Health eating when i dont like Veg!

gemmaaub

Hi,

Can ANYONE help me!! Im trying to lose weight, doing the 5;2 diet where for two days i have 500 calories, im also swimming 2-3 times a week (gym has stopped due to injury for the moment). However im trying to eat good but theres a massive problem, i dont like veg or much salad! Ive been like it all my life and trust me ive tried everything to help me eat well!!

Advice anyone?

p.s motivation is 0 at the moment after weighing today and no loss!

Sean_The_IT_Guy

There's no magic answer, which i'm sure is what you'd like. Saying you don't like vegetables is a lot like saying "you don't like food". There's such a huge, vast, infinite array of vegetables and methods to prepare them that I find it hard to believe that you don't like any vegetables, unless it's a psychological aversion, in which case seek help and / or re-evaluate your aversion to healthy foods.

emergencytennis

Eat fruit.

LorinaLynn

There's no magic answer, which i'm sure is what you'd like. Saying you don't like vegetables is a lot like saying "you don't like food". There's such a huge, vast, infinite array of vegetables and methods to prepare them that I find it hard to believe that you don't like any vegetables, unless it's a psychological aversion, in which case seek help and / or re-evaluate your aversion to healthy foods.

Totally agree.

I get bags of frozen mixed vegetables. Even though I don't particularly care for broccoli, if it's a little bit of broccoli mixed with carrots and snap peas and squash, I can choke it down.

Sauces and marinades help, too. Plain steamed veg? Boring. Veg mixed with vodka sauce and some pasta tastes like vodka sauce. Veg stir fried with a little Teriyaki sauce tastes like Teriyaki sauce.

angieleighbyrd

keep trying different veggies until you find something you like? there are lots of ways to sneak veggies into your diet. try cooking them differently...eating them raw....do you like fruit? nuts?

baileybiddles

Hi,

Can ANYONE help me!! Im trying to lose weight, doing the 5;2 diet where for two days i have 500 calories, im also swimming 2-3 times a week (gym has stopped due to injury for the moment). However im trying to eat good but theres a massive problem, i dont like veg or much salad! Ive been like it all my life and trust me ive tried everything to help me eat well!!

Advice anyone?

p.s motivation is 0 at the moment after weighing today and no loss!

I'm going to give you the advice that somebody gave me yesterday when I posted a topic about ways to make plain water less plain because I hate plain water: suck it up. You need to have a balanced diet in order to lose weight. You need the nutrients and vitamins that come from vegetables. Your body needs it. You need to either suck it up, or find ways to make veggies more tasty.

For example, I can add lemon or cucumber to my water for a natural flavor boost.

You can make an awesome stir fry with frozen stir fry vegetables, chicken and orange oriental sauce, soy sauce, teryaki sauce, whatever you like. But you need to incorporate the vegetables.

Probably not the answer you wanted to hear, but unfortunately it's the best thing I can offer up. Good luck!

drchimpanzee

Honestly when I hear people say they don't like veggies it really just makes me wonder if they're looking for an excuse to just keep eating garbage. I mean do you really hate all veggies? That's a pretty big category. There are lots I don't like but I've found tons I do. Beets. No go. Zucchini. Yes! Maybe try some spices or LIGHT sauces to jazz the veggies up some too.

hattonrw

Interesting...
I am not a huge veggie fan myself. Simply don't like the 'leafy' flavor. Off the top of my head, the only thing I can think of that I DO eat is whole baby carrots, raw. Obviously I've not tried EVERYTHING, but for the most part if it has a leafy taste I have zero interest.
Not sure why exactly people think you NEED veggies... I do take a quality multi-vitamin because I know there are certain nutrients from veggies that are otherwise lacking.
I am NO health expert. I can say though, at 49 years old, I rarely get sick and am fairly healthy overall. I have friends who are vegetarians and they are usually sick (colds, etc).
People are going to eat what they like. They key, I think is to make sure you get the appropriate nutrients by taking the right vitamins to "fill in the blanks".
You CAN lose weight without eating salads constantly. Just monitor what you eat and keep the cardio exercise coming. I find that the WORST thing I do is to snack right before going to bed. I started eating 'light' versions of the things I do like (bread, cheese, coffee creamer), started using "healthier" substitutes (eggs, sugar, etc) and trying to replace ground beef with ground turkey (lower calories/fat and high in protein). Also, when going out to eat I'll get a turkey burger or chicken cheese steak... most places have those type menu items (no peppers, onions, lettuce, etc)
I really don't think I could do a 500 calorie day if I was duct-taped to a chair! :-)

Add me if you want a non-veggie friend...

pennydreadful270

When I was young I was a pretty fussy eater. I found when I left home for uni that all those veggies I hated were the stuff that was cheap and easy to cook. My poor mother.

