If getting healthier is one of your top goals and you’re finding it hard to achieve, it could be because you’re trying too hard to micromanage certain aspects of your life. For example, if you’re stuck counting calories for every meal, that gets tedious and annoying after a while, and you’re less likely to continue.
While there are countless ways to get healthier, there’s one thing you can do to ensure your body always gets the nutrients it needs to function: cook your meals. When you make your own food, you have complete control over what you eat and you never have to worry about consuming hidden and undisclosed unhealthy ingredients.
Nutrition is one of the main pillars of great health
Achieving and maintaining excellent health begins with nutrition. Health is not measured solely by the shape and size of your body. There’s no getting around the importance of nutrition – you can have big muscles or be completely skinny and malnourished because you aren’t eating the right foods.
Your needs will vary compared to other people, but in general, the foods that will help you get and stay healthy are real, whole, and fresh. For example, vegetables that come from your garden or a farmer’s market are ideal. There’s nothing wrong with getting your vegetables at the grocery store, but it can be hard to find high-quality organic produce if it’s not local. Often, organic produce isn’t fully ripe because it has to be picked early to make it from the source to the destination store without going bad.
When you cook meals at home instead of relying on fast food, takeout, or even canned and packaged food, you have the ability to get all the nutrition you need.
Cooking and eating outside is a power combo
Cooking your own food is already a great idea, but when you cook and eat outside, you’ll get even more benefit. The average American spends 90% of their time indoors where they don’t get much sun or fresh air. That’s not healthy. When you eat outdoors, you’re giving your body the fresh air it needs to function and cleanse your system. Eating outside often is also linked to improved concentration and a lower risk for chronic disease.
Eating outside is also a fun way to gather with friends, which can increase your levels of happiness and satisfaction. Happiness is connected to health and longevity, so don’t overlook this point. If you cook for other people, all you need is a simple outdoor kitchen to make your gatherings amazing. With a kitchen island, you can line up self-serve toppings for tacos, burgers, and salads. Just having the ability to cook outside will make you want to use your grill more often.
Cooking meals avoids hidden ingredients
When you go to a restaurant, the main ingredients are usually listed on the menu, but you can’t verify they’re not using other ingredients, especially if part of the recipe includes a canned item. For example, eggs are often made on a flat top griddle sprayed with artificial grease or a fake butter product. If you’re trying to avoid trans fats and oils, the spray isn’t going to be listed on the menu.
Eating real food is more satisfying
If you’ve ever stopped eating processed and packaged foods for a long period of time and went back to try something you used to love, you may have experienced waking up with an intense feeling of hunger. It’s a jarring experience, but it’s common.
Many people say that once they stop eating processed food, they never feel that ravenous hunger that used to be a normal way of life after not eating for several hours. Since it disappears, some people believe that intense feeling of hunger is artificially induced by hidden chemical ingredients in the packaged food. There’s no way to know the cause for certain, but eating real, whole food is more satiating and that means you’re going to snack less.
Once you start cooking meals, you won’t like fast food
Fast food is one of the worst things you can possibly put into your body, although it’s probably not so bad in moderation. However, if you’re eating fast food more than once a week, it’s probably too much.
People who ditch fast food in favor of cooked meals tend to lose their taste for fast food, which is a good thing. It means you won’t be tempted to devour a 3,000-calorie meal containing nothing but carbs and fat your body can’t process fast enough.
Cook more for better health
Cooking more meals at home will help you achieve a better state of health and wellbeing. As a side benefit, you’ll also save quite a bit of money when you eliminate takeout and fast food.
Best of all, cooking is easy, so start making more home-cooked meals for yourself and your family.
