I find myself a bit surprised to be writing this particular blog entry.  I keep an ongoing schedule of planned topics and, frankly, “cooking tips for the zombie apocalypse” was further down the list than you might imagine.

But in seeing post after social media post about people struggling with food issues, and major news outlets posting stories about the dramatic increase in sales of junk food… I thought maybe this was a worthwhile subject.

Of course, if you’re making a list of your priorities right now, the most important thing in your life is the health and safety of you and your family.  However, if in the distant past – you know, back when we thought Corona was something you stuck a lime in? — you were eating healthy and trying to lose some weight… well, there’s no reason to abandon that pursuit now. It may be more difficult than it was before, but it’s not impossible. 

What follows are the issues and obstacles you’re likely facing in quarantine, along with some thoughts on how you can defeat them with a baking pan and a whisk.  Even if you decide to ignore all this advice, reading the article is probably worth your time. If nothing else, it gives you something to do while pulling on that same pair of sweatpants for the 13^th straight day (yes, I see you).

An Iron-Clad Excuse

One thing is certain, if you have abandoned eating healthy because of the upheaval caused by COVID-19, no one will question you. Your friends and family members care about you and your well-being… and certainly are invested in your health choices. But they can’t make decisions for you. If you choose to use the current situation as reason to derail your eating plan, they won’t push back. After all, they love you no matter what you weigh. And here’s the big secret — excuses really just make YOU feel better… no one else.  So who cares how “iron-clad” they are?

 Losing weight is a choice you make for yourself, and as ready-made as the Coronavirus is as an excuse, there’s always something: holidays, birthdays, work-related travel, vacation, etc. Yes, the times are crazy right now. And if you decide to let yourself off the hook, that’s your choice.  All I’m saying is, I think you might be happier making a different call.

Challenges Galore

A list of the current impediments to eating and cooking healthy are remarkably long, from the empty store shelves, to the difficulty even getting TO the stores. All this makes planning meals or even executing many recipes a challenge, forcing people to rely on unhealthy prepacked meals and/or high carb, low nutritional value items which they had stocked up in the pantry like pasta or rice.

Yet the two biggest challenges in the current environment are the same ones which have long-been the undisputed champions of disrupting healthy eating programs:  stress and boredom. These twin terrors are having a field day under the current conditions.

Stress Eating

Yes, the times are stressful. And in times of stress, people turn to comfort foods, especially junk food. The things is, if you were working on losing weight before all this began, you really need to consider how much actual comfort you’re get from this so-called “comfort food.”

There’s no arguing that we get a brief pleasure spike from eating the empty calories of junk food, or the excessive calories of some “comfort” food dishes.  But we all know that what follows is normally a bout of guilt that wipes away the brief moment of pleasure.  Further, if we are leaning on these foods over a long period while in quarantine, they are certain to be cancelling out all the good work you’d done previously on your weight loss … which will only lead to MORE guilt.

Think about when this is over. When we all walk back out of our homes, we’re going to want to make up for lost time.  The last thing you’re going to want is to feel that you suddenly need to restart your weight loss efforts before you can do so.

Also, obesity is a known condition that the virus tends to exploit. No reason to give it a bigger bite at you than it already has, right? There are plenty of reasons to be stressed, but giving in to junk food on a regular basis is not a solution.

Everyone is Bored

If you need proof of the above statement, just think about how many stories you’ve read or been told by a friend lately that involve jigsaw puzzles.  Is it more than one? If so, that is proof positive that the world as a whole is completely bored out of its mind.

People are grasping for hobbies and projects. So instead of going through old photos, learning how to make a birdhouse, or really upping your driveway chalk game, why not make healthy cooking and weight loss your project?

Coming up with recipes, eating well, menu planning… let all that be part of your day. It’s certainly just as worthy of your focus as a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of sunflowers, right?

And the fact is, for any weight loss program to succeed long term, it must overcome some challenges. Normally, that means getting through the holidays. In this case? If you can say, “yeah, I was able to lose weight through the pandemic” … you pretty much win at life.

Fine, so that’s what you’re facing.  Here’s how to get up tomorrow morning and start facing it.

Get Cookin’!

