Hi, My name is Paul and I think I have a problem.

I have always suspected that like many others I may be a chocoholic and despite my best efforts on the BTD I think I still am.

One of the girls here at work turns 24 today and they have produced this huge chocolate cream filled cake. It’s just sitting on the kitchen table calling to me.

It’s huge, it’s fattening, it looks lovely.

A piece of fresh fruit just isn’t going to be the same.

I’m going into the kitchen shortly to make my lunch and hopefully that will take control of the tummy rumbles this cake is causing.

It has wheat, dairy and who knows what else in it, but it’s still a temptation even after 4 years.

I can do this, I can be strong, I don’t need chocolate cake.

Well it’s a lazy Sunday at home.

Overnight rain has put paid to any gardening today, which judging by the stiffness in my shoulder and back muscles after yesterdays exertions is probably not a bad thing.

The sun has broken through although we are experiencing 20 to 30 knot winds from the South West. This means our weather blows in from the Antarctic and there is even a forecast of snow down to the 900 metre level in highland areas and also the possibility of snow on Mt Wellington in Hobart. Tasmania in summer, got to love it.

Today is Devonport Regatta day and the Mersey River is a hive of activity with Rowing, speedboats, wood chopping events and heaps of other onshore action.

If you listen carefully you may be able to hear the speedboats on the river.

Tasmania is also home to World Champion axeman David Foster . Wood chopping has a long history in Tasmania and has produced numerous champions of international standing. David has a high media profile and has been one of the driving forces behind the Axemen’s Hall of Fame 10 minutes from Devonport and his own wood chopping centre Foster at Lucas .

We’ve already been for a walk this morning and will probably go for a second one if the wind doesn’t get any stronger.

So rest and relaxation, watching the Premier League football. My side picked up a point overnight so all is not lost.

Bye for now.

I’m a chocoholic and I blame my addiction on my dear uncle Angelo who was a foreman for Nestle chocolate. Every Christmas and birthdays...till I was about 10 yrs old... he would bring me a case (24 bars) of Kit Kat bars, which I would devour in a few days. Nowadays, I’m into the more expensive chocolate…if it’s not 70% cocoa and dark chocolate (no milk chocolate for 0’s), I don’t touch it. Like all addictions, you’re always craving the better stuff. I’ve tried to control my cravings due to the fact that I find sugar in any form increases my stress and adrenaline levels (already high for type O’s)...which tends to wear me down and I usually get a cold sore to boot. I have one as we speak and I’m not happy about it because it is the first in many years. My chocolate consumption since the early part of the Christmas season has been on an all time 5 year high and I need to cut down.

All you Roman Catholics out there know that Lent started this week on Wednesday and I have decided to forgo the chocolate for 46 days in observation (I’m not a devout Catholic but what the hell…. I need all the help I can get).

For the rest of you out there...Catholic and non-Catholics alike... maybe this is a good time to completely give up some of those BTD avoid foods for 46 days and see how you feel when Easter finally comes around.... it just might resurrect a new and improved you!!

Yours truly,

The Catholic Chocoholic

It’s a busy time preparing for a stock take, and that’s been my week at work.

Identifying stock, labelling stock, pre-counting stock, recording stock and then entering the data. Oh and fitting in my normal weeks work as well.

The reason for telling you all this, in the past I would have finished for the week and spent the weekend sitting on my bum resting ready to start work again on Monday.

I used to be exhausted.

Not this time, today I’ve trimmed two trees and a hedge in our front garden, edged the front lawn, mulched all the clippings and spread them on my garden footpaths. After lunch the wife & I are going for a walk and then shopping. Might treat myself to a Soyccino if I’m really good.

Anyway the point of all this:-

Don’t let anyone tell you the BTD doesn’t or can’t work.

It can and it does.

There has been more than a touch of Autumn about Tasmanian weather this week.

This caused a food rethink at home for dinner last night. We are currently experiencing our late summer Zucchini glut and trying to find out what to do with them all.

Bring out the old standby, what we call in our house 'oily veg'.

It's a combination of cooked rice noodles [ we actually used a rice & legume pasta swirl ] don't over cook it though it becomes a splodgy mass very quickly.

Sauteed assortment of vegetable including Zucchini/squash [ we actually had golden Zucchini, golden squash, Green Round Robin squash ] all from our garden, along with carrot, onion, green beans and diced Tofu. All cooked in olive oil to give a lovely oily sheen, toss the cooked pasta into the pan and stir briefly to mix. Serve with a mixed green salad, guaranteed to have olive oil dribbling down your chin.

Brought our new bag of 100% Rye flour this week. This one is actually a Light Rye. It has baked a beautiful loaf with a crisp crust on it and tastes very like a Granary roll I had years ago before BTD.

Typing this from work at lunch time Friday and we have finished the physical count for stock take.

Data entry is just about complete and I haven't bitten anyones head off yet. Still as a Vegetarian I wouldn't swallow anyway.

I suppose the recriminations and excuses will begin on Monday. I can hardly wait.

I HAVE to start working out again! Unfortunately, my couch is a Butt magnet. After standing for 8+ hours straight, the thought of standing longer than I have to is frightening, but it's a catch 22. Working out, getting massages, doing yoga, these are things that your body needs most when you are stressed out, yet it seems to get the least.

But I have this photo of myself in a skirt suit from my pharmacy school years when I used to run and lift weights regularly. My legs were just gorgeous, and now they are getting flabby. I am wondering if anyone in the cities would be interested in a "moving" support group for the blood type. Instead of sitting around talking about the diet, getting up and walking around a nice park or something while chatting. And then ending the walk at a healthy restaurant. I know that runners do this, they meet for a morning jog then eat a hearty breakfast afterwards. This would be the same concept. Well, just a thought.

Two things that I find in this America that do not mesh with this diet AT all: pork and wheat products. They are EVERYWHERE. I came into work yesterday and co-workers had ordered Pepperoni and Sausage Pizza! And the smell spread through the building like wildfire. It was so tempting but I resisted. I've been pretty good at resisting pork. Just knowing about trich is enough to make anyone with a scientific mind not want to eat it. I mean, really, who wants to eat dead parasites? Mmmm....

One thing that really rings true in my A body is that I need to eat first thing in the morning to get my day started. Morning fasting makes me feel awful. I've always been a breakfast person. Definitely my favorite meal of the day.

That's about all, I'm just dog-tired. I got to bed after midnight last night. Woke up at 5 am!!!!! Couldn't sleep, so typed some much needed correspondance. Next time I should use that time more wisely.....and WORK OUT!

So for Lent, perhaps I'll give up television. No, wait, Friends, can't do that. OK, I'll give up sitting down to watch television. That way if I watch it, I have to be moving, cleaning, organizing, something.

Maybe I should give up my soap opera!!!!! Whoa. Can I? Yeah. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Yes. I, too, can be young and restless. And get my butt off the couch and into the gym!

OK, yes, from now until Easter, I'm giving up my soap. Really, I mean, who lives like that anyway? It's like this small little town and they all flop husbands and wives because apparently the world is so small that there is no one else to choose from (for those of you who are wondering how I have time to watch a soap, I don't have a cush set 9-5 schedule).

I am also going to limit TV time in general. Watch only must see TV. Really, what else is there? This is starting to sound a little like Bridget Jones, too, huh, Cath (fellow blogger)? haha..

But one thing I know for sure, this year I won't try to give up procrastination. I tried that last year, but just didn't get around to it......

I hadn't thought of this before. I have noticed in the past 12 Months how much better I am sleeping at night. I still need my 8 hours a night, but I get a far more restful sleep.

The only thing that has changed in my life to cause this situation has all been brought about by the BTD.

I still eat my main meal of the day in early evening [approx. 6PM] however with the changes from the diet I no longer feel full or bloated in the evening and I presume this is a contributing factor in my improved sleeping patterns. In bed by 9.30 - 10.00PM latest and up between 6.00 - 6.30AM.

A good solid sleep and ready for another day.

Seriously I am flat out getting my workplace in order for stocktaking on Friday.

I hadn’t thought of this until now but I even cope with the stresses of stocktaking and all the stuff that goes with it. I can only put It down to my beneficial diet and lifestyle making me a far more relaxed person. Goodbye Mr Cranky.

Talk to you again soon.

2/23/04 10:22 PM

I watched a part of “Anna Bares All” on E! last night. I think that she looks horrible. Is it sour grapes? I don’t think so. I would hope not. I really thought that she looked good the last time that she lost weight, but she wasn’t as thin as she is now. It’s a lesson to myself, too. I have been as thin as she is now. I dieted (starved, took pills, etc.) to get there, of course, and then I gained it all back plus more. However, I would get to about that size and people, my Mom, especially, would start to tell me that I was getting too thin. I didn’t believe them and have always felt that I never really “succeeded” at dieting because I never hit that magical number of 150. I look like Anna looks now at 160. It is very hard for me to get there and even harder for me to stay there. I would like to get there again – the sensible way, using the BTD. We’ll see.

I have found a good “groove” with respect to the program. I am working out a minimum of 4x per week. This consists of 4 step classes and 3 to 4 days per week of some sort of weight training. I feel pretty good about it all. I also feel good about the eating program. I have found way to be full, to keep the cravings at bay, and to stay on track for that 80% compliance. I have added the protein powder with each meal. That’s a lot of protein, but it works for me. I also make sure to eat a starch with each meal. This is almost always a piece of Ezekiel bread OR brown/wild rice mixed with adzuki beans. The rice/bean mixture, in particular, is very filling. I put some ghee on it and mix in some nutritional yeast flakes and it is a powerful thing to eat. I don’t do food combining at all, so I don’t know if that is against the rules, but it works well for me.

I am eating quite a bit of fat, but it all beneficial. I eat olive oil on salads and ghee on just about everything else. The one thing that is interesting about ghee is that a little goes a LONG way. If you use too much, it is sort of disgusting. I cook with it and I put it on my Ezekiel or in with my rice and beans. I don’t necessarily eat the leanest cuts of meat either. I find really lean meat somewhat gross, but I don’t go for the super fat stuff either (well, not on a regular basis, anyway). What I find interesting is that I don’t think that the fat is affecting my weight loss. BTW, I did lose 2 more pounds the last time that I was on the scale. That was a 2-pound loss over the period of 2-3 weeks. That’s not as fast as I would like, but it’s a little step in the right direction, and every little bit helps.

OK – pooping out. I’ll write soon!

Ah, Monday morning and the whole working week’s spread out before me.

I really don’t mind work although if they’d send me a pay cheque for staying home I’d be quite willing to accept that as well.

Dramatic extremes of weather in Australia over the weekend. Here in Tasmania we have had overnight temperatures down below 10o C and a forecast of highland snow in the west of the State with the next front. This is summer !!!!

Just to prove it, at the other end of the continent Brisbane which is the State capital of Queensland had 41.5o C on Saturday followed by 41.7o C on Sunday. That’s about 110o F in the old money. 85% humidity on top of the heat would have been unbearable. Today it's only going to be 38o C 100o F so they'll probably all freeze.

