But I don't like <insert name of food here> !!!

sbilyeu75

I hate brown rice. I'm not a huge fan of any rice, since I think of it as just a filler. But I truly hate brown rice, and it ticks me off to see people act like it's so important to eat brown rice.

Mindful_Trent

I LOVE eggplant! I was the weird kid who ate all those vegetables but wouldn't touch fruit! Though my excuse is that they literally make me ill (Seriously, half an apple makes me vomit). So it's not a matter of retraining tastebuds it's more like my pancreas super overproduces insulin when I eat sugars.

Yikes! Don't blame you for not eating fruit. Obviously if you have an allergy or some other bad reaction like this to food, I'm not saying you should eat it anyways... this post is more for people who are unwilling to try new things to give different foods a real chance.

dls06

The problem is I love all food, it's the "exersise" I hate!

aippolito1

So true! And honestly, if you don't like it, MAKE IT A DIFFERENT way. Spices and seasonings can change the taste of anything drastically with JUST a tiny dash. I've always hated salmon in sashimi but I broiled it in a sauce and loved it, and then I broiled it with sea salt & dill weed and LOVED it. Seriously...any thing tastes good in a healthy pasta with a couple veggies and a sauce or even just some seasoning.

I've learned to love asparagus, greek yogurt (granola anyone?, pecans (WHO KNEW? I've hated them my whole life), feta cheese, goat cheese (I was forced to drink goat milk as a child and could only drink it with strawberry syrup 'cause I hated the taste, so imagine my surprise when I fell in love with goat cheese!), and spinach. Spinach is probably the most surprising but I know why I didn't like it and love it now. My mom always made canned or frozen but never seasoned it. I sautee mine with chicken and steak seasoning and it's fabulous! Also...really good in pasta. lol!

LilynEdensmom

I am willing to try anything lol...however if I try it and don't like it, I probably will never touch it again.
I tried ground turkey in some hamburger helper (since someone had told me that it makes it better and the hamburger helper covers the flavor) I had tried turkey burgers and didn't take more than a couple bites so I attempted it again since everyone said its so healthy...Nope didn't taste good at all lol
Yogurt is the same way I have tried different kinds different ways and I just don't like it lol..

But like I said I am willing to try new things from time to time.

stringcheeze

The problem is I love all food, it's the "exersise" I hate!

Amen! :drinker: I'm still working on the "eat yourself thin" plan. :bigsmile:

brityn

my rule is that I have to try something 7 times before i completely disregard it. (that's on seven different occasions, not seven bites :happy: ) I haven't really found anything I can't stand...i'm not a big fan of sweet things, but I think that's a good thing..

HIzara

You're absolutely right. Also, as we get older and our lifestyles and experiences change/differ, we might rethink some foods that we thought tasted bad!

JennaGermain

I HATE bananas!! I've tried to force myself to eat them but the moment the taste hits me the gag reflex kicks in.

I'm willing to try most things at least once or twice (except anchovies, monkey brains, haggis...other regional dishes of creatures or parts I don't think I should eat, like tarantulas...EEEEWWW!!!)

However, I find that if I have an extreme reaction like I do w/ bananas, I can't even get my tastebuds to experience it enough to try & develop a taste for it. That usually only works on something I don't really care for but also don't really object to. Like cheese sticks. I always thought "Ew, this is so blah, why is everyone insisting I must eat this as a snack" but then I tried one more time & started w/ a less healthy version instead of starting right w/ the fat-free & I was like "Now this, I can do" and am gradually going from full fat to light & then we'll see.

nehtaeh

I don't like most cooked veggies. I have tried a lot but just don't like them. I have to disagree that being an adult doesn't mean that I have to eat cooked veggies because they are good for me. I can still eat healthy without having to gag on a cooked broccoli. Just the smell of cooked broccoli is disgusting. I will eat it raw though!

I have become more open with trying things, but I will not eat things that I don't like simply because they are healthy.

