Audio:
Cooking for one can be a lot more challenging than cooking for a big group.
When I’m on my own, I usually find it really hard to motivate myself to make anything. Sometimes, rather than making dinner, I just want to eat carrots and bean dip.
When I don’t have to please anyone else’s tastebuds, I tend to revert to making incredibly simple meals.
If eating healthy wasn’t such an ingrained habit, I might have trouble keeping myself from resorting to eating out or having pre-made meals like frozen pizzas.
It can be easier to have the willpower and motivation to stick to healthy eating when you’re responsible for someone else.
I also find it hard to motivate myself to get enough variety in making meals just for me.
If I was left to my own devices, I’d probably make the same meal for dinner every single night – quinoa topped with steamed vegetables and a tahini dressing.
Now, that sounds like a pretty healthy meal, and if I changed the vegetables up every night and had grains other than quinoa, and had some beans for lunch, then I’d be ok.
But it can get boring, even for me, and if you aren’t getting variety in other foods then you’ll be missing out on getting enough of the different nutrients.
There are some benefits to cooking for just yourself, though. You don’t have to worry about pleasing anyone else’s tastes or making something on someone else’s schedule. You have total control.
Sometimes I really like having a few days on my own so that I only have to be responsible for myself. The grass is always greener, right?
A lot of my tips for motivating yourself to make healthy meals are the same whether you’re on your own or have a family, and you can find those under the motivation menu on the side.
Since I don’t live on my own, I don’t deal with this problem on an ongoing basis, but there are some things I do when I do find myself on my own for a short time.
Make meals that have leftovers. Most recipes make 2 or more servings, so if you remind yourself that making the meal once will give you multiple future meals, it might seem more worthwhile.
Schedule a cooking night. Make one night a week your creative night to make a big meal for yourself. If it helps, have a friend over to share or make it a party.
Share meals. Hosting or going to pot lucks can really get your creative juices flowing, especially if the party has a theme. You can find healthy and/or vegan groups on Meetup, Couchsurfing, Facebook or other social media.
Don’t force it. If you really don’t feel like making something, don’t force yourself. You can get burnt-out if you try too hard, so feel free to take a break from cooking every so often.
Make simple meals. Either make really easy meals – raw veggies, canned beans, rolled oats – or take a few days to just have lots of fruit smoothies as a cleanse.
If you have any good tips to add here, send me a note and I’ll include it with your name. Let’s see if we can get some good collective wisdom going 🙂