The ONE Thing You Can Do Today to Be Healthier

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If you’re like me, you’ve been through different phases with food. I’ve done it all from cheese whiz and pizza pockets to everything low fat and only chicken breasts.

Why is it that we struggle so much with food?

For one thing, it’s not something we’re taught nowadays. And people are spending less and less time in the kitchen so our kids aren’t learning this essential life skill for themselves. We’re in an age where ‘food’ is big business. It’s all about marketing and not necessarily about nourishing our bodies. The cheaper options are winning out and they’re all the things full of excessive salt and sugar to keep us addicted. And when we’re addicted we keep buying. It’s a viscous circle.

The idea of convenience food back in the day made some much sense. Why spend hours in the kitchen when you could simply microwave dinner and have it on the table in a matter of minutes? Who wouldn’t want that. But with the rise of convenience food, so came the rise of large commercialized farms in order to keep up with the demand of these new processed foods. And our health has paid the price.

Over the years we’ve lost our connection to food. We’ve stopped asking where our food is coming from and instead are being convinced by big corporations that the convenience of processed foods outweighs our health. The rise of chronic disease in North America has risen over the years to the point that we’re sicker than we’ve ever been. And a majority of these diseases can be prevented simply by going back to basics when it comes to our diets. Whole foods. Foods that we can trace where they’ve come from. Food that isn’t full of chemicals and additives.

All the noise in the food industry makes it really confusing to know what’s actually good for us anymore. Everyday there’s a new health claim, the latest diet trend that promises a quick fix. And the conflicting information is exhausting. It’s no wonder we feel overwhelmed at the idea of healthy eating. And when you’re overwhelmed it’s almost impossible to make a decision about what’s really best for you.

Here’s the thing, real food is healthy food. Making a choice to be more conscious about what it is we’re consuming and how we’re fuelling our bodies so that we feel our best is where we need to get back to. Because let’s be honest, it’s really hard to get the best out of life if we’re feeling crappy, right?

So what’s the one thing we can do to feel healthier? Cook.

Cooking is the easiest way for you to know exactly what you’re putting in your body and where it came from. You can control exactly what you eat, and right there you’ve instantly lessened your sugar and salt intake. And the benefits continue:

You slow down.

The physical act of preparing your own meals will lead to appreciate for the food
you consume everyday. This is very important since mindless munching and emotional eating
can contribute to unhealthy weight gain because you’re not fully conscious of the foods you’re
eating. Being more aware of what you consume when you prepare it will make you less likely to
overeat.

More Connection.

Gathering around the dinner table at home is a great way to improve family relationships.
Everyone benefits from the ritual of preparing and eating meals together. This is also a great
way for parents to teach your kids about healthy eating habits in your children. In fact several
studies show that eating family meals at the dinner table is associated with fewer psychological
issues and higher academic success in children and showed families are more social in general.

Get to know what your body likes – and doesn’t like.

Cooking for yourself and your family also gives the control to avoid food allergies or sensitivities.
Common food allergies include nuts, dairy and gluten. All of these are very common and are
usually found in many packaged/processed foods.

By changing the way we see food and stopping to think about what we’re eating and and why we can start to make choices based on what our bodies needs, not what is being marketed to us. If everyone changed to this mindset and starting to choose real food over the ‘food products’ that are being mass produced, the industry would have to change. Let’s start a real food movement!

If you’re not yet confident in the kitchen, start by committing to cooking one or two meals a week at home. Choose simple recipes that you feel are easy enough to follow. Read through your recipe so you understand your plan of attack. Stick with it even if it feels hard at the beginning. And yes you will likely have some failures but that’s okay. Like anything new, practice makes perfect and you’ll find the more you do it, the more confident you’ll get. And the more confident you get, the more you’ll be able to use the recipe as a guideline and create things that are more personalized to your families tastes using different spices and such.

Now get cooking!

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