How do you learn to eat foods that you don't like but you know are good for you?

DanBGVa

I grew up in a family from the south, you know the type, just meat and potatoes, vegtable whats that? So as an adult the idea of eating vegetables does not go over with me. I have even tried and I struggle, but I know I need to eat these things in order to eat cleaner and healthier. So how do you learn to like foods that you A) never learned or were taught to eat as a child (remember eat your veggies) food you really need to be eating now but can't seem to find it within your taste buds. I mean something has got to give... for example I can't stand any kind of fish ANY but I know i have to figure out how to eat some.. at least once a week its good for me... any suggestions? Thanks everyone.

psuLemon

why in the world would you want to eat something you don't like?

maroonmango211

A) I give them a shot with no judgement, most foods I thought I didn't like I simply had never given a chance before B)I cook the right way, with seasonings and spices for the right amount of time (no mushy peas thanks) and C)if that fails, I don't eat it anymore and try something else, there's a huge variety of healthy fruits and veggies out there, no need to eat any one or other specifically just because its "healthy" if I don't like the taste.

JPW1990

Have you tried roasting them? Take a cookie sheet, some olive oil, some salt, and your clean veggie of choice, cut down to bite size pieces if it's something big like squash or carrots. Set the oven to 425. Denser things like squash take up to 20 minutes, lighter things like asparagus about half that, just test for fork-tender if you're not sure it's done yet. Roasting like that makes them taste sweeter, so you don't need to bog them down in butter.

arditarose

Why would you eat fish if you don't like it? My Aunt claims she doesn't like it and it for some reason pisses me off, because she has never TASTED it. You could always have a little tasting and use your favorite seasonings. If you don't like it, don't eat. And is there really not a single vegetable you like?

wizzybeth

I was never fond of potatoes growing up. Hated them, in fact. But I find out it was because my mom usually only made them one way: plain boiled. Occasionally we'd have them baked, but usually just boiled. Mashed was on a special occasion. For some reason now as an adult, I love them...I just learned to like them...lol

I do however, still hate rutabega and eggplant, and will continue to hate them until the day I die.

My husband hates (hated) spinach. That's because his experience with spinach was what came out of a can. He would cringe at the thought of it. However, I love spinach, always have, and wanted to add it to our diet. So I started making salad with raw baby spinach. HE NEVER KNEW. He in fact raved about the salad. One day he caught me making it and said "Why are you going to ruin it with spinach?" He was shocked when I told him I'd been making it like that allllllll along.

SO maybe your hatred of veggies has more to do with how they were prepared when you were a kid, than the veggie itself. Maybe you might like the raw versions (supposedly, raw is healthier for you anyway) Raw often tastes quite different (esp. if your experience is with canned veggies - blech, yech, pa-tooey!)

I also hated mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers as a kid. Now, I can't get enough of them. Give some veggies a try - you might surprise yourself.

bainsworth1a

I don't like brussel sprouts. I tried preparing them several different ways and just don't like them. so I never eat them even if they are good for me.
My suggestion is try different kinds of fish prepared different ways and if you still don;t find any that you like just don't eat it.
By the way batter fried fish is not good for you so it would be better if you never like it that way.

cheshirecatastrophe

View it as an adventure!

The amazing thing with vegetables especially, is that they can taste so incredibly different depending on how you cook them. Searching out top-rated superpopular recipes on a site like allrecipes.com is a great place to start. Roasting is a great, reliable, easy way to do it. I also like stir-frying, since the veggies will taste pretty much like the sauce you put on them. If you love bacon, why not experiment with green beans with bits of bacon? Cooking green peppers and onions in the pan along with a turkey sausage?

Again, there are so many different types of fish. This is one area where I might start by ordering a fish meal at a restaurant (often you can get salmon or tilapia off the "healthy choices" menu if there is one), or a pre-spiced filet from the meat section at the grocery store that you plop onto the grill. Plain old shrimp cocktail was my starter fish! (But you have to get fresh shrimp for this...)

Canned tuna doesn't get a lot of love, but it's a fantastic low-calorie protein source as well as having the happy omega-3 fats. Try mixing in different things that you know you like--for me, sweet n spicy mustard makes it all worth it.

DanBGVa

arditarose wrote: »

Why would you eat fish if you don't like it? My Aunt claims she doesn't like it and it for some reason pisses me off, because she has never TASTED it. You could always have a little tasting and use your favorite seasonings. If you don't like it, don't eat. And is there really not a single vegetable you like?

