A Nomad's Journey

Food Journal

2010-11-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

The turkey wasn't quite thawed enough to cook on Thursday, so that waited till Friday. I made a root vegetable stew for supper that was heavenly. I went grocery shopping when I was hungry...so not good to do....and I bought a little, harmless pint of eggnog. I'm telling you, I am swearing the stuff off! Not only did I get sick to my stomach, but then supper wasn't very good....cuz I was sick-ish.

Friday 11/12 weigh in: 238.4
Brkfst: Coffee w/creamer & granola w/yogurt
Lunch: Leftover veggie stew & salad w/ranch
Snack: York Peppermint patty & 1 reeses pb cup
Supper: Roasted Turkey w/basmati rice & gravy

Saturday 11/13 weigh in: 238.0 (we were snowed in)
Brkfst: Crackers, cheese & sausage (we were supposed to take to a baby shower that day)
Lunch: Ditto (but we got snowed in and didn't leave the house)
Snack: Ditto....noticing a trend?
Supper: Turkey casserole made with about 2 cups chopped turkey, 1 box organic cream of mushroom, 3 cups cooked basmati, 1 reg can green beans, onion softened in butter, 1 cup rice milk and lots and lots of cheese......

Needless to say, I am still waiting for the cheese to stop binding me up (its Monday)....nuff said.

Sunday 11/14 weigh in: 238.4 (Apparently my body frowns upon mass cheese & cracker consumption)
Brkfst: banana
Lunch: Last of the leftover veggie stew
Supper: Spaghetti w/ my husband's sauce (rowr), meatballs and garlic bread. Literally, the only good things in that meal were the beef in the sauce and meatballs and the parmesan cheese....everything else was an avoid.
Dessert: Brownies. :)
*We had friends over for football games, etc. So it was a rather festive day.

Monday 11/15 weigh in: 240.2 (Body doesn't like pasta and sauce either)
Brkfst: granola w/yogurt.

I don't feel too terrible about my 1.8lb weight gain.....Tony gained 3lbs. AND I had to literally fight the plate out of his hands to keep him from going back for seconds! LOL

Today we are turning the tides back to good habits again. I still feel less bloated than usual and I'm pretty sure if I can get my salads back to work in my intestines I'll drop about 5lbs. LOL!

Food Journal

2010-11-11T08:21:00.001-08:00

I have decided I'm going to keep a food journal on here. I have to become more proactive about what I am consuming. It's harder to see where you might be going wrong if you don't write it down.

I am basically starting over. I have failed miserably at my many attempts previously, so hopefully this will keep things trucking in the right direction.

Monday weigh in: 242.0
Breakfast: Pear, Cup of decaf w/creamer & water
Lunch: Turkey & Cheese melt on spelt bun w/ small side salad
Supper: Small steaks on grill with noodles
Snack: sprite & reeses pb cup

Tuesday weigh in: 241.4
Breakfast: Granola w/cranberries & rice milk, cup of decaf w/creamer
Lunch: Big salad w/turkey, roastbeef and veggies
Supper: BBQ Ribs & sweet potato
Snack: Choc covered ice cream bar (afternoon) and Junior Mints(evening @ school)

Wednesday weigh in: 240.6
Breakfast: Granola w/blueberry yogurt, cup of decaf w/creamer
Lunch: Turkey & Cheese on an Ezekial tortilla w/homemade cranberry sauce & side salad
Supper: Turkey/Beef Cheeseburger with Terra Exotic Chips
Snack: Cup of Strawberry/Banana yogurt (afternoon) and 7.5 oz dr pepper (evening)

Thursday weigh in: 238.6
Breakfast: Granola w/blueberry yogurt, cup of decaf w/creamer

So far, this is where I'm at in my day. Plans for lunch are a salad with turkey and ranch dressing. And supper is going to be roasted turkey and basmati rice with turkey gravy. I will probably have yogurt as an afternoon snack again.
I am finding it easier and easier to avoid sugar as the week goes on. I don't crave it nearly as bad as I did at the beginning of the week. We have removed caffeinated coffee from our diet again. We have discovered that it leads to other cravings. Decaf coffee doesn't bother us and we find it as a very useful tool to stave off other things. Tony struggles with wanting to drink soda. It's not something I have a hard time giving up. Increasing our water intake has been an ongoing battle. Thankfully we have unlimited water available to us....so there isn't any excuse! lol

The catalyst for us was that Stefani, our 15yo, is starting her powerlifting season again. We just got a letter from the director of the SubJunior World's team that the International Powerlifting Federation is lowering their weight classes. So, now instead of being able to lift @ 198, she will need to drop down to under 185 in order to not have to compete against 300lb girls that, literally, squat over 500lbs. She can't even compete with that. Her biggest squat is 315 right now.

SOOOOO....knowing what we know about the GenoType diet and how it is an amazing way to lose weight (when you apply it), we decided to get strict with ourselves again. Thankfully, Stefani jumped right on board and said she was willing to do whatever it took to lose the weight. (It makes it really hard when she whines) She had drifted back up to 206 after achieving 198 only a month or two ago. So, she knows she can do it. And then after that, she has 3 or so months to lose another 13-15 pounds. She hasn't starved, she hasn't neglected herself, there is no eating disorder....she is eating full meals and still losing weight. We are working on her carb consumption and upping her cardio...but otherwise, she's gone from 206 to 202 since Monday (today is Thursday). I'm excited to see how adding some regular activity to her daily routine will make it come off even faster. And I'm loving that she is cutting weight without starving her body and destroying her muscles.

Ok, so I my goal is to update this every day and stay on top of it. I hope this helps me to be really aware of my food consumption and what it does to my weight.

Lunch of Champions

2010-11-03T10:48:00.001-07:00

1 Ezekial 4:9 Tortilla- thawed
3 slices Turkey lunch meat
"some" shredded Farmer's Cheese

Warmed up in the micro for about 1 minute (much longer and the tortilla will be too hard to eat).

Slather with homemade cranberry sauce, close up and munch.

Rowr.

Low-Gluten Tuna (or any thing) Casserole Recipe

2010-10-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

Tuna Noodle Casserole Ingredients

(not the pears and apples)

I have been revamping my casserole recipes. I love eating raw, but I miss casseroles. Especially this time of year when all you want are comfort foods so you can acquire a nice layer of fat before the real cold hits. ^-^

I jest. I already have that layer of fat.

