My BTD class is going well. I have two men in my class and am hoping for a third, but he has not shown up yet.

Jack, is 76 years old and struggling with weight and health issues. He is BT O and
what a surprise he has been. Initially he told me he would come for a few weeks to just see what I had to say, and was not sure if he would actually do anything. The first week I gave him the list of O foods (which my mentor LarryC recommended) but, I didn't talk about the lists much. I just figured it was good for him to see what he was stepping into. To my pleasure and surprise he arrived the next week, proclaiming that he had stopped drinking coffee. He told me he had been drinking a pot or two a day. Needless to say his friends were amazed, because his coffee habit is legendary. He had even purchased himself a counter top tea pot to make a quick cup of tea. He also had his book in hand and recitied along with me "Highly Benefcial acts like medicine, Neutral acts like food, Avoid is posion"

Jack is retired and single both have there advantages. He does all his own shopping and cooking and can run his kitchen any way he likes. In addition he has been able to take his time in the supermarket and read labels carefully. After taking the bread he had and throwing it away, (which was another amazing thing he did) he noticed rye on his list. He thought,"Gee,"I'll just pick up some pumpernickel bread, that is made with rye, so I should be able to eat it" he was very surprised to find that true pumpernickel bread does not exist. It is loaded with carmel colors and wheat, so he didn't buy any. He did find something that was 100% rye, but it did not resemble traditional bread.

Mac also a BT O is young and single, his goal is to join the military and have them pay for law school. He too cooks just for himself. He has spent his life struggling with his weight and bouncing between diets. Finally he lost a great deal of weight with Herbalife. Then realized that he can't live on the stuff forever so was looking for a new way to keep the weight off. I spent some time last week with him individually going over the list of foods. He told me that 90% of the food he eats is on the avoid side of the page. He described a cereal made from cornstartch and milk that is a staple of his diet plus the gallon of milk a day he drinks, that is one bad blood transfusion. He too has made great progress in chosing foods from his HB and neutral lists. He has even begun to do some cooking for himself.

I am very excited about my two guys. I can't wait to see what this week brings.

Names have been changed.

I am what my sister calls a "peeker". She came up with this recently at a family dinner to describe the way I always looked for the Christmas presents my mother had hidden. It is true, I was the one to sneak into my mom's room climb on a chair and search the top of her closet for the presents. I just couldn't resist. My sister on the other hand would cover her ears as I yelled what the presents were. Other holidays were similar, at Easter I always ate my chocolate bunny within a day or so and on my sixteenth birthday I some how knew I was having a surprise party.

Maturity has not changed this, as an adult I still display this behavior. I will read the last chapter of a book to see what happens next and I have even fast forwarded movies to see the end. I always look in the oven before the food is done.

I have always been a peeker I want to see the end.

On Wednesday I start teaching my first BTD class. I am so excited to see who attends and why they decide to come. The blurb about the class was posted on Sunday and on Monday morning I received a call from a gentleman inquiring about the class.

He stated his name and told me that he is 76 years old and has been overweight for over 10 years, could this blood type diet help him? He wasn't sure what his blood type was, would that be a problem? I reassured him that I could test his blood for about $10.00, as for his age and weight being an issue I confidently stated the facts," No, it will not be a problem".

The whole time I am on the phone with him, I am thinking about the future of this overweight 76 year old man who has failed to be able to lose weight, with all the conventional diets. I am trying to read the last chapter of the book and peek into the top of the closet, I want to eat the Easter bunny all in one day. I want to see what he will become given the right tools for his body, I want to peek.

I have always admired Julia Childs. Having failed out of cooking school in France she didn't let that stop her from achieving her goals. She is well known for her light airy voice and the glass of wine she always drank while cooking, a little for the food and a little for her.

