I never thought I would be writing a post on this, but here goes. My goal is to share any and everything that has helped me in my journey through anxiety in hopes it reaches someone who needs it, so why not share that cooking and baking have been completely life-giving for me.
Throughout my health journey, which I explained in this post, I became more interested in cooking. I should say, more interested in finding ways to cook and bake traditionally “unhealthy” meals in a healthy, hearty, and nutritious way. It seemed like a challenge–a challenge I was eager to take on.
Defining “Healthy”
Before I continue, let me preface this post, by saying that “healthy” means something different to everyone. You have to find what your “healthy” looks like. For me, it was using whole ingredients, using less refined sugars and replacing them with natural sweeteners, using nutritious flours and items throughout my recipes. This took me some time to get used to. I would panic that these ingredients were more calorically dense, but I have been working over the last few years (and still currently) to fight my desire for low-calorie meals and continue on a path of fueling my body with the best whole foods.
Now, back to it… I started by scouring our good ‘ol friend, Instagram, looking for “healthy” recipes. Little did I know, there is an entire world out there! Some of my first favs were (and still are) Rachl Mansfield, Rachel Good Eats, Beachside Kitchen, Just Jessie B, and Eating Bird Food! Give them a follow…I promise you won’t be disappointed by their deliciousness. I started by taking some of the recipes that had my mouth watering and recreating them. I will admit I did not always follow exactly. I enjoyed improvising with ingredients I had in the house and putting my own twist on recipes.
A NEW FOCUS
This gave me a new focus and a project to my energy into. Cooking and baking gave me an end goal and a finished product, which I got to enjoy and feel great about eating. I noticed as I would feel anxious, heading into the kitchen was such a stress reliever for me. It would excite me and keep my mind off of the anxiety.
Finding something that you enjoy that distracts you from the anxiety, the thoughts, and the spirals, can prove to be very helpful. Cooking and baking are not the only things that do that…they just happened to do that for me. Exercising has also done that for me. I wrote about that in another blog post, but although it doesn’t have as concrete of an end result, the conclusion of a workout and that feeling of accomplishment was so helpful for me to put my energy into. Although this does not cure anxiety, it helped me cut the spirals! Let’s face it…those are the absolute worst.
I challenge you to find something you enjoy that can help you cope and work through anxious moments. Try to find something with an end product that you can work towards.
What activities do you do that help alleviate your anxiety? Share them with us below.
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