In many people’s minds, eating healthy is often perceived as troublesome and restrictive. Some even complain, “There’s no high-end organic supermarket near where I live, so how can I eat healthily?”
However, American celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian offered a very down-to-earth and somewhat unconventional viewpoint during an interview with Fox News – he believes that in today’s America, the power to eat healthily is completely in your hands. You can eat whatever you want and choose to eat as healthily as you want.
His clever advice is to cook for yourself.
Zakarian bluntly pointed out that with today’s advanced technology and the widespread availability of services like fresh produce delivery (such as Instacart), everyone has a smartphone at their disposal.
Moreover, geographical location is no longer an excuse. While in the past, it might have been difficult to find fresh vegetables because there wasn’t a large supermarket nearby, nowadays, with just a few clicks online, you can order fresh ingredients, canned goods, or frozen vegetables straight to your doorstep.
As the renowned chef straightforwardly stated, “If you can drive to McDonald’s, you can find a place with fresh food, or order online.”
This means that not being able to buy healthy ingredients is no longer a valid obstacle. As long as you have the desire to eat and buy, you will definitely find a way to do so.
Many people find cooking for themselves too tiring and time-consuming, so they opt for eating out or fast food. However, Zakarian believes that this is a sign of taking the wrong approach and not being willing to put in the effort. He provided two very practical pieces of advice for healthy eating:
Firstly, don’t wait until it’s time to cook to frantically decide what to eat, organize your shopping trips to twice a week.
Secondly, plan your meals in portions and make use of leftovers. Cook a little extra at once, plan your meals into small blocks, and incorporate a few meals of leftovers into the schedule.
“You’ll be surprised to find that you can whip up five meals for your kids at any time, and still have leftovers,” he said. “It’s not difficult, but it does require effort.”
Zakarian emphasizes that cooking for yourself not only allows you to control your and your family’s health but also brings immense emotional rewards.
No matter whose home you gather at, everyone always ends up sitting around the kitchen. The kitchen is not only the center of the family but also the best social center.
Furthermore, cooking at home will make children more self-confident. Just imagine when a child opens the lunchbox you meticulously prepared at school, the surrounding kids will look at it with envy. This sense of pride will stay with them for life.
The chef’s message is simple – stop using excuses like “can’t buy, too troublesome.”
In this day and age, whether it’s fresh vegetables or healthy ingredients, as long as you have the desire to eat, there will always be a way to get them. Eating healthy is not determined by how far your home is located in the suburbs, but by whether you are willing to put in a little effort in planning and cooking for your own and your family’s health!