Experiments. Experiments? I’ll tell you about experiments! I stopped going to Suppers and I learned my lesson. That was my experiment.

My life has been one experiment after another. The first one was: I’ll eat whatever I please and see if I get pre-diabetes. The result of that one was positive. I am on the edge of diabetes.

The next experiment wasn’t so clearly about food (I do, after all, live in New Jersey), but the result of that one was that I got breast cancer and had four rounds of aggressive chemo, and 33 rounds of radiation treatments. The healing process took a great deal of time from all of the side effects from the treatments.

The next experiment went a little better. My functional medicine doctor encouraged me to attend Suppers. For me, it seemed like an experiment, but on her side, she was pretty sure what the result would be. With the support of Suppers, I’ve identified my inflammatory foods and my stabilizing foods. My cravings went down, I lost 20 pounds without even trying, and my husband and I have bonded beautifully over this exciting new interest in real food. And, I met a dozen people who care about me and want the same thing I want: more vibrant health based on a healthier way of living.

Then a new source of stress, a major family crisis, was introduced into my life, and it caused a great deal of emotional strain and worry that made it difficult to focus on myself and what I needed the most. I began to isolate myself and stopped attending Suppers altogether. Boy did I learn my lesson!

I learned that Suppers isn’t just about the food. It’s about the community that nourishes me in ways I can’t really quantify but are as alive for me as the fingers on my hands.

I learned that the foods that provide deliciousness and comfort in the moment are followed by painful consequences the next day.

I learned that if I eat those foods the weight comes back and so does inflammation and the emotional rollercoaster ride.

I have slipped back into favorite foods that are known to be inflammatory for some people. The weight is creeping up and so is the pain, which I absolutely reject as a sign of aging. I don’t need to do that experiment again. I just need to eat according to my previously collected data and reject old favorite foods that are followed by pain. Writing my story helps strengthen my intention to take care of myself even in the midst of a family crisis, partly because I know I’ll share it at meetings.

There’s one thing I don’t have to test. I don’t have to do an experiment to see if I will be welcomed back to Suppers after a period of distance. The result of that experiment is a foregone conclusion. The answer is yes.