I've been married since 1985 and have four children. My family eats the standard American diet. I eat a starch-based, whole-foods diet with few added fats and rarely any animal products or processed foods (other than canned veggies). When I switched to that way of eating in January 2004, I was quickly able to lose 30 pounds while eating as much food as I wanted (which then included three bags of fat-free Tostitos with salsa per week because I craved some salty snacks, but alas, they don't make fat-free ones anymore, so I had to cut them out of my diet), and I have remained slim with no effort. See http://www.drmcdougall.com/ for more info. Don't miss the Star McDougallers section at http://www.drmcdougall.com/star.html . After dropping the excess fat from my body, I discovered that I needed to add some fat back into my diet, so I don't recommend going long-term with no added fats. I make sure I eat healthy, natural fats. I eat several handfuls of nuts every day, in addition to a cou None, since I don't like to cook. I have a very picky family, and there are very few things that all my family likes (not counting me, who eats almost entirely different foods anyway). My husband complains if we have the same things over and over again, but he's so picky that it's very difficult to find things that he'll eat. He likes about five vegetables and one fruit. He doesn't like spicy foods or ethnic foods other than Italian. That limits my recipe collection greatly. For me, I prefer to cook big pots of food that will last several days. For a couple of years after my mom passed away, my dad and bachelor brother came for supper once per week. Even though I don't really like to cook, it was somewhat a pleasure to cook for them and for my dad especially. He enjoyed everything I cooked, even the healthy foods I cooked for myself. None. Even though I begged my mom over and over again to teach me to cook, she didn't want me "in the way" in the kitchen. But I was required to wash and dry dishes every day. For many years, I shared that chore with my sister, but then for five years straight, I had to wash and dry all the dishes used by my family of 4-6 people (number varied as young adults moved out). Obviously, I don't have fond childhood memories of working in the kitchen. I get my children to help me sometimes, and my two youngest children enjoy it. My teen boys sometimes cook things like grilled cheese sandwiches, pancakes and sausage, or Hamburger Helper. They also help dad cook on the grill sometimes. I can make great cookies. Anything that required rolling out dough.