the BTD is not your public posture, but what you eat in the privacy of your own home. If you eat right at home, an occasional avoid in public will do you no harm (unless of course you are celiac or have serious allergies – obviously I’m not talking about that).

But there are three circumstances when the BTD doesn’t really matter. All of those are when the desperate need of your body for calories trumps everything else. Poverty is one. People who are starving don’t think twice about potatoes in the soup, or avoid foods in a care package. Prison is another. People imprisoned or in concentration camps, may care about what they eat, but they have no leverage. They must eat what is set before them in order to stay alive.

The third is the condition my mother is in right now – critically ill. Sure it would be better for her Type O body if she ate only beneficial meats, vegetables, and fruits. If she did, it probably would give her a better chance of recovery. If I requested it, the rehab center would take away her dessert and give her double portions of meat. But the pleasure foods keep her eating, and she is as desperate for calories right now as the poorest of the poor. If a few spoons of ice cream in between the spoons of pureed meat keep her opening her mouth for more, I’ll feed them to her.

She has trouble swallowing, and liquids give her the most trouble. We have to mix a cornstarch product into her drinks to make them a honey consistency so that she doesn’t choke. Do you think I am worrying about cornstarch as an avoid? Absolutely not. She must have fluids to survive, and choking on organic pineapple juice or pure spring water could give her pneumonia. The thickener in water must not taste very good. She would rather have orange juice or cranberry cocktail. Guilt free, I spoon those juices into her mouth.

DD is home for Labor Day weekend. She went with me last night to visit her Granny. When she saw the menu she raised her eyebrows as if to ask, was I really going to let Granny eat all of that? Some of the people around her refused to eat any of their dinner last night. There is not an avoid so bad that I would not use it to keep calories and fluids going into her body. She relished the thickened milk stirred into pureed brownie. There will be time to improve her diet later on. Right now she has to have calories, and the will to work with her rehab team.

We are on vacation. Our Strong Son has a week off between semesters. The daughter of some dear friends is getting married. We’re traveling around together for a week, and then will go to the wedding before our kids start back to school. SS picked the rest of us up at the Nashville airport, and we drove to Memphis.

Someone in the family should have remembered that this week is the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death – but none of us did. We arrived in Memphis to find that there is a citywide event honoring Elvis. I was worried that Graceland would be so crowded that we couldn’t see everything.

But I guess true Elvis fans who come back to Memphis for Elvis Week have already visited Graceland. Our tour was wonderful. The gravesite was inundated with flowers. I’m not sure whether it is always like that, or whether this is something special for Elvis Week. There are big crowds at an outdoor pavilion where Elvis impersonators (now called Elvis tribute artists) are giving an ongoing free concert.

Finding BTD compliant food on vacation is always a challenge. We finished our tour about lunchtime. Of the available restaurants in the Graceland area, the Chrome Grill seemed to have the most potential. I was inclined to have Memphis Barbeque. SS advised against it. He said that while barbeque in Texas means brisket, barbeque in the East usually means pulled pork. I asked, and sure enough, they were serving pulled pork.

There was a sign on the menu that said meatloaf was one of Elvis Presley’s favorite meals. The trouble with ordering meatloaf in a restaurant is that you don’t know how much wheat and what kinds of additives are in it. I passed on the meatloaf and chose a grilled chicken breast.

It came with three side orders. I chose baked beans, green beans, and sweet potatoes. SS told me that Eastern barbeque sauce is sweeter than the sauce on Texas barbeque. Indeed the beans were in a sweet sauce that was tasty. I’ll admit that I dipped my chicken in the sauce, pretending that it was barbequed chicken. The green beans were cooked southern style, which probably meant with salt pork, but they were delicious. The sweet potatoes were covered with a cinnamon sauce.

You could say that my basic meal was beneficials and neutrals, but the seasonings and sauces contained small levels of avoids. Knowing that did not keep me from enjoying my lunch.

Our hotel has a nice fitness room, including some free weights. DD, SS and I all worked out before having a totally beneficial picnic dinner in our room.

The stiffness in my finger has responded to a combination of three supplements.

In the spring when my knee was giving me trouble, I blogged that I was also waking with stiffness in my right ring finger. It felt like I had jammed it, but I didn’t remember an injury.

I haven’t complained in the intervening weeks, but I have waked every morning with a stiff and painful finger that got better as I used it during the day.

A week ago, I started taking three supplements for inflammation – quercetin, bromelain, and turmeric. I took one capsule of each at breakfast and supper. The first week there was no discernable difference. Yesterday, however, I woke with almost no pain. During the day the pain was completely gone. This morning there was only a slight twinge of stiffness.

I am very optimistic, and very, very pleased.