You’ve probably seen too many videos or read too many stories about people suddenly becoming gourmet cooks while in quarantine.  I’ll admit, it’s a bit much. The thing is, you don’t have to become a master chef to make cooking an essential part of eating healthy in quarantine. In fact, there are so many different advantages to breaking out the pots and pans that anyone, at any skill level can benefit.  All you really need is the willingness to give things a try!

Here are number of different ways to do it:

Recreate A Favorite Dish

We all miss our favorite restaurants right now. Hopefully where possible you’re supporting them through safe takeout or delivery or buying gift cards to be used when things open back up.

But in the meantime? Think of those favorite dishes you’re craving from your go-to restaurants and try to recreate them! Seek out recipes through friends, family, cookbooks, Pinterest, other cooking websites, etc.… It’s a great time to experiment and see if you can approximate a dish you love!

Think of it this way – you’re only making it for yourself and your family, so you’ve got a captive audience!  If you figure it out through trial and error, by the time this is all over, you might not only have a new item you can add to your weekly meal plan, but maybe something you can cook when you’re entertaining guests!

My Roasted Eggplant Meatballs recipe was created in this fashion. I had them a few times at a restaurant and couldn’t believe how good they tasted, and became obsessed with seeing if I could come up with my own version!

Another example is this Roasted Corn, Zucchini & Black Bean Salad. A local favorite restaurant put it on their menu as a side last summer and I fell in love with it, to the point where I kept experimenting with my version until I got it JUST right!

Tweak an Old Favorite

Now is also a great time to take family favorite dishes and see if you can make a healthier version of them.  Play around with changing quantities of ingredients, different substitutions, etc. Who knows?

Think about those “comfort foods” you might be drawn towards in times of stress as discussed above. If you come out of quarantine having turned an unhealthy favorite into something that still eats good but is now well balanced and lower calorie? That’s a real asset in any weight loss journey. Again, now is the time to give it a shot!

When my wife and I started our weight loss journey, we gave up pizza, that is until we came up with this Roasted Vegetable & Caramelized Onion Pizza. You can argue it’s several steps away from an actual pizza, but it works for us and it’s become a weekly tradition now!

Try Something You’ve Never Liked

Maybe you’ve always “hated” Brussels sprouts.  Well, why not poke around and pick a few recipes that sound good and give them another shot? Expanding the range of proteins or vegetables that you enjoy makes every weight loss plan easier, so this is the time to go for it. Again, look around at all the usual sources or post on social media and ask your friends for their favorite recipe for your “hated” food and see what comes back!

P.S. If you really don’t like Brussels sprouts, I highly recommend my Maple Mustard Roasted Brussels Sprouts. They’re easy to make, low calorie, and really tasty!

Try Something Completely Different

Maybe it’s a dish you’ve often heard of but never eaten, or simply a type of food you’ve never tried… cooking doesn’t have to be complex and difficult to be tasty and healthy.  Seek out interesting and accessible new recipes and give them a go! Again, you’ve got a captive audience in your family to experiment on! They literally have no choice but to eat what you make! It’s perfect!!

As an example of this category, my Roasted Turmeric Cauliflower recipe fits perfectly. I’d read so much about the benefits of turmeric but I’d never really cooked with it, so I played around with various options and spice levels on this one. I can tell you, the first few times were not pleasant! But now it’s a go-to favorite!

Lastly…

As previously mentioned, one of the challenges right now is sourcing your food.  Which can make following recipes a bit of a challenge because you might not have or be able to get everything you need to make something. No problem. Cook with what you have and don’t worry about it! Learning to substitute and improvise is a big part of cooking, and sometimes leads to some happy accidents! It also sometimes leads to your dish tasting like an old sock… so, if you have a choice? Aim for “happy accident.”

My quarantine cooking experiments have tended towards healthy sweet treats. Low calorie, low sugar cookies and cakes. I’ve got some cookies that I’m really pleased with (finally) that I’ll share soon, but I’ve also produced several items in the “old sock” category! It’s all part of the process!

Have fun with all this cooking, involve the family too.  And when this is all over hopefully you’ll have expanded your palate and added new dishes to your menu planning, but worst case you’ll return to restaurants with a much keener sense of what ingredients make up the dishes you enjoy, and where the calories and nutrients come from in each dish.  It will make you a more informed eater.

Good luck everyone, stay safe!

And if anyone needs some personal support, just DM me through Instagram, or email me at lightenupblog@yahoo.com