I didn’t want my health condition to impact my family. But it did. So of course I didn’t want to take away the foods that my family loves, or make them eat food they (thought) they didn’t like. Living with doom, you want to allow small joys.

But I did change the cuisine of the whole family. To successfully change my diet, everyone had to change theirs. I have to remain a part of the family. I can’t be the exception. I can’t be the outsider. It was just part of our new reality. We were all in this together. These super foods, and good foods are important for my recovery and they are also good for my family. And of course, just about all of them taste wonderful.

I always ate healthy food, and still I can honestly say the the changes I’ve made have increased the deliciousness and quality of our meals. You can develop a taste for the things you are not used to, and you can learn to dislike the unhealthy foods. I never feel deprived.

Someone said to me, “you might as well enjoy life…why not eat whatever gives you pleasure?” She doesn’t understand that I do. But I changed what gives me pleasure.