Most of us in today’s fact paced world likes to believe that staying healthy can only be a God’s gift to some selected lot which the almighty likes to allocate carefully to only deserving people based on their past karma.

This is my very own belief. The assumption that people have is that only a fast metabolic system can help you lose weight. While it's true that metabolism is linked to weight, it may not be in the way you expect. In fact, contrary to common belief, a slow metabolism is rarely the cause of excess weight gain. Although your metabolism influences your body's basic energy needs, it's your food and beverage intake and your physical activity that ultimately determine how much you weigh.

I have been growing up with a concept ‘All good things in life are either fatty or Expensive.’ There is no harm in having a good life. Well, that was my way out to hide the guilt or to be lazy and conceding myself to an unhealthy life.

However, things started changing quickly enough after one fine day when I decided to let go off my extra baggage and to try attempting the impossible of losing weight without spending half of my precious time in working out in the gym. I always knew that I have a strong willpower and if I decide to do something, I attain it without faltering a bit so my inquisitive conscience started looking for ways which can give boost to my new found spree of losing it without literally losing ‘my mind.’

So this new awakening was not because I was very bulky but to find ways of leading a healthy life for the sake of many beautiful and important things in my life. I come from a family where everyone loves to eat and our favorite pastime is to invite others for a tasty meal. Both my parents were diabetic so it was always somewhere back of my mind that I should be careful about myself and I wanted to be fit for my little bundle of joy, my son. 

So, I started my Journey in March 2011 by finding an appropriate nutritionist for myself who guided me about the appropriate ways of eating healthy food and the best food that suites my body type. I was very lucky to find one nutritionist who acted as a superb help in introducing me to a world full of healthy and tasty food. I always thought that healthy food doesn't really taste good but she totally broke my myth and changed my perception about my eating habits. 

Soon I realized that it is not how much you work out or how much you eat. It is about choosing the right nutrients and ingredients. One of the major factors which help you in this process is cooking your own food. Cooking your own food allows you to choose your kind of ingredients and at the same time keeping the taste content intact. Therefore, cooking for me happens to be a great stress buster and acts as a weight loss tool instead of stressing myself in the gym to sweat out the excess fat.

What I learnt from the whole experience is that, in today's hectic world, cooking has become a luxury, while eating out is seen as a necessity. This is unfortunate, however, for, there are many benefits for people who cook their own food at home. 

Cooking food at home allows people to de-stress. During the weekdays, people have to rush from home to work and then to run other errands. By taking the time to cook food, people can slow down their schedule and go through the step-by-step process of creating food from scratch.

Another benefit of cooking is that people have more control over what they eat. Not only they can choose what ingredients to use also how to cook and how much to cook. This allows people, for one thing, to save money by only cooking the food they need instead of eating out and being forced to pay for food they may not eat. 
In restaurants, on the other hand, people can never be completely be sure that fresh ingredients are used.

In ‘Part 2’ I am gonna share the secrets and how small steps can actually make wonders.

Till then, cook healthy, eat healthy and live healthy…Enjoy food..

By Upasana Pathak