I am at my Mom's house this weekend, and I read a column by Dear Abby that could have been written about someone on the BTD. Here is the letter, written by a mother and grandmother who Abby nicknamed Stumped.

"Dear Abby: Over the past two years my daughter and son-in-law have lost a lot of weight. They as well as my grandsons eat very little and don't like having to order food. My problem is not knowing how to celebrate without food. When I think of holidays, I think of a family meal. Any ideas?"

This is the other side of the coin, and I think that those of us on the BTD need to give our friends and relatives a little help. I can imagine that the writer of this letter has been brought up to think of food as a way of showing love. She shows people she cares by preparing a large (and probably delicious) meal. She doesn't know how to say "Happy Birthday" without a cake. She doesn't know how to say "Merry Christmas" without candy, and she doesn't know how to say "Good Morning" without bacon.

In her mind, when the daughter and the grandchildren reject her food, they are rejecting her as well and they are spurning her love. There are a lot of people out there like Stumped, and they aren't all mothers and grandmothers. Some of them are friends and neighbors.

They aren't going to want to hear a lecture about diet and exercise. I'm guessing that Stumped, after years of celebrating with food, is probably overweight herself. Seeing her daughter's family looking fit makes her feel guilty. They do deserve some kind of explanation. I've started saying, "I don't eat bread because it upsets my stomach." It's true, and it's brief. Plus, it's hard for someone to come back and insist that I eat something that I just said would make me feel bad.

I often volunteer to bring something to a celebration meal. That helps the hostess, and it helps me too because I know that there will be something that my family and I can eat with enthusiasm.

Abby had some good ideas. She urged Stumped to think of activities other than food. She suggested a movie, a sporting event, or a hike. She suggested bringing along healthy snacks like fruit and vegetables. There are no guaranteed solutions. I can just imagine Stumped showing up with a bag o orange slices for a family of Type Os and Type As. That would be a disaster!

If you have a technique that has smoothed things over with someone like Stumped, I hope you will add it as a comment to this blog. I don't want to jeopardize my health, but I do want to be aware that there are lovely people on the other side of the coin who haven't discovered the BTD...yet.

Our family loves to watch movies. My first date with HH was to a movie. We purchased our first VCR because SS was such a fussy baby that we dared not take him to a theater. When the kids were growing up, we looked forward to Friday “dinner and a movie” on the living room floor. Because I was a health nut, I bought an air popcorn popper – no palm oil or microwave popcorn for my family.

After the BTD, I gave up popcorn, but still made it for HH and DD since corn was a neutral food for them. Then HH’s blood sugar went over the line into pre-diabetes territory, and popcorn was banned from the living room. We all missed it. DD loves to look in the Blood Type Diet Recipe Center for new foods to try. She found a recipe for a popcorn substitute. We have made it twice now with our Friday night movies.

The first time we made it, we had serious doubts about whether it would work. We were “popping” walnuts and pumpkin seeds in a covered sauce pan as if they were popcorn. But it works just like the recipe says. You hear the pumpkin seeds start to pop, and you shake the sauce pan to keep them from burning. When the popping stops, they are ready.

We have not added the nutritional yeast. I know I would like it – I eat nutritional yeast in my breakfast every morning. However, we wanted the flavor to be as much like popcorn as possible for HH, and nutritional yeast can be a little strong for the uninitiated. DD, SS and I love faux popcorn. DD thinks it is better than the real thing. HH would still prefer popcorn, but since that is not an option, he is willing to accept this as an alternative.

The popped seeds have a roasted flavor similar to popcorn, but they are delicious in their own right. The biggest difference between popcorn and faux popcorn is that the popcorn is mostly air, so you can eat a lot of it. Since these are nuts, you wouldn’t want to eat a whole bowlful. Type “faux” in the search box in the Recipe Center and you’ll find detailed instructions.

In honor of the 4th of July, I served red, white, and blue food last night for a church party at our house. The food at church parties is like the food at parties everywhere – mostly chips and desserts with an occasional veggie or fruit tray. I didn’t want to do chips or desserts, because I didn’t want leftovers. As long as there is no junk food in the house, my Honorable Husband sticks to the BTD and keeps his blood sugar in the normal range, but if corn or sugar based snacks are available he eats them.

I decided that since the weather has been so hot and dry, that I would just serve fruit. It sounded cool and refreshing to me. At the store DD and I joked that the fresh fruit colors went along with the 4th of July. The idea stuck with me, and I decided to go with the theme.

At one end of my dining room table I had a big white bowl filled with watermelon. (By the way, the yellow spot technique that I blogged about earlier has worked. I have a 100% record for sweet watermelons this year.) At the other end of the table I had a tray arranged with cherries, white grapes and blueberries in stripes. I made a centerpiece of paper firecrackers and American flags. I used white plates and red napkins. It was very cute.

