So much fun!! We went apple picking today, and got some late season raspberries. It was such a beautiful day on this side with blue skies, sunshine, soft breezes and clean smells in the air. Driving through the countryside of NH reminds me of what a wonderful decision it was to move “home.”

On the BTD front, Kenisha, I got your letter and want to encourage you to keep at it! The best advice to anyone is to slowly introduce beneficials into your diet while slowing taking out the avoids. You may never reach 100% compliance (I rarely come close!!), but every healthy choice you make is more healthy than you are now…so it’s all good! If I’ve learned nothing from living with the Blood Type Diet, it is that going cold turkey and overboard on anything sends my quirky AB system into a tailspin. So I do what I can, when I can, and am happy with that. I’m living with 2 year old twins right now and have found it more difficult to eat right for my type b/c they are always running (as you know with 3 little ones at home), and it’s hard to make time for food prep. The best advice I can offer as you start out is to DRINK YOUR WARM LEMON WATER IN THE MORNING, then make little changes for yourself. Switch out chicken for turkey, add grapes instead of an avoid fruit. When you make seafood, choose bennie fishes…we have lots to chose from. Try to add more rice to your diet and phase out the regular pasta (though we can have reg. pasta, rice pasta or straight rice is better for us).

You’d be surprised how quickly the little changes add up, and as you feel better, stronger, more energetic, prettier, happier, etc., you’ll be encouraged to keep up with the compliance. The last thing I’ll say about BTD (so as not to overwhelm you) is that even though you’re a busy mom, taking quiet moments when you can will do wonders for your system. My biggest enemy is not even eating avoids, it’s allowing myself to get stressed, tired and overextended. Even if I ate with 100% compliance, but did not manage my life…my body, skin and psyche would be a wreck. Good luck and stay in touch!!

Last last note for this blog: As I mentioned above, I’ve been sorely out of compliance with food b/c it’s taking me a while to adjust to life with two toddlers. But I made parsley soup today and will be making a delicious dinner of blackened cod, sweet potato baked fries and cucumbers tonight. I’ve also printed out my weekly portions sheet and will be keeping track of balance this week so that I get everything that I need. Easy foods on the run are yogurt, cottage cheese, grapes, baby carrots, spelt bread pb&j sandwiches, plums and cut up cucumbers.

Here’s hoping that this finds you all well…

Hey y'all...I just wanted to check in quickly before taking off for the holiday weekend. Thanks to the TWO New Englander's that contacted me...perhaps we'll get a network established yet. Much happiness and beneficial ways to you this long weekend, enjoy the air wherever you are and be well...

Well, I now have all of the proper identifying materials to be a New Hampshire citizen…license, car and voter registration, bank account, YMCA membership…I’m feeling a bit overcommitted and stripped bare of my previously “citified” existence. Even going in and out of Manchester, Concord and Portsmouth…it’s rural here…and wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but I’m nearly dizzy with all the clean, fresh air and open space. So just for some toxins, I came to Border’s and am having a fat chocolate chip cookie with my cup of joe!!

Okay, BTD news…with the interviewing at school sites and other housekeeping stuff of the last week, I’ve yet to locate any Mexican or Asian markets…so my small store of contraband supplies from Cali is running out. I desperately need rice noodles, good Jasmine rice, Japanese chiles, chile sauce and Vegata. Thankfully, the parsley and cilantro are in season, so they’re fresh and bouncy at the regular market. There is a Trader Joe’s in Nashua, and I should be scoping it out later this week. The great thing about the regular markets is all the fresh Atlantic fish…but I have to check into where it comes from, because NPR was talking about lead content for expectant (and preparing to be expectant) mothers. I don’t want to have a system full of lead and other nasties, no matter how yummy the flesh is!

There have been no hiking trips yet (became oppressively muggy this week), but plenty of adventures and exploring. I’m looking forward to a chill fall for many outdoor excursions. I plan on spending lots of time in Maine, because I think I really like Portland…perhaps that is where I’ll hang my hat once I’m back on my feet. It has the hustle and bustle of a city center, with the working port and wilderness all around. How can you go wrong there? You may ask yourself…but the cold, Amanda, the cold!! Well, ask me again in January, but after seven years in warm, warm Southern California…cold is relative and I’m not going to notice the difference between central NH cold and southern ME cold!!

