Cooking With Confidence Results

Participants on our "Cooking with Confidence – for Health" courses show:

1. increased confidence in preparing healthy meals from scratch
2. increased competence in preparing healthy meals
3. evidence of take up of healthy eating messages and application of these in their cooking at home
4. evidence of increasing consumption of vegetables
5. evidence of reduced consumption of sugar and salt.
   
   

Anne Prince attended Weight Off Workshops run by Health Champions in Burgess Hill. These included our Cookery Champions courses focused on weight loss. Anne said that this course promoted her to change her diet and lifestyle "for good". Anne said:

"I lost weight on the course and also learnt to eat more healthily. I used to mainly eat ready-meals and things out of tins, but now I am preparing my own food. I have more energy and feel healthier. This course sets you on the road to eat the right things – for me it's been a change for life. Homemade food is also better for you and cheaper."

Case Study

C previously only ate processed food such as tinned soup and ready meals. He said on week one that making soup had been a revelation. He has made a couple of the recipes each week at home and was keen to ask how he could adapt them/ give them ‘more punch’ etc so we often discussed different herbs and reducing sauces to intensify the flavour.

By the end of the course he said that he has come to accept that the home made food won’t taste the same as the shop bought and that this is because it’s fresh and has lower salt, sugar and fat. We discussed how we acquire tastes and get used to processed food and the same being true for home made.

He particularly enjoyed the chickpea and pineapple curry, the spicy tomato soup, chicken curry, flat breads and samosas. He’s bought himself an apron and utensils and cooking has become part of his life now.