I’m going to talk about something I’ve never talked about before. COOKING. Now I’ll fully admit, for most of my life, my range of cooking expertise was limited to peanut butter and jelly and eggs. No, not together, that’s gross, but for 20+ years of my life, those things basically consisted of a large portion of my diet, spotted every once in a while with large amounts of pudding (yes pudding).
When I first started switching up my eating habits, I would usually end up eating crap food because I wasn’t prepared. I wouldn’t plan things out and then all of a sudden I’d be starving and Taco Bell was the closest thing to stuff in my face (pro tip: just because it’s a fresca item does not mean it’s healthy). I’ve only been doing this about a year, but I’ve got a routine figured out and I’ve gotten a lot better. Here’s what I’ve learned about eating well:
3 Simple Steps To Eating Well
Table of Contents
Pick The Right Foods
You probably eat a lot of crap. You might not, but you probably do.
I eat 90% Paleo (aka the caveman diet). You can get started on the paleo diet here, but the short version is that my diet consists mostly of the following foods:
- Vegetables (Broccoli, Asparagus, Cauliflower, Avocado)
- Fruits (Bananas, Blueberries, Strawberries, Blackberries )
- Meats (Bacon, Steak, Chicken, Turkey)
- Nuts (Almonds)
- Eggs (Had to add ’em in somewhere)
- Water
I’ll throw some Almond Milk in for some protein shakes and that’s really it. You might not like the idea of Paleo (there’s always some weird initial resistance to trying something new), but it’s hard to really know if you’ll like something until you try it. So give it a try before you knock it (It’s really not that hard). Even if you don’t decide to do Paleo, you can still cut out a ton of crap food you eat (Ho-hos, Fast food, Pop/Soda/Coke can all go out the window – seriously, stop eating them).
Cook Once A Week
Yes.
Once.
Just once.
And only once.
Make it simple. I do all of my cooking for the week on Sunday. I carve out time to fire up the grill, throw some steak, chicken and turkey on it and then get to work. An hour or so later, I’m done. I cut it up, throw it in meal-sized portions in tupperware (tupperware is your friend!) and stick it in your fridge. Then, everyday for your lunch/dinner, you grab your tupperware container, throw it in the microwave, nuke some steam n serve vegetables and BOOM. Dinner is served.
Instead of trying to remember to cook 7 times (or more) a week, I have to remember to cook once. Instead of cleaning cooking dishes 7 times a week, I clean them once. I knew I could justify a reason for being lazy at house chores.
Don’t worry that microwaving & reheating your food will make it taste “not as good”. People microwave “home dinners” all the time and eat it without question (and that’s not even “real” food). I microwave my lunch every day and I still have the best meals of anyone at my office. Sure, I might be biased, but how many other people are eating steak for lunch? Exactly.
Relax
The most important thing you can do about eating well is to relax. Food is important. Eating well is important. Being healthy is important. But so is enjoying life. Eating right is ultimately about consciously choosing what you put in your body and knowing what effects that food has on your body. If you want to eat out once a week, do it. If you want to have pizza once a week, that’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up about it. The point of eating well is to improve your life, not make you miserable. If you’re constantly depressed about al the foods you “can’t” eat, you’re doing it wrong.
If you think about the food you’re eating as a diet, you’ll go crazy. If you focus on what you can’t eat, you’ll go nuts. But if you focus on what you can eat, what new things you can try and how you feel afterwards, you’ll have a lot more success.
I have a lot of people tell me that my meals are “really healthy” or that I’m a “health freak.” I don’t really feel like that’s an accurate description. I actually worry a lot less than most people about what I eat because I know that one bad meal doesn’t doom me forever. The key with this is making sure that one bad day doesn’t turn into 2 or 3 bad days, weeks or months.
Unfortuantely, I have the taste buds of a 5 year old. I like anything sweet. Candy. Yes. Cookies. Yes. Pie, Ice Cream, Cake. Yes. Yes. Yes. MORE SWEETS FOR ME. Like I said, I have 5-year-old taste buds and every now and then, they kick into overdrive. When this hits, I’ve found some go to foods that help me out in a bind and make me make good decisions instead of bad ones.
Bacon – I could eat bacon all day. I mean, who doesn’t like bacon? If I’m in a fix and want to have something different, I usually just eat bacon until I’m fine. Sure, it’s fatty, but fat gets a bad rep. Eating a packet of bacon might not be the best choice (but I’m not saying it’s not either), but it’s a lot better than pounding a carton of ice cream or eating more cake than the fat kid that 50 cent talks about.
