I never did get to work out last night - Mike called me about 8 pm and we were finalizing plans for this evening (today is his birthday) and talking about our respective days. An hour later, I still hadn't eaten dinner or worked out. I tossed my dinner in the microwave, and finally sat down to eat about 9 pm.

Then my best friend, Anne, called me and I could tell she was upset. She asked if she could come upstairs to visit. Of course! She arrived, and started venting about her life and how she doesn't know what she wants to do, let alone how to go about getting it. I understand where she's coming from since I was in the same position a few years ago. I listened while she talked and cried, and I tried to offer as little advice as possible. From my experience, while I was desperate for someone to tell me the answers, I also know that it didn't matter WHAT someone told me, it didn't FEEL like the answer to me! So I know that she needs to find the answer in herself, and I will be there to listen and support her in whatever she does.

Sometimes it is difficult not to tell someone what they 'should' do, though!

By the time she left it was after 10, and I was wiped out, so I knew the workout was not going to happen. I tried to get to bed ASAP, but it was still 11:15 by the time I made lunch for today, got my clothes out and ready, and prepared some other stuff for today. Blah.

And my alarm rang far too early today! I'm feeling dragged out. I've GOT to get back to the gym! I've been doing yoga nearly every day (20-40 minutes a day), but it just isn't enough. It helps my back feel much better, but I really do calm down and feel better when I spend a bunch of time on the elliptical machine several times a week.

Off to buy a tiny birthday cake for Mike and to make dinner. Busy evening ahead!

Another busy training day for me - I was taking calls and learned a lot. Not a bad job, considering! A guy in the office asked me if I wanted to go out for a drink after work. Don't know WHAT I'm doing these days, but suddenly the men are flocking around! How fun!

Last night I made a stew from lamb, onions, and sweet potatoes. Threw some garlic powder and salt in there, and it was a delicious stew-like dish. So yummy, and perfect for a cold rainy night. Anne, my best friend, came over, and we ditched the idea of leaving the bldg to run any errands. We hung out at my place and then went downstairs to her place and continued our chat. (BTW, it is SO fun to have my best friend living in the same building!) I did get to bed earlier last night, but it was still 11:30 by the time I showered and got to bed. But I was much more awake today than I have been other days, and that is why I have to give myself a curfew.

Tonight I'm going to work out, eat my leftover stew, and get to bed. I was supposed to help my neighbor Mike celebrate his birthday tomorrow evening, but it looks like that plan may have changed because he's got something going on. I think we're moving from being 'friends and neighbors' to 'seeing each other'. Anne thinks he is utterly charming and handsome, so I think I'll go with the flow on this and see what happens! It would be TOO funny to have both my best friend and a boyfriend in the building - but I can also see potential issues with me needing my space and setting boundaries. I need to make some rules clear to him to avoid problems later.

Food-wise today was good. Banana-pineapple juice-egg protein powder smoothie for breakfast, a small snack of wheat-free cookies mid-morning, lamb chops (that were incredible) for lunch with a spinach salad on the side, and a luna bar for an afternoon snack. I need to figure out some other options for snacks. I'd like to find something that isn't meaty, but still has a fair amount of protein, and preferably is sugar-free. Pumpkin seeds are a favorite of mine, but sometimes they just don't cut it. Any suggestions would be welcome, so don't hesitate to contact me if you have any! I do also like to eat blueberries or cherries for a snack, so maybe that's what I'll have to make myself do for my fruit portions for the day....

Time for dinner, and a workout, and sleep, definitely not in that order!

I ran a couple errands after work, and as I was walking across the parking lot at the mall, I nearly got hit by a car. She was in a Jeep Cherokee, and it was dark and raining, and I was wearing charcoal grey pants and a black sweater. She may have scared ME half to death, but she was just as scared! Fortunately, she saw me in time, and I had danced/run out of the way by then, too. My heart was still pounding about 30 minutes after it happened. Whew. Too close for comfort for me!

The good news today is that I actually bought a pair of pants in a size EIGHT. Now, I'm 5'10", and until a few years ago I was always a 12/14. The last couple years I've been a pretty solid 10 and sometimes a 12, and peaked last year at a 12 again after breaking my leg. I've been working out lots these last few months, and weigh pretty much what I've weighed most of the last few years, but I'm also much fitter than I've been in the last few years. I tried on this pair of pants knowing that they were an 8 and figuring they would be a bit tight - I'd've tried a 10, but there wasn't one. I was shocked when the 8s not only fit me, but looked good!

I'm still exhausted from working - and not getting to bed early enough. I hope to be in bed at a reasonable hour tonight, so I'm working toward that goal now!

