Going kicking & screaming towards healthy

JennaGermain

My doctor says I need to be healthy. My Mom says I need to get healthy. I know I need to get healthy. I want to be healthy.

I want to not have a big ol' belly. I'd like less weight having to be carried on my feet. I'd like to have less fat in the way of being more flexible (tying shoes even is a p.i.t.a. currently)

However, I LOVE food!!! And I'm extremely picky. I can either eat what I like or I can eat nothing. I'm good at both of those, but I totally suck at forcing myself to eat crap I don't like. Since I know I can't go the starvation method (wouldn't help in the long run anyway), that means I've got to eat something. The stuff I like is mostly nothing that can be classified as healthy.

My favorite veggies are potatoes (a starch), corn/hominy (a starch) or cucumbers. The first two I like to cover in butter & salt, the last in just lots of salt.

I love eggs but either fill them up with cheese or lots of salt & pepper. I'm not a very good cook (I get distracted easily so fire is a frequent visitor to the attempt)

I've been meaning to try to increase my exercising to at least offset more of my calories, but I get so busy with work or after work I have a quota of jewelry I need to make for my side business or I'll just be so tired that I haven't been doing it daily like I planned yet. And I exercise inside my house as I have nothing appropriate to wear in public that would be exercise-friendly.

Anyway, I don't know if I should just try to only eat like one thing that I like (like the Fiber One Oats & Chocolate bars) and then just hype up supplements to make sure I get all the nutrition or if there's a way to make healthy stuff palatable or if I'll just have to suck it up and eat crap I think tastes disgusting. (I know they say if you eat something for like 14 or 20 days in a row you can develop a taste for it, but I can't get myself to choke the stuff down enough to get to that point & even when I try, I basically make the food small as possible and swallow it like a pill instead of chewing so that I don't have to taste it which of course counters any chance of developing a taste for it...)

So I know this is mainly a whine, but I honestly hope that someone might have some sort of suggestion that might work for me that I haven't heard of yet or something.

jlewis2896

I feel like this is the perfect time for you to be starting this transition -- with all the summer fruits out there, there's bound to be something you can stomach among those choices to help you start eating better. And it sounds like you know what's wrong with the foods you do like -- maybe you can baby step and start by omitting the butter and salt from your corn and potatoes??

I'd recommend maybe picking up a culinary class with a friend -- cooking is easy and fun once your familiar with the basics, and most colleges offer classes to the public for relatively low costs (surprisingly low -- my local tech school offers them for $15).

As far as exercising -- of course you don't have time for it now, you have a schedule you already stick to that doesn't involve exercise!! But if you really really want to be healthy, you WILL find a way to squeeze it in. Park farther away from the grocery store, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get some small hand weights and just do a few bicep curls while relaxing on the couch. You don't need gear to exercise outdoors -- walking requires nothing but comfy shoes!

You're prepping yourself for a lot of changes, just have a little faith in yourself and you can make this work!!!

husker_gal

I agree with the above post. You will do very well if you just apply yourself and take baby steps...You say you don't like the healthy fruits and veggies but have you tried ALL of them? I'm sure you can find a few more that you do like that don't have to be covered in butter or salt or sugar. For example...grilled peaches sounded gross to me the first time I heard of them but the heat really brings out the sweetness in the peaches and are wonderful! Also, do you like Subway? That's a good place to start if you think you don't like some foods...aside from the meatball sub and the melts everything else is ok for the most part. Perhaps you should try putting a little big of veggies on at a time and just a little sauce to help reduce calories. That way you aren't tasting the veggies alone but as a part of the sandwhich. This should give you enough time to slowly develop a taste for them.

Keep your head up and say positive. You CAN do this! :flowerforyou:

lauribear

Hi Jenna,

Great job on taking the first step! I think you need to retrain your taste buds so you know what real food tastes like! When you douse cucumbers in tons of salt, you aren't really tasting the cucumber, are you? There must be more veggies out there that you like... try them in different ways, too. My husband hates most veggies cooked, but he'll eat almost anything raw. Or if you prefer them just a little crunchy, how about microwaved for a minute or 2 or even lightly steamed on the stove? And what about fruits? There are so many delicious fruits to enjoy! Instead of filling up on Fibre 1 bars (bad idea - those bars are filled with high-fructose corn syrup and are not healthy!) try having fresh fruit salad for lunch topped with low-fat vanilla yogurt and maybe a sprinkling of wheat germ and a drizzle of honey. It's filled with nutrients, fibre, protein and it's delicious!