Well I have tried fish and its not enjoyable but my nutritionist says I need to find a way to incorporate these things into my diet. And yes I have TASTED allot of these things, the issue is not that I have not tried these things, the issue is learning to like things that you have never had the background with. So yes just because I don't like it, I can learn it is a matter of how. I don't like going to the gym but I've slowly found what works, it is not an out of line question.

DanBGVa

JPW1990 wrote: »

Have you tried roasting them? Take a cookie sheet, some olive oil, some salt, and your clean veggie of choice, cut down to bite size pieces if it's something big like squash or carrots. Set the oven to 425. Denser things like squash take up to 20 minutes, lighter things like asparagus about half that, just test for fork-tender if you're not sure it's done yet. Roasting like that makes them taste sweeter, so you don't need to bog them down in butter.

Thats a really good idea, maybe with it done that way instead of broiled and feeling a bit less mushy to me will help.

arditarose

DanBGVa wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

Why would you eat fish if you don't like it? My Aunt claims she doesn't like it and it for some reason pisses me off, because she has never TASTED it. You could always have a little tasting and use your favorite seasonings. If you don't like it, don't eat. And is there really not a single vegetable you like?

Well I have tried fish and its not enjoyable but my nutritionist says I need to find a way to incorporate these things into my diet. And yes I have TASTED allot of these things, the issue is not that I have not tried these things, the issue is learning to like things that you have never had the background with. So yes just because I don't like it, I can learn it is a matter of how. I don't like going to the gym but I've slowly found what works, it is not an out of line question.

What? I didn't think it was an out of line question...I was saying you probably tasted fish before, so if you don't like it, you most likely don't have to force yourself to eat it.

wizzybeth

I guess the point I was trying to make with my suggestions are - maybe you didn't like the way they were prepared.

Re: fish - what is it about fish you dislike? If it's the "fishy" taste you can try a mild fish like tilapia that does not have any kind of fishy taste at all. It's yummy when broiled with lemon juice and a little seasoning.

MoiAussi93

I don't try to force myself to eat any one food I dislike. However, if it is an entire class of foods like vegetables, I would make an exception. There is a huge range of vegetables and you should try many of them. Odds are you will like some of them. For example, peas have a sweet taste which is very different from broccoli's bitterness.

Also, when trying a new food for the first time, if I don't like it I will always give it a second (or third) chance prepared a different way. I always hated brussels sprouts. I only had them boiled and they were terrible. Then I tried them at a dinner I went to in which they were roasted with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and I LOVED them. HOW you prepare them makes a huge difference. Seasoning and sauces (but watch ingredients and calories in sauces) can make a huge difference. To me, ANYTHING tastes good with cheese sauce...even broccoli. Lemon juice is healthy and makes many veggies taste better. Also, I like certain vegetables cooked but not raw. This can make a major difference with some of them.

If all else fails, you can have them in other things. Cook some in a soup and chances are you won't really taste the individual vegetables as much because of the broth and other ingredients. Or have some peppers with fajitas. Often the combination tastes better than any of the individual ingredients.

DanBGVa

wizzybeth wrote: »

I was never fond of potatoes growing up. Hated them, in fact. But I find out it was because my mom usually only made them one way: plain boiled. Occasionally we'd have them baked, but usually just boiled. Mashed was on a special occasion. For some reason now as an adult, I love them...I just learned to like them...lol

I do however, still hate rutabega and eggplant, and will continue to hate them until the day I die.

My husband hates (hated) spinach. That's because his experience with spinach was what came out of a can. He would cringe at the thought of it. However, I love spinach, always have, and wanted to add it to our diet. So I started making salad with raw baby spinach. HE NEVER KNEW. He in fact raved about the salad. One day he caught me making it and said "Why are you going to ruin it with spinach?" He was shocked when I told him I'd been making it like that allllllll along.

SO maybe your hatred of veggies has more to do with how they were prepared when you were a kid, than the veggie itself. Maybe you might like the raw versions (supposedly, raw is healthier for you anyway) Raw often tastes quite different (esp. if your experience is with canned veggies - blech, yech, pa-tooey!)

I also hated mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers as a kid. Now, I can't get enough of them. Give some veggies a try - you might surprise yourself.

Thanks your positive post was just the validation I needed here.. it is exactly what I am talking about. I have to find a way to incorporate these things into my diet. Thank you for your suggestion.

wizzybeth

Sometimes it's also a matter of just training your taste buds. I used to drink coffee with half & half, and never dreamt of drinking it black. Now I only drink it black and hate it with milk or half & half. I learned to drink it black because I drink so much of it, I no longer wanted the fat & calories that came with the milk.