I served peppermint green tea and pineapple juice. Two people told me how glad they were that I served fruit. The youth really enjoyed the green tea. Best of all, we can freely enjoy the leftovers.

I can’t resist saying a word about the title of this blog. When I was in high school I worked at Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Parlor. That is where I first heard the phrase “Red White and Blueberry.” It was their featured July flavor of the month. Thinking of myself working at an ice cream parlor makes me shake my head and smile. I’ve certainly come a long way since then!

Book Babes (a neighborhood book exchange club) met at my house this week. It was fun to get out the nice dishes and tablecloths. I don’t get to use them often in our casual culture. It was just too hot to brew coffee. I made green tea with peppermint, peach juice, and regular black tea. I sliced fresh fruit for a platter, and I made a walnut torte.

The ladies really liked the green tea. They also liked the walnut torte. No one could believe that it was made entirely without flour of any kind. In the course of answering questions, I wound up explaining how I got started on the Blood Type Diet. One lady had a sister in law who is on the diet. The others had never heard of the BTD. They were fascinated with the concept until I said that the two worst foods for Type Os were wheat and dairy.

One lady blurted out, “ I couldn’t live without cheese.”

This, I think, is the difficulty with mass acceptance of the BTD. A part of the world is so used to abundance and affluence that they can’t imagine depriving themselves of a food they like, even if it would improve their health. Another part of the world is so poverty stricken that they are trying to get enough calories to fend off starvation. They can’t afford to worry about avoid foods; they just need food.

I had to make a quick decision about avoids in a restaurant. Did I make the right choice? I’m not sure. Here is the whole story.

I’m spending every 2nd or 3rd weekend with my Mom. She has friends from church who come to see here, but still she gets lonely. She also needs my help with the mail and the bills. I’m blessed that my husband and kids are self sufficient so I can leave them on their own. A month or so ago I had stopped to get gas on the way home and noticed a Mediterranean restaurant across the street. I needed food for the road, so I went in.

The lamb shawarma looked good, and the owner recommended hummus. I said, “What’s hummus?” After giving me a look of pity, he explained that it was made of chickpeas and tahini – beneficial and super beneficial respectively for Hunters. He gave me a taste and it was delicious. While I was waiting for my food, I wandered into the grocery section of the restaurant. I found canned fava beans! What a treat, I bought four cans. I also found Turkish delight. (I have wanted to taste Turkish delight ever since I first read “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.” In my humble opinion, it’s ok, but not worth selling your soul for.)

I ate the lamb, salad and hummus out of the wrap. It was a little messy in the car, especially since I had to pick the cucumbers out of the salad, but it was so good that it was worth it. The canned favas didn’t stay on the pantry shelf for long, either. Since then, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to go back. I told my Mom that I would bring her a surprise for dinner Friday night.

I ordered two lamb dinners. They came with salad, rice, and hummus. All was well until the owner asked me which kind of rice I wanted. I could have white rice – neutral for Type O Hunters - however refined rice goes against the grain of my Health Food background. Or I could have brown rice – Hunter beneficial - seasoned with yummy spices. But there were lentils – avoid for Type Os – added to the brown rice.

It was a tough decision. I remember one of the early bloggers asking if he was in a restaurant and ate a beneficial and an avoid, did it equal two neutrals? I also remember Dr. D pointedly answering No, that it didn’t work that way. I had to make a quick decision. Empty calorie refined rice or brown rice laced with an avoid? I chose the brown rice.

This is why eating out is hard. I get to eat beneficial foods that I don’t have a way to prepare for myself, but I can’t control all of the ingredients. If there had only been one kind of rice, I wouldn’t have worried about it, because I do not obsess about avoids that I can’t control. But in this case I had to choose between two imperfect options. For sure I made a delicious choice. And I felt better when I looked at food list and saw that though lentils are avoid for Os, they are just black dot for Hunters. I think I answered my own question as I typed this last paragraph. An occasional avoid in a restaurant is not worth obsessing about either way – and it’s certainly not worth spoiling an otherwise yummy and beneficial meal.

My Strong Son is starting his second physical therapy internship in the same city where my Darling Daughter goes to college. The first week of his internship was the last week of her freshman year. They had a lot of fun hanging out at night. He watched basketball while she studied for finals, then they went to the gym together. On Friday my husband and I joined them for much more than Mother’s Day. It was Mother’s Weekend.

Friday night they took me to a local steak house for dinner. My steak came with grilled onions and peppers, green beans, and a huge sweet potato. While we were waiting for our meal, they gave me my first gift. It is a balance disc. DD has used them at the college gym this year. SS has used them with patients at PT school. They tell me that as I use it with my regular weight exercises, it will force me to use my abs and strengthen my core. I can hardly wait to get it home and try it.

