Cooking at home seems like a far healthier option than dining out, right? Maybe not. A recent study found that the more time middle-aged women spent cooking at home, the more likely they were to suffer from metabolic syndrome.
Cooking at home is a chance to either eat healthfully, or eat just as poorly as if you had ordered takeout or dined at a restaurant. Avoid these 3 common blunders to take full advantage of the health opportunity home cooking offers.
- Carb overload
Many health-conscious people have given up white bread and pasta in favor of healthy starches, like quinoa, wild rice, and lentils. The swap is fantastic for your health, but eating excess portions of these superfoods can still prevent weight loss, or lead to weight gain.
The amount you eat should be in proportion to your body’s energy needs in the hours after a meal. If you’ll mostly be sitting in the evening, your portion of anything starchy should be somewhere between a half cup to a cup (more if you’re younger, taller, and more physically active; less if you’re older, shorter, and exercise less).
- Cheese-ing out
Some clients use far too much cheese in home-cooked meals, and as a result, rack up hundreds of surplus calories. Ounce for ounce, cheddar packs four times the calories and nine times the fat of skinless chicken breast.
- Indulging in dessert too often
Many people say they just need a little something sweet after dinner. But one cookie can easily turn into three, and one serving of ice cream can easily become the whole pint. And once an after-dinner dessert pattern forms it can be challenging to break.
The desire for sweets is often fueled by emotions, such as the need for reward or comfort. If that’s the case, focus on the feelings, not the food. If you can find other healthy ways of meeting your emotional needs, your desire to indulge may naturally wane. And if you really just need a treat, opt for a few tasting squares of dark chocolate, or make room for occasional desserts by cutting the carbs and fat in your meal, which is what most desserts are made from.
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