I HATE VEGETABLES!!!

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

They are either slimey or rubbery.

It really sounds like you need to look at some recipes on baking/roasting vegetables. If you like potatoes, I HIGHLY recommend for you (based on your other comments) roasted rutabega, turnip, parsnips, carrots and sweet potato. Not only are these often EXTREMELY cheap to buy, they also last a long time in the cupboard or fridge.

Here's a recipe
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/oven-roasted-root-vegetables/

Almost any vegetable can be oven roasted and will not come out slimey or rubbery. Asparagus, brussel sprouts, sweet onions, sweet peppers, broccoli also roast well.

But it sounds like you're not ready for roasted eggplant, summer squash and zucchini, so stay away from those ones in the oven, because I could see someone calling them slimey and rubbery once they're baked.

Yes, definitely try roasting. My husband is like you. He likes corn, potatoes, green beans if they're from a can, and peas. But he'll also eat carrots and few other things if they're roasted. His favorite is for them to be roasted with meat, like in a pan with a pork tenderloin. But even just roasted in the oven with olive oil is better than nothing.

I adore roasted veggies and that's how I get most of mine in. I like to toss carrots, asparagus, mushrooms, onions, and spinach with olive oil and roast them for about 45 minutes. Add some potatoes at first if it helps.

But again, I'd suggest starting slow. Have mac and cheese, but also have a vegetable side. Have a burger, but instead of fries have a salad. Try some veggies you're not familiar with. You also may find that your tastes change. But I wouldn't try to go all at once.

drchimpanzee

Anytime I come across someone that defines themselves as a picky eater it makes me wonder how that person would do if he/she was born in one of those countries that has to have the UN deliver food to them because everyone is starving. "No thanks. I know some starving and stuff and there's flies buzzing around my head and vultures circling overhead but I don't like veggies."

nxd10

Splurge. It may not help your diet, but may help your imagination.

Go for lunch to a really nice 'gourmet' restaurant and just order their vegetables. Tell them your problem. Even if it's a gourmet burger joint. It may give you some ideas.

Or go to websites like Jamie Oliver's. He makes really delicious veggies for people who hate vegetables. He can make the most awesome candied carrots. And his eggplant salad is to die for.

nxd10

Spinach pizza is pretty awesome.

Thin crust is much less caloric than thick. And just eat one piece.

barbaratrollman

I'm going to speak from my own experience here. Your body is born knowing what foods are right for it. If you had grown up eating the foods your body needed, your brain would be listening to the messages your body sends it when it needs certain nutrients that come from particular foods. But, in our society, we are tending to train our brains to not listen to our body's needs. The trend has been, instead of feeding our bodies with fuel to function well, we simply fill our stomachs with whatever salty, greasy processed swill the big companies are promoting our way.
After years of eating this way, ignoring what our body tells us it needs, our brain just becomes disconnected from these communications.

I never hated all vegetables. I always loved some, like spinach, asparagus, broccoli... However, there were many that I did not like much or not at all. Back in 2006, I had a raw, vegan friend who was very encouraging to me on making a food lifestyle change. I had begun a new early childhood education job in Jan., which had me in and out of classrooms every day, exposed to whatever bugs were going around, and I'd been sick with one flu or cold bug after another for most of the year. I was so freakin' sick of being sick and tired and was beginning to despair that I'd never get my usual vitality and high energy back.

By Oct. of that year, I was ready to do whatever it took to get better, so I started listening to my friend a bit more. On Jan. 1, 2007, I began an experiment on my body and went to a mostly raw food and mostly vegan lifestyle. I kept a small bit of raw cheese in my intake and sometimes had sushi or other raw or nearly raw fish on a salad. I really wasn't too hard on myself if I wanted something not quite raw or not quite vegan, but I stayed pretty close to about 95% raw.

I started experimenting with green smoothies as a means for getting larger amounts of green leafy vegetables into my body. When I'm working, I'm often on the road, away from my kitchen, so I came up with a way to be able to make a bit ahead and transport them, while keeping them fresh.