After dinner we went to a two mile hike and bike trail. The landscaping was very well done, and lots of people were out getting their evening exercise.

Saturday morning we went to the zoo. The weather was cool, and the animals were really active. We saw flamingos fighting over nesting sites, jaguars climbing trees, and lions strolling majestically. We got to the monkey cages at feeding time. The colobus monkeys were munching on kale and collards. They don’t like the tough inner stems any more than people do. But their obvious enjoyment of the raw leaves, made DD and me decide to try one of the raw kale salad recipes this summer.

SS’s girlfriend and her mom came to see us Saturday afternoon. They were bringing DD some rugs, accessories, and knick knacks for her apartment next year. We all went out for barbeque for dinner. The turkey was delicious, and I got to choose my own vegetables from a buffet line. After dinner we went to a paleteria. This was my first visit to a Mexican ice cream shop. I tasted several flavors, but finally chose a mango paleta. It looked like a Popsicle or ice cream bar, but it was made with fresh fruit. I had expected it to be very sweet, like a Baskin Robbins ice, but it wasn’t. I’m sure some sugar was added, but it certainly wasn’t an excessive amount.

Sunday morning the kids came to the hotel to pick us up for church. They brought me a lovely bouquet of yellow flowers – daises, roses, and some little flowers I’m not familiar with. After church we had Chinese food at a local restaurant DD likes because they will custom steam her food the way she likes it. It was delicious – just fresh food – no chemicals added.

It’s been a wonderful Mother’s Weekend – great food, exercise every day, and being with my favorite people in the whole world.

I introduced my book club to the Blood Type Diet yesterday. All of the ladies were interested and receptive.

Book Babes got its start when two friends became disillusioned with the immorality and dirty language in the books they were asked to read and review for a local book club. They began a club for ladies with a little more conservative world view. Rather than assign a book for everyone to read, each lady brings two or more books from her personal collection to the meeting. You tell a little about your book. Other members can borrow it for a month.

Yesterday I took Atlas Shrugged, Lord Change Me, and Live Right 4 Your Type. The hostess served fudge, spiced cookies, strawberries, quiche, and coffee. As we were eating, one of the ladies said something about wishing she could lose some weight, but always being hungry.

I jumped in saying that was the perfect segue to one of my books. I talked about all of the popular diets and how each had statistics to prove that it was right, yet they were all in conflict. I then said that the Blood Type Diet was the best predictor of what kind of diet you would do best on. A Type A who has often wanted to be a vegetarian, but has been scared to try it because she didn’t think it was a “balanced diet” took my book. Two other ladies wrote down the title and said they were going to buy it on Amazon rather than waiting for next month.

I warned them that this was not an easy diet, pointing to my plate and explaining why I hadn’t eaten the crust to my quiche and why I had declined the fudge and cookies. I also said that I had been on this diet since 2003 and that the health benefits had been far greater than I could ever have imagined.

We spent the weekend with a lot of friends and relatives. Everywhere we went people talked about wanting to be healthy. For my generation this is a big change. I’ve been made fun of for years for being “such a health nut.”

My husband’s family had a reunion on Saturday. We stayed with one of his cousins and had a wonderful sharing stories and looking at pictures. They took us to a North Texas Mexican restaurant where this South Texan had the best taco salad I’ve ever eaten. For breakfast the next morning they served bacon and eggs. My eyes met HH and we silently agreed to be gracious and make the best choices possible. As we ate, the cousins said what a treat this breakfast was for them. They are trying to eat healthy and never eat bacon and eggs any more. I ate lots of eggs (They “help heal and regenerate “ a Hunter’s digestive tract). I did have one piece of bacon, but no toast. Happily for us, they served grape juice instead of orange juice.

Lunch at the reunion was covered dish. Most covered dish dinners are Type O disasters – lots of grain, lots of cheese, and lots of sauces. Because we were coming from out of town, I had planned to go to the grocery store and pick up bags of greens for a salad. I thought that way I would be sure to have something that I could eat. However the cousin said she was taking a fresh spinach salad with walnuts and craisins. So I decided to go with fruit. I think Swine Flu and ProBerry were on my mind. I made the salad with blueberries, strawberries, cherries, and pineapple. It was colorful and healthy. I went to the reunion knowing now that there would be at least two things for me to eat.

I was surprised. I was delighted. There was lots of Type O food – turkey, brisket, onions, carrots, peas, and more. I filled my plate twice, and never ate an avoid. Naturally, there were desserts and pasta salads, but clearly a lot of the family is eating healthy.

