Don’t Make It Scary: Three Reasons Why and Three Pieces of Advice to Get started cooking whole and real food
By Sarah Virginia
In a lot of ways, starting this project where I share what I know and have learned about feeding myself and my family in the most practical, healthy, and efficient way was a “big scary” thing that I didn’t want to begin. I procrastinated. I told myself that I’m not the right person for the job. I told myself I’m not a food influencer, or blogger, or a real chef. I don’t have any degrees in nutrition, diet, or medicine, or anything aside from the law (which doesn’t exactly qualify me to tell anyone what to eat or how to prepare it). But with much encouragement from friends and family who believe in me and love to eat my food, as well as countless hours spent informally educating people on how to make the changes they need to approach food in this holistic manner,
I am here to do just that. I’m stepping into uncharted territory, and I hope you will step into it with me.
For you, the uncharted territory is probably not starting a food blog, but rather starting to cook and feed your family in a way that feels intimidating and, frankly, impossible. There are so many barriers to cooking and feeding whole foods – some are intimidated by the perceived costs, others by the time it will take, others by learning new skills, others by the pile of messy dishes.
Maybe it just feels unfamiliar and thus scary. Maybe you think “I can’t cook” or “my kids don’t like the food that I make, so why bother.” I’m not going to tell you that it’s going to be easy to make these changes, but let me give you three reasons why you should try, and three pieces of advice to guide you through these early stages.
Why you should change the way you feed your family:
1. Their health and wellness depends on it. If you are reading this, you are likely the person in charge of feeding your family. That is no small task. Everyone has different likes and dislikes, and decision fatigue and daily life get in the way. But let me tell you this: there is no job that is more important than yours. Feeding your family is the most essential and important daily task of our lives, and you should treat it with the seriousness that it is due. What goes in, comes out. Garbage in, garbage out. Good stuff in, good stuff out. That’s not just literal in terms of digestion (which majorly improves when you eat properly), but also in general health and behavior. But those aren’t my areas of expertise – I can just tell you what I’ve seen. My kids rarely get sick, and they are in great physical shape. And so are my husband and I!
2. Their development and growth – cognitively and physically – depend on it. For example, when I stopped feeding my son Shane (who has Down syndrome) gluten and dairy, he started talking a week later. No joke. Not everyone needs to eat a gluten and dairy free diet, but when you eat more whole foods your diet naturally shifts away from at least highly processed versions of gluten and dairy, and that is generally good for everyone.
3. The cost of eating unhealthy is higher. While people often think that organic food is more costly because the price tag is usually higher for an organic product than its conventional counterpart, eating mainly whole foods cooked at home is on the whole much less expensive. You may spend more money on organic chicken and grass fed beef than you would on the conventional versions, but you’ll spend a heck of a lot less money eating at home than you would spend out. For example, a big mac meal now costs the same as a pound of organic grass-fed beef. Once you look at the big picture the savings are much greater. And the money you save by not needing the same healthcare down the line because of changing dietary habits now cannot even be counted.
And here are my three pieces of advice to get you started:
1. Start incrementally. This change doesn’t happen overnight, and you’ll feel like a failure if you put pressure on yourself to make everything happen all at once. Don’t stock your pantry just so, or throw away everything in your refrigerator (unless that makes you feel good and you just want to do it). The goal is lasting change, not some kind of fad diet.
Weekly shifts, trying new recipes and new kitchen hacks, seeing what works for you. Noteverything I suggest will work for you. You also may be learning new skills for the first time. Even one very small change every week or two weeks will add up. I’m still swapping out practices, foods, finding shortcuts or long cuts that work for me.
2. Don’t wait a day longer. The time is now. Don’t wait until your kids are less picky or until they are in school or until you move to a house with a nicer kitchen. There are plenty of ways to do a lot with very little and I’ll help you figure that stuff out. Which leads to the next point.
3. Do not let perfect be the enemy of the good. This goes for your cooking - who cares if your kids don’t love it at first – they likely have to come down from the sensory overload of processed foods with tons of sugar and additives, and most kids will come around with time and patience. It also goes for the rest of your life – while you work through the knots of feeding your family in a new way, let other things slide. Your kitchen will be messy more. Your house will be messy more – who cares?
This journey is messy, but I believe anyone can fall in love with their kitchen and feeding themselves and their family. After all, we spend so much time in our lives eating, we might as well love the process of it, too. I promise you, there’s nothing better you can do with your time than dig into how you nourish yourself and the people who depend on you.
