Dieting and a picky eater

WinoGelato

OP I was a super picky eater as a child. I'm still kind of picky as an adult, even though I love food and people often describe me as a foodie - my sister snorted at that at Thanksgiving and said she didn't know picky eaters could be foodies...

I grew up eating meat, potatoes, pizza, and pasta. I didn't eat salad until I was in college, I didn't eat vegetables other than corn until high school. I still don't care much for fruit - it's a texture thing. But as I got older and was in different social situations, I felt more pressure to eat the foods everyone else was eating and not be so picky. As I became more open to trying things, I found that I really liked things that I previously believed I hated, just because I had it in my head for so long. So keep an open mind, and try cooking the foods you don't think you like in new ways, might just be the way it's prepared. Like asparagus - my mother in law used to steam that stuff till it was stringy mush. But I love it roasted or grilled where the spears are still firm.

To jump into the other part of this debate - you don't have to eat only fish, vegetables, and salad to be healthy or lose weight. The advice you've gotten about IIFYM is good, but even if you don't want to go that far to figure out macro ratios - you can start as others have suggested with just restricting portion sizes or looking for healthier ways to make the same foods.

I have little kids and they like kid food: mac n cheese, chicken tenders, hot dogs. A lot of the time, I eat what they eat - I figure if I'm going to ask them to eat salmon, orzo, and asparagus one night, I should eat a grilled cheese and tomato soup with them one night as well.

TL/DR - you don't have to go to extremes to meet your goals. Losing weight and getting healthy before pregnancy is a great idea - but there are many ways that you can do that so that it is a lifestyle change and not a temporary fix that you will abandon because it is so restrictive.

ndj1979

backin3 wrote: »

As a side note, if you don't like eating healthy foods, what are your kids going to grow up eating? Kinda scary thought IMO. My parents taught me to eat wholesome foods, and while I hated it at the time, the good habits have stuck with me, and I love healthy foods now. I have numerous friends who were fed what they liked as kids. Chicken tenders, hot dogs, chips, pizza, etc. They're some of the pickiest and unhealthiest eaters now.

food is just energy that your body uses, period.

look at it this way..

calorie deficit for weight loss
macro and micors for body composition and overall health .< You can still hit your macros and micros and eat pizza, chicken tenders, chips, beer, ice cream, whatever...

Just google the twinkie diet. Guy ate nothing but twinkies, lost weight, and had better health markers...

PwrLftr82

berz82 wrote: »

crap food sends signals to the brain which in return reacts telling your body to store, burn, hold water etc. IIFYM is alot of crap. its like taking a step forward then taking one back when you add junk food.

You're really attractive. Let's just stick with that.