Is food preparation a necessity and madness?

Do I really have to cook my own food every day? No, you just have to die, the rest is your choice.

I don't have time. I can't cook. I have a demanding job. I have no imagination. I don't feel like it. I want to, but... These are all excuses. No one has time. We didn't know how to cook either, and we learned. Even those of us who can, go to work/school, have families we want to spend time with, have hobbies we want to pursue, and still do it. Or are you worried about how others will look at you? Who are you doing it for? Are you doing it so that others will admire you, so that they will look "in the box" and pat you on the back for what a beautiful meal you cooked today? No, I don't. You do it for YOU. JUST FOR YOU. If you don't want to invest time in yourself and take care of your body, then where do you want to invest it?

There are still a lot of people who think that weight loss and body shaping is all about exercising. Their idea is that, like, they can actually eat anything and just go for a run every now and then. It's enough, but it depends on who and what your plans are for your body. If you are serious about switching to a healthy lifestyle, then you should think about your diet. You don't have to be a "fanatical eater" of fitness and healthy eating, as sometimes the "slackers" (that's what I call this group of people who complain about something) evaluate people who pull out their box somewhere or ask about the ingredients or the process of how the food was prepared. It's not about being crazy at all.

It's not fanaticism to take care of your body and want to give it the best care in the form of a good diet. Yes, of course, there are those who overdo it, counting grains of rice, counting carbs from vegetables, going to restaurants with a kitchen scale, fanatically proclaiming the harmfulness of baked goods, not eating fruit because fructose.. and I don't know what else... But we are not all like that. I'm personally skinny myself, and a common reaction people have when I take my box out somewhere is something like, "oh my god, why are you dieting? You don't even need it!" and they're usually just pushing in a hot dog or a glazed donut, "for Homer." And then I wonder if maybe they're wondering if we're not doing this because of a diet at all, but because we just plain and simply like food that's really food. We like to eat wholesome foods that don't make us hungry just as soon as we finish them (I'm referring specifically to those hot dogs where you have to eat at least five of them to stave off hunger). We prepare our meals daily because we are aware of what we are eating and we know we are giving our bodies good care. Why? Because we want it to function well.

Many times we prepare our meals not so much for the calories, but just for our health. For example, there are people who have various health limitations and are actually "condemned" to prepare food. But even those of us who do it by choice are not weird, we are not defective, we are just taking care of ourselves. I'm not at all saying that anyone who doesn't prepare their own food is a slob who neglects their body. But the point is, if you want to be healthy, learn to take care of your body from the inside out and start with just a good diet. Even if you are trying to reduce pounds and want a functional body, definitely start with food. We get questions about how to get rid of sweet addiction, how to stop drinking sugary sodas, how to stop going to the mecca when it's so good.

You know, this is about priorities, about goals, about wanting and about some discipline. Even healthy food is good if you know how to make it. You can make a homemade burger. Maybe with some good bread, good ground beef, cheese and vegetables. It will fill you up more than if you have 5 "cheeses" in the blender and wash it down with a light coke (for effect). And your body? It will thank you, don't worry. Same with the sweet stuff. For example, did you know that chocolate is even good for the body? Of course, we mean the bitter, high-percentage kind, so no, no 150 gram milkshakes with toffee and lentils. There are so many recipes that can be made healthier. The internet is full of recipes, thanks to the boom in healthy living these days. And you know what's best? That you don't even have to give up the unhealthy goodies altogether! Once in a while, just indulge in whatever you feel like. Go to the bakery, get a pizza, have a filet mignon at your mom's, have a big piece of cake with a load of whipped cream, or even eat that milkshake, but don't eat it every day. You don't need it.If you learn to eat healthy, balanced and varied enough, you'll find that you won't crave these junkfoods at all.

Plus, nowadays, times have advanced to the point where there are fast food joints with healthy food. Yes, there really are. So think about it, you would rather go to the mecca for absolutely unhealthy food, and it is not cheap at all, as the proponents claim, and it certainly does your body no good. Nothing at all. So why not go to one of the healthy eateries instead, or feel free to buy something like rye/egg rolls with good quality ham, cheese, tuna from a can and veggies at the store when you haven't prepared your food or have little, which happens sometimes, thanks to the hectic times we live in and our schedules change from minute to minute.

So how do we do it, you ask? It's not enough to talk about wanting to. You have to start doing something for it too. Of course, in the beginning you will either need a lot of self-study, some of that counting, weighing, or you can make your work and time (maybe even some mistakes) easier by reaching out to an expert. A real expert. Over time, you will get to know your body enough to know what to eat, when and in what quantities, without having to weigh and count anything. You just get it in your eye. But I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself. The key is to want to, to start, and to keep going.

A healthy diet isn't just about throwing out baked goods, fruit, cutting down on carbs and eating only cooked rice, dry meat, munching on pickles and drawing energy from the sun. A healthy diet is about learning to work with food in such a way that you can arrange your daily intake in a way that suits you and leads you to the goal you want to reach (dropping pounds, getting a fit body, etc.) You can eat pastries, you can eat fruit, it's not a problem to prepare a pastry with ham for a snack. Why should it be... because eating pastries is bad? Eating carbs is bad? It's never the consumption of a single food that matters, but the overall concept of eating. Don't follow nonsensical advice. What matters is your body, your intake and ultimately your cravings. Do you like pastries? Well, have some rye and ham for a snack, there's no reason why you can't. It's a quick, with the right alternatives, and a good quality and healthy meal. It's not about looking for God knows what complexities in a healthy diet. Eating healthy and tasty at the same time is just as easy as eating crap. It's just about priorities. If you want a healthy body, think about the food you eat.