Low-Gluten Tuna (or any thing) Casserole
by Biz

1 Med Onion, chopped
1-2 Tbl butter or 1 Tbl olive oil
1 box/can Organic Cream of Mushroom (the brand pictured is made with Rice Starch, etc.)
12 oz shredded sharp cheddar
1 Cup & some Rice Milk
2 Cans Tuna in Water
1 Package Spelt Pasta (pictured)
Gluten Free Butter Flavored Crackers of choice(optional)
Grated Parmesan Cheese(optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cook pasta (I usually do this at the same time I make the sauce) and drain.
In a Medium size pot on a med/hi heat, cook the onion in the butter/oil until translucent. You can carmelize them a little for a deeper flavor if you choose. Add the soup and the rice milk and mix well. Add the cheese a little at a time and mix well. Make sure to cook this over a medium heat to avoid burning and stir frequently. You are looking for the cheese to incorporate completely and not be 'stringy' looking. Make sure you squeeze the juice out of your tuna, then flake it well and put it into soup mixture. Warm through.

I usually put the pasta into a big casserole dish and then pour my sauce over the top. Then I mix it all together till it looks 'moist' everywhere. I crush my crackers all over the top and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until browned and bubbly. :)mmm, mmm, good!

This never lasts very long in my house.

New Hair

2010-09-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Got new hair today. It makes me happy. :)

Now to get rid of that double chin!

I'm back on track

2010-09-30T12:09:00.001-07:00

It was such a rough month, there was no point in even sharing with you all of my pitfalls and mistakes. Like you need to read about all the 'bad'...

I am back on track now. I don't know what happened. One day a switch just flipped and it wasn't so hard to concentrate on good foods and be repelled by bad foods anymore. I am back where I don't crave sugar, need soda or want pizza anymore. It just doesn't appeal to me.

Thankfully, I only gained about 5 lbs in my "moment of weakness" and the weight is coming off pretty quickly again. I lost 2lbs just from yesterday to today. It's floors me how fast the weight comes off when I just eat what I'm supposed to.

I'm back down to 232 as of today.

Happy Foods!

2010-09-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

I have found my happy place again, people! It is called Ezekial 4:9 toast with almond butter and my recently homemade batch of apple butter. It is the breakfast of this champion and makes me wanna sing Hallelujah every single morning!! ;)

That breakfast paired with this week's lunch leftovers of sauteed onions, green peppers, garlic and zucchini served over whole spelt noodles sprinkled liberally with parmesan cheese (can we say mostly diamond foods?) = what? That's right...Weight Loss!

Joy of joy-ditty-joy-joys I have gotten BACK into the habit of denying myself wheat filled products again! And it makes me oooohhh so happy and feel better too.

I am back down to 233. I know it still seems like a total heifer weight and in reality it is...but it's going in the right direction again. I am working on seeing a new 'image' of myself in my head. I look at myself and immediately see all the flaws. It goes like this in my head "I just lost like 3 pounds....what is with the lumps??" or "I am soooooo fat! Look at all those rolls!" or "WHAT?! Why don't I fit in a smaller size pant already?? I just lost weight!!" forgetting that....Sister-friend, you have spent the last 18-20 years of your life getting this way. 3 pounds lost does not a flat stomach make! I really must stop being so hard on myself! I did not get this way over night and I will not lose it over night. Besides, I am STILL 233 lbs! There are going to be rolls!

With that said, I say, Keep On Friend! Don't quit! Don't cave! Do not back down! Stand firm! Mistakes will happen. Sometimes weeks of mistakes will happen. The one thing we must remember and realize is that this is the rest of our lives. It is not a fad or passing fancy. This is forever and forever is a long, long time filled with periods of falling flat on our faces. Just pick yourself back up. Brush off the dirt. Make a new determination that you will not be defeated by something so...so...inconsequential as food. Food will be what you make it. Food does not rule us. Food does not control us. We are bigger than food. And we can say NO!

And by all means....if you do screw up....DO NOT let the food condemn you. Just start over.

A Dog Walks Into a Kitchen....

2010-09-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

I have something so totally desperate, disgusting and, in the end, completely hilarious to tell you.

This last week was hard. This is how bad we had gotten: We finished off the weekend by going to the grocery store on Sunday and buying junk food. I bought a package of those super soft sugar cookies with the 1/2 inch of frosting on the top. Tony got a package of M&M/chocolate chip cookies from the bakery. Teo and Stefani bought Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls and Nutty Bars, respectively. And then we proceeded to eat most of them.

Monday morning I woke up so stiff and painful and I had 3 cookies left in the package. I decided to be very brave and sassy and chuck that leftover package in the garbage. "Girl, you do not need to finish off those cookies! You are stronger than the cookies!" I was so proud of myself as I left for work.

Lunch came late on Monday. The phone was ringing off the hook @ work. Teo was a little longer in finishing up some school work. We were going to leave @ 11:30...didn't leave till 12:00. By the time I got home, I was HUNGRY! So I walked promptly over to the garbage can to take that package of cookies right back out and eat them. Well, I looked and I couldn't see them. They were right on top this morning... Then I thought, Did Teo take them out and eat them? He was lamenting the fact that I had thrown them away...And I reached in and moved something aside and Nope...the cookies AND the cookie box were gone. ??? I turned around and there on the floor, over by the stove was a very neatly laid open box containing no cookies. Not even a stitch of frosting on the floor.

The dog (a.k.a. 'dumpster diver') very craftily took care of my problem for me and kept me from eating what I didn't need!!! LOL Thank you, Mack. I knew there was a reason I loved you. :)

And I woke up this morning 2 lbs lighter. :)

Feel Like a Broken Record

2010-09-10T07:21:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't have posted, but Misty, my dear, you have prompted me to come out of hiding.

I feel like a broken record. It's been another hard week and one that I'm not particularly proud of. Not even after all the little lessons you learn along the way.

No, I did not reach my goal. As a matter of fact, I gained 3 pounds this week. I was at 230.8...I am now 234. I am feeling bad about myself and irritated that I have just eaten whatever I wanted. On one hand it was out of defiance. On the other hand it was almost uncontrollable. In my prayer time this morning, however, God told me to knock it off. That he cannot heal my weight if I am going to be defiant and eat what I know is not good for my body. So, I am starting over today with a new, humbled attitude.

Misty, I am so glad to hear that you are noticing changes in your body. That is such an encouragement! I love the way I feel when I am on track. My body is fresh and not fluffy, my mind is clear and I have energy. Thank you for reminding me of that.

Here is the one thing I have learned this week. Again. I cannot let myself run out of flour. I wish beyond wishing that there was a health food store closer that carries Spelt. I wish beyond wishing that the health food store I love to bits and bits wasn't an hour away. This inconvenience makes some weeks almost intolerable. Especially when I have a busy weekend that makes no room for travelling to the health food store regardless of how badly I need ingredients.

