5 Things that Nobody tells you about Better Health and a Happier you:

“Doctors hate me for telling you to eat this!”

First of all, the 5 things I am about to share with you are based of this age-old time-tested formula. Here it is: Cooking + Eating + Exercising = Better Health = Happier You. Simple. There is no big surprise here just yet. If you were hoping to find some weird formula that involves me showing you a weird picture of some food that you have never seen before, I am sorry. If you were hoping to find a powerful clickbait caption like, “Doctors hate me for telling you to eat this! Because it works and they are wrong!”, I, again, apologize for disappointing.

Here is a picture of “some weird food” and the clickbait caption, “Doctors hate me for telling you to eat this! Because it works, and they are wrong!” (You want to know what this is? Take a guess. I will tell you what this is at the end of this post.)

Nobody tells you these 5 Things about this Formula

Here again, the good o’ formula:

Cooking + Eating + Exercising = Better Health = Happier You.

So, what is the big secret? I am sure you have heard about cooking your own food, eat out less, eating the right food at the right time at the right amount, and exercising regularly would get you better health. And, I am sure we all know, better physical health can also bring better mental health; which makes us happier. This all sounds very cliche and disappointing, when we were probably hoping for that “weird food to eat” and get that “better health” and “happier you”. We were probably disappointed because this age-old formula is boring, really boring. We have already done enough boring things throughout the day. It is hard to do all of these unexciting things, especially when the thought of them is already sounding like a chore. So, now, I am going to tell you that one secret to this age-old formula. The secret is, “fun”.

(Fun) Cooking + (Fun) Eating + (Fun) Exercising = Better Health = Happier You.

The element of “Fun” deserves way more attention than it gets. “Fun” by definition means “Enjoyable”. When things are enjoyable, they no longer become chores. We would just naturally want to do them. From this one little secret of “Fun”, here we have, the 5 things that nobody really talks about for better health and a happier you:

1. Find your Favorite Youtube Cooking Channel

I found mine. I like “Cooking with Dog”. No, you won’t find cooking recipes with dog as an ingredient. You will just find a nice Japanese lady showing you Japanese food recipes with her dog Francis chilling next to her.  Francis is the show’s co-host. He will be speaking in English to you, showing you the rope. Having a good chef to show you around the kitchen can make cooking more enjoyable and less of a headache. Having a dog telling me what to cook is even better. I love dogs.

My German Shepherd Dog Pupster and my oversized coffee mug with another white German Shepherd Dog on it. ❤

2. Remember the balance: Fun and Health

Then, of course, be mindful of the recipes you are looking for, when you are cooking for health too. Going for recipes from “Epic Meal Time” is probably fun for a little bit, but you might not get that “better health” and that “happier you” in the long run.  For starter, why don’t you take a look at this Japanese chicken noodle recipe from “Cooking with Dog”.  (Oh, yeah, when you click into this video, you will find out, Francis the dog has passed away just few months ago. Oops. Bummer. So much for adding fun into this with the news of a fallen youtube star. He did live up to 14 years old though. So, that is nice.)

3. Presentation of your food

I have gotten some new dishes that I absolutely adore. Not only I have cooked more this week since I have gotten these dishes on Day 1 of this blog, the pattern of these dishes sure made my food more interesting to eat and more fun for you to look at. 🙂

4. Try a health food from another culture

For a safer, less adventurous choice, tofu is a great one. They are low in calories and nutritious with amino acids. Tofu has grown popular in North America and is easy to find at the supermarket. There are plenty of popular recipes out on google too. Then, because “tofu is too mainstream”, because I am more of a hipster than I would admit, and because I live in Los Angeles so I have access to this food fairly easily, I have picked the Japanese Konjac (Yam Jelly). This is my “health food from another culture” to try because this whole block in the picture below is only 20 calories. The taste is blend and the texture is chewy with a rubbery crunch. (Rubbery crunch, doesn’t sound delicious, but it sure sounds “Fun”, right?) Honestly, it is not bad. If you have tried “fish cakes” from Japanese hotpot, that is the texture. I have cooked some up in my miso soup to eat it warm. And, I have cut some up, straight from the fridge, to eat it cold with garlic miso paste. I liked them all. And here is a recipe from “Cooking with dog” that uses Konjac, if you would like to learn more about it.

Pupster was interested in this Konjac business too.

5. Start Slow

May it be your cooking plan, eating plan, or exercise plan, don’t burn out. It is a game of persistence and habit building, not sparks of energy and spontaneous revolutions.  Start slow. This is especially the case for exercising, if you are not used to exercising. Find your pace and build on it.

 

So, what was that in the “Weird Food Picture”?

It was marmite and butter on a piece of toasted baguette.

That was the first time that Pupster did not chase after us for a piece of bread. She really did not like marmite. (Haha)

 

Do you like marmite? Does your dog like marmite? How do you achieve good health when having fun doing it? Leave me a comment and start chatting. 🙂