My 8 year old O blood type did not like the Applegate Turkey Bacon. So - I added honey and a little salt to it as it fried up in the pan. No go.

2nd time, I cut the bacon into small pieces, preheated the frying pan to a sizzling temperature, and then I sprinkled a little salt, a little brown sugar, and a lot of cayenne pepper. As it sizzled, I actually added a bit of water to the pan, and rubbed the 'flavor' off of the bottom of the pan and back into the bacon.

Next, I cooled it off and stored it in the fridge. Now, it's thumbs up once again.

I might even oven bake just a few pieces tomorrow to toughen it up a bit more. It's not my favorite way to eat it, but he likes things crisp or chewy.

He seems to need something very crunchy in the morning. Sadly, that's why regular bacon appeals so much to him. Fat, salt and crunch.

Beautiful morning. I was up at 5:00 AM so I could catch the sunrise. It came earlier than expected and I almost missed it completely. Luckily, by the time I started running, the clouds had cleared and a beautiful moon shined brightly.

I took one hour to walk, hike, and run around outdoors. By the time, the rest of the gang showed up, my adrenalin was flowing. We call ourselves the 'coyotees'! Anyway, I felt pumped and full of energy and kept up with people who normally run circles around me. My point? My system needs a slow start, but once I have had time to 'warm up', those endorphins just flow abundantly.

Is this common for all Type A warriors? Or just me?

I took my genotype diet book to the grocery store yesterday and was able to purchase the 'diamonds.' Lunch consisted of onions, garlic, yellow bell peppers, spinach, white cannelli beans and cheese (peppers and cheese are neutral.)It's such an easy way to cook - just slice and dice, store for later use, and whip it together on top of the stove. Or, in good weather, on top of my grill!

I bought apricots, grapes, limes, lemons, apples, and purple plums. I think it's time once again to type up my checklist, and tape it to the fridge. It's just a weekly checklist which lists each food category and recommended weekly servings. I love the fact that chocolate is rated very highly on the list! Perhaps a solid teaspoon of dark chocolate sprinkled on fruit every day? Sounds good to me!

I keep thinking about Dr.D's exercise recommendations. I also keep repeating the phrase "knowledge is power." What new knowledge did I acquire today?

I learned that my right side is much much stronger than my left side. I learned that my left hip is much weaker than my right. I also learned that until I correct the imbalances, all lower leg cardio activities will continue to pound my knee joint inappropiately and lead to future problems.

I also learned that we all must lean on others, because there just isn't enough time in the world to learn everything we need to know. That's why I have put so much faith into Dr. D. Call it intuition, call it an 'educated guess', or call it blind faith. Well, that's really not quite accurate. It is pretty obvious when my body is able to digest something easily and I have more energy over the long haul. Brown rice and beans eaten one night before an 8:00 A.M. trail run positively affects my performance. It's nice to hit an 8 mail trail and feel pretty strong at the end.

Anyway, Chi Running. I look forward to learning proper running technique so I can minimize joint damage. I look foward to long distance endurance running through a beautiful forest. In fact, if Dr. D were familiar with Chi Running, I have to wonder if he wouldn't actually recommend this sport for my genotype. ???????????????????????????????????????

Any other Chi runners out there?

Beeswax! I bought Burt's Bees daily face cream. It seems to work really well on my very dry skin. I still need to learn more about skin care products. Thankfully, with summer just around the corner, it becomes easier to deal with my skin. Speaking of skin, are there any other warriors out there with skin care issues? (Yes- I said warriors!)

I just reread my genotype book. I truly thought I belonged to the teacher category, but after remeasuring my lower leg with the ankle as a benchmark, I discovered I was not. I had spent more than a couple of hours organizing my master cookbook based on the teacher assumption. I am both appalled at how much time I wasted, and relieved at the food lists. Some of my favorite foods are back in!

Cooking for the family will take a new twist. You see, I do not need meat at all. (Fish yes, meat no)
Luckily, it's grill time again. Grilling these two things side by side shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps I get to play with shishkabobs for a week! More on Chi Running later....

It's that time of year, and the spiders are running around my basement. I transported one outside this morning and ignored the second one. Normally, I welcome one or two of them, as they eat the critters I can't see. But which ones are dangerous to my children? Which ones will leave a bite with serious consequences? Recluse spiders (which I barely know anything about) do not normally invade our home environment, but they make me nervous just the same.

All I can remember seeing as a child, were the famous and harmless daddy longlegs. But these little critters are dark, black and speedy! My housekeeping efforts will double until I feel like my children are safe.

Well, my children are fighting after watching too many hours of Saturday morning cartoons. I will attempt to get back to this blog later......

Woodmans, the local grocery store, now offers applegate farms convenience meats. Turkey bacon, turkey bologna, chicken or beef hot dogs, etc. As a busy Mom, I am thrilled. School mornings are unpredictable at best, and I have been busy with early morning clients. Thanks to companies I can trust, now I have even more healthy choices!

Lunch today was a simple combination of sauteed veggies, spice, tofu and brown rice. I buy the spices recommended by Dr. D., and then I just 'smell' them before adding them to a dish. If it appeals to my sense of smell on that particular day, then in it goes. If it doesn't, then I look for a substitute. Simple, I know, but at some level, my brain probably knows what it needs. Why complicate things by worrying about copying an exact recipe?

(Can you tell, that I just have to much to do today?)