Almond Milk – Almond Milk is amazing (and way better for you than Soy Milk – according to a survey I just made up). Seriously, try it out. It sounds weird. Milk made from nuts? How is that possible? I don’t know, but it’s really good. I could literally drink it all day. If you get the vanilla or chocolate flavored milk, it also doubles as your sweet fix (just watch the sugar count on it and don’t overdo it).
Things Change
Fortunately for me, your taste buds can change. My 5-year-old taste buds mean that I like really love candy. One day, a few weeks back after about 2 months of really clean eating, I decided to screw it and eat my heart out. One trip to the grocery store later and a stocked freezer full of Nutty Bars (peanut butter, remember?), cookie dough and candy bars (like I said, 5 year old taste buds here). I ripped open a back of Nutty Bars, ate one or two of them like I was Kobayashi in an eating contest. As I slowed down and came out of candy-eating-berserker mode, I looked down, frowned and then threw the rest away.
I just didn’t like it anymore.
My taste buds aren’t damaged and I can still enjoy desert, but eating “junk food” just to eat it, has lost it’s appeal. I’d rather eat something that’s good for me and something that my body will appreciate me feeding it. So I threw it all out, cooked up some eggs, steak and added some fruit and went to town on it.
Eating well doesn’t have to be rocket science. In fact, making it simpler, makes it easier. And sure, I still might guzzle Red Bull like it’s replenishing my white blood cell count, but then who’s to say it isn’t?
Can we hear about some of your recipes?
I tried giving up pasta and rice a few months ago. However, since 90% of recipes I know contain those two foods, I found it hard to persist. I’m not someone who could eat the same lunch for 5 days in a row!
Also, enjoying the blog. I’m a new reader!
Colin, you should try spaghetti squash!!! Texture is not quite the same as pasta but it has much more nutritional value and is a GREAT substitute (I actually like it better now)! Cut the spaghetti squash in half, drizzle olive oil over it, put in a 425 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes. Take the squash out of the oven and run a fork from on end to the other (being careful not to burn yourself!) put on a dish and serve with italian sausage and pasta sauce… soooo delicious! 🙂 Also, for recipes there are some great sites like thefoodee.com and primal-palate.com. Enjoy!
Ditto on Spaghetti squash. So much better than actual spaghetti (in my opinion). As for actual recipes, most of my recipes consist of some type of meet, some type of vegetables and some type of fruit on my plate. I don’t make too many real recipes, but my meals are always good.
Mmmm… that sounds tasty. I’ll give it a go. Also, thanks for the site recommendations Danielle.
Glad to have you here Colin! If you’re looking to get involved, check out the League –> ImpossibleLeague.com // Hundreds of people there doing some impossible things.
Ah, Joel, did you write this using my brain?! “It’s not magic and it’s not rocket science” is what I tell my clients. Feed your body what it needs to support what you are asking it to do: exercise, lose weight…feel healthy!
Eating well can be as full of variety as eating poorly (and who needs a steady diet of ho-hos….boring). RE: My blog “It’s Still Effing Fruity Pebbles” http://dancerbodyfitchick.wordpress.com/ touches on the same subject.
Enjoy your Paleo diet! I’m not quite there…a bit more Vegetarian with a whole grain in the morning.
Almond milk rocks!
I did. Don’t worry, you can have it back!
I’m not super hard core paleo, but I think it helps give a framework for knowing what foods you’re eating and how they make you feel. If you’re vegetarian, more power to ya.
Almond milk FTW! While we’re at it, anything almond is worthwhile. If you don’t have almond milk at home but want a similar taste, just add some drops of almond extract and presto, you’ve got yourself a better shake.
Almond milk is pretty amazing. I’m amazed at how much that little nut is starting to take over my kitchen.
“Making it simpler” I think this is the key to any diet. The more complex a diet is the more chance we’ll never follow through with it. With the busy lives we live we need things that are quick and easy to implement. Either that or we all need a personal chef.
I recently started a vegan diet and didn’t go into it fully prepared. I didn’t have any good recipes to follow and I kept thinking about all the thing I couldn’t eat rather than the things I could eat. It was really hard. I’ve backed off a bit for now until I can compile some good recipes I enjoy.
