I got a lovely message from a darling young lady in the UK. She mentioned a few things that I forgot about, and feel would be great to bring up here. A few of the many benefits of living on the BTD aside from weight loss are a clearer complexion, shining hair, more energy and elevated mood levels. I’ve found a type of “afterglow” that comes along with adherence to bennies and neutrals on the diet. This really is such a wonderful life-style change that even with the occasional slips…my quality of life has improved a thousandfold from what it was before (and I didn’t think it was too bad pre-BTD!).

I’ll rehash some of what works for me here, both for myself and for y’all…it’s what we educators call “spiraling review”…if you go over the content of something enough times, you get a bit deeper with it each time and come to some better connections and understandings.

ANYHOW!!

I own only the Cook Right 4 Your Type book currently. I have every intention to buy Live Right 4 Your Type, but have to save a few dollars first. I have read ER4YT out of the library to understand some of the history behind Dr. D’s work a while back. This web-site is also very informative…click on the different articles and try out the different interactive “base” programs (TYPEbase, RECIbase, DOCbase, etc.).

Every Monday I print out my weekly chart of foods and serving sizes so that I can track a balanced diet. I have found that left to my own devices, I eat mostly fruits and veggies and not much protein or starches…both of which are necessary for balance. When I go to the market (local growers…I’m lucky to be in Southern Cali)…about twice a week…I wash and dry everything as soon as I get home. This makes it much easier to cook quickly or grab and go!! I’m gone from the house for nearly 12 hours a day, so I have to pack most of my food. I’ve found that since being on the BTD, my appetite has decreased (b/c I’m getting starch and protein!!), so it’s not too difficult to pack a day’s worth of food!

I think I’ll save some of my fave foods for an upcoming blog…this is getting lengthy!

The last thing that I wanted to share is that I swim nearly every day for an hour. We do sets of between 1800-2300 meters each workout. I don’t stretch out much, and feel a need to do so…I just have to make the time….like everything else!

To re-cap quickly, the diet combined with exercise, enough sleep (at least 8 hours/day), and lots of water (I drink 2-3 liters a day) have contributed to weight loss, clearer skin, elevated energy and mood and a general “afterglow” affect that leaves me feeling strong and capable.