How to learn to love (healthy) food

sarah44254
sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
So I might be an exception to the norm here, but the only reason I gain weight, in the various times in my life where I have been on the top side of my normal range, is because I eat candy.

The reason I lose weight, is because I eat nothing. It is so sad and not healthy, but I do not enjoy, like, yearn for, or any other positive adjective healthy food. Add sugar to anything I'll eat it, it seems.

How can I teach myself to enjoy healthy foods? I want to learn to love them, to crave them! Give me any ideas. I should be willing to try anything but I'm not sure what I can force myself to do. I'll listen to them all and keep them written here for me.

Go! Help me please.
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Replies

  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    Sometimes I even cook a healthy meal and put it in the fridge never to see the light of day again.

    Until I throw it out because it is bad, that is. :frown:
  • Phaedra2014
    Phaedra2014 Posts: 1,254 Member
    Get acquainted with food. Look up some recipes, become familiar with the different fresh herbs and spices. Pick a couple of things to cook. Buy a pretty cookbook with lots of pictures. Experiment.
  • Phaedra2014
    Phaedra2014 Posts: 1,254 Member
    Sometimes I even cook a healthy meal and put it in the fridge never to see the light of day again.

    Until I throw it out because it is bad, that is. :frown:

    What exactly do you eat on a daily basis?
  • mehaffeymk
    mehaffeymk Posts: 154 Member
    you gotta find recipes and things to eat that you LIKE already. for instance, i really love fast food, so to curb that craving i eat boca burgers on sandwich thins with baked sweet potato fries and it totally gives me the fast food fix i need for a fraction of the calories and fat. and i've been referencing alot of "skinny" blogs that post recipes too. they come up with some hella creative ways to get delicious meals and make them healthy. three i can think of are 100daysofrealfood.com, skinnytaste.com and skinnykitchen.com. and i know i love zucchini, so i eat zucchini almost every day. i'm pretty sure eating too much zucchini and not alot of other vegetables isn't gonna kill me. and my tastes have been changing too now that i'm not indulging myself everyday in fast food and high fat, high sugar foods. now i can eat an orange and feel so satisfied on the sugar in it that i don't really need candy or a chocolate bar.
  • tishajo
    tishajo Posts: 142 Member
    Cut the unhealthy food portions down and wean in the healthy foods. I noticed by eating healthy foods I don't feel as groggy the next day. So that keeps me motivated to eat healthier. Also it seems after eating healthier foods for awhile, my taste buds almost reject certain unhealthy foods. Good luck!:flowerforyou:
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
    quit sugar cold turkey. eat proteins and veggies instead.
  • HelloSweetie4
    HelloSweetie4 Posts: 1,214 Member
    Try out healthy versions of your favorite meals and slowly cut the extra sugar out. I have always been a sugar fiend, my worst habit before MFP was that every time I went to the grocery store I felt I had to buy myself a 20oz soda and a candy bar as a treat for just going to the store. lol I cannot tell you the last time I did that. I knew that was my worst habit so it was the first to go and it wasn't easy!
    I have also managed to cut out ALL the sugar from my daily coffee. I did it little by little.
    I am now comfortable enough that I am currently doing a 21 day no junk food challenge (there's a group!)!
    Cutting out the sugar is a long and slow process, so don't get discouraged that you can't go "cold turkey." getting away from it is just like quitting smoking or anyother addiction. Take it one day at a time!

    Feel free to add me for support if you like!
  • I agree- experiment with foods.

    I've found the same with salty foods- if it's salty/greasy, I'm all over it. But when I started cutting it out in a serious way, I found I no longer enjoyed them when I did eat them.

    I would get a queasy stomach, I would feel low and just overall, gross. It helps to turn me off from eating that junk.

    Occasionally I will eat some greasy food, but I also know that after it's done tasting great, I will be awful in the next 20 minutes so I just stay away the majority of the time.

    Also, people who see what is actually in their food and how this affects your body are often turned off from eating them. (Like seeing what affect aspartame has on the body's ability to process sugar and produce insulin)

    All the best!
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    Thank you for all the responses!