I’ve done vegan a few times and it is hard. I mostly need to just think about it and plan things out more (and take my own advice), but the truth is that I like meat!
Thank you for this easy guide to eating Paleo! I’m not quite there yet, but in the last few months I’ve reduced my consumptions of grains and cut my sugar intake to less than 15g per day (usually between 0-5g). On a couple of occasions, I’ve eating something sweet and discovered that it was WAY too sweet for me to enjoy, so I think my taste buds are adjusting. 🙂 And yes, almond milk is delicious.
I love the idea of cooking 1 day a week, what a great suggestion!
Cooking once/week has honestly changed the way I eat. No joke.
As a paleo eater myself I appreciate this article… however – I gotta say I don’t live by your second step “cook once a week” – and I think that would actually hinder the ease of paleo eating for me.
The real trick I think is for each person to find what works for them and run with it.
For me, that’s improvising meals almost constantly. I’ll run into a store, grab a few things, mix ’em up and viola! I keep a George Foreman grill stashed at work and will cook a steak in the break-room (today it will be scallops on the grill and some left-over skillet stir-fry from last night – with crawfish tails!).
I find I get bored if I know what I’m eating all week.
Definitely key. What works for me, isn’t going to work for everyone, but if it’s a good first step, hopefully it can get people started in the right direction!
NICE JOEL!!!
Over the past few months i’ve made FOOD a HUGE priority in my personal development.
I’ve carved out a bigger budget in my income to purchase organic foods and have completely cut out all the crap from my diet (I still eat lots of chocolate though haha).
I DO LIKE how you’ve set all your cooking for Sunday. I have been loving learning how to cook & spending time in the kitchen (made some amazing butternut squash soup the other night for the first time!), but I’m not sure if donating that minimum 1 hour a night is in line with my other priorities. I think I’ll try out your Sunday Food Day idea!
ANYWAY, Keep it up ma man! LOOKIN GOOD AND HEALTHY IS NEVER A BAD THING ;-D
– LAUREN
I don’t have a probelm spending more on quality food if it means I’m going to actually enjoy it. Usually, when you break it down, eating out is always more expensive than even having a steak dinner at home. Once you sit down and do the math, it’s pretty hard to make a case for *not* buying foods that are good for you.
It’s funny how before reading this I have never thought to cook once for the whole week. Now I just need to figure our what to cook that doesn’t need a refrigerator or microwave 🙂
It’s amazing how much easier it actually makes things. So much better than trying to cook every freaking day!
Does everything you cook keep for the entire week refrigerated? As the 7th day approaches do the meals get soggy? Just seems like 6 days in the fridge could be coming close to when it would go bad.
Most of my meals aren’t “recipes.” I haven’t had a problem with meat lasting a week in the fridge. The vegetables are frozen and microwaved in 5 minutes for every meal. If you keep ’em over 7 days, you might have issues, but I haven’t experienced any with keeping them just a week.
I definitely agree with the mass cooking day. Portion out lunches, prep for dinner…take the excuses away. Now, if only I could get my ass on track with that. Hm…maybe this week!!
Why not start today?
I enjoy reading blogs because sometimes I get to see things from a completely new perspective and this post most definitely did that. There are so many questions that come to my mind as I’m reading, both the post and the comments.
How were you brought up?
What did you eat when you were kids?
Didn’t anyone ever teach you how to cook?
I feel blessed that I never had to worry about food in this way. Eat a little bit of everything and you’ll be fine!
You’re probably on the right track there Joel when you say that a good way to start eating well is to relax. Food and eating should not be difficult or stressful.
Maybe the key is to buy and eat food, not already made products. If you want yogurt and fruit, don’t buy an already made and mixed fruit-yogurt, because that will also give you plenty of sugar and what-not. Buy yogurt and and a piece of fruit and mix it yourself. Sure, it will take you a minute or two. Have you got the time?
Another thing that strikes me is the stress some of you seem to feel. Wow. You honestly don’t have an hour a day to cook?
I may be old school but if that was the case for me I would definitely get off the internet, stop reading blogs, networking etc. That ought to free some time in a busy schedule.
Here’s a tip for you: Cook for a friend one night and let him cook for you another. Voila! You cook once and eat twice. Not only would that save you some time, but it would also give you time to see your friend.
Interesting suggestions. Honestly, I don’t have time sometimes to set aside an hour a day to cook. Between work, working out, side projects, freelance, and all of the other things going on, if I don’t plan out my meals I forget to eat! (seriously, I get that focused).
