I turned thirty a couple of weeks ago, and while I know that a) 30 is just a number, and 2) it’s not that big of a number in the reality of an entire lifetime, it is a benchmark birthday. Because of this, I feel that it is appropriate to engage in a little reflection. With the coming of this birthday I do recognize that I’m much more growed up than ever before. The most important aspect of this is that I’m wanting to be grown up, stable, consistent and a part of the adult world. Success in career notwithstanding, I was not ever quite ready to stay put in a geographic area, or to take care of myself physically and mentally in the way that I really needed. I wasn’t ready to commit to putting down roots of any kind.

Certainly since the beginning of my blogging back in January of last year, I’ve been in the process of major change. I’ve committed to staying in one place for a while, with the major commitment of saving for a house of my own being the biggest achievement. I also make positive food choices, and remember to advocate for myself to get to bed on time, workout and generally go gently with my psyche.

It feels great to feel so good, and I’m very much looking forward to the next part of this journey. My energy, confidence and joy with the world are evident within myself and I think to those closest to me too. I have myself to thank for these changes along this path, but certainly the BTD has been a tool used as a support.

To continue with the reflection, but also to get some “mail” out of the way, I’ll go over some of the rather curious messages from fellow followers of the BTD received recently. Many people feel “cursed” in their AB blood because of so many food restrictions. I know that we “can’t” have chicken, beef, corn, and a few other very popular American culture foods. But there is so much that we can have, and that is how I’ve chosen to look at this diet. I know that it’s perhaps been a bit easier for me, because I had been following a vegetarian diet for ten years prior to restarting the BTD. I like fruit and veggies!! I don’t care for meat, so in my eyes, this diet gave me all of my favorite foods, and told me that they would make my blood sing!

If you are feeling like you don’t have enough choices with the BTD, shake yourself off and get a little perspective. There doesn’t have to be any “all or nothing” attitude. You’ve been eating avoids all of your life up until you found out that they are avoids. If you’re reading this, they didn’t kill you. Maybe they made you a little sick, so you have to choose how crappy you want to feel by eating them. I’ve said it before, and repeat it here: Some avoids are worse than others, so choose what you can and can’t bear in your diet. I drink coffee every day because it makes me happy. I don’t eat chicken, corn, oranges, or drink milk anymore because they do things to me like make me feel sluggish, bloated, gassy, cranky and generally yuck.

The last thing that I will say on my little soapbox at the end of this obnoxiously long blog is that you need to use a little common sense with this diet. A few people have wondered about gaining weight while eating all that they want of certain foods with no thought to portion size, because after all, they are highly beneficial. You could drink a gallon of water in one sitting, and then promptly throw it up all over the place because your stomach can’t hold that much liquid. Would you dream of saying that you don’t understand why you couldn’t keep down the water?

I don’t want to come off as angry here (because I’m passionate about this, not angry), but one of the major tenants of the diet (and of life really), is that you are in control of your choices. You are responsible for you. The only silver bullet for health is making good choices consistently, and a series of good choices over time will show improvement in your physical well-being. Remember not to lose your common sense just because you found a great web-site or book that speaks to what may work for you. We are each unique, with our own needs…we need to be the responsible party in our daily, weekly and life choices.

So with that my friends, be well, go gently and remember to smile…