    Last year I lost weight in a not-so-good way. I worked out VERY hard and ate junk food.

    This time I can't work out as hard (because of some new medical issues) so I would really like to balance this junk food addiction and get it out of my life.

    To eat an orange and not want candy afterwards sounds amazing. I really want that to happen to me.
  • MichelleL2016
    MichelleL2016 Posts: 21 Member
    I am in the same boat as you!! I just don't like the taste..

    So lately I have started making smoothies. I like bananas and a lot of the time if smoothies have bananas in them, it covers the taste of everything else. So I have grapes, spinnach and strawberries on top of a banana. And I also use orange juice and ice..
    While it's not something I crave every day, it's something that I can tolerate. And the colors can be gross so I try not to focus too much on that.. :)

    And from what I've read, vegetables, like many other foods, are an aquired taste. So hopefully I'll be able to choke enough down to become ok with the taste lol
  • toniRAD
    toniRAD Posts: 196 Member
    Try having a banana with dark chocolate peanut butter (or regular!) spread on it. That helps the candy craving & is healthy. :D
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    It isn't so much as I crave the candy. It is just the only thing I eat. I eat donut/pastry things or ice creams. I make entire days food diaries from only sugary products.

    So I'll try those websites. I was just looking around the internet for a farmer's market, too. I want some fresh foods but I don't have much money.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    You're an adult now, not a toddler who needs to be tricked into trying food. Just suck it up, eat real food and find things you like--learning how to cook helps if you don't already know how. Maybe trying to make pizza or some of the other junk food you like at home would be a good place to start. Good luck. :smile:
  • How I stopped eating all that unhealthy, processed, and prepared food is I learned to love cooking. The time that you put into a meal is actually really rewarding (in my opinion) and when I sit down to a good looking meal that has foods that I enjoy (and of course is healthy) I feel great about it. You just have to keep trying new 'health foods' and seeing what you like and don't like. If you like spicy foods, try spicing or masking the tastes of other things with hot sauce or red pepper...I used to have a sweet tooth as well, but now thinking of candy makes me a bit queasy & then I want spicy food. Strange I know but that's my experience. Learn to love to cook.
  • toniRAD
    toniRAD Posts: 196 Member
    Well in that case, you just gotta try hard to make yourself stay away from the junk. Once you start eating healthy for a while your body will crave the healthy food & it won't be as hard for you to love it.
    :smile:
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    Thanks for the good luck, but the suck it up comment was pretty hurtful.

    I do really love cooking! I can make some nice stuff but I only eat a bite or two then I don't want it anymore.

    I'm hoping once school kicks back in it will make it easier because I can only eat what I bring with me, I won't be at home or in a convenience store (where I work) surrounded with junk.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention to hurt your feelings.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    It's tough to read intentions over the internet, I really appreciate the clarification. Sorry if I jumped to conclusions there.

    I'll keep trying new foods. I'm afraid of "wasting money" though. :frown: What to do with a plate of food you can't stand? I guess I can offer it to the neighbors? That seems kind of weird though.
  • There are a lot of cookbooks out there written explicitly for the purpose of tricking kids into eating veggies. Perhaps start with one of those? Apparently you can make delicious brownies with spinach or prune puree in them...I haven't tried it yet but if it works I am all for it.
  • ChapinaGrande
    ChapinaGrande Posts: 289 Member
    Someone above mentioned replacing fast food with healthier versions. For me, it was the opposite. I loved fast food so much that exchanges just made me sad. I love boca burgers, for example, but only when I accepted them for boca burgers instead of trying to make them into fast food. Same with soy milk. Expect regular milk, you're not going to be happy about soy milk because it's a different thing. Accept things for what they are.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    Great, I would like a new picture filled cookbook. I have a couple ones that are recent but they are very professional quality with almost no pictures. I have amazon gift cards left too, so I don't have to feel bad about budget. :smile:
  • toniRAD
    toniRAD Posts: 196 Member
    There are a lot of different fruits and vegetables that are pretty cheap, maybe try getting those for now? So that way if you don't like them, it's not a big deal if you toss them. Do you like eggs? You can make a variety of things with them & also you don't have to really worry about the price.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    That is true. I can just try really small portions of the stuff, too.

