One essential ingredient to weight loss, good health, and a fit body is cooking. No way around it. We have to cook, because processed food is full of toxins, fat, extra salt, and unnecessary sugar. Why then, don’t we all cook? From what I see in my office, there are a few common barriers. Let’s overcome them.
- No Time. I had a client who told me coloring her hair is very important. You will never see her grey roots. When it’s important to us, we make it happen. So, much of it is a mental shift. Plus, let’s get to the root cause. Maybe it’s not time limitations, but you may feel intimidated in the kitchen or meals haven’t worked out in the past. When it feels like a chore, who wants to do it after a long work day? I can’t tell you how many people in my office go from cooking less than 25% to cooking more than 80% and losing weight in the process.
- Crazy Schedule. Some of us are just super busy with crazy schedules. How can we take some things off our plate, get more organized, or plan ahead. Once we take the time to figure out the real barriers, we can actually address them. That’s when we see success.
- Perfection. So many of us live in an all-or-nothing world. We don’t need to cook perfect and do it perfect from the start. Baby steps! Plus, we should never aim for perfection. It’s not attainable in the long-term and simply not necessary. Life requires imperfection and the ability to be flexible. This point has been a huge weight off my clients’ shoulders. This could be one of the main points that stops my clients from giving up and completely throwing in the towel.
- Unsupportive Culture. In my family, it’s very common to see everyone in the kitchen cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner from scratch. It’s a way of life. And it’s a priority to eat well and feed our children well. In most cultures, cooking and eating fresh food is ingrained in society. In our culture, it’s acceptable to feed ourselves and our children poorly. I often hear my clients tell me that going grocery shopping once a week or every 2 weeks is too much work. Or that they don’t have time to eat. Eating is the essence of life. How can we hate it so much? At least we have food, but we are abundantly malnourished.
- Picky Eaters. If you have kids, it’s often discouraging to make meals and have it left untouched. Learn how to maneuver around this and not make the dinner table a battle zone.
Want to be healthy with ease and lose some weight too? Address the root cause of your weight and health concerns and start with a free health consultation at www.HappyFoodHealth.com or (619) 876-2655. See if this is the right match for you. I do things very differently to make health a natural lifestyle and this is not for everyone.
~Samantha Hua, Nutrition & Health Coach, San Diego, CA