My weekend baking is the thing that sets up my week for me. When I am unable to make pitas and granola....something is missing. Empty hole in the food world for me. No cereal for breakfast. No sandwiches or pizzas for lunch. These have become staples in our diet and when they are missing it's HARD!

This week I made a roast in the slow cooker while we slept so that there would be something for lunch on Tuesday. We had leftover stew on Wednesday. Yesterday I was in a bad place and I had $5 to my name. The kids had their own money so they porked out on cans of spaghettios and I bought 3 filled donuts and proceeded to sit down and eat them all (almost). In one sitting. Sow. By the third one I had to squeeze the filling out of it and I couldn't eat the whole thing...I thought I was going to barf. Then I ate almost nothing good for me for supper. I have overeaten all week long and gained weight. Not to mention, my stress level has been through the roof.

I could blame all these problems on being hormonal. "Miss Thang" is only a few days away and the week before has been a historically bad week for me. I could blame it on not having the right ingredients in the house for my "fall-back" foods that support my families eating habits. I could blame it on the fact that cooking gluten-free is freaking hard and nobody bothers to tell you that you will be eating the same 7 meals for the rest of your life (I'm exaggerating). I could blame it on any number of things.

It comes down to this: CHOICES. I can blame no one and no thing, but me, for my choices.

My Weekend

2010-08-30T09:00:00.001-07:00

I shan't complain or whine, no matter how much I want to.

I entered this weekend of family (brother & kids visiting) and food understanding that there may be a few things I shouldn't eat, but probably will.

Friday night we had homemade pizza on Boboli crusts and tomato sauce. blech. It was ok, but we didn't make enough so I went to the local town Friday night football game and proceded to have a brat and a rootbeer and a bag of m&m's. I did ok. Actually lost weight. Was down to 230.2 by Saturday morning.

Saturday, we had gotten baby back beef ribs that my brother is a master at cooking. We had brought over some items that were friendlier to our diet to have with. Sweet potato and onion mix that was roasted in the oven and whole Spelt egg noodles that I get from the healthy store. I enjoyed a lovely meal. My mom made homemade baked beans and they served corn. I avoided the corn successfully, but I made an absolute pig of myself on everything else. Then everyone in the house got a jones on for chocolate. My mommy made a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting....just for me. :) It was pure joy. Every bite. Went to bed with a sour tummy ache that lasted all night long. Woke up and had gained a pound. Even after the profuse 'cleansing' my body decided it needed.

Sunday, we ate lunch together. Roast and corn (again) and sweet potato and cake. This day I ate corn. I again had cake. Went home with an absolute rock in my stomach that refused to dissipate. Spent the remainder of the afternoon in discomfort. Drank lots of water and baked pitas and pizza's (spelt dough, tyvm). Made mine with pesto for sauce and layered turkey pepperoni with zucchini slices. YUM! Tony made another batch of granola for the week. And the computer repair guy came over and got our wireless up and running. I went to bed with a slightly upset tummy and slept like total poo. Gained another pound by this morning.

I don't feel too poorly today, though. Bright and chipper. Ate my Ezekial english muffin for breakfast with almond butter and honey...as usual. Sucking on my morning bottle of water. Thinking of crochet projects I need to start on. Still waiting for the discomfort of yesterday to go away completely.

My goal for this week is to get below 230. It's just time.

You Know When....

2010-08-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

You know you're losing weight when your "tight" jeans are now "loose" jeans straight out of the dryer. :)

**Squeee**

Answering Questions

2010-08-26T11:20:00.001-07:00

Misty, I have to copy and paste your comment on here and answer that way. So many good questions. (this is a little long)

Misty's Comment (and my answers) from "The Little Things" post:

oh biz you make ME laugh!!! i know i'm late checking in over here... it's b/cs not having a computer to my own lil' self sucks! ok--so why gluten free? I am going to direct you to an article explaining one woman's health recovery from eliminating wheat from her diet. Wheat has been linked to an increase in immunity-deficiency's, including allergies, etc. This link will take you to an article written by Dr. D'Adamo explaining Blood Groups and Immunity. Alot of people actually develop an intolerance to wheat gluten and don't even realize it. Wheat is also a major factor in weight gain. Wheat gluten is extremely hard on the body. We use 'Spelt' in replacement for wheat. It is part of the wheat family, but does not have the same gluten content. It is not gluten-free, but unless you have been diagnosed Celiac, most people with a gluten intolerance find that they can eat Spelt without the side effects that they experience with regular wheat products. We base our intake of grains on the Geno Type Diet guidelines by Dr. D'Adamo.

and really? you have a yummy recipe? b/cs i'll be honest, gluten free scares the bejeeezus out of me. just sayin. Yes, for real, a yummy recipe although not, I guess, gluten free now that I think about it. But, that references back to the 'are you really celiac? or are you just gluten intolerant?':) Anyway, I did nail the rise this week. But, here's what I did differently: I used a 1/2 Tblsp more yeast than it called for, used olive oil to replace the butter and I used only white spelt flour (cuz Tony can't have the whole spelt). It does start to seriously dry out after about 2 days, so I recommend eating it pronto. But, we have switched over to pitas as our 'bread' for sandwiches. Retains their moisture so much longer than the bread does. We just store them in a ziplock in the fridge and warm them for about 15 seconds in the microwave before making them into a sandwich. My problem with making a true gluten free bread is that Tony can't have a good chunk of gluten free flours, ie rice flour, garbanzo flour, corn flour, etc, so it makes it darn near impossible to make a truly gluten free bread. I would like to try my hand at an oat bread though.

and theoretically i believe in no corn, but again, why? Corn, in and of itself, holds no health benefit for the body. If you are following the Blood Type Diet, you are taught about something called 'agglutination' or what happens when a food that contains a lectin that your body cannot break down gets into your blood stream. It basically causes your blood to turn to goop. You are unable to use any of the nutrients from the food itself because your blood doesn't carry the needed enzymes to break it down into usable nutrition. That's what corn does to nearly everyone, not including a certain type of A blood type individuals called 'secretors'. It is, across the board, bad for you and it is in EVERYTHING!!! It is also a factor in allergies and weight gain, much like wheat.

we have gone back to full fledged vegetarian and i'm pretty sure i'd like to do my 2 wk experiment of vegan (after i make spanikopita please!). What is spanikopita?