After the reunion HH and I drove to my Mom’s house to visit with her. The next day as we headed for home, we met some friends for dinner at Chilis. I ordered my usual old-timer hamburger with broccoli instead of fries and black beans instead of the bun. Our friends are going to an alternative medicine doctor who uses some kind of machine to determine an individual diet for them. The man was Type A, and the machine had him on a diet that was remarkably like they Type A diet. The woman did not know her blood type, but the diet she is on has solved several health issues. Both of them talked about how hard it is to change the way they have eaten all their lives. But both realize that they have to change if they want to be healthy.

Not everyone has found the BTD (yet) but I am encouraged to find friends and family beginning to notice that what they eat really does impact how they feel.

This week has flown by. Going to see my Mom and getting serious again about job applications have distracted me from blogging. I’ve been to three luncheons in the past week. That’s a higher than usual number of meals eaten in restaurants. Each presented it’s own BTD challenges.

Last Wednesday I attended the Tea Party across from the Courthouse in our county. After the Tea Party, two friends and I went out to lunch. We chose a local restaurant that I have passed many times, but never tried. They had a plate lunch that comes with a vegetable and a salad. It sounded perfect until I asked what the vegetable of the day was. “Corn,” said the server. I was not going to get into an argument, but corn is not a vegetable!!! I abandoned the idea of meat and vegetables, and ordered an omelet. I have been intrigued by a line in one of the GenoType daily e-mails that said regarding Hunters, “To help heal and regenerate your digestive tract, aim to eat seven to nine eggs a week.” This omelet contained NO bacon, sausage or ham. Instead it was loaded with beneficial vegetables. It was a good and filling choice.

Friday I returned to my hometown to visit my Mom. The trip was scheduled to coincide with the funeral of the father of my best friend from elementary and high school. After the service, the family invited me to join them for lunch Chili’s. I like eating there, because they are quite agreeable to serving me a hamburger with broccoli instead of fries, and they are very generous in their broccoli portions. The topic of conversation for most of the meal was dieting. My friend and her husband are on a variation of the Atkins diet that has them only drinking Atkins shakes. A cousin has recently had stomach-stapling surgery. She ate about 1/3 of her meal, and took the rest home in a to go box. An aunt is thinking of paying high dollar for a doctor-monitored program. I said I was had been on the Blood Type Diet since 2003. None of them had heard of it, and the level of interest varied. My friend is Type O. She was relieved that the low carb approach of Atkins was heading in the right direction. The cousin specifically chose stomach stapling because she did not want to ever be on another low carb diet. The aunt seemed to think that paying a high price and having a doctor’s input would motivate her. It illustrated to me the confusion of people who are confronted with so many contradictory diets, but no one blinked an eye when I dumped my hamburger out of the bun and left it behind.

Today I attended a ladies’ luncheon in the town where I live. I realize that I may need to do a little networking, and develop some stronger ties here, in order to find a job. I met some delightful women; some of whom I hope will become friends. The menu was fajitas. I knew I could make a meal out of the meat and lettuce. However they also served green beans! I don’t usually associate green beans with Tex-Mex food, but I was certainly glad to see them. They were well seasoned, though I couldn’t quite identify what the seasoning was. We did not talk about dieting, but as I looked around the table, I noticed that I was not the only one who said “No” to tortillas.

After three luncheons so close together, I’m ready to eat food from my own kitchen for a while.

DD came home for the weekend to attend a training session for her summer job. Her roommate came with her to enjoy a few days of warm weather in the country. The roommate is also Type A, and she has been curious to watch how DD has eaten this semester. DD and I planned the weekend’s meals around beneficial foods that are favorites of hers. We had salmon (her family doesn’t eat much fish) and black eyed peas (which she gets only at New Years).

I wanted to fix spinach, because it is the most socially acceptable of the cooked greens. I suggested one of my favorites – spinach, raisins, and almonds - but DD reminded me that raisins are toxic for Teachers. So we used dried cherries instead. It was fabulous. I’ll never go back to raisins again.

Sunday night after they left, I had a craving for fried okra. Someone had posted on the Forum that they oven fried asparagus the same way I oven fry sweet potato chips. If it works for asparagus, why not okra? I poured thin film of light olive oil on a cookie sheet and added frozen chopped okra. I cooked it at 400 degrees, stirring every 5 minutes or so. I decided it was done when it was a little brown on the edges. That night when it was fresh and hot it was very good. I’ll admit it’s not as tasty as deep fried okra - usually coated in wheat flour and corn meal - but since that is no longer an option, this is a good substitute. I ate the left overs the next day. They were not as good – a night in the refrigerator cancelled all of the crispness.

