On the genotype forum for explorers, Dr. D. said this:

"Personally, I have a hard time accepting that something is forever bad for someone who in a state of fitness could benefit from it. "

As an O-nonsecretor and newly discoverd Gatherer, I can fully appreciate that. I was getting in the business of figuring out what food I'd have to eliminate next... was I intolerant of yeast or tomatoes, what was going on? My digestion wasn't improving like I hoped. It was improving, but not like I hoped. I felt, and was observed by others, as unhealthy because there were so many foods I couldn't have. Now here I am, having eaten cottage cheese with my breakfast of all things, and feeling like a whole new person. Clean slate, no digestive trouble this week! Old enemies have become new friends.

It's so much like when I started ER4YT, and I worked into that gradually. Giving up wheat may have literally saved my life, it certainly gave me my life back. O-non helped immensely as well, and helped uncover my next step of gluten free. Those were all big and helpful steps for me, but I think GTD is the greatest of all.

I think I've lost some weight, though I'm not near the scale I used before I started (it's a bit on the lean side)... I estimate from that, that I've lost 1-3 pounds from my post-holiday weight. I'm more happy about not having any gas or diarrhea this week. As I mentioned above, my digestive trouble was giving me trouble (granted, I was eating too many avoids, but the reaction seemed out of proportion to the avoids). It's so nice that for me now, it's easy to avoid the avoids (or toxins) for gatherers, because I have so many filling foods and new foods I can eat. I think I really needed some dairy to feel satisfied, thus the cravings that shot be into toxin-land repeatedly over the holidays.

Next Thanksgiving will be different. I should be back to some rice flour by then (if I'm a good girl), so I'll make a ricotta pie or a quark cheesecake, and won't feel a need for whipped cream on top!

I do have to confess to having a bit of a black dot toxin yesterday, rice...I sweetened some chocolate with agave nectar (a neutral), then stirred in a bit of gen mai cha. As a tea it's probably beneficial, but in this case I ate it, once it cooled, including the crunchy little rice grains in it (I was in the mood for a crunch bar). It was really yummy! Best chocolate I've had in a long time! (even over in toxin-land)

I hope you all enjoy your new identities like I am. Jump into it, take chances, and you'll see what I mean.

It is so weird to have beneficial grains, there were none in the non-secretor O diet, except for essene bread (which has a tad bit of gluten unless you figure out a way to make it yourself, so I didn't eat it). Weirder still to have beneficial dairy, where there were hardly even any neutrals before.

Tonight I made some basmati rice for our family dinner. You can cook it just like pasta, in a pot of boiling water. Rinse it well, soak for 30 minutes, bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add the rice (minus soaking water), return to a boil and cook for about 3 minutes, test for doneness, once it is done, but not mushy, strain it. So, now that I can have cinnamon, I put a cinnamon stick and two bay leaves in the boiling water, as well as some fresh ground cardamom and cumin. If I'd had turmeric and saffron I would have used those too. In another pan I sauteed some mushrooms and turkey bacon (the only meat I had on hand that was thawed, does contain some sugar, but I couldn't let it go to waste). I added peas to the saute pan at the end, just to warm them up. Once the rice was done and strained, add a beneficial oil and the vegetable/meat mixture, maybe a touch of ghee. I ground up a few onion seeds on top of mine to emphasize the indian flavors.

Gatherers also get oats. I recommend the certified gluten free oats, as they are free of wheat contamination. I have yet to experiment with it, but I have some of the oat flour on hand (a beneficial) and look forward to trying it. Most rice and rice flours are now black dot avoids, so I may replace them with oat flour in my recipes and see how that turns out.

I looked for ricotta cheese at the grocery store today, they didn't have any natural or organic brands. Everything they had has at least one avoid in it. I will continue my quest. There's a HFS near here that is big on dairy, so I'll check there. If no luck there, I'll go up to Wild Oats. They should have some nice fresh beneficial fish there too.

I found a recipe for flax focaccia online, and sources tell me it is good (a couple gatherers at the GTD forums have tried it). It is gluten free, and made of beneficials (as long as you use a compliant sweetener and corn free baking powder (see recipebase for suggestions on that).

Today I had scrambled eggs with salsa and a quinoa tortilla for breakfast, a pummelo for a snack (if you like grapefruit you'll love pummelo), cottage cheese and pineapple for lunch, and the basmati for dinner. Some yerba mate and kukicha (twig tea) here and there. I probably didn't eat enough, but I feel fine...usually I'd feel a bit hypoglycemic. It was mostly all beneficials throughout the day, with maybe a couple neutral condiments or spices. I love the new layout of the lists because I don't even think about the neutrals, and there's so much variety of beneficials that I'm totally happy with just those. I've never gone all-beneficial before, but now it's much easier to do.

Another weird thing is that right now I actually feel like exercising, I WANT to exercise. I actually have a little energy to spare, which is not normal for me the past few months. BTD helped me a lot, but I didn't always stick to it (mainly because dairy cravings would send me to avoidland). To me, this is so much easier than the O-nonnie diet. Sure there are some things I'll miss, some "black dot avoids" I'll miss until I can add them back in, but I can't think of what they are right now!

