Eating habits are a strange thing. Habit, being an operative word. How much of our eating is dictated by habit?

I would say: all of it. If I look at my own eating habits, they definitely follow lines of habit and repetition. If you know how to make a handful of dishes, those are the dishes you will stick to in a pinch. So knowledge is one part. If you routinely go to this store, at that time, then you will also tend to buy the same things, in the same ways.

Another part is context or situation. For example, if you have worked a long day at the office and have sat in traffic for over an hour. Your priority, might be just to get home, have a shower and relax for the few hours you have before bed. If you are so inclined, this may mean that stopping at a fast food establishment is your go to option. In isolation, or on occassion, this might be okay. However, if you work late often, then it will rapidly become habit. A bad habit. Such an eating habit can then quickly cascade down into other areas of your life, such as exercise and general health and ultimately self-esteem if you find yourself becoming ever wider and heavier.

As a result, if you are then thinking about changing your eating habits, what you need to consider is not only food or cooking itself, but habit changes and on a deeper level such as lifestyle and mindset change. Taking the above example, if you are eating a lot of take away foods, which, with apps such as Uber Eats making this far easier than ever, to eat healthier means that you need to start from the root causes of the habit. Which might not even be related to food. This could mean, leaving work earlier, this may mean you need to re-arrange your work somehow since it could involve getting to work earlier, or being more disciplined about your process, priorities or time and energy management at work. It would also require planning ahead. In order to cook food, you need to have the necessary foods in the fridge or cupboard, which will mean you need some idea of what you are going to cook ahead of time. In any event, just from this example, you can see that all of these elements start to build up on one another. At the root of which, is a change of mind, heart and habit.

In my experience, you need to embrace the idea of food or cooking as a hobby or an interest. Layered on top of that is the idea that hobbies are a way to wind-down and have fun. Even if hobbies are strenuos, they ultimately are a means of release. They get the mind and body into a better state. Take an interest in what you put into your body and accept that this takes time and skill (and money) to learn and develop. Much like any hobby. For me, a big switch was changing my mindset from seeing cooking as a chore on the steps towards feeling full, to seeing cooking as a way to wind-down, relax and ultimately, have fun. Primarily this involves putting on some good music, pouring a glass of wine and getting moving. Music is an important part of this. Since, while I often listen to music while working, I tend toward repetition in that I might play the same song, artist or album over and over again. It does not lend itself toward exploration. When playing music while cooking, I tend to explore more, listen to new suggestions and albums and just let it run. Skipping tracks if it ruins the vibe.

Secondarily, and this might sound strange, but I find that cooking is a process of moving, the music gets my mind moving to a happier, more relaxed state. Then, mentally going through what I am going to cook, gets me physically moving through the kitchen and laying out the ingredients and utensils I need. Once all the necessaries are laid out, I then start to prep, which typically means chopping, cutting or doing whatever needs to be done to whatever needs to be cooked. Once that is done, I then start cooking. I tend to wash-up as I go too. Which involves more movement. This means I am continually moving, which, to my mind, combined with the music relaxing my mind, and the gentle movements relaxing my body, switch me into a totally different mindset than I was before.

I am no expert on food. I am no expert cook either. I have no input to give beyond the idea that, the key, at least for me, is that mindset switch: Move from seeing cooking as a chore to seeing cooking as fun way to wind down. It makes all the difference!