I’m feeling distracted this week. It seems to be a combination of a little dehydration, a couple of days succumbing to more avoids than usual, and maybe a little stress added in for spice. In fact, I am so distracted that I forgot to go to my dentist appointment yesterday. I don’t do that. I don‘t forget appointments, especially ones that are on the calendar! But I did. I was sitting at home at the computer and the phone rang at 11:15 telling me I was supposed to be there. I was really embarrassed. It left me shaken the rest of the day. I was thinking maybe I am losing it already! That’s a B thing, you know. Our minds succumb to dementia a bit more than the other types. And it does run in the older generations of my mother’s side of the family.

The dehydration probably came from a couple of very hot days we had. On Sunday hubby and I dressed up in our Kevlar suits and motorcycled about seven hours. Temperatures were in the 90’s and it was uncomfortable at times. Nice ride though. We did some twisty roads that wound up along the back up Mt. St. Helens. ‘Twisties’, as they are called in the motorcycle world are what riders are always looking for. The next day was even hotter and I had a Pilates workout in an uninsulated building. Whew!! I should have drunk more water, I’m sure.

Monday night, being hot as it was, hubby didn’t want to heat up the kitchen for dinner, so made some fancy French Provencal tuna sandwiches. He used wheat sandwich rolls, of course, and there were kalamata olives in it. I didn’t check out all the ingredients. But, I didn’t want to fuss about the wheat, and enjoyed the meal. I mean, those were great sandwiches! Unfortunately, the heartburn set in about 4:30 am.

Tuesday, I started out eating compliantly. Had a Unibar for breakfast while playing nine holes of golf. The weather was still hot (Uh-huh…shoulda drank more). Had eggs, ghee and a slice of spelt toast for a late lunch before heading off for chorus rehearsal. I totally blew it after rehearsal. There really wasn’t anything compliant in the house to eat. Oh, sure there was some protein powder….but no juice. So, I ate hubby’s pistachio nuts, then had a few slices of Jarlsberg between water crackers.

It's no wonder my brain was mush when I woke up Wednesday morning. Dehydration and avoid-eating pushed that dentist appointment right out of my mind.

So, remember kiddies. Stay hydrated. Be compliant.

Okay. The guilt has finally gotten to me. It’s time to blog.

I think I finally converted someone to the BTD! I had a trip back east to visit family recently. I have been very forthright about the diet with family members. Especially my brother. He is employed by Whole Foods, and has always been inclined to alternative treatments. So, naturally he has been receptive to the idea. This time he actually started the diet the day I left. And subsequent emails say that he is trying hard to stick to it. I have tried to be encouraging. His birthday is next week, so I just got off the NAP website where I ordered a secretor test to be sent to him. I threw in a few Unibars too, just for fun.

I am going through a ten-session Structural Integration program with my massage therapist. It is similar to SOMA, which I went through a few years ago. There are differences, though. I think I’m ready to follow through with the homework and retraining this time. I don’t think the SOMA really worked for me. Anyway, starting with the feet and working her way up the body each session, she is retraining me how to walk. It is really difficult to walk correctly after 50 odd years of duck-fwapping. She showed me yesterday, at the fourth session, how I never move my hips when I walk. So, I am practicing swishing my hips as I walk…..it is SO hard! But my feet come down in the right place with the proper balance when I do it right. It’s an exciting process.

Diet-wise I’m still stuck. I eat too much. I have taken to thinking of my weight in golf score terms. I consider my wedding weight as par. Right now I am plus nine and holding. I spent quite some time at plus six last fall and felt much better than I do now. You’d think three little pounds would be a cinch. If I’m disciplined enough to follow the B nonsecretor food lists 85% of the time, you’d think I would be able to suck it up and just eat less. Okay. I just pep-talked myself into REALLY, REALLY trying again.

So, we’ll see.

As I eat through each day, I can’t reach the end without some kind of avoid passing my lips. I do try for avoid-free days, but something always comes along.

Yesterday, hubby was marinating steaks for dinner. The marinade was compliant. I suggested sautéed greens (olive oil and garlic) for the vegetable. It sounded like a nice mix of beneficial and neutral foods. As we were going through the grocery store, he picked up a small container of pine nuts. I felt a little dismay, but kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to cause tension by piping up “I can’t eat pine nuts”. I can’t expect him to care much about my food lists. So, I ate a few. No harm done. In fact, by not causing tension between us, I may have kept both our cortisol levels low. Funny, though, the only taste in my mouth this morning is of pine nut essence. A reminder that I once again I didn’t make 100% compliance.

