How do I start or learn to like eating healthy?
zepedamayte173
Posts: 1 Member
Hello, I am new here and I want to start eating healthy but I never grew up eating vegetables or many fruits, and all the recipes I look at have stuff I’ve tried but I can’t seem to swallow the food, sorry if this sounds like a dumb question.
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Answers
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Why not mimic the shapes and sizes of foods that you did eat before ? Or just smaller sizes. What did you eat ? If you can’t physically swallow it I would recommend you speak to a doctor. Mostly any fitness or healthier diet it just habit forming. You won’t get it perfect first time. But consistent trying will help you progress over time.
And it’s all about discipline as you won’t always be motivated. Good luck.2 -
Some people have really hyper sensitive senses and it makes eating a variety of foods difficult. Can identify a specific texture that you just cannot handle? (Mushy or mixed textures for example.) Then work to create the size / shape / texture that feels more similar to your preferred foods. For example, if you buy thin asparagus, cut it into small pieces, season it, and bake it at a hot 400, you can actually get it fairly crispy. Same with chickpeas and broccoli. Smoothies may also be a good move for fruits. Just weigh and measure your ingredients before putting them into the blender.1
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I cannot overemphasize the need for "flavor" when it comes to fruits and vegetables. Dips, sauces, and sprinkles are essential for me to be able to eat produce (or anything, really). My go-to's are ranch, Caesar, and blue cheese for dips. Cheese sauce, salsa, guacamole (or is that a dip?), marinara, stir-fry sauce, hot sauce, and BBQ sauce are good options, within the limits of your calorie budget of course. Flavored vinegars are also nice and a very low/no calorie option. Basalmic is very nice with most fruit. I also use buffalo wing dry seasoning, blackening seasoning, chile flakes of all kinds, salt and vinegar powder, and seasoned salts. I have a great local spice shop that makes all kinds of tasty spice blends that I explore from time to time as well. Obviously some of these choices are more caloric than others and that has to be balanced into your plan. I lost a great deal of my taste when I had Covid and I seriously doubt I could stand any vegetables and most fruits if I couldn't make them actually taste like something.1
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My advice is to look up some european recipes. When I watch in movies americans eating steamed vegetables as a side it makes me gag.1
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I feel ya. I am a texture girl. I like many foods more for the texture than the actual taste. Looking at you, digestive biscuits.
I grew up with limited fruits and vegetables. Lots of radishes, because they were cheap, lol, but they were one of the few fresh vegetables we got.
I grew up loathing peas, lima beans and especially asparagus because we only got canned, and the texture was abominable. Velvety would be being kind. I didn’t like that disintegrating mushy texture.
Canned fruit always had a tinny taste, or was a few pieces of unidentifiable chunks floating in thick syrup. Or was (gag me!) 1970’s “fruit cocktail”.
Canned was what I was raised with, and the only thing I knew. Frozen vegetables were suspect, as a result of the bad experience with canned.
It wasn’t til I was in my late 50’s, determined to lose weight, that I started really investigating fresh vegetables and fruits. It was a revelation. I didn’t know they could look, smell, taste or have texture other than mushy. Realizing I could eat peas without a gag reflex was a happy day. Realizing that fresh or frozen peas with a dab of honey were delicious- oh, my!
Asparagus is a particular favorite. I never had an avocado in my life til I started weight loss. My kids are razzing me right now that the star fruits we tried when they were young, I was too dumb to.know they weren’t ripe.
Cutting out a lot (def not all, I’m not a masochist) sugar has changed my taste buds. They taste so much better now. I have favorites in my rotation but I’m actually excited to try new ones.
Right now I’m obsessed with Rancho Gordon beans, and am particularly overjoyed that cherry season is unreasonably long this year, and the fruits have been magnificent. I’m going through pounds of the things.
Give yourself permission to try something new once a week. Check out the book How to Peel a Peach. Google for easy low cal recipes. Allrecipes has great ideas, and half the time the comments provide more useful information than the recipes themselves.