Her husband was her first fan and did the initial photography of her cooking in their home. I recently took one of her early VHS tapes out of the public library and was very surprised to find her cooking on an electric stove, with a non stick teflon pan and a plastic spatula in her hand. The kitchen is very primitive, she stands with her back to the camera, as her husband manuvers around her 6 foot 2 inch frame. It is just her on the camera, no audience. The tape is very simple, Julia cooking, and talking about cooking, the raw chicken laying on the counter. She is all about the food, her love for her work is evident. I am energized by her "can-do' attitude. I repeat to myself in true Warrior fashion "If Julia can cook in that kitchen with those tools, I can do the same!"

When the Geno-type diet came out in December, it took me a bit to get my self sorted out. Three new food lists to learn, rather then two blood type lists, I struggled for a few weeks with the ideas in the book.

Just a month prior to the GT book being released, I had been toying with the idea of becoming a "full vegetarian". I even posted on the forums that I was considering being a vegetarian I got mixed responses, regarding the need for animal protien. I really felt like my body was asking me to be a vegetarian, I kept refusing. I have always eaten a lot of chicken, considered the healthier meat it was easy to justify. With a family of four (two O's and two A's) chicken was the one meal I could make that my whole family would eat peacefully and it filled in all the meals when I didn't know what to cook. It also is the one food that is easy to get while dining out. Giving it up was not an easy choice; I have sympathy for all the BT B's, that do not eat chicken.

So I will admit it came as no surprise to me when I read the list of poultry items with the words "none recommended" and turkey being neutral. I knew giving up chicken was what I needed in order to enter middle age and continue feeling fit. Seeing it written down in the Genotype book made all the difference for me. Once I saw it in print I was ready to embrace my Warriorness and become a vegetarian (I do continue to eat fish). I just needed the push forward towards my conversion.

For years I have had chicken cutlets neatly stacked in my freezer, they are all gone, replaced with turkey for my Gatherers and Teacher. The fridge now has about 5 packs of tempeh and tofu ready for a quick meal. I feel good, I even lost 5 lbs without even knowing it. I feel settled both physically and emotionally, amazing how food can do that to you. I think I am the most contented I have been in years. With this change has come an ability to move forward and believe in myself. I am taking on new challenges, that I would not have thought of a few months ago. Like Julia my husband is my biggest fan.

Julia Childs didn't get married till 1946 she was 34 years old considered old for her time. Then it wasn't till she was 40 that she brought French cooking to the United States. She demonstrated to a generation that they can cook like pro's in their own kitchens. She had a true "can-do' attitude.

Julia Childs has a famous quote in regards to when she first tasted fine cuisine and knew it would be her destiny "an opening up of the soul and spirit for me" (Julia Childs). I'll bet Julia felt very content once she discovered her destiny.

My husband is a list maker. He makes lists of things to do, to buy, to not do, and a million other things.

Usually I find his lists everywhere in my house in his pants pockets, on his dresser and on the kitchen table. I read through them and throw them away because they are either outdated or completed

In September he had life changing abdominal surgery, after of years of struggling with the pain of Ulcerative Colitis. It was a very difficult decision for both of us. We sat down at the kitchen table together and wrote a list pros on one side and cons on the other.

Last week while cleaning his dresser I found our list. I read through it and placed it in my bedside drawer. This is one list that I will keep.

I'm a blood type A secretor Warrior, the last of four children, born to a BT O Polish father and a BT A Italian mother. I'm married to an O Gatherer and have two teenage children, a BT A Teacher daughter and a BT O Gatherer son.

I was introduced to the ideas of Peter D'Adamo in 1989 when my husband became a patient of Peter's. Then reaquainted with his ideas when he wrote Eat Right for Your Type. I have been excited about the BT way of life for over 15 years.

I currently live and work in a suburb of Long Island as a registered nurse in both an emergency room and an Endoscopy unit of a local hospital.

When I am not at work I am passionate about gardening, my family, food science, Chat Right for Your Type, interesting conversation and converting people to blood type dieting.