The Cooking Diet
(Hello Diet Improved Cooking Club)
Let’s get cooking in 2017. Join the Diet Improved Cooking Club! The cooking club was created to support clients by providing accountability and meal ideas as they continue to achieve their wellness goals. Clubs are cool and I wanted my health club to emphasize the importance of cooking and spending time preparing healthy meals. As a dietitian/nutritionist I have witnessed the power of cooking and how this practice can transform a clients health by improving their relationship with food.
Here are 5 reasons to go on a cooking diet:
(1) Weight Control. The less you cook the more weight you gain. According to Johns Hopkins home chefs eat 140 fewer calories per day and consume fewer carbohydrates, less sugar and less fat than those who cook less.
(2) A Healthier Lifestyle. People who cook at home consume fewer calories even when they eat out. This may be due to having a better sense of portion control and having the taste for healthier foods.
(3) Improved Family Nutrition. According to WebMD, research has shown that children who eat home-cooked meals more frequently were less likely to be overweight. Studies found family meals tend to contain more fruits and vegetables and less fried food, soda and trans fat.
(4) Control over Common Food Allergens. Preparing your food at home is especially beneficial when trying to avoid common food allergies and sensitivities such as wheat, gluten, dairy, soy and eggs.
(5) Cost. You are going to save money by eating out less often. Your grocery bills will increase but you will be eating better quality food for less money.
The Diet Improved Cooking Club provides a lot of meal ideas. I always say the hardest part of eating well is having the idea of what to eat. The club provides 4-detailed meal plans each month with approximately 5-entrée and 3-4 complimentary side recipes each week. Each plan also includes a dessert or breakfast or beverage recipe. The recipes are lower carbohydrate, 100% gluten free and the majority are dairy free or have dairy free options. Each weekly plan comes with a detailed grocery shopping list as well as suggestions for how to mix and match entrées with sides, make freezer meals and prep-ahead ingredients for the week ahead. These meal plans are loaded with new ideas for preparing vegetables and include many globally flavored recipes that emphasis anti-inflammatory spices. The mix of Tex-Mex, Asian, Mediterranean and other cuisines provide an endless variety of tastes to prevent health food boredom.
In addition to meal plans e-mailed to clients every Thursday (4 weeks/per month) participants in cooking club are encouraged to attend the monthly community event. Any club participant is welcome to bring a FREE guest to in person meetings. These events bring people together to discuss their successes and goals and provide ongoing nutrition resources in the forms of lectures on nutritional science and different diet strategies, grocery-shopping tours, cooking demos and book reviews. The main objective of cooking club is to motivate new and existing clients to gain confidence in the kitchen and enjoy the process of exploring healthy new foods and recipes.
Are you thinking about your New Years diet while licking icing off that Christmas cookie? Let’s try something different this year. Start the cooking club in January and keep cooking. Cook in March, cook in August and cook in November. The outcome: time well spent producing delicious, hot, comforting, family-friendly, vegetable packed meals. Let’s make some new friends and relearn how to truly eat well. Throw on your apron, recruit a helper for the dishes and let’s get messy. This year we are cooking our way into our skinny jeans. Join the club.
In improved health,
Katherine