The Benefits of Home Cooking Vs. Eating Take Out

There are benefits to home cooking vs eating take-out. Let’s face it, we all love to eat out. It’s the perfect way to spend an evening with your spouse or catch up with friends and family. There is nothing like a night off of cooking and cleaning after a long day at work. However, there are some benefits to home cooking that you might not have considered before. Let’s explore these benefits in greater detail so you can decide which one is best for you!

The benefits of home cooking:

When possible, eat fresh fruits and vegetables to support overall health and wellness goals.

You know exactly how much salt, sugar, fat etc., goes into each meal when it’s homemade – which means having control over portion sizes so they are smaller if necessary (and healthier)! Let go of assumptions about serving size because just one restaurant meal could be two or three times more than you need.

You might be surprised at how much time it takes to cook a restaurant meal from scratch, especially if you have kids and cook for your entire family. Cooking at home doesn’t take nearly as long when the meals you prepare become part of a daily routine – grocery shopping lists included! Learning is fun when there are delicious snacks involved too. It’s also an excellent opportunity to teach children where food comes from and how different ingredients work together in recipes so they understand healthy eating habits early on.

The benefits of eating out:

Eating out can save precious minutes before pick up, making the difference when you have a busy schedule. Even if it’s just once in a while, this is an excellent time-saver!- When was the last time dinner waited until after soccer practice?

Try new restaurants or recipes without investing the money and time to buy all of the ingredients for home cooking – whether they are unusual spices or produce that isn’t always available at your local grocery store. You can also look for restaurants that use whole organic foods in all their recipes. No matter what you decide, there will be benefits to each option, so choose the best one for yourself based on which factors are most important.

The disadvantages of eating out

A few shocking facts: the average fast-food order comes in at between 1,100-1,200 calories. Did you know that when you eat out at a restaurant, you can end up eating almost all of your day’s calories in ONE MEAL than with home cooking?

Eating out is usually more expensive than buying groceries and preparing your food at home. The dining-out cost can add up quickly, but you get what you pay for, and most dining-out foods have unhealthy ingredients! It’s also worth mentioning that the quality of ingredients in takeout meals is often lower than what you would find at a grocery store or farmers’ market. With home cooking, you have total control of what’s in your food.

That’s a HUGE amount of your recommended daily intake. Women range from 1,600 to 2,400 calories a day. Men range from 2,000 to 3,000 calories a day, depending on size and activity level.

The advantages of having a healthy relationship with food: 

Healthy eating habits can help reduce stress levels since we know what we’re putting into our bodies and how much energy (calories) different foods provide us. The thought of restaurant meals might make you feel ill because you know that the food has trans-fats and preservatives. Processed foods, white bread and pasta, contain very little fibre, which means they digest quickly, causing fatigue after eating – not to mention weight gain!

Eating at home gives us control over what we eat (and don’t) regarding allergens like gluten or dairy products. When dining out, there’s always a risk of cross-contamination in shared cooking areas too. It might seem easier in the moment to order takeout, but you’re doing yourself a disservice if your goal is long-term health and wellness.- Make sure that this decision aligns with your goals so you can be successful in both types of meals.

Which is better for you? Home cooking or eating out? There are benefits to both, but it’s up to your lifestyle and goals. It’s not always easy to find the time or energy necessary for cooking at home. If this sounds like you, we have a solution! Join our private community on Facebook, where people share healthy recipes and challenges that will help you get back into your kitchen. We believe in a happy balance between eating out and dining in, so check us out today!

If you are looking for healthy on-the-go nutrition, then check out our nutrition solutions here and book a call today to get started.