Cooking and preparing meals
Do you find that cooking takes more effort than it used to? Perhaps you can still manage it, but you’re exhausted afterwards. Or you’re increasingly opting for ready meals. Because chopping, lifting, standing and tidying up take up too much energy. That can be frustrating, especially if you want to look after yourself or others properly. Cooking is not just about making a meal. It requires organisation, planning, movement and energy. You have to decide what you’re going to eat. Then you have to gather the ingredients, chop them, cook them, keep an eye on them and then tidy up. If just one of those steps becomes difficult, cooking can quickly feel like a huge chore.
What do you notice?
Cooking can become more of a chore in various ways. Sometimes it is mainly down to physical exertion. Sometimes, however, it is the planning or keeping track of things that is the problem.
You may, for example, notice that:
- you have little energy to cook;
- Standing in the kitchen for a long time is hard work;
- cutting, stirring or lifting causes pain;
- you have difficulty with hot pans or sharp knives;
- you forget what you were doing;
- you skip meals more often;
- you eat a less varied diet;
- doing the shopping and cooking together is too much;
- Clearing up after dinner is left undone.
Sometimes, the joy of cooking can fade away. What was once relaxing or enjoyable then becomes something you dread.
