Well, my protein experiment was a success, I feel better with frequent smaller meals and very little of any sugars. I just need to make it a habit now, and lose the old habits of skipping meals and snacking on carbs. That may take some time. The palpitations are pretty much like clockwork, after I slip up, especially if I'm tired anyway. I'm tired a lot lately, my son has decided he doesn't need much sleep at night. I actually feel great other than that, 8 straight hours a night are totally adequate, when I'm lucky enough to get them, 6 hours with multiple interruptions are not adequate.

The weather has been beautiful. My son and I took the longest walk he's ever walked today, and I didn't even have to carry him home. It was very nice. He jogs most of the way, and it's nice that he's old enough to speed me up instead of just slowing me down. This is a good time of year for me.

Oh, I've finally redone my carnivore initiation...I've eaten liver twice this week! It was deveined when I bought it, though not totally, but it was an improvement over the average beef liver. It's been a few years since I had liver. I used to eat it at restaurants before learning that I'm a celiac, now I have to cook it myself...ick! I hate the feel and smell of it before it's cooked. I seem to be able to handle it now.

I've decided to experiment with stabilizing my blood sugar today by eating more small meals with protein and fat in them. I haven't quite got it all figured out yet, as a dilute prune seltzer sent my blood sugar spinning shortly after breakfast. Perhaps it's time to start using ARA instead of prune juice My levels are always in normal range, but I'm beginning to think I'm better off with a narrower range. Maybe it's the non-secretor in me.

I started the day with most of 2 lemony pickled eggs. My son ate a little of them. Then came the prune seltzer about an hour later, which had to quickly be followed by half my pre-made lunch of buffalo patty and sauteed green beans. 3 hours later I had the other half thereof. Before contemplating dinner, I ate one of my son's turkey meatballs. (I made a double batch of them and froze them last Saturday.)

For dinner I cooked a wild sockeye salmon filet. (Costco carried them for a short while, but lately my Costco doesn't have any wild salmon or cod, just some avoid-filled salmon burgers and farmed fish.) I poured some of my lemon/olive oil dressing over it, and sprinkled with dill and sliced garlic, wrapped it in parchment and baked it. This salmon is so red that it's hard to tell when it's done, it's also tapered so the thin parts cook faster than the thick. I had it a little underdone, ate the thin part, then cooked the thick part a little more. I'm just glad I didn't overcook it like I usually do. Oh, the best part... I sauteed my baby greens because they were not going to last much longer and it's easier to eat large amounts of greens after cooking them down. Once they were wilted, I served the salmon on top of them. Beautiful, satisfying and delicious!

My son even ate one spinach leaf, and quite a few bites of salmon. I'm glad he loves fish, that will serve him and his A-ness very well in life.

My son will finally eat eggs. This is how...

He loves pickled/marinated/brined things like green olives, marinated artichoke hearts, and pickles, though shouldn't have the vinegar. Sooo, I boiled some eggs and peeled them, then put them in a container with lemon juice, water, salt and dill, and let them soak in the fridge at least overnight. I use 2 ice cubes of lemon juice (I juice a bunch at a time and freeze it, but haven't measured it in tablespoons), enough water to cover 5-6 eggs, and 2-3 tablespoons of salt (no measuring either, just trying to get enough to taste like ocean water) then 1-2 teaspoons of dill. They should last a week in the fridge. Regular pickled eggs, in vinegar, last up to a month, but I like to be on the safe side, and I don't like them too rubbery.

I've always had a secret fondness for pickled eggs, and these are easy to grab when I'm short on time, they're already peeled, seasoned and ready to eat. My son likes the white more than the yolk, unfortunately, but they agree with him and provide him good protein for growing.

He's eaten 1/3 of his pumpkin pie in the last couple of days, he loves punka-pie, I'm so glad he's eating more than he used to. I will soon give you my pumpkin pie formula One good thing I discovered with my sugar-less pie is that the glycerine works quite well in pumpkin pie, and so does molasses. I'll take another crack at sugar-less brownies soon, maybe adding some almond meal would improve their texture, sweet potato flour and carob could sweeten it up a bit too, compared to rice flour. I've been given a recipe for sweet potato flour brownies and still haven't tried it, but I plan to

I just added some details to the recipe, I had forgotten to specify that they need to be refrigerated

I'm afraid my blogs may be a bit of a glass-half empty sort of thing. If that's the case, I apologize. I do have some weird health issues, food intolerances, and stress at times, but nothing that gets in the way of doing everything I want to do. As is often the case wit non-secretors, I have more potential for health problems, but at the same time, I'm one of the healthiest people I know! ... Thanks to the BTD. I have lots of energy, I'm a healthy weight, I'm toning up nicely, my skin is clear and smooth, my digestion is reliable, my moods are resilient...

5 years ago I felt like I was twice my age, now I feel like I'm 1/3 my age...that calculates out to going back by 30 years in 5. I went from not being able to keep up with most 50 year olds, to feeling better than many 20 year olds.

