Dining out is, without a doubt, one of life’s great perks, but doing so regularly can lead to not just expense but also bad health. If you’re trying to maintain a toned physique, spending every day at your favourite restaurant isn’t the best way to achieve it. The good news though is that you can recreate some of your favourite dining experiences at home, for a fraction of the cost and calories, and still enjoy the restaurant feel. Restaurants really aren’t your friends when it comes to a healthy diet. You can make things better by opting to have your dressing on the side or your chicken grilled rather than fried, but the real importance lies in the nutritional value in what you’re eating. There’s no substitution for a home cooked meal, where you can really make healthier choices across the board. And once you get into the habit of cooking at home you’ll want to do it more and more! The kitchen is a place where you can really get into a creative mind-set – the world is your oyster with regards to home cooking, so get to work creating some delicious and healthy meals for you and your family. The first step towards creating a good environment for cooking is to ensure that everything is clean and organised. With a little bit of planning and strategy, you can capture the quality and the aesthetics of a really great restaurant kitchen – all conducive to a healthy cooking environment! You also need to ensure that your kitchen is immaculate in terms of cleanliness so as to keep the kitchen a place you want to cook regularly. This means keeping work surfaces clean and uncluttered, keeping the fridge clean on a daily basis and checking the dates on food so as to avoid wasting too many ingredients.
You should have one designated shelf in the fridge for uncooked meats, a drawer for vegetables and a shelf for dairy produce, so that everything remains uncontaminated. After you’ve cooked a meal, you should wipe down the stove top, the worktops and anywhere else you’ve handled the ingredients to remove the risk of bacteria forming. Also, you need to maintain your motivation to eat healthily. Create lists for your week for each day of meals so you know what you’re making when, and create a collage of phrases and photos to maintain your motivation to achieve a healthy body – believe it or not, it does actually work! Organise your kitchen so that you keep all of your unprocessed foods together and away from any processed foods that the rest of your family may be buying. This will limit your temptation to snack on things you shouldn’t be. Keep a large bowl filled with fresh fruits next to the blender so you’ll be motivated to make your morning smoothies and juices. Put your grains and measurable foods in clear jars so that you can see them clearly and will be encouraged to use them in your dishes. You should also keep an accurate inventory of the food you have so you can plan your weekly shop properly. These tips will help you to create a really inviting place to cook and eat, so that you can avoid dashing out for takeaways and last-minute meals at restaurants instead of cooking a family meal. So start cooking today and see your wellbeing improve by the second!