A culinary challenge

I lost my sense of smell quite some time ago; often one of the first symptoms of Parkinson's, which frequently goes unnoticed, as it diminishes slowly over time and is of little annoyance or bother, until one day you suddenly realise it has entirely gone. Usually when someone remarks on a delicious smell emanating from the kitchen, or has noticed the dog is particularly smelly and badly in need of a bath, you are abruptly made aware that you can no longer smell a thing, and have lost one of your primary senses. My sense of taste has recently also become less sensitive, and I find I am more inclined to eat strong flavoured foods, spicy dishes in particular. Trying to maintain a balanced healthy diet when one is no longer enticed by appetizing smells, or delicately seasoned foods is a problem. I have found that often my appetite wanes when nothing is appealing to me, and it is worryingly easy to skip meals. I therefore have to consciously make the effort to eat something, however little. Now you would have thought there would be an up side of this, that those extra pounds that insist on hanging around, would get the hint and start to disappear. Unfortunately due to lack of mobility I am unable to do much physical activity, so shedding an unwanted kilo or two is far harder said than done. Cooking for the family, taking other's likes and dislikes into consideration, and striking a good balanced diet for myself, when I'm not inspired to eat, is quite a culinary challenge.