b/cs really i am just sick of the processed crap. i'm sick of eating m&ms and wondering if the food dye is doing anything to me. ditto w/ you on diet soda btw. i drink it and feel horrible later, ya think!?!? i'm glad you're posting progress here b/cs i seriously need the motivation today. truth be told i didn't do so badly today but i did yesterday. so now that you've inspired me w/ your progress report, i feel confident to finish out the week. question: does your italian family eat pasta anymore? or maybe better yet, what don't you eat? I'm not sure I have enough room to tell you all that we don't eat anymore. We haven't found a pasta yet. We cannot have most of the typical wheat flours, including durum and semolina...which most pasta's are made out of. Corn pasta is out..no corn. Rice pasta...the kids and I can have, not Tony. The slammer on the whole Italian thing is that the kids and I should not be eating tomato anything. No sauce, no salsa, no ketchup, no bbq sauce...etc. I eat it sometimes because sometimes there is no way around it. We have been making our own spelt pizza doughs, but struggle with what to put on it?? So we eat tomato sauce on it. However, this week I discovered a bottled pesto at the store that has the most incredible flavor that I plan to use on my next pizza. Rowr... Tony can eat tomatoes to his little hearts content....*unhappy face*....I love salsa and sauces, etc. That has probably been one of the hardest things to let go. I will, however, eat Tony's sauce when he makes it. Lectins & Agglutination, be damned!!

We are not so restricted on our diet that we can't eat anything, but I'll tell you, I wake up most days feeling good. When I don't wake up feeling good, I review what I ate the day before and 9 times out of 10 I can pinpoint an avoid food that I consumed and my body is letting me know it is not pleased with me.

I would suggest the Blood Type Diet to anyone. It is not an easy thing to do only because you have to go 'raw'. There is almost no way to do it and be a processed food purchaser. But, when you base your diet on your blood type....sometimes it goes against what you may think is the best thing for your body. For example: an O type is primarily a meat eater, with a very small selection of vegetables, fruits and grains to choose from, likewise with the dairy. An A type person should be mostly vegetarian with almost no dairy, mostly soy and lots and lots of veggies and fruits to choose from. A B type person has the most varied diet with a selection of meats, cheeses, dairy and grains to choose from. and an AB type (me) person is a good mix of A and B, but you also get all the lectin issues and non-compatible food issues from each of them. My diet has select meats, lots of veggies, lots of fruits, a good selection of grains and a mediocre selection of dairy. Almost to a blood type, cow milk is an avoided food.

If you look at something like the Blood Type Diet as an avenue to getting healthy and not just another diet to lose weight, it actually changes some things for you. It helps you to look at food not as "Cans" and "Can'ts", but more like "Healthy" and "Not-Healthy". The theory behind the blood type diet is that each person has a different blood type so it stands to reason that each body will digest foods differently than others. There are foods that will behave like a 'medicine' to the body and help you heal and keep you healthy. There are foods that act as 'poison' to the body and hurt you and make you sick. Then there are foods that neither help nor hurt you. They are just food and they give your body energy. This is what caught my interest to begin with. When I went through a small list of things that were not healthy for me and I realized that I ate quite a few of them and always felt like crap....well...I stood upon the edge of my future and realized that I could not go backwards. I had decided back in March that I was going to get healthy and enter my next 40 years better than my first 40 and this is the way I am achieving my goal.

A Relatively Good Week

2010-08-26T08:13:00.001-07:00

So far it's been a relatively good week.

What I've learned in the last few days is this: Soda is really bad for my body and I just cannot drink it anymore. Specifically diet soda. It makes me gain weight and gives me headaches that I cannot get rid of. Regular soda is not quite as harsh, but it still makes me gain weight. That diet stuff is just toxic.

I have also learned that 15 jelly beans is the perfect amount. Never thought I'd be able to say that in all my days, but I am noticing that smaller and smaller portions of certain foods really are the perfect size. I never stopped and thought about the fact that when I found a food I liked, I would just chow it. If one package of Reese's PB cups is good....?....then obviously, two is better. Right? Except that my taste buds were numb by the time the second rolled around and I was just consuming to consume. And it usually wouldn't stop there. I would have to go and search for the next item to munch on. Usually something salty.

I am having a good time watching my son's taste buds change. I will admit I have always given into him concerning the foods he wanted before. It was all boxed, highly processed and very bad for him. The only good thing he ate was apples. We went hard core starting this way of eating and with me making bread every week, I refuse to buy the white styrofoam he used to eat. He likes my bread. He tries something of almost everything I cook now, where before he wouldn't even let it pass his lips and gagged at the thought. I realized about 2 weeks ago that ever since he stopped eating highly processed foods that contained tons of salt, sugar and 'flavor'....he has started to eat alot of real foods. His tongue was just so numb from all the processed foods he didn't like the taste of anything 'raw'. I love watching this positive change. The kids don't even really ask for soda anymore. Their big treat is when I buy juice.

The other positive thing that happened this week was when we were watching The Chipmunks, there is the scene when he finds the chipmunks in his house and starts ripping his cupboards apart trying to find the 'rat'. Out of my 15 year old daughter's mouth comes this: "Wow, he's got alot of processed food in his house." Priceless. Completely priceless. The heaven's opened up and the angel's sang.

My son has been spouting about how when he is older and he can eat what he wants, he's going to go back to his old way of eating and eat all the junk food and chocolate and macaroni and cheese and blah, blah, blah that he wants to and I won't be able to do anything about it. I just laugh every time and tell him that with that many years before he is able to do that left, he'll be so used to how we eat now that he'll make himeself so completely sick to his stomach that he'll never eat like that again. For a while he poo-pooed me away. Lately he's had the opportunity to eat certain foods (with grandparents, not me) and has realized he just doesn't like them as much as he used. They aren't the way that he remembered them being. Little victories....they add up.

The last super positive of the week...my bread was ABSOLUTE perfection this week. It was so nummy-luscious we sat and ate a whole loaf of it on Sunday. It has been so many weeks since we have had a decent loaf of bread. I am finding that it dries out as the week goes on, but the pitas that I make work wonderfully for sandwiches and never get dried out. I think I will make the bread for fun....and the pitas for 'get down to business' sandwich makings for lunches. Teo even eats them. :) *bliss*

Ok. Enough rambling.

The Little Things

2010-08-20T09:50:00.001-07:00

Just have to start off by saying: Misty, you make me laugh!!! Thank you!

Now onto 'stuff'.