Sorry if you misunderstood my post - I wasn't saying you have to eat veggies a certain way to be an adult... You've found the way that you prefer your veggies - I don't see anything 'non-adult' about that! :flowerforyou: This is an example of preparation making a difference - you don't like cooked veggies, but you'll eat them raw. As long as you're eating them, that's all that really matters!

What I don't get is people who eat almost no veggies because they say they don't like any of them. There are A LOT of veggies out there, but too many people just equate veggies to whatever they were raised on. If they were to try different cooking methods (or eating them raw!) maybe they would find that there were quite a few veggies they actually liked. No one's going to like all of them, but some things (like veggies) are so important to our health that we HAVE to find ways to fit them into our diets.

Eh, its all good. I've always had a hard time trying new things because there are certain things I don't like. Soup is a great wat to incorporate a lot of veggies because they absorb the tastes you do like. I can't do celery though, I might if they were finely chopped like pp has stated.

I like most veggies raw. My problem is keeping away from the dip. But, if I replace dip with something like salsa - its much better, although maybe higher in sodium. I can do vinegar splashed on most veggies too and that adds nothing but goodness really.

My next conquest is squash, just have to figure that one out. I fear I have to add things that aren't as good for you, like parmesan cheese or butter, but we'll see. The jury is out...but I'll try.

Mustard is something that will never get another try for me, not that its important anyway.

toots99

oh! I tried skinny cow ice cream products - yucky!!

I managed to find ice cream that have the same cals as skinny cow and still yummy! Or I go to Mc D's and get a small ice cream cone and it's only 150cals!!

I just wanted to say first off that you're before and during pictures are awesome! You look great!

I don't love yogurt, but I eat it because I know it's good for me. Same with carrots and salmon.

HealthyChanges2010

Beautiful!

HealthyChanges2010

Very nice post Trenton.. trying new foods out has made meals far more interesting!

silhouettes

My husband encourages me to try new things and I do.. more than once most times, but there are just some things I can't stand.

I don't really like any types of lettace. I try real hard to eat it, I nibble at it, but there comes a point where I spit it out and would rather not eat.

I don't like yogart either and I'm sick of trying new flavors... bla.

I say try it.. try it more than once... but if you still can't stand it, find something else.... as long as it's heatly to... you should enjoy your food somewhat, it's something you have to do everyday.

jdsouthernbelle

I HATE onions and peppers.....seriously....have tried them every which a way you can fix them.....can't stand them! Have given them a fair shake. I think most people do before they honestly say they HATE something!

sniffles

I don't eat what I don't like - same as others have said.

My issue is more there ARE foods I like but when I eat them they make me sick and that makes me sad. ):

Peppers (and variety), for example... when I eat them my ears buzz and I usually experience dizzy spells shortly after eating them.
Potatos - shortly after eating I break out into hives.
Green Beans - Usually eating these is followed by a horribly upset stomach.
Garlic - See Pepper reaction and multiple it by two.
Eggs - Give me the gas from hell. No, really, it's straight from hell... and smells just about as bad. Sometimes they'll also inspire headaches (probably from the gas).

Seems like the list just grows and grows the more I try to introduce myself to new vegetables.

So... *sigh* I just have to stick with a non-varied diet. *shrug* Whatever. Won't kill me to take multi-vitamins.

All I really have to say is while it's good to push your boundaries and try to 'relearn' how to eat foods you used to hate, it's not good to restrict your diet to things you despise. Eventually you WILL crack and return to junk foods. So mix in those foods you hate with the stuff you love. It's a good way to introduce something you wouldn't otherwise like.