I got my cholesterol report from when I gave blood in February. It is an improvement over my previous cholesterol report, but not quite what I had hoped. Last year my triglycerides were 72, and my ratio was 3.0 – both excellent readings. But for the first time in my life my LDL bumped above the magic 130 number. It was 150.

Some would have advised me to abandon beef and lamb which are so good for Type Os, but I knew better. I stayed with beneficial foods. I had become very liberal in my servings of beneficial oils and nuts. I cut those portions back within the BTD guidelines. I also added extra Vitamin B6.

The new report shows my triglycerides at 71 and my ratio at 2.9 – still excellent. My LDL has dropped to 135. I have let paperwork encroach on my exercise time way too often since my Dad passed away. I’ve missed the release of tension that exercise always gives me. Now I have a double reason for making sure that I don’t let desk duties distract me. I’ve also added some time release niacin just to make sure that the LDL isn’t sticking anywhere that it shouldn’t be. I’ll let you know what happens in six months.

Those of us who are interested in diet and nutrition are more attuned to little changes in our bodies. That goes doubly for people who frequent sites on the internet like the BTD website. I like to think that if something was seriously wrong, I’d notice it early. I’ve noticed several changes since Thanksgiving and Christmas.

My cold sore came back. Because they are caused by a virus, once you get one, you have to watch out for reoccurrences for a couple of years until they run their course. I thought I had beat mine into total submission, but I had to fight it back again.

One day I bumped something with my hand and it hurt. The knuckle on my ring finger was tender. I thought I must have jammed it, but when the pain persisted for two weeks, I had to face reality that something was going on with my joint. Not good. This on top of my knee pain made me feel really old.

My hemorrhoid returned. I have had good results with home remedies for hemorrhoids, but this time nothing worked. I relented and got an OTC preparation. It contained cocoa butter, and caused an allergic reaction. That was terrible! I went to the doctor who prescribed a cream. I don’t like being on prescription medication, but I had to have relief, and the cream worked fast.

Worst of all I started having a pain in the middle of my chest. It was similar, but not identical to the GERD pains that I had before I went on the BTD. After six years had the BTD stopped working? One day it hit so hard when I was walking that I wondered if I was having a heart attack.

I started thinking, and trying to figure out what was going on. The cold sore was definitely stress related. I’ve been under plenty of stress since Thanksgiving, no doubt about that. I wrote a blog in 2006 about the “Life Change Events Study” that calculated how changes in life – whether good or bad – predisposed someone to illness. When I wrote the blog, my score was 190. I calculated my total again. Now it is 400. (Here is a link to the point list http://www.dadamo.com/B2blogs/blogs/blog1.php/earlier-blogs/suddenly-sick )
I started to look at the other problems. Adelle Davis calls arthritis “a disease of adrenal exhaustion.” The stress connection to joint pain is obvious. What about the hemorrhoid? I’m not constipated, and I’m not overweight, and I’m certainly not pregnant. Those are the three main causes. I thought about the cream that the doctor prescribed – it was a steroid cream - another connection to stress and adrenal fatigue. I read the BTD Encyclopedia anti-stress protocol and began to implement it. I also added extra B Vitamins.

That left the chest pain. I have been so careful about avoids – especially wheat and dairy. I did not want to believe my stomach inflammation had returned in spite of the BTD. I didn’t want to believe I was having heart problems either. I was getting scared.

Early one afternoon I realized that I hadn’t had any chest pain all morning. I had eaten the same thing for breakfast. I had followed my usual routine of working at the house and putting in job applications. I had eaten a big lunch. My mind was racing, looking for the key. As I cleaned up, I found my supplement box on the coffee table. My husband and I had enjoyed dinner and a movie the night before. Because I had neglected to return the box to the kitchen table, I had forgotten to take supplements that morning. I popped the whole handful in my mouth and swallowed them with a gulp of water. I could feel them all go down together, small tablets, capsules, and large tablets tumbling over each other until they hit the sphincter muscle between my esophagus and my stomach. There they stuck. I swallowed more water. I ate some dried fruit. The pain in my chest started. At that moment I knew, my heart was fine and the BTD was still working.

I realized that I had started taking glucosamine (a really big tablet) for my knee. In addition I took lysine for the cold sore, B Vitamins for the joints, rutin and bioflavanoids (another big tablet) for the hemorrhoid, plus bromelain for inflammation. I was taking more supplements than usual, and larger ones at that. Now when I take my supplements, I take them early in a meal one at a time. I eat a bite between pills. They don’t get stuck. They slide through just like they are supposed to.

I’m still stressed. I can’t change the circumstances in my life, but I can respond better now that I’m aware of what the combined stresses are doing in my body. I’m thankful that my awareness of problems when they were small will keep them from becoming big issues. Most of all I’m relieved to know that it’s just stress. I’ve got work to do, but I’m not scared.

