Picky Eaters and dieting. Am I the only one?

cortneysmissionpossible

I am a PICKY eater. Meaning I love french fries, chicken strips, pizza, soda, chips, and ketchup. I HATE vegetables but I do enjoy most fruits but tend to get canker sores when I eat a lot of them (slight allergy).
I've been eating pretty healthy for the last couple months (for example: Fruits..when I can..I only eat ground turkey and boneless skinless chicken, brown rice, almonds, 94% fat free popcorn, and i have been sneaking very thinly cut onions, red, green, and yellow peppers in my chicken stir fry/fajitas) but I feel it's extremely hard to keep it up when I am so limited and feels like it takes forever to prepare. Also I hate eggs..and it's really hard to eat anything nutritious for breakfast. I know it sounds like I'm complaining but I'm just wondering is there anybody else out there? Ii really need a friend. Or do you have any tips? (besides woman up and just eat it)
:P

Chichitas12

Me!? You can add me btw* Haha
I totally know how you feel. I don't like meat unless its good Carne Asada <~ mexican think cut meat
or a good juciy hamburger! I am not a big fast food person though which is weird... I like chocolate and icecream though and my weakness is redbull. Another problem I have is I suffer from an eating disorder KIND OF!... lol which when im stressed which its always I loose my appetite. So... yeah I dont like vegetables only broccoli... fruit I only like pineapple, bananas (in smoothies) grapes (sometimes) grapefruit (sometimes) strawberries (sometimes) and yeah..... I am also a huge WHOLE MILK DRINKER >_<

angieroo2

For breakfast, I suggest either Oatmeal or a fruit smoothie.

LokiOfAsgard

Same here.
Couldn't stand anything that wasn't sweet.

Just make very small changes over time, your tastebuds will get use to many things (not all, but enough) Start with something as simple as adding some salad with a meal, a small one, doesn't have to be a lot. Eat less red meat, even if it's breaded chicken, I still think it's healthier.
It's all bout starting small, until you get use to it, then another small change and another and another.
You'll be surprised how much salads and things grow on you

4n6babe

I usually have a protein shake in the morning for breakfast - I really like the GNC Total Lean Shake 25 in French Vanilla. I have a really hard time with fruits & vegetables too so it will be interesting to see what other people say. I do like smoothies so maybe something like that? Again, could be time consuming unless its already made. I've thought about maybe getting some type of supplement to give me a few servings worth of fruits & veggies because I am just that picky with what I eat that I am probably not getting very many nutrients. Also taking a multi vitamin is a good idea (though difficult to remember).

Dalucy495

I'm the same way. I dislike almost all vegetables. I have found that I like them better if they're not cooked or just
cooked a bit. We had a stir fry today and I just lightly softened the peppers. I usually have oat bran hot cereal for
breakfast. I ad a tsp of low sugar Swiss Miss hot chocolate to it. I love it! You can add me if you would like.

RobynLB

Cowgirl up?

divinefidelity

I struggle with this as well, and I still haven't found the solution. I basically eat the same few things over and over all the time, because I just can't come up with anything else that I can afford, that's healthy, and that I'm willing to eat.

If you find the answer, let me know

earlswimsuit

Go through absolute hell for 2 weeks. Grain bread, lots of fruits and vegetables, water, green tea, no fast food, completely clean food.......and adjust your taste buds. It will save your life.

cortneysmissionpossible

Wow! So many replies so fast haha I appreciate it!! Thanks for all the advice, I look forward to hearing more suggestions. But sometimes it's not just about the taste it's the texture too (for the oatmeal..I've tried to and I absolutely could not stand it. I'm going to try again though and maybe add peanut butter or something?)

and limitations really suck! preferences can be slightly different but the situation is the same. It makes it really hard to be successful. Thank you for your replies and I'm seriously so glad (and sad) to know there is somebody else out there like me.

Miellee

Oh I am the same way--I hate the idea of restricting what food I can and can't have. And I get a canker sore if I eat too much fruits, although I think it's the overdose of citric acid (vitamin c) in the fruits. Lately I've found that Chiobani yogurt (which is nonfat), an apple and/or a bowl of oatmeal when I need to snack goes a long away to satiate my hunger. There was a study that found that those that ate apples lost more weight than the group that didn't because it helped keep their hunger down. Or something to those regards.

GL!

SkimFlatWhite68

You can still be a picky eater. Sure. But pick good healthy foods that are going to support your body and goals.
Learn to love good quality proteins, fruit and veggies.
Put colour on your plate.
As above, make changes slowly and one day you'll be so picky that you will refuse to eat French fries and chicken strips.

All the best!

AlongCame_Molly

Instead of french fries, try baked sweet potato fries. Seriously, just try them, if you don't love them I'll send you $5 dollars in the mail. I promise.

Instead of fried chicken strips=Lightly panko-breaded and baked chicken strips

Instead of pizza, try that cauliflower crust kind that everyone's raving about, they say it tastes pretty dang good.

You can make your own baked potato chips if you invest in a mandolin (fancy slicer)

You can also make your own healthier ketchup, with no HFCS.