Meanwhile across the Tasman, New Zealand is suffering high wind and flooding.

Methinks I’ll stay in Tassie.

My wife spent Sunday afternoon baking a new batch of biscuits with our latest batch of Rye flour. Stocks were running low.

Isn’t she a darling looking after me like she does.

Life is so good. Following the Wolves all my life has been a bit like following the BTD diet. Good one day, not so good on others and some days are just crap.[sorry]

Today is a good one and as a fan I just have to keep on believing that we can get out of relegation trouble. Bit like BTD isn’t it, belief is half the cure.

I don’t know, fancy treating football as a metaphor for a lifestyle and diet.

What’s he like !!!!!!!

On good days you feel like you can take on the World and qualify for the Champions League or do anything, on the bad days it’s just a struggle to avoid relegation.

Well I’m looking to Europe, not this year, maybe not next year but I’m looking.

Same with the diet I’m looking forward, I feel good/great now after 4 years on this.

What am I going to feel like in 5 years, no 10 years. The Champions League of life that’s where I’m heading for.

Incidentally if any of you want to see what I’m taking, have a look at this.

Leatherwood Online.

For the US readers who are beginning to wonder what I’m on about, substitute your favourite NFL or Baseball team for Wolves and the Super Bowl or World Series for the Champion League.

Hello!

It's been quite a week. Between buying a new car and car insurance to go with it, getting a water shiatsu massage, and attending the kick-off meeting for the AIDS trek in August (my pharmacy dispenses a lot of HIV meds so it was crucial for me to attend this because I want to get more involved and support the community), I have not spent much time on the computer.

I should highlight some great foods I've had in the last week though.

Went home to Iowa and there is this really funny Hibatchi restaurant in place of the old Royal Fork Buffet. Went with the folks and sister. It was fun watching the food cook right in front of you. I had hibatchi chicken and miso soup. But like a lot of restaurants, even though this is a mom and pop type of place, I still wonder what is in all those sauces they use. The food was good but there was just too much of it. I could hardly eat half of it. They also used what looked like butter but I have a feeling it was margarine.

The night before that, I said goodbye to my Jeep. We had a nice ride together. I will miss him, as he was attractive and luxurious, but my new vehicle is safer and more reliable. In the interim, I stopped by one of my favorite Twin Cities cafes: The French Meadow Cafe and Bakery. This is some of the most amazing bread you will ever eat. And it's healthy, too. They also make spelt bread and hemp bread and some sprouted bread of sorts. Well, I had a custom "flight" for starters. They have different flight trios to choose from such as an olive flight, butter flight, cheese flight, meat/pate flight, honey flight, and olive oil flight. Instead of sampling three of the same thing per flight, I had three things: one honey, one oil, and one butter. I had GOAT BUTTER!!!! Wow, if you like goat cheese, I guarantee you'll like butter. Peter D'Adamo, if you are reading this, please let me know if there is a difference between goat butter and cow butter. (i.e. is goat butter any heathier for type As?)

I drank the house merlot which was some organic Italian wine. It was delicious.

I finished my meal with miso salmon. Very healthy for a Type A. Calling all Twin Cities Type As: STOP BY THIS RESTAURANT (at night). Watch out Type Os. It's hard to resist all the breads and pastries! As a non-secretor I can attest to this.

Otherwise, just dining at the usual Kowalski's and Wedge. Trying to think of some other great foods I've had lately....hmmm....this is tough when you quit journaling daily. I'll get back to you on this.

ps-I bought a great CD. Guaranteed to soothe any Type A nervous disorder (ok, well, sort of): Delerium is the artist and Chimera is the album title. Wow, I could listen to "Love" over and over again.....

I'd love to hear from anyone else with a good chillout-type CD collection!

Saturday morning’s been and gone, the rest of the Leeks have gone in today along with a variety of Lettuce and Kohlrabi plants [beneficial A].

If you’ve never tried Kohlrabi, it’s a member of the Brassica family which grows into a Turnip shaped ball on the stem of the plant. Personally I’ve had far better results in my garden with the early Vienna white variety over the purple globe variety. Cook as a normal vegetable either steamed or boiled in chunks, dice or slice. Try it raw in your next salad coarsely grated and tossed in a mix of Olive Oil & lemon juice, mmmmmmm.

On another issue I was asked what does a vegetarian use as a filling in Shepherds or Cottage pie. Well given that it was last Winter let’s see if we can remember:

Onion and Garlic fried in Olive Oil until golden, then add Dried Paprika and Ginger.

For the protein source use a pre cooked savoury Lentil recipe which you can find on the Recipe base, We simmer Brown lentils in a miso stock with whatever herbs take our fancy or alternatively if we fancy Vegetarian “junk food” we use pre-soaked TVP mince or preferably TVP chunks. Yes I know it’s a manufactured Soy product but a Veggie’s gotta have a junk fix too, it is beneficial.

Add whatever diced vegetables are in season or your favourites, we use Carrot, Pumpkin, Peas and Parsnip. Any of the following herbs fresh or dried, Oregano,Thyme,Rosemary or whatever you like really. Simmer it all in a frying pan [skillet] in a Miso stock enriched with either a dark Soy sauce or red wine. Cook until tender and thicken with Arrowroot of necessary. Turn it out into a casserole or pie dish and top with the Parsnip mash I mentioned earlier in the week.

On a none food related issue I was asked earlier this week for my thoughts on the fact that reprints of ER4YT are still published with the original errors and none of the changes to food values in them. Now I don’t know what are the rights and wrongs of this issue in the publishing world about when a reprint becomes a second or third edition. I suspect that a reprint is just that ,errors and all and that a later published edition would possibly have the corrections made. Maybe somebody reading this who works in the publishing business could clarify this for me. The reprints of the book in Australia certainly contain all the original typo’s and food data errors. Jenny maybe this is an issue you could put to the books publisher in Australia. I will ask Dr D for you though.

In the words of a well known Australian TV gardener “That’s you’re bloomin’ lot”

Here in Toronto, we have a city that is full of different cuisines, and Greek has to be one of my favorites. I was up in "Greek town" which is an area of Toronto where you can sample some of the Greek culture as well as their cuisine. I don't know about you but they sure know how to cook lamb (O beneficial). They call it lamb slouvaki and it's cooked on skewers like shish-ka-bob and it's usually served with potatoes and salad. I opted for rice instead and to the dismay of the waiter when he asked me if I wanted Zazicki sauce (yogurt based) on it, I said no (it's times like these where I wish I was a type . Anyway it was delicious and if I could eat lamb everyday I would.

Since I'm a lamb lover, I will be posting some lamb recipes in the weeks to come...stay tuned.

Yours truly...Mikos

Friday lunchtime and it’s just started to rain. The weather forecasters got it right today.

I was talking to a work related associate in Nebraska USA yesterday and we were discussing the relative merits of the current winter weather in the US compared to here in Australia. The upshot was he thought I should spend some time at the beach.

I don’t think so Isaac. I think it’s a result of my English upbringing where going to or being at the beach isn’t part of the lifestyle. It’s a part of the Australian lifestyle that has never attracted me, anymore than standing around a barbeque drinking beer and burning sausages.

Boring aren’t I.

End of a busy working week, which shows a very healthy future for us at work for the next 3 – 6 months, so it looks like a busy Autumn/Winter period again.

I will sit down over the weekend and try to respond to some of the food related questions that have been sent to me during the week.

Thanks to the nearly 2000 readers who have put up with my ramblings over the last Month.

If there are any particular areas of the BTD that interest you drop me a line through the comments button, if I can relate them to my own personal experience I will try to address them in future posts.

If your going out tonight drive safely and if you are drinking do it in moderation, but don’t drive.

Continuing my theme of food this week, today’s post will probably be more relevant to English readers than our American cousins. I’m not even sure if you have Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie in the USA.

If you used to love either of the above and no longer have it because Potato is an avoid have you looked at the options?

Last Winter we had a glut of Parsnips in our garden and experimented with mashing them. Steamed until you can put a knife through them, drain them into a bowl, add a tablespoon of Nutritional yeast [optional] then mash or blend using a blender stick with Olive oil. We used a garlic flavoured olive oil for this.

Cook your pie filling of choice in a separate pan, then spoon into a shallow oven proof dish. Spoon the mash mixture over the top and level with a fork. Drizzle a little more oil over the top and sprinkle with Paprika. Because the pie filling and topping are already cooked you basically need to just re-heat either in the oven or micro wave and finish under the griller to get a lovely golden colour to the topping.

Also works well using Pumpkin for the topping and probably any root vegetable of choice.

Could also serve as a vegetable piped onto a plate similar to Duchess Potato.

It’s more expensive than Potato, but not if you grow your own.

Further to yesterday’s Tabbouleh post I have received a suggestion that Quinoa also makes a great alternative to Bulghur wheat. I haven’t tried it as I am unable to source Quinoa here in Tasmania.

Maybe someone can tell me where I can get it in Australia ?

Today let’s talk about Bulghur wheat, Never heard of it………………. Surely you have. Never tasted it ………………..you must have. Ever been to a Greek or Lebanese place and had Tabouleh. It’s Bulghur wheat.

The definition is provided by Cook’s Thesaurus.

bulgur = bulgur wheat = ala = birghil = bulgar = bulghur = burghal = burghul Pronunciation: BUHL-guhr or BOOL-guhr Equivalents: One cup of dry bulgur yields about 3 cups of cooked bulgur. Notes: Bulgur is made from whole wheat that's been soaked and baked to speed up the cooking time. It's especially popular in the Middle East, where it's used to make tabouli and pilafs. Bulgur comes either whole, or cracked into fine, medium, or coarse grains.

Spell it how you like, call it what you like, it still tastes like Bulghur to me.

Like most wheat it is neutral for an A type secretor, non secretor’s should leave now, no seriously if you want to you can make a couple of compliant Tabouleh variations.

Variation one involves soaking the wheat in boiling water and then draining. A selection of chopped fresh Parsley, Mint and Cucumber[optional] stirred through the Buckwheat then dressed with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and lemon juice. Allow to stand for at least one hour and it tastes better served at room temperature.

Variation two involves the same soaking preparation. Then add a selection of fresh mint, assorted chopped dried fruits [pineapple, apricot, raisins] and nuts [walnuts, almonds] then dress with E V Olive Oil and Pineapple juice. Same serving recommendation applies. This tastes absolutely terrific.

Ok I’ve made myself hungry and that’s not good, I’ve lost 3lb so far this week so I stop talking food right now…………………….

OK – Anna Nichol Smith is driving me nuts. Really. It’s the green-eyed monster in me. I ‘m jealous. She got thin REALLY quickly. I know that she’s taking “trimspa, baby” and I wanna take it, too! In case I haven’t put it up here before, I’m an ephedra addict. “Recovering ephedra addict” is I guess the correct title. I haven’t taken any in about 2 years, but, darn, I miss it. I love the feeling of zooming around all of the time AND I love the fact that it gets me thin – really thin – quickly. Unfortunately there are those darned side effects of having to take more and more, of feeling like crud most of the time, and, oh yea, gaining all of the weight back plus more when you’re body finally tells you that you have to stop taking it for a while.

