Does Your Fitness Tool Box Contain This Skill?

Wednesday, 20 May 2009 13:26

You've probably heard over and over that you need to exercise and eat right in order to be healthy and fit. Most likely, you've read enough articles on exercise to know that supine lumbar/thoracic spinal flexion is the

technical term for crunches and just as many weight loss articles to know that 3500 calories are equivalent to one pound of fat. But here is one life skill that is not emphasized enough if you want to live a healthy lifestyle: cooking.
If your culinary skills end at being able to turn on your oven to the correct setting to heat up a frozen pizza you're in trouble.
It's not enough knowing that ground turkey breast is a healthier choice compared to ground chuck, or that grilled skinless chicken breast will save you many more calories from fat versus chicken fried with the skin on if you don't have a clue about how to prepare either one.

Leaving the cooking up to someone else limits your options and limits your chance of progress and success, especially if the food is prepared outside of your kitchen. Getting a sub from the national sandwich chain may be a smarter choice than a double bacon cheeseburger, but variety is the key to many things, like adhering to a healthy nutrition program.

So if your idea of cooking is nuking a frozen meal in the microwave, your health and your fitness (especially fat loss) program will get a big boost if you invest time in learning to master the skills of the kitchen. You can probably find a class at a local community college, but I'd bet you already know someone that could teach you the basics for free. Also, they'll likely enjoy the company and help that you'll be providing.