I like to look in peoples' shopping carts at the supermarket. I am fascinated by what other people buy and how they survive on the highly processed food I see in their carts.

Just this week I stood in line behind a women who was purchasing just about every snack pack for school lunches that the store offered. It looked like she simply went down the aisle and put one of each in her cart. The screaming kids that circled her cart may have had something to do with it, but she had allowed it.

I had to resist the urge to ask her why she would pay good money for things that were bad for her family. A few of the questions that went through my head as I stood in line with her were:

Was she thinking about her families long term health?

Did she care about her future grandchildren?

Did she understand the term "empty calories"?

What was her blood type?

It took me a minute to realize that she like millions of others is living in darkness. Fooled into believing that the food manufactuerers and the supermarkets have our best interests at heart. This lie is what I believe keeps people from reading food labels. They look at the outside of the package and see the words organic, low fat, whole grains, natural and put it right into the cart, never reading further on the package.

This same subliminal lie is promoted by Whole Foods and Trader Joes where people believe that once they step through the doors of these stores they enter a world where all the food is "healthy". Somehow the foods in these stores is immune to unhealthy ingredients. Health food stores are viewed by the public as superior to the SAD (standard american diet) supermarket. So if you shop at one of the healthy stores you are viewed as a healthier person.

It's all about the labels, and how they are interpreted.

I am a label reader whether I am in the health food store or in the SAD supermarket, I always take a look at the ingredients before the item enters my cart. I have gotten into this habit after being burned more then once thinking I was buying something "healthy", then realizing after I got home, that high fructose corn syrup was the first ingredient.

If you are following the Blood Type or Genotype diet one of the basic things you can do is take the time to read the labels on all your food items. I challenge you to start reading those labels and to teach your children to do the same.

While in High School I took physics. The professor was certainly what I would call a "Science Geek". Thick horn rimmed glasses with faded yellow lenses, a pocket protector, slicked back hair and an inability to communicate his passion for physics to a room full of pubescent students. In addition my teacher had tunnel vision, his visual field was limited, so he could only see what was directly in front of him. This made for interesting classroom dynamics because anyone outside of his field of vision had an advantage when it came to the passing of notes, cheating and talking in class. Needless to say this affliction was not an asset to his teaching.

The words "Tunnel Vision" came up in my home recently. My husband commented that I had "tunnel vision" in terms of all things blood type related. I was not particularly offended by what he said, but it did cause me to think about why he would say that.

Possibly it is because every one I meet I try and guess their blood type, from TV characters to my neighbors and coworkers. I will repeatedly say to my husband, "I think he is an O... or maybe a B". I know if he ate differently he would be able to run that marathon and actually build muscle tissue." (my husbands eyes roll lovingly and he smiles)

I recently saw some old friends that I hadn't seen for quite some time, I quickly rattled off all their blood types, they stood amazed that I remembered this detail about them. It is not that I want to remember, it seems I simply can't keep the information out of my head. If someone tells me a health complaint, in my mind I am trying to decide which GenoType they are, "must be a Gatherer if the thyroid is bothering him."
Or maybe he said I have tunnel vision because I study the lists of foods or maybe because I reread the books over and over, for tiny tidbits of information.
Or because I will wake him in the middle of the night with some dream that centered around the people I love having there lives changed by eating for their type.

I am not sure why he would accuse me of having tunnel vision but I don't mind at all.

My father in law came across my 1986 college graduation program while cleaning out some old papers. Seeing that program brought me back to seemingly endless days of studying and long sleepless nights worrying over exams. During my college years I never felt very smart so I was surprised to see Cum Laude next to my name. I had graduated with honors but some how I didn't remember that. What I do remember is being relieved to be finished with my formal education and never having to take a test again, or so I thought. That was until I learned I could become certified by the IFHI which requires, what else, a test. It has taken me a long time to decide to get this certification but my passion for all things blood type has not waned in over 10 years, and what better way to satisfy my enthusiasm but to become certified in what I believe.

The certification exam will be given at the Mini Conference in Crossville, Tennesee hosted by the Pleatau Eat Righter's. So in June I sent in my $150 and Larry Nesbit (BT 0) who spearheaded the group, registered me to take the test and emailed me the manual. The manual is a total of 80 pages, double sided, with text from top to bottom, no pictures, no graphs, just words. It's a little daunting but full of important information and reinforces some of what I already know from reading the Eat Right books. It also contains some new information and links to things in The Individualist for further study. For now I am sticking with just getting through the manual, reading it in small bits, and taking notes in the margins.