I’m not going back to that life. In some ways, I ‘m just too damn old. I don’t need or want the drama in my life, but I really want to get back to my fighting weight like Anna. I guess that I identify with her because she and I have a really similar physique. I don’t have the “junk in the trunk” that she has, but the rest is the same….have you ever taken a good gander at the size of her hands!

Also, like her, I don’t like to limit myself. I’m not very good at telling myself “no”. Unlike her I have an excellent education and can carry on a conversation, but, hey, one of us is a millionaire and it ain’t the one that went to Cornell! I know, I know, I’ll get there when I get there. There’s sweetness in the process. I know all of that stuff. I’m not religious, but I do love that old saying: God grant me patience and GRANT IT TO ME NOW!

I feel a lot better today. I still have a pretty nasty sore throat, but it isn’t miserable like it has been. I’m going to make it to the health club today and I’m looking forward to it. Whenever I don’t work out for a few days, I feel like my blood gets thick, sluggish and contaminated. It will feel good to get things moving again.

I have had a lot of things going through my head about food, life, patience, and life experiences. I am a big fan of the “Conversations With God” series. It has really helped me to keep calm about the events of my life and of the world. I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in spirituality and a different way of looking at life pick up one of the books. One of the things that it has helped me to understand is my belief in the perfection in the continual moment of “now”. Our lives tick by, and we spent so much of it “wanting”. The act of wanting something takes it away from us and it robs us of the perfect of the moment. That is only my opinion, of course. I am a very forward thinking person. I tend to look ahead of where I am and start running to that place, rather than to enjoy the thing that I am experiencing at this moment of now. This has me sort of running through my life, and I don’t like it.

For example, seeing Anna Nichol makes me want to get “thin” as soon as possible. It makes me start hating where I am right now – which is sort of a “normal” size for me. I’m not particularly heavy; I’m just not skinny. I love being skinny. The problem is that I have always “cheated” to get there. I have taken pills, over exercised, under eaten and over dieted my way there. Of course, after running to get there, it doesn’t last very long because I have never done it in a way that was long lasting. I have cheated and cut corners. In the process of doing this, I have cheated myself the experience that I am experiencing right now. I have missed the ability to be calm, and I have missed the ability to trust my own body. I have an amazing body, but I haven’t ever trusted it. I have always believed that it would, eventually, betray me.

What I am finding, while sticking to the BTD, is that my body, if given the right stuff, is an amazing force. It can, as clearly as any spoken or written word, tell me what works and what doesn’t. It can clean itself out and clear itself up and in the process become what it was meant to be. I’ve really put my body through a lot of misery in the 40+ years that it has been mine. I amazed that it’s not ruined, but it isn’t. It’s perfect. Right now. Right here.

That’s the thing that I have to keep in my head – the perfection in the process and in every moment of “now”. I have brought forth this experience to myself, so why am I rushing through it? I have created every single moment that I live, so why do I treat these moments with distain and disrespect?

The question, “why?” tends to be an irrelevant one in my life, and a waste of time and mental energy. I know this, yet it still comes out of my mouth and rolls around my brain. I am working on moving past the “why?”s and moving into a place of embracing the things that puzzle me. That’s faith….not the easiest concept for a former agnostic such as myself.

A few diet notes: I have found that a small amount of really good dark chocolate, along with the bennie and neutral starches is keeping the binges and the diet pitfalls at bay. That being said, spending 4 days with a bunch of 5 year olds did take it toll on keeping on the program. I was REALLY relieved to be at home without child today so that I could stick to a really good eating program. My body starts to crave the simplicity and predictability of the ER4YT foods and beverages.

Speaking of craving ER4YT foods, my body – specifically my stomach – just growled at me to remind me that it’s time for lunch. I’ll write more soon…

2/15/04 10:16 PM

Well, I am sitting here typing with a piece of cotton filled with raw carrot peelings tied around my neck. Isn’t THAT special?!?

I haven’t written much in the past few days because I have been fighting off being sick, my husband has been sick AND I have had a house full of visiting children. It has been a trying three days. I’m pretty sure that both my husband and I have strep throat, although I’m not going to the Dr. to have a culture done. I’m pretty well through with Western medicine. I’ve been down that road before. I’d go in and they’ll scrape my throat. If I have a positive for strep, they’ll prescribe antibiotics and if I am negative, they just tell me to take the usual Tylenol and such. I’m not taking antibiotics again for typical sicknesses - not unless nothing else works.

So, I am taking herbs and, per Dr. D’Adamo’s recommendation, I am doing a “carrot poultice”. Basically, I have wrapped a sack of carrot shavings around my throat. I do have to say that it feels really good. It’s also cheap and I can compost it when I am done – two great benefits. I feel pretty good except for swollen glands and an absolutely miserable sore throat. I did a google on carrot poultices because I have never heard of such a thing. Seems that they are an old time remedy for not only sore throats but for cuts, burns and removing splinters. Go figure.

I have really had some interesting thoughts about the whole BTD recently; I just haven’t had the time or energy to put my thoughts down. I can’t say that I am able to do so at the moment, either, but I will try to put my thoughts together tomorrow morning, and I’ll get to it then, when I am feeling more fresh. I’m pretty tired right at the moment, however, so I am going to get my daughter and her friend to bed and I am off to sleep with these carrots around my neck. I guess I don’t have to worry about getting hungry in the middle of the night, now, do I?

I’m coming up fast to my 40th birthday this month (please, no birthday email wishes). I’ve

always ignored the number because it was only a chronological age based purely on my birth certificate. Looking around at other people my age, some play hockey while others sit around the

couch all-day, overweight and exhausted, eating the wrong foods usually watching the game. I’ve always wondered how old I am biologically and one would think that this type of age would in some

part have to do with your genes (maybe 20%?) and with your lifestyle (the other 80%), like the food we eat, the amount of exercise we get and the stress we go through day to day and lets not forget our disposition or what I like to call our PMA (positive mental attitude or lack thereof). Now, how does one keep their biological age low? If we allow our common sense to come into play here a few things come to my mind. First, it would make sense to eat bioenergetic whole foods (I’m talking whole fruits and vegetables here that are beneficial or neutral to your blood type). This type of food is very easy

to digest in its natural state, especially fruit. It carries it’s own enzymes that help break it down in

your digestive system (our body uses less or next to none of it’s own enzymes when eating fruit). It

is great on an empty stomach and this is why it should be eaten alone. Up until the time I was living with my parents, it was customary to have fruit after a meal (it’s the Italian way?). Usually 20 minutes after the final fruit I would plop myself on the couch and I would fall into a slumber eventually falling asleep (I have a theory that my grades in school were lousy because of the fruit ritual…never got my homework done). The fruit, when eaten after a big meal, sits in your stomach while your other food is being digested slowly and the fruit begins to ferment turning into a kind of alcohol, hence the slumber and sleepiness. Vegetables, the other bioenergetic food, help keeps the body alkaline and less acidic

(if you want to find out your PH levels, go to a health food store and ask for PH strips). If anyone watched the movie, the Matrix, the machines ran out of energy sources so they used us humans as batteries because of our Alkaline/Acidic bodies. If you’re not in the right PH balance, you’re usually feeling sluggish or low on energy. Ask yourself, are you an Eveready or a third rate battery? With the high rate of Diabetes out there, it would make sense that we should look to reduce our insulin and glucose levels. Easy?…reduce your sugar intake from high-density carbohydrate consumption in the form of processed foods (soft drinks, donuts, candy bars etc) and stick to the low density bioenergetic carbs like fruit and vegys. Reducing stress in this day and age is a tough one but in my case being a type O, I need to exercise hard three times a week or my stress levels get too high and I start to

feel like Bruce Banner before he turns into the Incredible Hulk (I hope I’m not scaring anyone). Lastly getting a good night’s sleep is paramount… 8 to 8.5 hours of sleep in a dark environment each night. Watching TV after sun down with the couch side lamps on and munching on a late night snack apparently screws up the nighttime hormonal function and hence your sleep cycles. A friend of mine was a nurse for 10 years working the graveyard shift, had a tough time getting pregnant and

miscarried many times. It wasn’t till she quit and got a regular 9 to 5 job that she got pregnant and carried to term…reason being her hormones were so out of whack because of being up at night and sleeping during the day. I left positive attitude for last because I’m a firm believer that if you have

the right attitude, everything else will take care of itself. In my line of work, I hire people for their attitude and not their work history, because like viruses, bad attitudes can spread and suck the

energy out of people. OK, with all my rambling so far…how old am I biologically? If you asked me 2

years ago before I started the BTD diet, I would have said 38.Since reading the book, I only eat fruit on a empty stomach…my PH level is a healthy 7.0.My energy levels are good (could be better) since

I began staying away from wheat and high sugar laden foods and sticking to beneficial meat as a source of protein. I try not to eat anything after 8pm and I go to sleep at 10am(except weekends)

and rise at 6:30(except weekends). I could be better at sticking to my exercise regiment. Lastly my attitude is much better because I feel I’m in more control of what I eat (thx to the BTD). So I’ll give myself a biological score of 32. If you looked at my picture, would you have guessed 40?

Oops…it’s 10:55pm.It’s time for a glass of water before my 8 hours of hopefully, uninterrupted sleep. Lucky for me, I have a strong bladder…remember, I’m 32 yrs old!!

Monday morning and I feel good.

It’s a clear sunny morning and about 13o C.

Sunday afternoon we reached a top of 27o C and 85% humidity. I thought I’d left that kind of weather behind when I moved to Tasmania. Still it was ideal Sushi weather and it was a success.

A busy couple of weeks ahead now at work as we prepare for a stocktake at Head Office at the end of February. I co-ordinate most of the paperwork and stock control prior and during the count. I will be busy preparing stock sheets and making sure all stock is correctly identified prior to the physical count. I hope the weather cools down some. We have the kind of store building that could be used as a hot house in Summer but when we need it warm in Winter it’s more like a cool store.

My energy levels are high after a relaxing weekend at home in the garden, so until the next time we meet.

TTFN

Today justified all the hard work in our veggie garden last Winter.

All the plans to plant out our seedlings [mentioned yesterday] very nearly came unstuck this morning.

Woke up to find we’d had 6mm of rain overnight, in the past that would have meant that the veggie patch was a no go zone. Last Winter we had decided to raise the level of all our garden beds and box them in. Today it paid dividends, although the pathways between the beds were a bit sloppy, Sue and I were still able to plant out all those lovely seedlings. Makes you feel proud it does.

I know Valentine’s Day was yesterday but I’ve offered to prepare the main meal for us today, so Sushi King comes out of the pantry. I love doing vegetarian Sushi rolls, so that’s what we’re having.

