How to enjoy cooking again with food freedom

If diet culture has wrecked your life, chances are it has also impacted your kitchen.

The kitchen is the center of my home. When I was surrounded by diet culture it became a place of discipline and stress. Now, with food freedom my kitchen is a place of gather, dancing and destressing. 

Here is how I learned to love cooking and baking again after years of hating it!

1. So first of all I realized that part of why I started to hate cooking after loving it for years was because it became a chore and it had the stress of being “healthy enough.” When you are so focused on macros or calories or avoiding food, it can be really hard to plan meals and then if plans change it can be really hard to improvise. This led me to either missing meals and just going for the ice cream or feeling guilty for the meal I made.

So how do you make it less of a chore to cook day after day?

Have a plan B and a plan C and maybe even a plan D. What I mean is those foods that were previously not “healthy enough” are actually fine and can be super satisfying! For example some things I have on hand in case of a busy day, plans changing or just not feeling like cooking that night are: hot dogs, minute rice packs, mac and cheese, and things for lunch meat sandwiches. I also love stocking up on freezer foods that are a little more pricey, but a nice way to have a satisfying meal every once in a while. My family’s favorite is lemon pepper tilapia!

These make for quick meals when I am exhausted or just not in the mood to cook that night. It takes the pressure off of “slaving away” in the kitchen every night and makes it more enjoyable when I do have time and energy to cook.

Diet culture has taught us that frozen, prepackaged foods are “bad.” but when we consider the benefits of a healthy relationship with food and the self care of managing stress of meal prep I think they are wonderful idea to keep in the fridge/freezer! Food is food is food.

2. Next I like to experiment (nothing too crazy most days). So when I was wrapped up in dieting I often had the same couple meals over and over and over with only slight variations like maybe a different vegetable or the protein changed from day to day. BORING! Food can be so enjoyable and finding new recipes on a whim has been really fun for me! 

For example the other night I set out ground beef with no idea what I wanted to do with it. I didn’t feel like my typical go to meals (which since finding food freedom are a lot more satisfying) so I went to the internet for inspiration. Simply searching “easy recipes with (fill in ingredient here)” has been how I have managed making meals that are satisfying for me and my family and keep us trying new things. The other night I was able to make one pot taco pasta. It was not only super easy but literally only used one pan so it had a nice clean up as well (because to be honest, the worst part of cooking is either the clean up or keeping kids happy while chopping veggies!)

3. Neutralize ingredients. Again those food rules love to sneak in and make you feel guilty, but why? Thinking through and rationalizing those food rules is super important to be able to enjoy cooking again. That is the added stress that is probably keeping you from making food that will really satisfy you. Think about those food rules and try to challenge them. A recent client win I had was challenging the fear food of carbs like rice, pasta and potatoes. When she started to add these into her dinner she realized she was finally sleeping better at night and not having middle-of-the-night binges anymore. Her body needed that fuel to keep her satisfied and help her rest all night. 

Overall it was a long time in my food freedom journey before I actually enjoyed cooking again. It wasn’t until I really thought about what happened to make me dislike it that I was able to create an environment that I enjoyed again. 

Do you enjoy cooking? How could you make it a more enjoyable experience now with food freedom? 

If you need help on your journey with food freedom we would love to assist you!