My roommate, for example, hates cooked peas. UNLESS she includes them in a stew and only in small portions. Now, peas aren't going to make or break her diet but she still makes the effort to throw a few in because she knows I love them. Hee.

njjbosse

i feel like tons of people on here are really picking at the minutea. i don't think the message he was trying to send is "pick the foods you like the least and eat them all the time" it was more about not ruling out different types of foods just because you made the decision in your mind that you didn't like them a long time ago. It's less "eat beets" and more "don't just eat mac and cheese" no diet is going to work if you hate everything you're eating, but if the last time you ate a lima bean you were 11 years old and you're 35 now, it's worth the nutritional benefits of just trying them again. Personally i love candy, i've lost 50 lbs in the last 8 months and if anyone was to tell me "you can't eat candy" i'd freak, but as much as i hate to admit it, one cannot live on candy alone, so i toss in some salads and lean meats etc. because that's how you make a lasting commitment to losing and maintaining a healthy weight. people don't need to continue posting things like "well i hate carrots so i'm not eating them" we're not kids and i don't think he was trying to attack anyone.

sniffles

njjbosse - Actually I think there are a lot of assumptions going on all over here.

1st. You assume everyone hates certain foods just because they hated them as a child.
2nd. We are all assuming OP is suggesting we only eat foods we hate (IE: Healthy foods we hate) because it's good for us.

We AREN'T kids, and it's kind of silly to assume we're all acting on rules we learned as children. As a child I hated rice, now I love it. As a child I loved beets, now I hate them. My childhood has very little to do with my food preferences.

Approaching people and telling them to grow up (although this isn't exactly what was said - I'm using extreme paraphrasing here and try foods they hate isn't really going to encourage healthy eating. Giving examples on how to use those foods we hate in recipes that will make those icky foods tolerable? Now that's helpful.

We should totally make this into a recipe thread!!!!

I think we should start with yogurt. HOW does one make yogurt tolerable to those who dislike it? Easy. Smoothies. Blend in some yogurt with tons of fruit and some vegetables and TA DA. Tolerable, yummy treat. Anybody else got some recipes which include commonly hated ingredients?

jennylynn84

Poor accountant_boi. I don't think he was pinpointing any one person or any particular thing. Its just that every day or so someone wants advice on how to eat healthy, but then adds at the end something like "I only like chicken, ground beef and pasta." Well, you're obviously going to have to branch out a bit.

I don't think he means pick something you hate and gag on it until you get it down. I think its seriously that most people don't give food a fair shake because when they were 5 it was gross. But all of your cells are new every 7 years (I think - feel free to correct if I'm wrong) and stuff you couldn't stomach before might not be awful now. There was a time in my life that I hated mushrooms, zucchini and squash. Oh, and tomatoes. I recently made a meatless lasagna including all those things. And it was awesome.

If you "hate" it, but it's been more than a decade since the last time your mom tried to force it on you.... give it a shot. Just a quick one. Remember that your cells are actually new and might read it a different way. AND its all in the way you cook it.

messyhare

Could be the way the food was prepared the first time you tried it too that makes you "think" you don't like it. I say "think" because all my life I thought I hated sweet potatoes because I DID detest candied sweet potatoes but come to find out I love sweet potatoes ANY way but candied!

SOOOO if you think you hate something, think about how it was prepared when you ate it and maybe try it a different way

Lyadeia

No matter how onions are prepared, they are always gross.

I think it is a good thing to try new foods, but when you tell people on a diet that they should ingest foods they detest, a great number of people will just say "I give up." I personally like to work around things like that by making new healthy recipes that perhaps omit things I hate, like onions.

It's like exercise...if you hate doing it, you won't do it. And you may never find what you like to do if you keep doing what you hate doing and just quit.

HealthyChanges2010

i feel like tons of people on here are really picking at the minutea. i don't think the message he was trying to send is "pick the foods you like the least and eat them all the time" it was more about not ruling out different types of foods just because you made the decision in your mind that you didn't like them a long time ago. It's less "eat beets" and more "don't just eat mac and cheese" no diet is going to work if you hate everything you're eating, but if the last time you ate a lima bean you were 11 years old and you're 35 now, it's worth the nutritional benefits of just trying them again. Personally i love candy, i've lost 50 lbs in the last 8 months and if anyone was to tell me "you can't eat candy" i'd freak, but as much as i hate to admit it, one cannot live on candy alone, so i toss in some salads and lean meats etc. because that's how you make a lasting commitment to losing and maintaining a healthy weight. people don't need to continue posting things like "well i hate carrots so i'm not eating them" we're not kids and i don't think he was trying to attack anyone.

