Lifestyle Change - Take Two

jenijerz

I have been on MFP for a while now. My first go at it I lost a lot of weight and felt really good about myself. I since fell off the wagon and gained all my weight back and then some. I am 38 as of yesterday, I have four kids, and recently several health problems, mostly related to the weight gain. I want to change the way I eat but hate vegetables and am the world's pickiest eater. I don't care what it takes this time I am on a mission to change my life and body forever! Always welcome those in my same position. If you have an eating disorder and starve yourself or binge and purge please do not add me or comment. I don't mean any disresepct but I have enough people like that in my life. I am trying ot be healthy and do this the right way and cannot take the stress of worrying about someone who is doing this for the wrong reasons!

ammons886

You can do this! Don't be discouraged! Read Never Say Diet by Chantal Hobbs -- good, no-nonsense advice on losing wt and being the best you can be. I'm a picky eater, too. I will never eat fish, tofu, beans, or cottage cheese!!! I also have a hard time with the veggies.

Free yourself from the diets out there, take charge of your own nutrition your own way; you don't need to count points or have $meals$ delivered to your door every day. You already know what's bad for you and more importantly you know what you do and don't like. Track your calories & exercise on MFP, and keep it all simple. Don't worry too much about carbs or protein intake at first. Just eat good food.

I've lost 30 lbs and have 30 more to go. I am healthier and more fit than when I was in my 20's. I had to make food a little boring at the start, to take away its power over me and change my relationship with it. =0) MFP keeps me accountable.

Hang in there, and make small changes that you can live with for the rest of your life. You WILL eat birthday cake. You WILL eat a t-bone steak. And you WILL go right back to your healthy eating the next day without punishing yourself. And you WILL get healthy!

lisaabenjamin

Some tough love here for you: I don't believe anyone who says they hate vegetables. I think there are people who hate SOME vegetables, or who hate SOME ways of cooking/eating vegetables, but there are so many different types of vegetables and different ways of cooking or eating them that I just can't believe there is a person out there who hates ALL vegetables! I think it's a mindset thing, as are your self-confessed picky eating habits - funny how people who say they are picky eaters always pick the unhealthy stuff!! If you're serious about a lifestyle change, you've got to, um, make some changes, and I seriously believe getting some vegetable nutrition into your diet is going to help. For one thing, veggies are low in calories AND filling which is GREAT news for dieters!!

ammons886

I agree 100%! Experiment -- and you may be surprised what you eventually learn to like. I am almost to the point where I can tolerate salmon! I'm afraid cottage cheese is a lost cause for me, though, lol!

Be open to new foods and ways of preparing them, but don't force yourself onto a diet that contains foods you don't like or you'll never stick with it. If you write down what you DO like, I'll bet you can create your own nutritious plan that you can live with for the rest of your life. And yes, small amounts of chocolate can be part of this new lifestyle!

Again, the Chantal Hobbs book got me thinking the right way -- your local library probably has it.

GetFitE

Check out the book: The GI Diet. It's not some fad diet like you think, it's REALLY about eating healthier for a lifestyle change.

And the more you eat veggies, the more you will learn to like them--you just have to retrain your taste buds. I'm a picky eater too, and even pickier now-- I'm picky about WHICH veggies, proteins, and whole grains I want to eat.

misticache

I always preferred veggies in a can, cheap and easy and limited myself to pretty much corn, green beans and potatoes. Sometimes I would eat broccoli and I love brussel sprouts with vinegar. But when I made this change I started eating fresh/ frozen veg because it's way lower in sodium and no preservatives. I have picky eaters at home but we try new veg all the time. Some things we have learned to love by simply trying a new cooking style. We still don't like egg plant lol. But we try new things and most times its good. Try grilling them with light olive oil. broil Fresh asparagus in the oven to brown on the tips drizzled with olive oil. My kids loved this but hated the canned asparagus because it was soggy.

jenijerz

Let me update, I do like raw carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, raw spinach, and corn. But that is it! I grew up in a house where vegetables were prepared, cooked, and served every way possible. I do try about once a year all vegetables and nope I do not like them. I also am a picky eater, I don't do mushrooms, raw onions and most vegetables.