So, I've been stuck at 231 for about a week now. I was noticing how I seem to go about every other week or so with a loss. Almost like my body needs that time to get used to the fact that we no longer haul around that 2 or 3 lbs and makes its peace with that fact before it can go on to lose anymore. I'm really ok with this, because this week in particular was rough. We have family in town AND I was hormonal. Sugar was calling my name, everything my mom cooks is wrapped in wheat or corn or is pork or chicken. She did tell me to go ahead and either bring my own food over, or eat before we come. (Thank you, mother.) One night we caved and ate pizza. Oh Lord have mercy, it was sooo good! And I didn't gain a thing the next morning. As a matter of fact, I lost .2 or something like that. Then the next day I had an ice cream bar in the afternoon (the hormones made me) and then for supper I ate my mom's amazing beef stew...loaded with potatoes (no-no) and corn (another no-no). No gain, stayed the same. Yesterday, we ate at home. Turkey brats and some (no-no) potato chips ( I was really jonesin for some) and then we went and visited. Still no gain. So, what have I learned? I know how to stay exactly 231.2. The goal, however, is not to stay at 231.2 forever. So, this next week needs to see alot more fruits and veggies back in my diet.

I have no issue with my lunches or breakfasts. They are healthy. But, my afternoons and evenings get me. I bought a soda on Monday. It took me until yesterday to drink the whole thing, because every time I drank a little, I got a headache. Duh! You'd think I'd have just thrown it out. The only downside to that is that it helps me make it through the afternoons when I'm feeling snacky. Grrrrr.

I did notice that the weeks that I saw large amounts of weight loss on a consistant basis were the the weeks that I really made sure I got my fruits in. I did eat veggies, but alot more fruit. I need to get back to that.

My bread baking has been for the birds lately. Ever since I started I have had trouble with my second rise. So, this week I am going to add a little bit more yeast to my dough and see if that doesn't make a difference. It is also a horribly dry bread and I would reallllllly like to find a way to moisten that up some. I know the moistness is helped by gluten...but we aren't going back to that. We are marching forward on the quest for moist, gluten-free bread. The taste is outstanding...but dang if it isn't hard to slice a "bun" that fell before baking and only managed to be about a 1/2" thick. It was a hard week without sandwiches for lunches.

Even though this week has not seen alot of weight loss, I know that my body is changing. The pants I have on today are going to fall off of me when I lose another inch around my belly. Most of my residual fat is in my lower stomach where they cut me for the C-sections. That roll holds my drawers on. :) I'm losing my hinder...so everything is uber baggy. Well, wait, losing it everywhere except that pocket of fat at the top...up by the belly....*gasp* I don't want an old lady "pinched" triangle butt!!!! It has to go awaaaayyyy!!! The horror!!!

I have to calm myself down and move away from that subject. Back to the topic. The little things are what I am thankful for this week. Finding all the little foods that bug me now that didn't bother me before. Yay. Noticing my body changing, even though the scale doesn't budge. More Yay. Not letting the food condemn me or cause me to be down on myself. Big Yay!

Pure Evil

2010-08-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

I started that special (read: evil) "Lady Moment" on Saturday. So I fed it chocolate chip cookies and managed to give myself a migraine for the rest of the weekend.

That's all I have to say about that.

Everyday Struggles

2010-08-11T06:31:00.001-07:00

Why does food always get the better of me? It shouldn't. I should be the master of this 'domain'...meaning my body. I semi-struggled my way through last weekend. It was another weekend fraught with activities that included brats, pasta salads, baked beans and baked goods...

So today I am better. I have worked my hinder to get back down to where I am at. I am 233 this morning. And I walked 1.35 miles in 30 minutes this morning. A nice, moderate pace. I had no idea that I missed walking so much! I plan to do this on a regular basis. It made me feel very fresh and energized. Very ready to tackle the day.

I have 83.4 lbs to go on my way to 108 lbs lost. The scale isn't ruling me quite the way it had been last week. I have accepted the fact that my weight is not always going to go down. I am however on the cusp of "that time" of the month which in my previous life meant Reeses PB Cups and alot of them. I get an appetite like you would not believe and I very quickly fall into 'graze' mode. I am doing my bestest to avoid my kitchen after supper because that's when it is the worst for me. I just wish my "time" would just start already so I can get past these awful cravings and get on with my awesomeness!! LOL I have found a small replacement that I can't allow myself to have much or often. About 2 Tbsp chocolate chips, 1 large Tbsp almond butter: put in micro for about a minute till chocolate melts. Mix and add 2 drops agave nectar and some walnuts or chopped almonds. This needs crunch so try not to skip the nuts. Then sit down and eat with a spoon. It's a nice fix when you aaaaabbbssssooollutely must have something NOW! I would love to try and figure out a way to do it without any sugar in it cuz it gives me a buzz. But, for now I'll live. I try not to have it more than once a week in my most desperate moment.

Anyway, my end weight goal is to end up in the 150 lb range. That was where I always felt the healthiest....way back when.... But I can't forget my other goal.....is healthy!! Gonna be healthy!!

Weird Little Body....

2010-08-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

My body makes no sense to me.

Last week I struggled after having two or three bad days in a row where I was eating sugar and wheat. Then I got myself back on track and was eating what was good for my body. The two pounds that I gained kept going up and down. I was becoming so frustrated. I finally decided that since I started having granola every morning I had had a really hard time losing that weight again and that needed to stop.

So yesterday I went back to my regularly scheduled breakfast programming. 1 Ezekial english muffin with almond butter and a drizzle of honey and a fresh peach. I was so overstuffed!! Then, for lunch, I had some leftovers of turkey, sauteed peppers & onions and a veggie mix w/zucchini, onion, garlic, hot salsa peppers and canned tomatoes. (tomatoes being an avoid) For a 2 o clock snack (I eat lunch @ 11) I ate a roast beef/turkey sandwich with a homemade spelt bun and a schmear of miracle whip and some colby cheese. (miracle whip not exactly a beneficial) For supper I had a 6oz steak and a sweet potato with butter and salt. Once again, way too full. THEN after church we went back to my mom and dad's house to have root beer floats with the family (SIL and kids are in town for a visit).....root beer & ice cream are avoids and I went a little psycho and had 1-1/2 of them! LOL (I have been having some really bad 'food thought' days. For instance: I wanted to go to a movie and eat a whole tub of popcorn. Not just any popcorn...but the Rhinelander Rouman Cinema popcorn, which is an hour drive one way. Obviously not going to happen. So thank goodness my craving was specific. And then later I wanted a piece of pie from one of our local cafes. Thank God it was after 2 when I craved that one. The cafe closes at 2. Saved by inconvenience both times!)

So what did my weird little body do with all that food from yesterday? It lost a pound. And now I'm back down to where I was Wednesday morning of last week. *rolling eyes* Thank goodness for that, but REALLY...I do not understand this body!

