Picky Eater

KrystalLight03

Hey everyone!

I officially started my healthy life changes around November/December, and I'll give you a little background about my habits before. I was eating sugary and salty snacks all the time, mostly because I have a very strong sweet tooth. Due to a busy college lifestyle and lacking any and all finesse in the kitchen (I've burnt Spaghetti O's charcoal black in the microwave...yes, that can happen), I replaced actual meals with snacking...and my choices were never the best ones. I've been a dancer my whole life, so my poor eating habits used to be balanced out by the 5+ hours I spent dancing a day. When I came to college and stopped dancing, my eating habits finally caught up with me and I packed on over 30 pounds. Fed up with the way I look, I decided I needed to make a change. I have tried making changes before, but I use to have an "all or nothing" mentality and always ended up feeling deprived so I'd return to bad habits. To make sure I made changes that would give permanent results, I decided to implement my new healthy lifestyle in stages.

As of November 1, 2010, I have stopped drinking pop and have been successful. Two weeks after sticking to that goal, I decided to implement my second goal: cut my pasta intake. I come from a family that believes some form of noodles are a staple to every meal, so it has been the hardest goal to stick to. I now allow myself pasta 1 to 3 times a week (believe me, this is a drastic cut), but sometimes I just really want a good noodle dish and cave. My third goal, started at the same time as Goal #2, was to switch all white flour and breads to whole wheat. This wasn't so hard because I hate the taste of white bread and eat only wheat anyway, but I switched to whole wheat pastas and I'm checking ingredient labels for "enriched" and "bleached" flour, trying to stay away from foods that contain them. Finally feeling comfortable with the success of these goals so far, I've decided it was time to start learning to cook for myself and add healthy dishes to my menu...but that's where the problems begin.

The only way I can describe my tastes is that I have the palette of a four year old. There are a lot more foods out there that I can't stomach than ones I'll gladly eat. It's more of a texture thing than a taste thing. For example: salad. I don't mind the taste of salad. At least I don't think I do. I can't be sure because I've never been able to swallow it, and believe me, I've tried. I've tried so hard to eat salad and like it, but the crunchy/veiny texture of the lettuce (or any greens, really) gets me every time and I always end up spitting it back out. I'm the same way with fruits. I just can't bite into an apple or enjoy a piece of melon. I'm even worse with vegetables...my mother has tried since my infancy to feed me raw vegetables, and it just isn't happening. Therefore my diet of "eatable" foods looks like this:

1. Protein: This is the one category where I will gladly eat anything.
2. Carbs: I'll eat anything that is a carb...like pasta...man, I really want some pasta...
3. Vegetables: They have to be steamed, never raw. I'll eat broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, corn, peas, and green beans.
4. Fruits: Bananas, blueberries, and grapes. Is apple sauce a fruit? I like apple sauce...
5. Dairy: Cheese and yogurt, yes please.

Among foods I can't eat because of the texture, there are of course foods I just don't like because of the taste. Number one being tomatoes. I really, really, really hate tomatoes. The only other taste aversion I have is milk. Again, milk is something my mom has tried to feed me since I was born, but I've never taken to it. You know those people on Fear Factor trying to eat bugs but they can't make it go down their throats, so they dance around squealing like little girls while shaking their head back and forth? That's how I am whenever I've tried to drink milk.

The final addition to my long list of foods I won't touch are my food allergies. I am deathly allergic to cherries (anyone seen the movie Hitch? Yeah, my reaction is pretty similar) and I don't respond well to butterscotch. Thankfully, neither of those allergies are too debilitating.

In the end, I really have a desire to eat better, but I feel like my palette strongly hinders this from happening. I'm always looking up healthy recipes, but rarely do I find one that is devoid of the dreaded lettuce and tomatoes, so I end up returning to my nightly dinners of Mac & Cheese and hotdogs. I also have to pack lunches for school, and I'm so tired of eating a turkey & swiss sandwich everyday. I've tried researching sandwich alternatives, but I feel the only one people can come up with is salad.

Is there anyone else out there like me? Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one. If I'm not, what do you eat?

Shadea

I know how you feel. Although not quite a drastic as you there aren't a lot of veggies I like. You actually have a couple on there you'll eat that I don't! Mine isn't so much a texture but the taste. My 7 yr old eats better than I do in this department!