OK now who’s paying attention, Sushi rice needs Rice Vinegar and that’s an avoid for an A. No problem. In my recipe I flavour my rice with a small amount of Mirin [Japanese rice wine], Vitamin C [Ascorbic acid]crystals dissolved in water and a small amount of Lemon juice to taste. Mix it all together in a small bowl and sprinkle and stir through the rice as it cools.

Not traditional but A compliant.

For today’s filling we will used finely shredded lettuce, topped with Cucumber, marinated Tofu and a julienne of vegetables including Carrot, Zucchini, and Red Japanese radish. All rolled up in Nori Sushi sheets.

Served on a flat plate surrounding a bowl of home made Miso & Tofu soup.

It’s no wonder I feel so healthy.

On health matters, I jumped on the scales yesterday for the first time since Christmas, whoops, 13st 12lb [194lb], now where did the extra 6lb come from ?

Don’t worry Dear reader, I’ll fix it.

Whoo hoo!!!

Welcome to McErika's where over 2,000 have been served an almost daily prescription for laughter and drama in my attempts to master the Type A diet.

There is something very strange going on in my body today. I feel refreshed. I don't know why. Maybe it's just that when you finally get rid of a migraine, you can't help but feel refreshed. It's more than that though and I just can't quite put my finger on it. It could also be that the St. John's Wort is starting to kick in just as I'm about to quit it anyway.

You see, I take it during my "moon" week. I don't take it otherwise because it interacts with the cytochrome P450 system in the liver and then the enzymes metabolize contraceptive hormones too quickly. That could be bad (or good depending on how you see an unplanned, life-changing events).

All I know is that I woke up this morning feeling very good and I am about to go to bed tonight feeling equally as good. Tired, but good.

I had my usual breakfast. I also had a lot of cookies at work today (darn you Sharon, just kidding). I also ate roast turkey and passion iced tea on my break. I'm about to end the day with a frozen meal:

Amy's Brown Rice and Vegetables: let's see, it contains brown rice, onions, mushrooms (uh oh), broccoli, tofu, carrots, spinach, celery, spices, olive oil, tamari, vinegar (uh oh), sesame tahini, sea salt, safflower oil (hmmm), garlic.

Yeah, that sounds pretty benign. I've had it before. It's pretty good. I know I shouldn't eat before bed but this is my life as a health care professional. I get off a late evening and I get up early for the morning shift. You eat when you can.

That's all for now, folks. Good night.

Well, It’s the middle of February and that’s time to transplant Winter vegetable seedlings in our veggie garden.

Sue[wife] and I have been weeding flower beds etc. this morning and since lunch have prepared vegetable beds for planting;

Leeks

Kale

Broccoli

Collard

Swiss Chard

A veritable smorgasbord of Type A beneficial vegetables.

Weather permitting, it’s a busy day ahead of us tomorrow [Sunday]. We’ve also planted another row of Purple top Turnip and Rocket today.

If you want to eat the best you’ve got to grow it yourself. All our vegetables are grown totally organically and at this time of year are usually still growing until about half an hour before we eat.

It’s too hot to be in the garden in the afternoon so I’m here typing my blog with a cool breeze blowing through from the balcony.



It’s Valentines Day, February 14th here in Oz.

I guess it will be where you are soon enough.

Please remember Flowers, Fluffy Toys and a card are Blood Type Neutral :-D

Well, I think that I have the flu. I am pretty sure that my daughter had it a little when she got that fever on Monday, but that I hit it hard enough with the herbs that it bypassed her and got to me. I have loaded up on all suppliments, and am hoping that I feel good tomorrow.

This is what I think happened. I ate some wheat today - just a small amount - but it pushed me over the edge at a time when I was fighting the flu off. I knew it about 1 hour after I ate it - that's when I started to go downhill. Darn that moment of weakness. NOTE TO SELF: three bites of pizza isn't worth getting sick. I got my Deflect O in the mail today and took that, too. If I wake up feeling good tomorrow, I will be really impressed with the herbal therapy. Needless to say, I am following the BTD (Blood Type Diet) particularly carefully at the moment.

I want to write so much more, but I just feel that feverish, nasty feeling, so I am headed to bed. Please excuse any typos - I am writing this off the cuff instead of composing it in Word.

I'll update more tomorrow.

G’day everybody.

First off today I need to do a bit of housekeeping. I’m sorry if I confused any of you with my post yesterday. If you are reading Eat Right 4 Your Type you must have wondered what I was on, going on about Tiers 1 & 2 foods. Eat Right was the pre-cursor to the book Live Right 4 Your Type in which Dr D’Adamo and his research team expanded on the food group idea and broke food groups in to Tier 1 & 2 and Secretor / Non Secretor status [apologises to Dr D in advance here] and in my own opinion made a concept that was simple to understand for people like me complex and too complicated to follow without medical advice. I own a copy of Live Right but still hold with the basic tenet of the Eat Right book as it is simpler for me to follow.

If you wish you should be able to get Live Right 4 Your Type from your local library to have a look at, then if you decide it’s for you go out and buy a copy [blatant plug to get me back in Dr D’s good books after the earlier comment]. If you decide to stay with Eat Right make sure you check your food status on the type base on this web site. Research is an inexact science and some foods status changed between publication of the two books.

Okay I’ve got that sorted, now to the subject of todays blog:-

There’s nothing exciting happening in my World at the moment apart from blooming good health of course. Actually it’s the middle of the working week so the routine is get up at 6.00 am, shower, breakfast and at work by 7.45 am. Home approx. 5.15 pm for tea and family.

Doing this blog thing has set me thinking a lot more about the Blood Type Diet and remembering things I did or didn’t do when I first started.

When you read the book or are given a diet by your Health Practitioner I think everyone’s first reaction is

OMG what am I going to eat.

So let’s look at a few alternatives

On my plan which is specific to me as a Type A the first things I had to eliminate were ;

1. Potatoes

2. Wheat

3. Tomato

4. Capsicum [Bell Pepper]

5. Chillies

6. Most Dairy product including all my fave cheeses

I was already Vegetarian which being Type A was a bonus, I didn’t have any meat products in my diet to eliminate. Here’s what I did.

1. My Wife and I had to look outside the square on this one. The traditional Western value of protein source and veg usually includes Potato. I had always eaten Rice although given a choice by the Wife I would plump for a spud [potato] every time. Well this had to change. We now use more rice or Couscous for our meals where we may have served Potato in the past

2. This one was easier. I know wheat is a neutral for secretor’s in LR4YT but in the earlier ER4YT it was an avoid for type A, I had terrific success dropping wheat from my diet and have kept it out completely. For the people that can tolerate it Spelt is a terrific first step to wheat substitution. We have gone further though as you would see from an earlier blog and also use Rye flour. As Type A’s we are fortunate to be able to use Gluten in our bread [with the exception of Non Secretor’s]. Pasta was an issue at the beginning but we are now able to source a huge variety of Rice, Spelt even Kamut noodles from our local Health Food Store. Pretty expensive though and we tend to source our rice noodles from the supermarket or Asian food stores. My wife makes a wicked vegetarian Bolognese type sauce with no tomato using rice pasta instead of traditional spaghetti noodles.



3. I had already started to eliminate tomato from my diet prior to starting BTD. The only meal we make that could use tomato would be in the above mentioned Bolognese sauce or a casserole. My wife makes a tremendous substitution using grated carrot, grated pumpkin and dried sweet paprika.

4. Probably the most difficult thing to find an alternative to. Miss the colour and flavour it can add to a dish.



5. No problem here, Didn’t use many before, don’t use any now. Still make a very nice Indian style dish with rice a dry vegetable curry with Tofu and dhal.

6. Frustrating this one. I used to enjoy Pecorino cheese [sheep’s milk] on my pasta and sheep’s milk should be neutral for me. I posted to Heidi some years back on this very issue and from memory the problem occurs with the aging of the cheese for Type A’s. I even have the same problem with Goat’s cheese. Apparently and I will stand corrected on this, the younger the cheese the better for us as Type A. I eat a Goat milk Feta now and that’s about it. The Soy cheese options available to us in Tasmania all include Casein which is a Type A avoid.

There you go now you know all my secrets. Remember to check the type base. and the recipe base regularly, there is always something new going on.

Yes, on my lunch break despite starting out the morning in a strange way (a banana, and only a banana), I headed over to the deli and ran right to the shiny glass case. There are a lot of Avoids in that Kowalski's deli case. Lots of potato foods. Somehow day after day I have been able to avoid the temptation. Unfortunately, the chocolate ecstasy was staring me in the face. After eating mixed veggies (green beans, carrots in oil) from the hot case and swallowing it down with B Berrier juice (one of the only orange-free juices in the fridge there), I HAD to have that chocolate ecstasy. And yeah, it was ecstatic. And then I had to work again.

Oh, and I need to tell you that I worked out this weekend. Was going to jog/walk, but the treadmill was occupied. The boyfriend did an easy 15 miles on the recumbent bike and I did 25 minutes on the eliptical and about 20 minutes lifting weights (both of us). And I thought after all these months of inactivity I'd be really sore but I wasn't! That was surprising! Must be all these regenerative foods I'm eating (um, minus the chocolate ecstasy).

I have a whopping left lobe migraine headache today. Lack of sleep usually does this to me. Doesn't help that I'm in my moon right now. All that estrogen withdrawal and then BANG...head is throbbing. I have never been so relieved to get off work. I always try to solve the pain with natural methods (chamomile and lavender essential oils applied at the temples work wonders) but will resort to naproxen if all else fails.

I NEED A MASSAGE!!!! Perhaps I'll call around and get an appointment.

OK on that note, the little people crushing my head are telling me to get off the computer. It's been a while since I've had a migraine like this. I think it's very much stress related. Lots of stuff going on in my life that is giving me stress.

The tier system in Live Right for Your Type seems to confuse a lot of people, particularly those new to the Blood Type Diet.

Now obviously you should try to get as many Beneficial foods into your diet as possible, followed by Neutral foods and if at all possible no avoids.

My understanding of the food tier system is that if you are in reasonable to normal health you should be looking at as many Tier 1 foods as possible either Beneficial or Neutral. Tier 2 Beneficial foods should be included in your diet if you are suffering or recovering from illness.

All Beneficial foods act as a natural medicine to your body, Neutral foods by the very name neither give any great benefit or harm to the body and avoids are just that. If you type in a food on the Type Base you will find the reason for not including that food in your particular diet. Eating Beneficial foods in one or the other Tiers does not then allow room for including avoid foods from the other Tier. The two work together and it will be better for your body in the long run to include as many Beneficial foods as you can regardless of which Tier they belong in.

If you wish to seek professional clarification on the Tier system drop a line to the guy who knows Dr D’Adamo or to Heidi’s On The Diet question and answer segment.

I can only re-iterate this is my understanding of the system, but if it says Beneficial or Neutral go for it. If it says Avoid, do just that.

I would be pleased to get any feedback from you if I am misunderstanding the Tier concept.