On another note, the Capitol City Marathon is being run today. They changed the course this year so they run right past our house. I am amazed at the number of middle-aged and older folks zooming by. We are just past mile 14, and when I went out to watch for awhile, I only heard one person huffing and puffing. It makes me feel a bit wistful about not being more athletic. All I do is walk or bike on my home equipment. I play a little golf, and go to the Pilates studio three times a week. But then I have to remind myself that running a marathon is really for O’s. I do the type of exercises recommended in LY4YT for B’s. I'm OK.

I had an early wake-up today. It’s the beginning of the golf season and there was a Chamber of Commerce tournament I was invited to play in. It was an 8:00 am shotgun start. That meant getting up at 6:00. That’s the middle of the night for me any more. I generally snooze around until 8:30 or 9:00 these days. I get plenty of B sleep, that’s for sure. The weather was good. It got a lot warmer than the weather forecasters had predicted and by 10 o’clock I had ripped off all the layers I could and still be decent, and was still too hot. The tournament was themed for Cinqo de Mayo. Hole sponsors were pouring beers first thing …..ugh! I don’t get how some folks can drink and play golf. I, for one, can’t get my body and mind to coordinate after a drink. And believe me, I have tried! But, drinking beer at 8:00 am has no appeal, even though it is a neutral beverage. We were the only all female team in the tournament. We didn’t have the length that guys did, so we scored relatively poorly. But, it was fun. I hit the ball well, for me. And at this point, I don’t have any shoulder and arm pain. It feels used, but no pain.

This relates to yesterday. I had an acupuncture/physical therapy session. The acupuncturist uses needles to relax the areas that the PT wants to manipulate (she uses osteopathic manipulations). Then she gets right in and puts the bones and ligaments where she wants them.

I have to go backwards in time here. I had an MRI on my neck in January. The diagnosis was degenerative disc disease between c5-c6 and c6-c7 with spurring and stenosis, constricting nerves going down my left shoulder and arm. Anyway, this Dr. dude said he wanted to do an anterior double discectomy and fusion. Well, that’s way too scary for me, so I didn’t make a follow-up appointment. My PT is trying to get me a second opinion with a surgeon in Seattle, but it’s taking awhile to get a response. So, meanwhile, she and the acupuncturist are experimenting with trying to stretch out the nerve and relieving the pressure from the spurs. It seemed to work yesterday. I hope the golf didn’t ruin the results.

So, I may have to make a decision someday whether I can continue playing golf or not. It certainly has been frustrating for the last five years not being able to play as much as I would like. I have just so many swings in me before things get uncomfortable. Therefore, I have slowly gotten worse at the game. I can either practice or play. I usually choose to play. Practice is boring.

Easter just crept up on me. Yes, I’ve been seeing baskets and bunnies and chocolate eggs in the stores for weeks now….but it just didn’t dawn on me until today. And the marvelous realization I came to was that seeing those things didn’t make me crave my old Easter favorites. I used to be mad for malted milk robin’s eggs and jelly beans. I couldn’t keep my hands off of them if they were around. This year I haven’t given them a thought. I had to actually think to remember what it was I wasn’t supposed to be eating that I loved. Hurray! Now I have to hope daughter and hubby don’t bring any home…..the thought has been planted.

Healthwise, I have been suffering a bit from a bronchial inflammation. I’m afraid I let it go on a bit too long before seeing someone. It actually started in January with a slight virus that turned into a bad cough. It would subside some, but every time I would get on an airplane, it would come back with a vengeance. I have flown once a month this winter. It finally got to hubby, and he insisted I see someone. He was thinking a respiratory specialist…..but I went to my naturopath. She loaded me up with lobelia and enzymes and instructions for castor oil packs. Wouldn’t you know, I came down with a head cold the very next day. Not very conducive for lung healing. Saw the acupuncturist the next day. He was having trouble getting through the head cold energies to hit the chronic bronchial stuff. But he did okay. By Friday my energy was good. I’m trying to think the cough is getting better. I bought a humidifier today to help keep the lungs moist at night. He emphasized keeping the lungs moist.

My first thoughts on this prolonged ‘illness’ is ‘why did this happen to me when I follow the BTD?’ I lasted many years on the diet without being sickly until now. Is it because I’m older? Do I need to tweak my compliance? I surely am not 100%. My grain portions are a little over the recommended. There are maybe three avoids that I have chosen to consume. I think coffee is the only thing I drink regularly that I shouldn’t. Wheat sneaks in occasionally, but is definitely a once in awhile thing. And on the rare occasion that an oyster will present itself, I’m all over it.

Anyway, I will not beat myself up about this. I’ll take my medicines, drink lemon water and do what I can to keep my lungs moist. Our chorus is going to regional competition next weekend. I’ve got to be able to sing!