Same thing with tea. I never drank tea plain before. Had to always have honey in it. But again, because I don't want to drink calories, I learned to drink it just plain (hot tea, not iced tea...don't think I could do unsweetened iced tea unless I was dying of thirst and that's all that was there...)

I wanted to do these things so I could enjoy my favorite beverages without adding unnecessary calories...so I just kept doing it. After a few cups it became "normal" and I no longer wanted the milk or sweetness. Just like the gym...I kept doing it till it became natural.

DanBGVa

psulemon wrote: »

why in the world would you want to eat something you don't like?

I'm not even sure how to respond to this... my post was rather clear about my motivation.

brower47

There's no reason to force yourself to eat foods you hate. For every food you hate, there should be one out there with a similar nutrition profile or two that can cover the one.

Now, if you feel you absolutely must, then just choke them down. I had steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower today. I hate cauliflower. I ate it.

That said, I can cook the cauliflower by cutting up the florets into small pieces, toss them with some olive oil and a generous amount of garlic and then bake them at 375 for 45 minutes, they are pretty good. Try different cooking methods. Steaming/boiling isn't going to change their natural flavor too much but other methods can. Just be careful of what you add to them or you are going to get more calories than you should be.

arditarose

DanBGVa wrote: »

psulemon wrote: »

why in the world would you want to eat something you don't like?

I'm not even sure how to respond to this... my post was rather clear about my motivation.

A lot of us around here believe that you shouldn't force yourself to eat things you don't like, at least not to lose weight (I lost weight eating all the things I love, just less of it).

Of course nutrition is important, but if there is something you're lacking there are often other ways to get the right nutrients into your diet by finding it in something you enjoy, rather than eating something you don't like. It would be great if you could eat some veggies of course. Like other posters suggested, try different ways of cooking, seasoning/etc.

auddii

Try different foods different ways. When I grew up, spinach was bought frozen, microwaved and served as is. It's disgusting. I love fresh and even wilted spinach now, but I won't touch the frozen stuff unless it's going to be mixed into something where it's hidden.

Also, I never had a brussel sprout until I was 22 or so. It was roasted, and it was awesome. I've also gotten lazy and tried to buy them frozen and roast them, and they were horrible mush.

I would try buying fresh, and roasting. I roast most vegetables. Give it a try, and if you don't like some, try others.

And I hate fish, and I'm not going to eat it. Instead, I take fish oil.

arditarose

auddii wrote: »

Try different foods different ways. When I grew up, spinach was bought frozen, microwaved and served as is. It's disgusting. I love fresh and even wilted spinach now, but I won't touch the frozen stuff unless it's going to be mixed into something where it's hidden.

Also, I never had a brussel sprout until I was 22 or so. It was roasted, and it was awesome. I've also gotten lazy and tried to buy them frozen and roast them, and they were horrible mush.

I would try buying fresh, and roasting. I roast most vegetables. Give it a try, and if you don't like some, try others.

And I hate fish, and I'm not going to eat it. Instead, I take fish oil.

Right.

JPW1990

wizzybeth wrote: »

Sometimes it's also a matter of just training your taste buds. I used to drink coffee with half & half, and never dreamt of drinking it black. Now I only drink it black and hate it with milk or half & half. I learned to drink it black because I drink so much of it, I no longer wanted the fat & calories that came with the milk.

Same thing with tea. I never drank tea plain before. Had to always have honey in it. But again, because I don't want to drink calories, I learned to drink it just plain (hot tea, not iced tea...don't think I could do unsweetened iced tea unless I was dying of thirst and that's all that was there...)

I wanted to do these things so I could enjoy my favorite beverages without adding unnecessary calories...so I just kept doing it. After a few cups it became "normal" and I no longer wanted the milk or sweetness. Just like the gym...I kept doing it till it became natural.

Very much this. I grew up in a convenience food house. There were stretches of months at a time where literally every dinner was either fast food or delivery. There'd be breaks of a week or two with "cooking," but mostly cream of whatever soup casseroles and things like hot dogs w/ mac n cheese. It wasn't until I moved out of the house that I realized, not only did I not have the first clue how to cook for real, I didn't know what food actually tasted like. I'd never had a mushroom that wasn't on a pizza, or peas that didn't come from a tv dinner tray.

I cook well enough now that restaurant food is usually a disappointment, and have a much better idea of how flavors go together. For the first 20 years, I was basically living on sugar and salt.