If it says Beneficial of course that doesn’t exclude any foods you may have problems with. My Wife [AB] is unable to eat a number of Beneficial foods in her group because of lifelong allergic reaction which triggers Migraine. So you still have to use a bit of common sense.

2/10/04 10:06 PM

Well, I was stuck home today with a not-so-sick kid. I gave her some herbs yesterday. Her fever went up to 103.5, but was normal by bedtime. I have rule that real fevers demand an extra day home in bed, and that’s what today way. Fortunately, she was feeling bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Unfortunately, she was feeling bright-eyed and bushy tailed – if you know what I mean. I am really feeling that herbs are the way to go for health. Using the BTD, good chiropractic care and herbs seems to be keeping my daughter and myself healthier this year. I won’t go into my husband’s health. That’s a whole other story.

I had some people wonder how the addition of starch back into my diet was working for me. I can only say this, I feel wonderful. I haven’t weighed myself in 10 days, so I can’t tell on the weight-loss side. I think that I am holding at this size, which is fine. I always plateau regularly. I took off nearly 30 pounds in a little over 3 months. It is quite normal for me to stay in a same weight for a few weeks. I’ll probably weigh myself this week and I’ll let you know.

There was also some confusion about the portions that I mentioned. The difference between what is written in the books and what I had posted here was that I converted the DRY food into COOKED food. In other words, you can have up to 3 cups of beans in the type O plan. Well, that translates into 12 or so ½-cup cooked servings. Please keep that in mind. In my mind, a serving of starch is ½-cup of COOKED beans or grains or 1 slice of bread. That’s not how Dr. D’Adamo lists it. Be careful of the conversions. Keep in mind, too, that I am the size of a man. I think that more “normal” sized women might have problems with so much starch. I only say that, however, because I have been brainwashed into thinking that I must suffer in order to lose weight and be healthy. Only time will really tell, and I’ll keep my results posted here.

I will say this: sugar really doesn’t work well for me. If I eat refined sugar – like chocolate or something similar, it does several things. The first thing is that it really drops my energy and makes me downright sleepy. The second is that it sets off a series of cravings that are hard to control. I got back into eating sugar the past few days, but have been off of it today. I feel MUCH better when I don’t eat it. Eating the allowed starches certainly helps control the sugar thing. I would guess that I will always have somewhat of a sweet tooth, but the BTD seems to keep it at bay in general.

Well, I am off to bed. I need to get up early and get moving, and I am finding that I just plain need more sleep than I would like. I do best if I am in bed by 10:30 and asleep by 11. When I do this, getting up at 6:30 isn’t quite so horrible. I really do best getting to sleep by 11 and getting up at 7:30 or 8, but that just doesn’t happen very much. You know what is really interesting? Those are the same hours that worked for me as a kid. I remember always falling asleep around 11 and always naturally waking up around 7:30.

Things don’t change that much, do they?

I was listening to some Talking Heads(popular rock band of the late 70"s, early 80's) on the weekend and one of their songs...Once In A Lifetime..was blaring out of my speakers. There is a favorite line in the song that goes...”Well...how did I get here?”…which prompted me to genuflect as to how I

ended up being a blogger here on the BTD site. It would have been nice to add a sound file of the song as you're are reading this but I have no idea how I would do that (any ideas on this Dr D?). Anyway, Since the day my locks of hair fell out (8 years ago now...medical term for it is Alopecia, one of many Autoimmune disorders that type O’s are susceptible to) I've been seeking answers as to why and

I've read all the medical text books and the reasons for it over the years and I have also read many popular alternative health books on the subject and tried their suggestions with no real success. It wasn't till I went to see a Reflexogist 18 months ago to get my feet rubbed that I stumbled about Dr D'adamo's name (not the book per say) . Every time I went to see her...let's call her Rhonda....she would spend 30 minutes rubbing my feet and telling me every part of my body that was not working well....in my case it was my liver and pancreas(lectin related?). In case you don't know, apparently parts of your feet correlate to parts of your body and where the pain is, when she rubs it, are where in your body you need to give some attention to. Anyway as she's rubbing and I'm wincing (she had very strong hands) I kept seeing this "Dr D'adamo's food chart" to the left of me outlining all the food

groups and what foods should and shouldn't be combined..it wasn’t blood specific per se. So that chart, you may say, left a small impression on me for I would always concentrate my thoughts on it while Rhonda did her magic on my feet. I was getting up to my 5th session with her and I showed up late for it so she sent me away and said come back in two hrs. I was OK with that and went on my merry way trying to figure out what I was going to do for next two hours…I was running out of my protein powder so I decided to go to my favorite health/vitamin store and pick some up with other stuff that I was taking. Side note…I was on this Whey(avoid for O) protein powder shake stuff for two months and all it did was give me cramps to a point where I went to the hospital to see if there was something wrong with my stomach and after a few tests and xrays, they gave me a clear bill of health so I kept on taking it(what can I say?…I’m a gluten for punishment)). While I’m at the vitamin shop I pick some of the free health magazines and flip through the magazines for an hour or so sipping on a tall café late(another avoid for me) in the mall when I come across an ad for a health fair being held not far from where I live. After my last foot rub(I didn’t go back after that…I don’t know why?) , I ventured off to this fair and I got there with only 10 minutes left before they were closing up, so I figured I could only see a few exhibitors. I only saw one and it was a woman by the name of Debbie who ran a business called, Blood Link(how appropiate). Debbie had a high-powered microscope set up and she was taking blood samples to show you on a molecular level how your blood was behaving. She was also doing blood tests to show what blood type you were and for $20.00 I got mine done. After the small prick of my finger and I swipe on to some paper, after 38 years, I found out I was a type O. All Debbie said after my results was, “I hope you’re not a pasta/bread lover”, which struck me kind of hard, because I was. It was then she took out the ERFYBT book and proceeded to explain how I should eat for my blood type. It peaked my interest and she almost sold me a copy. It wasn’t till a few weeks later that I was in a library that I saw the book on a special shelf “librarians choice” that I began to read it. I sat in the library for close to 3 hours that day reading it. As I was reading it I was struck with the feeling that the book..the type O part…was talking directly to me.As I’m reading the list of Avoids for my blood type, all I kept saying to myself was that I have been eating all the wrong foods for the past 30 some years. Anyway, I bought the book the next day and threw out all my boxes of pasta, the frozen French fries were history, the corn muffins I devour on a weekly basis were chucked and the pork sausages, a favorite of mine, were no longer welcome in my fridge. The whey protein powder that I bought before going to the fair was going to find a home in some type B’s kitchen. Since then, the change in my energy levels and vitality are night and day. There have been times where I strayed from the BTD, but who hasn’t?. It’s a required thing that you do stray because it’s a feedback loop telling you how effective the BTD really is. Lastly, as you can see from my photo, I’m still follicley challenged (“same as it ever was…same as it ever was”) but I’m seeing a lot of new hair I didn’t see 18 months ago…and besides, hair is very over rated anyway, so I don’t worry about it. Peace of mind sometimes can be the best medicine for what’s ailing you.

I thought today we might have a drink together. When you start the BTD there are a lot of adjustments to make to your food and drink intake and the drinks mentioned below relate to me as an A type. You can check your own compatibility on the Type base.

Green Tea - Beneficial

I drink at least one mug of green tea a day sometimes two. In Australia the most popular brands are Dilmah and Madurah. Major brands such as Twinings and Liptons are also available although be aware that Liptons have some extras in theirs which are avoids for type A. There are also numerous Chinese and Japanese types available from Asian specialty stores.

Herbal Tea - Beneficial

There are many beneficial herbal teas available to the type A, my personal favourite particularly in Winter is Rose Hip.

Coffee - Beneficial

I drink one mug of coffee per day with my lunch. I decided early on that if I was drinking coffee I wasn’t going to drink instant. I keep freshly ground coffee with me at work and use a Cafetiere mug, same principal as a coffee plunger but in a mug. Ideal for making one freshly brewed coffee either at work or at home. I have no particular favourite coffee and like to try as many different ones as possible.

Soy Milk - Beneficial

I have soy milk daily on my breakfast cereal.

Water and Lemon – Beneficial

I drink two to three litres of water daily, although not often with Lemon.

Red Wine – Beneficial

One glass daily when I get home from work, if you don’t particularly like red wine or it’s a cheap rough red, try the medieval approach and water it down. It works.

Pineapple Juice – Beneficial

One 250ml glass usually in the evening.

Beer – Avoid

Never, only really appeals on a really hot day but I don’t have any in the house, so no temptation.

Distilled Liquor – Avoid

Never. Really missed my drop of Scotch to start with though. Not a problem now.

If you having a drink tonight - Cheers.

You can have too much of a good thing you know.

I know this will be hard for you people in the Northern hemisphere to understand as you are still in the grip of a long hard Winter. We suffer as well, I’m sick of all this sunshine. Maybe it’s a throw back to my English heritage but I don’t enjoy it when it’s too hot, although that’s a relative term. Each to his own.

The last 6 months in Tasmania have gone from soaking wet and cold up until the end of September and then the big guy upstairs turned the tap off. No rain to speak of until mid January when we received 200mm [8”] in 48 hours. Whoa enough already, sitting watching your front garden wash away is no fun.

I know all this weather talk is relative but when it happens in your back yard you always feel that it’s worse than anyone else. Our weather here is much more temperate than a lot of what you guys suffer. Whinge over.

One benefit of our summer is the huge range of fresh stone fruit available. As I write our Cherry season is just about at an end. At work we were given nearly 50kg [100lb] of cherries free from one of our grower clients. They were seconds that the retail market wouldn’t take but hey who cares. We all took our share but I had no idea what I was going to do with all of them, I certainly couldn’t eat them all before they went bad.

A quick search around Google and I found you could freeze whole cherries. Never heard of it before and if I’d paid retail for the cherries probably wouldn’t have tried it.

Well I tried my first lot at the weekend, defrosted at room temperature they were a bit soft but certainly edible. I’ve got nearly 3kg frozen and they were certainly worth the experiment, I think next time I’ll cut them up and have with natural yoghurt and other fruits.

Ah Summer, you can’t beat it can you ?

2/9/04 9:34 AM

So, after a somewhat excessive weekend, I am working on getting back on track and in the BTD groove today. Saturday was really fun, though. Hubby and I went out with another couple to a Japanese joint here called Sushi/Zushi. It was DELICIOUS. They had SO many choices and I tried a bunch of them. Ate (deep fried, unfortunately) soft-shell crab, a bunch of different rolls (filled with avoids, I am afraid), seaweed salad, dessert and, of course, sake. The sake was delicious. It was infused with ginger and served chilled.

It was definitely a meal that was off of the BTD, and filled with avoids, but it was also strange because it was filled with bennies, too. I figure that they sort of cancel each other out. While I ate a few bites of tempura, I got a great does of seaweed. Where there was cream cheese, there was also yellowtail tuna. While there was sake, I also drank some really great green tea.