This is how I read it as well.:flowerforyou:

Mindful_Trent

Just to clarify - I'm not saying that people should force themselves to eat foods they hate, I'm just saying that people need to open their minds and give a variety of foods a fair chance. Too many people seriously limit what they eat because they're either afraid to try new things or they've just always thought they hated something. It's why so many people don't eat enough veggies - they get bored of the few they do eat and end up not eating enough. Many people hate things as a kid, and learn they love them as an adult.

Try something new every week, and before you write something off, try a different preparation method - it really can make a huge difference. I hate cooked carrots by themselves, but as part of stew/soup, I don't even notice them.

Maybe people are missing this clarification that I posted??

I'm not saying that if you really hate something, that you should force yourself to eat it. I'm not saying you should *only* eat healthy foods that you don't like. Everyone has different tastes. If you don't like tomatoes/onions/bananas/whatever, don't eat them.

I agree that to be successful, you have to enjoy what you are eating (for the most part).

I'm just saying that our tastes do change over the course of our life. I know from personal experience that many people tend to decide they don't like something based off of a poorly prepared dish or based off of old memories or something like that. (Ex. I tried Tofu one time and it came out horribly, but then I had some that was very well prepared a year or two later and it was spectacular. ) I also know that you can learn to like something (my experience with salads without dressing).

Some people are very close-minded when it comes to food, and I think that is a very unfortunate attitude. Mostly, I'm just trying to encourage people to give some foods another try - especially if it's been awhile since they've had it, and I'm trying to emphasize how important it is to be willing to try new foods. You never know when you'll discover a new favorite food! (Which happened to me when I tried spaghetti squash. ) If you dislike black beans, don't assume you'll dislike Chickpeas or kidney beans. If you don't like yogurt plain, maybe you'll like fruit smoothies that are made with some yogurt. There are so many ways to use various foods! Imagination and creativity (and an open mind) will take you so far in the kitchen. :drinker:

sniffles

If you don't like yogurt plain, maybe you'll like fruit smoothies that are made with some yogurt. There are so many ways to use various foods! Imagination and creativity (and an open mind) will take you so far in the kitchen. :drinker:

That's far more useful then much of what's been said.

But you shouldn't assume people dislike food just because they disliked it as a child. I'm pretty sure most of us aren't using our childhood discernment to judge what foods we like now... although I could be wrong. It's been awhile since I hung out in this forum.

Mindful_Trent

If you don't like yogurt plain, maybe you'll like fruit smoothies that are made with some yogurt. There are so many ways to use various foods! Imagination and creativity (and an open mind) will take you so far in the kitchen. :drinker:

That's far more useful then much of what's been said.

But you shouldn't assume people dislike food just because they disliked it as a child. I'm pretty sure most of us aren't using our childhood discernment to judge what foods we like now... although I could be wrong. It's been awhile since I hung out in this forum.

I don't assume everyone dislikes things because they disliked it as a kid. I know some people feel that way, but other people simply eat a dish (at whatever age) that was prepared poorly, or it was a bad combination of foods, or something like that, and it leaves them with a bad memory of something. If you look at my original post, I don't even mention disliking foods as a kid. The reason you dislike foods doesn't matter. I'm saying people should give foods a fair shot (prepare them different ways, try different combinations, etc.) before they write off a wonderfully healthy food from their diet.

sniffles

If you don't like yogurt plain, maybe you'll like fruit smoothies that are made with some yogurt. There are so many ways to use various foods! Imagination and creativity (and an open mind) will take you so far in the kitchen. :drinker:

That's far more useful then much of what's been said.

But you shouldn't assume people dislike food just because they disliked it as a child. I'm pretty sure most of us aren't using our childhood discernment to judge what foods we like now... although I could be wrong. It's been awhile since I hung out in this forum.