I guess my best tip is to try and eat less processed foods. Can your doctor suggest a nutritionist for you to meet with? Even a couple of sessions will be a huge help for you. I find that the more whole foods I eat, the more I want. The more junk I eat, the more I want. Your body is designed for physical function and to work hard! If you fuel it in the right way, you will be healthy and you will feel fantastic. GOOD LUCK!!

Aeriel

The biggest thing I can say to you is that it doesn't matter what anyone else wants.....YOU have to want to succeed or it will never happen.

My favourite foods to eat before this site were cheese, rice, pastas and baked goods. I was exercising, and not losing weight, so I came here. Then I found out what portion I should be eating versus what I was actually eating. It was a shock! I was probably consuming well over 1000 calories a day extra at least, so no wonder the exercising wasn't making a dent! I slowly started changing my diet. I did not eliminate the foods I liked, I just eat them in much smaller amounts now.

I am being more adventurous and trying new things. Foods I thought I hated before now are tasting better. I found vinaigrette dressings that I like, which have less calories than creamy ones like ranch, so I eat more salads. I still use margarine, but a teaspoon at a time instead of a scoop. I mix it well and still get the flavour without all the calories. I have discovered I like corn on the cob plain! I always had butter and salt before. I measure EVERYTHING I eat, so I know exactly what I am consuming. No more eyeballing or estimating.

As for other vegetables, get fresh if you can. Find a farmer market, grow a garden (which is great exercise to tend it) and you will find more you like. Fresh vegetables taste so much better than store bought!

Be adventurous! Try new things with an open mind and not with the mindset that you are going to hate them before you even try them. I hated bean salads with vinaigrette, but got a plain can of beans and added my own dressing (1 tbsp) and loved it! Chick peas now go in my salads for extra fibre. I am choosing portion wise multigrain breads, so that I still get 2 slices, but at 100 calories total instead of 170. It all adds up.

And remember, if you exercise, log it in to the website, because it gives you more calories to eat in a day if you are hungry. Some days I use up all my extra calories, but most of the time it is about half of them.

Once things start happening it will inspire you. I am down almost 21 pounds in 2 months and I am not hungry. I exercise several times a week and try new things to eat every day. This week was cottage cheese. I can't stand it plain, but found that if I added a portion of canned fruit (in juice) to it, I had a really healthy and tasty addition to breakfast.

Hope that this helps you out and remember, you need to do this for yourself and no one else!

Trisha

aippolito1

You should have no problem finding healthy foods that you like. I've discovered several foods I didn't think I would like but have come to love!! Fiber-laden cereals, who knew they tasted good??! Asparagus?? Don't they smell bad? Oh, but they taste sooo good.

Experiment with different fruits & veggies for snacks instead of sweet & salty carb & fat-laden foods and I'm sure you will find a few that you loove and then eating healthy will be a snap!

Chicken, lean ground beef & tilapia are staples in my house because they're versatile. I can throw all 3 in to a pasta (separately), serve with rice and veggies, or cook with a baked potato, or make a casserole with. They're easily customizable and adapt to other tastes so you don't have to eat the same dish over and over. Just something to think about. Feel free to poke around my diary. I think I eat tasty things but yet I think my diet is pretty healthy.

lilchino4af

Instead of filling up on Fibre 1 bars (bad idea - those bars are filled with high-fructose corn syrup and are not healthy!)

Not true; I just looked at the ingredient list and there's no HFCS. Granted, there is high maltose corn syrup, but it's not HFCS, and there's more real ingredients than manufactored ingredients so it's not that terrible for you compared to other fiber bars out there. Again, not the best, but certainly not the worst either and would be a good start for her to transition to/from on her way to transitioning her tastebuds to healthier foods.

lawkat

If you think something is disgusting to eat, it will only make eating that much harder. You should think positive when trying new fruits and vegetables. Think about how good you will feel and the nutritional value you get out of eating them. You need to change the way you think those foods taste. There are so many different ways to make fruits and veggies fun. Take a cooking class or pick up some cooking magazines such as Cooking Light or Vegetarian Times for great recipes.

