We have all heard plenty of advice on how to eat healthier. Add vegetables. Lower salt. Avoid sugar. Remove sweeteners. Eat whole foods. By the time we make all of these adjustments, what is left? We want to eat for health, but we don’t want our food to be bland or boring. Making healthy meals taste great is the key to making sustainable lifestyle changes.
Carol Dearth, chef at the Sizzleworks Cooking School in Bellevue, has been tackling this issue with much-needed delicious and healthy cooking classes. Carol is London Cordon Bleu trained and an adult health education specialist, who involves a local naturopathic doctor and a certified health coach in planning and instructing her classes.
“People go to the doctor with their medical issues. They are given restrictive diets to follow, like low calorie, low sodium or low carb. But they are not given the skills to sustain such restrictions over time,” says Carol. “What they really need are tools and techniques to make healthy eating possible for the duration of their lives.”
Carol and her team at Sizzleworks have created the Real Foods for Life series to teach step-by-step techniques for cooking healthy meals without losing the enjoyment of eating satisfying food. The series can be taken in its entirety (six sessions) or students can take individual sessions that address specific concerns like smart snacking or budget-friendly meal planning.
Most of Carol’s students are men and women between the ages of 30-65. She says that many of them are cooking for their families when they or their children have special or restrictive dietary needs. They are seeking knowledge about cooking gluten-free, lactose-free, or allergen-free. The series is designed around preparing whole foods, with no colors, sweeteners, or other food additives. The goal is to help students realize that it can be both fun and satisfying to implement wellness-oriented cooking and eating plans.
“The probability of adoption and maintenance of new eating habits over time is dependent upon three factors: how enjoyable the process of planning and preparing meals becomes, how delicious the meals are and how they impact individual health,” explains Carol.
“The key to planning and preparing delicious, healthy meals is to unleash the student’s creativity and develop strong culinary skills. If the final result of the student’s planning and preparation efforts are extraordinarily satisfying, they are going to keep it up for life!”
To learn how to make your meals healthy and eat them too, go to Connect2Classes.com.
Upcoming Real Foods for Life Classes:
Real Foods For Life Series – 6 Sessions
Cooking Lean Proteins and Starches
Menu Planning and Cost Control