Something I've thought about doing but haven't had the chance to really try is the cookbook "The Sneaky Chef". It's full of recipes that you sneak fruits and veggies in to. It's aimed at parents of picky eaters but it will work for us too I think. There's a brownie recipe in there that has spinach in it. I saw a tv show were they taste tested a bunch of 5 yr olds and they gobbled it up with no complaints. Even asked for more!

I know this isn't the perfect solution but I figure it's one way to add a wider variety of fruits and veggies to my diet without making me dread it.

jabbogurl

I do a lot of soups. I love soups because you can really toss whatever you like into the pot and let it simmer. One that I did, which was packed with veggies was a sorta creamed tortilla soup, I guess. First, I roasted a bunch of veggies in the oven like onions, green & red peppers, jalepenos, zuchinni (since it doesn' thave much taste) and brocolli. I broil them on low so they get charred and then flip them. So i toss that in a pot with some chicken or veg stock, low sodium and let it cook for a bit. I'll also put a can of enchilada sauce in for more flavor. Let it simmer for a bit then in batches, puree it in the blender. You can add some tortilla's to thicken it if you want. Then back in the pot, throw in some grilled chicken I've shredded. Add some cliantro, garlic and lime juice. And its done. I usually make it in like a big pot, I wanna say 4quart size. Sorry I don't have real measurements, but its more about taste. This is a great way to sneak in veggies, since your going to puree it, especially veggies that don't have much taste.

lynz4589

wow! I read this and until December I could of SWORE I had wrote this myself!!

I am the worst eater in the world - as a kid me and my mum had really bad arugments everyday because of my limited palette! If there wasnt chicken and potatoes on the plate I didnt want it! I used to complain that there was no food in the house and would just have to starve, when in reality my mum had loads of fresh food, beautiful food bowl always filled and everything you could possibly want in a meal - I just wasnt interested!

Similar to you my meats I would eat was chicken or mince - that was it! Fruit -banana, grapes (only green), and strawberries - when I was younger I would only eat them with sugar though!! Veg was sweetcorn and carrots only!! Carbs Id eat anything apart from wheat! so all white breads etc.

Only 4 years ago I started eating peppers, mushrooms etc. Still very very limited!

Then at christmas this year I just set myself a challenge (I never turn down a dare so I had to see it through) the challenge being that over the christmas period I wasnt allowed to say no to any fruit or veg. Since then I now eat vegetable soup, parnsips, carrots, swede, brocoli, cauliflower, sprouts, infact this list could go on put it this way - the ONLY veg I didnt like and wont be eating again was cabbage!

I now definately eat wheat products, even if I hate it.

The biggest change was salad - before 2011, there was not ONE item in a salad I would have eaten (maybe coleslaw which of course is filled with bad mayo!) and in the first week of January I had my first ever salad in 21 years, I didnt "enjoy" it but I tolerated it, and Im just hoping that one day I will learn to like it. For me its more the texture than taste too - but sometimes taste doesnt help - including tomatoes!

One other thing I cant stand the taste of is herbs, so I can never buy recipes because its a waste of money, every meal has some sort of herb in it and I hate the taste of all herbs with a passion!

You will be able to do it, just remember the bigger picture and why you are eating it. For me everytime I dish up veg or a salad I picture myself in my bikini lying on my sunbed on my holiday looking the healthiest Ive ever looked!

KrystalLight03

Thank you every one for the advice and encouragement! It's nice to know I'm not completely alone. Shadea, I will definitely be looking into that cookbook! While it isn't the perfect solution, it definitely sounds right up my alley and would put fruits & veggies into my diet lynz4589, I relate very much to having "no food in the house" when there were plenty of healthy options available. haha.

My high school Spanish teacher once brought in all these native dishes during one of our end-of-term fiestas, and when no one moved to try the odd looking food she recited this old proverb that said something like "You add a day to your life every time you try a new food." It really resonated with me, and I've since then never turned down a new food. It's amazing how a limited palette can keep you from experiencing a whole world of foods you never knew existed. By trying new things I've discovered a love for steamed broccoli (something I turned my nose up at when I was younger), sushi, many Chinese dishes (I used to be the kid that ordered a cheeseburger at the Chinese restaurant), and so much more. However, I've discovered that I'm less likely to try new foods on my own without someone handing them to me. I think I will have to just bite the bullet and buy a few fruits & vegetables next time I go shopping. The worst thing that can happen is that I don't like and never have to eat it again. But I do foresee that there will be no salad or tomatoes in my cart! :laugh: