Lose Weight, Save Time: Get Quicker in the Kitchen

Posted: Jan 30 in Post-Bariatric Diet by Staff

We all have the same number of hours in each day, but those hours can seem significantly shorter as you juggle your old responsibilities with the new challenges of sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass or gastric band in Ft. Myers or Naples. With so much to do, it can seem impossible to prepare the healthy meals you’ll need after weight loss surgery—and yet doing so is a must.

Fortunately, there are many ways to expedite the cooking process. If you work hard to improve the efficiency of your cooking skills, you can provide yourself with fully nutritious meals and still save time to tackle all the other important things in life.

Ready to turn your kitchen into a well-oiled machine? Start by:

• Organizing. If you seem to spend more time searching for your utensils than cooking with them, it may be time to do a bit of rearranging. Put similar utensils together in drawers closest to where you’ll need them and find out-of-the-way areas to store bulky, rarely-used appliances. You should also try to make it easier to access the ingredients you use most. Keep spices within easy reach of the stove and put your favorite healthy foods front and center in the fridge and pantry.
• Planning. Cookbooks and recipe sites can be great for finding new ideas, but digging through them for a meal idea right before dinnertime can delay your meal considerably. It’s a good idea to plan a whole week’s meals in advance—you’ll always know what to start cooking and can buy all the groceries you need for the week at once.
• Getting technological. These days, there are countless tools that can help you prepare a meal in an efficient way. The microwave can be a tremendous time-saver and is useful for everything from thawing meat to steaming vegetables. A crockpot will slow cook a delicious soup or stew for hours without your attention, greeting you with a finished meal when you arrive home from work. A rice cooker can also be a valuable investment—this handy appliance can be used for quick sautéing, steaming, stewing and, of course, cooking rice.

If you think you just don’t have time to eat healthy, think again. There are endless ways to save time in your kitchen, so don’t let a busy day stand in the way of your progress after sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass or gastric band in Ft. Myers or Naples.