Off to make dinner and maybe run an errand with my best friend, then off to bed!

Training is still going extremely well - I was the only one in my training class who was willing to get on the phone and talk with customers today. I let our trainer handle the keyboard while I talked with the customer - I can handle the phone script (I am an actor, after all!) and the computer stuff will come to me as I do it, and I have full faith and confidence that it won't take long for me to pick it up. I did really well with the customers, and I was content with not having embarrassed myself. The trick will be being able to do all of this in French!

We also found out today that we'll be training all next week, too, which is great since that gives me more time to be completely capable on the phones and also to give myself a weekend to adjust to the night schedule. I am heading to San Diego this weekend (so won't be blogging again until at least Sunday night or maybe even Monday) to visit my uncle and a couple of friends. I haven't been down there for months and months, so this will be a fun little trip.

Diet-wise, I'm cleaning up my act little by little - I get major headaches when I detox too fast, and I AM detoxing now. Today I was good about not eating junk food, and I haven't had wheat in several days now. I'm staying away from the major avoids now, and working my way towards the other avoids little by little.

You'd think after nearly six years of the BTD that I'd have this down pat, but with starting a new job and still coming off the holiday good frenzy, clearly I don't! I know I'll never be perfect at this, and I think it's important not to beat oneself up about slip-ups or the inabiity to find appropriate food when one is caught unprepared. I was overly controlling about my food for a long time, and I do try to stay 98% compliant, but I can't expect myself to do anything but the best I can do at THAT moment. And sometimes that just means that I'm having coffee cake or a chocolate chip cookie!

At some point I think I will have to be extremely vigilant about my diet to continue to clear up my food allergies, but I'll do it when I'm ready. I've never paid much attention to the portion sizes or frequency of servings, and I'm working on increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables I eat, and that is improving. I'm still learning what a portion size of fruit, veggies, meat, etc., really looks like, but I'm working on it.

One person contacted me and asked how to find out one's secretor status, and I thought I would mention it here so that others can find out, too. Dr. D'Adamo has a secretor test available through NAP, and it is a really easy spit test that you send off in the mail and you get your results in about 10 days or so. It's a factor in the BTD, but don't feel compelled to get a secretor test if you don't feel like it or feel like you can't afford it. About 80% of the population are secretors, so odds are high you are a secretor.

I got to sleep about 2am last night, and it's already 12:30 tonight. Knowing that I have to get up again at 7am and be functional is not a comforting thought. My diet is getting stricter because avoids make me very tired, so right now I'm on salads, smoothies, pumpkin seeds and trail mix during the day. Tomorrow I'm having dinner with Mike (new neighbor, B+, which CHICKEN and CORN PUFFS in his fridge right now!) before I head down to San Diego for the weekend. Things are getting interesting in that department, and I'll report more as things progress or change. Let's just say that as complicated as he seems to make things, I'm liking him more as time goes on. But that also still pursuing, uh, other options! I have a date on Sunday night, and some other things in the works. We'll see how it goes!

The training for my new job is not terribly exciting, but I am enjoying it nonetheless. It's been a great review for me on several topics, and the people in the class, both the trainer and the other students, are terrific people.

I got a massive headache bordering on a migraine last night, and I have to wonder if it was the pizza I ate Sunday night or the storm front that was moving in here. I had a headache again tonight, but it wasn't as bad as last night's, and my best friend, Anne, worked on some accupressure points and helped work out lots of it, and yoga class relieved the rest of it. Last night I was in bed by 10:30, and tossed and turned until after midnight from the pain of the headache. Drank a ton of water, hit a few pressure points, and did everything else I could think of to get rid of it. Finally I put on my meditation CD and eventually drifted off to sleep.

After the pizza Sunday night, I've been eating REALLY well. Did have a Coke yesterday, but resisted the siren's call today, and ate my blueberries and drank water throughout the afternoon. I took some rooibos (Type O) tea with me in a thermos, and sipped on that, too. Breakfast today was another banana/pineapple juice/egg protein powder smoothie, and that thing really does get me through the morning - lunchtime comes and I don't even know it. I took blueberries and cherries for snacks today, and also had a few Ghirardelli double chocolate chocolate chips, but decided I preferred the blueberries. For lunch I cut up a chicken pesto sausage over a big green salad with some pumpkin seeds, aduki beans, curried pecans, and ginger dressing on it. Yummy. Dinner was very light tonight - I ate cherries and the last two bites of my salad that I just couldn't eat at lunch, and I'm considering eating a mango now.

Tomorrow is another long day - work all day, acting seminar in the evening. My bed is calling to me....