Mind Over Fatter

It’s funny how things work out. About a week ago I wrote a blog and then accidentally deleted it. Ugh, I hate when that happens but I guess it wasn’t meant to be. While trying to recreate it I received this email, which took me in another direction.

Hello Andrea, I have been following your blog for quite some time . My Blood type is A- and a Warrior genotype. In my family Dad is a B, Mom is A my siblings are B--brother and O--sister. If I understand correctly one of my parents would have carried the O type?? My email is really regarding my Mom A and me A, who is currently living with the big C word, cancer (it has now spread to her bones, spine and neck). Mom had a radical mastectomy back in 2002 and did live cancer free until last September 2009. I know my sister and her family are living the blood type diet. I myself have tried it on and off, having great difficulty in sticking with it because of the SAD diet. My ex-husband is also an A and idealized the SAD diet. He is now diabetic (taking insulin) and has high cholesterol. As a child my favorite meals were peanut butter sandwiches or sardine sandwiches. I am interested in knowing how did you get started and have stuck with this lifestyle for so long? Do you have any suggestions?

Rather than just send this person an email I thought I would respond here.

First, thank you for reading my blog I am honored. Like you, my friend Sharon finds it particularly interesting that I did not come to this lifestyle because I was sick or overweight. Though I was introduced to it through my husbands battle with ulcerative colitis I chose to follow simply because it made complete and utter sense to me. My acceptance of Eat Right was not in blind faith but was an intelligent choice. By that I mean unlike all the fads out there this was an individualized approach to good health with the science to back it up. Looking back I guess I have to credit my parents for fostering in me an open mind to all things health related and which helped me to see things past what I’d already been taught, eg. Standard American Diet, Food Pyramid, etc.

I lived in a home where wellness was something my parents strived for. They used all sorts of methods from vitamins to special diets (macrobiotics was popular at the time). My mom died from a chronic lung infection, a condition that kept her from doing so many things her whole life. My dad become a diabetic in his 60’s and though he lived to be 89 he was obsessed with his blood sugars and spent his final days checking them constantly. He was really unable to enjoy life.

I do know that none of us escapes this world alive, I am certainly not that idealistic, but our quality of life, our self-expression is directly linked to how well we feel. Being able and ready to experience the world, to take on new challenges and grow, stems from good physical and emotional health. That is what keeps me eating this way. When I sit down to a large meal and eat my fill, I walk away satisfied not bloated. I go to the bathroom regularly and without discomfort. My mind is sharp and clear and I have more energy. Why would I want to eat any other way?

Each person has a story, their own motive for adopting the Eat Right lifestyle. For some it is fear, others weight loss or chronic illness, and a few have been instructed to do so by their doctors. The hardest adjustment is the mind. Getting your frame of mind into perspective is key, not just for you but for anyone. I have heard Dr. D'Adamo tell people that they have to care about themselves, that they have to be a bit narcissistic in order to live this way. Your individualized diet may seem difficult in the beginning but I assure you it does get easier. Your brain functions better and you become able to make the right choices for yourself. You gain confidence in your decisions, and challenges that you thought were impossible suddenly become doable. This is how I have stuck to my diet, by caring about myself.

This way of eating has enhanced my life and at this point it is as much a part of me as breathing. Funny thing is I wonder if you thought this would be a long lecture on "eat this not that"? Follow a list? I know you can do that, that’s the easy part. The mental/emotional part, your frame of mind is the larger issue for most of us. The bottom line is you’re not going to pull easy weight loss out of a box or get good health from a pill. This is a diet of self-responsibility something most people are not accustomed to. Presently healthcare in this country is not about self-responsibility, it is about the doctors who “know best”, and whose solutions usually come in the form of a prescription.