I started out with raw spinach smoothies, mixing it with raspberries, raw organic coconut, lemon, orange, some banana (Gives them a nice creamy, sweet texture/taste), and raw, organic cacao, and I would sweeten them somewhat with raw honey and/or agave nectar. This became my favorite smoothie, and really the only one I loved. However, you cannot eat the same greens every day, so I had to do smoothies with other types of green leavies.

I used celery (Great with strawberries and bananas!), lettuce, kale, bok choy, beet greens, dandelion greens, parsley, etc... I experimented with what combinations I liked best. Some didn't turn out so great, like dandelion greens or arugula with anything sweet, like fruits. Ugh! Those peppery tasting leafs are better in zesty (V8 like) smoothies. Anyway, if I didn't like a flavor combination, I just didn't make that one again. The main thing is to get as many fresh, raw, organic, green leafy vegetables into you as you can.

At first, I would sweeten the smoothies (Except dandelion greens or arugula, as stated above.), but after a while, this became unnecessary, as my tastes changed. I used less and less honey or agave nectar, 'til I was no longer using anything but fruit to sweeten my smoothies.

The remarkable thing for me though, is how much my cravings changed. When I began the raw lifestyle and eating green smoothies, I did not care much for celery, parsley, kale, raw bok choy, etc. After a couple of months, I started getting cravings for those things I used to not like at all. I would be driving home from a job and not be able to get celery out of my mind. I'd have to go to the store and buy some celery, get it home, and make a smoothie with it for dinner. Crazy!

I was the healthiest I've ever been in my life, for two years. My old energy came back and I trimmed right down to a size 6 and stayed there without even trying to diet. I ate lots of calories and much of that was fat calories, in the form of avocados, nuts, and seeds, but had no issues with gaining weight. I used an Excalibur food dehydrator and made extremely healthy cookies, chips, etc... for my road treats. I loved it!

Then my work load became too much and my schedule got so out of whack. I lost all balance in my life and no longer had time to create the great raw snacks I'd been making to keep a large variety in my diet. I was still making and drinking my green smoothies, but I reintroduced cooked starches into my life, in the form of organic, whole grain chips and whole grain breads and the like. I gradually gained weight and over an almost 4 year period, put on some 50 pounds, even though I kept drinking about a quart of green smoothie each day.

Though weight gain sucked, I never got back to the sicky, no-energy state I'd been in through 2006, which I credit to the consistent intake of green smoothies in my diet. I know that raw foodism is right for me and that I must limit my intake of grain based carbs. They just go right to my butt.

I finally got back to eating more raw foods in Jan. of this year and I began working out as well. I've lost nearly 20 pounds since Jan. 5 and I'm feeling so strong.

Anyway, the point I wanted to drive home with this long story was, you CAN change your food preferences. You just have to make yourself eat those things you KNOW are good for you. After you've done that for a while, your brain will begin listening to your body's signals again, the way it is right and natural for it to do. Cravings are meant to let us know what our body really needs. Getting cravings for junk (Not going to even add the word "food" to the term, because it isn't food, really.) is about the lost communication between your body and your brain. You can retrain them to communicate again and then you will begin to get cravings for the foods you once thought you hated. Really! I know it's hard to imagine this, but it is so true.

I wish you great strength and conviction as you are going through this transition. That period is the hardest, in our society. Do whatever it takes, with being your healthiest, your goal...and the slimming will just come naturally.

