Healthy eating for one can be a pain. It's tempting to buy ready
meals when you are eating on your own, but these can be laden with
hidden fat and salt.
Unfortunately,
healthy eating for one is rarely promoted in the media, and often the
images given to us singletons are those of Bridget Jones' eating ice
cream in her pyjamas, but healthy eating on your own doesn't need to be
depressing.
The most difficult thing when cooking for one is that
it is hard to make single size portions, and you don't want to end up
eating the same leftovers for a whole week. The second hurdle is
motivating yourself to cook after a long day at work, when you get on
from a hard day the last thing you want to do is spend an hour rustling
up a healthy meal.
There is also the question of space, many of us
singletons live in studio apartments with limited fridge and worktop
space, which can make cooking a nightmare.
So how can healthy
eating for one be achieved without too much fuss and hassle? Here are a
few tips that can make eating on your own a healthy and enjoyable
experience:
There are many online resources to teach you the basics
of cooking. Video blogs are ideal, but simply searching 'learn how to
cook' will provide you with numerous options. For the technophobes,
there are many easy to follow cookbooks, pop into your local bookshop
and let them know you are looking for the basics!
- Adapt to your environment
Although the chefs on TV all seem to be cooking in
warehouse sized kitchens, it doesn't mean you can't make delicious meals
with limited space and tools. Look out for 'one pot' recipes and
resources aimed specifically at small spaces. Again there are many blogs
out there specifically for smaller kitchens, simply tap 'cooking in a
small kitchen' into your search bar.
- Make your own ready meals
When you have a bit of spare time, perhaps on a Sunday
when you have exhausted all the trash TV, make some meals that can be
frozen in individual servings. You can buy the foil containers for
individual portions, and stews, soups and casseroles are perfect for
freezing and can be knocked up relatively easily. They are also easy to
make in one pot, so perfect for that tiny oven!
Healthy eating doesn't need to be difficult, by simply
replacing ingredients for healthier ones you can cut saturated fat in
half. Opt for white meats over red, for example, replacing beef mince
with turkey mince in bolognaise will cut the fat to `lmost nothing.
One of the most frustrating things about healthy eating
for one is wasting food. Supermarkets don't sell many things in single
portions, so make sure you have plenty of Tupperware to hand for
freezing and storing things in the fridge. It's also a good idea to buy
some labels to date all your stored items so you don't end up with year
old meals festering in the back of your freezer.