I don't assume everyone dislikes things because they disliked it as a kid. I know some people feel that way, but other people simply eat a dish (at whatever age) that was prepared poorly, or it was a bad combination of foods, or something like that, and it leaves them with a bad memory of something. If you look at my original post, I don't even mention disliking foods as a kid. The reason you dislike foods doesn't matter. I'm saying people should give foods a fair shot (prepare them different ways, try different combinations, etc.) before they write off a wonderfully healthy food from their diet.

Fair enough. Your Original Post did not mention disliking food as a kid, the post I was responding to did mention this.

Anyway, that's why I suggested we make this a recipe thread. To show people how to combine those bad foods properly!

cardigirl

I think it's self defeating when someone says they "hate" vegetables, or water, or whatever other healthy change that has been suggested. I think it's a mindset that needs to be changed to be successful.

People come here to lose weight, get healthier, etc. But a lot of people complain about the process, which I understand, venting is good, but come on. If you don't like the way you look/feel/are living, you're gonna have to change something! And obviously, if you're not eating lots of vegetables, because you hate them, well, then maybe eating vegetables will get you where you want to go.

Same with trying to eat whole grain as opposed to refined grains. Eventually, it becomes normal to eat whole wheat pasta, as opposed to white pasta, etc. If you want to make the change bad enough.

Obviously, we have tastes, likes and dislikes, but to exclude an entire food group seems like a real problem to me.

If I could be healthy eating only deep fried foods like onion rings or fried calamari, that would be the way I would go. But I can't, so, I've learned to love healthier fare. AND I feel so much better having started to eat that way.

chrisdavey

Good topic.

Our tastebuds definitely do "mature" I think. Have to take a risk and try something which you didn't used to like just to check I reckon :P

I will eat just about anything (after living in Japan :P) but I still dislike mushrooms. I don't think it is the taste so much but moreso the texture which is odd as it is sort of like seafood which I absolutely love? I eat plenty of vegetables anyway so currently sticking to the basics.

Also, used to hate oats, now have them every day. Used to HATE UHT milk, now I drink nothing but UHT milk. We definitely change so give it a go. You may just be surprised

JennaGermain: try chopping a banana and freezing it. I don't know why but it makes it taste a lot sweeter. Great little healthy snack IMO.

BTW I had no idea people didn't like lettuce. I didn't really realise that it even had a flavour :P

Re tofu: that is a very tricky one as it basically takes the flavour of whatever it is cooked with. I can see how someone could automatically dismiss it if they had it cooked with some "funky" flavours.

MaureenH39

Not liking a food now because you didn't like it as a child isn't always the case, but it DOES happen I loved vegetables even as a kid...still do...but the one I hated was asparagus. I had not tried it since I was a teen, I think? Well, I decided to try it again a few weeks ago and now I love it

Mindful_Trent

I think it's self defeating when someone says they "hate" vegetables, or water, or whatever other healthy change that has been suggested. I think it's a mindset that needs to be changed to be successful.

People come here to lose weight, get healthier, etc. But a lot of people complain about the process, which I understand, venting is good, but come on. If you don't like the way you look/feel/are living, you're gonna have to change something! And obviously, if you're not eating lots of vegetables, because you hate them, well, then maybe eating vegetables will get you where you want to go.

Same with trying to eat whole grain as opposed to refined grains. Eventually, it becomes normal to eat whole wheat pasta, as opposed to white pasta, etc. If you want to make the change bad enough.

Obviously, we have tastes, likes and dislikes, but to exclude an entire food group seems like a real problem to me.

If I could be healthy eating only deep fried foods like onion rings or fried calamari, that would be the way I would go. But I can't, so, I've learned to love healthier fare. AND I feel so much better having started to eat that way.

Thanks for trying to explain this subject in another way. This is exactly how I feel... Self-defeating is a great way to describe it when people say they dislike a whole food group/category. People do have genuine likes/dislikes - which is fine - but sometimes people just have to get over old mindsets and embrace change to discover a whole new set of food opportunities available to them.