The only thing that really seemed to negatively affect me was the few bits of tempura. I have really been away from wheat completely - so much so that just a little seems to affect me. Of course, I would – naturally – be out of deflect O. Note to self: order more deflect O.

While I DID lift do an hour on the elliptical and lift weights on Friday, I did not work out this weekend. I was just plain lazy. I’m going today.

I hate getting up at 6:30 AM. I especially hate getting up at 6:30 AM on Mondays. When I had my period last week, I got my daughter off on the bus then headed back to bed. I tell you, I want to do that SO much right now, but it is becoming a habit and I don’t want that habit. Even though I feel tired right now and my bed is calling, I am sticking it out. My workout is at 12:30 and I am NOT going back to bed before then. This week is a week for me to get back on schedule and back on program and going back to bed is not a part of that program.

So, since I want to sleep really badly right now, I think that I am going to walk outside a bit.

I got a little into sugar this weekend and I am SURE that that has something to do with how I am feeling this moment, let alone that it ruins my resolve regarding my diet. It such a weird process. We KNOW that certain things are triggers, that certain things will, without doubt, create a certain body response, yet we continue to do them. Change is really hard. I have to keep reminding myself that I have only been on the BTD for 4 months and not to get too crazy. I have to remind myself that I have my lifetime to “get it right” and, moreover, that each moment is perfection in and of itself. That there is no “getting it right”. My belief is that there is only the experience. I really don’t want to experience feeling tired or having cravings, and, yet, the only way to avoid that is to stick on program.

Well, just got a call from my daughter’s school – she has a fever, so I am off to pick her up. So much for the “best of plans”! I still hope that I get to work out, but it doesn’t look good. Only if hubby is home. I am going to research herbs for the flu. I have had such good luck using herbs rather than traditional medicine this year, that I am going to continue on with their use. I’ll let you know how it goes.

A quiet weekend at home. We took our Collie, Bonnie to the Vet on Saturday for her regular shot of anti arthritis medication. A stroll around the local off lead exercise for her afterwards as a reward. A little shopping on the way home followed by a leisurely lunch at home. Too hot to get in the garden in the afternoon and today it’s raining, so no gardening for me this weekend.



My team lost at home to Arsenal in the Premier League, not unexpected mind you however the qualities they displayed in their fight against the odds could serve as a lesson to all of us.



If you’re down and things aren’t what they should be, Don’t give up



As I sit here typing I am listening to a replay of the BBC 606 fans phone in after the Saturday football in the UK. If you’re interested in English Soccer have a listen to this after the games on a Saturday, fantastic passion and entertainment.



Nothing exciting to add today, so talk to you all again tomorrow.

The boyfriend and I have had a wonderful weekend thus far. Last night we went to an uptown place called Chino Latino. It's a really fun restaurant/meat market bar (barf, but oh well). It's really loud though and that part I don't like. We shared chicken satay (peanuts bad for him though-type O). And then portabello satay. OMG that is SO GOOD! When you can have grilled marinated portabello, who needs steak (unless you're a type O or B, haha)? I also had a key lime pie martini. YUM!

We then had chicken phuket friend noodles. Rice noodles, bean sprouts, peanuts (uh oh, another bad boyfriend food), etc. There is a really funny t-shirt worn by one of the waitstaff that says, "Ah, phuket". Every time I see it, I burst out laughing. If you are ever in the cities, you must check out this place. It's a lot of fun. Go with a group.

In the morning I made my OCD breakfast (see first blog for more details). Later the boyfriend and I roamed downtown. We shared a nice salad called a Sonoma salad at Marshall Field's Marketplace Cafe on 11th and Nicollet. It contained spinach leaves, feta cheese, strawberries, grilled chicken, candied walnuts, and a light vinagrette. Almost a perfect type A salad and good for him, too.

I also had a Frango Mint Hot Chocolate. One of my favorite indulgences. I guess I'll have to learn to make my own in order to get rid of all the synthetic stuff.

Hmmm.....not much else to report. Just enjoying a very sunny day for once. A good reminder of why I love this city (when it's nicer outside). Later, I'm going to work out with the boyfriend. He is motivating me! Yea!

I would just like to thank everyone who has sent me encouragment through the comments this week.

I hope you all continue the journey and enjoy everyone's blog, we all have different stories to tell.



Maddy,

Thanks for your comments this week. I hope I have answered the questions for you in my postings.

Lola,

The recipe for the bread was posted for you in yesterdays blog.

Hope you enjoy it.

Don’t forget the recipe database for other ideas.

Lillie,

Thanks for your words of encouragement, you can keep the snow by the way. Keep sneaking a few beneficial foods into your daughters diet and eliminating or reducing some of the avoids. She may never even notice !!

Jimmie,

Welcome to the BTD family. The weakness you are feeling after a Month may be your body going through a detox. Please if you are unsure of anything contact your own Doctor or alternatively post a message to Heidi’s column on this web site.

In answer to your question Miso is a fermented soybean paste, traditionally used in Asia. It has adapted to Western cuisine very well and can be used in soups stews casseroles, in fact almost anything that needs a flavour lift. As a vegetarian which I am it is also high in B group vitamins. For more information please go to

what is Miso

Jenny,

I hope you are enjoying your Muesli.

I can’t help you with your fish question unfortunately, as a practising vegetarian for over 15 years and someone who had a nasty reaction even to the smell of fish prior to that it is a subject I haven’t given any attention to. Maybe you could pose your question to Heidi on her segment on the main board.

Fish is particularly confusing as the same fish can be called different things in different parts of Australia as well as around the World. Maybe you could pose a question to Dr D’Adamo via this site to see if there is a cross reference list for fish species around the World.

The subject of eating or not eating grains on the BTD is an issue discussed frequently on bulletin boards and forums. Not eating grains or cutting back on grains whilst certainly part of the BTD is not exclusive to it. As a weight loss regime it stands to reason that if you cut grains out of your diet you will lose weight. Think about it, bread, cakes, biscuits and pasta, take them out of your diet and you can’t help but lose weight.

When my Soccer career finished with a knee injury at the age of 28 my weight ballooned from 12 ½ stone [175lb] to nearly 17 stone [238lb] because I was still eating and drinking the same amount of foods as when I was training and playing.

Now I’m 6’ 1” but let me tell you 17 stone was way over the top. I made the decision myself what I was going to do and for me it was simple. I eliminated bread, sugar, Potato and milk from my diet completely for 12 months. At the end of that period I was down to a comfortable weight of 13 stone [182lb] and now 23 years later I still weigh 13 stone 6lb [188lb].

I started on the BTD for health related reasons not weight related and whilst I have modified my grain intake to exclude the avoids, I have not removed them from my diet. As you can see from my earlier web logs I have a variety of grains in my Muesli and bread, as well as these I also eat crackers made from Buckwheat, salad using Bulgur wheat and rice pasta.

The Complete Food Allergy Cookbook by Marilyn Gioannini was a great help in allowing me to make use of substitute grains in cakes, bread and biscuits, it can be adapted very easily to the BTD way of eating. You should be able to find a copy in your local Library. The bread recipe below is actually a variation of the recipe found on page 110 of the above mentioned book.

Now in answer to a request from a reader here is the recipe for our 100% Rye bread.

100% Rye Bread

4 cups Rye Flour [try to get medium or light flour]

4 Tablespoons Gluten

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

3 Tablespoons Extra light Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon Salt

3 Teaspoon Yeast

1-1/4 to 2 cups of water

The amount of water required will vary depending on the type and grade of Rye flour you use or can get locally. You will have to experiment.

We actually prepare the dough in our bread making machine on the normal dough setting, then remove and knead again adding more flour if required. Then follow normal bread making practice with shaping, raising etc. before baking.

The above quantity makes a loaf in a bread tin 24cm [9.5”] x 11cm [4”] wide x 10cm [3.5”] deep. Pre-heat the oven to 210o C , turn down to 190o C and bake for 45 minutes.

If you have difficulty sourcing 100% Rye flour, try the following options:

Food Wholesalers / distributors

Health Food Stores

Bulk Wholefood stores

Catering Supplies

Bakery Supplies

Milling Companies

We source ours in 25kg bags direct from a food distributor in Tasmania at approx. 1/3 of the retail cost.







Please remember this works for me, I am not a medical practitioner nor dietician and have no qualifications to recommend diet to anyone. I am relating my experiences and please consult your health practitioner for professional advice.

2/6/04 10:30:24 AM

Wow, the month is going by quickly. This week in particular has been a strange one. For one thing, I haven’t worked out in a full 7 days. I am headed to the gym in a few hours to get back on track. I’m not even quite sure what happened. I worked out 8 days last week. I think that I got really sore last Saturday and Sunday and just didn’t feel up to it, and then my period struck, which further threw me off track. Whatever the reason, I regret letting so many days pass. I really do best if I work out 6 days per week, and perhaps I have to plan that and not go past that goal.

Again, the biggest thing for me has been the addition back of starches at each meal. What a difference that makes for me. I am still falling within the recommendations and it has completely cut out the cravings and longing for avoids. I feel really good.

Yesterday was a strange day for me. I am not much of a TV watcher, but happened to catch part of two movies that hit an emotional cord with me. The first was one of my favorite movies, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. I adore that movie, dahling. The part that got to me was just where they walk into Tiffany’s on their “day of doing things that they have never done”. There was this overhead shot of the main room, and it made me smile. I grew up with my stepfather in upstate NY, but my Dad lived in Manhattan for 30 plus years. I used to go and stay with him once or twice each year, and I would always walk around 5th Avenue. Eventually I would work my way over to Tiffany’s, and would go and look at the jewelry. I loved looking. I always imagined myself to be Holly Golightly. One year, when I was an adult, I took a love of mine into Tiffany’s. We went up to the diamond floor and looked around. That scene didn’t play out as I would have ever imagined, and that love of mine is gone. In his stead is my husband of 15 years. I have fond memories of walking around Tiffany’s, and seeing it again, even just for a moment on the television, made me smile and think of times gone by.

Last night I saw the last 30 minutes of “The Color Of Money” with Tom Cruise and Paul Newman. That, too, made me think about my life. I used to be a polo player. I was one of the best women players in the world. But I realized about 10 years ago that being the “best” at that game was fleeting. There would always be someone better than me, richer than me. I had the talent, but I was getting older. When Vincent throws the game against Fast Eddie and Fast Eddie thinks that he has won, I was able to feel that feeling of victory – in particular, the victory won when you think that it might just all be over. It is very bittersweet because inside you know how fleeting that moment is. When Vincent later tells Fast Eddie that he threw the game, I was there, too. I understood Fast Eddie’s realization that he wasn’t the best and that he was getting older. The difference is that I threw in my pool cue, rather than continue the battle. Fast Eddie hasn’t learned at the end of the movie that he is at the end of his game. At the end of the move, Paul Newman’s Eddie says that he will continue to play Vincent until he beats him because, “I’m back”. That’s nice in the movies, but I knew that the result would be the same – that is, until someone younger and sharper than Vincent comes along, which would eventually happen.