Buying real food, not products has been key. It’s amazing how many things we’ll eat aren’t real food but “products.” Making the change has been really helpful to me.
Thanks for the comment Johan.
Thank you Joel, for writing this blog. Awesome!
Thank you for reading it 🙂
Hhmmm…With some consideration I might be able use your technique and cook a week’s breakfasts at once and reheat them. I do spend a lot of time on breakfast each morning and cutting that down would be a plus.
Today was 1# ground beef with my custom seasonings, a few eggs and a couple baked sweet potatoes. The beef and sweet potatoes could easily be prepped beforehand but man a weeks worth of breakfast beef or sausage would be like 7# of meat! Time to visit Williams-Sonoma for a gigantic skillet…
Give it a shot! Let me know how it goes. It’d be interesting to see how it works (p.s. sweet potatoes and eggs are my new favorite food)
I’m so glad you mentioned RELAXING. Relaxing is the key to having any kind of fun in the kitchen, and to being better at cooking. While I haven’t stuck with any one particular kind of diet, I have been taking stock of how my taste buds have changed from all I’ve tried, and try to keep my breakfasts and dinners to a majority of protein and good veg.
The real everyday issue is having something ready for lunch at the office, or trying to cook a nice meal after a long day of work. This seems like a good thing to try, except I’m going to prep all the ingredients and throw them together differently every evening to avoid menu boredom. The key to relaxing cookery is that all the elements are there, prepped and ready, and if at all possible, you’re not really cooking things through so much as heating things up. So much less stressful!
“not really cooking things through so much as heating things up”
– true! That’s often the case with vegetarian food where you can eat all the ingredients as they are, but if you mix them and heat them up you get a proper meal. I mean, just heat up a pan, add something red (pepper), something green (beans), something yellow (maybe apple), stir it for a while, add some soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, chili and, wait a minute, we just made a sweet and sour stir-fry! In less than 10 minutes! Or, I take that back, fire up the pan again, add 2-3 eggs and stir a little bit and while you’re omelette (yellow) is making it self you chop up a little bit of broccoli (green) and tomato (red), pour over some olive oil, add some salt, and what? Another proper meal in 10 minutes! For sure!
So, come on folks, fill those shelves and fridges with great food and start cooking! It’s fun!
– What’s with the colours? Because you eat with your eyes too…
Bon appetite!
What’s with the colours?
Truth. funny how some of the best tasting meals, also look the best.
I think it’s much easier to simplify your diet and focus on eating good foods rather than trying to overcomplicate things and follow a bunch of rules or diets. Like you said, so much less stressful.
Nicely done sir… just make sure that all the food is completely organic, free-range, grass-fed, etc or else it’s still in many ways VERY unhealthy. Far healthier than nutty bars and fast food, to be sure, but many factors like the plethora of chemicals, growth hormones, artificial preservatives, etc etc that are added to non-organic food or given to non-organic animals plays a MASSIVE role in our health. The ONLY healthy choices is completely natural ones, which is what the Paleo diet is based off of anyway, so it all works out.
You’re awesome. The end.
Haha. Thanks Chad. I think you’re awesome too.
Word on the point of eating *real* food. It makes things so much easier.
great advice!! 🙂
Your advice of cooking once per week and doing the individual size containers was what I initially used when I started my quest to lose weight.
Some friends and I would get together at their house and we would make a weekend of cooking and hanging out. We made about anything you could imagine those weekends, and we divided the costs evenly. Normally it was like $30 per person and we had 1.5 week’s worth of food for each of us. It saved us so much money on top of the calories, and this also helped redevelop my taste in foods to where I couldn’t and still can’t stand fast food. Instead of buying sweets, I started buying vegetables which taste sweet to me now and snack on that, plus raw almonds are great too.
I was 310 pounds in December 2006, 225 in June 2007, then we stopped that cooking plan because of other commitments in life getting in the way and I ended up hitting about 280 pounds. After I quit my second job (haven’t looked back since), I started doing the once weekly plan at home and I was down to 200 in July 2011. I’m up to 220 right now, but I’m doing strength training now, but now I’m doing more of what Steve recommends on Nerdfitness.
Thank you for all the advice here, shattering the impossible is fun!
Great story William. Thanks for sharing. That’s great man! Funny how our taste buds change over time, huh?
Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help!