The saying “it takes a village” is used so often these days, and nowhere in my life has that been more true than when writing this book.
On the publishing end, it started with me pitching the idea to my agent Judith Riven, and then my editor at Ten Speed, Sara Golski (who has since moved on but has been replaced with the equally helpful Melissa Moore), both of whom were excited about the idea and very supportive. Once the details were ironed out, it was then up to my family – my husband Tony, my three sons, John, Matt and Brian, my parents, my sister Alison, my brothers John, Chris, Brian and Michael (and their significant others) and all my friends to prop me up and encourage me to “just get it done.” Most important was my friend and fellow nutritionist/author Liz Ward, who answered my endless questions about all things book writing, and agreed to write the foreword to this book. So far I’ve promised her Chinese food and a fruit basket in return.
During the writing of my first book, The PCOS Diet Plan: A Natural Approach to Health for Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, my very talented brother-in-law David Parmentier did my graphics which I was able to reuse for this book, and a very on the ball dietetic intern, Emma Laskey, did a heck of a job helping me with the meal plans, which everyone knows dietitians hate to do! Not to be forgotten is my OB GYN Diane Kaufman who encouraged me to write this book because she was telling all her PCOS patients to read The PCOS Diet Plan and “ignore the PCOS parts,” which is quite a tall order. At the very core of this book, however, are my parents, Alan and Marie Wright, who demonstrated that it’s possible to raise two perfectly normal, healthy kids with type 1 diabetes. I also need to give a special shout-out to Jack and Nancy Holowitz for the beautiful cover photo. His photography talent is immeasurable, and her ability to know what will make you look best makes Carson Kresley from “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” look like an amateur. As you can see, definitely took a village.