Wow. I could write a blog with just one word today. Wow.

In 1999 I found Eat Right 4 Your Type on a friend's bookshelf and read it at my friend's house that day. It took me a few months to accept it, wheat had been a staple and was believed to be healthy, but over time I realized that I didn't feel too great after eating it. That begin a strange and wonderful journey that has shaped my life and accomplishments since that time. I got my weight and back pain under control, as well as a host of other issues. I got my life back and found the resources to move forward into motherhood. I uncovered my gluten intolerance issues, and helped many family members do the same. I've met many of you here who were also willing to sacrifice favorite foods for better health. I've never regretted taking the leap into BTD.

Now I find myself taking another leap. I was hoping for some changes, and some new foods to enjoy, but I never expected what I found in GTD. I would have hyperventilated, but panic attacks are one of those issues that BTD has helped with. Then I stressed over the accuracy of my measurements, until a few kind souls at the forums pointed out that if they're that close, they can be counted as equal. So I firmed up my genotype determination as a Gatherer. I didn't think I fit the profile, but some of the gatherers on the forum are taller, thinner, and more muscular than I ever am. The diet looks pretty accurate to me, fewer grains and carbs than I have been eating, but I always knew I needed fewer. The surprise was some dairy, but it's a happy surprise. I picked up some natural cottage cheese last night and it sat well with me. Now when I get a dairy craving, I'll know where to direct it. I may have some casein intolerance, but that can change. I'm willing to find out.

I was a bit surprised to not be the the genotype that is a little more sensitive to foods, the Hunter. But I'll happily tackle a gatherer's challenges instead. For gatherers the main cause of problems is storing and accumulating toxins in the fat cells. I've known that I do that, for every time I lose weight I feel grumpy and icky for a while, until I'm done losing the weight. The accumulation can cause a number of health issues, and could be at the root of my hunter-like problems. I've also got the challenge of blood sugar regulation, already knew that, so that fits.

I'm going cold-turkey. I went gradually into BTD, but this time I going all out. I want to see the results fast, rather than testing every tiny part over time, this time around.

It was a big leap into BTD, now it's time for another big leap. I hope you decide to take the leap too... either way, I'll let you know how my journey goes.

My cat has been getting a bit scratched in fights lately, so when I saw a raccoon in the back yard, I knew something had to be done about it. I called Animal Control, and found out what to do. Then I picked up a raccoon trap at the city and set it outside where I saw the raccoon. The first night, the raccoon had set off the trap door and got the food out of it without getting caught. The second night, it got caught, and all it's family (3 others) came over to try to help it escape (and get as much of the food as they could). I could watch them from a window and feared that they would be able to get it out before the animal control officer could come in the morning. They dug lots of holes around it, but it was still there in the morning. I didn't like having that many raccoons hanging out in my yard most of the night!

The next night I caught another one, and there were more in its company than before, 4 or 5. They're cute, smart, good climbers, and a danger to our pets and us, as they are fierce and harbor many diseases and parasites that can infect pets and humans. Each morning, the officer came and took away the raccoon, to take it to the shelter where I presume they will put it down. I have 4 or 5 or more yet to catch! Needless to say, I've missed a little sleep this week worrying about the critters. At some point they may decide to stop coming around and I won't be able to catch them all, but I'll persist as long as necessary.

They have no natural predators here, so their numbers can really grow out of control, I've never been much of a hunter, but it has to be done. They're quite frightening since they don't show any fear of us. I can open a window and yell or growl at them, and they just back up a few feet and stare at me. They can look at me right outside my window, just a few inches from me, with no fear.

So that's my excitement this week!

I picked up a copy of Scientific American Mind this week, and there was an interesting article about how to prepare children (and any age) for success. When parents praise their children for "being smart" or "being talented" like it is just a born or inherited trait, then that often sets the children up for defeat. School, and life, do become hard, for everyone, and when things are no longer easy, these children think it is hard because they do not have the traits necessary to do it easily. At that point, they give up or lose interest in that which has become hard. It is better to praise a child for how they go about the growth and learning process, and the effort they put into it, or how they get to the end result. They taught a group of students about how the brain forms new connections between the neurons whenever you learn something new, and emphasized that "smart" comes from hard work, and can be built. Often, those who demonstrate the greatest successes are those who don't start out all that smart, but they have a love of learning, and a love of the subject and the work it takes to learn it, and eventually, they make breakthroughs.

You can apply this to everyone, and it's not just the brain that can be changed. We are just beginning to understand epigenetics, but all indications are that we are all much more plastic (changable) than anybody every guessed before. We can turn on good genes and turn off bad genes through diet, how we interact with our environment, how we move, what we learn, etc. etc.

If there's some positive trait you simply think you lack, think again, and work to change it...and you will develop that trait. If you don't want to do the work, or other work that is more important, admit it, and move on, at least you will no longer be holding yourself back through your thinking. "You Are Who You Choose To Be" That's a line from The Iron Giant, a great animated movie. (Yes I take much wisdom from children's films, but it's good that they often have it.)