As you may know, No Drama Nutrition is all about nutrition without judgement. It is, and always will be a safe space for people in larger bodies to get evidence-based nutrition advice without reference to intentional weight loss. Believe me, this is a breath of fresh air for those living in fear of medical weight stigma.
In fact, I aim not to judge anyone for their nutrition or their medical history no matter how far it is from my own frame of reference.
But I must admit, my heart sinks a little when I come across someone who doesn’t want to cook at all.
I met a lady in this position a while ago. She has zero interest in cooking since her husband passed away and only eats ready meals.
This is not completely outside my frame of reference because my husband is exactly like this. We call him ‘The King of Ding’ because when he was single, he only ate ready meals out of the microwave or tins of soup, stew or rice pudding. Luckily, he married me. Not that we are perfect by any means, but he does now get freshly cooked food at least once a day on most days.
However, I can’t marry all my clients.
I had a lot of empathy for this lady. I can imagine that cooking for one in later life isn’t really an adventure; it just feels rather lonely. And perhaps there are a million other things she’s more interested in or occupied with than the business of preparing meals.
I do also think we put too much pressure on women especially to make every meal from scratch from fresh ingredients. Not only does it take time, but it requires continual innovation and creativity unless you’re prepared to eat the same things all the time. All this can be exhausting in an already overloaded schedule, but it’s seen as some kind of personal or moral failing if a woman can’t manage it sometimes or just doesn’t want to. I say ‘woman’ because even today, the bulk of responsibility for household tasks like meal planning and preparation falls to women. In my house I do 100%. I’d love it if my husband were to make a meal for me when I’m working until 9pm and then feel too tired to start making dinner, but it’s just never going to happen.
However, not cooking fresh food at all is not a way of life I’d recommend for optimal nutrition, nor for getting the most from your food in terms of flavour and texture.
If this is you, what can you do to get more nutrition without more stress?
First off, how about adding a fresh salad alongside your ready meal? In the amount of time it takes your meal to heat up, you can make a bowl with some lovely mixed leaves and whatever else you enjoy. Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, grated carrots, avocado, celery (my pet hate, but whatever floats your boat), avocado, peppers, beetroot, seeds, artichoke hearts. No cooking required at all, and you just gave yourself a flavour and nutrition boost. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice if you like, but you may prefer it naked, as we do.
Did you know that an omelette takes less time to make than a ready meal? Stuff it full of mushrooms (you can buy them ready-chopped or even frozen if you’d rather chop up your own fingers than chop vegetables, or if you’re in danger of doing both at once). Add some leftover cold meat and/or some cheese, put some salad on the side, and you’ve got yourself a meal in less than 10 minutes. Or, personally, I prefer a frittata, which is nearly as quick and very delicious. You can take leftover slices to work the next day as well, for an instant packed lunch.
That’s just for starters, to get you going in minutes. For more simple tips if you feel overwhelmed or hate cooking, come back very soon for Part 2.