Picky Eater - New Member

impyimpyaj

Former picky eater here. No longer so picky. I do have issues with some textures of things, but I eat a much wider variety of foods.

The best way to get over your pickiness is to just try new things. And try old things in different ways. I cannot eat raw carrots, but I love them roasted with olive oil, pepper, and rosemary. I hate grilled salmon, but I like it baked with a spicy honey mustard sauce. I never liked Brussels sprouts when my mom would boil them, but I LOVE them roasted with garlic.

You say you don't like any vegetables. There are dozens of vegetables out there. Most of the time when we say we don't like veggies, we've mostly only been exposed to either raw or canned. I can't eat them raw (except for some lettuces), and canned ones don't do it for me, but I love fresh veggies prepared other ways. Just keep trying new things. Don't say, "I don't like carrots." Instead, say, "I don't like carrots the ways I've had them before, but I'm willing to try it in this new dish."

I started a thing where once a month I would bring home a new fruit or vegetable from the grocery store, and then I would come home and look up how to prepare it, and we'd have it for dinner. I've found a lot of new favorites that way.

CaitlinW19

Try googling healthy versions of things you do like also. I just found a recipe today that I want to try that is a baked version of chicken fingers using cornflakes as the crust. http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/quick-recipes/lunch/lighten-up-healthy-chicken-fingers-recipe/ Can't say I've tried this recipe, but it's not the only one out there.

1PatientBear

Don't be mean people. You should all be here to help, not judge and make people feel bad. What if your MFP friends did that to you?

I welcome it. Sugar coating does no one any favors.

OP, expand your horizons and try new things. I PROMISE there are some veggies out there you like. Just be open minded to trying them again or for the first time. If you don't like them raw, try them cooked or vice versa. Don't limit yourself so much and you'll find a lot more options to help you reach your goals.

Sunbrooke

Invest in a turbo blender like blendtek or Vitamix. It will pay for itself eventually if you like the all natural juices.

My son doesn't like anything green, but he is happy to down a kale and banana smoothie without any sweetener. I have a blendtek. It has one dull blade attached to the pitcher, so cleaning isn't an issue. There are so many great recipes for these and you will have it for years. They really work as good as they are supposed to. Oh, and if you like to indulge in frozen adult beverages, you can make your own from fresh fruit. If you like humus, these blenders are the best.

Laurenjenai

I was the same, try turkey bacon, ground turkey, ground chicken. there are lots of fruits to choose from too. Prep your meals to save time.

CaitlinW19

Don't be mean people. You should all be here to help, not judge and make people feel bad. What if your MFP friends did that to you?

I welcome it. Sugar coating does no one any favors.

OP, expand your horizons and try new things. I PROMISE there are some veggies out there you like. Just be open minded to trying them again or for the first time. If you don't like them raw, try them cooked or vice versa. Don't limit yourself so much and you'll find a lot more options to help you reach your goals.

Maybe you do, but maybe he doesn't. People can be supportive and still say what they think. There's just no need for people to be rude. Your message, in my opinion was great. You weren't being mean but presented opposition. That's all I'm saying I'm in favor of (notice you and I gave basicly the same advice). We are all here for support...doesn't mean sunshine and rainbows but it doesn't mean nasty attitudes either (again I did not read your message as nasty at all, so your message is not the kind I'm talking about). I just get so tired of reading people putting others down on MFP. Most people are great, but why spend your energy to be nasty to a stranger?

Sunbrooke

Oh, also. I heard somewhere that's people's tastes change from time to time. If you haven't tried something for a few years, give it another try. You may be able to get a taste for it. I went through a phase where I couldn't stand bell peppers. If you can stomach something, use it in small quanitity and you may start to like it, or at least not mind it.

morn1ngstarr

When you do make the choice of going to fast food places.. Order the kids meal or even just take top or bottom bun off.. Making little changes help.. If ordering salads.. don't pour on the dressing.. dip your fork to get the taste of the dressing for each bite.. It will save in calories and carbs..
Cutting back on soft drinks helps too. Water is great filler and helps flush your system,, They say helps you lose weight too.. not a water drinker.. grab perhaps power aide zero.. they are 0 calorie and come in assorted flavors. Many other 0 cal drinks out there just have to look for them .
Good luck in your journey.. Reminder that tastes change year to year.. Something you didn't like before you could really enjoy now.

msthang444

I have to say I agree with a lot of the posts... just being on here will help. I am a junk food junkie to my CORE...HOWEVER after realizing how much i was actually eating b/c I had to track it. I made some different choices.