My mom and I had a small talk about it yesterday. She said that weighing yourself every day and obsessing over whether or not the scale moves can cause you stress that will cause your body to hang onto weight. I hadn't thought of it like that. So I decided that I would stop obsessing over whether or not the scale moved. I had taken my eyes off of why I was doing this in the first place: to get healthy. The weight loss will come with the 'healthy'. Just eat, don't obsess. Of course, living with a man that is nothing if not obsessive makes it sometimes hard to not become obsessive yourself. It is this that I will work on:

1) Remember why I started the GTD: Health
2) Just relax and eat my diamonds and superfoods and stop dwelling on every smidge of food I put into my mouth. Will this make me gain weight?
3) Stop obsessing over that stupid scale. It does not determine who I am. It does not equal success or failure. It is merely a tool.

Happy Food

2010-08-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Homemade granola with rice milk and blueberries.

Bringing you my weekend of activity and talking about food...again.

This weekend...well, starting about Wednesday of last week...was sort of rough. I ate more wheat than I should have. And more grains and sugar....blah, blah, blah...and not enough of everything else. And I gained a total of 2 lbs for the weekend. :( Not happy.

Saturday I went to the Farmer's Market 45 min south of us. So worth getting up early for. Holy cow. I found a vendor that had lamb so I was able to get some ground lamb and some gyro meat. Pricey, but worth it in my estimation. She didn't have any chops in stock or I probably would have gotten some of those too. I was also able to get some fresh zucchini since my plants are producing like crazy but something keeps killing them and they rot before they get the chance to grow much. Also, got a beautiful watermelon, some yummy Ranier cherries, fresh raspberries and a bushel of small cukes for my mom to make her 10day sweet pickles for my dad. I love that market. We have two vendors at our farmer's market in town. One sells honey and maple syrup and the other sells a small variety of veggies. There used to be about 6 or 7 vendors...?? I don't know what happened to them all. Anyway, then I went home and canned peach stuff. I made peach jam with sugar, but used 1/2 the amount called for and it set up something similar to a marmalade. Then I made another batch using honey...should have used the pectin for a no sugar recipe. That batch is now called "Peach Sauce". lol Great for ice cream, etc. Then I made a peach/red pepper salsa. I was able to use two hot salsa peppers from my garden and they were not kidding...they have definitely got a zing to them. The salsa turned out wonderful. Could have reduced a little more and thickened up. Maybe I'll do what my gf was going to do and add a little pectin to it to see if that will help it. But, I cannot complain. I munched a bowl of it with my Rice Works chips and it was sooooo good. And every bit of the recipe was GTD compliant foods! :) Couldn't get any better than that!

So, I bought another 25lb box of peaches (seriously, what was I thinking??) and I will have to can them in the next few days. The only good thing is that I figured out on the very last peach of the last box how to peel them the easy way. So this box won't be nearly as agonizing. LOL

Sunday I spent making pizza doughs and sandwich buns and granola. Hubby also made gluten-free brownies in the middle of all of that. Literally my oven was cooking and baking from noon till about 7 pm. The pizza dough was divine. The bread didn't rise quite right, but I will make them again and tweak things. The granola was perfect. :) Here is my recipe for the granola (pictured first in this post). I haven't made it in 3 weeks and I had no idea how much I missed it! I substituted the canola oil for olive oil and never noticed a flavor change. Nomads can't have canola oil.

Other than that, we visited with friends at our house all weekend. Thankfully, they are the kind of people that can just come and hang out and deal well with my need to be in the kitchen all the time. We had homemade pizzas together and played cards and Farkle dice game and played some Wii together and munched peach/red pepper salsa. It was a lovely weekend. And we enjoyed much happy food. :)

ETA: I am editing my post to add this: Any time I would spend even a day in my kitchen on my feet for hours on end I would end up with so much pain and swelling in my knees by that night that I almost couldn't walk. And forget about standing in the kitchen for two days in a row. I can honestly say that I had very little pain in my knees after this weekend. A little discomfort and absolutely no swelling. The only thing that is 'painful' are my abs from making bread by hand and kneading the dough for 10 minutes. LOL Got a great workout! Anyway, I attribute the lack of pain to following the GTD diet and allowing my body to heal from the inside out.

Arthritis, You don't get to stay and settle into my bones and joints!!!

Gluten Free- Dairy Free Fudge Brownies

2010-08-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

Absolutely had to share this recipe with you!! OMGawd!! They are unbelievable! And by far the most incredible, gorgeous, rich, yummy gluten-free brownie I have ever eaten!! We will be making these again!

Our substitutions:
Replaced soy creamer with rice milk
Replaced brown rice flour with oat flour
Replaced canola oil with olive oil
Left out coconut milk powder
Replaced 1 tsp of vanilla with almond extract (we ran out of vanilla)
Added crushed roasted almonds with sea salt to top
Couldn't find dairy free chocolate chips, just used regular, so ours were not totally dairy-free

These are NOT sugar free. You may want to look at the recipe and see what kinds of substitutions you can make for those items. We really shouldn't have sugars, either. We decided that for the tiny bit we were going to consume, we would just enjoy it for what it was.
We cut them into 2x2"-ish squares, some bigger, some smaller. One was enough. Not even kidding. I'm a girl who can sit and eat 1/2 a pan of brownies. Even the most die-hard chocolate consumer would not be able to eat more than maybe two in a sitting.

Snot & Mucus

2010-07-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

In reading about the blood type diet I have discovered that excessive mucus is not just a way of life and you have to deal with it, it is an abnormal behavior of your body. It is your body's way of trying to get rid of something. Almost like an allergic reaction.

For months...and I mean months...I have had a persistent cough or clearing of my throat. All of a sudden I woke up one day with this "phlegm" feeling at the base of my throat. No matter what I ate or drank it wouldn't go away. There were days I would clear my throat or cough to the point of rawness. Then, I read about mucus in the blood type diet. I honestly didn't give it alot of thought until the last few days. Today I had my usual cup of Chamomile tea and noticed after a 1/2 cup...I have mucus in the back of my throat again. It had cleared up. Now I remember having the mucus after drinking my tea yesterday, too. I guess I will be taking a hiatus from the Chamomile to see if that is what's causing it....??

Tony has had sinus/mucus issues his entire life. He is an O+ Gatherer. Which means that he eats limited grains and dairy. No wheat (and a few other grains), no cow milk, select cheeses. Yesterday, he said to me "You know I've noticed since I stopped drinking milk (and soda, but I don't think that really applies here) I have been able to breathe better out of my nose. It's not snotty all the time." This is a man, who at the age of 18, had his adnoids removed and his sinuses scraped because his infections were so chronic. I replied, "Yeah, I realized this morning you were breathing through your nose, because you were whistling in my ear." For 18 years I have not been able to kiss him for 'too long' because he couldn't breathe. He always had to break for air. LOL This morning as I was getting ready to get up it dawned on me.."Omgosh, he is breathing completely through his nose. He's not breathing through his mouth at all and there is absolutely no snot obstructing his breathing."

