Step 4 : Eating home cooked meal Vs Eating out

geetadamle · Nov 17, 2010

I feel there should be no discussion about which one of "eating home cooked meal" or "eating out" is better. Hands down "eating home cooked meal" wins. But, each one of you can give me many reasons why you like to eat outside. Let me give you the reasons stating why I like to eat at home.

1. MONEY : Needless to mention, eating at home saves money. Eating outside is way more costlier than eating at home. If my husband and I go outside and order one appetizer and one entree, it costs us around $15. And mind it we order just one appetizer and one entree.
If you plan to order separate entrees or a drink it will cost even more and not to mention the taxes and the tips.

When it comes to buying organic food from grocery store, we all have excuses. Why can't we eat at home and use that money to buy healthy organic stuff.You can start by having atleast one organic meal a day. I prefer to have organic breakfast.

This is what it cost's us
$6 : 1 Gallon Organic milk
$4 : 1 dozen Organic eggs from vegeterian,cage free hens
$3 : 1 packet Organic whole wheat bread
$2 : 3 lbs Organic bananas

It takes some effort and lot of planning to cook a timely meal at home. But it is worth it. You can also use the money saved by eating at home in buying a packet of roasted nuts or whole wheat pasta (instead of semolina pasta).

2. BUFFET SYSTEM : Few years ago I had become a big fan of the buffet system. You can pay around $8 for lunch and then eat as much as you can. I used to be eat until I was full and then not eat anything for the rest of the day. I hate myself even if I think of this. If you have to eat outside, never eat at a buffet system. Our body really does not need so many unhealthy things at a time. A meal does not have to be 10 things.

3. SHARING FOOD : I do not recommend eating out at all. But still if you are eating out that does not mean you should eat as much as you can. Just because it is listed on the menu card, you are not supposed to have a 7 course meal. You can have a side of a simple salad WITHOUT DRESSING and one entree. And this must be shared between 2 or half of the portion should be taken along to be eaten later. Specially in the USA, the portion sizes are much bigger than we are supposed to eat. So you must share your food.

4. PORTION SIZE AND CALORIES : A small burger or a plate of pasta or a small cheese cake might have 1000's of calories. You may feel that you must have them and later regret. If you can, just try to find out the calories before eating anything otherwise, if you have options like subway stick to eating there. And remember no dressing in your sub. Dressing has the most number of calories. Needless to mention choose whole wheat bread where ever you can.

5. WHY SHOULD YOU EAT OUT ON WEEKENDS?
Most of the times people eat out during weekends. They think its a way to relax. According to me, one should eat out when he/she is hungry outside home and has no other option. While doing so, one should choose best of the available options. On weekends, we usually have lot of free time. I love to make my grocery list and buy the healthiest stuff myself. I like to plan ahead for the week and take my time cooking healthy meals. If you can't have healthy stuff during weekdays, you should concentrate on having it atleast during weekends. There is no excuse to that.

6. EXCUSES! EXCUSES! EXCUSES!
You can give n number of excuses for eating unhealthy stuff outside, but I am not going to buy those If you go out for movie or shopping make sure you eat at home. Carry a bottle of water and protein bars with you. You can have them if you feel hungry. That way you will not have the excuse of eating at a fast food joint or munching pop-corn through out the movie.

7. INVOLVE FAMILY
You can involve your family members husband, kids in small activities while cooking. That way cooking will not remain a boring activity.

8. DO IT FOR YOURSELF
Food cooked in restaurants uses lot of oil, does not use best of the ingredients, healthiest vegetables, may not be fresh, may be full of preservatives. If I wish to eat something I try to cook it at home. That way I am sure that it is fresh, made in less oil with freshest ingredients and no preservatives. It may taste different from the restaurant food, but hey I love my body. I must feed it the best. You should realize this too.
I used to love eating hummus, pita bread, falafel, thai curries, dosas, paneer, tandoori rotis, parathas, pasta at restaurants. Every now and then I used to request my husband to take me to mediterranean, south-indian, punjabi,italian or thai restaurant. Now I can make all these dishes at home my own way. They taste awesome and are in the healthiest forms.

Please understand our health is in our hand. There is no shame in carrying home cooked food to work. You can start a trend. If you stop eating out, you will automatically lose weight. You will feel better and look better.

-Geeta
If you love yourself, don't eat out.