So I spent about a few months choking down all the things I had told myself I didn't like - peppers, onions, celery, courgette, aubergine, mushrooms... What I found was that for a lot of things, I actually liked the taste, the texture was fine, but my ingrained childhood reaction to the food made me want to spit it out.

Now I eat all those things and LOVE them! Partly your taste changes as you get older I think, but a lot of it I believe is mental.

... probably not what you want to hear. Learning to cook well helps a lot too, this is true for a lot of people with fish. They just have never had it done right.

p.s- The one thing I still hate is bananas, the texture makes me gag a bit, but I eat them anyway when I am doing sports because they are the easiest thing to throw in a bag for the bus. Strange, I know.

msleanlegs

Salsas are a low-calorie option for adding more flavor to vegetables. For the past few weeks, I've been stuck on the pineapple salsa from Trader Joe's.

TimeForMe99

I'm going to give you the advice that somebody gave me yesterday when I posted a topic about ways to make plain water less plain because I hate plain water: suck it up. You need to have a balanced diet in order to lose weight. You need the nutrients and vitamins that come from vegetables. Your body needs it. You need to either suck it up, or find ways to make veggies more tasty.

^^ This. You're a grown up. If you want to do the 5-2 diet you'll need to eat veggies for the fiber and nutrients (no, you can't get all of them from a pill). Second the recommendation to add marinara, salsa, etc. to enhance the flavor. Grill or roast them, which changes the flavor and enhances the natural sweetness. Roasted tomatoes with a light vinegrette are delicious and seem very indulgent.

If all else fails, you might consider a different diet plan. If 5-2 isn't working for you try keeping your calories at a higher level, with deficit, throughout the week. You'll have more variety and can add other ingredients to your veggies to help you get used to them.

quirkytizzy

Eat fruit.

I was coming here to suggest just that. I'm not a veggie fan myself, but can eat the hell out of all kinds of fruit. It's good for you and easy to work in daily servings of.

baileybiddles

I'm going to give you the advice that somebody gave me yesterday when I posted a topic about ways to make plain water less plain because I hate plain water: suck it up. You need to have a balanced diet in order to lose weight. You need the nutrients and vitamins that come from vegetables. Your body needs it. You need to either suck it up, or find ways to make veggies more tasty.

^^ This. You're a grown up. If you want to do the 5-2 diet you'll need to eat veggies for the fiber and nutrients (no, you can't get all of them from a pill). Second the recommendation to add marinara, salsa, etc. to enhance the flavor. Grill or roast them, which changes the flavor and enhances the natural sweetness. Roasted tomatoes with a light vinegrette are delicious and seem very indulgent.

If all else fails, you might consider a different diet plan. If 5-2 isn't working for you try keeping your calories at a higher level, with deficit, throughout the week. You'll have more variety and can add other ingredients to your veggies to help you get used to them.

YES, THIS. I loooovee grilled onions and peppers more than anything. I have them with almost every dinner I make. Chicken with peppers and onions, steak with grilled peppers and onions, anything. They are filling and healthy and a compliment to almost any protein. Grilling makes things much sweeter.

Confuzzled4ever

suck it up butter cup!!

Try new and different veggies.. Get whole raw fresh ones (they taste better) try roasting/grilling/tossing in balsamic vinegar/sauteing etc..

I don't like cottage cheese does not equate to i don't like all cheese.. find what you like.

blend squash into pasta sauce. cauliflower into mashed potatoes or swiss chard. Roast beets with brussel sprouts and carrots and sprinkle with feta, start juicing, slice sweet potatoes thin and bake until crispy to make chips and dip in guacamole. You can julienne turnips and make fries out of them too.

get creative. It's fun to cook with veggies and oh so pretty! All those colors!

tnicmorris

There are a lot of vegetables that I don't like either. Something I've been doing for about two weeks now is doing fruit smoothies and putting vegetables in them. Spinach, which is a good leafy green vegetable, is every easy to use because just about anything can hide the flavor. I've read that kale is another leafy green vegetable with a flavor that's easy to hide.

