Weather is normally a non-entity contributing to a healthy lifestyle. Yet a blizzard approaching requires intense preparation beyond blankets, shovels, and snow boots. The possibility of electricity loss, lack of cooking potential, and the impossibility of heating options foster immediate action. Experience during past storms teaches us to prepare. Electricity eliminated, sitting by the fireplace, eating prepared, processed foods without considering nutritional value, its quality, or how our waistline, gut, or psychological well-being are affected, is history.

Last night’s preparation presents a different story. A dozen boiling eggs, a crock-pot simmering, two trays of roasting vegetables, fourteen grilling grass-fed beef burgers, and discussion about the meals of tomorrow arise. This spectacle of cooking prowess is not culinary cuisine’s grandeur of soufflés or Creole gumbos. Simple prepared fare for a few days of hiding in our home while Mother Nature shouts loudly outside is survival skills executed.

Furthermore, underneath the surface of this preparation lies the true crux of our metaphoric crudités. It represents self-care in action, the cultivation of a healthy lifestyle. Without consumable, healthy fuel for the body’s efficient functioning, a successful outcome for well-being is improbable. Creating provisions when “life interrupted” occurs is filed under self-respect, self-love, and self-care. Time, resources, and energy utilized when extraordinary circumstances occur ensure successful results.

Prepared culinary creations capture a snapshot of self-care that becomes a “new normal.” Whether blizzard, travel, or home, defy the mainstream by navigating nutritional needs, and energize the troops to dig deeper when life circumstances attempt to thwart success. Resilience circumvents failure and makes a healthy lifestyle sustainable. In any shades of weather, culinary self-care is weight loss’ consistent, successful contribution.