I'm a thirty-four year old type O non-secretor mom of 2 boys, living in Utah. My husband and 6 year old son are A+ Secretors, my 3 year old is an O-, my sons and I are all celiacs or gluten sensitive. I am an Explorer, my husband is a Teacher, and my boys are probably Teacher and Explorer.

I grew up in a small Utah town, the youngest in a big family. I went to college and ended up with a degree in Biotechnology, Plant Breeding and Applied Genetics. In 1999 I found a copy of Eat Right 4 Your Type at a friend's house, and studied it, as I had an interest in diet and genetics and had read many books on the subject. I had struggled with some health issues and witnessed what my older siblings struggled with. I wanted to stop the path I was on: chronic infections, joint pain, weight problems, depression, fatigue. I gradually tested out parts of the diet, one by one, and proved that they all applied to me. So then I went full-bore. My recurrent sinus and bladder infections cleared up, I lost 35 pounds, my back and joint pain drastically improved, I felt more energized and happy in every way. My needs for all prescription medications have drastically dropped, from up to 5 prescriptions a day to just one but with a lower dose (thyroid).

The two turning points, in starting the diet were 1) when I realized that cutting calories back as drastically as 900 a day for a week along with working out 2 hours a day caused me to actually gain weight, and 2) after reading ER4YT and then after eating a late breakfast of champions (wheaties, milk and O.J.) I had to go back to bed with fatigue and back pain. I was once a skeptic, but kept an open mind, and I'm grateful for that.

I love food, cooking, eating out, trying new things, and thinking about gardening. Now that my boys are bigger, I'm starting to actually garden, rather than just think about it. I also like to read, sing, and love to be with my family.

When I began blogging, January 2004, I was just returning to the diet after my first pregnancy and going somewhat astray (other than avoiding wheat like the plague). I started into the non-secretor diet in earnest and lost 36 pounds over 2004. I also realized I had trouble with more than just wheat, once I cut out most processed foods, so I did what I should have done a few years earlier and got tested (positive) for gluten sensitivity. Soon my first son was also tested, as he hadn't been growing well, seemed far too prone to 'stomach flu', and was grumpy and anemic. He also tested positive with flying colors and was soon Gluten-Free and back to his sweetly mischevious self. My youngest also reacts severely to even small amounts of gluten, no testing necessary (although we did have the gene test for him, which was positive).

Currently I'm trying to lose the weight from my 2nd pregnancy, with the Genotype Diet. I've also begun Taekwondo and am now a green/blue belt (6th gup). I never would have imagined I could do that in 1999, when I had joint pain and didn't healing well from even minor injuries.

It's a fun ride, I'm just glad Dr. D'Adamo's work has put me in the driver's seat when it comes to my health.
(updated July 14, 2009)

Other than a couple months that I feared I had a neurological disease, the last year hasn't been a very compliant one for me. During those months I lost 15 pounds and felt much better in so many ways. Sometimes I've let life get in the way of living, and ended up eating what was convenient/cravable in the moment, at the expense of my health. I've grown tired of analyzing why I do that, I'm now just going to get past those moments and move on.

So I got tested through enterolab for casein and soy intolerance. Another case of me needing a lab to tell me what I already know. If they had a test for corn intolerance I'd probably get that one too. Anyway, both tests came back positive. Not a big surprise, but it does serve to motivate me to be more compliant. I made the mistake of having a farewell-once-and-for-all day to casein, by eating as much as I wanted of it. That was a big mistake, but the consequences I will not easily forget, so there's more motivation. (I was already eating a bit, after buying my baby some sheep's milk cheese and eating it when he wouldn't...so I didn't expect it to be the major shock to my system that it was.) I still don't want to even look at cheese again, my stomach hurt so bad I almost passed out!

So now is the time to move my focus to the beneficials. Focus on the good... forget the avoids. My goals are to lose weight and then start running again after I find a running coach to help me avoid the back injuries I've had trouble with from running in the past. First, it's time for hiking and some core strenghtening. Pregnancy is a good excuse for my weight, I gain no quite a bit no matter how I eat, but I don't need the extra weight anymore and I'm not going to have any more excuses for letting my health slide. Convenience foods are convenient, but their consequences are not.