Something else I've been using is Barlean's Greens Chocolate Silk. Basically, it's a powdered greens product that is like chocolate milk powder. I make my breakfast smoothie with a scoop of the powdered greens, two cups of raw spinach, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and/or 3 oz of vanilla yogurt. I swear, it tastes like chocolate milk. I can never taste the spinach and if I use both peanut butter AND yogurt, I am really full because of all the protein. I think the calorie count for it is 371 if I use both the peanut butter and yogurt and 171 if I don't add peanut butter.

ahamm002

I don't think anybody is actually born liking veggies! Your parents were supposed to teach you to be able to tolerate them and I guess they failed. Now stop being such a little wuss, suck it up, and eat them.

After eating them for awhile, you'll eventually start being able to tolerate them, and then after that you'll start realizing they aren't that bad, and eventually they'll start tasting pretty good. No, veggies will never taste as good as ice-cream, potatoe chips, french fries, pizza, etc.

dimsumkitty

It'll take you about 10-20 times eating the same things before you start liking it. Less time if you pair it with food you like.

Cook some vegetables. Everytime you eat anything, eat a piece of vegetable with it. You'll start liking it soon enough.

MeeshyBW

How can someone not eat vegetables? Personally I think this only comes from someone who has spent their life eating junk and being bought up on junk.

We grew our own veg growing up and ate fresh veg daily. I believe that these habits start from a young age and if you don't get educated at a young age of eating your veggies, it makes it more difficult as an adult.

To say you don't like ANY vegetables is mental. They all taste so different and have different textures so to put them all under one umbrella seems like a cop out.

I think you need to try different vegetables and cook them in different ways to find out how you like them.

I would say some of the more veggie-phobe friend vegetables are:

Sweetcorn
Carrots
Squash
White Potato
Sugar snap peas.

I think you need to make the effort. You are no 8 anymore. Time to grown up and make REAL food choices.

You will not get loose weight healthily without eating vegetables. Thats a fact hun.

CoachReddy

Hi,

Can ANYONE help me!! Im trying to lose weight, doing the 5;2 diet where for two days i have 500 calories, im also swimming 2-3 times a week (gym has stopped due to injury for the moment). However im trying to eat good but theres a massive problem, i dont like veg or much salad! Ive been like it all my life and trust me ive tried everything to help me eat well!!

Advice anyone?

p.s motivation is 0 at the moment after weighing today and no loss!

Learn to like them, end of story. No veg = poor nutrition = poor health. Up to you what's important.

dad106

In my whole time of losing weight/maintaining, I can't ever remember eating veggies... and I'm being serious.

The only ones I really like are potatoes, corn, carrots, lettuce and onions, and those I only eat every few weeks or so.

So no, you don't have to eat veggies to be healthy.. there are other ways to get nutrients/vitamins, that don't involve veggies.

MinnieInMaine

I'm not a huge fan of veggies either but I still get a couple servings in every day. The condition (raw, canned, frozen) and preparation (boiled, steamed, grilled, roasted) can make a huge difference! I grew up with eating wonderful raw or boiled to al-dente texture veggies in the summer and disgusting mushy canned veggies in the winter. Can you tell which I liked better?! So as an adult I took this experience to heart. I don't buy canned veggies. I only buy raw or frozen then boil them lightly until they're to the texture I like. Roasted veggies are great too, especially onions, peppers, potatoes and squash.

Sauteeing and stir-frying can be a nice alternative too. Once in a while, I'll buy one of those bags of broccoli slaw and stirfry it with a bit of garlic oil and maybe throw in some onion and mushrooms as well. So good!

For salads, I'd suggest trying different greens. Maybe iceburg lettuce is just to blah for you but some heartier leaves like baby spinach or kale or romaine or a mix of different greens would make your taste buds happy. And forget about all the fat free dressings, they're nasty IMHO. Go for something creamy like a caesar or parmesan peppercorn and enjoy!

Point is, keep trying and experimenting.