The past few weeks have been interesting. One of my long time friends Claire and her husband Dave have started on their individual Genotype diets. Claire is a Teacher and Dave a Gatherer it has taken years for them to finally try this way of eating. I am looking forward to watching how the diet transforms them both on the inside and out. Claire is a wonderfully creative cook and has taken her list as a challenge to create satisfying food for her whole family. Dave has begun to cook for himself and is even getting up early at 6 am to make something for lunch, before he heads out to work. They are both losing weight and have noticed increased energy levels. Claire recently confided in me that she is not sure why she waited so long to try this, but sometimes the timing has to be right for people to finally "get it".

My new position at work has taken me into the Endoscopy suites. I now have first hand experience with colonoscopies, gastroscopies and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)and am getting a look at the diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. I am still training, but by being in the rooms I am able to see the techniques that the gastroenterologists use. Each doctor has a unique way that they manage the scopes to view the gastrointestinal tract. Two notable cases that I witnessed were the removal of 6 AA batteries from someone's stomach which was self inflicted and the removal of a piece of thick filament from someone's colon. The filament which appeared to be something like weedwacker line had embedded itself into the wall of the colon making its removal very difficult. It took the doctor over an hour to carefully remove both items from each patient but both were fine.

My son (16 blood type O Gatherer) and I recently had a discussion about the american diet and how few vegetables people eat on a daily basis. He said think about it, "Breakfast consists of some sort of cereal or bread, lunch is a sandwich with meat and maybe some fries or chips, and dinner will contain some potato or corn and maybe a green salad. How right he is about how "most people" eat. The exception are those of us who eat vegetables three times a day. My personal challenge over the past few weeks has been to concentrate on eating more fruits and vegetables, so I have begun to start my day with vegetables. My typical morning meal is a tofu scramble loaded with diamond vegetables. Just like many O's begin the day with meat I feel that A's need to begin the day with vegetables. All 6 of the genotype diets contain unlimited amounts of vegetables, this means you can never have enough vegetables.

In a few weeks I will be attending the IFHI conference in Connecticut. I have been reading my manual for the masters level and find it truly fascinating. Dr. D'Adamo writes in an engaging manner that takes the large scope of information and makes it readable. I am looking forward to being in the midst of others with whom I share this common bond, for me it is like being with old friends. I can't wait to meet you all.