MrsDevor

I can totally relate! I can't stand most veggies either, when I first started out potatoes, corn, and lettuce were pretty much it. Seriously my idea of a salad was a piece of limp lettuce in my bacon cheeseburger. And ketchup totally had tomato ya know? Speaking from my own experience, changing your entire way of eating too quickly is just setting yourself up for a binge later on. Eat the foods you like trying to incorporate healthier choices as you go along such as baking your french fries instead of frying them, using 93/7 lean meat for your burgers etc. To get in some form of greens I make homemade smoothies consisting of 1 cup of frozen fruit such as mixed berries, pineapple, mango, or strawberries (whatever you like really), a small banana, 4oz of Trop 50 orange juice, 1 cup of spinach, 1/2 cup kale, and ice. The smoothie is a booger green color (depending on the paleness of your fruit) and isn't exactly aesthetically pleasing but the taste of the fruit COMPLETELY overpowers the taste of the veggies, and it really is quite delicious. For the past 11 months I've been trying to find ways to hide veggies in my food or exploring my own recipes to figure out what I like and how to make them taste less like *kitten*. Low calorie dips also help as well, and make it a little more bearable.

Good luck!

I love this! Thank you for getting it! lol I actually bought a cook book by Jessica Seinfield (Jerry Seinfield's wife). It's called Deceptively Delicious. It's a book of all kinds of goodies that she uses to veggie puree in place of other ingredients. She made it because her kids would not eat veggies lol.

barbaratrollman

I started with this book, "Green for Life", http://www.greenforlife.com/ , but I don't really care for her recipes exactly. However, I did get the ideas for some of my initial mixes from her recipes. I think my combos taste better and it seems like I actually use more green leavies in mine than she does.

I think you just have to experiment with what works for you, but keeping the focus on the green leafs, as opposed to the fruit.

PyrateWench

So does my 4 year old. I'll give you the same advice I gave him.

You won't grow up to be happy and strong if you don't eat your veg. Try it, you might like it.

Good advice! I love ALL vegetables but don't care for fruit. I finally realized that I was just being stubborn and childish by not eating fruit. We all need to eat a variety of all types of produce. I could continue to whine about not liking certain foods or find ways to incorporate them into my eating plan.

Someone mentioned juicing; that is an excellent way to get all produce in. Also, veggies can be finely grated and added to breads, soups, salad dressings, just about anything; get creative!

By the way, once I stopped drinking artificially sweetened soda's, my taste buds woke up and I love the taste of fruit now. That speaks volumes of how bad those sweeteners and soda's are :frown:

carlachristian1

Try adding grated carrots, zucinni, or broccoli to spaghetti sauce. You can also make little veggie pizzas with shole grain english muffins. Toast muffin lightly then add tom sauce or crushed toms and top with any veg and dtop with mozzerlla cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees till hot and bubbly.

SherryTeach

I don't know how to eat right, I am seriously at a loss with this diet crud! I HATE vegetables. My idea of vegetables are corn potatoes tomatoes and cauliflower...... That's it. I am the pickiest eater ever, I hate shellfish! I hate most fishes unless its on my pole. I have no idea how to get myself on a regime. All I want to yeast is Mac n cheese fries burgers pizza...... Anyone want to point me in the right direction?? :-/

One good reason to learn to enjoy vegetables and other nutritious food is to avoid raising children on fries, Mac and cheese and burgers. That would start a new generation of people addicted to processed, unhealthy food.

butterfli7o

So does my 4 year old. I'll give you the same advice I gave him.

You won't grow up to be happy and strong if you don't eat your veg. Try it, you might like it.

^^ This :laugh:

To the OP, all I can say is that sucks. I can't relate. There's not much I won't eat. I don't know how to advise you when all you want to eat is junk. You could do veggie pasta...they even have veggie mac & cheese. the macaroni itself is make from veggies.

theCarlton

I used to hate peppers of any kind. Didn't matter what color they were, if they were bell, Cubanelle, or tiny little sweet ones. But I decided that I don't like being "picky". I don't like being the only adult pulling pieces of food from her dish in public. I don't like having the palette of a child and not being able to relate to what my friends and colleagues are discussing when we talk about food. I don't like offending my friends and potential friends, by telling them what I won't eat when they make a meal and invite me over.

So I sat down with a cut up green pepper and ate it in tiny bites, tasting every single flavor for what it is, not what I wished it would taste like or what it tastes similar to. I ate bigger bites, and I started adding that to other food, like eggs and stir-fry. I started eating them along side other things. I didn't hate them anymore. I tried different ones, I grilled them. I stuffed them with awesome stuff. And guess what? I actually love peppers. I would gladly grow and eat them.

