Today’s health and wellness brain teaser is one that many people get stumped on more often than not…
What’s one thing you have control over that can be the catalyst for effortless weight loss?
If you’re thinking exercise, it’s a good guess, but not the one I’m looking for. Exercise is definitely an important part of a healthy lifestyle but it’s not the catalyst for sustainable weight loss. So, you can stop exhausting yourself with intense cardio workouts every day and take a nap. You deserve it.
The answer is (drumroll please)… the food you eat.
We always say in our home that you can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet (or what I like to call eating style). Without an eating style designed around whole foods, you’re unlikely to find success with losing weight and keeping it off. I’m talking about genuine fat loss that helps you lean up and feel like a boss lady every day of your life.
The best way to design a weight loss eating strategy that works for you is to cook more meals at home. I’m not talking about boxed Kraft mac-n-cheese or frozen meals with 5,000 ingredients in them that you can’t even pronounce. I’m talking about meals made from whole foods: veggies, meat, eggs, seafood, spices, etc. If this sounds overwhelming just thinking about it you’re definitely not alone, but hear me out. It’s actually easier that it sounds.
I get that it can sometimes feel like a chore to go through the whole process of finding recipes, going to the store, cooking the meals, and then cleaning up all the dirty dishes. I love to cook and some days it feels like a chore to me. Sometimes grabbing takeout feels like it’s the most convenient way get food in your belly. And sometimes it is the best way.
While takeout can be really convenient when you’re not in the mood to cook or clean, there is an easy way to create homemade meals without the overwhelm. It doesn’t need to be complicated. When you’re juggling a full-time job, kids, partners, laundry, and all the other fun adulting tasks, adding one more thing to your to-do list can feel like it’s too much. Finding ways to make it easy for you and your schedule is the key to success with home cooked meals. This is something I talk a lot about with my clients.
Plus, there are several benefits of making homemade meals, one of them being your ability to dial in your nutrition to actually work with your body and give it what it wants when it needs it.
Here are 5 reasons to cook at home more…
#1 You have complete control over the ingredients
There’s a lot of not-so-healthy ingredients that restaurants use when they prepare meals, most likely because they’re cheaper. The same goes with processed food you find in the frozen food section at the grocery store and in the boxed meals on the shelves. Nowadays, there are healthier frozen food options that are super convenient to just throw in the oven. Those I’m totally onboard with.
When you cook at home you can choose higher quality meat such as grass-fed beef or pasture raised eggs. With that being said, don’t get too caught up in grass-fed and pasture raised. Just get the highest quality your budget allows or what’s available.
There’s a lot of frozen food and jarred sauces that have vegetable and soybean oil in them. These are the oils that you want to avoid most of the time because they can wreak havoc in your body and cause all sorts of inflammation (and not the good kind). If you’re in a pinch and you really want a sauce for your meal, don’t get too caught up in the ingredients. Just be sure to add these sauces to your “occasional” food list.
#2 You can make more than enough and have leftovers for lunch (or dinner later in the week)
One thing I love about making dinner at home is that I can make more than I know we’re going to eat in one meal. This means I have leftovers to eat for lunch the next day. Having cooked protein ready to add to any salad or pop in the microwave with some veggies is a super convenient way for me to have a nutritious lunch on a busy week day. As a bonus, sometimes the meal tastes even better when it’s been marinating for a day or two in the fridge.
This is a game changer when I’m at the end of my cycle and PMS cravings are trying to get me to eat junk food (you know what I’m talking about!) when my body really wants nutrient-dense food, it’s easier to fight the cravings and make different food choices when I have whole foods readily available.
#3 You can make it super easy any day of the week
I don’t know about you but I don’t have time to make a meal that takes an hour or more to prepare and cook during the work week unless I want to eat at 8pm, which I don’t. That’s the time I’m flossing and brushing my teeth, getting ready to get into bed and dive into the fiction book I’m reading.
I make a lot of meals that take 30-minutes or less during the week. Taco bowls are super easy to make because all you need to do is cook up some ground meat (which takes about 15 minutes) and grab your favorite toppings. We add taco seasoning, olives, salsa, and guacamole. If I make homemade guacamole, I make it while the meat is cooking. I always make two pounds of meat to make sure we have leftovers for salads, soups, or whatever spontaneous meals I decide to throw together.
We also buy grass-fed beef patties from Costco and turkey burger patties from Trader Joe’s that can be cooked from frozen. You don’t even need to remember to take the meat out of the freezer the night before. With my perimenopause brain fog that’s currently happening in my world this makes my life so much easier.
You can cook up some frozen veggies to enjoy alongside your meat and you have a delicious nutrient-dense, homemade meal in less than 30 minutes.
#4 You can add as much flavor or spice as you want to make it appetizing
Everyone has different taste preferences. Some people prefer spicy while others not so much. At home, you can season your food to your liking along with the rest of your family. When we make taco bowls, we add our own amount of taco seasoning to our individual servings.
This is great if you have a family to feed and everyone has different taste preferences. Your kids might like their food on the bland end of the flavor spectrum while your partner might like theirs on the full flavor end of the spectrum. Everyone in the family can be happy with their meals, even the picky eaters. You know who they are!
#5 You’re more likely to lose weight and keep it off
There’s a lot of temptation when you eat out which means you’re more likely to indulge in foods that might not align with your health and wellness goals. If you’re avoiding bread because you just don’t like the way you feel after you eat it, it’s easy to say yes to the bun when you order a burger or fill up on the bread before your meal. Freshly baked, warm sourdough bread with butter on it is one of my indulgences when eating out. It’s super easy for me to over do it which is one of the reasons why I avoid eating at restaurants that serve it.
If one of my clients recognizes there’s too much temptation with certain foods when they’re right in front of them, we work together to create a strategy to make it harder for them to eat those foods. It’s easy to minimize food related temptations when you prioritize making homemade meals. At home, you can simply choose not to buy buns or any kind of bread. If the bread isn’t readily available, you’re way less likely to give into the temptation when you’re is craving it.
Now it’s time to take action!
What’s one step you can take towards cooking more meals at home?