I don’t regret quitting my life as a horse trainer and professional polo player. It was the right time for me. I look at all of my battles with food and regret none of that, too. I feel that it is OK for me to walk away from the battle with food and to embrace it in a new way. I think that the BTD is really the right thing. I have said this many times before, but in my heart, each time I lost weight with Diet Center or with pills, I knew that I was still on the playing field fighting for the “win” of being thin. This time I have packed up that equipment and left the arena. I now am going for a walk with myself, instead of into battle. I’ll be thin if it is the right thing for me. If not, I’ll feel good no matter where I am.

It’s nice.

I’ve been seeing a lot of commercials lately from Subway Sub and TGIF’s about their Atkins approved menus and I just sigh and think…another marketing ploy due to poor sales of the book since the

founder died (73 years of age... not bad?) I don’t know if you have noticed the new logo…Atkins,

Feel the Atkins Change! Since the good doctor died it seems the people around him have

scrambled around to find ways of promoting it and here you have it…let’s get those on the diet

into our restaurant or fast food outlet. Now for those of you who do not know what the Atkins

diet is, it’s basically a low carb diet plan, which stresses protein and low glycemic foods so your

body can kick-start itself into lipolysis/ketosis, switching your metabolism to one that primarily

burns fat for energy. In a nut sell, it’s a one size fits all approach to weight lose. Anyway, I

perused the Subway Atkins’ menu and they were mostly peddling wraps(made from wheat.

avoids for O and A)…one was called a Chicken Bacon Ranch…. with chicken(B avoid), with

crispy bacon(pork is out for anyone on the BTD), melted swiss cheese(B’s will love this ), with

creamy ranch dressing(wouldn’t know what they put in here) with red onion and green pepper…In

a nutshell this wouldn’t fit anyone on the BTD. Here’s my suggestion for Subway for a BTD friendly menu. Turn all the wraps into Quinoa flower tortilla’s or you could use Spelt buns (both neutral to

all blood types)…for the protein part you could fill it with either Tuna Salad, Egg salad or Turkey

(all neutrals) and then add your favorite beneficial/neutral toppings (I shouldn’t have to spell them

out to you, read the book!!). Or you could call the wraps by name’s…Bah, bah(goat cheese) B wrap;

A(quatic) Salmon Sub etc… and you would fill it with mostly beneficial toppingsfrom the food groups

on the neutral bread. Does this sound hard…maybe…. but I guess the KISS adage works here…Keep it Simple Stupid…and the Atkins way is the simplistic one size fits all approach. All of you out there

on the BTD, consider yourself a little more knowledgeable about your (blood type specific) physiology than the Atkins followers and spread the word around because one day we might just be seeing restaurant commercials promoting their menus saying…. BTD…Feel the D’adamo change!!!

The tale continues……………………..The treatment.

We are now in April 2000 and have all my tests and results confirmed. Bruce is convinced that BTD can help me as a lot of my problems are digestion related. Bruce himself adhered to the principals of BTD in his own diet. I am fully supportive of the idea and with the help of my Wife who has been a tower of strength through all of this we modified my diet to suit. The hardest part was eliminating avoid foods that I had enjoyed all my life, predominantly the Nightshade group of Potato, Tomato and Capsicum [Bell Pepper]. I loved Potatoes in any shape or form and particularly chips [French Fries] to the extent that when my workmates had chips at work they called me Seagull because I was always looking for a free chip. I am convinced that our palate is similar to a dogs mind, it takes a dog 42 consecutive days to learn a new behaviour and I believe our palate is the same. The longer you can go without eating an avoid food the easier it becomes, I haven’t had a potato product in 4 years now and no longer desire them and the boys at work can eat their chips in peace. My wife has since taken a blood test and is one of the rarer AB breed. Our diet has now evolved to the stage where it is a balance of beneficial and neutral foods for both types.

As a more direct treatment I take a Homeopathic Kelp medication twice a day for my Thyroid condition. With the propensity of type A people to have digestion disorders both Bruce and I felt that this could be a contributing factor in the recurring indigestion and chest pain. As an adjunct to the BTD I also take a Homeopathic Stomachic treatment 10 minutes before meals, this stimulates the gastric juices and a Digestive tract treatment 10 minutes after meals. All of these treatments are in liquid form and only require 10 drops on the tongue.

I continued to see Bruce every 8 weeks for the first Year and began to notice significant improvements in all areas after approx. 6 months. I had further blood tests after 12 months and these showed significant improvements in my Thyroid levels and I was now having almost no chest pains or indigestion.

My visits to Bruce became more infrequent as my general health improved and unfortunately Bruce retired in early 2003.

To be continued………………………………

....but I just bought my very first infommercial purchase!!!!!

www.germterminator.com<br />
I'm sorry, but this, I just couldn't pass up. The medically-oriented geek in me couldn't resist! And ever since the boyfriend got his first cavity this year, he's bummed and wants to take better care of his teeth so I decided to get one for him, too. (Happy Valentine's Day, bloke). I got my first cavity at age 25, too, so I feel his pain.

I got three devices total as the TV deal goes. I was thinking about whom I should give the third.....well, then I remembered this dude I dated a while back...he had the worst breath I've ever smelled! I think he needed to floss his teeth. I mean, something was growing in there! Needless to say, after two dates, I had enough. When we met, I didn't notice it because there was counter space. But then when he came to pick me up for the date, that's when I knew I was in for a bad (breath) night.

So I was thinking that maybe I could anonymously send this device to this guy. Man, that would be so mean, but really not, because it would be doing him a favor. He was INFAMOUS for it at his work place! A fellow friend of mine knew him from this place of business. When I told him I couldn't go on anymore dates with him because of his breath, this friend said, "I know, isn't it horrible?" I said, "wait, you knew about it and didn't warn me???!!!" And he said, "hey, you're a smart girl, I knew you'd figure it out on your own. I'm not gonna trash the guy before he even has a chance cause I have to give him props; he had balls and initiative to ask you out!"

Therein lies the perpetual question: how do you tell someone with chronically bad breath that they have chronically bad breath? I'm not just talking about the garlic or onion breath, or the alcohol breath, these things are temporary. But what do you do about that co-worker or friend or family member?

Well, back to the diet (the MAIN purpose of the blog)....OK, I had spanikopita today. This made me wonder whether there is a phyllo dough out there not made with wheat....anyone? Anyone? Really, this has been running through my mind quite a bit lately. How does any sane person avoid phyllo-based pastries and dishes? It's like denying yourself the kingdom of heaven! There has to be a blood-type friendly solution!

Today, I also tried a brand of chocolates that I would not recommend to anyone. But I'm not going to trash this company over the internet, especially since they are local. No, I only trash bad dates and bad movies. So far.

Gee, I seem like such a nice person, don't I? Will you be my friend?

OK, it's getting late and I'm getting loopy. Don't worry, I have the day off tomorrow so I won't be killing anyone on the job in the name of my sleep deprivation.

Toodles.

The tale continues…………………………….The diagnosis

February 2000 and my first appointment with my Naturopath who I shall call Bruce, because Naturopath has way to many letters to keep typing it.

I was asked more questions in my first session than I think I had been asked by the “mainstream” medical profession in my entire life. He conducted colour chart personality tests, asked about things far to personal to discuss here and also conducted an Iridology examination. Bruce had a “tame” GP close by who was sympathetic to the natural health system and I was referred to him to arrange for blood tests. It was at this time that the name of Dr Peter D’Adamo and the Blood Type Diet was first mentioned. Bruce felt that by following the BTD lifestyle it could have some health benefits for me. I was prepared to try anything at this stage.

A week later and I’m back in Bruce’s office with my blood test results. As well as finding out I was type A positive, there were also some indications of an under active Thyroid [Hypothyroidism], which I have since found out is not uncommon both here in Tasmania where the soil types are very old and Iodine deficient but also in the West Midlands of England where I was born. So back to the GP’s office for him to arrange an ultrasound scan on my neck. As you may have gathered our Naturopaths are not allowed to refer patients for medical testing and this all has to be done through a Doctor. At this time all of this was only relating to my throat/neck problem and this ultimately turned out to be a multi nodule goitre on my thyroid.

After purchasing and reading a copy of ER4YT I was ready to give it a try, particularly as blood type A I was a natural vegetarian anyway, I still don’t think I would have eaten meat whatever blood type I had been and I wish those vegetarians who have been able to back to eating faces the very best of health. Bruce had also been investigating the recurring chest pain and came up with a diagnosis, I’m sorry I can’t remember what he called it

To be continued………………………………

2/1/04 7:52 PM

This part was started on Sunday night, if you can’t tell from the content.

So, I feel pretty crappy right now. I have felt OK all day, but I’m not doing so well at the moment. Basically, I am hanging in there for Survivor. I can’t stand football, and was horrified to find out that they still had 12+ minutes in only the 3rd quarter. Blech. That means that the rest could go on for HOURS.

I’ve been eating right on target, although a bit heavy on the starches today. I feel good because I have stuck to mostly bennie with some neutrals. It makes such a difference.

I’ve had a few people ask me how you find your secretor status. You have to do either a spit test or a blood test. Dr. D’Adamo feels that the spit test is more accurate. You can purchase the test from this site. Just go to the store and click on “home testing kits”.

Tuesday night:

2/3/04 10:23 PM

OK – I’m gonna get into it, so if you don’t want to read about women’s “time of the month” stuff, here is where to stop reading.

What a major difference this month. For the first time in my entire life, I didn’t crave sugar. I did eat starches – probably 2x the recommended amounts, but ONLY bennies (Ezekiel/ Manna bread) and neutrals. I ate absolutely no avoids. The difference has blown my mind.

I usually have to eat chocolate the 3 days or so before I start my period: this month, nothing. I did eat some chocolate about 4 days before, but that wasn’t the real PMS that I usually get. In fact, I have very little PMS at all. I didn’t get ugly, I didn’t crave meat, I didn’t get sleepy, and I didn’t go sugar crazy. I am SO interested to see what happens next month. Adding in the neutral and beneficial starches, in the (upper) quantities allowed has truly changed everything for me. For the first time, I truly believe that I am going to get to my weight and stay there. For the first time in my entire life, I am not controlled by cravings and I don’t feel guilty or miserable about what I eat. I just stick to the program the best that I can, and everything is fine.

BTW, I wanted to put out to the women out there to check out this site:

http://www.thekeeperstore.com

I have one of these and I love it.

I’m gonna keep it a little short tonight. I did NOT get to the gym the past few days, and I want to get up and go tomorrow. I have to get a good night’s sleep in order to do that.

Yea BTD!!!!

Another nine-day work marathon complete.

I am SO ready to start exercising again. But boy, it's so tough leaving the comfort of home when it's this cold outside! I want to start yoga up again. I really could use it. No, what I need is an exercise buddy. So hey, any fellow type As in MPLS who need an exercise partner? Even just to walk outside when it's not so cold (OK, that's going to be like 4 months from now the way the weather is going!!!) Anyhoo, I could use the motivation! Or perhaps I'll join a gym or start back up with yoga with someone who will kick my butt if I don't show up?

