Why do I hate the Kitchen?
Have you tried again and again to make a meal plan and stick to it? Tried to use what you bought from the grocery store, but end up defeated and discouraged and eating frozen pizza once again? Sometimes merely making a meal plan and a schedule isn’t just as simple as sitting down to plan. Many times it is a lot harder than that for more complicated reasons.
Health isn’t as simple as eating right, thinking right, moving right, sleeping enough…those are some great building blocks but….eating raw broccoli everyday will never equal wellness or health when you are in a toxic or abusive relationship. Exercising daily will never give you the body you desire when you don’t even view your body as lovely and beautifully made. Health is holistic. The spiritual, physical, emotional and mental wellness is all connected. So making a meal plan seems to be just a physical thing…yet, what if growing up your mother shooed you out of the kitchen daily, scolded you for making a mess when you tried to help, openly told you how much she hated cooking. Or once you got old enough to bring a covered dish to a party, you overheard someone talking about how terrible your dish was or if it just was left untouched the whole evening? These things seems unrelated to why you can’t stick to your meal plan…but are they? Often times, we have deeper emotional pain or hurt from our childhood or past we need to work through and process before we even sit down with cookbooks and try to meal plan.
Do you need to forgive your mom for shooing you out of the kitchen? Do you need to forgive yourself for sneaking sweets as a child and let go of the shame that was created in you surrounding food from a young age? Do you need to ask God what he thinks of you and your ability to create food? Do you need to forgive someone for cutting you or your abilities down that left you never wanting to try a new recipe again? I’d encourage you to sit with a journal and ask God to show you things that are blocking your ability to enjoy the kitchen. Ask him if there is any person or situation you need to fully forgive and let go of. Ask Him what he thinks of you, and invite Him to help you move forward.
In my opinion, sitting and figuring out the deeper reason for your distaste of the kitchen…is much much harder than actually cutting up a cucumber for a salad. This is the work of the heart and mind and its hard yet purposeful work. I pray it will truly free you up to begin desiring to pull out that cutting board and slice up the cucumber, rather than dreading the thought of the kitchen. God cares SO deeply for you and desires health…but he cares about all of you—your heart, mind, and soul. Invite him into this process with you and then move forward with freedom and confidence. You are welcome to refer back to my blog post The Kitchen as a Haven not a Headache and What’s For Dinner to learn the practical parts of meal planning after you put in the harder work. And don’t forget to email me for a Living With Hope Meal Planning Template to jot your meals on. :)
Ps. Believe me, I know how hard this work can be…but I also promise you it is worth the freedom and hope it brings to struggle through the hard.
-Chels