March 26, 2004 I posted my very first blog. We had just come home from my husband’s father’s funeral. I wasn’t sure what people would think of me for blogging about food at a funeral. But the dilemma of how to follow the BTD when I’m in the home of friends or relatives was a big issue to me at the time.

I started the BTD in June 2003, so I hadn’t even been on the diet a year when I started blogging. You have watched me grow and struggle and figure out how to make this diet work in my family. One of the reasons I like blogging is that it keeps me accountable. I believe that if my blog is to be interesting, I have to be transparent. I don’t mind writing about my failures, but it’s so much more fun to write about success. I’ll admit that there have been moments when I have walked away from an avoid just so I didn’t have to fess up on the internet.

I enjoy getting comments and I write back when I can. When we were moving I got hopelessly behind, and some of the e-mails I received during that time never got answered. I especially enjoy knowing when I have encouraged someone. The most amusing comments assume that I know Dr. D’Adamo and have some influence over him. People seem to think that I can fix a perceived conflict in the books, or correct a problem with the website. Ok, here’s the truth. I have never met Dr. D. I have never even talked to him on the phone. We’ve e-mailed maybe 10 times in five years of blogging. Someday perhaps I will get to meet him. It would be fun to attend one of his conferences.

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever run out of things to blog about. Then I go to the dentist’s office and get an ear full about controversial fillings or I start to plan a menu for DD’s Type A roommate who is coming home with her. As long as everyday life is an adventure, blog topics are infinite.

Everything about my life, including the BTD and the blog, is interwoven with my Christian faith. Urging Christians to seek good health through the marvelous and unique way God created us is the motivation behind my blogging. I can remember 30 years ago when any interest in Health Food or nutrition was associated almost exclusively with the more liberal and free thinking elements of society. There was a time when people raised their eyebrows if I asked for brown rice or preservative free meat. That has changed a lot in recent years. Nutrition is much more mainstream. But I still find people at church to be suspicious of the health culture, and they really shy away when blood types are introduced into the conversation. I’m glad when something I say encourages anyone, but I’m particularly happy when I play a tiny part in opening cautious conservative eyes to the truth that God has given them tools to be more proactive in their health.

Personally, I don’t understand their fears. God, who created the world and all of the creatures in it, created our bodies. It seems logical to me that the closer I eat food to the way that He made it, the healthier I will be. The more I understand how my body works, the better prospect I have of an active and productive life. I want my mind alert so that I can study the Bible. I want to feel good so that I can serve others. I don’t want to waste money on medical care, and I don’t want to waste time in a doctor’s office. Of all the diets I have tried (and I tried a lot) the BTD has worked the best and the most consistently.

Two things about blogging give me a thrill. The first is when I get to encourage someone in the Christian Community to build their health. The second is when I can encourage someone in the Health Community to know Jesus Christ. The first five years have been fun, and I’m excited about the future.

I was at my Mom's over the weekend. The paperwork mountain is gradually being whittled away. I cooked for her on Sunday. We had steamed shrimp - a favorite for both of us. Alongside I fixed two vegetables that my husband does not like.

The first was yellow squash. Usually I fix it with onion, ghee, and salt. But Mom's blood pressure has been bouncing around a little. Sometimes high; sometimes low. We had already had Chinese take out, and I didn't want to over do the salt. So I was thinking beneficial no-salt seasoning, and curry came to mind. I cooked the onions until they were starting to get soft, then added sliced yellow squash and sprinkled curry powder over the top. Sorry I didn't measure. It was very good, and no salt was needed.

Mom loves greens, but my Dad didn't like them, so she got out of the habit of eating them. I picked up a bag of turnip greens from the freezer section at the grocery store. When she thinks of turnip greens, I know she thinks of cooking them in salt pork. I certainly didn't want to do that. I really wanted to make ginger greens (I blogged about that recipe a year or so ago), but I didn't have ginger juice. However, the store had a health food section, and I found dried ginger. I put half a bag of turnip greens in a sauce pan, swizzled some olive oil on top, and diced a handful of dried ginger. I cooked them on low heat so I wouldn't have to add water. The ginger flavor permeated the greens, and they were great. I should give DD credit for the idea. She told me she succesfully cooked carrots with dried ginger in the dorm microwave.

Two favorite vegetables, altered just a little because I was away from my own kitchen. Be bold! You can find new ways to fix old favorites.

When I was shopping in anticipation of Spring Break, the magazine rack at the check out stand was filled with pictures of the First Lady in an attractive red dress with her arm draped over the back of a White House sofa. I could not help but observe that she had nice muscle tone.

