Why learning to cook can be the key to your health and fat loss goals.
Have you been cooking more in lockdown? I have found that I am cooking a lot more than normal and have been experimenting with different types of recipes and flavours. I am a big advocate of cooking and preparing your own meals but generally in our house my wife does the majority of the cooking.
With being at home more than normal I have found myself taking on the role of the chef more often, which got me thinking about all the conversations I have had with clients over the years who don’t have time to cook or shall we say don’t make the time to cook.
I have been actively encouraging clients who have a bit more time on their hands to follow recipes and cook from scratch. I am hoping that when they get back to their busy and hectic lifestyles that they have a new skill or two and at least one new recipe they can cook fairly easily on a regular basis.
I’m not sure what they teach the kids at school these days with regards nutrition and cooking but in my day there was very little study into the realms of nutrition and what was healthy.
Growing up my Mum cooked everything and I was introduced to lots of different types of foods and flavours, vegetables were always part of our evening meals. I showed very little interest however in helping with the cooking and so by the time I left home at 18 I had zero skill or knowledge on how to cook or prepare a meal.
Fast forward a few years of eating ready meals, takeaway’s and eating out and a skinny 18 year old had transformed into an overweight and unhealthy 22 year old.
When I left University gradually I started to learn about nutrition, calorie values, the reasons why I gained so much fat and I started to learn how to cook and follow a recipe.
Seems like such a simple thing to learn how to cook a few meals but I have met many in there 30’s, 40’s and 50’s who still haven’t mastered that and I truly believe that if they took the time to focus on this it would accelerate their progress and here is why.
1. Healthier Ingredients. Encourages you to cook from scratch using fresh ingredients, potentially consuming more vegetables than normal.
2. You are in control. When you prepare your own food you are in control of what goes into the meal, when you eat out or pick up something a lot of the time we are un aware of exactly how it was cooked, prepared and what ingredients were used. This in turn can help you stay away from foods that you are maybe sensitive too.
3. Portion Control. When you follow a recipe often you know the exact calorie content to that meal and what represents 1 portion therefore making it easier to control calories.
4. Batch Cook. Makes it easier for you to prepare future meals by batch cooking which helps you save time in the future.
5. You learn more about food. Using fresh ingredients, following cookbooks you learn more about the foods and the ingredients you are using, the benefits and how to cook them.
6. Its fun. Cooking can give you pleasure and fulfilment particularly if you cook for others.
7. It can inspire you. Cooking can help you to live a more healthier lifestyle, it can encourage you to try new recipes and foods as your confidence in cooking grows
8. Helps you to Plan. Makes it easier to plan for the week, what to order in your weekly shop and what meals you are going to have on certain days of the week.
9. Food appreciation. When you cook a meal you savour it more, there is a self-fulfilment attached to the task and you find yourself taking your time and focusing on the taste versus eating as fast as you can with no real connection to the food.
10. Saves Money. Can only be a bonus ☺