This is exhausting

[gogo548]

I mean it. I hate cooking! I wonder how many calories I burn in the kitchen? ;( I just did some batch cooking to help me get through the next few days. But honestly, I don't know how any working mom can keep up with all this cooking. sigh

Also, I feel like I'm obsessed! I feel like all I'm thinking about is planning meals.

Sorry - needed to vent!

gogo

[moonfruit]

Re: This is exhausting

i feel your pain...!!

i've only just finished my first week on atkins and, even tho i don't mind cooking, right now i feel like that's all i'm doing, plus calculating combinations of net carbs and coming up with meal plans...

i'm hoping it gets better after a while as things start to fall into place, so that i can explore other parts of my house rather than just the kitchen...

[ingridz]

Re: This is exhausting

That is hilarious Moonfruit.
When I'm really busy I put a bunch of fresh ribs or chicken wings in the oven (nicely spiced), and then in small portions in the freezer.
I also often buy some, already cut in small strips, fresh meat and saute it, then I'm adding vegetables in the last moment. Those I don't put in the freezer.

Good luck

[ConnieC]

Re: This is exhausting

HI gogo,
I feel the exact same way about cooking. But I've been doing this WOE a couple of weeks and here's my lightbulb moment--
I gained all this weight because I was eating easy things that are not good for me. So I've been finding new easy habit food, because easy habit food is the way I roll.

--Which doesn't mean I've embraced cooking. It means I've gotten more creative. Here are some of the things I've found:
My favorite snack now is guacamole on cheddar cheese cubes that have been microwaved. Easy-peasy--put the cubes on wax paper and microwave a minute or so until crisp. I found guacomole, made with only avocados and jalepeno pepper juice at my local grocery in boxes of 6 each 100 calorie packets (5 grams of carbs each), which means opening one packet doesn't make the rest of it bad quickly. Very quick to fix. Easy to eat one-handed which is how I dine while I work.

I bought a bag of pre-cooked chicken breasts, which has a load of preservatives, I'm sure, but it's better than falling off the WOE wagon. I pop one in the microwave for 3 minutes while I get dressed in the morning and eat it for breakfast along with last night's left over veggies. Yes, it's unconventional, but it works. And I don't get hungry midmorning. And there's always the boiled egg thing, but it gets old fast for me.

And on the veggie front, I've decided to pay a dime or two more for the frozen veggies that I can microwave in their own bag. Yes, it's simple to buy the less expensive kind, dig out a glass bowl and microwave them, but somehow all those steps keep me from doing it. (I know, it makes no sense because while they're nuking, I dig out that very same glass bowl to dump them in once they're done. But trying to argue logic with my pysche when I have my subconscious mind made up has proven to be fruitless.)

Hope some of these suggestions help.

BTW, also found some Sam's Club labelled Brushette which is completely legal for induction, but I found that too many tomatoes stall me, so I have to eat it sparingly.

And, in the end, I got into jeans this week that I had outgrown a while back. So all the change is worth it to me.

[Dryunderwater]

Re: This is exhausting

Connie C said: "trying to argue logic with my pysche when I have my subconscious mind made up has proven to be fruitless"

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! This could sum up a lot of areas of my life....I love it. That is too cute.

[booklady]

Re: This is exhausting

I find if I cook a couple of times a week it takes the stress off. I will hard boil up a dozen eggs, cook up a pack of chicken thighs, cook up some turkey patties and make up some chicken breasts or steak or a roast, what ever I feel like doing but at least three or four kinds of meat, along with the eggs and I steam up a big bunch of veggies as well. I also keep a bunch of the steam fresh veggies in the freezer as well. It gives me quick options. If I want some cheese available as snacks I will get out my scale and cut up my cheddar into one ounce sticks. That way I have no cooking for a few days up to as many as five days exept maybe a salad, but sometimes I will wash up a bunch of lettuce greens, dry them and bag them, then I only spend one day every four to five days in the kitchen and it really does not take me that long to do it all and I have easy snacks and meals all week. I honestly have not found it to be overwelming at all and other than peeling an eggs and adding mayo to make deviled eggs or to to just eat them plain, or to take the lettuce out of the bag and cut up a couple of other veggies, all I have to do is plate and heat up in the micro wave and it is wonderful !! Cooking bacon and eggs does not take that much time when I have that either.
It really is all up in our heads and that is what we have to overcome. I have fallen off t his plan more times than I can even count at this point and it always was because of my thinking.
Figure out how what would make it easier on you and work the plan that way. For me, it is cooking up ahead of time plenty of food so I never have the excuse of not having time, or being too tired and what not. I never let the food run out before I cook up stuff again
I honestly find it easier than the way I used to eat once I have the food prepared for the week, so give that a try if you do not like cooking every day. I find it makes all the differance to my life and woe when I am prepared !!
Stephie

[ThinSoon]

Re: This is exhausting

It's true, I find that I cook much less with this WOE.

Look for member "Brook" thread on what she does on Sundays within an hour or two for the week! Really, it will save you time and you will always have something for breakfast, lunch and dinner!!

Tracey

[poobears1972]

Re: This is exhausting

I prefer my meat fresh cooked, though I do nibble on left over steak for snacks when I have it. So what I do is prep my meat. I cut my chicken breast into thin strips, trim my beef, press out any hamburger patties etc. Then I keep them in the fridge and when I want something I just toss it on an electric griddle I have (like you'd make pancakes on $20-$30 at WM).

Only takes a minute and I have nice freshly cooked meat to eat. I also use it to make my turkey bacon and eggs on when I have them.

[ConnieC]

Re: This is exhausting

my dh won't eat "leftovers" which, to him, means anything cooked ahead of time, then refrigerated to be eaten later. So cooking ahead doesn't work for him--okay, or for me, either. Not becuase of the leftover issue but becuase I can't stay interested in cooking enough to do more than one meal at a time. My attention drifts to other stuff I'd much rather be doing.

Wanna hear something bizarre? I'm writing a novel right now that is into cooking. But in my book, no one ever has to clean the kitchen--which I think is my big objection to cooking, after all. Isn't fiction grand?