For Love of Food
My passion for cooking comes from eating dinner with my family every night while growing up and from my grandmothers. As far as I can remember, they were always in the kitchen cooking meals or baking.
When I’m cooking and creating, I can feel them with me. My mom’s mom ran a business and catered for large groups, and my grandmother, on my dad’s side, always cooked for her family and often baked for small events with family and friends in mind. With so many memories, I’ve been inspired over the years.
Before I’d gotten into fitness, my mental release from the corporate world was to bake. I’m talking delicious, calorie-dense treats (like cakes and birthday cakes), later given to family, friends, and co-workers. My mom (who believes in organic and nutritious foods) always asked me to create healthier treats, but I wasn’t interested back then. I wanted the satisfaction of pleasing people with what I thought was best. When I got into health and fitness, it finally clicked, and I began making healthy treats (like the ones from my treat recipes on my website), and of course, more nutritious meals. Click here: https://liznaccarato.com/nutrition-plans for recipes that make you feel good! As my mom reads this, with a slightly sarcastic and cute eye roll, I can hear her say, “I told you so.”
To feel my best, I know eating healthy is the key. I love introducing people to foods they haven’t experienced. When someone says, “I don’t like tofu,” I introduce my tofu chocolate protein balls. No one can ever tell there’s tofu in them.
One of my favourite philosophies is that ‘fed people are always the happiest.’ For me, great conversations are had over the dinner table, along with laughter and satisfaction!
As a foodie and someone who loves to cook, I used to think, “How do I stay healthy and fit while enjoying the foods I love.” The answer is portion control and understanding nutritional value and how those things affect my body. For over eight years, I’ve helped women lose weight, and it’s never been about restrictions, which can lead to binging on foods we’ve removed from our lives. My favourite food is pasta, but I limit portion size to one cup instead of having a big bowl. I add a protein like a chicken breast or prawns and a veggie on the side or in with the pasta to feel full and satiated. If you love burgers, eat a burger with half a bun and a side of veggies, or opt for one wrapped in lettuce, with yam fries or fries (easy on the salt).
Remember, we need to eat to live. Living our lives worrying about what we’re eating every day and how it affects our bodies is added stress we don’t need (and stress increases our cortisol, making it hard to lose weight). So, let’s nourish our bodies and use food to feed the body, mind and soul.
Stay updated.
Sign up for my nutrition & fitness newsletter!