I am looking forward to the conference not just for the chance to become certified but also to be with a group of like minded people, those who share my same beliefs. As one member of the Chat Right Forum put it, "sane people".

One person I'm lookig forward to meeting is Larry Nesbit. Early in the spring I was privilaged to speak with him, his passion for all things Blood Type was very evident in our conversation. He has made it his mission to share his passion with others, so he holds classes on a regular basis and now has a thriving group of Blood Type followers in Crossville. What an amazing thing to take your passion, share it and watch peoples lives change.

My conversation with him centered around how I could start classes here on Long Island and, like Larry, share my passion. I thank him for encouraging me to put aside my trepidations and take the certification. A portion of the conference will be devoted to Larry and his persistance in helping people like me who want to get started teaching the BTD. This is one of the reasons I am attending this conference rather than the one in Arizona (although I may go to that one too).

I am looking forward to meeting you all and hope they have name tags that include our BT/GT and our chat room names, that way I will know who you are.

The smell in the lunchroom at work is ethnic spicy beans with rice, fish from the previous nights meal and even the the heavy scent of curry. I like all the smells. I work with a diverse group of people who prefer to bring food from home rather then buy from the employee cafeteria. Our breakroom is small but this mixed group all crowds around the table to talk and share food.

Probably 85% of us eat one meal out of the house per day, most of our early memories of eating away from home go back to the elementary school lunchroom.

In a recent conversation with my husband I asked him what his lunch was like when he was in elementary school.

During the early '60's he remembers eating the same thing everyday, one slice of bologna on two slices of white bread, no chips, no fruit, no vegetables, just the sandwich. His lunch was eaten in a Catholic school cafeteria that had no kitchen so he only ate what mom provided. Pretty stark food and the environment was really no better.
I had to admit to him that my mom gave me plenty of bologna with mustard sandwiches too but I also got fritos, a piece of fruit and a pint of milk in a cardboard carton. At the school I attended you could also buy a hot lunch from the hair netted lunch ladies in the pink dresses.

I remember not loving being in the lunch room at school. One of my friends went home for lunch on a regular basis. I was jealous that she lived close enough to walk home eat lunch and return to school. Her lunch was prepared fresh by her mom and eaten away from the school lunch room, now that was bliss to me.

My lunchroom in elementary school had a few unspoken rules about what you were allowed to eat, it couldn't smell, it had to be between two slices of bread and it certainly couldn't look different. If your lunch met any of these criteria you would suffer the consequesnces of having someone make a face about your food.

There were always a few kids that broke the rules, they came with something that smelled all day in their lockers and by the time they got to the lunchroom, after not being refrigerated, the smell of their food took over the senses of everyone. I recall the smell of the onion and cream cheese, the tunafish, and the ethnic black bread sandwiches. Eating food that was different was not a good thing, during those early years.

Now as an adult I don't mind eating lunch with my co-workers. I don't care if the breakroom smells of curry or fish and I look forward to the differences in how we eat. I have gotten to know them by sitting with them to eat in the breakroom. I know all there blood types and think I could Genotype them easily. They like-wise have learned things about me, that I can eat alot of food and still remain slim. That I am passionate in my belief in the Blood type Diet. That I care about food and I would love for them all to follow the Blood Type Diet. A few of them have taken the food lists glanced at the books and even eaten some of my food. One of my coworkers has actually started the O diet. I will not be working with these women that much in the coming months, but I do know that I have impacted their lives with my food choices.

What a great place the lunchroom can be.

Green beans are in season right now that makes them both delicious and inexpensive.

I simply trim the ends off the beans slice them in half and boil them a few minutes in water. I like mine still crisp and bright green. I then rinse them under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Green beans with mustard sauce are even better.

Warrior Style Mustard Sauce

1/2 tsp Salt

1 clove of Garlic grated

1 TBP of Mustard Powder (less if you don't like things so hot)

1 tsp of Agave

2 TBS of Lemon Juice

3 TBS Olive Oil

Put everything in a glass jar and shake well. I put this on everything. Salmon patties, swiss chard, salad, tempeh, eggs. It has become a quick staple in my house.

Enjoy!