Why Cook?

I saw an advertisement not too long ago with this same question. Why Cook? The advertisement was in reference to a web site that lists various restaurants in your town or city where you can order breakfast, lunch, or dinner instead of cooking. My first thought was "WOW" how clever. My second thought was wow how convenient. But, restaurants are in the business of making money and having convenient, delicious, unhealthy foods available to you at a low cost make them money because we are not doing exactly that cooking?

Our lives are consumed with meetings, football practice, homework and such it’s a wonder we find time to eat. However, we do eat and most of the time we are eating what someone else has prepared for us. So, here you have a business idea ready to capitalize on our inability to plan and manage our time well enough so that at least 12 of our meals a week are being prepared by us. Think about it. How many meals do you actually prepare and consume at home. With 7 days in week and 3 meals a day we should all say 21 right? Truth is most will say 5. Sometimes breakfasts or dinners are the only meals being prepared at home. So I thought why cook? How do you convince someone who has a busy life like myself to cook?

My advice would be; cook because it gives you more control. Control over what goes into your foods, how your foods are prepared and ultimately control over what you are eating. It is one of the first steps needed to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

If you cannot cook, learn how. The Internet is an amazing tool we all should have access to in our homes, start there. Learn simple easy recipes online; gather recipes and preparation ideas from moms, aunts, and dads, friend’s even co-workers. Cooking should be an experience and most of us learn how to cook by experiment. I had a girlfriend in college who had no idea how to heat oil. No longer at home with mom and no longer on the college meal plan she had to learn how to feed herself. She did so by experimenting, putting different flavors together and inquiring with friends who knew how to cook. Today my friend is a great cook. Remember if you start off learning how to cook healthy meals then eating healthy won't take much of an effort.

Before we give into convenience we should always assess the benefits of doing what is not considered convenient, especially when it is relating to our health. Happy cooking everyone!!

(have a healthy recipe idea, share them here)

Overcoming Cravings

It is natural for all of us to crave certain foods every now and then. Food cravings are the desire we have for a particular food. We usually crave these foods because they bring us pleasure or comfort in some way. However, while it is possible to crave healthy foods, most of the foods we crave are usually nutrient dense, high in sugars, fats and overall calories.

We may never fully get over our cravings for certain foods but we can definitely learn how to control them. Overcoming our cravings for unhealthy foods require that we have a healthy consistent diet. You can start now by taking these small life changing steps.

The first one is eat regular meals. Eating 3 small well balanced meals a day with healthy snacks between will help reduce cravings. Do you ever notice that when you are hungry you want to eat everything deciding on a particular meal become a challenge because everything looks so good? Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner daily will help avoid hunger and decrease cravings for foods that pack on the pounds.

Second rid yourselves or sugary foods. Sugar breaks down very fast once it is in your system and leave you wanting more of it. Always start your day with a high fiber or a high protein meal. Oatmeal, whole grain cereals, yogurt, eggs or egg whites will keep you feeling satiated longer than a sugary cereal, pastries or doughnuts.

Third keep healthy snacks handy. We conditioned ourselves to like unhealthy foods; we can reprogram our minds to like healthier ones by eating more of them.