    I think I like eggs but recently I have had a hard time eating them.

    I'm going to go for a while. Feel free to keep leaving ideas if anyone else stops by here.

    Thank you so much for all the help!
  • You're an adult now, not a toddler who needs to be tricked into trying food. Just suck it up, eat real food and find things you like--learning how to cook helps if you don't already know how. Maybe trying to make pizza or some of the other junk food you like at home would be a good place to start. Good luck. :smile:

    That's a really unproductive way to help someone change their habits. I can see that your intentions are good, but starting off with an insult is a great way to get someone to shut you out.
  • sicchi
    sicchi Posts: 189 Member
    ok, this is my fav healthy meal.

    I make a bean sauce.

    2 x cans diced tomatoes
    1 x can 4 bean mix
    clove of garlic
    half an onion
    chilli, if you like

    1/5 of the sauce is 110 cal, 16g carb, 4g fibre, 4g fat, 6g protein

    sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil then add the tomatoes and stir. then add the beans and let simmer for at least half an hour (btw, this freezes well so I freeze batches for easy lunch/dinners)

    Bake a potato, sweet or normal, big or small. Chop up in a bowl.

    Add all the chopped vegies you want.
    I use

    grated carrot
    peas
    raw shredded brocolli
    capsicum
    wiltered spinach
    pineapple
    olives
    tomatoes


    put them on top of the chopped cooked spud then add the hot bean sauce on top of the veg (as much as you have in the calorie bank) I use about a soup scoop. I also like to add some hommus (or any dip i have in the fridge) and grated cheese on top.Then I mush it all together with chilli and garic granules. It is so delish and you can mix it up. If I have a bad day and dont have that many cal to spare, I cut back on the spud or cheese, and add more veg. I swear it is so good, and so healthy. You get good carbs, vitamins, fibre, protein, its high flavour and low fat and you get a full belly. And heaps greens makes for heaps of anti-oxidents. So excited! I'm having it tonight, could you tell??


    p.s - if the thought of all those vegies makes you gag, try one at a time. Maybe start with some capsicum and tomato first. or mushrooms if you like them. You will be suprised how high flavour the sauce is, the vegies wont be so overpowering. One step at a time, but do experiment :)
  • redbird99
    redbird99 Posts: 298 Member
    Try eating lots of kinds of fruit - buy one piece of different kinds to find out what kinds you like.

    For vegetables, if you are afraid you will waste it, get frozen, take out one serving, and put the rest in a ziplock with all the air pulled out. Frozen is just as nutritious and for one person, sometimes a lot less wasteful.

    Do you like any low calorie dips? I learned to eat sweet pepper slices and summer squash slices using dips. Now I like them just by themselves.

    Also check out single serve or two serving recipes. That wastes less too.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    You're an adult now, not a toddler who needs to be tricked into trying food. Just suck it up, eat real food and find things you like--learning how to cook helps if you don't already know how. Maybe trying to make pizza or some of the other junk food you like at home would be a good place to start. Good luck. :smile:

    That's a really unproductive way to help someone change their habits. I can see that your intentions are good, but starting off with an insult is a great way to get someone to shut you out.
    lol I'd say correcting someone elses behavior is equaling unproductive but I appreciate where you're coming from -- sometimes you can't help yourself.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    Potato with bean sauce sounds good, I really appreciate you sharing the recipe!
  • Tammy518
    Tammy518 Posts: 53 Member
    Try this..
    Supper.jpg[img]It's John Soules Pollo Asado (Spicy Chicken) w/sauteed onions, broccoli, carrots & cauliflower. 273 calories ,12g carbs, 41g protein, 3g fat, 2g fiber And let me tell you it sure was delicious :)[/img]
  • sicchi
    sicchi Posts: 189 Member
    Potato with bean sauce sounds good, I really appreciate you sharing the recipe!

    oh it is... yummm..... so excited for it tonight! And btw, once you cook the beans and, cook extra spuds, chop up all the veg you have like 4-5 meals there! and you mix and match vegies so you dont get sick of it.