If you just started working with a holistic health coach, you’ve probably already heard that you need to cook at home more often. However, like many people, you simply don’t think that you have the time for it or believe that you’re not a good enough cook. Thankfully, these misconceptions are often not true of most people, which means that you can likely make some tasty meals at a reasonable price and get the benefits out of this food preparation option.
If you’re not sure if you want to stay in to cook, the following information should help change your mind. A good coach will let you fully understand the benefits of staying home to eat more often and focusing on improving your cooking technique. You should experiment with your options to get the best results and to appeal to the most significant number of potential meals imaginable. You’ll be glad that you did.
If you’re trying to go holistic or working with a holistic health coach, cooking at home will ensure that you improve your health in a variety of ways. First of all, you can more easily choose the foods that you eat. As a result, you won’t be at the beck and call of what is on a restaurant’s menu. Just as importantly, you can tweak the cooking method to make it more appealing and healthy.
For example, if you find that a favorite restaurant has an unfortunate tendency to deep-fry chicken tenders, you can cut up chicken at home, coat it with a favorite flavoring, and bake it instead. This approach helps to bring out the flavor of your chicken and lets you take control of your diet. Just as importantly, you can add whatever side dishes you want to your main meal to create an attractive dinner option.
So if you don’t like the mashed potatoes that get paired with a chicken dinner at your local diner, you can smash your own potatoes and flavor them with delicious additives. Or, alternately, you can cook different side dishes – such as sweet potato fries – that provide you with more flavor and which are more specific to your tastes. This option is just one reason why so many great holistic health coach professionals suggest that you cook at home more often.
Sit down and really think about how much money you spend when you go to a restaurant versus staying at home. For example, you’re likely to pay $15 for a steak dinner, including a soda, carrots, mashed potatoes, a roll, and more. That doesn’t seem so bad – it’s a good selection of food – until you break down how much you’d pay to make the same dinner at home.
For example, let’s say that you pay $15 for a one-pound steak, $2 for a bag of potatoes, $3 for a pack of carrots, and another $3 for a bag of rolls. That’s $23 for all that food, which is only $8 more than if you ate out. However, if you chop the steak into quarters – the typical serving at a restaurant – and otherwise ration out the rest of your food into four dinners, you’re paying less than $6 per steak dinner at your home. If you had eaten four steak dinners in a restaurant instead, you’d have paid a total of $60.
Obviously, cooking at home will definitely save you money if you’re smart and aren’t afraid of leftovers. Just as importantly, you need to know how to flavor your food to bring out its texture. Doing so will make your dinners nearly as good – and in many cases better – than those you’d find at a restaurant. So don’t hesitate to buy a great cookbook and to practice your recipes. Your pocketbook and bank account will definitely appreciate this choice.
One reason that people go out to eat is that they think that they’ll save themselves time. However, this misconception is easy to break if you examine the time it takes to eat out. For example, you’ll have to get into your car and drive to the restaurant. Depending on where you go, this ride could last anywhere from 5-30 minutes. As a result, you’ve already put in an excessive amount of time.
And once you arrive at the restaurant, you’ll spend another 15-30 minutes waiting to find a spot, making your order, and getting your meal. That’s already about 20-60 minutes without eating any food. And if you take your time and eat slowly – or socialize with your family – you could spend another 30-60 minutes eating. Add the 5-30 minute drive home, and you have 55-150 minutes.
By contrast, you may have to spend 20 minutes preparing an average dish and 45 minutes making it, but you’ll cut out nearly an hour of driving time. Just as importantly, you can sit down with your family in the comfort of your home, interact, and enjoy each other. As you can see, you’ll definitely save more time if you eat at home more often rather than go out to eat during every dinnertime. Your holistic health coach can easily confirm these many benefits for you.
When you go out to eat, you’ll improve your health in a variety of ways. First of all, you’ll eat healthier foods that have nowhere near the same levels of fat as those foods you’d eat if you want out. Just as importantly, you can focus on healthier cooking methods to ensure that you maximize the health benefits of each of your meals.
So if you’re interested in eating at home more often and need help making the best choices, talk to a holistic health coach right away to learn more. These experts will work with you to understand your eating options and will provide the insight that you need to ensure that your diet is as healthy as possible. These experts can also provide you with cooking suggestions and recipe ideas that you can’t get anywhere else.
For more information on our Faith-Based Health Coaching programs or our Faith-Based Fitness class, please send us a note.