Health and Fitness

The Cooking Class Rage and What it can do For You

By Sherri Mraz

These days practically everyone loves cooking classes. Cooking is not only on the food channels now but it is also on prime time TV.

Did you know that recipes are Googled more than 300,000 times a month?!  

Once someone finds a recipe they love they generally hold on to it. Just the other day I found a recipe card that a realtor had sent me back in the 80’s! Apparently I really liked that recipe!

People are quick to throw out brochures and junk mail but they don’t usually throw out recipes.  

One of my favorite things to do in my cooking classes is provide not just the recipes, but also a handout with the health benefits that go along with the ingredients in the recipes. This gets you motivated to choose healthier food choices when you know why you should eat certain foods.

WHY attend a healthy cooking class …

·      Maybe you are one of those people who everyone is always asking advice from, now you have even more resources to help educate your friends and family. If helping people and giving them information that will change their health and improve their lives is what you are all about you owe it to yourself to attend a healthy cooking class.

·      I believe everyone has a moral obligation to try and grow your gifts and use them to make the world a better place. If your calling is to help spread the message about healthy eating and wellness attend a class to see what to model after. This will help you, your family and those who you come in contact with.

·      Maybe you are tired of going in circles and trying to figure out what a real healthy meal should look like.  If you are ready to learn a set plan that will help you build a healthy meal planning strategy attend a class with a certified wellness cooking class instructor.

I guarantee that this will not look like your old Home Economics class. The new research does not support what we have been taught in school.

Here’s my top 3 busted myths…

·      All calories are not equal to each other. The 100 calories in your apple are not equal to your 100 calorie Oreo snack pack. One has vital vitamins and minerals that feed the body while the other has empty calories.

·      You do not need to eat a portion of protein with every meal. I have tons of vegan friends that are body builders.  The difference between plant based (yes, plants contain protein) and animal protein is the amount of amino acids and their absorption capabilities. You can read more about this here.

o   The negative response that the body has from the animal protein, as in saturated fat and cholesterol is worth examining.

o   Back even just 100 years ago people did not eat animals with every meal. If nothing else think about the impact on the environment and how unsustainable this lifestyle is.

·      Everyone should have milk or some form of dairy with their meals. This one is absurd. The fact that the schools still require children to have milk (which they end up throwing in the garbage) as a complete balanced meal is madness. Read more about dairy here.

o   Many people cannot tolerate the lactose or the casein in dairy, which triggers respiratory problems, symptoms of ADHD and autism.

o   Milk does not do a “body good” for a long time people have believed that calcium helps build strong bones. America is hooked on supplements, calcium being one of them. Bones are a living breathing part of the anatomy; too much calcium causes the bones to become so hard that they lose their flexibility, hence making them more susceptible to break, not less!

That is just a small sliver of the types of information that is covered in a “HEALTHY COOKING CLASS.” This is not the same class that you will get when you are watching “Chopped.” Although those shows are fun, the glutinous behavior that comes out of them is not fun when it shows up in your health.

Imagine what your life would be like if someone gave you healthy eating recipes and re-courses to help you work a plan to get a healthier kitchen and household. Imagine if you didn’t feel alone or overwhelmed anymore.

This is why I teach healthy cooking classes and have since created a course to not only help the public, but to help train health advocates how to teach healthy cooking.

My mission is to build a brigade of healthy cooking class instructors worldwide to spread the message that healthy begins in the kitchen.

This information is so important, not just for the health advocate to grow their business but it is also important for the general public.

We as a nation spend $14 billion a year on medical costs, we have an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol; this information is critical to get out to the public.

Cooking classes are fun. You slip in the healthy food education. People may go there thinking that they’re just going to a cooking class to eat and have a good time but they leave with all these enlightened facts about food, they receive a health education as well as the cooking class, and this information will more than likely change their health and possibly the course of their lives.

We have built a searchable database of certified instructors that is for the general public to search for classes in the area nearest to them.

If you are interested in hosting a healthy cooking class or would like more information visit thewellnesscookingacademy.com and search for an instructor near you. If you have further questions or would like a little more information, you can go ahead and email us at [email protected] and will be happy to answer any of your questions.

If you would like to arrange a class for your group visit http://cookinyogi.com/private-parties/ we are looking forward to seeing you in a future class!!