Strange thing has been happening to me lately. I don't know what this means, but it's very interesting. In listening to my body as I usually do, I've noticed that it takes me a lot less time to feel satiated (full) than usual. For instance, I took home a slice of Charlie Brown cheese torte last week. (It's like this chocolate moussey-type cheese cake thing. It's super sugary). Usually I can eat anything chocolate no matter how sugary it is. But I couldn't finish it. I actually had to put the other half in the fridge! It's just so weird! But good because hey, I should probably not be eating that in the first place!

From Sunday through today, I've been working on a veggie quiche from the market next door. I look at it and want to eat it but my appetite is much larger than my actual stomach. I eat a few bites and I'm like done! This is so weird. But a good weird, I guess. Thing is I'm not trying to lose weight, just maintain the weight and not gain as I get older. Or at most I'd be willing to lose about 5-7 pounds to reach my ideal body weight. But I'd do that through exercise.

This early satiation thing happened again yesterday. I bought lunch for all the techs and we all decided on this mexican tortilla grill place next door. I was eating this chicken quesadilla with guacamole and mild salsa. It was pretty good but 3/4 through I couldn't even look at it. It wasn't even that big to begin with!

Last, today I was SO hungry right before my break. I went next door to the deli and got 5 chicken wings and a seaweed wrap filled with rice and other veggies. This wrap was maybe a little larger than my fist (and my hands are pretty small). Well, about halfway through it, I couldn't eat the rest!

I think part of this has to do with my protein intake. I've naturally been eating less carbs simply due to the fact that as a non-secretor, wheat and corn are off the list so in the midwest there isn't much else to choose from (rice just isn't big here unless it's Asian cuisine or wild rice dishes). So when I do eat carbs, they are grossing me out. It's not like I'm eating a ton of protein either. It's not like I'm eating much of anything.

Maybe I'm getting a cold or something. Hmmm.....good thing I bought those herbs from the NAP site. And good thing I got my FLU SHOT!!!!!!!!!!

Well, maybe it's more simple than that. Maybe subconsciously my type A body is getting the hint that 6 small meals are better than three big ones. Even when I eat my crazy breakfast (see first blog entitled "greetings" in the archives), I have to space it out over a period of a half hour to an hour or it's just too much all at once! Too much liquid or something.

Or maybe I'm pregnant (just kidding, boyfriend). Yeah, yeah, bad joke, sorry.

I'm starting to get some really good ideas for work snacks. It's hard to get myself to snack when I'm so busy. And the snacks that the rest of the staff tend to eat aren't really food. It's like potato chips and candy. Luckily, I'm not really an emotional eater or I'd be munching on that stuff all shift. I think I was at one point of my life (an emotional eater-boredom, etc.), but those days are long gone.

Wanna hear something really funny? I was so tired last night that I ended up getting off work around 5 pm and falling asleep around 6 pm. Around 8:15 I looked at the clock and jumped out of bed "Holy #&+*, I'm late for work!!!!" Then I looked at my cell phone, realized it was only 8:15 PM (not am) and went back to bed. Slept till 11 pm. Got up and watched, "Dude, where's my Car?" Till about one or two am. Can I please NOT recommend that movie to anyone? Yes, Ashton (fellow Iowan) is a goofy hottie, but ya know, I was thoroughly unamused. Maybe it's an acquired taste. Or maybe I'm just too old for those kind of movies now. But I was thinking about "and thennnnn?????" all day today and thought, ya know, that film DID have its moments. And thennnnn, I'm still not sure it was worth my 4 bucks at blockbuster.

Man, I don't know if it's a type A thing or a wimp thing, but I NEED LOTS OF SLEEP!

Well, gonna go eat some quiche and salad now. Doesn't that sound great? I was warming it up in my oven the last two days. Next thing ya know, this neighbor girl came by asking if I had an egg since the place smelled like I'd been baking. I took one look at her and thought to myself, "IF YOU ONLY KNEW (how much I love eggs)". I told her I ALWAYS have eggs. It was quite funny. Well, to me anyway.

I have been asked through the comments page to give a bit of a profile of my journey from when I was introduced to BTD through to the present day.

So Dear reader settle back and I will begin the tale…………..

I was ill in 1999, I’d been ill for quite some time but I just didn’t know it. I’ve had all the normal life illnesses that a 50 + year old can expect from Tonsillitis and Conjunctivitis through to Appendicitis as a child, on through broken bones and sporting injuries from competitive sports, normal colds and flu including varying degrees of hay fever. But I’d never been seriously ill.

For some time I had been complaining of a recurring chest pain on my left hand side approx. two ribs up from the bottom of the rib cage under the heart. It usually coincided with serious indigestion and I was convinced it was heartburn. It had the effect though of making me feel lethargic and in my Wife’s words fretful or agitated.

I had felt tired all the time and basically just put it down to getting old, my legs were weary and always felt heavy, I would go out with my Wife shopping or similar and come home sit down and that would be it for the day. I was too tired to garden [ which I loved] and as I said put it down to age and being exhausted after a week at work.

I went to my Doctor [GP or MD depending where you are from] and after the usual consultation he suggested I go to Hospital for a scan. They inserted an optical tube down my throat to inspect the Oesophagus. I’m sorry but I can’t remember the name of the procedure. Result – Negative. This occurred just prior to Christmas 1999 so we were going no further until the New Year. On Boxing Day 1999 [Dec 26th] I was sitting talking to my Wife when my neck literally exploded. I had huge swellings on both sides of the neck just under the jaw bone. I was able to get in and see an on call GP on the same day, diagnoses swelling in the Lymph glands, treatment – Take these and come back and see me in 2 weeks.

Two weeks later I returned to discuss both problems and was told to continue on the treatment and we would wait and see what happened about the chest pain. By the end of January 2000 I still had some swelling and slight discomfort in the throat when swallowing. I was told that the swelling was clearing up and to continue the pills, my response was well I still have a sore throat and the pain in the chest. I was offered Antacid for the chest pain and told that they could see nothing wrong with my throat.

OK Dummy spit !!!!!. I walked out vowing to find another way to treat myself. I follow a fairly healthy lifestyle as a Vegetarian anyway and for a while had been considering going to a Naturopath, this fixed it, I went home and made the appointment that same day to see a Naturopath.

To be continued………………………………

OK, we’ve got Day one of the working week behind us now and it’s downhill to the weekend. I work as the Supply Manager [Purchasing] for a Tasmanian Irrigation Company and have been with them for over 13 years now. One of our overseas supplies is Valmont Irrigation in Valley, Nebraska. So if you’re from Nebraska or even know someone who works at Valley say Hi from Paul in Tasmania.

Feeling really good today, energy levels are high, so look out at work.

The BTD isn’t widely known or used in Australia as far as I can ascertain. Looking on the Practitioner database it is noticeable how few Australian Practitioners there are listed and none in my home State of Tasmania. The most publicity Dr D’Adamo has received here in Australia was when a ‘noted’ Australian Nutritionist who shall remain nameless decided to slag off [bag] the whole process, although we only ever saw one point of view and she didn’t actually talk to anyone who used and believed in the plan.

Although not listed in the database I am fortunate living in Devonport to have access to two Naturopaths within 20 kms [10 miles] radius that are believers. Also we have three Health Food stores and two bulk wholefoods stores within the same radius.

To keep up with all the BTD news and gossip I regularly trawl through the pages of

www.dadamo.com and also regularly check the major search engines for other BTD sites and bulletin boards. Try typing ER4YT into Google or Yahoo and just follow your nose. One thing that amazes me continually on other users postings is the apparent lack of Health Food stores in what I would consider major residential areas of the USA. Maybe we are lucky here in Tasmania. There are many BTD type sites all over the World and sometimes it is handy just to get another point of view or to see how other people are coping with the diet.

Anyway today’s lunch and snacks comprise :-

100% Rye bread [homemade], spread with Garlic flavoured Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Miso, Rocket leaves, Red Romaine Lettuce, Watercress leaves, Bean Sprouts and raw Zucchini slices.

Dried Fruit including Apricots, Dates and Figs.

Fresh Fruit includes Nectarine and Plum.

Fresh brewed coffee.

By the way I forgot to mention that one of the other changes I made in my lifestyle was to drink more water. I used to drink almost nil and on the advice of my Naturopath I now drink a minimum of two litres per day and sometimes as much as 3 litres. Probably accounts for my beautiful complexion. !!!

My favourite BTD forum

Hi everybody, as promised yesterday I have included a list of ingredients in my Muesli. Be adventurous with it, you could add toasted nuts etc. to suit yourselves.



“A” compliant Muesli consisting of varying quantities of the following to suit your own taste.

Rye Flakes

Barley Flakes

Rolled Oats

Sesame Seeds

Sunflower seeds

Pumpkin seeds

Dried Pineapple chunks

Raisins

Soaked overnight in Apple juice and served with warm Soy milk, topped with crushed Pineapple, natural yoghurt and sprinkled with Lecithin granules.

Where I live…………….. Devonport, Tasmania, Australia.

Edward Curr, the chief agent of the Van Diemen’s Land Company named the Mersey river on 7 July, 1826, but early explorers and settlers tended to bypass it because the river was blocked by a sandbar, and the banks were heavily timbered.

The discovery of coal upstream in the Latrobe area in 1851,the same year as the Victorian gold rush, changed every thing. The extra shipping attracted by the activity also enabled an easier escape route for the convicts wishing to escape to Victoria. On the Western side of the river, the small townships of Formby and Wenvoe, were still only very lightly populated. But at the River Don township, two miles to the west, a thriving community was established around a sawmill, also involving tramways, shipbuilding, trading and farming.

Roads were almost non-existent and it took decades for elected road trusts to remedy the matter. Several shipbuilding yards commenced work on the banks of the Mersey river. The arrival of the railway at Formby in 1885, demanded more development there, as produce began to arrive by road for export. The lighthouse was built in 1889.

But all changed in 1890. After years of heated debate, amalgamation of the small townships on both sides of the river, finally took place to form the new town of Devonport. The sandbar was removed, larger ships frequented the port, land cleared of timber had become important farms, and a building boom provided banks, Government buildings, residences and hotels.

Today Devonport is a major Tasmanian city of about 28,000 people situated in the centre of Tasmania’s North Coast. A modern, tourist orientated city—as one of the State’s major points of entry, Devonport welcomes thousands of visitors to Tasmania each year, many of whom arrive either on the vehicular ferries 'Spirit of Tasmania I’ II’ or III, and through our modern airport. Its port is still its lifeblood, as it is fed by farming and manufacturing. It has its own busy airport, and is the arrival point for the Bass Strait passenger and vehicle ferry service between Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania.



The Spirit of Tasmania arriving at the mouth of the Mersey River, Devonport.