My picky eating habits are not an excuse to eat unhealthy and I make really good choices in the things I eat. Trust me, I do not sit around eating donuts and cupcakes all day. I cook as much as I can from scratch and try a new recipe once a week. I was looking for encouragement not judgements or someone to make me feel worse than I already had! Don't judge someones eating habits based off the fact that they are a picky eater!

Dawners98

First off, good for you, for noticing again that you need a change! Second, I think if you're really serious about changing your lifestyle, your food aversions may subside. I know I started this journey HATING cooked veggies. Why have cooked veggies when you can have cake?! I have absolutely never liked them but I eat them all the time now. Mushrooms, onions, broccoli, asparagus (not that I would eat that raw!), peppers, cauliflower (makes a great rice substitute, btw!), and all different kinds of squash! I think my disdain for veggies was knocked out after I was over my 'starting out' phase and got into my 'committed' phase. When I realized I could eat 2 cups of veggies vs say 1/4 of a baked potato for the same amount of calories, it really opened my eyes to the possibilities! I also eat mostly chicken, but my fridge is filled with all sorts of sauces so that my chicken never tastes the same, and it never gets boring. There are ways around these roadblocks if you're really sneaky.

Good luck!! I'm sure you'll do just great!

christina0089

You might as well have been teling my story with your post! I too joined MFP before and lost almost 100 pounds and was doing and feeling amazing. A whole lotta life crazies and off the wagon I went and hit every bump on the way down!! Gained it all back! But here I am again because my blood pressure has been erratic and I have to have surgery for two other things. (ear and hernia) and I would like to lose weight prior to going under the knife! I too am in my 30's, 35 this year matter of fact and its time to get it together! Feel free to add me but keep in mind I am as supportive as I can be but I am also realllly busy! So I don't always have time to comment on everyones post no matter how I would like to! Heading out of town today for 3 days but I will be back and we can get to kicking this weight problem together if you like! Best of luck~

foxbat2828

Free yourself from the diets out there, take charge of your own nutrition your own way; you don't need to count points or have $meals$ delivered to your door every day. You already know what's bad for you and more importantly you know what you do and don't like. Track your calories & exercise on MFP, and keep it all simple. Don't worry too much about carbs or protein intake at first. Just eat good food.

This is good advice. I've often failed on diets because I couldn't find stuff that I liked on the "suggested" meals. This time around, I'm making it work with my own diet. I finding my own things that I like and doing my own research into what has fat, what's a good fat, what's a good switch off for calories, etc. I'm also making my diet the "I don't say no" diet. I don't forbid myself from eating anything in moderation. If I want ice cream at night, then I make sure to work in the extra calories for the day by trading out on some earlier meals or staying a little extra at the gym. This time around, it's working for me and I've taken off 50 lbs. since Dec. 2011 and that's with a couple months stuck at a plateau. Not being shackled by someone else's idea of a healthy breakfast that includes egg white and yogurt, both of which I hate, and being able to experiment with other foods that I like or might like has made all the difference for me this time around.

The biggest suggestions that I can make, that have nothing to do with a specific food to try are:

1) Add more fiber.
2) Drink more water.
3) Get a food scale and weigh everything. This was huge for me as I was doing a horrible job of estimating food portions and would tend to overeat my calories by about 200-300 per day. Once I got better at figuring out exactly how many calories I was eating, the calories started popping off eating the exact same foods that I had been eating when I started eating healthier.
4) On one of your grocery trips, plan to spend an extra hour and check labels of what you buy versus alternatives. Sometimes two items sitting right next to each other on the shelf will have significantly different fat, fiber, sodium, etc. content.
5) Track food/exercise for a while for a couple of reasons. One to track results and see them ... and two, to look for trends.
6) Look for those non-scale victories too. After I lost my first 10 lbs., I didn't think I looked any better, but when I had to go buy a new belt because my pants were starting to slip, I knew there was something positive happening and it encouraged me in addition to the scale. It gave me something else to look forward to when the scale was moving as fast as I wanted it to. Simple things like not getting as tired, having more energy, being able to do a flight of stairs without having to stop at the top to catch your breath, able to spend a longer time playing with the kids, etc. are all things that say you are succeeding when the scale begrudgingly won't confirm it.

