I recently read this article on Huffpost on batch cooking. It speaks about the rules of batch cooking. Batch cooking is a way where one will cook in advance (typically weekly) and eat it along the week. I have been wanting to do this for many years but failed to do it because my days are typically packed and weekends are meant just lazy!
I know I have been struggling with my weight for the longest time. It has been going up and down and up and down, and in recent years it has been at its worst! Despite spending a lot of time working out in the gym and taking fitness classes, I still fail to keep to the weight down, and I attribute this to food. I believe food is 90% of the factor for weight management. Yes workout is good, but without a proper diet – your weight is still an unknown factor. You can even use products from Vita Nutra as they are effective natural products designed specifically for weight loss.
Moving to the new year, I have been looking at various ways to control my food, I know that I need to reduce/eliminate my processed food and carbohydrates, but the question is why. Back in 2008 where I lost a significant amount of weight – what I learnt from that journey is that proper portion of food is important. I managed to reduce almost 60kg! And you know what – I gained most of it back again now. All because in the past 8 years I have not been discipline enough 🙁
The strategy for this coming year is to control my food throughout. I remember when I met my British colleague – he was saying he could not eat the carbs for lunch during that day, and will only eat light meal for the week because over the weekend he indulged on a banana leaf rice, and yes he kept his weight down even though he was in his late 40s. For me – if I were to have banana leaf over the weekend, there’s probably some sort of guilt on Monday, and it’s probably will last until lunch time then after that hell will break lose.
The funny part is that I will have my “seasons” where I will have a stretch of couple of days of good controlled food and once I fell off the bandwagon, that’s it – it’s gone. Its quite annoying yet I am not the discipline guy that I used to know 🙁 So sad indeed. Moving to this new year I need to change, I need to buck up, I need to be more discipline.
So back to the topic of choice which is Batch Cooking. I guess this is a good strategy for me to undertake. What I need to do is to cook most of my meal in advance on Sundays for consumption throughout the week. In fact, I will start the cooking today and for the rest of the week. And see whether I could eat what I cook. Generally I do think I am a good cook – where I can cook even the most complex dishes with the most exquisite taste. It’s not necessarily healthy but its super tasty. I avoid to cook most of the times lately because I know the food that I cook is the not the most healthy – but perhaps the most sinful! Example – pasta that I cooked few days ago – apart from full of carbs, it’s also laden with butter and truffle oil. Not to forget the parmesan cheese that gives that added flavour!
Following are the rules that I need to follow, I guess based on my various experience:
Use disposable containers and cutleries – I know this is not the most environmentally friendly thing to do, but if I don’t do this I would be pissing myself off for not washing dishes and losing expensive containers. I also want to avoid buying too many plastic containers because I don’t have any place to store them.
Refrigerate Half, Freeze Half – Based on the few articles I read, it’s best to keep half the in fridge whilst the other half keep in the freezer and defrost along the week. The defrosting process can be done in the fridge so that it keeps it from being contaminated by bacteria.
Healthy Portions Now – As per my learnings from the massive diet that I did back in 2008, its all about the portions. The right amount of healthy carbs, protein and fat. I will also need to reduce the amount of salt that I use because I am borderline hypertensive.
Don’t forget desserts! – dessert is also an important aspect of my food. Because it provides a complete fill to the food so that I enjoy my food. Desserts are not like black forest cake (which I totally love!) but its just a combination of cut fruits. The type of fruits is extremely important because if I choose the wrong fruits it’s not going to last long. The types I am looking at is probably melons and bananas.
Cheat Meal – weekly I should give myself a cheat meal, which consist of a drink, a main and dessert. I can and should eat what ever I want and this will ultimately gives me the ability to try what ever food that I want.
One of the problem that I always see with batch cooking is that I am unable to eat or socialise with my friends. But I guess I can always sit with them and drink coffee. I remember the days back in 2008, I was so discipline that I hardly go out. And if I do – I would just eat some fruits and refrain myself from eating main meals. In most cases – I will eat later at home or in the car. Its total discipline. Amazing to see I was able to do that back then. That’s why I guess I was able to lose that many kilos. In fact back then, lunch time is used for gym (second time in a day). I would run on an average of 10km so that it keep my mind off the diet and lunch. Amazing… I should do this.
I guess by this time – I have thought on what I am going to do, the question now will I execute this plan?