Hallelujah! To me that is proof that something is working. He has not gone a day of his life without nasal obstruction of some kind. We set out on a journey to health and I believe we are finally on the right path!

Vegetarian Bean Burgers

2010-07-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

I made THESE last night for supper.

Oh, they were "to die for" good!! But, booooy oh boy do they soak up the olive oil!

My substitutions were:
1 can of pinto beans, 1 can of black beans instead of 2 cups black beans.
Pintos are a limited item and black beans are a total toxic avoid, but I have to use up what's in my pantry. We want to try making them with compliant beans next time.

I left out the bread crumbs (didn't feel like it) and the paprika. I probably should have left out the soy sauce (cornstarch, soy, etc...nomad's can't have that stuff), but I figured it's already bad...what's one more, right? And I left out the hummus....not a big fan of hummus....

I served it with a mixed vegetable of yellow & green zucchini, white eggplant, onion & garlic.

I really need to start taking pics of this stuff. I will definitely be making these again.

First Successful Weekend

2010-07-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I had my first successful weekend on plan. I even lost weight :-)

Saturday was our 17th anniversary. The kids went with youth group to go canoeing/kayaking for the day and we got to stay home from a youth event for the first time in 9 years. :) That was a blessing. Not that I don't love the youth, but what a nice thing for my kids to be able to hang with the youth group and not have mom & dad be the youth leaders! And they were out from underfoot for the day. Yes, teenagers still get underfoot! lol

Ok. So. I woke up super early. I am usually a 6 am-ish person, this was 5. I was a.w.a.k.e. and I couldn't just lay there. So I decided after getting my morning snuggles in that I would get ready and run over to Rhinelander to Golden Harvest and get the flours that I needed to do my cracker baking for the day. Rhinelander is an hour drive and the whole foods store opens @ 7 there. They are an awesome store with the most ridiculous hours that I totally love! And they have an in store bakery that makes it SUPER hard to be gluten-free cuz it smells so good!! But, they make it easy for me to travel to get my stuff cuz they are open so late. Long story short, I got my flours, some fresh zucchini, 2 quart jars of raw honey (for canning my peaches later this week), a gorgeous/huge watermelon and some bison meat and headed back home. I got home in time to run the kids to the church for their youth day and then headed back to the house for baking.

I made Tony help me. He loves to cook and this was us spending time together. So I would make the dough, roll it out and let him finish the prep work. I also made him "Head Dishwasher" for the day.

We made Amaranth crackers for him. (Wikipedia description of Amaranth: Amaranthus, collectively known as amaranth, is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs. Approximately 60 species are recognized, with inflorescences and foliage ranging from purple and red to gold. Members of this genus share many characteristics and uses with members of the closely related genus Celosia. Although several species are often considered weeds, people around the world value amaranths as leaf vegetables, cereals, and ornamentals. A traditional food plant in Africa, amaranth has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.) Amaranth is a toxic/avoid food for me and the kids, so these are completely "daddy" crackers. Once they are rolled out, you brush them with olive oil. Well, Tony doesn't "brush" much of his food, so he soaked the first batch of crackers and they came out reeeeaaallllyyy chewy. That batch we made 100% Amaranth. I thought they were disgusting and bitter tasting. He liked them and kept munching on them. I had to make him stop because these are supposed to last him the week. On the second batch I doubled the recipe and made 1/2 of the recipe amaranth and the other half 1/4 oat flour and 1/4 millet. It tamed the amaranth flavor down quite a bit. I still wouldn't eat them even if they were a compliant food, but at least the amaranth isn't so overwhelming tasting. I guess it sort of speaks to the whole "eating for your blood type" when the food that is an avoid for me tastes absolutely horrid, but its diamond beneficial for him and he loves it.

Then we made Gluten-Free crackers for me and the kids. They could be for Tony too, but he didn't like them. I think there was too much for herbs in it. I think next batch we'll use 1/2 the amount. They are really herby. They are going to be great with a piece of cheese or a creamed dip of some kind, but not really awesome by themselves. I want to leave my options open to change my mind though. Cuz I think they just might turn out to be super wonderful with a little less herbs, or fresh minced herbs instead of dried stuff. Or maybe just basil or just oregano and not the italian herb mix that I used. Also need to look at maybe toning down the flax amount till I get used to its flavor. I don't know, stuff to think on....

Last, we made Spelt crackers. Let me just say this.....they look really good online. She makes them look beautiful. I think I made many mistakes with this recipe.....
1)Overworking the dough
2)Not poking it with a fork
3)Not cooking it long enough
....just for starters. They are ok. They are not horrid. They are extremely chewy little pieces of flour plastic. But.....when you are hungry and just need a little something to satisfy, they work. I will try this recipe again before it is filed in the round basket. Never fear.

Then I made spelt bread. By this time I am in the habit of screwing up recipes for the day, so my batch of white spelt bread did not rise properly because (I think) it was too moist and I didn't let the yeast proof long enough. The second batch...lets not even talk about it. I threw away the dough. Not wanting to relive the total waste of flour that just happened there..... The white spelt is a flatter bread this week, making for some seriously adorable, petite sandwiches, but very good none-the-less.

Onto the funny story of the weekend. We finally got the blood typing kit in the mail that I needed for finding out T's blood type. Stef was typed at birth, so I've always known hers, but not T. Not in Podunkville, USA, where doctors are inept....sorry, I digress. Well, my son is a wuss. Let's just be totally up front about that. If there is even the faintest whisper of the prospect of pain, he wants out. And blood? Fuhgetaboutit! So! Here we are reading the instructions and prepping the finger for the little automatic lancet that comes in the kit. I've got the card all prepped and ready to go for some blood. I take hold of his hand and he starts doing the little tug thing trying to anticipate when the lancet is going to get him. He's wiggling too much to get it done, so Tony has to come over and hold his arm totally still so I can do this (he's 13, btw). Well, I lance his finger and he freaks out till he figures out it didn't hurt at all. So, haha, we're all having a great laugh over this. I'm squeezing his finger to get the blood to flow, he's freaking out that "You have enough Mom! That's my blood!" and I'm having trouble getting it on the little applicator to put it into the solution on the card. Well, I finally got it on there and stirred and all that...while my son is saying "Can somebody please get me a bandaid? I'm bleeding here!" My husband and son are off to the side tending to the wound and I'm looking at the blood just praying that he's not an "A" blood type (I'll explain in a minute why)...and suddenly T says really loud "I feel really light-headed!" WHAM!!!! He hit the floor like a ton of bricks! Yes, my baby boy fainted. At first I thought he was faking, but then he didn't wake up, and didn't wake up. He was out for about 20-30 seconds. His sister was laughing like a fool. Her friend is scolding her for it. Tony is leaning over T trying to get him to wake up. And I'm sitting there watching to make sure he's not faking. I am such a bad mom!!! He woke up and we got him in a chair and he had time to get over it and absorb it and then it was the funny story he was telling everyone for the rest of the weekend! And I didn't want him to be an A because that is a primarily vegetarian diet and he won't touch vegetables. He would starve first. He happens to be B+ and measures out to be a Nomad, like Stef and I.