Stick with it! It's certainly doable. The best weapon you have in this is the 3 lbs. that you never want to lose ... your brain!

jenijerz

I am going to look at those books, thanks ladies! I am excited about this new journey, a correction I have three kids, well I had four until I got rid of the baggage that was my ex, and a fourth child indeed! I do like broccoli and cauliflower but only on veggie pizza, which I know isn't all that healthy for me. I agree with the 1st poster, who I think since deleted her comment, but I guess I do not 100% hate veggies

I like the idea of the garlic and olive oil, two of my favorite things on the vegetables, and cooking them on the grill! I will try that!

Dawners98

OMG, I make my own pizza all the time! Get some flatbread - I like both Arnold Pita Pocket Thins (100 cals - for a thicker crust - make sure you poke some holes in it, or it'll puff up in the oven) or I also just tried Flat Out! wraps (90 cals - for a thin crust) - add some kind of pizza sauce which can be found in the grocery store, or make your own! add shredded cheese, any toppings you like (I like the Hormel Turkey Pepperonis - 70 cals for 17 half dollar sized pepperoni slices- YUM!), bake in the oven for 5-7 mins until the cheese melts and the edges brown and enjoy! Sure, it's not the healthiest option, but you don't get the grease and extra grossness that ordering out will get you! Plus it's quick! I also use bbq sauce and make a bbq chicken, or a ham and pineapple pizza, too. The options are endless!

lisaabenjamin

Hi OP, I apologise if you thought I was judging you with my comment, I really wasn't! I just seriously can't believe that there is a person out there who really hates all vegetables - and by your own admission it seems that there are SOME you will eat after all ;-) I don't understand why you like broccoli and cauliflower but ONLY on pizza? Is it because it's all smothered in cheese and tomato (mmm...)? Pizza doesn't have to be unhealthy (except if maybe you eat a whole family size in one go) but there are plenty of other recipes that make broccoli and cauliflower (etc) more palatable!

If you are honestly, as you say, making good, healthy food choices, then perhaps you need to look at your portion size? Even eating healthy foods can contribute to your weight gain if you eat too much. Also how much exercise are you doing? Weight loss isn' all about food.

jenijerz

Hi Lisa, thank you for clarifying, my apologies for the misunderstanding. I just started working out again this week. I am an emotional eater so last night when I was stressed and wanting a rolo mcflurry I hoped on my elliptical and burned 175 calories instead of consuming who knows how many! I have started eating onions, finely chopped and hidden in something I cook but I am doing it! I like the veggie pizza because of the dip and crescent so if I can find a better way to eat it I think I will be good. I am not so good about the portions so this week I started to also measure and weigh my food. I hopped on the scale this morning and I am 3 pounds heavier than yesterday. I am attributing it to converting this fat to muscle and all the water I drank because I was very good yesterday, ate well and worked out.

I know I can do it, it just takes discipline, and I won’t deprive myself but I will definitely limit my treats and portions!

Thanks again for the support, I truly appreciate it!

lisaabenjamin

No problem! Hey that;s why we're all here, not to judge at all!

Weighing my portions and only eating recommended servings sizes has been, I think, the biggest contributor to my weight loss so far - I have never eaten that unhealhily, but when I realised that what I used to consider a 'normal' portion is actually two or three times bigger than it should be, I knew I needed to make some changes!

I'm also a big convert to exercise - I never used to do ANY but now I get called 'sporty' which still sounds really weird to me but I guess that's what I am when I take part in sports and exercise 5 days out of 7! It's hard to pluck up the courage to get started, and it's hard to get going, but once you do, it;s honestly a great motivator and makes you feel really good. I completely advocate team sports and exercise classes - it's way more fun exercising with other people and much easier to get motivated than working out on your own.

Anyway, good luck!

bodiva88

This may sound odd, maybe it is odd, but I have found that as I've added regular exercise to my schedule I've begun to crave more fruits and vegetables. I never really enjoyed salads, but now on a day after I've done a bike session I find I naturally gravitate to a salad. I think now that my body is doing what it was built for (being active) that it's starting to send out the message for me to feed it what it really needs.

Try adding regular cardio and see what happens. (Maybe it is just endorphins filling up the spaces that used to crave stuff that wasn't so good for me?)