Last notes for this blog…WHY DON’T YOU WRITE TO ME!!?? I feel so unloved!! If there are any New Englanders out there, contact me!! Where do you shop, play and wander? I grew up in NY, but am still learning New England!! Give me suggestions, pointers…heck, invite me to come play!! Tee hee…okay, okay, I’ll lay off the desperation for now…it’ll get busy once school starts in a couple of days anyhow!!

Until next time…be well…

I’ve done it. It’s official. There’s no turning back. It’s too late now.

I have officially relocated to the East Coast from the Other Side after seven years (Well, almost officially. I’m still in the air as I write this looking down through the clouds at thunderstorms and sunset tinged reflections in the sky). As the magnitude of my move settles over my being, I turn inward and gaze toward the Atlantic with hope looming in the future for the start of this new chapter in the book of my life as I wish to know it. I reflect back to the Pacific with many memories of getting up, getting out and moving on. And though I find myself wondering at times why on Earth I am uprooting myself from a place that has such a wonderful support system with so many years of adventures backing it, I know that the time is right and that this chapter of the book has been all played out. I remind myself that I also have a support system waiting for me at “home,” and that they have been there from the beginning. So far as I can tell, my place is on the East Coast…it’s where the land and water speak to me…it’s where I want to raise my own brood, at least until they need to run 3000 miles away and find themselves too!

Right now my heart feels broken and bruised because I’ve left my best friend, my heart sister, behind on the Other Side. But despite the tears and sadness, we both know that this new chapter must be written from different places. Our bonds run as deep as blood and we find ourselves lucky to have been shaped into the grown-ups we are today by our mutual experiences, impressions, soul-searching, random silly adventures, serious heart wrenching events and the myriad of daily joys encountered with regularity. We should (and will, after the initial heartbreak) count ourselves lucky that we’ve got each other still as a brilliant support team…no matter that a continent will divide our physical beings.

As for this blog…there’s been no mention of the BTD outright, but it’s there. Before finding this way of life, I never took the time to reflect on new beginnings and endings. I didn’t allow myself to revel in the emotion of a moment…good, bad or otherwise. I had no idea that the body could be made stronger and more resilient through calming practices. This blog is relevant for this day on this site because even though it doesn’t deal with food, it deals with how I’ve chosen to treat my self. In the same way that corn and chicken tell me with stunning speed that they are avoids for a reason, I have come to understand that not taking “time” (for any number of life things) has as immediate a bodily effect as does consuming an unbeneficial food item.

So hurray to all of us who strive in the miniscule moments of every day to live a highly beneficial life. Superb marks to us for even beginning to think of LIFE in terms of bennie, neutral and avoid. Go team for bothering to care enough to reach out and do the right thing. And most of all…thank goodness for our support networks that remind us of all the beneficial things we do daily when it feels like life is one giant Avoid.

Until next time…remain compliant as you can for today in all that you do and be well…

I cannot describe how much I enjoy the Olympics every time they come around. This year is no exception and I feel an even closer connection having been to the US swimming trials in Long Beach. I actually SAW these people in the flesh swimming their hearts out in July and now they’re in Athens kicking butt!! And the gymnastics and volleyball and kayaking…it’s almost too much to take in and the track and field events aren’t even ramped up yet!! The strength and dedication that these athletes bring to their sport is astounding. The level of commitment necessary to be a world competitor…ugh…I can’t even imagine!!

But don’t think for a second that I can’t (or won’t!) draw a parallel to the Blood Type Diet…

Actually, I know that you don’t need me to draw any parallel because you’ve heard/said it all before. The thing I was thinking was this…(living so close to Hollywood for all these years helped with this insight too)…these athletes (and A-list actors/musicians) are plain ‘ole folks just like you and me. Except for that strength, dedication and commitment thing that they’ve got going on…and there’s also the inner focus and drive that pushes them to compete so visibly on the world stage…so what I was thinking was this…I was thinking that if these ordinary folks can live so visibly and so LARGE, what’s my problem with kicking avoids out of my cabinets, ‘fridge and lifestyle habits?

Maybe it isn’t my goal to be a BTD Olympian, but I sure wouldn’t mind making it to the US trials of BTD compliance. I’m just a plain girl, eating average things…and if I just tightened up my life a little…added a touch more dedication, strength and commitment…those average foods and activities could send my health and body to extraordinary levels of excellence. It’s certainly something to think about as this summer comes to a close and my life takes a new direction as I relocate to the East Coast.

I have a clear line in the sand if I want to recognize it. I guess you’ll just have to keep checking in to see if I decide to pick up the gauntlet or not…

In the meantime…make summer memories and be well…