On the way home, I heard a news commentary on the radio gushing about the fashion statement the First Lady had made at the State of the Union address by daring to wear a sleeveless dress in February into the hallowed halls of Congress. The commentator spoke of an uproar in the fashion industry, and how companies were reworking their upcoming lines to show more bare arms.

While I was in that frame of mind, DD came in from college. Her first night home, she, her Dad and I took a power walk up and down the hills of our neighborhood. She and I walked with weights. She was showing me new triceps exercises that she has learned from the football players who work out in the gym at her school. It is certainly paying off for her. Her overall muscle tone is ideal – firm yet feminine. Even the fawning commentator, would have to admit that DD’s arms rank right up there with Mrs. Obama’s

Twice during her Spring Break we went to the little gym in our neighborhood and worked on our arm muscles. Then my strong son came home. He talked with me about strengthening my core, and how that would prevent osteoporosis. He showed me exercises to strengthen my lats and my rhomboids. SS reminded me that while a person may feel stronger and increase the amount of weight he or she can lift when they start a new exercise regimen, they do not actually start building new muscle tissue for six weeks. He emphasized that to strengthen my knee, my core, and my arms, I have to be committed to the exercises for the long haul.

The Hunter in me would much rather get out and run or ride my bicycle, than do repetitive weight work. DD and SS, each in their own ways, have forced me to recognize that I must commit myself to push through (what I consider to be) boring exercises if I want to see results. Ok, Ok I get the picture. It will take perseverance to get a strong spine, sturdy knees, and Obama Arms.

The word hydration conjures up two images in my mind. One is a scene from a favorite Disney movie – Lady and the Tramp. The first time the viewer meets the Tramp, he is waking up in a railroad yard. He stretches and enjoys a deliciously long drink of water, then lets the water roll over his whole body. The second is a scene from the TV show Gilmore Girls. Lorelai sleepily wanders into the kitchen and finds Luke by the refrigerator guzzling from a half gallon container of orange juice. “Don’t let me interrupt your hydration,” she says.

A modern proverb is “Eat like a king in the morning and like a pauper at night.” The meaning is that you will be healthier if you eat your large meal early in the day and eat lighter at night. But is the proverb true? In Live Right 4 your Type Dr. D’Adamo recommends that lifestyle for Type As, but is silent regarding Type Os.

I know a lot of Type Os, who advocate eating this way. I’ve read their posts on the Forum, and corresponded with them. They make a great case – and I’m not going to argue with their success. But I don’t feel good when I eat that way. I don’t wake up hungry. I wake up thirsty. If I start the day with a big breakfast (eggs, steak, vegetables), I am hungrier at lunch, and still hungrier at dinner.

DD has been taking a speech class, and one assignment was a persuasive speech. Because she is so focused on health, she chose persuading fellow students that they would be healthier if the went to bed earlier and got up earlier. She had been convicted that she needed to change her own sleep patterns based on Dr. D’s cautions about Type As and Circadian rhythm. Her research was fascinating (she made an A on the speech by the way).

One graphic was particularly interesting to me. I’d post it but it is copyrighted, so you will have to picture it in your mind. It was a circle divided into three parts. One third said “4 AM to Noon, Elimination, needs water”. The second third said “Noon to 8 PM, Appropriation, needs food.” The last third said “8 PM to 4 AM, Assimilation, needs rest.”

I saw myself in that graphic. I feel the best when I get up and drink a big glass of water. About an hour later, I eat a light breakfast of fruit and nuts and powdered protein (egg white or nutritional yeast). About 10:30 or 11:00 I may have a glass of green tea or some seltzer water with ginger juice. I am content.

Suddenly between Noon and 1:00 I am starving. Now I want meat protein and lots of it. I want 3 servings of vegetables – at least. Between 5:00 and 6:00 I am hungry again. But if I have eaten a big noon meal, I am satisfied with a salad and some fish or poultry.

I’ve been trying to follow this pattern, and I’ve felt really good. I didn’t know just how good until yesterday when it all got thrown off. My husband had taken the day off and we were doing some paperwork together in the morning. It should have taken an hour, then I had some errands to run. I should have been back by lunch time. But we found a problem with the papers, which led to a morning of stressful phone calls, which led to a late start on the errands, which of course took longer than expected. I didn’t have lunch until 3:00. By then my whole body rhythm was thrown off. I didn’t fully recover until this morning when I started afresh with a big glass of water.

If you are Type A, Dr. D suggests the King/Pauper schedule. If you are Type O and King/Pauper works for you – stay with it. But if you are Type O, and King/Pauper doesn’t quite fit, think about the Tramp. Hydrate in the morning. Be ready for a hearty lunch of beef and vegetables. Have your evening meal early – before 8 PM – and let it be light protein and light vegetables.