See? You can have all of of your favorite foods still, just slightly modified. And good job trying to work in more vegetables, it's not always easy if you're not used to eating them. Just keep trying new things, and new ways to cook it. If you don't like a vegetable cooked one wy, you might like it cooked a different way. (Have you ever tried sliced carrots sauteed with a little Mrs. Butterworth's Sugar Free syrup? Delicious!)

styledsky

You are not alone. I have a serious aversion to anything green, which means primarily green vegetables (although I'm not keen on green apples despite adoring red ones). Yes, it's a problem, but I work around it as best I can. I know, I should drink the proverbial cup of cement and harden the &^%$ up, but as you well know it's not always that simple.

Feel free to add me a friend, and if you jump into my blog you'll find a recipe for vegetable soup that includes a wide variety and actually tastes pretty good.

Good luck to us both!

deevaliciouss

i also am very picky with my food, you just need to find something that you really like to eat and switch the way you prepare it every now and then for example i only eat brocolli and purple cabbage when it comes to veggies, i would steam them, stir fry them, toss them in some soy sauce, etc.. so i wouldnt get fed up with eating them, i like chicken i eat no meat at all, so the same thing goes for chicken grill, boil, stir fry with brocolli, you can also flavor your food using mustrad, low sodium soy sauce, hot sauce, lemon or vinegar. for breakfast you can either have oatmeal with berries, or some corn flakes with skimmed milk and honey (my favorite) i eat kellog's bran flakes with 250 ml skimmed milk and a tbsp of raw honey, its tasty and it keeps you full what am trying to say is that you dont have to eat everything or like everything just switch the way you prepare your food every now and then and you will be fine

Sparlingo

I promise it gets better with time!

Things I hated a few years ago that I now like just through exposure (making myself eat them on occasion):

Mustard
Onion
Red and yellow peppers
Salmon
Talapia
Cauliflower
Whole wheat pasta
pineapple
mayo (not healthy, but it is in/on so many things!)

Some of these are pretty strong tastes, so to like them now is a big deal for me. Also, through gradual change over time, my extra small double double became an extra small coffee with two cream one sugar, then just two cream. Small change, but a double double (2 cream, 2 sugar) tastes seriously disgusting to me now. WAYY too sweet!! Tell that to me four years ago and I'd say that you were lying, because everybody likes sugar.

Edited to add: This doesn't work with *everything*. For instance, I still hate tuna and mushrooms.

cortneysmissionpossible

You guys are seriously so awesome. Thanks for the encouragement and all the advice. I am so grateful right now. It may seem cheesy but you guys just made my night a hell of a lot better. It was one of "THOSE" nights.

dunlunicor

I am a PICKY eater. Meaning I love french fries, chicken strips, pizza, soda, chips, and ketchup. I HATE vegetables but I do enjoy most fruits but tend to get canker sores when I eat a lot of them (slight allergy).
I've been eating pretty healthy for the last couple months (for example: Fruits..when I can..I only eat ground turkey and boneless skinless chicken, brown rice, almonds, 94% fat free popcorn, and i have been sneaking very thinly cut onions, red, green, and yellow peppers in my chicken stir fry/fajitas) but I feel it's extremely hard to keep it up when I am so limited and feels like it takes forever to prepare. Also I hate eggs..and it's really hard to eat anything nutritious for breakfast. I know it sounds like I'm complaining but I'm just wondering is there anybody else out there? Ii really need a friend. Or do you have any tips? (besides woman up and just eat it)
:P

Gradually try new things. Don't just up and try something out of left field. If you'll eat spaghetti sauce, try bolognese or another tomato-based sauce. If you'll eat pickles, try raw cucumber. If you'll eat iceberg lettuce, gradually mix a little spinach or romaine into your salad. Keep sneaking veggies into other meals. Mushrooms go well cooked into sauces because they aren't very strong in flavor or texture. If you will only eat boxed mac and cheese, make it from scratch with healthier ingredients. I am very picky, but I used to be so limited that I literally had a menu of 5 items, and I could not eat anything but those specific items. I had to gradually try other equivalents (swapping out wheat bread, for example). But if I tried something totally new and unlike anything else I would already eat, it didn't work. One time, I just tried raw squid, for the hell of it. Couldn't even get it down. But breaded and served like a chicken strip, I ate it and got it down just fine. Obviously, I wasn't swapping out healthier things, as I was just trying to extend my palate in general, but you can make the same kinds of swaps for healthier items.

AmazonGoddessofDoom

Not at all. And it's especially hard for me since I have a food allergy already.

But you know what I found? A lot of the foods I tried to force myself to eat and didn't like... there was a reason I didn't like them. Zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli... they all make me sick and give me stomach cramps. So I've stuck with drinking my greens mix to get those nutrients and eating lean protein and other things I like. As long as I'm under on my calorie/fat/carb goals. So far, it seems to be working.

I haven't weighed myself since I started, but my clothes are fitting differently and a pair of boots I bought a few years ago that were hard to lace up over my calves fit perfectly.