I love the description of Dr. Crinnion's presentation at IfHI: "Born in the wrong century: the unfortunate combination of polymorphisms and a toxic environment." That is me. Yet, the way in which we interact with our environment most intimately is through what we eat. Think about it, you take in matter from the environment, put it in your mouth, and the process begins...you chew it and tear it apart in every way so as the make the most contact with it possible, then it goes into your intestine which has a huge amount of absorbent surface area covered with very sensitive and vulernable villi cells, whose job it is to distinguish food from poison and try to absorb only the food portions. Can't get more intimate than that. To your mouth it's just food, to your villi, it's survival. Respect your villi, and you will be rewarded!

I know, I just go on and on and on about sugar lately. I'll take a break from the subject soon, as I've almost conquered it (for now)...

I've reached the point now that I can feel kind of a sugar-rush if I eat anything too sweet (including more than 8 little raisins, but hey, they're a neutral infrequent so I'd probably be better off without 'em). It almost resembles a headache or migraine, but without pain or other migraine symptoms. It's a heat behind the eyes, imagine a microwave pointing at your temple, that's how it feels (not that I've ever had microwaves pointing at my temple). Kind of a warm, cellular excitement, with a heavy draggy feeling. It reminds me of an ice-cream headache in a way, too, but warm instead of ice cold.

Of course, then the fun really begins with some palpitations. Those are so much improved lately, it's almost what I'd call miraculous. I go days without noticing them, and if I take my pulse they usually only happen every 90 seconds to 2 minutes, whereas it was an average of every 15 beats.

It's enough progress that I'm able to put it in my bag of "weird health conditions I have figured out and controlled" That bag has lots of things in it now

Here's the beginning of what may be another condition to move to that bag soon... my citric acid reaction (bumps on my head, like I've been hit on the head) may be some sort of corn allergy. Artificial citric acid comes from corn, so does artificial ascorbic acid...and... (insert drumroll) I now think ascorbic acid causes the same reaction! Even calcium citrate can come from corn, that may explain my constant head-bumped-ness since running our of phytocal and switching to calcium citrate. I need to check the source on that one...but it's entirely possible. More detective work (and home cooking) will now commence!

My son demanded pumpkin pie tonight so I made crustless, milk-free pumpkin pie. My mixing bowl was sweetened only with glycerine and a little molasses, with ricemilk and an extra egg. His had sugar and soymilk in it. I'll post the recipes next time, though it's pretty basic. I put mine in muffin cups, for portion control, and it turned out pretty well to have paper instead of crust.

I am often shocked at my own attachment to certain foods, and I've been BTDieting for 5 years (more or less). How I can feel so fond about foods that I know make me sick is beyond me. I've come a long way, especially since my celiac disease has taught me how awful a food can be to me, but I don't know if I'll ever get past all my attachments. Next Christmas will I still indulge in milk-sugar-full white chocolate? Now I know it fills me with more anxiety (and gas) than any emotional reward it gives me in my mouth, will I finally learn to avoid it? Next birthday, will I once again eat so much nearly-compliant -but sugar-filled cake? I hope I'll learn. If a twinkie punched you in the mouth each time you ate it, would you keep coming back? Judging from past mistakes, yeah, maybe... NO! Don't do it!

Part of the journey is to form new attachments to beneficial foods. I now have an attachment to sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli drizzled with olive oil and trocomare, brazilian collard greens, almond butter, salmon, cod, lamb, beef, buffalo, salad greens with lemon/olive oil dressing. Problem is, they're harder to prepare than a twinkie. I guess that's where the banana, egg, or protein powder comes in.

Not that I ever eat twinkies anymore, 5+ years twinkie free! Does that mean I'm clean & sober? I'm about to check into sugarholics anonymous. I've been doing better in my quest to give up sugar, and I'm feeling better all along the way, but I still slip up now and then...I guess that's how progress is made, just keep trying!

I've cut out sugar now, other than a thoughtless slip or two. I think I've cut it out before, but I was never really a stickler about it. When you're a nonnie, you eventually learn to be a stickler on almost everything, because the difference is so amazing. I don't know why or how, but my heart palpitations are now much less frequent or forceful. Now that I look back, I can see the link. They started during my first pregnancy, and my diet wasn't great, I ate plenty 'o sugar, among other things. They improved a year ago when I got serious about the nonnie diet, but came back with a vengence during and after the holidays. Then they improved a bit before my birthday, only to start keeping me up at night after so much birthday cake. Hindsight! You never know what a "food" is doing to you, before you really investigate. I knew of a long list of reasons not to eat sugar...but didn't yet know MY reason.

When I meet Dr. D'Adamo, I think I'll record him saying "I told you so" so I can replay it for myself every time I realize I should have just done what he recommended in the first place!

Thanks to a post by another nonsecretor on the forum about sugar and heart palpitations, I have trained my sights on sugar. All I can say is wow, nonnies really are different. On my birthday I made a Namaste spice cake for my candles. For secretors, this brand is great, but it has plenty o' sugar and some tapioca. Now that I'm paying attention, I can really tell a difference as far as my palpitations go after eating some.

I think next year I'll make a meatloaf for my candles Just kidding, sort of.