In my e-mail this morning was an advertisement for a book. The subject line was “Is wheat making you fat?” That caught my interest.

Based on the information in the ad, this author reached the same conclusion as Dr. D about wheat and weight loss. However, instead of associating his findings with blood types, he has written a one size fits all diet book.

I pity the people who read the book. If they are Type Os they will indeed lose weight when they eliminate wheat. I certainly did. Wheat is the quintessential avoid food for Type Os. But when they reach their goal and go back to their normal diet – the way typical dieters always do – they will gain the weight right back. Another frustration; another diet book on the shelves of a used book store.

If they are Type A, they will also lose weight. While wheat is neutral for Type As, eliminating wheat is also listed as a weight loss key this blood type.

For Type Bs, Live Right 4 Your Type says that Eliminating Corn and corn products would be the top priority for accelerating weight loss. But the second point says, “Eliminate wheat. Although Type Bs don’t have as much trouble with wheat gluten as Type Os, you should definitely avoid it if you want to lose weight.”

My quick search didn’t find a definitive statement about Type ABs, wheat, and weight. But I did find a general statement from Dr. D that says, “In my experience, Type AB is more A-like than B-like when it comes to most chronic conditions…Overall, Type ABs can do well by following the diet and prescriptions in this chapter – and by observing the therapeutic guidelines outlined for Type A.

So, whatever your blood type, if you just want to lose weight – avoid wheat. Dr. D was way ahead of this author in identifying that simple truth.

But if you want to build your overall health and maintain normal weight for the rest of your life, you will need more than a weight loss book. The BTD would be a really good place to start.

Being the newest employee at her company, DD has learned that while she gets Thanksgiving Day off, she will be working on Wednesday and Friday. After a brief moment of despair at being apart for the first time at a major holiday, we all agreed that she is incredibly blessed to have a good job in this economy. She is also blessed because ESS’s hometown is a couple of hours from where she works, so they can have Thanksgiving dinner with his family.

For that reason DD and ESS came to spend this weekend with us. SS came home too. I got all of the Thanksgiving decorations out, so the house looked festive. We agreed we would not have traditional Thanksgiving dinner. However we did have a big celebration meal, and I have two recipes to share.

First Joan was absolutely right. The spinach dish labeled Swag Mushroom at the India Buffet was really Saag Mushroom. Because SS loves India food, I made it. You can Google the traditional Saag Mushroom. This is my BTD version. Everyone liked it except DD - who in spite of being Type A, doesn’t care for the taste or texture of mushrooms.

10 oz frozen spinach
8 oz Portobello mushroom
2 tsp ginger juice
4 garlic cloves, minced
1tsp chili powder
Dash of cayenne pepper
½ cup almond milk
2 Tbsp ghee

Heat ghee in large skillet over medium heat; add mushrooms and garlic. Sauté until tender. Add ginger juice and chili powder. Stir for 1 minute. Add spinach. Add a pinch of salt if you like. Reduce heat low, and cover skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is soft (10-15 minutes).Stir in cayenne and almond milk. Add a little more almond milk if it is too dry. Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.

Recipe #2 is for Millet - Thanksgiving style
I was going to roast a turkey breast. As you know I am adding more grain back into my diet, and I had recently bought millet. I put one cup of millet in the baking dish with the turkey breast. I took one can of MSG free chicken broth and added enough water to make 2 cups. I chopped up an onion and sprinkled it all with poultry seasoning and sage. Then I put it in the oven and followed the instructions for cooking the turkey.

It was delicious. The house smelled like the holidays. DD said it was better than dressing. Everyone liked it and it was so easy to make.

DD has something else to be thankful for. If you have been a long time reader of this blog, you know that her last year of high school she dabbled in an exercise/eating disorder. She lost too much weight and got her hormones out of balance. Her recovery has been a very long spiritual and physical journey. The BTD gave me the courage to not force her into a rapid weight gain based on junk food. For some time she has the healthiest spiritually and emotionally that she has ever been. Now her physical health is returning as well. We may not be at the same table on Thanksgiving Day, but we will all be thankful.

Oh how I wish that all of the health studies in the news would give the Blood Types of the participants. It could clarify so many things for me.

While we were on vacation, my Honorable Husband did a lot of reading, and he nearly flew into a panic when he read about a study that showed, “Frequent aspirin use may be associated with an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration.”

HH takes one baby aspirin every day. His doctor told him to start doing this about 5 years ago. I have supported him because he is a thick blooded type A with early onset high blood pressure and a family history that includes heart disease.

But this new study has him terrified because of his cornea transplant. Has he saved his vision from one disaster only to go blind from aspirin?

As I read the magazine article, I wished for one paragraph, even one sentence, that gave the Blood Types of the participants. If it showed that mostly Type Os were getting macular degeneration after taking aspirin, that would make sense. But the article is silent.