If you hate it, don’t like the texture, toss it and move on.
Someone wise here once said, “my body is not a garbage disposal”. Don’t eat it if it’s gross.3 -
Someone wise here once said, “my body is not a garbage disposal”. Don’t eat it if it’s gross.
Isn't this the truth!
When I was losing weight I was going to restaurants fairly often. My orders often got bungled which is annoying enough to not get your food as you like it, but the biggest issue with restaurants is that the food in a lot of them is really sub-par. Granted I wasn't going to nice restaurants, mostly small locally owned places or big chains. Plus the cost, and the waiting, and the inability to know the calories.
I digress.
I make my own meals exactly the way I want them for a fraction of the cost. They taste better, it's faster, and I can eat them in my pajamas.3 -
My maternal grandmother was a terrible cook, and the family legend tells how my mum only realised that sprouts were actually separate little vegetables when she married my dad and started cooking them herself (her mum had boiled them to mush).
My mum and dad taught themselves to be fabulous cooks, so I learned from the best
However, if you’re starting from scratch and nervous about tastes or textures, I can see how it might be difficult to get started.
There’s a section in this forum called “Recipes” and a thread called ‘Show me what your meals look like (in pictures)’ - you could look for some examples there?
Maybe you could also casually ask your friends about their favourite recipes - if you like the sound of something you can maybe ask them to set aside a very small portion for you next time they cook it, so you can try lots of different things and decide what you like?3 -
Consider what it is about the fruits and vegetables that’s making you unable to swallow. Taste? Texture? Cultural association - aka “this is a healthy food” , psychological issue … determine what the issue is with the produce and go from there.
If you don’t like the taste / try different fruits or vegetables- go to a world market and try something different. Don’t like raw? Cook it differently / like juices? Chuck it in a blender and make a shake. Use them as add ins to recipes - I.e. fruit in yogurt, vegetables in stew…
A lot of different ways to make fruits and vegetables and thousands of varieties to try to please your palate.
I don’t know what you are currently eating .. or if you are carnivore, but if you aren’t.. you may already be eating vegetables .. lettuce and tomato on a burger? Potatoes - French fries , sweet potatoes? Corn?
All Veg dressed up in a different costume.3 -
Try try try try... but don't force
Like, choose 1 fruit or vegetable to add to something you already eat.
You can sneak a lot in pasta sauce for exemple. You can blend it so you don't feel it and if you choose something with only a mild flavour, you won't taste it much either.
I feel fruit might be easier as they are sweeter, but if it's a texture thing I understand it's trickier.
When you find something you like, try to use it often ! And then, pair it with a new one, etc...
Slowly you'll find more and more healthy food to enjoy !1 -
Lol, don't have anything in your house but those foods. A hungry person LEARNS how to like what they can ONLY EAT. Don't take my word for it. Ask guys who are in prison.
Which BTW, obesity doesn't exist in high numbers there.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 40 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Lol, don't have anything in your house but those foods. A hungry person LEARNS how to like what they can ONLY EAT. Don't take my word for it. Ask guys who are in prison. Which BTW, obesity doesn't exist in high numbers there.
]
That would be prison for me. Worse, even.
Life is too short to play that particular mind game.
I don’t keep things in the house I know I’ll binge on, or, if I do, small quantities, like 9oz bags of tortilla chips instead of party sized for chilaquiles so none leftover to nosh on, small individually wrapped chocolate bars, in the freezer, because they have to thaw to taste good, which causes me to pause.
But not having anything I like? Hard NO. Outside of vitamins, I only eat things I enjoy eating.
That’s the only thing that will keep me sane and able to maintain a calorie balance.2 -
I only stated that because the OP doesn't like vegetables and fruits. If those are the only things around and not the usual food you like to eat, you're gonna eat what you have. The hope there is that continually eating those will grow on you.springlering62 wrote: »Lol, don't have anything in your house but those foods. A hungry person LEARNS how to like what they can ONLY EAT. Don't take my word for it. Ask guys who are in prison. Which BTW, obesity doesn't exist in high numbers there.