After the busy weekend I weighed in this morning at 235.2 lbs. I over ate some on Sat and it showed on the scale on Sunday, but I ate just fine on Sunday and it all came back off plus a tenth or two. I am at a grand total of 8.6lbs lost in exactly one week.

My First Entry...EEK!

2010-07-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

How do I start this blog? Do I tell you everything about me and how I came to the decision to seek out Dr. D'Adamo's GenoType diet? Do I just feed you bits and pieces and let you connect the dots? Argh, too many things to think about....

I can't open this up and expect you to read it without explaining myself....so here goes.

I have been on a diet roller coaster most of my life. I have had tests on my thyroid, for diabetes, cholesterol, etc. Everything always came back normal. Nothing wrong. So I would just look at myself and think "Ok, you fat pig, you have nothing to blame this on except yourself", but there were no answers. I have tried all the over-the-counter appetite suppressants(sp?), lo-carb/high fat, hi-carb/low fat, HCG, Weight Watchers....give me a second I'm sure some more will come to me..... I know that I haven't tried all the diets only because I could never afford the big named ones and even I knew you couldn't lose over 100lbs living on Cabbage Soup or Grapefruits and plan to keep it off aftewards, so why put yourself through it?? Right?!?

This last February I was feeling particularly unhealthy. I don't know how to put it any other way than that. Chronic pain in my arms, some from Carpal Tunnel issues, some of it arthritic, some of it just went to my bones and lived there and hurt. I could hardly write or knit or crochet or take care of myself. Sleep was something I wished for because the pain would keep me up. My weight just kept going up and then down and then up and then down. If I ate chicken breast and salads all week I would lose, then I would actually eat on the weekend and go ape on it because I was so deprived. All of what I lost would come back and then some. I had hit my lifetime high of 258lbs. I am 5'1". So I went to the Dr. looking for a miracle cure. "Just gimme a pill doc!"

At the first doctor's visit she had labs drawn. My Vitamin D # was 8. Normal is somewhere around 50-70, I believe. So that explained the depression and constant fatigue. My bad cholesterol was high and my good was low. That's really all I remember her saying. I can't remember the #'s. That freaked me out. I was thinking "OMG, I'm going to die of heart disease! It's finally come! I cannot screw around anymore!" I decided on that day it all had to change forever. So the doctor gave me a copied handout of "How to Eat Healthy". We implemented it right away. No boxed or processed foods. No Whites- sugar, flour, rice, potatoes, etc. Red meat/pork 1x month. No soda. Only vegetables, fruit, lean meats. Which really worked like a charm for about a month. I dropped 17lbs like nothing, but then got stuck. Then it got harder and harder to follow "veggies, fruit, chicken (i hate fish)...veggies, fruit, chicken...." So I would bake once in a while. Once in a while turned into every week, turned into several times a week...and then "Houston, we've got a problem!"

I yo-yo'd like this until June. Then I started scrapbooking with a friend that I hadn't seen in a while. She had started something called the Blood Type Diet a year before. She was coming off of two late life pregnancies and looked fabulous! A year ago when she told me about this I thought, "Yep, just another fad. I'm not doing it. I'm not setting myself up for failure again." Until this year when I saw her again and realized that she hasn't been struggling to keep her weight off. She's just been eating the foods that are right for her blood type. I pushed all thoughts of hokeyness aside and jumped online to amazon to look up the book. I ordered it and the little food companion guides with it for all four blood types. I have three different blood types in my house and we are currently waiting for the blood type kit to find out the fourth. Anyway, I sort of dabbled in the BTD for a few weeks. I was ready to go, but my family needed time to read and get used to the idea. After family vacation and several smaller trips we finally settled down and got busy with it.

I have been on it for one week. I have, so far, lost 6 lbs. I currently weigh in @ 237. I haven't once starved. Meal times have been slightly tricky only because we were trying to incorporate three different blood types into one meal and make it work for everyone. *sigh*

In the time that I started eating BTD compliant foods, I went to the official website and forum for the BTD and discovered the GTD, which is the GenoType diet. This narrows things down even tighter, yet makes it so much easier to cook because I am only cooking for two GenoTypes where foods overlap. The GTD is all about changing your genetic destiny. The genetic predispositions that I could have been born with like: diabetes, epilepsy, adhd, obesity, cancer...they aren't written in stone and I can change them! Just with the foods I eat! Since it's too late for me to change before passing it on to the next generation, I decided it was that much more important for my kids to live it. My daughter has already gone through childhood leukemia and has struggled with weight all of her teen years to this point. I want the best that life can give her (and my son) and I feel like a healthy body is the best place to start!

I have eaten GTD compliant all of today. I can honestly say I crave nothing, I am still satisfied from a lunch of 2 eggs, 2 slices farmer cheese, 1 slice spelt bread toast w/1 tsp butter and a 6oz glass of grape/cranberry juice eaten at 12:15....and its now 3:15. People, people!!...I used to live in the land of "Hungry"...so this is a small miracle for me! Morning snack was a peach. Breakfast was an Ezekial bread english muffin w/almond butter and a nectarine. I drink chamomile tea and water primarily. I feel very good. Not only about myself, but inside out. I've noticed my skin is healthier looking (not just from GTD, but since starting BTD too), my clothes are starting to fit better, my mind is sharper and I'm not exhausted all the time like I used to be. I am noticing a small amount of detox in the form of some small red, hard, slightly itchy bumps placed variously all over my body. We've gone through quite a bit of detox of regular things like soda and sugar. I'm supposing this detox is on a much deeper level.

I made my own spelt bread this week. Here's a link for you to read up on spelt... I am making spelt crackers and gluten free crackers this weekend. If they are good, I will post the links to the recipes. It is entirely too expensive to keep buying that stuff!

Ok. I'm going to stop rambling for today. I know this was a really, really long post, but we had some history to cover!

See you soon!