Family history and Blood Type both put him at risk for heart disease. How do you choose between your heart and your eyes? I advised him to keep taking the aspirin for now.

I also suggested he ask his cornea specialist if there was any Blood Type data hidden deep in the details of the study.

Our final day in Colorado was a drive across Trail Ridge Road. The road had been closed earlier in the week. It was lovely to see snow before we returned to summer like temperatures in Texas. The trail at the Alpine Visitor’s Center was closed. It is a short climb to the top of a mountain. We always gauge who is in the best shape by how many times each of us has to stop, and how long it takes us to catch our breath. We found another trail where we could hike across the tundra. The elevation gain was minimal, so we weren’t nearly as short of breath. Nevertheless, we reached an aerobic effect much quicker at 11,796 feet than we do at 1,000 feet. If I lived in Colorado year round, I wonder how the altitude would impact my exercise routine.

We stopped to visit two friends on the way home. One lives in a Denver suburb. He took us to eat at the Castle Cafe. Barbecue chicken was special of day. In Texas it is ok to eat barbeque chicken with your fingers, but I wasn’t sure about Colorado. I ate my 1st piece with knife & fork, but I gave up and ate the 2nd piece with my fingers. On the way out of the cafe our friend stopped to introduce us to some other friends of his. They couldn't shake hands because they were eating BBQ with their fingers. Good, I didn’t commit an etiquette error.

Our friend wanted dessert, and I agreed to share a piece of pie with him. I don’t remember what the pie was called, but it had a graham cracker crust, a layer chocolate, a layer of bananas, a layer of pudding, and whipped topping. It was delicious. I could make this into a very BTD compliant dessert. Walnut crust, layer of chocolate, layer of bananas, layer of custard made with almond milk. I have already made a note to try it when I get home.

Our second friend lives in Lubbock. Her husband recently passed away from pancreatic cancer, complicated by liver cancer. We had a wonderful visit with her. She is very lonely, but her faith in God is keeping her strong. We are eager to be at home and sleep in our own beds tomorrow night.

The closest I have come to being a waitress was when I had a job at Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Parlor in high school. Serving people cones and sundaes is certainly easier than serving them a full meal. Cleaning up dirty napkins and wiping ice cream drips off of tables is nowhere near as nasty as bussing a table after a three course dinner. Yet my limited experience does make me sympathetic to how hard servers work, and it does make me prone to leave good tips.

But the tips I’m leaving today are of a different kind. We have had some lovely meals on this vacation. But three times servers have made dining out a disappointment. I’m not going to name the restaurants, but here are three tips for Colorado servers.

We had lunch at a barbeque restaurant, and BBQ chicken salad was on the menu. At first I thought this was going to be a BTD friendly restaurant. They listed several choices of sauce in the menu, and they noted which ones were gluten free. I asked the server what was in the chicken salad, and she said “lettuce tomato, chicken.” That sounded fine. However, When salad arrived it had also had raw onions, carrots, and finely grated cheese. I was glad to have the carrots. The raw onions were in big enough pieces that I could pull them out and give them to HH. There was no way I could get the cheese out of the salad. I went ahead and it. A little cheese is not going to ruin my day, and I didn’t want to waste the food. But it made me think of several friends who have serious food allergies and the difficulties they face when a server gives bad information.

Tip #1. If a customer asks what is in a menu item, give them accurate information.

We were in a location where we had purchased tickets to get into a park. We had finished eating in the concession area. I wanted to refill my water bottle before we resumed our walk, so I asked one of the servers where I could find a water fountain. I was told in a very curt voice that there was no water fountain, that they SOLD water bottles. I left without buying anything else, and stopped at the next convenience store outside the park to buy water. If the server had said, “I am so sorry. We don’t have a water fountain. But our bottled water is only …” I would have pulled out the wallet.

Tip # 2. Politeness will increase sales.

We arrived at a restaurant and were seated by an obviously overworked server. He appeared to be the only server at a moderately busy lunch hour. To his credit, he served his customers in the order in which they arrived. However we watched as he refilled water glasses, took dessert orders, and bussed tables, while we sat for 20 minutes with our menus. All of us had decided what we wanted to order. I was having a chicken salad with artichoke hearts, avocado, mushrooms, feta and craisins. We weren’t in a hurry. If the server had taken a moment to just bring us a glass of water and write down our order, we could have visited quite happily while we waited. As it was, we couldn’t even leave the table to wash our hands for fear we would miss him.

Tip # 3. Give new customers just a little attention before waiting on those who want a third glass of soda.

One more tip for future Colorado travelers. If you are in Estes Park and want elegant service, BTD friendly food, and a fabulous view, go to The Shores. It was a delightful dining experience with attentive (but never pushy) servers.