]
That would be prison for me. Worse, even.
Life is too short to play that particular mind game.
I don’t keep things in the house I know I’ll binge on, or, if I do, small quantities, like 9oz bags of tortilla chips instead of party sized for chilaquiles so none leftover to nosh on, small individually wrapped chocolate bars, in the freezer, because they have to thaw to taste good, which causes me to pause.
But not having anything I like? Hard NO. Outside of vitamins, I only eat things I enjoy eating.
That’s the only thing that will keep me sane and able to maintain a calorie balance.
But you're right, not having what you like for the rest of your life is prison.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 40 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Why not start with one fruit or veg, and try different ways of preparing them? Like others have said: hide in pasta or curry sauces. Steaming veg is often boring (but apparently quite common in the US), thus try tossing things into an oven dish with potatoes cut in fries like sticks, some protein and oil, bit of salt on top. Eat with.. dunno.. tsatsiki, hummus, ketchup even. Boil, stir-fry, microwave, or eat raw. So many options.0
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I could eat roasted vegetables with balsamic and feta every. single. day.
Beets. Discovered them two or three years ago. 😱0 -
Roasting vegetables can be deliciously eye opening. My husband grew up hating-hating-hating Brussels Sprouts because the only way they were served in his childhood home was boiled to mush. I told him, "I bet I can change your mind on Brussels Sprouts," and to say he was skeptical is putting it lightly. But I tossed some fresh Sprouts (cut in half/fourths) in a little olive oil, sprinkled lightly with salt & pepper, and roasted them until the outer leaves were crunchy and the veg itself was cooked, but firm and bursting with flavor.
He couldn't believe it, but he loved them.1 -
Looking forward to OP’s findings..
Off to the unpopular opinions thread to talk about my beloved steamed veggies now 😂3 -
So many people here have talked about roasted vegetables that these are what I came on here to recommend for the OP.SafariGalNYC wrote: »Looking forward to OP’s findings..
Off to the unpopular opinions thread to talk about my beloved steamed veggies now 😂
I happen to like steamed vegetables. I keep trying to roast broccoli, but always go back to steamed. However, I start with RAW vegetables, and steam them VERY LIGHTLY so that they are still crunchy. I can't abide canned veggies or those that were cooked to death. Not a fan of frozen veggies, other than peas and corn. The peas I barely defrost.1 -
vivmom2014 wrote: »Roasting vegetables can be deliciously eye opening. My husband grew up hating-hating-hating Brussels Sprouts because the only way they were served in his childhood home was boiled to mush. I told him, "I bet I can change your mind on Brussels Sprouts," and to say he was skeptical is putting it lightly. But I tossed some fresh Sprouts (cut in half/fourths) in a little olive oil, sprinkled lightly with salt & pepper, and roasted them until the outer leaves were crunchy and the veg itself was cooked, but firm and bursting with flavor.
He couldn't believe it, but he loved them.
Yep, my partner's mother was a boil-veggies-to-mush cook. I got him to enjoy Brussels sprouts by pan roasting them in a little oil with bacon or kielbasa.
He never liked cauliflower before I discovered Buffalo cauliflower. Huh, my recipe is now paleo and air fryer. I use wheat flour and the oven, 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until tender when poked with a fork.
https://www.franksredhot.com/en-us/recipes/buffalo-cauliflower-bites
It does have a lot more calories than plain cauliflower. I usually make half the head like that and then I eat the rest steamed, over the next week.
I made cauliflower millet "mashed potatoes" once. I thought it was more trouble than it was worth, but others might enjoy it. My version had onions instead of garlic.
https://kripalu.org/resources/kripalu-recipe-garlicky-cauliflower-millet-mash
The cruciferous veggie we eat the most is simple steamed broccoli
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SafariGalNYC wrote: »Looking forward to OP’s findings..