If you really want to change your habits, you have to actually do something about it. You can't expect it to change on its own. There's a big world out there full of other cultures and foods. Good luck.

BamBam125

I don't know how to eat right, I am seriously at a loss with this diet crud! I HATE vegetables. My idea of vegetables are corn potatoes tomatoes and cauliflower...... That's it. I am the pickiest eater ever, I hate shellfish! I hate most fishes unless its on my pole. I have no idea how to get myself on a regime. All I want to yeast is Mac n cheese fries burgers pizza...... Anyone want to point me in the right direction?? :-/

Jeeze. Why so much hate?

Codefox

I grew up not learning to eat many different foods because my mother is incredibly picky. I thought I liked nothing and always called myself picky right after high school. But I've spent the past 14 years learning I pretty much like most things. Anything I didn't really like but was good for me and I felt I should eat, I just ate it until I liked it. We're omnivores...your brain will get the point after a while. If you decide you're going to like something...you will.

Sheila_Ann

bumping cuz i'm the same way.

HealthWoke0ish

Do you like/have you tried edamame? In Hawaii (and presumably Japan), I've heard them called Japanese beer nuts. Anyway, they're one of my favorite snacks lately. Many stores now sell them in microwaveable pouches so all you have to do is buy it at the store in the frozen foods section, come home and pop it in the microwave for about five minutes (cooking times are on the bag) and then toss in salt and enjoy. Filling, not too bad on the calories...and a Vegetable!

Hope you find something that works.

brokenjawedmuse

I don't know how to eat right, I am seriously at a loss with this diet crud! I HATE vegetables. My idea of vegetables are corn potatoes tomatoes and cauliflower...... That's it. I am the pickiest eater ever, I hate shellfish! I hate most fishes unless its on my pole. I have no idea how to get myself on a regime. All I want to yeast is Mac n cheese fries burgers pizza...... Anyone want to point me in the right direction?? :-/

Sounds like you need an attitude adjustment and a good dose of tough love. If you want to change your life....then you have to change your life. You sound like a 5 year old with all of your, "I DON'T WANNA" crap.

Look for new ways to make various veggies. Being a picky eater, IMO is a choice. So keep trying new foods, new cuisines, new ways of presenting foods, etc.

If you want to DIET, then just eat less of your favorite foods and exercise more. If you want to get healthy, you're going to have to make some serious changes.

naschulze

It's best to try vegetables cooked different ways and added to different things. Like add tiny chopped mushrooms to a spaghetti, or avocado to a sandwich. This will gradually increase your liking for them. Also, home made smoothies are a great way to get a lot of nutrition out of a tasty beverage. Look up health food smoothies for recipes, or visit whole foods. I went there the other day and a guy was giving a demo of their smoothie recipe. He used cocoa, avocado, spinach, celery and some other stuff (I wasn't there when he listed all the ingredients) and it tasted just like chocolate ice cream. No lie, it was delicious. I make smoothies at home with mostly fruits and then add one healthful veggie like kale or spinach. You get added nutrition from it without even tasting it.

romyhorse

This sounds more reasonable than anything else. I have tried veggies other ways and they still taste so bad to me. The working out thing is a slow start for me, but I think that's how it's suppose to happen. Slow and steady wins the race...right?

My doctor says you have to try new food 17 times before you learn to like it. Don't know how true this is but it works with my kids, they eat a much greater variety of vegetables now. But there are always going to be some they don't like.

dmaloof2013

If you like fruit, a way to get vegetables in your diet is to put them into a smoothie. Here's a recipe I use:

1 1/2 handfuls spinach
1 banana
1/2 cup yogurt, any flavor you like
1/2 cup of any other fruit you like
1/2 cup of ice
1/4 of water

Blend and enjoy. It usually makes two servings for me. I love it! I don't know calories or anything though