I didn't bring lunch one day and looked up how much pizza rollers were. 280 calories A PIECE. Then looked at my subway sandwich. 490 calories. Finally I just went to the grocery store and bought something.

Tracking your foods will help you modify what you eat. If you have the ability to "just eat one" you might be able to keep some of your junk food.

Alternatively, hide some of the foods like vegetables. Sometimes you can include carrots or such like that in your meals and not even notice......

iambaldwin

I too am a very extremely picky eater- taste, texture and smell issues and gag reflex.. like certain foods have made me sick bc of these things... but I have learned to implement veggies in different ways..
First off, I do recommend to start trying a few new things here and there- I have found there are a few veggies that I use to hate and now I can tolerate them enough to eat a few for the nutrients, as well as found one or 2 that I do like.. i have found a few things like zucchini and squash ( the way i make them anyway) doesn't really have that much flavor and as long as they have a little crunch and aren't all mushy I can eat them.. so will put a little seasoning on it and cook few a bit- then make myself eat them.. my next thing I am working on is doing veggie chips- making my own. you will get the nutrients and all of the veggies but it will be like eating chips ( which I love) so hopefully I will like veggie chips.. we shall see...

another thing is I have started doing smoothies for breakfast and sometimes even dinner- I have a magic bullet mixer so can make just one serving at a time without a big mess and easy cleanup! I throw a few frozen fruits in there, greek yogurt and will put spinach or kale in with it- once its blended up it taste really good- you cant even taste the spinach/kale in it- they might just give it an awkward color- but i really love my smoothies.. with smoothies you can also add other things- like protein powder, or honey or other vitamins and what not..

I have also quit buying things that are not good for me to eat all the time- if I have chips in my house I will eat them before anything else- if they are not there I am forced to eat something else. I still treat myself every once and a while- I do not want to deprive myself- I am just more careful about eating them so much. I also eat out a lot- with my work and being single and living alone- its difficult to always cook something or food will go bad before I finish it- so it is really easy to just eat out- I repeat what many of these other post have said- get kids meals... ( and depending on the place- I will not finish them) they are smaller portions. Get water instead of coke/sweet tea- you DO NOT want to drink your calories. substitute your sides- get apples/ yogurt instead of fries.. or get no sides at all and just a burger/ chicken fingers. and EAT SLOW! the slower you eat the quicker you get fuller and stop eating. when you eat fast you trick yourself into thinking you are not full- but when eating slower you can fill how "full" you actually are and quit eating when full- so not to overeat.. eating after feeling full will stretch your stomach- making you want to eat more and more each meal I am a slow eater naturally- but have even slowed it down a bit more.. it helps- a lot of times I do not finish my whole meal !

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Mangopickle

Words are very powerful. I no longer say "I love a particular food item". I love people and I really like food. I started doing this ten years ago. It helped me break my addiction to bread, potatoes, and fried food. You are not a picky eater. You WERE a picky eater and now you are gonna go forward and give everything a fresh try. You are a food virgin. There is a whole world of colors and textures and flavors that aren't fried chicken. You are eating more and more of the junk and not feeling satisfied because your palate is bored. Your body is screaming for something interesting to eat. For most of us eating is a very sensual experience. I remember a student saying to me that they didn't like garlic. I pointed out to him that not only did he like garlic he also liked beef hearts, paprika, black pepper, basil, beef intestine, oregano, onion, beef fat, celery and fennel. I said not only do you like it it is your favorite food!! He was stunned when I explained that that was what was in his beloved pepperoni pizza. When I taught H.S. biology I always liked to put food in as a teaching tool. Yogurt when we studied bacteria, hot n sour soup when we studied black fungus, cheap ice cream when we studied algae, pepperoni when we studied the heart. The kids loved it. The world is your oyster, now shuck it, throw on some horseradish cocktail sauce and suck it down!!

pds06

Right off the bat you're setting yourself up for failure. Be an adult and eat to live. We would all love to eat junk food and be healthy inside and out. But it don't work that way.

Carolyn_79

As others have mentioned, you need to try new things. Set a goal to try 1 new vegetable every time you do groceries. You'll probably dislike most but find a few you actually like. I didn't eat veggies either when I started my journey but I did what I told you and now I have a small group of veggies that I like and I'm still experimenting.

1PatientBear

Don't be mean people. You should all be here to help, not judge and make people feel bad. What if your MFP friends did that to you?

I welcome it. Sugar coating does no one any favors.

OP, expand your horizons and try new things. I PROMISE there are some veggies out there you like. Just be open minded to trying them again or for the first time. If you don't like them raw, try them cooked or vice versa. Don't limit yourself so much and you'll find a lot more options to help you reach your goals.

