Other benefits of cooking at home are that I imagine you burn more calories, shopping for your ingredients, preparing, cooking and cleaning up than either sitting in a restaurant, popping your prepackaged food into the oven or microwave or picking up take in disposable containers. Cooking also keeps your mind active and can inspire creativity.
Never thought about the extra energy expenditure. I would say it’s marginal, but every little bit helps. Even a conservative 50kcal from the additional prepping and cleaning across the meals of each day total about 18,000 calories for the year. That’s about 5lbs worth of fat!
Another positive aspect is the slowing down of the process. It becomes more measured when you need to take the time to prepare versus simply opening a package and start chewing. There is also the fact that if you are actually cooking, you are using unprocessed ingredients. The junk in processed food comes out of the equation with cooking. Lastly, it’s the added ability to control portions and ingredients. With pre-made food, the amount and what goes in it is not up to you!
What a great post Doc. It was like having a refresher course of the last 2 months. It’s what keeps me going. Besides just feeling better in general it reassures me that what I’m doing is good for me. I will definitely stay on my MEDS.
I had no idea that snickers were more expensive than ribeye! Now if they sold pre-cooked ribeye in 2 Oz packages in vending machines, SOME people might actually buy them.
-Carbs are optional for many, but not for all. Since this is “Activity April”, it might be the time to discuss duration and intensity of activity, and it’s metabolic demands.
-Unhealthy fat, is always harmful. Doesn’t matter in what combinations it is consumed in.
-Weight loss does not need you to count calories, but is DOES need you to be in a caloric deficit. There is no work around this one folks.
-All carbohydrates will be broken down to sugar your body will use(glucose). This is true for grains, fruit and vegetables. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are unhealthy. However, they can certainly be made to be unhealthy through processing.
The Snickers vs Rib eye comparison was eye-opening!! The vegetable for migraines was hilarious!
Other benefits of cooking at home are that I imagine you burn more calories, shopping for your ingredients, preparing, cooking and cleaning up than either sitting in a restaurant, popping your prepackaged food into the oven or microwave or picking up take in disposable containers. Cooking also keeps your mind active and can inspire creativity.
Never thought about the extra energy expenditure. I would say it’s marginal, but every little bit helps. Even a conservative 50kcal from the additional prepping and cleaning across the meals of each day total about 18,000 calories for the year. That’s about 5lbs worth of fat!
Another positive aspect is the slowing down of the process. It becomes more measured when you need to take the time to prepare versus simply opening a package and start chewing. There is also the fact that if you are actually cooking, you are using unprocessed ingredients. The junk in processed food comes out of the equation with cooking. Lastly, it’s the added ability to control portions and ingredients. With pre-made food, the amount and what goes in it is not up to you!
What a great post Doc. It was like having a refresher course of the last 2 months. It’s what keeps me going. Besides just feeling better in general it reassures me that what I’m doing is good for me. I will definitely stay on my MEDS.
I had no idea that snickers were more expensive than ribeye! Now if they sold pre-cooked ribeye in 2 Oz packages in vending machines, SOME people might actually buy them.
-Carbs are optional for many, but not for all. Since this is “Activity April”, it might be the time to discuss duration and intensity of activity, and it’s metabolic demands.
-Unhealthy fat, is always harmful. Doesn’t matter in what combinations it is consumed in.
-Weight loss does not need you to count calories, but is DOES need you to be in a caloric deficit. There is no work around this one folks.
-All carbohydrates will be broken down to sugar your body will use(glucose). This is true for grains, fruit and vegetables. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are unhealthy. However, they can certainly be made to be unhealthy through processing.