Two weeks ago this time, I was ranting about everything that’s wrong with convenience-first foods: how easy they make overeating, how low they prioritize health, and how much additives they contain. 

Well, the antithesis of convenience-first food is home-made food. There are few things that that say “I care” quite as well a home cooked meal. So, why not let your body know you care every day?

Why home-made?

Convenience foods generally put taste first because they must sell in large volumes to a broad client base to be profitable. Making healthy convenience food is much harder because it is more complex and will appeal to a smaller segment of the market. 

That’s why home-made is so important. Each one of us needs to find their own zero-compromise healthy meal plan. This will look different for different people, and the only way to cater for this diversity is to make most of your food at home. 

Home-made food naturally has a little bit of resistance built into it, making overeating much less likely. It will also generally use fresher ingredients, avoiding the intensive processing and additives typical of convenience-first foods. 

Home-made does not mean hours in the kitchen

A home-made meal does not need to take more than a couple of minutes to prepare. As some examples, take a look at these breakfasts and potential dinners using avocado or egg.

Even cooked meals do not need to be that much effort. If you cook easily freezable meals in bulk, it can work out to as little as 5 minutes of active prep-time per meal. 

Anyone has time to spend 3 minutes on a delicious and nutritious breakfast, 7 minutes on a nice warm lunch, and 5 minutes on a small and simple dinner. 

Take stock

So, what percentage of your meals are home-made? Anything where you combine three or more whole and nutritious ingredients can count.

If you’re below 90%, it may be time to do a little bit of thinking. Don’t worry, not much thinking is required, just enough to do a little search and start trying some new things. Once you get started, this interesting challenge and it’s great rewards will keep you going. 

Your body is the most important possession you have. Show it that you care with regular home-made meals 🙂