Off to the unpopular opinions thread to talk about my beloved steamed veggies now 😂
It's weird: Seems like there have been multiple cases here recently where people talk about how awful steamed veggies are, or claim that people in the US eat lots of (or mostly) steamed veggies.
I don't perceive either of those to be solidly true.
Properly steamed veggies are good, but it's necessary to choose the right veggies, and not cook them to death, or undercook. They can be light, flavorful, crisp, colorful . . . delicious.
I'm not sure where the "everyone eats lots of them in the US" comes in. Maybe the "steam in bag" (in microwave) kind? Sometimes I buy those, but never steam them in the bag. People eat veggies a lot of ways here, IME . . . but a lot of people eat very few of them at all, if survey data is accurate.
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Buy bag. Nuke bag. Eat bag. Try different bag. Buy more of best bags. Nuke more of best bags. Eat more of best bags. Problem solved.
<I'm not in the US>
Suggest 500 to 750g bag. 1kg may be a bit much for some. And 350g or smaller may prove marginal for a once a day nuking. You might have to resort to TWICE a day nuking which is, like, WORK!1 -
Cook european cuisines.0
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@seffell - European cuisine like fish and chips, pizza, lasagna or weiner schnitzel? I vote haggis personally, boil me some neeps and tatties. Or boiled Irish potatoes - yum.
Alas- the OP hasn’t come back after his one post anyway so. C’est la vie.
Ps as I wrote this I had a pop up from BBCgoodfood.com on how to steam vegetables. lol Time to break out the steamer UK. 😉1 -
Thanks for posting this to the forum. Is there anybody in your life who has a healthy food that they really enjoy? You guys could have a meal together and they can share why they enjoy it.0
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MattFieleke wrote: »Thanks for posting this to the forum. Is there anybody in your life who has a healthy food that they really enjoy? You guys could have a meal together and they can share why they enjoy it.
I’m in my life and I only eat food I enjoy.
Husband is also on MFP, and I havn’t heard any complaints about what I set in front of him.
Except he’s not a fan of roasted veg, which kills me, because I could eat them every day. He especially dislikes Brussels sprouts and beets. 😢 he doesn’t complain, but he very discreetly makes a point of only spooning out the vegetables he likes.
Last night we enjoyed homemade enchiladas with a side of slow cooked beans, and greens and diced tomatoes on the side.
Tonight he’s at a meeting and I’m planning to stop by the newest pizzeria on the way home from the gym, pick up a couple of to-go slices, and make a small side salad when I get home. I’d make do with one slice, but as a treat, I’ve built room in for two slices in my calories. I don’t get to do this often because he gets fewer calories than me, and it would be uncool to pig out on two in front of him, when he only gets one.
What’s not to like about pizza?
People, weight loss does not automatically mean suffering and withdrawal from favorite foods. What it means is not scarfing half a pizza, a whole order of breadsticks, and half a liter of sugar soda.
Life. Way too short to eat unpleasant, nasty, “force yourself to lose weight” foods.2 -
springlering62 wrote: »People, weight loss does not automatically mean suffering and withdrawal from favorite foods. What it means is not scarfing half a pizza, a whole order of breadsticks, and half a liter of sugar soda.
Life. Way too short to eat unpleasant, nasty, “force yourself to lose weight” foods.
Preach it, sister! I lost 40+ lbs while still eating pizza and burgers and ice cream every week, just by having 2 slices instead of 4, 1 burger instead of 2, 2 scoops instead of 3.1 -
It's unfortunate that in the US, many of the foods we grew up on are high fat, high calorie. So, we crave those as comfort foods. If we lived in Asia, our comfort foods would be lean meats, a lot of fish, some rice, and a bunch of vegetables!
Personally, I have grown to really like the taste and texture of foods that aren't so calorie-intense as I have aged. Of course, when we end up at a diner, I would love, love, love to order the chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes smothered in gravy with a side of corn (what I grew up eating in the 70s)! I just don't find myself at diners very often fortunately!1
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