Getting started is the hardest part of any task! In sales training at a job years ago, someone shared a tip: Make your worst phone call first – meaning, make the call you most want to avoid making before you do anything else. Why? Because you won’t be productive if you’re distracted by all the things you’ll do to avoid making that call.
And if you’ll avoid things at work even though your income depends on doing them, it will be even more tempting to avoid things at home – especially if they primarily benefit you. This can be an obstacle to cooking healthy meals for one.
If you find yourself avoiding the kitchen then throwing away food that has spoiled, here are some tips to help get you cooking:
Buy ingredients that appeal to you in the moment. You may not want to totally abandon your shopping list or meal planning, but buying an ingredient you want to eat immediately can help motivate you to prepare it. Today, a cantaloupe was calling my name so I added it to my cart.
Use ingredients in a new way. As summer slooooowly turns to fall, my cucumbers continue to produce. I decided to try baking them. After a very simple preparation with onion, salt, pepper, and fresh basil, I’m now inspired to play with a mix of flavor, color, and texture.
Choose ingredients that inspire you. Sometimes I’ll see a vanilla bean or cardamom pod and begin to think of all the things I’d love to use them in. That’s the time to buy and use that ingredient. Inspiration is a great motivator.
Look at the price. I know this can be a sore subject when groceries continue to be expensive, but looking at the price of restaurant delivery or takeout provides excellent motivation for me to cook. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat at my computer when I’m tired and hungry, put a delivery order in, and then removed it from my cart because I just can’t justify the cost.
Invite someone over or offer to take someone a meal. We often muscle through avoidance when other people are involved. I sometimes share a portion of my food with my neighbor whose husband recently died.
Plan less. Sometimes planning begins to feel like pressure that leaves you wanting to abandon the project. You may have to throw together a salad to fill in some gaps, but that’s healthy so not a problem.
Change clothes. This really falls under the category of making things more fun. Don a chef’s hat and put the emphasis on plating like a chef. Wear your swimsuit and pack things for a trip to the kiddie pool in the back yard. Blast your favorite metal band and bang your head. Make up recipe rhymes. Dust every dish with raw sugar. Whatever makes the chore more enjoyable can fall under this category.
I’m going to stop here and go bake some rolls. Yes, I’ve been avoiding baking them. I’m prepping to film a special gluten-free bread episode of Cooking2Thrive and there are many required tasks that allowed me to push back the actual baking.
But I’m feeling inspired by some salsa awaiting me on my neighbor’s porch later this afternoon. That and the fact that I promised her some rolls. See how that works?
Anyway, you deserve healthy food even if you’re the only one around to consume it. And you can always share, but not if you avoid getting started.
