In the last couple of years, I have taken a greater interest in eating healthier, while still enjoying the foods that I love. This interest began with the removal of a foot long section of my large intestine as a result of diverticulitis. As a rule, most American families don't eat enough unprocessed fruits and vegetables, which has resulted in greater and greater numbers of people developing diverticulitis, as I did. Diverticulosis is a serious condition that can result in death. Get more specific information about diverticulitis here.

My interest in eating healthier, and increasing my fiber intake to prevent a recurrence of diverticulitis, grew during a 20 lb. weight loss over the course of a year as the manager of Shamrock Tire in Wichita, Kansas, and then increased substantially when my wife of 7 years left me in April 2009, after which I immediately lost nearly 30 more lbs. within a mere 60 days. Consequently, with the added stress of the separation and impending divorce, the added adrenaline of the fight-or-flight syndrome from the stress, and the desire to remain healthy, I began to exercise regularly. With the absence of my wife, and the added responsibility now of caring for our children on the nights and weekends that I had them, I also desired that they remain healthy, and in fact eat better. While it had been largely my wife's responsibility to feed our kids, this responsibility now fell squarely on my shoulders. It has been a difficult and trying time.

When a man is 41, and his wife has left him, he needs more than ever to lead an active lifestyle to keep from going crazy from anger, loneliness and the darkest thoughts a man is likely to ever have. So I had an interest in continuing to lose weight, but I also wanted to become leaner at the same time, so I began to watch my caloric intake. The one thing I couldn't give up was the taste of food. I realized that our bodies often crave our favorite foods because of the taste, as well as our favorite drinks, typically sugary, carbonated soft drinks. This desire for taste is a habit, more than anything else. You've surely heard of comfort foods! Of course, encouraging one's children to eat their vegetables, as every parent knows, is a particularly difficult task that becomes a battle of wills. How long can your children sit at the table as you wait for them to finish their carrots, broccoli, corn, peas, or green beans?


Enter Missy Chase Lapine, aka The Sneaky Chef. Missy has become famous for her series of Sneaky Chef recipe books, and with good reason. We all want our kids to eat healthy foods, but we find it hard to make the time to fix healthy meals, never mind find the energy to fight with the kids to eat foods they don't like (i.e. aren't sugar-saturated through and through). Missy's recipes are easy to follow, and the ones I've tried have lived up to my expectations, but my kids still don't like to try new things, so I am figuring out how to encourage them to try foods that are different than their usual staple. Besides sneaking more vegetables into our diet, I also try to sneak more fiber into our diet, too, so we feel more satisfied with less food, to help us reduce our caloric intake but remain healthy.

With some of Missy's techniques in mind, I have made attempts to increase the nutritional value of the foods and treats we are already eating, or are likely to eat. The resulting recipes I have begun to post here on this site. I hope you enjoy them, and they help you and your family to eat healthier every day while still enjoying your food as much as before.

You must also remember that diet and exercise alone is not enough to change your lifestyle and eating habits. It has been proven time and time again that simply going to the gym is not enough to reduce your weight and improve your health. You must also improve your eating habits, or you'll end up rewarding yourself for your workouts with sugary, indulgent meals and treats and counteract the time you've spent sweating at the gym. Improving your eating habits will also help you to increase your daily metabolism. Or so I've been told. The point is, exercise or diet alone is not enough to realize a significant change in your body or your health. You must try to balance the two to reap the benefits of your hard work and careful food choices. When these are in balance, you may indulge yourself for the time you spend at the gym with truly healthy but rewarding favorite foods.