Just a quick, quick blog today. Pineapple and homemade berry waffles for breakfast. I really like combining buckwheat flour with soy flour- then adding ground flax seed, ground walnuts, etc. Leftover waffles make great snacks.

I hit the morning trails early today. It was so beautiful - running through the woods toward the sun. Rivers are still a bit flooded, and half of my run was a swampy 'hike.' It was a great day to get just a little bit lost, and then run opposite the sun to get back to my car! It was also empowering to realize that I can get a little lost but always find my way back. Life resembles my morning run.

It's time to really look at the genotype diet once again. I would like my 0 blood type son to start eating meat for breakfast again. He prefers crunchy oats and cranberries, which is great - neutral with dried fruit. I enjoy the convenience of a neutral box of cereal, and I don't mind because sooner or later, he will get hungry and he will eat my waffles! Kids really do need to choose their food, and I need to buy wisely.

I just found out via a doctor's x-ray that I have arthritis in one knee. ARRRGgggg. I knew the ankle joint was pronating (rotating inward), I knew the hip joint was slightly off due to pain in the SI joint, and I knew that it's common for the knee joint to suffer if the hip joint and the ankle are off kilter. But I did not expect arthritis. I actually bought glucosime with chondritin awhile ago, but wasn't serious about taking it.

It may be time to stop cheating. Normally I eat well during the week, and let things slide during the weekend. I will be looking at those arthritis protocols once again. Then again, I may still cheat just a little bit. Goodness, I am human!

I am a A secretor. I am the eldest daughter of three children, and I was blessed with a mother and father who loved me dearly. It was their sacrifice that shaped who I am today.

My father was a self employed businessman while my mother made it her number one priority to raise her children to the best of her ability. I am not quite certain how they achieved it, but somehow they helped me become a determined young woman who truly believes "life is what you make it."

I attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL. During that time, I studied the German Language with the intentions of becoming a translator. As with all college students, I changed my mind. I then decided that studying psychology would be more fascinating. At that point, I wanted to become a scientist who would specialize in the study of ESP. Alas, I soon realized my mathematical abilities were somewhat lacking and settled for a B.A. in General Psychology.

"Officer of the day" is the job title I held at the Janet Wattles Mental Health Clinic. Within two years, I decided that the job description just didn't fit my personality. After floundering around at different jobs for awhile, I fell into something creative and wonderful. I became a "Retail Sales Consultant" within a large banking corporation. It held my interest because it demanded creativity, self direction, and a production orientated personality.

Several years later, the position was eliminated due to a banking merger. At that point, I had been married for five years and my husband wanted to start our family. Luckily for them, I agreed!

Two kids and one very large dog later, I have to laugh. While I was working outside of the home, I used to joke "I can make food or I can make money. Which do you want?" You see, I was a terrible cook (possibly the worst in the world.) Now, as a concerned mother who cares about the health of her family, all I do is cook! And I owe it all -- to Dr. D'Adamo.

I don't usually pay attention to my horoscope, but today's warned me to be flexible. Both of my running buddies changed their plans, and I got stuck with the treadmill. I believe I am a teacher who seriously needs the fresh air, cause I just couldn't get past 3 miles. Yuck!

Luckily the boys had a blast at the Y. There was a special inflatable obstacle course available today, and all three of us climbed, crawled, jumped and slid! Great interval training ! I will try to catch a running group early tomorrow morning. Trail runs are still my favorite way to jumpstart my system.

Cooking this new way is a bit of a challenge for me. I am slowly updating my master cookbook and I even bought some computer software to help make it easier. The "Master Cook" software organizes menu plans, shopping lists, and even guesses at the nutritional value of the recipes. The difficult part is finding the time to sit at my computer.

Which reminds me, everyone needs individualized cookbooks. Only you know what produce your local grocery store or your local farmer offers. Only you know when your schedule allows you to travel 5 miles or 25 to the nearest farmer's market. I can buy the best cookbook in the world, but it doesn't make a bit of difference if I can't get ahold of the ingredients.

Hmmmm, the creative part of my brain is active. Wouldn't it be nice to download all of the food items delivered to a grocery store, ask your software to pick out your specific food list, and then ask your software to search for recipes with those particular items? My Master Cookbook software holds over 8,000 recipes, but who's got time to search?

The next step? Cooking categories. Only download recipes which stir fry, which saute, which grill, which oven bake,, etc.... Let someone learn and master one cooking skill at a time. No wonder America struggles with healthy meal planning:

So much has happened, I don't know where to start. Right now, my boys are playfighting on the toy room floor. Sean is 5 and Josh is 8. Sean is still gluten free and casein free. Josh is managing his sensory issues quite well, and I do my best to be patient with both of them. But tonight I am tired and Dad is out of town, so I think my temper may flare before the night is over.

Even blogging about it helps me relax. How do single parents cope? I just keep reminding myself not to sweat the small stuff, and to make sure that we all are on the same schedule! If mom has to get up early, so do they. If mom is tired, we all go to bed.

Take tomorrow morning for example: I plan to run 10 slow miles with two friends of mine. The boys will roughhouse at the YMCA daycare, and then I will challenge them while I try to rest. Swimming perhaps? Free rock climbing lessons? Luckily tomorrow is family play day, so I should be able to find something where they move and I get to sit down and recover. Planning, planning, balancing. It really is a balancing act, isn't it?