Maybe you do, but maybe he doesn't. People can be supportive and still say what they think. There's just no need for people to be rude. Your message, in my opinion was great. You weren't being mean but presented opposition. That's all I'm saying I'm in favor of (notice you and I gave basicly the same advice). We are all here for support...doesn't mean sunshine and rainbows but it doesn't mean nasty attitudes either (again I did not read your message as nasty at all, so your message is not the kind I'm talking about). I just get so tired of reading people putting others down on MFP. Most people are great, but why spend your energy to be nasty to a stranger?

Different people have different definitions of nasty. There are times when I have been very blunt and straightforward and have been accused of being mean and rude. That's fine with me. I don't coddle and I don't sugar coat. If that means some people think I'm mean, so be it.

Also, I have found that blanket statements like the one I highlighted above are just not true. Some people are not here for support. Some people are here just to log food, some people are here just to be mean and some people are here just to be trolls. We are not all here for the same reason and there are some people (not you) on here who just don't realize that.

dunnodunno

I would try new foods every week. Even try foods you hated as a kid & see if your taste buds have changed. I've found that I love cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and spaghetti squash.

alexvanmol

Thank you for being so helpful!

alexvanmol

Don't be mean people. You should all be here to help, not judge and make people feel bad. What if your MFP friends did that to you?

I welcome it. Sugar coating does no one any favors.

OP, expand your horizons and try new things. I PROMISE there are some veggies out there you like. Just be open minded to trying them again or for the first time. If you don't like them raw, try them cooked or vice versa. Don't limit yourself so much and you'll find a lot more options to help you reach your goals.

Maybe you do, but maybe he doesn't. People can be supportive and still say what they think. There's just no need for people to be rude. Your message, in my opinion was great. You weren't being mean but presented opposition. That's all I'm saying I'm in favor of (notice you and I gave basicly the same advice). We are all here for support...doesn't mean sunshine and rainbows but it doesn't mean nasty attitudes either (again I did not read your message as nasty at all, so your message is not the kind I'm talking about). I just get so tired of reading people putting others down on MFP. Most people are great, but why spend your energy to be nasty to a stranger?

I totally agree, i try to ignore the rude comments and focus on all of the helpful ones i received. They clearly don't understand the point and find the need to be nasty.
Thank you!

alexvanmol

Words are very powerful. I no longer say "I love a particular food item". I love people and I really like food. I started doing this ten years ago. It helped me break my addiction to bread, potatoes, and fried food. You are not a picky eater. You WERE a picky eater and now you are gonna go forward and give everything a fresh try. You are a food virgin. There is a whole world of colors and textures and flavors that aren't fried chicken. You are eating more and more of the junk and not feeling satisfied because your palate is bored. Your body is screaming for something interesting to eat. For most of us eating is a very sensual experience. I remember a student saying to me that they didn't like garlic. I pointed out to him that not only did he like garlic he also liked beef hearts, paprika, black pepper, basil, beef intestine, oregano, onion, beef fat, celery and fennel. I said not only do you like it it is your favorite food!! He was stunned when I explained that that was what was in his beloved pepperoni pizza. When I taught H.S. biology I always liked to put food in as a teaching tool. Yogurt when we studied bacteria, hot n sour soup when we studied black fungus, cheap ice cream when we studied algae, pepperoni when we studied the heart. The kids loved it. The world is your oyster, now shuck it, throw on some horseradish cocktail sauce and suck it down!!

very inspirational thank you. My mom is very healthy and doesn't eat ANYTHING remotely unhealthy, so im just gonna try eting some of her meals

40andFindingFitness

Picky eater here. <---- I just eat what I like in a healthier way. Instead of fried chicken, I bake it. Instead of a burger, try a meatloaf? (yeah I don't know if you can fix that but it was worth a try lol). Whatever veggies you do like, eat them and then try incorporating a new one a few times a week. If you like fruit, add more of them to your diet. Good luck.

bwogilvie

As a formerly picky eater, I can say that developing a taste for vegetables really does expand your horizons.

One way to develop a taste for veggies is to roast or grill them. If you're sensitive to some tastes (like the bitterness of many cabbage-family plants), roasting often transforms or eliminates them. I used to hate Brussels sprouts with a passion until I discovered what they tasted like roasted.

Another thing I found helpful was to decide to try everything, with the rule that if I didn't like it, I could stop eating it and wouldn't have to eat it again. It's surprising how many things I decided I liked when I didn't feel required to eat them.

Third and last advice: Indian, Thai, or Sichuan (aka Szechwan) food, good and spicy. When your mouth is on fire, you don't notice the things you dislike about veggies.