COOKING & SELF-CARE

Indulging in healthy habits

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Taking the time to cook yourself a healthy meal is the best way to nourish your body with whole, nutritious food that will fill you with energy for the rest of the day.

But when you add mindfulness to the equation and appreciate the cooking process, you end up with a whole new concept of self-care that you can effortlessly fit into your daily routine, to fuel you even on the busiest days.

We all need meaningful rituals to help us unwind from our jam-packed schedules.

Self-care is all about dedicating a few undisturbed moments to yourself, letting your thoughts flow while doing something that you enjoy and taking good care of your body. So, what better way to practice that, than cooking a delicious meal that you will savour as much as the cooking process?

By enabling us to stop and calm down, cooking can have stress-relieving properties and be the daily reminder of the simple, wonderful little things that make our lives joyful and blissful.

The first step is to reinvent the way you see cooking.

Instead of perceiving cooking as a tedious task, think of it as an experience! Use all five senses to make it a sensory experience. Appreciate the aromas of the fresh ingredients, notice how they change with the heat, listen to the cooking sounds of a sizzling pan, observe the different textures and experiment with new combinations that you never tried before!

Discover the excitement of trying out new recipes every week.

 Switch things around, add your personal touch to keep it interesting and unleash your inner chef –this will definitely bring a smile to your face and will rekindle your love of cooking. Be inventive and seek inspiration online if you need an extra boost of creativity.

 Here’s a sneak peek to one of my favourite health apps to get you going! 

The more you cook the better you get at it. 

And the better you get the more you enjoy it. So, practice makes perfect, but cooking is not about mastering perfection at all! Chop, stir and sauté to your heart's content, even if your diced cucumber cubes are not perfectly symmetrical, who cares?

Set realistic, achievable goals.

…like spending quality time in the kitchen every day, to the best of your ability. It’s meditative and you can do it in your pyjamas, no one is judging! The important thing is to keep it up and form a habit.

Invite friends over

…get them involved and share the culinary adventure.

It’s a healthy, bonding experience plus you may get them to do the washing up as well if you ask nicely. Very wallet-friendly too, considering all the money you are saving compared to ordering take-away or eating out.

Savour the outcome!

At the end of the day, we just need to eat, don’t we? If the end result of our self-care action is a delicious homemade meal, it can’t get better than that, right?

A little cooking creativity, each day can go a long way!

I created this post in collaboration with my fave nutrition app NUTRIENT hoping to inspire you!

Until the next one,

Chelf