BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Biggest Hurdle to Eating Healthily

What do you think is the biggest hurdle in your life to eating more healthily?

Is it that you just don't like the flavors of healthy food?

Are you too tired to think about cooking them?

Do they cost too much?

is it something else?

In a word? TIME
Time to go shopping and pay attention. Time to cook them. I have a ton of delicious sounding healthy receipes that I wish I could get to. Then I worry that some of the receipes call for stuff that I would only use once. That would be a waste of money.

I love to cook healthy meals, but it does take time and preparation. When I am teaching during the school year, time is at a premium. On weekends, I cook large batches of my flax muffins, lentil soup, dal, and turkey sausage and freeze them. Then, it is just a matter of thawing, warming, and enjoying a healthy meal or snack during the week.

Dianne -

That's an excellent point. When I read my great grandmother's diary, she spent all day cooking and preparing to cook. She'd go wander down to the market. She'd talk with the butcher. She'd harvest vegetables from her garden. She'd work on the meal. So it definitely took up a lot of time, and she enjoyed it. Nowadays we enjoy doing things other than cooking.

What you need to do is assemble your OWN cookbook. One that is quick, healthy meals that you love. Then you wouldn't have to worry about picking and choosing - you could pop open the cookbook and know every single item in it was perfect for your needs.

What types of things would be in this cookbook?

Lisa,
A couple of years ago I started a notebook. I would tear our recipes from magazines that sounded good (and healthy) and put them in a plastic sleeve and put them in the book. Right now it's buried under a bunch of books. I'm going to go dig it out.

I subscribe to USA govs and today's email was about finding your local farmers market...gosh yet another sign!

I agree with everyone about time being the limiting factor.

OK so apparently I need to put together an ebook of QUICK healthy low carb meals that people can whip up. I'll put that on my list!

Yes - for people who hate to cook or have no time for it!

And recipes for 1! I'm the only one eating low carb in my house, which makes it real difficult. I mean, I only want mashed cauliflower once or twice or like someone else said, there's ingredients that you'd only use once. Low carb isn't easy to do, but I sure feel better doing it. :)

Biggest hurdle? My top is the confusion around what is or isn't healthy to eat. Just one example I have: Salt, no salt with or without iodine. Now scrap all that and use sea salt - but not the bleached white kind. Are you getting the gist?

Since my husband started the Atkins diet two years ago it has been a real trial and error. To begin from the thought of never ever eating a healthy salad to now which we practically don't eat a meal without one. Preferences and personalities come into play. There are those of us who like hot dogs and those of us who don't. Compromise.

Recipes have been my pain. So I play a game. I try to find replacements for loved food. I make a great low carb pumpkin cheesecake. Perfect for Thanksgiving. That way I have time to come up with new things to add with our adjusting tastes.