You said you like potatoes. Maybe bake some sweet potatoes in a little bit of olive oil with some herbs. You can saute up some yellow squash with tomatoes and various Italian spices with a little cheese on top. That is one of my favorites that I steam on the grill.

Taking supplements are okay, but you can't rely on them to give you all of the nutrition that real foods will give you.

sindyb9

Like the above post start small, I was told last year I have type 2 diabetes and he gave me time to loose some weight and eat healthy. I am down 23 pounds and still no meds. I am winning this battle. I was very picky as well. Over the last year I have kept an open mind and even tried things I have hated in the past. To discover I really like them.

Start by cutting down on the salt (water weight), drink losts of water will flush some of the salt out. Cut back on servings that is one thing I realized when I started logging my food was how many calories were in the things I loved. As I am getting healthier I now enjoy the new tastes of foods. Make a goal to try one new food a day or a week. Small steps.

You have to really want this for you. Good like and happy tasting. :drinker:

JennaGermain

I got taken to a restaurant once where the side dish was asparagus. I tried it & it was totally delicious, but I have no idea how they made it & the sauce they used probably made it unhealthy (& I can't just go eat that at that restaurant because it's like an hour drive away)

I like strawberries, but usually would dip them in granulated sugar. I do like several of the Yoplait Light yogurts.

I altered my desk at work so that I can alternate standing and sitting while I work.

I recently found out I like Bing cherries w/o anything added to them (but don't seem to eat them fast enough that a bag doesn't go bad before I'm done)

I like raw veggies better than cooked (at least as far as peas, green beans & spinach are concerned) but just chewing on a handful of raw green beans seems like it'd get boring pretty quick.

My favorite sub at Subway is the Spicy Italian with salami & pepperoni on the wheat bread with cucumber slices, spinach (when they have it), lots of pickles and some yellow mustard. I figure though that it would be too high in fat or sodium. I could change the meat to the chicken breast or turkey, but when Iook online at the nutrition for those, they seem like they have a lot of sodium too, unless that isn't for the meat/bread but for some sauce I wouldn't be using (I like yellow mustard)

JennaGermain

Even though I always had loved cherry-flavored things, I'd always assumed that I'd hate cherries. About six months ago, my boss was eating some Bing cherries & asked me if I liked them & I started to say no, but then went "You know what? I don't know because I've never had them". I tried one he gave me and was like "Yum!" I was also surprised by how I ate up the asparagus at that one restaurant because I never ever thought I'd willingly gobble up asparagus but that's something I don't know how they made taste good to try & repeat it.

JennaGermain

Oh, and thank you everyone for all the suggestions & comments. I am reading each & every one you post & doing my best to use the knowledge to be good at this whole "being healthy" thing.

lawkat

People's taste buds do change over time. You will be surprised at how certain fruits and veggies will taste to you now compared to a few years ago.

Adding sugar to fruits tend to make them too sweet in my opinion. You should eat strawberries in season. They are so sweet. If you can get to a farmer's market, buy what is in season and you will be amazed at how much different the taste is compared to them in a grocery store. Tomatoes have so much flavor when in season compared to the bland dry ones in the grocery store.

Trying new foods could spark your taste buds and want you to try other new things.

As for the Subway sub you like. You need to stay away from that. The fat and sodium alone is a killer. Always lean towards turkey with lots of veggies. I always get the veggie sub with lots of veggies and the honey mustard sauce.

Experiment with different foods and recipes to see what you like and don't like. It is all trial and error, but think positive.

sindyb9

Just by cutting down on added salt and sugar helped me a lot. You said about the sodium in subway subs, drinking plenty of water and not adding salt can cut that down. Little steps. You seam to like a lot of healthy foods and can look up receipies on the computer or right here. Took me a while to be able to cook with out burning things. I think you are doing better than you thought. You can do this and enjoy new foods.