I’ve had one of those “Eureka” weekends. They’re nice when they come, it’s not that often. It started with a little snowstorm on Saturday which left us with another 15 cm. on the ground, coupled with quite severely cold temperatures, hovering below -20C (not counting the windchill factor which was taking it around -35C – COLD in anyone’s books!). It was enough of a storm to stay in for the day. Since I decided at New Year’s not to watch television for the month of January, part of my day’s entertainment was to visit the TYPEbase4 postings to check which foods were superbeneficial for my blood type. Not that I am worried about cancer or diabetes, but if I can eat to prevent them, that’s a really good idea in a day when both of these diseases are rampant. Also, as a non-secretor, I need to make sure I look after myself a lot better than other people think they should do. It was a good and helpful exercise, with a few surprises thrown in when food items that were listed as neutral were also considered to be superbeneficials. This happened a few times only, of course. I do wonder, in hindsight, if these ratings were typos?

I also noticed, as I went through the food lists, that some of the things I like to eat contained high cholesterol warnings, so it seemed time to revamp my ideas about how I follow the BTD since my readings are too high. That means changing my breakfast and some of my lunches drastically. Hmmm. But I’d lent my BTD books to a friend, except for the ER4YT book. I haven’t looked at it for several years, so it was like reading an entirely new book with new information.

As I flipped through its pages, fairly randomly, I was struck by the personality descriptions for each of the blood types. At one point I had a strong flash that my first husband was a Type A. I have often wondered what it was, he died long before the book was written. Based on his personality, though, today, for the first time, I am very, very certain that he was an A. He was charming when everything was going fine, but had an incredible temper when they didn’t. Type A for sure. I don’t know why it took me so long to catch on.

Together with being a Type A who suffered with asthma since childhood, he was very attached to eating meat every day. So his diet was against him in every possible way, creating enormous emotional stresses that could have been toned down if he’d had any sort of informed help. He also chose the wrong form of physical exercise, which was regular jogging. He would run several miles on most weekends, for example, as well as running through the week on an almost daily basis. I often wondered, as the years went by, why he came in this particular package. Today I can recognize that he had little choice in terms of his explosions, that he was actually a prisoner of his blood type, his food choices, and his exercise program, poor soul. As we all are, to a certain extent. Liberation comes from making sure we are doing the right things to live well and properly (read simply). It IS possible to escape some of the things that appear to be irremedial, but to do it, we must have awareness and dedication.

So what have I had for breakfast lately? So far – oatmeal porridge with currants and goat milk yesterday, and some dry cottage cheese with organic yogurt and a chopped apple this morning. I will have to be really creative now, because if I eat a lot of grains I tend to put weight on, and that’s not a very good idea, either. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Hopefully I will be inspired to find at least 3 – 4 different breakfast ideas that can be rotated to avoid boredom or other problems.

Oh yes, the television. It hasn’t been off totally, I have turned it on to see the news. I’ve had a lot of time to do many things beside vegetating in front of the TV, and I’ve also missed a few programs I enjoy. I will enjoy it that much more in February, and hopefully have more discrimination as to how long it should be on, and when to turn it off. The future looks good on all counts!

Best to you all.